Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 13, scan section 32

the space of fifty ells, excepting the west side, where the fifty ells are necessary ; or does he mean that on each side he may establish, provided he leaves the space of fifty ells, except the west side^ where he must not do so at all? Come and hear the following Boraitha : " R. Aqiba said : On each side one may establish a tannery, if he leaves a space of fifty ells, excepting the Avest side, w^here he must not do so at all because of its fre- quency." Said Rabha to R. Na'hman : " What does the expres- sion frequency mean — does it mean frequent winds? Did not R. Hanan b. Aba say in the name of Rabh, that four winds are blowing every day and the north wind blows with them ? There- fore the expression frequency means that the Shekhinah rests there frequently." As R. Joshua b. Levi said : " We must be grateful to our forefathers for having informed us of the place where we are to pray ; as it is written [Neh. ix. 6] : ' And the host of the heavens bow down before thee.' " R. Aha b. Jacob opposed : " Perhaps it means, on the contrary, that they are praying at the east side, and then they step backwards, as a slave does usually before his master; and when they come to the west side, they bow." Hence the Shekhinah is in the east side. The objection remains. R. Jose, however, holds that the Shekhinah occupies every TRACT BABA BATHRA (LAST GATE). 75 place, as he said : It is written [ibid., ibid.] : " Thou indeed art the Eternal One alone : it is thou that hast made the heavens," etc. Thy messengers are not as'the messengers of human beings, who usually return from the place to which they were sent, to that whence they were sent, announcing that they have fulfilled their duty. Thy messengers, however, are doing the same in the very place to which they were sent ; as it is written [Job, xxxviii. 35] : " Canst thou send out lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, ' Here are we ' ? " It does not read that they come and say *' Here are we," but that they go and say it in the place to which they were sent : hence the Shekhinah occupies every place. And R. Ishmael also holds the same, inferring it from [Zech. ii. 7] : " And, behold, the angel that spoke with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him." It does not read after him [achrov), but against him {likrond) : from which it is to be inferred that the Shekhinah is everywhere. And R. Shesheth also holds so, as he (who was blind) said to his servant : Raise and turn me for praying to any side of the world except- ing the east ; not because the Shekhinah is not resting there, but because the minim have decided that one must pray only towards the east side. R. Abuhu, however, maintains that the Shekhinah is resting in the west, as he said : Why is the west side called Oriah ? Because it is filled with the air of God.* R. Jehudah said : It is written [Deut. xxxii. 2] : " My doctrine shall drop as the rain "; which means the west wind, which comes from the neck of the world ;t " my speech shall distil as the dew," which means the north wind, which makes gold cheap (because it brings hunger, and that renders gold cheap), as it is written [Is. xlvi. 6] ; :j: " as heavy rains upon the grass," means an east wind that makes storms in the world ; § " and as showers upon herbs," means a south wind, which brings beneficent rain and causes growth of grasses. There is a Boraitha : R. Elazar said : The world is like a bal- cony without the fourth wall ; and when the sun arrives in the * Rashi says he has heard that in the Persian language Oriah means west ; he himself, however, maintains that, on the contrary, Oriah (orient) means east. And it is so called because the Shekhinah rests on the west side, facing east. Hence the east side is His air ; avir, which contains the first four letters of Oriah, in Hebrew means air. \ The word in Hebrew '\s yaarof ; and ohraf rrif&Xi?, neck. X The term in Hebrew is zol in both passages — literally, cheap. The translation certainly differs in both, according to the sense. § The term is sair, which means also storm. 76 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. evening at the northwest corner, it is diverted by this wind and ascends above the sky. And R. Joshua said : The world is Hke a tent which is fenced on all sides, and when the sun arrives in the evening at the northwest corner, it turns around and returns beyond the sky ; as it is written [Eccl. i. 6] : " Going toward the south, and turning round toward the north, the wind moveth round about continually ; and around its circles doth the wind return again." " Going toward the south " — during the day ; " and turning round toward the north " — during the night ; " moveth round about " — means facing east and west, so that sometimes, when the days are long, it goes through them, and when the days are short, it goes around them. R. Elazar used to say [Job, xxxvii. 9] : " Out of his chamber cometh the whirl- wind," which means the south wind ; " and out of the north, the cold," which means the north wind. " From the breathing of God ice is given " — means the west wind ; " and the broad waters become solid " — means the east wind. — But did not the master say that the south wind brings beneficent rain, etc. ? This presents no difficulty : If the rain comes slowly, it makes the grass grow; but if it comes down in torrents, it does harm. R. Hisda said : It is written [ibid., ibid. 22] : " The golden light that cometh out of the north " — it means the north Avind, which makes gold cheap, as it is written in Isaiah, verse cited above. Raphram b. Papa in the name of R. Hisda said : " Since the Temple was destroyed, the south wind has never brought rain, as it is written [Is. ix. 9] : ' And he snatcheth on the right hand,* and is yet hungry ; and he eateth on the left hand, and is not yet satisfied ; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.' It is written also [Ps. Ixxxix. 13]: 'The north and the south — these hast thou created,' etc." The same said again in the name of the same authority : " Since the Temple was de^ stroyed, the rains do not come from the good treasure ; as it is written [Deut. xxviii. 12]: 'The Lord will open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give the rain of thy land,' etc. From which it is to be seen that when Israel did the will of the Omnipotent, and Israel was in his own land, the rain came from the good treasure ; and now that Israel is no more in his own land, the rain does not come from the good treasure." R. Itz'hak said : He who desires to increase his wisdom shall * The expression for right hand is yomin, and in the Psalms the expression for south is also^.7wr« / hence the analogy. TRACT BABA BATHRA (LAST GATE). 77