רַבִּי פְּרִידָא הֲוָה לֵיהּ הָהוּא תַּלְמִידָא דַּהֲוָה תָּנֵי לֵיהּ אַרְבַּע מְאָה זִימְנֵי וְגָמַר. יוֹמָא חַד בַּעְיוּהּ לְמִלְּתָא דְמִצְוָה. תְּנָא לֵיהּ וְלָא גְּמַר.

Having discussed the importance of reviewing one’s Torah study, the Gemara relates that Rabbi Perida had a certain student whom he would have to teach four hundred times, and only then would he learn the material, as he was incapable of understanding it otherwise. One day they requested Rabbi Perida’s presence for a mitzva matter after the lesson. Rabbi Perida taught his student four hundred times as usual, but this time the student did not successfully learn the material.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הָאִידָּנָא מַאי שְׁנָא? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִדְּהָהִיא שַׁעְתָּא דַּאֲמַר לֵיהּ לְמָר אִיכָּא מִילְּתָא דְּמִצְוָה — אַסְּחַאי לְדַעְתַּאי, וְכׇל שַׁעְתָּא אָמֵינָא: הַשְׁתָּא קָאֵי מָר, הַשְׁתָּא קָאֵי מָר. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הַב דַּעְתָּיךְ וְאַתְנֵי לִיךְ. הֲדַר תְּנָא לֵיהּ אַרְבַּע מְאָה זִימְנֵי [אַחֲרִינֵי].

Rabbi Perida said to him: What is different now that you are unable to grasp the lesson? He said to him: From the time that they said to the Master that there is a mitzva matter for which he is needed, my mind was distracted from the lesson and every moment I said: Now the Master will get up, now the Master will get up to go and perform the mitzva and he will not complete the lesson. Rabbi Perida said to him: Pay attention this time and I will teach you, and know that I will not leave until you have fully mastered the lesson. He taught him again an additional four hundred times.

נְפַקָא בַּת קָלָא וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ: נִיחָא לָיךְ דְּלִיסְפּוֹ לָךְ אַרְבַּע מְאָה שְׁנֵי, אוֹ דְּתִיזְכּוֹ אַתְּ וְדָרָךְ לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי? אָמַר: דְּנִיזְכּוֹ אֲנָא וְדָרַיי לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי. אָמַר לָהֶן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: תְּנוּ לוֹ זוֹ וָזוֹ.

Due to the merit of Rabbi Perida’s great devotion to his students, a Divine Voice emerged and said to him: Is it preferable to you that four hundred years be added to your life, or that you and the rest of your generation will merit the World-to-Come? He said: I prefer that I and my generation merit the World-to-Come. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the angels: Give him both; he shall live a very long life and he and the rest of his generation will merit the World-to-Come.

בן יהוידע

נִיחָא לָךְ דְּלִיסְפוּ עַל חַיִיךְ אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שְׁנֵי? אוֹ דְּתִזְכֶּה אַתְּ וְדָרָךְ לְעָלְמָא דְּאַתִּי?. הא דזכה לכולי האי בשביל יגיעת ת' זמנין שהוסיף באותו היום בלבד, ולא זכה בעבור יגיעתו בזה בכל יום ויום, היינו כי איכות ת' זמני הנוספים אין לה שיעור, מפני כי לפי טבע האנושי היה לו לכעוס עליו שאיבד טרחתו בכדי, והוא לא מבעייא שלא כעס אלא חזר ולמדו עוד ת' זמני בפנים צהובות ובשמחת לב, אחר שהוא יגע עתה הרבה מחמת ת' הראשונים ולכך זכה בעבורם לכל שכר הגדול הזה.

Beautiful idea that the patience he showed even when his first efforts seemed to be completely wasted was what made for the special zechus.

One might ask, how did this merit end up benefiting the entire generation?  What did the generation do? The Ben Yehoyada has an interesting interpretation about generation. It is actually a hint that’s a different root souls that are connected to Rabbi Pereida’s Soul. In other words it wasn’t his generation is it the people who lived during his time, rather it was literally his “generation“, meaning all the different individuals throughout history that somehow or another contained the root elements of his soul. 

ונראה לי בס"ד כי ביאור דבר זה כבר נתבאר בדברי רבינו האר"י ז"ל בשער מאמרי רשב"י דאין הכונה על הנמצאים בעולם הזה במשך שנות חייו שחי בעולם הזה, אך סוד הענין הוא דכל הנשמות מתחלקים לששים רבוא שרשים מחולפים זה מזה, ובכל שורש יש ס' רבוא ניצוצות נשמות. והנה כל הניצוצות התלויים בשורש נשמת רבי פרידא נקראים בני דורו אף על פי שאין כולם נמצאים יחד עמו בזמן אחד, אלא מיום בריאת הנשמות עד לעתיד לבא כל אחד מתגלגל בזמן הראוי לו עד שנשלם להתקן. והנה בקצת שרשים יארע שאיזה ניצוץ נשמה פרטית תלך לאיבוד, שנשארה בתכלית סיום הצירוף והזיקוק בסיגים האחרונים, ואינה יכולה להצטרף מרוב דקותה ורבוי הסיגים, אשר עליה נאמר (ישעיה סו, כד) וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ בְּפִגְרֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַפֹּשְׁעִים וכו', לכן הבטיחו השם יתברך שבכל ניצוצי הנשמות שבשרש רבי פרידא כולם יתוקנו על ידי הגלגלולים ולא ישאר אפילו אחד מהם שיאבד ח"ו, וזה בזכותו כי השרש הטוב כל ענפיו נתקנים עד כאן לשונו יעויין שם.

However, A simple answer that occurs to me is that if the student was taught so patiently, it would lead him to become a great teacher as well, which would intern produce many patient students and teachers and ultimately benefit the entire generation. This reminds me of my father ז״ל Who had many students, in fact thousands of students, who ended up teaching others. And, he was indeed known for his incredible patience and understanding for his students and how he taught teachers to be the same. I will just give one example of some of my father’s teachings: he would point out that often there are children who think deeply but slowly, and not every child has a mind that is quick to come up with the answer right away. In fact, some children will come up with the answer right away, although they are bright, do not necessarily come up with the best answer. Therefore, a teacher when asking the class a question, should pause for five whole seconds allowing other children to think and raise their hands and not just answer the child who raises his or her hand first.  Indeed, my father would ask the children NOT to raise their hands until 5 seconds had passed.

And finally, I would like to focus on the initial concepts discussed here. The student had great difficulty concentrating because he was fearful that any minute his master would have to run off and leave as he was summoned to an important task. This idea of needing to be fully present, and another person feeling insecure when there is a sense that he or she may not be present is vital. Sometimes people, parents or spouses make “quality time“ for their loved ones.  If there is a sense of impatience, even if the intention is in the right place, it can detract from the experience of being present. A modern day example of this is somebody who has their phone on vibrate while listening to a child or a spouse. It might be with the best of intentions to be available, but the spouse or the child may feel the constant fear of the phone interrupting. Even if the person is of such a quality that he does not let the phone interrupt, as doubtless rabbi Pereida was, still the fear of the interruption detracts. Or, say you are coming home and in a rush, perhaps you have to run right out in 3 minutes. if you have to do that, during those three minutes you could act as if you have all the time in the world. In my father's later years, you work very hard on this quality. No matter how busy he was, when he was listening to somebody he gave his full Focus. This is an important quality to develop especially in today's Times.

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Eruvin 54

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria