Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 8, scan section 71

will read it, it will be considered by Me as if they had offered them, and I will forgive them all their sins. Without interruption" Whence do we deduce this ? Said R. Hyya bar Gamda in the name of R. Asi: Because it is writ- ten [Prov. iii. 11]: "The correction of the Lord, my son, do not despise." (And if there were interruption, it would seem as if the correction were disagreeable to them.) Resh Lakish, how- ever, said : That is because we do not pronounce a benediction over chastisement. What else shall he do ? We have learned in a Boraitha: He should begin a verse before the curses, and should end a verse after them. We have learned in a Boraitha: R. Simeon b. Elazar said: Ezra ordained that Israel should read the curses in Leviticus before Pentecost, and those in Deuter- onomy before New Year. Why so ? Said Abayi, and accord- ing to others Resh Lakish : That the curses should end with the year. It is right of Deuteronomy, because then begins a new year; but in Leviticus, before Pentecost, does Pentecost begin a new year ? Yea, Pentecost is also a New Year's day, as we have learned in Tract Rosh Hashana, on Pentecost is decided in Heaven about the fruit of the year. The rabbis taught : From the same place where they stop to read in the Pentateuch on Sabbath in the morning, they begin to read in the Min'ha prayer; and from the same place they should begin on Mondays and Thursdays and the next Sabbath. So is the decree of R. Meir, But R. Jehudah said: From the TRACT MEGILLA. S9 same place where they had stopped the last Sabbath, they should begin at the Min'ha prayer, and Mondays and Thurs- days, and also the next Sabbath. Said R. Zera the Halakha prevails so. The rabbis taught : One shall open the Holy Scrolls and look on them, then pronounce the benediction, then read. R. Shephatia said in the name of R. Johanan : He who rolls together the Holy Scrolls, shall do it so that the sewn rolls should be in the middle, so that it be done easily. The same said again in the name of the same authority: They may be rolled together only from outside, but not from inside, so that the letters should not be seen outside. When one holds scrolls himself, and has to find in it something, he should not begin to roll away from his person, because one scroll might fall down, but he should roll them toward his person, so that they should remain on his knees. When he rolls them from both sides, he should begin with the side toward his person, because if from the other side, a man will be unable to see at a distance what is written in them, and it is a duty to let him see. The same says again : If ten men have read in the scrolls, the greatest of them should roll them together, for R. Joshuah b. Levi said : He who rolls them together, is rewarded as much as all of them together. He says again : Whence do we know that we may avail our- selves of a Heavenly voice ? Because it is written [Is. xxx.] : " Thine ears shall hear a thing from behind them." When is this the case ? When one hears a male voice in town, and a female voice in the country, and when it says: " Yea, yea," or " Nay, nay." The same says again in the name of the same authority: Who reads without sweetness, and learns without a chant, of him says the verse in Ezekiel [xx. 25]: " And I also have given unto them laws that are not good." Abayi opposed. Shall I say, because he cannot make sweet his voice, the above verse should be applied to him ? Therefore we must say as R. Mesharshia said elsewhere, that if two scholars are in one town, that contradict themselves in Halakha, to them is the above verse applied. Said R. Pornach in the name of R. Johanan : Who handled the Holy Scrolls, while naked, * will be buried naked. Said R. * According to Rashi, it applies to the scrolls ; Mordchai Plungian, however, in his "Alphai Menashe," interprets it in the name of Menashe of Ila that it applies to the man, which seems to be more correct, though he was persecuted for this interpretation. 9° THE BAEYLONIAN TALMUD. Janai the son of R. Janai the Elder: It is better that the mantle of the Holy Scrolls should be inserted between the scrolls than vice versa. It is written [Lev. xxiii. 44] : ' ' And Moses spoke of the festivals of the Lord to the children of Israel " ; i.e., he told them the merit of reading the portions of the Torah each in its time. The rabbis taught: Moses ordered to Israel they shall discuss and lecture on the subject of the day: the Halakhas of Passover on Passover, the Halakhas of Pentecost on Pentecost, and the Halakhas of Tabernacles on the Feast of Tabernacles. END OF TRACT MEGILLA. TRACT EBEL RABBATHI (GREAT MOURNING), OR SEMA'HOTH (JOYS). CONTENTS. Synopsis of Subjects of Vol. VIII. — Ebel Rabbathi, CHAPTER I. Ordinances regarding one in the Struggle of Death, and when Death Occurs in a Vil- lage, II. What is Considered Suicide, III. Ordinances concerning the Burial of Infants and Minors up to the Age of Seven Years, . IV. Mourning over Relatives of the First and Sec- ond Degrees, V. Regulation regarding Labor during Mourning, VI. What a Mourner may and may not Read, . VII. The Thirty Days' Period of Mourning, VIII. The Examination of the Corpse ; the Burial of a Bridal Couple ; the Sages that were Exe- cuted by the Government, IX. The Rending of Garments over Relatives, Par ents, and Scholars, ..... X. What an Onen may and may not Read, XI. When Several Deaths Occur in a Town at the Same Time who must be Buried First, XII. From what Day the Seven, Thirty Days' Mourn ing, etc., begin to Count, .... XIII. The Removal from one Grave to another, XIV. What may and what may not be Done in j Cemetery and about the Graves of Fami lies, PAGE iii 12 18 23 27 30 36 45 48 5i 57 58 SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS OF VOLUME VIII— EBEL RABBATHI. Chapters I. to III. One who is in agony of death is regarded as alive In all respects. How so? May the inhabitants of a village greet each other if a death occurs in their community ? How shall a suicide be buried, and who is considered such ? Suicide of a minor. The burial of one judi- cially executed. That of one separating himself from the congregation, and of those stealing the duties. At what age are poor children to be lamented, and at what age rich ones ? The funeral meal. At what age is death considered Kareth (short life)? The days of sickness. The legend about the conversation of the Angel of Death with many of the Amo- raim, I_I1 Chapters IV. and V. Who are considered relatives of the first and second degrees ? The regulations of an Onen (a mourner before the burial of the dead), and the period of Aninuth (see Commentary, p. 13). Over