Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 10, scan section 60

comes to include all that is in a standing position, as trees and animals.] *' Field '* — to include the case where the fire singed the surface of fallow ground or of stones. But let the Scripture mention only '* field," and it would include all the others ? If so, one might say that it applies only to the products of the field (but not to the ground itself), hence it teaches us that (by stat- ing "standing corn" expressly and "field," to include the ground itself). R. Simeon b. Na'hmani said in the name of R. Johanan: No chastisement comes upon the world unless there are wicked ones in existence, as it is written [ibid., ibid.]: " If a fire break out and meet with thorns." When does a fire break out — when there are thorns prepared for it ? Its first victims, however, are the upright, as it is written [ibid., ibid.]: " So that stacks of TRACT BABA KAMA (THE FIRST GATE). 143 corn be consumed" — not it shall consume, to signify that the stacks of corn (the upright) are consumed first, R. Joseph taught: It is written [Ex. xii. 22]: "And none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morn- ing ? " Infer from this that as soon as permission is given to the executioner he makes no distinction between upright and wicked; and furthermore, he picks out his first victims from among the upright, as it is written [Ezek. xxi. 8] : " And I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked." R. Joseph cried, saying: If they are liable to so much misfortune, what good is there in being upright ? Said Abayi : It is of great good to them, as it is written [Isa. Ivii. i]: " Before the evil the righteous is taken away" {i.e., that he shall not see the evil that will come in the future). The rabbis taught : When pestilence is raging in town, stay in-doors, as it is written [Ex. xii. 22]: " And none of you shall go out from the door of his house until the morning " ; and it is also written [Isa. xxvi. 20]: " Go, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door behind thee " ; and again it is written [Deut. xxxii. 25]: " Without shall the sword destroy, and terror within the chambers." Why the citation of the two additional passages ? Lest one say that it is so only as to night- time but not as to day-time, hence the passage in Isaiah, which means at any time; and lest one say that this is so only where there is no terror within the house, but when there is it could be assumed that it were more advisable to go out and associate with others, hence the last-quoted verse in Deuteronomy, to teach that although within the house terror reigns, yet without it is still worse, as " without the sword shall destroy." Rabha in times of fury used to keep the windows shut, for it is written [Jer. ix. 20] : " For death is come up through our windows^ The rabbis taught: If there is a famine in town, do not spare your feet and leave town, as it is written [Gen. xii. 10] : " And there arose a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there." And it is also written [II Kings, vii. 4]: ** If we say, We will enter into the city, then is the famine in the city; and we shall die there." For what purpose is the quotation of the additional passage ? Lest one say that it is so only where there is no risk of life, but where there is it is not so, hence the quotation, which is followed by [ibid., ibid.] : " If they let us live, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die," 144 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. The rabbis taught again : ' ' When there is a pestilence in town, a person shall not walk in the middle of the road; for so long as the Angel of Death has received his permission to rage, he does so high-handed. On the contrary, when peace reigns, one must not walk on the sideways ; for so long as he has not the permission, he hides himself away." R. Ami and R. Assi were sitting before R. Itz'hak Nap'ha. One was asking him to say some Halakha, and the other to say some Agadah. When he began to say a Halakha he was inter- rupted by one, and when an Agadah he was interrupted by the other. He then said: I will tell you a parable: It is like unto a man who has two wives — an old one and a young one. The young one picks his gray hair and the old one his black hair. The result is that he becomes bald-headed. I will tell you, however, now something which will be to the satisfaction of both of you: {Agadah) — It is written [Ex. xxii. 5]: " If a fire break out and meet with thorns" — that means, if it should break out of itself — " he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution." Said the Holy One, blessed be He, " I shall surely make restitution for the fire I kindled in Zion," as it is written [Lam. iv. 11]: " He kindled a fire in Zion, which had devoured her foundations " ; and, " I shall also build it up again by fire," as it is written [Zech. ii. 9] : " But I — I will be unto her . . . a wall of fire round about, and for glory will I be in the midst of her." {Halakha) — Why does the verse begin with the damage by one's property (if a fire break out) and end with damages done by one's person {he that kindled the fire) ? To teach thee that one is liable for his fire on the same principle as liability for one's arrow. MISHNA V. : If the fire passed over a fence four ells high, or through a public highway or a river, there is no liability. GEMARA: But have we not learned in a Boraitha, as re- gards a fence of such height, that there is a liability ? Said R. Papa: The Tana of our Mishna counts regressively, viz.: For six, five, and down to (and including) four ells there is no liabil- ity; while the Tana of the Boraitha counts progressively, viz.: For two, three, up to (but not including) four, there is a liability. (Hence for four ells, according to both, there is no liability.) Said Rabha: The rule that for four ells there is no liability ap- plies also to a field filled with thorns (which makes it very in- flammable). Said R. Papa: The four ells begin to count from the edge of the thor:,s upwards. TRACT BABA KAMA (THE FIRST GATE). 145 Rabh said: Our Mishna treats of a case where the fire was rising upwards, but if it was creeping (and consuming whatever was in its way, and therefore if it even crossed a public highway, there is a liability) there is a liability even up to a hundred ells. Samuel, however, says the reverse: Our Mishna treats where the fire was creeping; but if it was rising upwards, any dimen- sions are sufficient to relieve from liability. The following Bo- raitha is in support of Rabh: This (that if it crossed a public highway there is no liability) was said only if the fire was rising; but if it was creeping and fuel was within reach, even a hundred