The Oral Talmud with Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson Episode 109

Rabbi Yirmeya said to Rabbi Zeira: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The humble and great are there; and the servant is free from his master” (Job 3:19)? Could it be that we do not know that the humble and the great are there?! Rather: Anyone who makes himself small over matters of Torah in this world becomes great in the World-to-Come; and anyone who makes himself like a servant over matters of Torah in this world becomes free in the World-to-Come.

Reish Lakish was demarcating burial caves of the Sages. When he arrived at the cave of Rabbi Ḥiyya, his grave eluded him. He became despairing. He said: Master of the Universe! Did I not analyze (pilpalti) the Torah like him? A Divine Voice emerged and said to him: You did analyze the Torah like him, but you did not disseminate it like him.

When Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Ḥiyya would debate, Rabbi Ḥanina would say to Rabbi Ḥiyya: Do you think you can debate with me? Heaven forbid! If the Torah were forgotten from the Jewish people, I could restore it with my analyses (mi'pilpulai). Rabbi Ḥiyya said to Rabbi Ḥanina: Do you think you can debate with me, for what I do ensures that the Torah will not be forgotten by the Jewish people in the first place! What do I do? I go and sow flax seeds, and I weave nets with the flax, and I hunt deer and feed their meat to orphans. I create parchment from their hides, and I write the five books of the Torah on them. I go to a town and teach five children the five books, and I teach six children the six orders of the Mishna, and I say to them: Until I return and come back, teach each other the Torah and teach each other the Mishna. And that's what I do to the Torah to make sure that it will not be forgotten by the Jewish people in the first place.