When Rabbi Zeira finally realized his dream of reaching Eretz Yisrael, only a river separated him from his goal. Rather than wait for the next ferry to take him across, he decided to use a primitive bridge consisting of a log spanning the river, which he walked upon while holding on to an overhead rope to ensure that he wouldn’t fall.

A heathen observer of this rickety crossing cried out to him: “Impulsive people that you are, who put your mouths before your ears [when they said “we will do” before they said “we will hear” in accepting the Torah without knowing what it required of them], you are still acting impulsively. Why don’t you wait for the ferry in order to make a safer and more comfortable crossing?”

To this Rabbi Zeira sighed: “A land which Moshe and Aharon did not merit to enter – who knows if I wait any longer that I will have the privilege of entering it!”

(Ketubot 112a)

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