(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 2:248)

Gemara: When our masters entered Kerem B’Yavneh (The Vineyards of Yavneh), Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yossi, and Rabbi Shimon, …

(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 2:248)

Ein Ayah: It is possible to build an all-encompassing “structure” by means of a great, internal center that dwells in the midst of the nation. This center should unite all of the scattered powers that make up the overall resources of the collective.

When a single center has great strength, then the strengths of individuals throughout the nation are not afforded independent recognition. Their position depends on their relative significance within the setting of the center. However, when the center ceases to function, then the nation has to find a place for the contributions of important individuals, each one within his own realm and with his own impact on the intellectual development of the nation.

Yavneh was established after the setting of the light from Zion [i.e., the destruction of the Holy Temple] and the displacement of the main national center from Yerushalayim (may it be rebuilt soon), where it was founded. When the Temple existed, it was not important to recognize the relative position of one source of leadership to another. Only in Yavneh, which was a makeshift center, was it necessary to talk of a vineyard, consisting of row after row. It had to be set up with certain “spacing” so that one “plant not harm the growth of its neighboring plant.”

Rather they should be set up in a way that they complement each other and form “one vineyard.” This is with parallel rows that do not cross each other. Each scholar who had an approach to the implementation of Torah in national life continued on a consistent path that was uniquely his. By the unification of all of these powers, good things emerge, which create desirable fruit which bring joy to Hashem and to people. “On that day, sing about it: ‘It is a vineyard that produces wine’” (Yeshaya 27:2)