Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 8, scan section 7

R. Na'hman and R. Itz'hak sat together at a meal, and R. Na'hman said to the latter : " Let Master relate something ! " And R. Itz'hak said : " So said R. Johanan : ' While eating one should not talk, lest the food enter the windpipe (trachea) before * According to the commentary of Rabbenu Hananel there are altogether twenty- six evils, committed by the Israelites, enumerated in Jeremiah ii. io THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. the gullet and inflict an injury.'" After having finished their meal, he said : " So said R. Johanan : ' Jacob our father never died.' " And R. Na'hman rejoined : " Then was it in vain that he was mourned and embalmed?" And R. Itz'hak replied: "I make this assertion from the following passage [Jeremiah, xxx. io] : 'And thou, do not fear, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, and be not dismayed, O Israel ; for, behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and shall be at rest, and be secure, with none to terrify him.' And Jacob is compared to his children ; as the latter are still living so is he also." * When R. Na'hman and R. Itz'hak were about to part, the former said to R. Itz'hak : " Bless me." And he answered : " I shall tell thee a parable to which this can be compared : A man once went into the desert, and when hungry, thirsty, and tired came to a tree bearing luscious fruit and affording plenty of shade, and underneath which there was a spring of water. He ate of the fruit, drank of the water, and rested beneath the shade. When about to leave he turned to the tree and said : ' Tree, tree, where- with can I bless thee? That thy fruit maybe sweet — it is already sweet ; that thou shouldst afford plenty of shade — that also thou dost ; that a spring may be near thee — even that thou hast. The one thing left me which I can wish for thee is, that all trees planted from thy seed may be as fruitful as thou art.' So it is with thee. Should I bless thee with knowledge — that thou hast ; should I bless thee with riches — that thou also hast ; should I bless thee with children — even children thou lackest not ; hence all I can wish thee is that thy seed be as prosperous as thou art." The rabbis taught : Why is the first rain called Yorah ? f Because it teaches the people to paint their roofs, take in the fruit, and otherwise prepare for the winter ; and also because it satiates the earth and penetrates into the very depths, as it is written [Psalms, lxv. 1 1] : " Watering her furrows abundantly ; smoothing down her ridges, thou softenest her with showers; thou blessest her growth." Another thing that is meant by " Yorah " is " a rain that comes without storm " ; and as the first rain is intended for a blessing, so also is the latter rain. And whence do we know that the first rain is intended for a blessing? * The commentary of Tosphath says that it is a noteworthy fact that while the Scriptures state that Abraham and Isaac died, they say that Jacob "departed this life " [Gen. xlix. 33]. f In addition to Yorah, meaning the first rain, it also means to show or to teach. TRACT TAANITH (FASTING). n From the passage [Joel, ii. 23] : " And ye children of Zion, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord your God ; for he hath given you the first rain in beneficence, and he hath caused to come down for you the rain, the first rain and the latter rain in the first month." The rabbis taught : The first rain falls in the month of Mar- Cheshvan and the latter rain in Nissan. Whence do we know that the first rain should fall in the month of Mar-Cheshvan, perhaps it would do if it fell in the month of Kislev ? Because the first and latter rains are mentioned together and by the latter rain is meant that falling in Nissan ; for otherwise it would be of no benefit. Hence by the first rain is meant that falling in Mar- Cheshvan. In another Boraitha it is added that such is the dictum of R. Meir ; but the sages say : " The first rain falls in Kislev." Who are those sages? Said R. Hisda: That is R. Jose, who says, in another Boraitha, that the time for the first rain is the third day of Mar-Cheshvan ; ordinarily it falls on the 7th of that month, and if it is delayed it falls on the 17th. Such is the dictum of R. Meir. But R. Jehudah says the three dates are the 7th, 17th, and 23d, and R. Jose says they are the 17th, the 23d, and the 1st of Kislev; and he added that fasting for rain is not necessary until the 1st of Kislev has passed without rain having fallen. Said R. Hisda : " The Halakha prevails according to R. Jose." Ameimar taught the same as R. Hisda with reference to another Boraitha : We have learned : As early as the 3d of Mar- Cheshvan, rain should be prayed for. R. Gamaliel said : " On the 7th of that month is the time when the delayed rain should be prayed for." Said R. Hisda : " The Halakha prevails accord- ing to R. Gamaliel." According to whom will the following Boraitha be ? We have learned : R. Simeon ben Gamaliel said : " If there was rain for seven consecutive days it must not be considered as too much rain, but merely that there was a threefold fructification of the earth by the rain." (This will be according to R. Jose, who said that seven days elapse between each fructification, and R. Hisda said the Halakha prevails according to R. Jose.) Said R. Ab- bahu : " Why is it called fructification ? Because it fructifies the earth ; for R. Jehudah said that the rain is the husband of the earth, as it is written [Isaiah, lv. 10] : ' For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither, but water the earth, and render it fruitful, and cause it to bring forth plants/ " la THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. R. Abbahu said again : " The first fructification takes place if the rain penetrates one span into the ground, and the second fructification is accomplished when the soil is so pliable that it can be used to stop up a barrel without the addition of other water." R. Hisda said : " If at the first fructification the soil becomes so pliable that it can be used to stop up a barrel, it cannot be considered as if the heavens were closed (and no rain had fallen)." He said again : " If it rained in some cities, but was dry in others, it cannot be said that the heavens are closed." This is not so ! For is it not written [Amos, iv. 7] : " And I also had indeed withholden from you the rain, when it was yet three months to the harvest ; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and upon another city I caused it not to rain ; one piece of land was rained upon, and another piece whereupon it rained not became dried up." And R. Jehudah said, in the name of Rabh, that the entire verse was in the form of a curse? This presents no difficulty.