Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 5, scan section 89

owner in a battle. Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of R. Samuel bar Martha, quoting Rabh upon the authority of R. Jose the man of Hutzal: Whence do we know that an Israelite must not con- sult astrologers ? Because it is written [Deutr. xviii. 13] : " Per- fect shalt thou be with the Lord thy God " (which signifies that perfect confidence must be reposed in the Lord). Whence do we know that if a man is convinced of the superiority of his neighbor to himself, even in one instance only, he should respect him ? From the passage [Daniel vi. 4] : " Because a superior spirit was in him : and the king sought to appoint him over the whole kingdom." When a woman continues in the blood of her purification,* although she is not defiled, she should not have any connection with her husband. We have learned in a Boraitha: Joseph the man of Hutzal is Joseph the Babylonian or Issi ben Gur Ariah or Issi ben Jehudah or Issi ben Gamaliel or Issi ben Mahalalal, and what is (really) his name ? Issi ben Aqabia. R. Itz'hak ben Tabla is R. Itz'hak ben Haqla and the same as R. Itz'hak ben Elazar (Ela'a), and where R. Itz'hak is men- tioned in Halakha it refers to R. Itz'hak ben A'ha, while where R. Itz'hak is mentioned in Haggada it refers to R. Itz'hak ben Pin 'has. Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of R. Johanan, quot- ing R. Jehudah bar Ilayi : Rather eat onions and sit in peace in thy house than geese and chickens, which thou wilt acquire a taste for and perhaps be unable to gratify it. Reduce the qual- ity of thy meals, if need be, in order to improve the quality of thy abode. When Ula came from Palestine, he said: " There is a saying in Palestine to this effect : He who always eats the fat of a ram's tail must hide himself from his creditors in an altar, but he who satisfies himself with herbs, can sit in the centre of the market in full view of all." MISHNA: When the first cup is poured out, the blessing pertaining to the festival should be said, and then the benedic- * Vide Leviticus xii. 4. TRACT PESACHIM (PASSOVER). 237 tion over the wine must be pronounced. Such is the dictum of Beth Shammai ; but according to Beth Hillel, the benediction over the wine should be said first, and then the blessing of the festival may be pronounced. GEMARA: The rabbis taught: The following presents one of the instances wherein Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel contin- ually differ as regards meals, namely: Beth Shammai hold, first, that the blessing of the festival should precede that over the wine, because the festival is the direct cause of drinking the wine ; and, second, the festival was already at hand while the wine was just brought. The school of Hillel, however, maintain, first, that the blessing over the wine has the preference, because, were it not for the wine or bread, no Kiddush could be said ; sec- ondly, the wine is usual and drank every day, while the festival only comes once in a certain period, and the rule is, that between a thing which occurs frequently and one which occurs only at intervals, the latter is to be given preference. The Ha- lakha prevails according to Beth Hillel. MISHNA: Herbs and vegetables are then to be brought; the lettuce is then to be immersed, part thereof eaten, and the remainder left until after the meal arranged for the night is eaten ; then unleavened cakes are to be placed before him as well as the lettuce, sauce (Charoseth), and two kinds of cooked food, although it is not strictly obligatory to use the same ; R. Elazar ben Zadok, however, said, that it is obligatory. During the existence of the Holy Temple, the paschal sacrifice was then placed before him. GEMARA: Why are two immersions necessary, the one when lettuce is immersed and the other when the bitter herbs are immersed ? In order to excite the curiosity of the children, and have them inquire into the reason therefor. Which kinds of the above-mentioned cooked food are meant ? Said R. Huna: " Mangold and rice," and Rabh would see to it that there was only mangold and rice in place of the cooked victuals, because he wished to carry out the literal sense of R. Huna's teaching. Hezkyah said: *' Fish, together with an egg, may also serve for the two kinds of cooked food," and R. Joseph said: " Nay; there must be two kinds of meat (one roasted and the other boiled), one to serve as a remembrance of the paschal offering and the other as a remembrance of the festal ofTering." Rabhina said: " A bone and some boiled meat suffice." 238 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. It is self-evident that if a man have other vegetables besides lettuce he can say the blessing required for the vegetables, namely, "who hath created the fruit of the earth," and eat them, and then, when coming to the bitter herbs, he may say the bless- ing required, namely, " who hath commanded us to eat bitter herbs," and then eat them; but if a man have no other vegeta- bles besides lettuce, how shall he pronounce the benedictions ? Said R. Huna: " He should first say the ordinary benedictions for vegetables, eat a piece of the lettuce, then say the blessing over bitter herbs, and proceed to eat." R. Hisda opposed this: " How can the man say another blessing after he had already eaten of the thing ? Therefore he should say the two benedictions together, eat part of the lettuce, and when the time arrives to eat the remainder he can eat it without saying a blessing." In Suria they acted in accordance with R. Huna's opinion, and R. Shesheth the son of R. Jehoshua would act in accordance with R. Hisda's decree. The Halakha prevails according to R. Hisda's decree. R. A'ha the son of Rabha took care to have other vegetables besides lettuce, in order to avoid the difference of opinion between the two sages. Rabhina said: R. Mesharshia the son of R. Nathan told me, that so said Hillel, quoting a tradition: A man should not place the bitter herbs between unleavened cakes and eat them in that manner. Why not ? Because the eating of unleavened cakes is a biblical commandment, while the eating of bitter herbs in this day is only a rabbinical ordinance. Now if the two be eaten together, the bitter herbs might destroy the taste of the cakes, and thus a rabbinical ordinance would supersede a biblical com- mandment; and even according to those who hold that one commandment cannot nullify another when both are fulfilled at the same time, such is only the case where both are biblical or both are rabbinical ; but when one is a biblical and the other a rabbinical commandment, the rabbinical nullifies the other, and hence their joint fulfilment is not allowed. Who is the Tana from whom we have heard that the fulfil- ment of one commandment does not nullify that of another ? That Tana is Hillel, as we have learned in a Boraitha: It was