רבי מאיר בעל הנס

Rabbi Meir was among the greatest students of Rabbi Akiva, and the sharpest of the sages of his generation. The Sages said that his colleagues could not fathom the depth of his reasoning, so profound and incisive was his mind. His name testifies about him: 'Meir,' who enlightened the eyes of the sages in halacha (Eruvin 13b).

He was an expert scribe of sacred texts, wrote Torah scrolls with precision, and supported himself by the labor of his hands. And though he was sharper than all, he taught us a great principle in humility: 'let a person's words always be few before the Holy One.'

The most enigmatic figure in his life was his teacher, Elisha ben Avuya, 'Acher,' who went astray. All the other sages abandoned him, but Rabbi Meir did not leave his teacher. He continued to learn Torah from him, and it was said of this: 'Rabbi Meir found a pomegranate, ate its inside and threw away its peel' (Chagigah 15b). He knew how to take the truth even from one who had fallen, without adopting his fall. Love of a teacher and of truth is greater than shame.

His wife Bruria was a scholar in her own right, one of the wise women of the Talmud, and her words are cited in halacha. Their home was a house of Torah on both sides.

Rabbi Meir is the foundation of the Mishnah: we have a principle that 'an anonymous Mishnah is Rabbi Meir,' that is, most of the anonymous laws in the Mishnah follow his approach, as Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi arranged them. His Torah flows through every page of the Talmud.

His teaching: 'whoever engages in Torah for its own sake merits many things, and moreover the whole world is worthwhile for his sake' (Pirkei Avot 6:1). Torah for its own sake, not for honor, is the secret of his strength.

Rabbi Meir teaches that one can be the sharpest of all and remain humble, and that truth is so precious that we gather it even from within the peel.