- Rebbe Akiva’s happiness upon witnessing Rebbe Eliezer’s suffering
When Rebbe Eliezer became ill, his talmidim came to visit him. Rebbe Eliezer told them, “There is great anger in the world,” i.e., Hashem was angry with him, causing him suffering. They all began weeping, but Rebbe Akiva was smiling. The others asked him why he was smiling, and he asked them why they were weeping. They said: אפשר ספר תורה שרוי בצער ולא נבכה – is it possible that a sefer Torah lies in pain and we should not weep? He responded, “That is why I am smiling. For as long as I saw our Rebbe’s extraordinary success, that none of his produce becomes ruined in any way, I said: שמא חס ושלום קיבל רבי עולמו – perhaps, Heaven forbid, our Rebbe has already received his world (i.e., his reward). Now that I see him in pain, I am happy, because I know his reward awaits him in עולם הבא. Rebbe Eliezer said: עקיבא כלום חיסרתי מן התורה כולה – “Akiva, did I omit anything in fulfilling the entire Torah, that I should have to suffer?” Rebbe Akiva replied: לימדתנו רבינו כי אדם אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא – Rebbe taught us the passuk, for there is no righteous man on earth who does only good and never sins.
- חביבין יסורין, which brought King Menashe to teshuvah
When Rebbe Eliezer became ill, four Sages came to visit him. Rebbe Tarfon spoke up and said: טוב אתה לישראל מטיפה של גשמים – “You are better for Yisroel than a drop of rain, which is beneficial in this world, whereas Rebbe benefits us in this world and עולם הבא!” Rebbe Yehoshua and Rebbe Elazar ben Azaryah made similar comparisons to the sun, and one’s father and mother, respectively. But Rebbe Akiva said: חביבין יסורין – suffering is precious, for it atones for sins. Rebbe Eliezer said: סמכוני ואשמעה דברי עקיבא תלמידי – “Sit me up, so I can hear the words of my talmid Akiva, who says suffering is precious.” He asked Rebbe Akiva for his source, and Rebbe Akiva replied that he derives it from the wicked King Menashe. Since his father, King Chizkiyah, taught Torah to the entire world, it is inconceivable that he did not teach his son! Rather, despite all the effort which Chizkiyah expended to teach his son, לא העלהו למוטב אלא יסורין – nothing raised him back to the good path except suffering. Menashe was captured and chained, and the next passuk describes how he humbled himself before Hashem, davened to Him, and was returned to his throne.
- Why ירבעם בן נבט merited becoming king, and how his arrogance caused his downfall
The Mishnah on Daf 90a listed three kings and four commoners who have no share in עולם הבא, the first being ירבעם בן נבט. ירבעם merited kingship because he rebuked Shlomo but was punished for doing so publicly. Shlomo had closed up openings in the city wall for the benefit of פרעה’s daughter (his wife), and ירבעם said to him, “Your father Dovid made breaches in the wall to facilitate Yisroel’s going up for the רגלים, ואתה גדרת אותם כדי לעשות אנגריא לבת פרעה – and you closed them in order to charge a toll for פרעה’s daughter?!” Additionally, the passuk indicates that ירבעם took off his tefillin in Shlomo’s presence “against the king,” by inappropriately uncovering his head in the king’s presence. The גסות הרוח – arrogance of ירבעם caused him to be banished from the world: He was afraid that when Yisroel would come to Yerushalayim on the רגלים, King רחבעם would sit in the עזרה, and he would be forced to stand (since only מלכי יהודה could sit), demonstrating that he was not a true king, and the ten tribes would abandon him. This led him to erect two golden calves so people would stop going to Yerushalayim.
