Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 34

of a transgression, as for instance on a day which had been des- ignated as a fast-day for the sake of (praying for) rain, shall find no blessing for his work." Rabha propounded a contradictory question: " It is written [Psalms Ivii. ii] : ' For great, even unto the heavens, is thy kind- ness,' and further, it is said [ibid, cviii. 5]: ' Be thou exalted above the heavens, O God.' How can the two passages corre- spond ?" The inference is, that the first passage refers to one who fulfils a religious commandment, because it is customary to do so and his parents before him did so, while to one who fulfils such a commandment for the honor of the Lord, the kindness of God is manifested even higher than the heavens, and this is in accordance with R. Jehudah's opinion, who said in the name of Rabh : " A man should always occupy himself with the Law and with religious duties, even if he bear not in mind always that he does so for the honor of God ; for thereby he becomes accustomed to doing thus, and it will eventually be for the honor of the Lord." The rabbis taught: " He who depends upon the earnings of his wife or upon the proceeds of a hand-mill will never perceive the sign of a blessing." What is meant by the earnings of his wife ? If his wife go about with scales, relying upon others to use them and pay for their use. The same applies to the pro- ceeds of a hand-mill: if he rely upon others to use it and pay for its use. If, however, he use the hand-mill himself for the obtainment of his sustenance, or if his wife is actually engaged in traffic, he may even be proud of her, for it is written [Prov- erbs xxxi. 24] : " Fine tunics she maketh, and selleth them." The rabbis taught: " From the proceeds of four professions one can never perceive a sign of blessing, and they are : the professions of the scribes, the criers, those who earn their money from orphans, and the men who carry on their traffic at sea " The reason the criers perceive no blessing for their work is because their work (of repeating the words of the rabbis) is gen- erally done on the Sabbath, and those who earn their money from orphans perceive no blessing because they cannot be for- given if they take the least advantage of orphans; the reason the men who carry on their traffic at sea see no blessing for their work is because a miracle does not occur every day (that a ship should reach port in perfect safety) ; but why should this also apply to scribes? Said R. Jehoshua ben Levi: "Twenty-four 86 THE BABYLON [AN TALMUD. days the members of the Great Assembl}' fasted and prayed that the scribes of Scrolls, Tephilin, and Mezuzoth should not become wealthy; for if they did, they would not write any more." The rabbis taught : The scribes, who write Scrolls, Tephilin, and Mezuzoth ; those that deal in them, and those that sell them to the people, and all those who occupy themselves with religious works, even those who sell the blue wool for the show threads, do not perceive any blessing for their work. If, however, they occupy themselves with such work in honor of the Lord (not for gain) they will perceive the blessing. It was the custom of the inhabitants of Baishan never to go from Tyre to Zidon on the day preceding Sabbath. Their descendants came to R. Johanan and said: " Our fathers could afford to dispense with that journey, because traffic was better in their days; but we cannot. What shall we do?" and he an- swered : " From the fact that your ancestors already took it upon themselves not to do this, ye cannot act differently, as it is writ- ten [Proverbs vi. 20] : ' Keep, O my son, the commandment of thy father, and reject not the teaching of thy mother.' " The inhabitants of Huzai were wont to separate the legal first dough (due to priests) from rice. This was told to R. Joseph, and he said: " Let an ordinary Israelite take that separated first dough and eat it before their very eyes." Abayi objected: " We have learned: Such acts as are permissible but were re- garded as prohibited by some people must not be committed in the presence of such people," and R. Joseph replied: " Was it not reported that R. Chisda said that this refers only to Samari- tans ? " Why must this not be done in the presence of Samari- tans ? Because they would take advantage of it and commit acts that are truly prohibited. Is this not also the case with the inhabitants of Huzai, who are also ignorant and might construe the action to imply that they need not separate the first dough even from grain ? " Therefore," said R. Ashi, " let us see how the inhabitants of the city of Huzai do ? If the majority of them eat only rice, then the first dough thereof which they have separated should not be eaten by an ordinary Israelite in their presence, lest they forget about the law of first of dough entirely; but if the majority of them eat grain, then an ordinary Israelite should eat the first dough which they have separated from the rice in order to demonstrate to them that they need not do this, and warn them that if they separate the first of the dough from TRACT PESACHIiM (PASSOVER). 87 rice to serve also for grain, they will commit a transgression of the law." When Rabba bar bar Hana came from Palestine to Babylon, he ate the fat around the stomach of an ox; this fat is, however, not eaten in Babylon. While he was eating this, R. Abhira the elder and Rabba the son of R. Huna entered the room. As soon as he perceived them, he covered up the fat. When they came out Abayi said to them: " He treated you like Samaritans." Does not Rabba bar bar Hana hold that a man is subject to the rigor of the place whence he came and to which he went ? How could he allow himself to eat that fat ? Abayi replied : " This rule applies to such persons as go from one city in Baby- lon to another, or from one city in Palestine to another, or even from Babylon to Palestine ; but not to such as go from Palestine to Babylon ; for we are under their protection and should do as they do." R. Ashi, however, said: " Even were the rule to apply to one who comes from Palestine to Babylon, Rabba bar bar Hana would still have been permitted to follow the custom in Palestine, for he did not intend to remain in Babylon, but to return to Palestine; hence the customs of Babylon need not con- cern him." Rabba bar bar Hana said to his son: " The fat which thou seest that I eat, thou shalt not eat, neither in my presence nor in my absence. I allow myself to eat it, because I saw R. Johanan do so, and he is worthy that I should depend upon him even in his absence; but thou must not depend upon me; hence thou shouldst not eat it in my presence nor in my absence." By this statement, however, he contradicts himself, for he said :