Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 33

would slay us." R. Hyya taught: "A man who occupies himself with the study of the Law in the presence of a common person evokes as much hatred from that person as if he had stolen his bride. As it is written [Deut. xxxiii. 4]: "The law which Moses com- manded us is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." Do not read Hti^'llu) (inheritance), but HD'Hi^D (betrothed). For the enmity of a common person toward a scholar is even more intense than that of the heathens towards Israelites, and that of their wives even greater than their own. A Boraitha 6 82 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. stated : That whosoever was at first a scholar and then resigned his studies, and became a common man, is even worse than if he were entirely ignorant. " If a person on leaving Jerusalem,"' etc. : We have learned in a Boraitha: R. Nathan said: " The quantity for either (the con- secrated flesh or leaven) must be the size of two eggs " ; but the sages did not coincide with him. It is written [Zechariah xiv. 6] : " And it shall come to pass on that day, that there shall be no light, but fleeting light and thick darkness." What is meant by" fleeting light and thick darkness" ? He means to point out, that what is considered a strong light in this world is nothing but fleeting light in the world to come. So said R. Elazar; but R. Jehoshua ben Levi said: " The passage means to state, that those men who are con- sidered enlightened in this world are enveloped in darkness in the world to come," as it happened that R. Jose the son of R. Jehoshua ben Levi once fell in a trance, and upon awakening was asked by his father what he had seen while in his apparently lifeless state, and he answered: " I saw a reversed world : Those who are at the head in this world were at the bottom there, and those who are at the bottom here were at the head there." And his father said to him: " My child, thou hast seen the right world! But how do we scholars appear there ?" and R. Jose replied: " We are on the same footing there as we are here. I also heard it said there: Well is to the man who hath brought his learning with him, and further, it was said: The place of those who had suffered death (had been martyrs) for the glory of God cannot be entered by any other man." Does this refer to R. Aqiba and his companions ? Were they accorded that place merely because they were martyrs ; did they then possess no other merits ? Therefore this must refer to the two brothers who sacrificed themselves at Lud (Lydda).* It is written [Zechariah xiv. 9]: " And the Lord will be king over all the earth ; on that day shall the Lord be (acknowledged) one, and His name be one." What is meant by "on that day " ? Is He not one even to-day? Said R. A'habar Hanina: " This world is not like the world to come. In this world, when * It is related in Tract Taanith that a daughter of a prince in that city having been murdered, the crime was attributed to all the Israelites, when, in order to save their co-religionists, who were innocent of the crime, two brothers went up and con- fessed that they had committed the murder (although they were also innocent), thus shielding their brethren from persecution. — Rashi. TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). 83 good tidings are received, a man says : ' Blessed be He who is good and doth good to others,' and the recipient of bad tidings says: ' Blessed be He who judgeth in truth ' ; but in the world to come the first benediction only will be pronounced, for there shall be no more bad tidings." Why is it said: " His name shall be one," is His name not 07ie even to-day ? Said R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak: " Not as this world is the world to come. In this world the Name is written Yahveh and pronounced Adonai, while in the world to come it will be pronounced as it is written." Rabha wished to preach concerning the name of Yahveh from the pulpit; so a certain elder said to him : " In the passage [Exod. iii. 15] where it is written: ' This is my name forever,' the word 01am, which when written Ayin, Vav, Lamed, Mem, means ' forever,' is written in that passage Ayin, Lamed, Mem, which also signifies * concealed.' Hence the name of the Lord should be concealed and not openly discussed." R. Abbini propounded a contradictory question about the same passage: In the first part it says: "This is my name Leolam (concealed)," and in the last part it says, " This is my memorial unto all generations" ? And he answered: So said the Holy One, blessed be He: Not as I (my name) am written shall I also be pronounced. I am written Yahveh and am pro- nounced Adonai. CHAPTER IV. REGULATIONS CONCERNING WORK WHICH MAY AND SUCH AS MUST NOT BE PERFORMED ON THE DAY PRECEDING THE FESTIVAL OF PASSOVER. MISHNA: In places where it is customary to w^ork till noon on the day preceding the Passover, work may be done ; but not in places where it is not customary to work on that day. If a person should go from a place where the said custom prevails to another place where it does not, or the reverse, he is subject to the rigor of the custom, either of the place he came from or of that to which he went. Thus it is always proper not to act differently from the estabHshed customs of a place, on account of the dis- putes to which such conduct may lead. Likewise, when a person brings fruit of the sabbatical year from a place where it is no longer to be found in the fields (and in consequence must not even be kept in the house), to another place where it is still to be found in the field (and may be kept in the house), or the reverse, he is obliged to remove the same. R. Jehudah, however, says: " Such a person may be told to go and fetch for himself similar fruit, and eat." GEMARA: Why does the Mishna particularly mention the day preceding the Passover ? is it not a fact that no work may be performed after the Minchah prayer on the day preceding g Sabbath or any other festival ? for have we not learned in a Bo- raitha, that " whoever performs any work after the Minchah prayer on the day preceding a Sabbath or a festival shall find no blessing for his work " ? The Boraitha only states that he shall find no blessing for his work, but not that he should be put under a ban; while a man who performs work after the Minchah prayer on the day preceding the Passover (in places where it is not customary to do so) may be put under a ban. The text of the Boraitha states further: " One who performs work after the Minchah prayer on the day preceding a Sabbath or a festival, or on the night when the Sabbath or a festival has drawn to a close, or on the night following the Day of Atone- 84 TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). 85 ment, or at any time when there can be the faintest suggestion