Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 67

celebrate it," but where is it written an offering shall be brought ?) This may be inferred from an analogy of expressions. It is writ- ten [Ex. V. i] : "That they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness^' and it is written [Amos v. 25]: "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness?" Hence as there is plainly stated " offerings," so also " hold a feast " means to bring offerings. Why, then, is it said, they are as mountains hanging by a hair ? Because between the words of the law of the Pentateuch and the words of the Prophets we do not draw any analogies. " Trespass." Is that not written? Said Rabha: It means as 20 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. a case of the following Boraitha: If the owner has remem- bered, but his messenger did not remember, the messenger has trespassed. Now, what has the poor messenger done to trespass ? That is, these laws are as mountains hanging by a hair. " In the Bible are very few,'' etc. We have learned in a Bo- raitha : That about plagues, tents for a dead body, the verses are few, and the Halakhath are many. Is that so? Of plagues there are very many verses ? Said R. Papa : The Boraitha meant to say thus : About plagues there are many verses, but few Halakhath ; but about tents there are few verses, but many Halakhath. And what is the difference? That is, if one is doubtful in a Halakha concerning plagues, he should look up the Bible, but if he is doubtful concerning tents, he must look up the Mishnas. ^' Jurisprudence y (The Mishna says, it has only a basis. Is it only that ?) Is it not written all about it ? It is meant a case as in the following Boraitha : Rabbi said : What is written [Ex. xxi. 23] : " Life for life " means money. But whence do we deduce this? Perhaps it means life in the reality? There- fore here it is written : " Thou shalt give," and in the preceding verse it is written : " He shall give by the decision of the judges." As there it is to pay money only, so it is here. " The Temple services^ Is this not written ? It means to say about the bringing of the blood to the altar, as we have learned in a Boraitha. The passage [Lev. iv.] "shall bring'' means '•'■ receiving" the blood, as it is a service that must be done by the priest with the observation of all the regulations of the Law. ^^ Clean and unclean.'^ Is this not written? The Mishna means, the prescribed quantity for a legal bath, which is not written at all. But about unclean things, is it not written ? It means to say, the size of a lentil from a reptile defiles, which is not written. ^'- Illegal unions." Is it not written about this plainly? It was necessary to meet the case of the daughter of a woman whom he has forced, which is not written about in the Bible and that is only drawn from an analogy of expression. " And they are the essentials of the Law." Are only these the essential parts ? and the former not ? Say, they are also. CHAPTER II. REGULATIONS CONCERNING PUBLIC LECTURES WHICH ARE AND WHICH ARE NOT ALLOWED. MISHNA : One should not discuss illegal unions unless there were three besides him, nor the creation unless there were two besides him, nor the divine chariot with one individual, unless he was a wise man and had much knowledge of his own. Every one who tries to know the following four things, it were better for him if he had never come into the world, viz. : What is above and what is beneath, what was before creation, and what will be after all will be destroyed. And every one who does not revere the glory of his Creator, it were better for him he had not come into the world. GEMARA : In the first part it is said: "The divine chariot with an individual " (because he may deviate from the tradition and add out of his own mind, and there will be nobody to remind him), and afterwards it is said : " Unless he is a wise man and will understand by himself ? " (from this we infer, that no tradition is necessary). The Mishna meant to say thus : One must not lecture about illegal unions even to three, nor about the creation even to two, and not about the divine chariot even to one, unless the lecturer was a wise man and will understand himself to an- swer, if they will question him about something. Why so ? Said R. Ashi : One must not lecture about illegal unions not men- tioned in the Bible {e.g.y his daughter of a forced woman, or the mother of his father-in-law, which is drawn only from an analogy of expression ? ) And why not to three ? This is common sense. If there are only two, the Master speaks to one, and the other listens to him. But if there are three, one listens, and the other two discuss it between them, and can err and come to a wrong conclusion to permit an unlawful thing. If it is so, why only about unlawful unions, the case should be the same with the ■whole Law ? In case of unlawful unions it is different, because the Master says: Robbing and vice a man desires. If so, why only in case of illegal unions, let him not lecture about robbery 22 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. also to three? Robbery one desires when the thing to be robbed is in his presence, but this is desired in the party's ab- sence also. ''And not about creation to two.'' Whence do we deduce this? As stated in the following Boraitha : It is written [Deut. iv. 32] : " For do but ask of former days " (this is in the singular). From this we may infer, that one may ask, not two. Lest one assume that a man can ask, What was before the creation? therefore it is written [ibid.] : " Since the day that God created man from the earth " ; but lest one assume, a man must not ask even what was done in the six days of creation ? therefore it is written [ibid.] : " Which were before thee" \i.e., the six days before] ; lest one ask, What is above and what is beneath, what was before creation and what will be after it ? therefore it is writ- ten [ibid.] : " From one end of the heavens unto the other end of the heavens," *'but not what is beyond." [If we infer this from what is written : " From one end of the heavens unto the other end," why is needed the verse further : " Since the day that God created man upon the earth " ? This is according to R. Elazar, who said that Adam was tall from the earth up to heaven, and after he had transgressed, the Holy One, blessed be He, laid His hand upon him, and made him lower, as it is written (Ps. cxxxix. 5) : " Behind and before hast thou hedged me in, and thou placest upon me thy hand."] R. Jehudah in the name of Rabh said : Ten things were created on the first day, and they are : heaven and earth; chaos and desolation ; light and darkness ; wind and waters ; the measures of the day and those of the night — heaven and earth,