Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 9, scan section 37

*" Sweet sound" in Hebrew is |V3n ; "dirge" is n^H. The Talmud plays upon the similarity of the two words. TRACT ABOTH. 91 doing something meritorious, or in a state of gladness, or while laughing, it is a good omen for him ; if otherwise, it is a bad omen. If one die on the eve of Sabbath, or at the close of the Day of Atonement, it is a good omen for him; but if at the close of the Sabbath or on the eve of the Day of Atonement, it is a bad omen." There is a tradition that when R. Eliezer fell ill, it was on the eve of a Sabbath. When R. Aqiba and his comrades visited him, he was sleeping in his chamber; so they stayed in the din- ing-room. When Hyrcanus his son entered to remove his phy- lacteries, he was prevented from doing so by his father, who began to cry. He left the chamber, and said to the sages: " My masters, methinks that my father is not clear in his mind." R. Eliezer, however, overheard him, and rejoined: " My son, it is not I who am not clear in my mind, but thou. For thou hast neglected the lighting of the lamps, for which thou art liable to a death penalty by the hand of heaven, and hast instead occupied thyself with the removal of my phylacteries, for which thou art guilty only because of Shbtith/* When the sages heard that his mind was clear, they sat down at a distance of four ells * from his bedside. They inquired of him as to cleanness and uncleanness of many subjects among them ; also an amulet or torn phylacteries, are they subject to defilement or not ? He answered: " They are. Dip them as they are, and be careful about them, for they form part of the great Halakhoth which were told to Moses on Sinai." And they kept on asking him concerning cleansing, defilement, and the legal baths, saying: Rabbi, What is this ? and. What is that ? and he answered accordingly — clean, or unclean. Then R. Eliezer said to the sages: " I wonder whether the scholars of this generation will be punished with death by the hand of heaven ?" They inquired: " Rabbi, why so ? " And he rejoined: " Because they have not served me." Later on he said to Aqiba b. Joseph: "Aqiba, why hast thou not served me ?" He answered: " Rabbi, I had not the opportunity." And he rejoined: " I wonder whether thou wilt die a natural death." There are others who say that he did not rejoin anything. When R. Eliezer spoke thus to his disciples, his blood froze within him. Said R. Aqiba : " Rabbi, what will my death be ? " * As he was at that time excommunicated. 92 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. He answered : " Aqiba, thine will be the hardest of all ! " There- upon the latter sat down before him, and said: " Rabbi, now teach me." And he taught him three hundred Halakhoth con- cerning a bright spot (in the skin of one's flesh). At the same time he raised his two arms, and laid them on his breast, say- ing: " Woe to me! that my two arms, which are like two holy scrolls, must leave this world. If all the seas were ink, and all the reeds were pens, and all mankind were writers, they could not write down everything I have learned and repeated, and what I heard while serving the sages in the college, and I have not left out of the Torah even as much as a drop of the sea. Moreover, I learn three hundred Halakhoth in the verse, * Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live ' [Ex. xxii. 17] [there are others who say three thousand Halakhoth], and nobody ever asked me about them, except Aqiba b. Joseph ; for he said to me once : * Rabbi, teach me how melons are planted, and how they arc pulled out.' I said one thing, and the entire field became cov- ered with melons. He then said: ' Rabbi, thou hast taught me their planting; teach me also how they are pulled out.' And I said one thing, and all the melons were gathered together in a heap.** R. Elazar b. Azariah inquired of him as to cleanness and uncleanness of many subjects, and he answered: " It is clean," or " unclean," accordingly, correctly; and when answering of one thing that it was clean, his soul left him while saying " clean." Whereupon R. Elazar b. Azariah rent his garments, and, weeping, went out and told the sages: " My masters, come and see R. Eliezer, who is clean for the world to come, because his soul left him while saying * clean.' " After the Sabbath, R. Aqiba came and found his cofifin while being borne from Cesarius to Luda; he immediately rent his garments, and tore his hair till the blood flowed and dropped to the ground. He wept and cried: " Woe to me! Rabbi, because thou hast died. Woe to me! my master, because thou hast left the whole generation as an orphan." When standing in line he said: "'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen ' [II Kings, ii. 12], there are many foreign coins which no money-changer can change besides you {i.e.y I have many hard questions of law which cannot be solved by any one besides you)." *" Ben Azai said : * Hasten tOy* " etc. He used to say: " If * See Chapter IV., Mishna B. TRACT ABOTH. 93 thou hast performed a meritorious deed, and art not sorry for it, it will draw many meritorious deeds in its train ; but if one transgresses, and is not sorry for it, it will draw many sins in its train. For one meritorious deed draws another, and one trans- gression draws another in its train, as the reward for a meritori- ous deed is the performance of another, and the punishment for a transgression is a transgression." He also used to say: " Set something apart for charity, be- fore you are compelled to do so by others, so that you get the reward of both the charity and the setting it apart, and not that the reward for the latter shall go to the one who compelled you to do it." He also used to say: ** Lower thy seat two or three rows, from the place you intend to occupy. For it is better thou shalt be told to ascend than to descend, as it is written [Frov. XXV. 7] : * For better it is that it be said unto thee. Come up higher, than that thou shouldst be put lower in the presence of the prince.' " There are three persons whose life is not worth living: one who must eat at the table of others; one who lives in an attic; and one whose wife dominates over him. There are others who say: One who suffers in his body. He used to say: "It is easier to rule the whole world than to associate and discuss with hypocrites." Tosephtha — A both of R. Nathan. * R. Aqiba said : " The safeguard for honor is refraining from laughter; the safeguard for wisdom is silence; the safeguard for vows is abstinence; that for cleanness is holiness; and that for meekness is the fear of sin." He used to say: Do not mingle with the scoffers, for thou mayest learn their doings; do not eat with an ignorant priest, for thou runnest the risk of desecration. Be not free with vows,