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Similarities Between Yohanan And Resh Laqish

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The rabbinic story depicted in the Tragedy of R. Yohanan and Resh Laqish revolves around the issues of ego and guilt in friendship. The main protagonists are R. Yohanan and Resh Laqish. Both are faithful men that met at by chance at the Jordan River and exchanged gifts. R. Yohanan offers the Torah in exchange for Resh Laqish’s strength, while Resh Laquish trades for “beauty for women” (Rubenstein 115). After their encounter, a deep friendship follows, only to be broken apart by ego. During a discussion over what makes weapons impure, Resh Laqish deeply hurts R. Yohana by saying that he did not gain anything from their previous exchange. In a sense, Resh Laqish describes their relationship as one that is not beneficial to him, and therefore wasteful. …show more content…

Yohana felt bad, Resh Laqish was punished for causing him pain. Resh Laqish suffered enough for his wife –R. Yohana’s sister- to go beg R. Yohana to reconcile with Resh Laqish. Resh Laqish refused, even after his sister begged him for both her and her children’s sake. In fact, R. Yohana uses verses from Jeremiah 49:11 to turn down her pleads. These quotes create seamless example of how R. Yohana’s pride did not allow him to forgive his friend because he held a grudge on being contradicted when he was the one who introduced Resh Laqish to the study. This continues until Resh Laqish dies of the pain he caused, and therefore in turn, R. Yohana feels even more sorrow for the true loss of his friend. R. Yohana’s guilt is so great that his fellow rabbis pray so that God would let R. Yohana die to end his suffering. In the end, R. Yohana did

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