R' Zeira's Move To The Holy Land

After the destruction of the First Holy Temple, many of the Jewish people lived in exile in Babylonia, where they built great Torah academies and established flourishing Jewish communities. Rabbi Zeira was amongst those who lived in exile, learning Torah from the greatest scholars. Though he had a satisfying life, he wanted one thing more - to live in the land of Israel and to study Torah from the great Sages there.

Even though Rabbi Zeira longed to live in the Holy Land, he was torn in making his decision, since his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda ben Yechezkel was opposed to returning to Israel. It was his belief that the Jews were obligated to remain in exile in Babylonia, since they did not yet merit to return. Not only did Rabbi Zeira not want to oppose his teacher, he had doubts as to whether his own personal merits were sufficient to allow him to live in the Holy Land.

One morning Rabbi Zeira woke up feeling assured that he could live in the Holy Land; he had had a dream in which he received Divine assurance of his worthiness. But he still had to solve the problem of his teacher's opposition. He was afraid that if he went to bid good-bye to Rabbi Yehuda, the Sage would forbid him to leave, so he avoided meeting him. Then, one day, he happened to hear Rabbi Yehuda speaking and he caught a few wise words which made him feel ready to depart for the Land of Israel.

Journeying by foot, Rabbi Zeira came to a river with no bridge. Usually crossed by ferryboat, the boat was nowhere in sight. Rabbi Zeira spied a foot-bridge consisting of a narrow plank secured by ropes. Now, Rabbi Zeira was not a young man, and t his shaky bridge was used only by nimble workers who had no time to wait for the ferry. Rabbi Zeira felt a great urgency to proceed on his way and he grabbed onto the rope and mounted the slippery bridge. He slipped and slid his way across the plank, occasionally falling into the cold river until he finally reached the other side.

When he mounted the other bank, Rabbi Zeira was greeted by a smirking gentile who said, "You are a rash and thoughtless race! Right from the beginning you acted without consideration. You said, 'We will do and we will understand.' That's not the normal way of approaching a situation. First you find out about something, and only then you make a commitment to it. Why didn't you have the patience to wait for the ferry? No, you had to cross like a young boy, in spite of the danger."

Rabbi Zeira explained to the man, "I'm on my way to Israel. To live in Israel was the greatest wish of Moses and Aaron, but they were not permitted to realize their dream. I am no longer a young man and I don't know if I will live long enough to r each the Land of Israel. Every minute that I will live in Israel is precious to me, and I cannot lose even one minute. How could I lose time waiting for the ferry?"

Rabbi Zeira reached Israel where he settled in Tiberius and learned in the famous yeshiva of Rabbi Yochanan.