Shabbat clothing

Hi

"It is written (Isaiah 58:13) regarding Shabbat, 'You shall honour it, refraining from performing ordinary tasks.' 'You shall honour it' indicates that your Shabbat clothing should not be like your weekday clothing. 

"This follows along the lines of Rabbi Yochanan's practice of calling his clothing, 'The source of my honour.'"

(Talmud, Shabbat 113a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Obey the law! Obey a law!

Hi,

"[A verse (Isaiah 5) states:] The depths widened, and opened her mouth to [swallow] the one without a law (literally: without limit).

"Reish Lakish explained: Even a person who omits a single law [ends up in the depths].

"Rabbi Yochanan responded: That interpretation does not please your Master! Rather, even a person who has learned a single law will not be drawn into the depths!"

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 111a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Divine mercy

Hi,

"When Rabbi Yochanan would see an ant, he would quote the verse, 'Your charity is like mighty mountains.'"

Rashi explains: Rabbi Yochanan was commenting on the fact that Gd provides food for the tiny ant just as He provides it for mighty beasts.

(Talmud, Chullin 63a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Theories

Hi,

The Talmud records a novel legal theory proposed by R' Yochanan, and then notes that R' Yochanan himself, when presented with a case in which his theory would have resulted in a unique ruling, declined to apply his own, novel theory, and instead went with the norm.

As R' Yochanan asked rhetorically, "Because we imagine something to be so, shall we therefore act on it?"

The lesson: We would do well to be skeptical of our own theories...

(Talmud, Gittin 37a)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

The Equality of Mankind

Hi,

"Rabbi Yochanan would eat meat and share it with his servant, drink wine and share it with his servant, citing this biblical sentence (Job 34), 'The womb that made me, made him as well.'"

(Talmud Yerushalmi Bava Kama 8:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Smile!

Hi,

On the importance of smiling to other people:

"Rabbi Yochanan said: Better to expose the white of one's teeth (ie smile) to another person, than to provide him with milk to drink.

"It is written (Genesis 49), 'And the whiteness of teeth from milk,' which could be read (homiletically) as 'And exposing the white of one's teeth (is better than milk).'"

(Talmud, Ketuvot 111b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai