Bava Batra 8 – Feeding the Unlearned (Civil)

Rabbi Yehudah the Prince opened food storehouses to feed the poor during famine. However, he said that only the students of the Torah may enter and take food, but not unlearned folk, since he held that misfortunes come to the world only because of the unlearned people.

His disciple, Rabbi Yonatan ben Amram, disguised himself and pushed his way in:

- Master, please sustain me.
- My son, are you a student of the Torah or related areas?
- No.
- If so, on what merit shall I sustain you?
- Sustain me as you would a dog or a raven.

Rabbi Yehudah relented but later became distressed. His son Rabbi Shimon said, "Perhaps this is Rabbi Yonatan, who did not wish to benefit from his Torah." They found this was so, and Rabbi Yehudah announced, "Let everyone enter."

Art: Waiting in the Clinic by Charles Perrandeau