[1] These two complete scholars were the leading figures of the second generation of the Sages of the Mishnah, as I have explained. Yosei ben Yo'ezer was the most pious of the priesthood, and no sin was known of him from his youth until the day of his death. Therefore the Sages said (Sotah 47a): "When Yosei ben Yo'ezer and Yosei ben Yochanan died, the eshkolot ceased." The meaning is that he would gather the sages of Israel in clusters and clusters to study Torah, like grape clusters (eshkolot). So too did they expound the verse, "Eshkol ha-kofer dodi li" — "My beloved is to me a cluster of henna" (Shir HaShirim 1:14) — as referring to Torah scholars who gather together like grapes in clusters. There are those who explained this to mean that he shielded his generation as a cluster shields the grapes within it. However, in the Gemara in Sotah (47b), "What are eshkolot? Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: A man in whom everything is contained." I have already mentioned that both of them also came to elucidate the words of Shimon HaTzaddik, for after Antigonus had explained the matter of avodah (divine service), they too expounded the other two pillars and it is said of both of them: "They received from them." This refers either to Antigonus and his court, or to Shimon HaTzaddik and Antigonus together — meaning that Yosei ben Yo'ezer and Yosei ben Yochanan did not receive from Antigonus alone, but also received from Shimon HaTzaddik, his master.

[2] Yosi ben Yo'ezer explained how a person may merit the acquisition of Torah and the attainment of its perfection, and he said that the proper path toward this is to make one's home "a meeting place for the Sages" — that is, a home that is prepared and designated as a gathering place where the Sages come to expound and study Torah. For when one's home serves as a lodging for Torah, there is no doubt that he will merit its study. However, he stipulated two conditions, without which the acquisition of perfection is impossible for him. The first — that he not become haughty toward the Sages by virtue of being the host while they are as a guest who has come to lodge; rather, he should roll in the dust of their feet in humility and lowliness, as though they are the masters of the house and he is the guest who lodges among them. The second condition — that his mind not grow weary of the abundance of Torah, nor should its study seem trivial in his eyes despite its being practiced day after day; rather, he should always drink the words of those Sages with great thirst — that is, he should hear their words each day with intense longing, as though they are new to him, and as cold water to a weary soul, so should the words of Torah be in his soul. Accordingly, it is not correct to read the word shote ("drink") with a patach — as though referring to a single act of drinking — but rather with a sheva, indicating that he should always drink their words as one who thirsts after them, and not as a satisfied person, for a full soul tramples upon a honeycomb.

[3] From this noble teaching we learn several things. The first is that not all places are equally suited for Torah study; rather, it must be a house that is known to be pure, clean, and designated specifically for this purpose. As the Torah states (Shemot 20:21): "In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned, I will come to you." For the study hall is a minor sanctuary, analogous to the Beit HaMikdash, of which it is said (Devarim 12:13): "Take heed that you do not offer your burnt-offerings in every place that you see." It is for this reason that the Shunamite woman said to her husband: "Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually; let us make, I pray, a small upper chamber on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there" (Melachim II 4:9) — for that great woman understood that deep contemplation, and certainly prophecy, requires a space that is open, pure, holy, and set apart for that purpose.

[4] The second teaching — How good and how pleasant it is; fortunate, truly fortunate, is one whose home is prepared and designated for holiness and Torah. It is for this reason that the status of Mount Sinai was elevated above all other things — that mountain which God desired for His dwelling — as our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: "Why do you look askance, O high mountains" (Tehillim 68:17), and so forth. Consider what benefit the Shunamite woman gained from her home being a gathering place for Elisha the prophet; and how Hashem blessed the house of Oved-Edom the Gittite on account of the Ark of God that rested there; and how the Tzarfatite woman, while Eliyahu dwelt in her home, enjoyed the blessing of Hashem upon all that was hers — in famine He redeemed her from death — and even her son, who died on his own, Hashem restored to life in honor of the prophet who was a guest there.

