Thou Shall Not Embarrass A Talmid Chacham

went and told a fascinating anecdote related to Yehuda bar Nachmani that when Yehuda bar Nachmani quote unquote stumped Rav Tarfon, Rav Tarfon was quiet, Yehuda bar Nachmani was savu panav. Rebbi Akiva didn't like it and Rebbi Akiva told him Rebbi Akiva to me entire yamim if you're going to have a richus yamim and then Rebbi Yehuda bar Rebbi Illai who's the famous Rebbi Yehuda who's a talmid of Rebbi Akiva who was an eyewitness to these events, he says I want you to know the story took place exactly two weeks before Pesach and yes, all the chachamim were in Eretz Yisrael and they were to zamin, they were being oleh regel. He said I came back to Eretz Yisrael Shavuos time, that's the next time you have a mitzvah to be in Eretz Yisrael to be oleh regel. He said I was looking for Yehuda bar Nachmani, I couldn't find him and they told me that he had died and it was clearly because of the words that came out of Rebbi Akiva. Just one ha'arah before we go further and that is I saw a proof in Margolies in the sefer Netzach Yisrael. So, he makes a beautiful observation. He said when did Yehuda bar Nachmani die? It sounds like he died sometime after Pesach and sometime before Shavuos, right? This mitzvah happened right before Pesach, it sounds like Rebbi Yehuda was in Eretz Yisrael for Pesach, came back for Shavuos and he found out that Yehuda bar Nachmani wasn't alive anymore. He died being diff chola tza'arta. So, he says take a look at the Gemara in Maseches Yevamos daf sameach chelek aleph mem aleph Gemara that everybody knows. The Gemara says Rebbi Akiva had 24,000 talmidim. The kulam meisu b'perek echad. They all died during the same tkufa. And what was the tkufa that they died? It was between Pesach and Shavuos. And why did they die between Pesach and Shavuos? Shelo nahagu kavod zeh lazeh. Because they were mevazeh talmidei chachamim. Says Rav Reuven Margolies there's a precedent from the great talmid of Rebbi Akiva that they died because they were lo nahagu kavod zeh lazeh and when did they die during this tkufa? He says this Yehuda bar Nachmani literally had the misah of talmidei Rebbi Akiva. He was mevazeh talmid chacham on some level, Rav Tarfon, and he died mamash during the zol but tkufa. And by the way, who was the one that said to me "Ani would be a chiddush if you're going to make it out alive"? It was Rebbi Akiva who had experience with this. But the bottom line is they he died misas talmidei Rebbi Akiva b'oiso perek mamash. And he like so does Rav Reuven Margolies that we know the Gemara says in Maseches Shabbos daf kuf mem zayin mem bais that Shmuel the doctor said all the different inyanei refuah work best between Pesach and Shavuos. That's the time that they're the most effective. We've mentioned many times over the years that the Chasam Sofer in Chiddushei Chasam Sofer al Hashas in that Gemara says this is the makor of chodesh Iyar being the chodesh hamusbal refuah. Iyar is rashei teivos Ani Hashem Rofecha. He said it comes from this Gemara. It's the one complete month between Pesach and Shavuos. So, says Rav Reuven Margolies that if you think about it, it's hefech hasvara, right? This is a tkufa that says a man of refuah. So, what's going on over here? And the truth is the Maharsha already makes this observation. The Maharsha on the Gemara Yevamos that says that talmidei Rebbi Akiva all died b'oiso perek, the Gemara says they died because of a machlokes, because of misas askara. Says the Maharsha, take a look at the Gemara in Shabbos kuf mem zayin. This is a man that's supposed to be musbal refuah and af ilu hachi they died and this is a chiddush that despite the fact that it's a man of refuah they died. But says Rav Reuven Margolies, what's the oimek? What's takke p'shat? Why are all these people dying during this tkufa? He says because the Gemara says kol mevazeh talmid chacham ein refuah l'makaso. And he says could be that's exactly the point of Chazal that during this tkufa which is a tkufa where people are supposed to have refuos and yeshuos, af ilu hachi kulam meisu b'oiso perek. Why? Because they were mevazeh talmidei chachamim. Because kol mevazeh talmid chacham ein refuah l'makaso. It's all connected. This is the cheshbon either way, a very, very light anecdote tucked away here in Menachos daf sameach chelek aleph bais.