Did you ever hear of Rami bar Chama? If you have learned Talmud Bavli you most probably have come across his name since he is mentioned there 233 times. Did you ever wonder when he died and why? Well perhaps it’s time you did.
The Talmud in Massechta Berachos (47b) informs us of the following incident: The Sages were very careful not to include a person who was deemed to be an Am HaAretz when they made a zimun for bentching. The phrase ‘Am HaAretz’ is difficult to translate precisely as it certainly does not mean an ignoramus as many assume it does.
In fact, one opinion in the Gemara (which is apparently accepted as halachically binding) states that even a person who has learned Chumash and Mishnah, but has not ‘served’ (v’lo shimeish) the Sages – meaning he has not served as an apprentice to receive practical rabbinic training – should be treated as an Am HaAretz!
The Gemara goes on to inform us that Rami bar Chama, based on the above ruling, refused to include the Amora, Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa, in his zimun. (Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa speaks only three times in the entire Talmud Bavli and never in the Talmud Yerushalmi.) When Rami bar Chama died, the great Amora, Rava (who is mentioned a whopping 5,699 times in Talmud Bavli and 91 times in Talmud Yerushalmi!), commented that Rami bar Chama died because he refused to include Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa in his zimun! How could Rava say that?
After all, didn’t we learn that one who never ‘served’ the Sages is deemed an Am HaAretz and is therefore disqualified from being part of a zimun? What did Rami bar Chama do wrong which was worthy of his being punished with premature death?
The Gemara answers that the ‘sin’ of Rami bar Chama was that he labeled Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa an Am HaAretz prematurely! Meaning, Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa had indeed ‘served’ the Sages and he was not an Am HaAretz.
Unfortunately, Rami bar Chama did not vet Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa properly and ‘labeled’ him an Am HaAretz when he really was a bona fide Talmid Chochom! Rami bar Chama was guilty of ‘labeling’ Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa without doing his homework and due diligence. For this sin of ‘labeling’ someone incorrectly, Rami bar Chama was (according to Rava) punished by Hashem with premature death.
How often do we also ‘label’ people without properly vetting them? How often do we hear just one side of a story and feel ‘we know’ the truth of who is who? How often do we ‘label’ and classify people and place them into convenient compartments without really doing our homework properly? My guess is that this happens much too often.
Remember, if someone as great and as talented as Rami bar Chama could unintentionally misjudge Rav Menashia bar Tachlifa, how much more careful must we always be not to judge or classify anyone before we know the ‘whole’ story!
