Hannah & the Stranger: A Talmudic Tale

The video below is the product of a collaborative learning session in which we (father and daughter) studied the three tales told by Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah (Eruvin 53b). In these tales, the rabbi admits defeat in a strange set of encounters. This video offers an adaptation of the second tale that describes a little girl in a field rebuking the great sage (original source text below).

Further below, an analysis of the tale is offered that is inspired by the commentary of Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (author of Ben Ish Chai) and by contemporary academic studies in Talmud.

A conventional reading: Talmudic tales are generally understood to offer multiple meanings, however, a conventional reading of the this tale is that it is meant to teach etiquette and moral behaviour even if this conflicts with social norms and ordinary practice. Rabbi Joshua walks through what seems to be a path that runs through the field. His actions are criticised by the little girl for his participation in the collective behaviour of wearing down that portion of the field until it had become a footpath. Rabbi Joshua points to the accepted convention (that people normally walk through the field) but the girl insists that he is complicit in the careless destruction of the crops in the field.

The interpersonal/ethical/spiritual reading: In a different approach, based on the commentary of Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (in his work Ben Yehoyada) the dialogue of the girl and the rabbi are symbolic of an inner dialogue within a single individual who must contemplate their actions in this world. In a classic Jewish ethical stance, the story is read as the little girl being symbolic of the soul who rebukes the body for its behaviour. This approach lends itself to a variety of spiritual readings and may be viewed through a distinctly mystical lens.

The reflexive reading: Another possible approach is one that is based on a contemporary academic approach to the study of Talmud that concentrates on the notion of the reflexive or self-aware sense of a Talmudic tale that seems to indicate a fault on the part of the Talmudic sage. This style of critique appears in other Talmudic tales like the case of Rabbi Yannai and the well-dressed man (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3) or Rabbi Elazar ben Shimon and the ugly man (Taanit 20a). In this case, the sage finds himself outside of his usual domain (the House of Study) where he would be respected as an elite scholar. Instead, he finds himself in other domains occupied by people of lower social status and discovers that these other people may succeed in rebuking him. In this case, the sage is in a field speaking to a young girl working on a farm, a commoner of low social status, involved in menial work. Through this tale, the Talmud wishes to warn future scholars not to be too boastful or proud and to treat the seemingly ordinary person with respect for they may also demonstrate their wisdom and understanding of morals and justice.