Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 82

dry land, between the waters above and beneath, between priests, Levites, and Israelites," and must conclude with, " Blessed be He who hath arranged in order the creation," and others say, " who hath created all things." R, Jose bar R. Jehudah said: " He must conclude with ' who hath sanctified Israel.' " How then can it be said that the scriptural order should be observed ? It does not mention sea and dry land ? This should be eliminated. If that should be so, and taking into consideration that the distinction between the seventh day and working days is merely an adjunct to the conclusion, then seven benedictions will not remain ? I will tell thee: Between the priests, Levites, and Israelites are virtually two separate distinctions, because it is written [Deut. x. 8] : " At that time did the Lord separate the tribe of Levi," and between the priests and Levites, as it is written [I Chronicles xxiii. 13] : " The sons of Amram : Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, to sanctify him as most holy." What is the conclusion of the benediction ? Said Rabh : " It concludes with ' who hath sanctified Israel,' " and Samuel said: " It concludes with * who maketh a distinction between sanctified and ordinary.' " Abayi, according to another version R. Joseph, denounced Rabh's decree. We have learned in a Boraitha upon the authority of R. Jehoshua ben Hananiah, that one who concludes the benedic- 2i8 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. tion with both passages, viz., "who hath sanctified Israel" and " who maketh a distinction between sanctified and ordi- nary," his years and days are prolonged for him ; but the Hala- kha does not prevail accordingly. Ula once came to Pumbaditha. So R. Jehudah said to his son, R. Itz'hak: " Go and carry a basket of fruit to Ula, and incidentally observe how he recites the Habdalah. " R. Itz'hak would not go himself, but sent Abayi in his stead. When Abayi returned, he related that Ula merely said, " who distin- guisheth between sanctified and ordinary (days)," and nothing more. R. Itz'hak then went to his father and told him that he did not go himself, but had sent Abayi, who related that Ula merely said, " who distinguisheth between sanctified and ordinary days," and R. Jehudah replied: " Thy arrogance and disobedi- ence will be the cause of thy not being able to cite a Halakha in Ula's name, but thou wilt have to cite it in Abayi's name." R. Hananiah bar Shlamia and the disciples of Rabh sat together at a meal, and R. Hamnuna the Elder waited on them, and they said to him: " Go and see if the Sabbath has already set in. If it has, we will stop and make the meal for Sabbath." He replied: "Ye need not do this; for Rabh said, that the Sabbath asserts itself without other aid, and it is not necessary to make a special distinction for it. ' For,' said Rabh, ' as on the Sabbath the law of giving tithes must be particularly observed, even when a light meal is taken, because the Sabbath renders it an honorable duty, so in the case of the Kiddush (prayer) — even if a meal is in the course of being served, one may arise and recite that prayer without first clearing off the table.' " The disciples of Rabh desired to infer therefrom, that as the Sabbath makes it a duty to recite the Kiddush even when in the midst of a meal, the Habdalah should also be said, even though a meal have to be interrupted on that account. Said R. Amram to them: " Thus said Rabh: * For Kiddush this is imperative but not for Habdalah, and as for interrupting a meal, it need not be done for the sake of Habdalah ; at the same time, it is not lawful to commence eating at the time appointed for the Habdalah, without first reciting that prayer. No interruption need be made when solid food is taken ; but when drinking, the Habdalah should be said over the same cup, i.e., an interruption should be made and the Habdalah recited. Again, the inter- ruption must be made only when wine or beer is drunk, but when water is the beverage that is not necessary.' " TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). 219 Rabhina asked R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak: " If a man did not recite the Kiddush on the eve of Sabbath, is it lawful for him to do so during the Sabbath day?" and he answered: " The children of Hyya having stated, that one who had not recited the Habdalah at the close of Sabbath may do so at any time during the week following, we must assume, that one who had not recited the Kiddush on the eve of Sabbath may do so dur- ing all the Sabbath day." Rabhina objected: " The eve of a Sabbath or of a festival brings with it the duty of saying the Kiddush over a cup (of wine) and also the duty of including the remembrance in the benediction at the conclusion of meals, but the Sabbath or the festival days only carry with them the duty of including remembrance in the benedictions after meals ? Now, if it were allowed to recite the Kiddush on the Sabbath or festival day, because they have the duty of the benediction in common with the eve of the Sabbath or the festival, could not a man wilfully postpone the recital of the Kiddush until the morrow ?" Re- plied R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak: " The case of a man who does not act in accordance with the proper law is not considered." Rabhina again objected: " The honor of the Sabbath day is more important than that of the eve preceding it, so that if a man have but one cup of wine for both the Kiddush on the eve of Sabbath and for the purpose of honoring therewith the Sabbath day, he should rather use it for the Kiddush ; whence we can see, that it should not be postponed until the next day; for were this allowed, the owner could leave the cup until the following day and then use it for both purposes." Answered R. Na'hman: " The fulfilment of a religious duty at its proper time is the more preferable." Rabhina, however, rejoined: " Is this indeed the case ? Have we not learned in a Boraitha, that if a man enter his house at the close of the Sabbath, he pro- nounces a benediction over wine, light, and spices in the order named, and then recites the Habdalah over the cup ? Now if a man have only one cup of wine, he may leave it until after the meal and then pronounce all the benedictions over it at once. Is this not proof positive that the fulfilment of a religious duty at its proper time is not preferable?" Then R. Na'hman replied: " I am not one of those sages who would proclaim a decree upon my own authority; neither am I a prophet nor do I quote an authority without corroboration. The traditional ordi- nance I quoted I did not learn from my teachers as referring to 220 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Kiddush alone, but I merely took it upon myself to arrange the order of the benedictions in the Kiddush and Habdalah, and I did so because I was convinced that my order was correct ; * for