Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 4, scan section 43

From the following Boraitha : Rabbi said : The words, " I am the Lord your God " ; and " in the seven month " (stand together) [Lev. xxiii. 22, 24], which may be interpreted to refer to the pro- clamation of God as King. R. Jose b. R. Jehudah says it is not necessary to cite this passage ; for it is written [Numb. x. 10] " that they may be to you for a memorial before your God : I am the Lord your God." These concluding words " I am the Lord your God " are entirely superfluous, but since they are used, of what import are they ? They form a general rule, that in every selection in which (God's) remembrance of His creatures is mentioned there should also be found the thought that He is the King of the Universe. MISHNA : Not less than ten scriptural passages should be used for the Malkhioth, ten for the Zikhronoth, and ten for the Shophroth. R. Jo'hanan b. Nouri says : If by three of each class, one will have done his duty. GEMARA : To what do the ten scriptural passages used for the Malkhioth correspond ? Answered Rabbi : To the ten ex- pressions of praise used by David in the Psalms. But there are more expressions of praise found? Only those are meant, in conjunction with which it is written " praise him with the sound of the cornet " [Psalm ci. 3]. R. Joseph says : " They correspond to the ten commandments that were proclaimed to Moses on Sinai." R. Jo'hanan said, they correspond to the ten words with which the universe was created. " By three of each class, one will have done his duty" The schoolmen asked : " Does he mean three from the Pentateuch, three from the Prophets, and three from the Hagiographa, which would make nine, and they differ about one (passage) ? or per- haps one from the Pentateuch and one from the Prophets and one from the Hagiographa, which would make three, and they differ about many passages ? " Come and hear ! We have learned in a Boraitha : Not less than ten scriptural passages should be used for the Malkhioth, ten for the Zikhronoth, and ten for the Shophroth ; but if seven of them all were recited, corresponding to the seven heavens, the duty has been fulfilled. R. Johanan ben Nouri remarked : He that recites less (than ten of each) should not, however, recite less than seven ; but if he recited but three, 68 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. corresponding to the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa, according to others corresponding to the Priests, Levites, and Israelites, it is sufficient. Said R. Huna in the name of Samuel : The Halakha prevails according to R. Jo'hanan b. Nouri. MISHNA: We do not cite scriptural passages for the above three series that contain predictions of punishment. The pas- sages from the Pentateuch are to be recited first, and those from the Prophets last. R. Jose, however, says " if the concluding passage is from the Pentateuch one has also done his duty." GEMARA : Passages, proclaiming the kingdom of God that should not be used (because of the above), are such as the fol- lowing [Ezekiel, xx. 33] : " As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you," and although as R. Na'hman says (of this passage) : Let Him be angry with us, but let Him take us out of captivity, still, since it refers to anger, we should not mention " anger " at the beginning of the year. An example of the same idea being found in conjunction with the Zikhronoth is to be read in [Ps. Ixxviii. 39], " For he remembered they were but flesh ; " in conjunction with the Shophroth an example is found in Hosea, v. 8 : " Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah," etc. We must not mention the remembrance of the individual (in the Zikhronoth) even if the passage speaks of pleasant things, as, for example [Ps. cvi. 4], " Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people." However, passages that contain the expression of "visiting" may be used in the Zikhronoth, e.g., "And the Lord visited Sarah" [Gen. xxi. i] or "I have surely visited you" [Ex. iii. 16], so says R. Jose; but R. Jehudah says, they may not. But even if we agree to what R. Jose says (shall we say that) the passage " and the Lord visited Sarah " speaks of an individual (and therefore it should not be used) ? Nay ; since many descended from her, she is re- garded as many and therefore that passage, though speaking of one only, is regarded as though it spoke of many. (In the Malkhioth, they used Ps. xxiv. 7-10, which is divided into two parts.) The first part can be used as two of the re- quired passages, and the second as three, so said R. Jose ; but R. Jehudah said : The first part can be used only for one, and the second for two.* So too [Ps. xlvii. 7, 8], " Sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our king, sing praises ; for God is the He excludes the two interrogative sentences, " Who is the king of glory ? " "NEW YEAR." 69 King of all the earth." R. Jose said : This may be used for two of the Malkhioth ; but R. Jehudah said : " It is to be reckoned as one only." (He rejects one, because the words " our king," referring to one people only, was not a sufficiently broad expression of praise for Him who is the King of the uni- verse.) Both, however, agree that the next verse of the same Psalm, " God is King over the nations ; God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness," is to be used for one only. A passage containing a reference to God's remembrance of His creatures and also to the cornet, as for instance [Lev. xxiii. 24], " Ye shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of cornets," may be used in the Zikhronoth and the Shophroth ; so said R. Jose ; but R. Jehudah said : It can only be used in the Zikhro- noth. A passage in which God is proclaimed King, contain- ing also a reference to the cornet, as for instance [Numb, xxiii. 21], "The Lord his God is with him, and the shout {TeruatK) of a king is among them," may be used in the Malkhioth and in the Shophroth, said R. Jose ; but R. Jehudah said : It may only be used in the Malkhioth. A passage containing a reference to the cornet, and nothing else, as for instance [Numb. xxix. i], " It is a day of blowing the cornet," may be used for the Shophroth, so said R. Jose; R. Jehudah, however, said: Must not be used at all. " The passages from the Pentateuch are to be recited first and those from the Prophets last." R. Jose said : " We should con- clude with a passage from the Pentateuch, but if one con- cluded with a passage from the Prophets, one has done his duty." We have also learned : R. Elazar bar R. Jose says : " The Va- thiqin * used to conclude with a passage from the Pentateuch. It is correct as far as Zikhronoth and Shophroth are concerned, for there are many such passages ; but as for the Malkhioth there