Our Gemara on Amud Aleph details the vast array of wisdom, Torah knowledge, and even scientific expertise mastered by a Torah scholar like Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, the least among Hillel the Elder’s eighty students:

The Sages said about Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai that he did not neglect Bible and Mishna, Talmud, halachos and aggados, minutiae of the Torah and minutiae of the scribes, hermeneutical principles for a fortiori inferences, verbal analogies, calendrical calculations, gematrios, and folktales like parables of launderers and foxes. He did not neglect esoteric matters either, such as conversations with demons, palm trees, and angels, spanning all topics of great and small matters. He fulfilled the verse, “That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance [yesh] and that I may fill [ama-ley] their treasuries” (Proverbs 8:21), as Rabban Yoḥanan was indeed filled with Torah and wisdom.

The Yismach Moshe (Mishpatim 23) connects these “treasuries” to the inheritance of the righteous as noted in Mishna Oktzin (3:12):

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the world to come, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will make each righteous person inherit 310 worlds, for it is written: “That I may cause those that love me to inherit yesh [substance], and that I may fill [ama-ley] their treasuries” (Proverbs 8:21), where “yesh” has the gematria value of 310.

(Perhaps this also gives new meaning to the verse in Tehillim 135:17, “There is no Yesh-Ruach in their mouths.”)

This Hebrew term for "fill" (ama-ley) implies a complete filling—no space left unoccupied. Here the Yismach Moshe raises an interesting question: How is it possible that each person receives completely full treasure houses, suggesting everyone receives the same amount? This seems counterintuitive and inconsistent with the notion of diverse spiritual achievements. In Kesuvos 75a, we read:

 “Rabbi Ḥanina said: Each and every one is burned from embarrassment at the size of the canopy of the other, and says: Woe for this embarrassment, woe for this disgrace, that I did not merit a canopy as large as his.”

This teaches that even among the sages, distinctions in spiritual stature are felt. According to Yismach Moshe, each person may indeed receive the same 310 treasure houses, but the contents within each storage house vary in quantity or density according to the deeds and achievements of the individual.

Another layer of insight here lies in the nature of the embarrassment described on 75a: “Each and everyone is burned from the embarrassment at the size of the canopy of the others.” This circular description—where each sage is embarrassed by the strengths of another—implies an unusual kind of mutual humility. It suggests that even the most accomplished sages found something in their colleagues that surpassed their own achievements. Each sage, humbled by another’s unique wisdom or piety, reveals a powerful image of the sages not merely existing in hierarchical tiers, but interlocked in a web of shared respect and self-reflection.

Thus, these texts present a picture of how divine inheritance is individualized in its fullness. Each righteous person may receive an equal number of treasure houses, yet the “filling” of these houses reflects the essence and unique contributions of each soul. 

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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