Lag Ba'Omer questions

[rosends]

I haven't researched these so they might have simple answers (I'm a master of the klutz kashe), but I wanted to write them down somewhere, so here they are...

I read the usual story regarding the sadness of the Omer period as retold here:

It was said that Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of disciples from Gabbatha to Antipatris; and all of them died at the same time because they did not treat each other with respect. The world remained desolate until Rabbi Akiva came to our Masters in the South and taught the Torah to them. These were Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua; and it was they who revived the Torah at that time. A Tanna taught: "All of them died between Passover and Shavuot". Rabbi Hama ben Abba or, it might be said, Rabbi Hiyya ben Abin said: "All of them died a cruel death." What was it? Rabbi Nahman replied: "Croup." (Yevamot 62b)

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So here's what I'm wondering --

1. How is it possible that of 12,000 pairs, not a single one acted with respect at least enough of the time not to earn being killed?

2. What kind of disrespect causes death? There is a lot of disrespect around and has been for a while. When did it become a capital crime?

3. Wouldn't this reflect on the teacher who didn't teach them an essential truth that respect precedes Torah knowledge? And yet the teacher was not punished!

4. How could they have been fulfilling any of the Torah laws and yet not have respect -- they couldn't have been very good students, or been learning any actual laws or Torah if they didn't have respect? Wouldn't they then have earned death through other sins?

 

[dybmh]

I wonder if how they died is significant?

Croup

"The Gemara explains that the most difficult of all these types of death is croup [askara], while the easiest is the kiss of death. Croup is like a thorn entangled in a wool fleece, which, when pulled out backwards, tears the wool. Some say that croup is like ropes at the entrance to the esophagus, which would be nearly impossible to insert and excruciating to remove. The kiss of death is like drawing a hair from milk. One should pray that he does not die a painful death."

Jastrow, אַסְכְּרָא 1

 

[rosends]

I wonder if how they died is significant?



"The Gemara explains that the most difficult of all these types of death is croup [askara], while the easiest is the kiss of death. Croup is like a thorn entangled in a wool fleece, which, when pulled out backwards, tears the wool. Some say that croup is like ropes at the entrance to the esophagus, which would be nearly impossible to insert and excruciating to remove. The kiss of death is like drawing a hair from milk. One should pray that he does not die a painful death."

Jastrow, אַסְכְּרָא 1

the hair from the milk indicates that the soul has no connection to the body and its removal is painless. The croup image would indicate that the soul is so attached to the physical that it resists being taken to a spiritual place. It clings tenaciously causing the pain of death. If the students were that fixated on the physical world, I would think that a lack of respect would be a footnote.