Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 8, scan section 56

tain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer." And with Prayer comes Service in the Temple, as it is written further: " Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my altar." And after service comes a thanksgiving offer- ing, as it is written [Ps. 1. 23]: " Whoso offereth thanksgiving glorifieth me." (The order of the separate parts of the Eigh- teen Benedictions has already been laid down.) And why do they say the Blessing of the Priests after Thanksgiving ? Because it is written [Lev. ix. 22]: " And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them, and came down after he had offered the sin-offering and burnt-offering and peace-offer- 48 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. ing." And perhaps he blessed them before the service ? Nay, we do not suppose so; for it is written, " he came down after he had offered " — not " to offer," but after offering. If so, let it be said before the Thanksgiving ? It would not be proper, because it is written: " Whoso offereth the thanksgiving glori- fieth me." And why is this verse preferred to that ? Because common sense tells that Service and Thanksgiving are the same thing. And why do we pray for Peace after the Blessing of Priests ? Because it is written [Num. vi. 27] : " And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them." And the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is Peace, as it is written [Ps. xxix. 11]: " The Lord will bless his people with peace." (Let us see:) If one hundred and twenty elders, and among them many prophets, have arranged the Eighteen Benedictions, why have we learned in another place that Simeon of Peculi had ordered them ? They had been forgotten, so he reintroduced the order. After these Eighteen Benedictions, it is not permitted to bless the name of the Lord more, as R. Elazar said : It is written [Ps. cvi. 2]: " Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can publish all his praise ? " i.e., who is fit to utter ? He who can publish all his praise (and as no one can do it, only the prayers that have been ordained should be said). Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of R. Johanan: He who speaks too much in praise of God is uprooted from the world, as it is written [Job, xxxvii. 20]: " Can all be related of him when I speak ? Or if a man talk even till he be swallowed up ? " R. Jehudah of the village Geboriah, according to others of Gibor-Hail, lectured: It is written [Ps. lxv. 2] : " For thee praise is silent."* Silence is the cure to everything: when R. Dima came from Palestine, he said that in the West they say : " A word is worth a sela, and silence two." " If he reads it by heart." Whence is this deduced ? Said Rabha: There is an analogy of expression in the word " memo- rial." Here it is written [Esther, ix. 28]: " These days are remembered"; and there [Ex. xvii. 14]: "Write this for a memorial in a book." As there it is written " in a book" so here it should be read out of a book. How is it known that loud reading is meant — perhaps only looking through the book ? * So the Talmud translates JTDVT. TRACT MEGILLA. 49 It would not be reasonable; as a Boraitha states: It is written [Deut. xxv. 17]: " Remember"; and it cannot mean "in thy heart," because it is written again [ibid. 19]: " Thou shalt not forget." That means, certainly, in thy heart. Consequently " remember" must mean orally. 11 Or translated r," etc., i.e., when both the language and the characters are foreign. " To those who know no Hebrew,'' etc. But it is just stated that by hearing it read in a foreign language one has not fulfilled his duty. Rabbi and Samuel both said : By this Greek is meant. How is the case ? If it was written in Assyrian (characters), and one read it in Greek, then he reads it by heart ? Said R. A'ba in the name of R. Elazar: That means, when it is written in Greek, and he reads it in Greek. The same authority says again : How is it known that God called Jacob " El " (one of the names of God) ? Because it is written [Gen. xxx. 20]: " And called it El, the God of Israel," which he interprets, " who called him El, the God of Israel." For if the altar was meant, the verse would say, " and Jacob called it" An objection was raised: If one read the Megilla in Coptic, in Old Hebrew, Elamic, Median, or Greek, one has not fulfilled his duty ? What is said above, that Greek is law- ful, is like another Boraitha which says that if one has read in Coptic to Coptic, Hebrew to Hebrews, Elamic to Elamite, or Greek to Greek Israelites, they have done their duty. If so, why do Rabh and Samuel say the Mishna means only Greek: let them say it means all foreign languages may be read to those who understand them ? Rabh and Samuel mean that even to those who do not comprehend it, it may be read in Greek. But in the Boraitha it is said, that only if Greek is read to Greek Israelites it is lawful ? Rabh and Samuel are in accordance with Rabban Simeon Gamaliel, who says that even the Pentateuch was allowed to be written only in Greek, not in another tongue. If so, let them say, more briefly, the Halakha prevails according to R. Simeon b. Gamaliel ? If they said so, we would think it bears reference only to other books ; but as of the Megilla it is writ- ten, " according to its writing," we would think only in Assyrian characters it is allowed, and not Greek, therefore they come to teach us that even here Greek is proper. One who has it read to him from Assyrian characters." But he does not comprehend it ? What is the use ? It is like the case of women and common people, who do not understand 50 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. it either, yet they are fulfilling their duty. Rabbina opposed: Why do you compare him to women and common people, and we ourselves, do we understand what is meant by D^Jin^n^i"! D*OD^n ^JD [viiii 10] ? But as it does not matter, provided we understand the proclamation of the miracle, so it also mat- ters not in their case. " Long pauses," etc. (The term used in the Mishna is "Seru- gin.") The rabbis did not understand the expression of the Mishna, P^lTD* until they heard that the servant-maid of Rabbi, when she saw that the rabbis came to Rabbi's house in small detached parties, at intervals, said to them : Why do you come — Serugin, Serugin ? * The rabbis taught : If one made pauses in his reading, he has fulfilled his duty; but if he read it irregularly, he has not; R. Muna says in the name of R. Jehu- dah : Even when one has made pauses he has done his duty, provided they were not long enough for the reading of the whole Megilla, but otherwise he must begin again from the beginning. Said R. Bibbi : Rabh said that the Halakha does not prevail according to R. Muna, and Samuel says that it does. Said R.