Q&A: In the ordinary course of the world, a thousand enter Scripture…
In the ordinary course of the world, a thousand enter Scripture…
Question
What did the Sages mean by the saying, “A thousand enter Scripture, one emerges to Mishnah… to Talmud… to halakhic ruling…”?
A. Are the numbers the Sages use here (1000, 100, 10, 1) meant precisely?
B. Are all thousand who entered really there for the sake of that one among them—meaning, does the importance of the one out of the thousand outweigh all the rest—or should all thousand aspire to be like that one, though in practice what comes out is failure? Practically speaking, are all 1000 important in their own right, or are they only a means to produce one from among them?
Answer
Clearly, the numbers are not meant precisely.
I think the intent is simply to say that, as a matter of fact, out of a thousand, one goes on to halakhic ruling. In other words, for one to emerge, you need to bring in a thousand. That does not necessarily mean that the thousand have no importance in their own right. On the contrary, there is the commandment of Torah study.
The thousand who enter Talmudic study also sharpen the halakhic decisor and test him.