Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 47

tioned " ate " ; and the other, who says licentiousness is meant, proves it from Proverbs xxx. 20 : " She eateth, and wipeth her mouth." We have learned in a Boraitha : R. Jose said : As the prophet told the Israelites all that passed in their dwellings, and the very nooks, so the manna betrayed all their secrets. How so? For instance, two came to Moses, and one said : " He has stolen my slave," and the other said : "You sold him to me." Moses said : " In the morning we will decide it." On the morrow, if the Omer of manna for the slave was found for the one, it was a sign that the slave had been stolen ; but if for the other, it was evident that he had bought him. If one came and impeached his wife of adultery, and she charged him with that crime, then TRACT YOMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). 115 the Omer decided. If her Omer was found for her husband, it was evident that she had sinned ; if for her father, it was plain that he had sinned. Three verses are written [Num. xv. 9] : *' When the dew fell upon the camp in the night the manna fell upon it " ; and [Ex. xvi. 4] : "The people shall go out, and gather"; and [Num. xi. 8] : " The people went about, and gathered it." How shall the three verses be reconciled ? This is meant : For the upright, the manna came down at the door of their tents ; for the general, they went out and found it ; the wicked had to seek it, till they found it. In Exodus it is written, " bread from heaven " ; and [Num. xi. 4], " made cakes of it " ; and [ibid.] " ground it." How shall these be reconciled ? For the righteous, there was bread ready ; as for the general, they made cakes of the flour; and the wicked had to grind it. It is written [Num. xi. 8] : " Its taste was as the taste of cakes mixed with oil." Said R. Abahu : As the milk of its mother has various flavors for the infant, so the manna, so long as the Israelites ate it, had for them all flavors. It is written [Ex. xvi. 8] : " Flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to the full." It was taught in the name of R. Joshua b, Kar'ha: Because meat they asked for in an unbecoming manner, they did not receive it as was fitting, but bread which they had asked for properly, they had given to them properly. From this verse we can learn that the usage of the world ought to be that meat is to be eaten only by night. But Abayi has said above: He who has to eat a meal, should eat it only by day? He meant, when there is yet light. Said R. A'ha b. Jacob: At first the Israelites were like chickens, which eat out of the rubbish, till Moses came and fixed for them the times for the meals. It is written "bread," "oil," "honey." What does this signify? For the young it was bread, for the old it was oil, and for the children it was honey. The rabbis taught : It is written [Ps. Ixviii. 25] : " The bread of Abirim did man eat." Said R. Aqiba: That means, the bread that angels eat. It was told to R. Ishmael. He said to them : Go and tell to Aqiba : Thou hast been in error. Do angels eat bread ? It is written [Deut. ix. 9] : " Bread did I not eat, and water did I not drink." What, then, means "Abirim " ? It is like " Ebrim " (members) ; it is absorbed by all the two hundred and forty-eight members, and no refuse is left. But it ii6 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. is written [Deut. xxiii. 14] : " And a spade shalt thou have." Wherefore did they need it ? That is because they purchased from the Gentiles other foods also. R. Eliezer b. Parta, however, said : Even what they bought from the Gentiles, the manna dis- solved. The above verse applies to the time after they had sinned. " Forbidden to eat.'' To what do these five modes of afifliction correspond ? Said R. Hishda : To the five kinds of affliction found in the Torah : namely [Num. xxix.], " and on the tenth " ; [Lev. xxiii.] "but on the tenth"; [ibid.] " a Sabbath of rest"; and [ibid, xvi.] " and a Sabbath of rest " ; and [ibid.] " may it be to you." Here are only five, but in the Mishna we have learned six? Drinking is included in eating, as it is written [Deut. xiv. 23] : " And thou shalt eat . . . thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil," etc. The disciples of R. Simeon b. Johai questioned him : Where- fore did not the manna descend for the Israelites once a year? He answered : I will explain it to you by a parable. There was a king who ordered that the rations of his son shall be issued but once a year ; the son, then, came to see his father but once a year, [at which the king became angry, and] ordered again that the rations should be issued daily, so that the son was compelled to see his father every day. So it was with the Israelites. Whoever had four or five children, worried, and said : Perhaps no manna will descend to-morrow, and all will starve. Consequently they prayed to Heaven every day. According to others, the reason is : So they should have it fresh every day ; and still others say : So they should not have to carry it on the road. It happened long ago that R. Tarphon and R. Ishmael and the elders (of the college) were discussing the subject of manna, and R. Eliezer the Modeite, who was among them, arose and said : The manna in the desert was sixty ells high. Said R. Tarphon to him : Modeite, how much longer wilt thou gather nonsensical words, and lay them before us ? He rejoined : Rabbi, I take my theory from the following passages [Gen. vii. 20] : " Fifteen cubits above them did the water prevail, and the mountains were (thus) covered." (Now let us see how it was.) Was it fifteen ells above the valleys and fifteen ells above the mountains? Did, then, the water stand like pillars? And, besides, how could the ark ascend the mountains? We must, therefore, say that when all the fountains were broken up, TRACT YOMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). 117 etc. [ibid. 11], the water covered the earth, until it reached the top of the mountains, and over that the water was fifteen ells high. As we have a tradition, that the kindness of Heaven is much more than its affliction, and as at the affliction it is said [ibid., ibid. 11]: " And the windows of heaven were opened," and at the kindness it is written [Ps. Ixxviii. 23] : ** Then he ordained the skies from above, and the doors of heaven he opened " ; and as we know from another tradition, that a heavenly door is equal in size to four of its windows, conse- quently there are eight windows in two doors (doors and win- dows, both plural, not less than two), and as at the affliction from two windows came water fifteen ells above the earth — therefore the manna which came from eight windows cannot be less than sixty ells high. We have learned in a Boraitha: Issi b. Jehudah says: The manna has increased itself in height till all the kings of east and