Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 62

who is half a slave and half free, and it seems to be so because the Mishna taught : Women and bondsmen who were not freed. To what purpose is stated " not freed "? If it is meant that they were not freed at all, " bondsmen " alone is enough. We must say, therefore, that the Mishna meant those who were not wholly free. And what can that be? One who is half a slave and half free. " The lajue, blind, sick,'' etc. The rabbis taught : It is written " Regalim " to exclude the lame, sick, blind, and old men who cannot go with their feet. What is meant to be added by " who cannot go with their feet " ? Said Rabha : Such delicate per- sons as cannot walk without shoes (and in the Temple it was not permitted to go in shoes), as it is written [Is. i. 12]: "When you come to appear in my presence, who had required this at your hand to tread down my courts? " We have learned in a Boraitha: If one is uncircumcised, or unclean, he is exempt from the holocaust. It is right of one unclean, because it is written [Deut. xii. 5, 6] : " And thither shalt thou come, and ye shall bring thither." From this we infer, that he who can come in ought to bring, but he who cannot, should not ; (and he who is unclean cannot come into the Tern- TRACT HAGIGA (HOLOCAUST). 7 pie). But of an uncircumcised, wherefrom is it deduced ? This is in accordance with R. Aqiba, who makes an uncircumcised equal to an unclean one, as we have learned in the following Boraitha: R. Aqiba said: It is written [Lev. xxii. 4]: "Any man whatsoever of the seed of Aaron." " Any man " — it could be written "a. man." Why "any man," to include that "the uncircumcised shall be equal to the unclean ones"? The rabbis taught : R. Johanan b. Dahabai said in the name of R. Jehudah : A man blind in one eye is exempt from the holocaust, because it is written [Deut. xvi. 16] : " Shall appear," ^ as if one comes to see, it is with both eyes ; so if he appears, he must be with both eyes. R. Huna, when he came to the verse above cited, used to weep and say : That a slave whose master exhorts him to come to see him should be debarred from seeing him, as it is written [Is. i. 12]: "When you come to appear in my presence, who had required this at your hands to tread my courts?" Also when he came to the following verse [Deut. xxvii. 7] : " And thou shalt slay peace- offerings, and eat there." A slave who is invited to eat from his master's table, shall be debarred from seeing him, as it is written [Is. i. i] : " Or what serveth me the multitude of your sacrifices?" R. Elazar, when he came to this verse [Gen. xlv. 3] : "And his brothers could not answer him, because they were terrified at his presence," he wept and said : If one is thus terrified when a human being has recognized his guilt, how much the more will it be before the Holy One, blessed be He, Also when he came to the verse [i Sam. xxviii. 15] : "And Samuel said to Saul : Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up ? " If Samuel, the upright, was afraid of the judgment, so much the more must we be afraid of it. How shall this be understood? It is written [ibid. 12] : "And the woman said unto Saul : Divine beings have I seen ascending (Olim) out of the earth." Olim is plural. (Who were they ?) It was Samuel 9nd Moses, because Samuel was afraid. Perhaps he was asked to the judgment, and he had gone to Moses and asked him to testify, that he (Samuel) had done all that was written in his Law. R. Ammi, when he came to the following verse, used to cry [Lam. iii. 29] : " That he put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there still is hope." He said : After so much had been done, * The Hebrew expression is HXI"" which means " shall be seen" ; the same let- ters with following^ punctuation HK^^ would be " shall see," hence the analogy. 8 BABYLONIAN TALMUD. nevertheless it is said ^'perhaps.'' Also when he came to the following verse [Zeph. ii. 3] : " Seek righteousness, seek meek- ness, perhaps ye will been protected," he said : After so much will have been done, still it will be '^perhaps." R. Asi, when he came to the following passage, used to cry [Amos v. 15] : " Hate the evil and love the good, and establish justice firmly in the gate : perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts." He said : After so much will have been done, it will still be ''perhaps." R. Joseph, when he came to the verse [Prov. xiii. 23] : " But there are many who are taken away without justice," * cried. R. Johanan, when he came to the following passage [Job ii. 3] : " And thou hast incited him against me to destroy him without cause," he cried. He said : If a slave persuades his master, and the master is persuaded, what cure can there be? Also, when he came to the following passage [ibid. xv. 15] : *' In his holy one he putteth no trust," he cried and said : If he puts no trust in his holy one, whom will he believe? Once when on the road he saw a man pick figs from a tree. He left the ripe ones and picked the unripe ones. R. Johanan asked him : Are not the ripe ones better? He answered: These which are unripe I need for the route, because the ripe ones will be spoilt, but not these. Then said R. Johanan : This is as what is written : He putteth no trust in his holy ones {i.e., they are gathered in before they are tempted to sin). R. Johanan, when he came to the following verse [Mai. iii. 5] he wept : "And I will come near unto you to hold judg- ment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear falsely, and against those that withhold the wages of the hired laborer, fear me not, saith the Lord of hosts." R. Johanan b. Zakkai said : Woe is to us, the verse makes equal for us light sins as well as grave sins," (Rashi explains it that the light sin is that of those who withhold the wages of the hired laborer, who is here equal to sorcerers, etc.) R. Hanina bar Papa said : When a man commits a sin and soon repents of it, he is forgiven immediately, because it is written [ibid.] : " And fear me not, saith the Lord of hosts." When he fears and asks for forgiveness, he is pardoned. R. Johanan, when he came to the verse [Eccl. xii. 14] : " For every deed will God bring into the * Here is a legend of what happened to R. Bibi bar Abayi with the Angel of Death, who killed a man prematurely, which is omitted according to our method. This, however, can be found in the translation of Mr. Streane. TRACT HAGIGA (HOLOCAUST). 9 judgment, concerning every thing that had been hidden," he cried. He said : If there is a slave whose master reckons his uninten- tional sins as his intentional sins, what cure can there be ? What is meant by " everything that hath been hidden " ? Said Rabh :