Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 8, scan section 85

without Nebuchadnezzar and his associates, as it is written [Micah, ill. 12]: " Therefore ior your sake shall Zion be ploughed up as a field, and Jerusalem shall become ruinous heaps, and the mount of the house as forest-covered high places." But all this was done through the above-mentioned, because of the rule that the chastisement for sin is dealt out through a sinner, and this was explained by Papus and Lulianus his brother to Trajan their prosecutor. (Taanith, p. 48.) M. Those who are more particular in interpreting the verses of the Scriptures said: It is written [Deut. xii. 3]: "And ye shall overthrow their altars." Wherein have the wood and stone sinned (to be destroyed) ? It must be only because people have stumbled through them. From this is to be drawn an L. J In Yalkut is mentioned Balaam instead of persecutors, but it seems to us to be proper as explained here. 36 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. a fortiori conclusion : Wood and stones which have neither vir- tue nor sin, neither goodness nor wickedness, because people have stumbled through them, if the Torah nevertheless decided their destruction, so much the more he who causes his neighbor to sin, and inclines him from the path of life to the path of death, deserves to be destroyed ! In the same manner they ex- plained the following: It is written [Lev. xx. 16] : " Then shalt thou kill the woman and the beast." If the woman has sinned, in what has the beast sinned ? It must be only because the woman has sinned with it, it must be killed ; as otherwise, when- ever it would be seen in the street, people would say: " This is the beast through which so and so was stoned." And also here they draw the same a fortiori: An animal which has no virtue, etc., like the wood and stones, and nevertheless the Torah de- cided that it must be stoned — a man who causes his neighbor to depart from the path of life to the path of death, so much the more must he suffer for it. N. An a fortiori conclusion is also to be drawn from the stones of the altar; namely, it is written [Deut. xxvii. 5]: " Thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them," and it is also written [Ex. xx. 22] : " For if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Why, then, shall iron be unfit for the altar more than any other metal ? It is because the sword is an unpropitious event and the altar is a propitious one, and a sign of curse must be removed from the thing which is forgiveness. Now, is this not an a fortiori : The stones of the altar which do not see, hear, talk, neither eat nor drink, but only because they made peace between Israel and their heavenly Father, the Torah said they should not be cut with iron, " Of whole stones shall they build the altar of the Lord God" [Deut. xxvii. 6], we see then that the stones which bring peace in the world must not come in contact with iron and must be whole — the students who in themselves are a forgiveness to the world, so much the more must they not come in contact with evil things, in order to be perfect before the Holy One, blessed be He ? CHAPTER IX. A. For all the relatives, one must rend his garments, also for the teacher from whom he received his study. A wise man, however, all are his relatives, all must rend their garments, all EBEL RABBATHI, OR SEMA'HOTH. 37 must take off their shoes, and all may take part in the funeral meal (which used to be eaten in the street on the return from the cemetery). R. Simeon b. Elazar, however, said that rend- ing of the garments is obligatory to all who are present at the death of a human being; the relatives, however, must rend their garments and take off their shoes, even if they are not present. Different is it when a sage dies. All who are notified of his demise must perform the mourning ceremonies. B. For the death of the chief of a college all (the college men) are obliged to bare their right arm ; 1 for the chief of a court, the left ; and for the Nasi both arms are bared. When the death of R. Eliezer occurred, R. Aqiba bared both his arms, beat his breast until blood spurted from it, and cried: " My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and their horsemen [I Kings, ii. 12]. Ula said: " Lamenting is by striking on the breast, for it is written [Isa. xxii. 12] : ' They shall strike on the breast, lament- ing.' " Clapping is done with the hands, and striking is done with the feet. The rabbis taught : " One who strikes with his feet must not do so with his sandals on, but with his shoes on, in order to avert danger." R. Johanan said: " If the mourner motions his head (as if he is consoled already), his consolers need no more stay with him." R. Johanan said again: "All persons must rise from their seats on the arrival of a Nasi, except a mourner and a sick person." R. Johanan said again: " All persons are told to be seated (after they rose), except a mourner and a sick person." C. For all his relatives one is not obliged to bare his arm, except for father and mother. If something is on the arms which prevents their being bared, one is not obliged to do it even at the death of his parents. It happened that when the death of R. Aqiba's father occurred, R. Aqiba did not bare his arm, though others did. 1 In all cases it is praiseworthy to remove the corpse as soon as possible, excepting in the case of a dead parent, unless it is CHAPTER IX. B. ' As this custom is obsolete, we cannot explain its meaning and how it was done. C. ' Getnara from Moed Katan, 38 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. on a Friday or on the eve of a festival, for the removal is then only for the honor of the deceased (in order that they shall not remain unburied until after the Sabbath or festival). In all cases of death it is optional with the mourner whether to lessen his attendance to his business or not ; in the case of the death of a parent, he must lessen. As to baring the shoulder, it is also obligatory in case of parents only. It happened that the father of a great man of the generation died, and the great man wanted to bare his shoulder; another great man, who equalled him and who was present at the time, wanted to do likewise (in order to show his respect), and the first one refrained from doing it (in order to prevent the other one from inconvenience). Said Abayi: " The great man of the generation was Rabbi, and the other one who was present at the time was R. Jacob bar A'ha. " According to others, it was vice versa. In all cases of death the mourner may cut his hair after thirty days; but in the case of his parents, not before he is censured by his friends (for wearing too long hair). In all cases of death one may participate in any enjoyment after thirty days, except in the case of his parents,