About this episode
Today's daf is sponsored by the Hadran Women of Long Island in honor of our fellow daf Sister, Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld on the marriage of her granddaughter Esti to Baruch. "Having four generations at the wedding is a tremendous zechut. May Gitta together with David have continued nachat from Esti and all of their children and grandchildren." The story of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, leads to discussions about his obesity, alongside those of Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosi. Rabbi Yochanan, renowned for his beauty, used to sit by the mikveh, hoping that women who saw him would conceive and bear children as beautiful and learned as he was. One day, while bathing in the Jordan River, Reish Lakish, a bandit, mistook Rabbi Yochanan's reflection for that of a woman and leaped in after him. Rabbi Yochanan, recognizing potential, encouraged Reish Lakish to channel his strength into Torah, becoming his esteemed student-colleague. Yet, a rift formed when in the context of a halakhic debate, Rabbi Yochanan's remarks about Reish Lakish's past led to a fatal argument, resulting in Reish Lakish's demise, and ultimately, Rabbi Yochanan's own death due to the loss of his closest companion. The Gemara then revisits Rabbi Elazar's story, haunted by his past deeds, he beseeches God for suffering as penance. The narrative follows his remaining years, culminating in his passing, where he requests to be left in an attic, anticipating reluctance from fellow rabbis to bury him. Eventually, approximately two decades later, he is interred in a cave adjacent to his father's resting place. Rabbi Yehuda haNasi proposes to Rabbi Elazar's wife, who rejects the offer as he cannot compare to Rabbi Elazar in greatness.