Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 7

and R. Papa said in the name of Rabha: " Blessed be He, etc., who hath commanded the removal of leavened bread." Con- cerning the benediction which reads " commanded us to re- move," etc., all agree that the words " to remove," signify an act which maybe performed later; but as for the benediction " commanded the removal," R. Papi holds that " the removal " signifies an act already accomplished, while R. Papa maintains that it may refer to an act about to be accomplished. The Ha- lakha prevails, that the benediction must be pronounced upon " the removal" (in the same manner as the benediction upon " circumcision "). All agree, however, that the benediction must precede the act. Whence do we adduce this ? Because R. Jehudah said in the name of Samuel: " Benedictions must be pronounced prior to the performance of ever}' religious duty." And the disciple of Rabh (R. Hisda) said: " In all cases with the exception of (legal) bathing, in this instance the benediction should be pro- nounced after the act." So have we also learned in a Boraitha: " When a man had bathed and is ready to depart, he should say: ' Blessed be He, etc., who has ordained for us (the law of) bathing.' " " By the light of a candle." The Rabbis taught : Search for leavened bread must not be made by the light of the sun, of the moon, or of a flame of fire, but only by the light of a candle; because the light of a candle is ef!icient for search, and although we have no actual foundation for this regulation, still we are given a hint to that effect in the passage [Exod. xii. 19] : " Seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses," and it is written [Genesis xliv. 12] : " And he searched, at the eldest he began," TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). ii whfle [in Zephaniah i. 12] it is written: " And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem through with lights (candles) " ; [Proverbs xx. 2y'] it is also written : " A lamp of the Lord is the soul of man, searching all the inner chambers of the body." (Hence as it is written in the first quotation " it shall not be found," and in the latter quotations searching is men- tioned in connection with lights (candles), the hint is derived from those passages.) Under what circumstances shall search not be made by the light of the sun ? Shall we say in the case of a court ? Did not Rabha say, that in a court no search need be made, because the crows consume what leavened bread may be found there ? In the case of a balcony ? Did not Rabha say, that on a bal- cony one may search by the light of the balcony itself ? The injunction against using the light of the sun is applied to a win- dow of a room, namely : At the window proper search may be made by the light entering through the window, but at the sides this cannot be relied on and a candle must be procured in order to conduct a proper search. Not even a fiame of fire may be used ? Did not Rabha say, referring to the passage [Habakkuk iii. 4] : " And (his) brightness was like the sunlight ; rays streamed forth out of his hand unto them: and there was the hiding of his power. " "The right- eous as compared with the Shekhina appear as the light of a candle to a bright flame ; and concerning the benediction to be made at the close of the Sabbath-day which is pronounced over a light, he said, that a bright flame is more conducive to the efficient fulfilment of that duty ?" (Why then should a flame not be permitted for the search ?) Said R. Na'hman bar Itz- *hak : " A candle may be applied to a hole or a crack in the wall, whereas a flame cannot be moved to such a place." * ' // is not necessary to search all places in which it is not usual to put leaven,'' etc. What would the Mishna mean to add by stating ''all places" ? The Mishna means to add what was taught by the Rabbis: " The uppermost or nethermost holes in a house, the roof of an attic, the roof of a tower, a stable of oxen, a chicken-coop, a straw-shed, and the cellars where wine or oil is kept need not be searched." R. Simeon ben Gamaliel said: " A bed, which is placed in a room so that it divides the room into two parts and is so high that the space underneath it is used, must be searched." A contradiction was interposed, based upon the following ,2 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Boraitha: Wc have learned: A hole through a wall standing between two houses must be searched by the householders of each house as far as they can reach from their respective sides, and the space which they cannot reach, they must renounce in their minds. R. Simeon ben Gamaliel said: " A bed dividing a room into two parts, and having underneath it stones and wood though there still be space left between the stones and the bed, need not be searched." Thus there is a contradiction both regarding the hole in the wall as well as the bed ? This presents no difificulty : As for the hole, one that should be searched is a hole in the centre of the wall, while the Boraitha refers to an uppermost and a nethermost hole, and as for a bed, one that is very high and has a great deal of space underneath it should be searched, while one that has but little room underneath need not be searched. Wine cellars need not be searched ? Have we not learned in a Boraitha that cellars where oil is kept need not be searched, but those containing wine must be searched ? In this case wine cellars are spoken of, that are used during meals, while in the other instance wine cellars that are only used for storage are referred to. If those that are used only, must be searched, why should cellars where oil is kept be exempt ? Because there are fixed times for meals and oil is used only during meals, while wine is constantly in use and the cellars are therefore frequently entered, R. Hisda said: The place where salt fish are kept need not be searched. Did a Boraitha say that it need be searched ? This presents no difficulty. The Boraitha refers to the places where small fishes are kept {i.e., it usually happens that during a meal one goes to bring more fish while having bread in his hands. R. Hisda, however, refers to a place where large fishes are kept, because usually one knows the quantity of fish he requires for the whole meal, and there is no need of getting up during the meal to bring more fish.) Rabba the son of R. Huna said: The places where salt and wax candles were kept must be searched (because it often happened that during a meal salt and candles were needed). R. Papa said: The places where wood and dates were kept needed also to be searched (because it happened that during a meal one might go for wood and by the end of a meal, go for dates). A Boraitha taught : That a man was not compelled to put his hand in a hole to search for leaven as it