After the teacher who wept before two roads, a new section opens. These five chapters are about speech. The first is about two men who saved people with words.
The Prophet in the Market
Rabbi Beroka Chuza’ah went to the market often, and there he often met the prophet Elijah.
One day he asked, is there anyone here who has a share in the world to come?
The Man in Black Shoes
Elijah pointed to a man. He was wearing black shoes, and his clothing was unlike the rest.
Beroka went up and asked, what work do you do?
He answered that he was a prison guard. He kept men and women prisoners apart to protect the women, and he warned the sages of coming decrees so they had time to pray.
And There Were Two More
Just then two other men walked past. Elijah said, those two also have a share in the world to come.
Beroka went up and asked, what work do you do?
אִינָשֵׁי בָּדוֹחֵי אֲנַן, מְבַדְּחִינַן עֲצִיבֵי (inashei badochei anan, mevadchinan atzivei) We are jesters. When we see someone sad we make them laugh and lift their spirits. (Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 22a, translated directly)
They added, and when we see two people quarreling, we work to make peace between them.
Set Beside Protection at Real Risk
The prison guard’s qualification is easy to understand. It was protection offered at real risk.
And Elijah placed the two jesters in the same rank. What they did was no great decision. They made sad people laugh and quarreling people make peace.
Today, in the Role of Lifting the Room
Every organization has people who deliver results, and people who lift the mood with words or smooth over a clash whenever the room sinks.
This story does not treat the second role as secondary. Making someone laugh with words, and laying a bridge across a quarrel with words, can be weighed heavily too.