Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 2, scan section 23

blank pages of the Sadducean books. Why, it is not even allowed to save the Sadducean books themselves ? Perhaps the Boraitha means, that the Sadducean books are considered as blank pages, and hence must not be saved. The text of the Boraitha says further: The Gilyonim and the Sadducean books must not be saved from a conflagration ; R. Jose says, that on week-days the Holy Name must be torn out wherever it appears and preserved, and the remainder must be burned; but R. Tarphon says: May I bury my children, if I would not burn such books together with the Holy Name, whenever they reached my hands ; for when a man is pursued by murderers or by a snake, it were better for him to seek refuge in the terhple of an idol than to enter the houses of such people ; for the idolaters serve their idols because they know not God, but the others know God and deny him ; they (the latter) are referred to by the verse [Isaiah Ivii. 8]: "And behind the doors and the doorposts hast thou placed thy remembrance" (implying that they remember the Lord very well, but never- theless place their memory behind the doors and doorposts). TRACT SABBATH. 243 Said R. Ishmael : In the Scriptures it is even allowed to erase with bitter water the Holy Name of God, which was writ- ten in a holy cause in order to bring about peace between man and wife, a fortiori it should be allowed in the case of those people who cause discord and enmity between Israel and the Heavenly Father. To them David had reference [in Psalms cxxxix. 21, 22]: " Behold those that hate thee, I ever hate, O Lord ! and for those that rise up against thee do I feel loathing. With the utmost hatred do I hate them : enemies are they become unto me." So, as they must not be saved from a con- flagration, they must also not be saved from the waters, or any- thing that might destroy them. Joseph bar Hanin asked of R. Abuha: " May the books of Be Abhidon be saved?" Answered R. Abuha: Yea, nay, I really cannot tell. Rabh never went to the Be Abhidon, and all the more not to the Be Nitzrephe.* Samuel, however, never went to the Be Nitzrephe, but did go to the Be Abhidon. Mar bar Joseph said : " I am of their society and do not fear them." Still it happened at one time that he was in danger on their account. Ema Shalom, the wife of R. EHezer, who was also a sister of R. Gamaliel the Second, encountered a philosopher in her neigh- borhood who was a judge, and had the reputation of being inac- cessible to bribery. R. Gamaliel and his sister wished to ridicule him and prove that he was accessible to bribery. Ema Shalom brought him a golden candle. He asked her what she wanted, so she answered : " My father is dead, and I wish to inherit some of his possessions." The judge said: " Go, I will order that you be given your share." Said she: " Thou canst not order it so, because our law decrees, that wherever there is a son a daughter cannot inherit." Answered the judge: "Since you Israelites are in exile, your law given you by Moses has been revoked, and a new law was given you by which daughters may inherit equally with sons." On the morrow came R. Gamaliel and brought him a Libyan ass, and told him that he did not wish to let his sister inherit. Said the judge: " After thy sister left I consulted the law again, and found that the new law said: ' I did not come to abolish the Mosaic law, neither to increase nor * We render these names without translations, as we also do in the case of Gilyo- nim, because of the incessant discussions concerning them among Hebrew theo- logians, and we do not desire to decide the definite meaning. 244 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. to diminish it.' Hence it must remain as in the old law, that where a son is left a sister must not inherit." Said Ema Shalom to the judge: " May God make thy light as bright as a candle." Said R. Gamaliel to her (in the presence of the judge): " An ass came along and extinguished thy candle." ' ' Why are some {sacred Scriptures) not allowed to be read {on the Sabbath) f etc. Said Rabh: "It is not allowed to read such Scriptures only during the time of the sermons at the school-house, but at any other they maybe read." Samuel, however, said, that even at any other time they must not be read, because he holds with R. Nehemiah as we have learned in the following Boraitha: "Although it was said that the Hagiographa should not be read, still they may be discussed and lectured upon, and when a quotation must be made, the book maybe referred to and the quotation read." Said R. Nehemiah: " Why was it prohibited to read the Hagiographa on the Sabbath ? In order that it might be said : As it is for- bidden to read the Hagiographa, it is all the more so forbidden to read ordinary papers." " /« a closed space surrounded by walls.'' What is to be understood by the term "closed space"? Said R. Hisda: "This refers to a lane surrounded on three sides by walls and having on the fourth side two beams. If the lane have three walls and two beams it is a closed space, if it have only one beam on the fourth side it is an open place, and the Tana of the Mishna as well as Ben Bathyra hold in accordance with the opinion of R. Eliezer, who decided to that effect elsewhere." Said Rabba to R. Hisda: " Dost thou call a space surrounded by three walls and one beam an open place ? If this be so, according to the sages, why cannot victuals and beverages also be brought there, not alone Scriptures ? In my opinion, two walls and two beams, one on each side, form a closed space, and two walls with only one beam constitute an open space. And the two Tanaim of the Mishna are not in accord with R. Eliezer, but with R. Jehu- dah, who opposes him (in Tract Erubin)." Said Abayi to Rabba: " And why should not, according to thy explanation, victuals and beverages be brought there (for safety) in conformity with the opinion of the sages ?" Said R. Ashi, however, " The two Tanaim of the Mishna are of the opinion of R. Eliezer, and a closed place is formed by three walls and one beam, while an open place is made by three walls with- out any beam at all ; and even according to R, Eliezer, who TRACT SABBATH. 245 requires two beams, it is only for the bringing thither of victuals; but for the safe keeping of the Scriptures, R. Eliezer holds even one beam to be suf^cient." MISHNA: One may save enough victuals to last for three meals (on the Sabbath in the event of a conflagration). Such food as is fit for human beings may be saved for the use of human beings, and such as is fit for cattle may be saved for cattle. How so ? If a conflagration happen on the eve of Sabbath, one may save enough victuals for three meals. If it occur in the forenoon of Sabbath, one may save enough for two meals, and