Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 23

other versiofi, taken from the holy funds ?] ; but if he chooses, he can have them more costly out of his private means. GEMARA : Why is it called Parva ? Said R. Joseph : Be- cause it was built by one Parva, one of the magi. 48 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. " In the morning he put on linen of Pelusium.'' Wherefore does he tell us the price ? He comes to teach us that linen less costly were invalid. Let us see: All agree that what he put on in the morning was more costly than that in the evening. Whence is this deduced ? Said R. Huna, the son of R. Ilai: Because [Lev. xvi. 4] linen is mentioned four times in that verse ; in reference to the morning garments, they are to be of the best linen. R. Hunab. Jehudah, according to others R. Samuel b. Jehu- dah, taught : After the service of the congregation was finished, if the high-priest possessed a linen coat made by his mother at her own cost, he might put it on, and perform the services apper- taining to an individual (not congregation: carry out the spoons from the Holy of Holies, and the censer; the first had been used for frankincense, the second for incense), provided that when he puts it on, he shall bestow it on the congregation. It was said of R. Ishmael b. Phabi : His mother had made him a linen coat worth 100 Minas ; he used to put it on, perform the services of an individual, and bestow it (in his mind) on the congregation. Of R. Eliezer b. Harsum it was said : His mother had made him a linen coat worth 20,000 Minas. His brethren the priests did not permit him to put it on, as in it he seemed to be naked (so deli- cate was its texture). How could this be, if it is said to have been thick, the threads six times twisted ? Said Abayi: As wine is seen through a glass, however thick it be. The rabbis taught : In the world to come, when a poor man, a rich man, and a wicked man come before the judgment, when the poor is asked, " Why hast thou not studied the Law ? " if he answers: " I have been poor, I had to earn my bread, and had no time," they answer him: " Wast thou poorer than Hillel the Elder?" Of Hillel the Elder it was said: Every day he went to work, and earned a Tarpeik (a Stater coin of 4 Dinars). Half he gave away to the porter of the college, to let him in, and on the other half he and his family lived. Once it happened he did not earn anything, the porter did not let him in. He as- cended the roof where there was an opening, and listened to the words of the living God, from the mouth of Shemaia and Ab- talian. It was said : That day was a Friday, and in the season of Tebeth (winter), and he was besnowed. When it dawned, Shemaia said to Abtalian : " Every day it becomes light at this time, and now it is dark. Is it such a cloudy day?" They raised their eyes, and saw the figure of a man. When they went TRACT YOMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). 49 up, they found on him a layer of snow three ells thick. They took him down, washed him, dressed him with oil, placed him before a fire, and they said : " Such a man deserves that Sabbath should be violated for his sake (by the making of fire)." When the rich man is asked: " Why hast thou not studied the Law ?" if he answers: " Because I was a rich man, and had many estates, and had no time to study," they answer him: " Wast thou richer than R. Elazar b. Harsum ?" Of him it was said: His father had bequeathed to him a thousand towns on land, and a thousand ships on the sea, and he himself used to take a bag of flour on his shoulder, and wander from town to town and land to land to study the Law. Once his own slaves found him, and put him to hard labor. He said to them: " I pray you, let me go to study the Torah." They replied: " We swear, by R. Elazar b. Harsum's life, we will not let you go before you work." Thus, as long as he lived, he did not attend to his affairs, but studied all day and all night the Law. When the wicked man is asked : ' ' Why hast thou not studied the Law ?" if he replies: " I was handsome, and was absorbed by my sins," they answer him: " Wast thou more handsome than Joseph ? " It was said of Joseph the Righteous, that every day Potiphar's wife used to try to seduce him by her talk. The clothes she used to put on in the morning (to attract his atten- tion) she did not put on in the evening, and vice versa, and her refrain was always: " Listen to me; do what I ask of you." He answered: " No." She said: " I will imprison you." He replied [Ps. cxlvi. 7]: "The Lord looseneth the prisoners," She then said: " I will bend your loftiness." His reply was [ibid,]: "The Lord raiseth up those who are bowed down." She said to him: " I will blind you." He answered [ibid. 8]: " The Lord causeth the blind to see." She gave him a thou- sand talents of silver. He was averse to her, or " to lie with her, or to be with her" [Gen. xxxix. 10], " To lie with her" in this world, " to be with her " in the world to come. From this we see that Hillel makes the poor man guilty, R. Eliezer b. Harsum the rich, and Joseph the wicked. MISHNA: He went to his bullock, which stood between the porch and the altar, his head due south, but his face due west. The high-priest stood on the east, his face due west. He put his two hands on him and confessed himself in the following terms: I beseech thee, Jehovah, I have committed iniquities, have transgressed, and have sinned before thee, I and my house. 4 50 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. I beseech thee, Jehovah, forgive, pray, the iniquities, the trans- gressions, and the sins, which I have committed, transgressed, and sinned before thee, I and my house, as it is written in the Torah of Moses thy servant, " For on that day shall he make an atonement for you," etc. [Lev. xvi. 30]. They respond after him: " Blessed be the name of His kingdom's glory for ever!" GEMARA : ' ' His head due south, but his face due west. " If his head was turned to the south, how could his face be turned to the west ? Said Rabh: His head was turned aside. Why ? Says Abayi : It was apprehended, lest he should excrete. The rabbis taught : How were the hands imposed on his head ? The sacrifice stood in the north, his face turned westward; he who imposed his hand stood in the east, his face westward ; he placed both his hands between the two horns, provided that there was nothing between his hands and the head of the sacrifice ; then he confessed himself. On the sin-offering he confessed the sins for which a sin-offering has to be brought ; on a trespass-offer- ing, the sins corresponding to it; and on a burnt-offering, sins of preventing the poor to gather, not forgetting for the poor, and not leaving corners [Lev. xix. 9]. So said R. Joel the Galilean.