כל אחד צריך להתנהג על פי מדרגתו, מה שאין כן התופס מדרגה שאינה שלו, זה וזה לא נתקיימו בידו, וזהו שאמרו הרבה עשו כרבי שמעון בן יוחאי ולא עלתה בידם, ורצו לומר שלא היו בבחינה זו רק שעשו כרבי שמעון בן יוחאי שראו אותו בבחינה זו ולכך לא עלתה בידם, וכן שמעתי ממורי סברא זו ודפח"ח: (בן פורת יוסף ד"ה ע"ב)
Each person must act according to his level, for when he tries to grasp levels that are not his, neither will remain in his hand.89I.e. he will neither grow according to his level, nor acquire the higher level he was seeking to imitate. This is what they said: “Many tried to do as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, but were unable.”89Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught that Jews should spend all of their time studying Torah, and not be involved in making a living. The Talmud states that many individuals tried to follow Rabbi Shimon’s advice, but were unsuccessful. Meaning to say, they were not really on Rabbi Shimon’s level, but only acted like him when they saw him on this level. Therefore, they were unsuccessful. Ben Poras Yosef, p. 5b
כל אחד צריך להתנהג על פי מדרגתו, מה שאין כן התופס מדרגה שאינה שלו, זה וזה לא נתקיימו בידו, וזהו שאמרו הרבה עשו כרבי שמעון בן יוחאי ולא עלתה בידם, ורצו לומר שלא היו בבחינה זו רק שעשו כרבי שמעון בן יוחאי שראו אותו בבחינה זו ולכך לא עלתה בידם, וכן שמעתי ממורי סברא זו ודפח"ח:
(בן פורת יוסף ד"ה ע"ב)
Each person must act according to his level, for when he tries to grasp levels that are not his, neither will remain in his hand.89I.e. he will neither grow according to his level, nor acquire the higher level he was seeking to imitate. This is what they said: “Many tried to do as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, but were unable.”89Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught that Jews should spend all of their time studying Torah, and not be involved in making a living. The Talmud states that many individuals tried to follow Rabbi Shimon’s advice, but were unsuccessful. Meaning to say, they were not really on Rabbi Shimon’s level, but only acted like him when they saw him on this level. Therefore, they were unsuccessful.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 5b