[5] The Third Lesson — that wise men shall inherit honor, and even when they are guests, it is fitting that the master of the house humble himself before them as one who rolls in the dust at their feet, and that they be given the place of honor. It is not befitting for the master of the house to feel proud over them on account of his providing for their needs — as we find in the fourth chapter of Mitat (Sanhedrin 52b): "To what is a Torah scholar compared in the eyes of an ignorant person, etc." For the benefit that the sages bestow upon the master of the house through the wisdom of their words is immeasurably greater than the physical benefit they receive from him. Consider Avraham Avinu, when the three angels came to lodge with him — how he, with all his greatness and despite his illness, served them, as it is written (Bereshit 18:7–8): "And Avraham ran to the cattle, etc., and he took butter and milk, etc., and he stood over them beneath the tree, and they ate." For this reason, you will likewise find that when Eliyahu went to the house of the woman of Tzarephath and asked her for bread, and she replied that she had nothing but "a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug," the prophet answered her: Make me a small loaf from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make for yourself and for your son (Melachim I 17:12) — teaching her that she should first attend to him, and only afterward prepare what she needed for herself and her son, because the honor due to a wise man who is a guest takes precedence over the honor due to the master of the house.

[6] The Fourth Lesson — that a person should always hear words of Torah with great delight and intense desire, like one who drinks water when gripped by an overwhelming thirst. This principle is already expressed in the Torah, as it is written (Devarim 26:16): "This day, Hashem your God commands you to perform these statutes," etc. Our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: "Each and every day, let the words of Torah be new in your eyes" — as though on that very day you were commanded concerning them. On this theme, Shlomo spoke (Mishlei 8:22–31) in the name of the Torah, in the passage beginning "Hashem acquired me at the beginning of His way," saying: "And I was with Him as a nursling, and I was a delight day by day, playing before Him at all times. Playing in the inhabited world, His earth, and my delights were with the children of men." The meaning is: even though I was with Him, blessed is He, before the world was created — a faithful trust beside Him, never wearying of me — still, I was always before Him as a delight day by day, and at every moment I was like something new and greatly cherished before Him, as though playing before Him afresh. And if this is so before Him, blessed is He, then how much more, how very much more, is it fitting that Torah should be "playing in the inhabited world, His earth." It is therefore fitting that "my delights should be with the children of men," and they should not grow weary of me — rather, they should always take delight in me, just as the Holy One, blessed is He, does. This is why the verse immediately continues: "And now, children, listen to me, and praiseworthy are those who keep my ways" (ibid. 8:32). This is the explanation of the teaching of Yosi ben Yo'ezer according to its plain meaning.

[7] It is also possible to interpret this as instruction and a lesson in gradual progression for one who studies Torah — that he should not rely upon his own opinion, nor lean upon his own thoughts. Rather, let his "house," which is a metaphor for his mind and reasoning (following the interpretation of Rambam on the verse (Kohelet 4:17) "Guard your feet when you go to the house of God"), let those chambers of the soul and rooms of thought be directed unto the Sages. That is to say, he should receive their reasoning, and when doubts arise within him, he should go and learn from them, roll in the dust of their feet, and drink their waters with great thirst — the latter being a metaphor for the world of questions and doubts. Furthermore, in saying "and drink their words with thirst," the intention is that one should take in the words of the Sages gradually, like a person who drinks little by little, rather than having the Jordan River pour into his mouth and choke him. For learning without gradual progression and proper preparation is a cause of the corruption of ideas — as Shlomo warned (Mishlei 22:17): "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise," and likewise said (ibid. 4:26): "Weigh carefully the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established" — meaning that a person should not take large, hasty strides, for he will grow weary and never reach the end of his journey; rather, he should chart his course little by little. This is a great warning concerning the study of Torah and the examination of its secrets. And this too is derived from the Torah itself, which warned at the Revelation at Sinai that the priests and the people should "not break through to ascend to Hashem, lest He break out against them" (Shemot 19:24). And it says in the portion of the Sages (Devarim 17:11): "According to the instruction which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you," etc.