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December 10, 2021 (6 Tevet 5782) Patience is a Virtue Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you doing well and in good health. We look forward to continuing our hybrid services this Shabbat morning at 10:30am, both in the sanctuary as well as over our regular Zoom prayer link. As we prepare for the upcoming secular new year, I believe it would be fair to say that the year 2021 has tested our collective patience, just like 2020 did. As we have been waiting for the pandemic to end, we have tried to offer some consolation by reminding each other of the well-known phrase “patience is a virtue.” In exploring the etymology of this adage, like with many of the famous sayings we recite today, the original author of "patience is a virtue" is hard to pin down. Some date it back to Cato the Elder in the third or fourth century AD. Others attribute it to The Canterbury Tales, written during the 14th century. Well before either of these dates, however, the Talmud in “Messechet Shabbat,” offers us the figure of Hillel, a first century Rabbinic scholar, as the personification of a man of patience. The story is told that Hillel had such a reputation for patience, that a group of non-Jews made a wager for four hundred Zuzim (a substantial amount of money) to see if one of them could cause the great Rabbi to lose his patience. One of the non-Jews said, “I will aggravate him.” The day he chose to bother Hillel was Shabbat eve, when Hillel was washing his hair in preparation for the Holy Day. The antagonist went and passed by the entrance to Hillel’s house and in a demeaning manner called out, “Who here is Hillel? Who here is Hillel?” Being in the shower, Hillel wrapped himself quickly in a dignified garment and went out to greet the visitor. Hillel then said to him, “My son, what do you seek?” The visitor said to him, “I have a question to ask.” Hillel responded, “Ask, my son, ask.” The man then asked him, “Why are the heads of Babylonians oval?” (He was attempting to insult Hillel, who was Babylonian.) Hillel said to him, “My son, you have asked a significant question. The reason is because they do not have clever midwives. They do not know how to shape the child’s head at birth.” An hour later, the man returned to look for Hillel and said, “Who here is Hillel? Who here is Hillel?” Again, Hillel wrapped himself and went out to greet him. Hillel said to him, “My son, what do you seek?” The man said to him, “I have a question to ask.” Hillel responded, “Ask, my son, ask.” The man asked, “Why are the eyes of the residents of Tadmor bleary all the time?” Hillel responded, “My son, you have asked a significant question. The reason is because they live among the sands and the sand gets into their eyes.” A third time, the non-Jew returned and asked, ”Why do Africans have wide feet?” Hillel said to him, “You have asked a significant question. The reason is because they live in marshlands and their feet widened to enable them to walk through those swampy areas.” Finally, and remember that it is now close to Shabbat, the man said to Hillel, “I have many more questions to ask, but I am afraid lest you get angry.” Hillel sat before him and responded, “All of the questions that you have to ask, ask them.” Commenting on the origin of the wager, the man said to him, “Because of you, I have lost four hundred Zuzim!” As we carefully navigate what will hopefully be the end of COVID, it is fitting to reflect on the patience that we exhibit each week. Like Hillel, we may have had to be patient in personal interactions or when dealing with annoying questions from others, as we figure our own comfort level during the pandemic. For those of us still using Zoom, we may have had to be patient with our computers, mute buttons, and even Internet connections. And even, perhaps, we have had to be patient with our own spirituality and relationship with God during this trying time. As we approach the beginning of Shabbat, I pray that we will all find the patience to continue to be kind to others, supportive of our Kehillah, and kind to ourselves. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD.
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