Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 13, scan section 80

cause he ought to have prayed for his generation, which he did not. As it is written [Is. Ivii. 13]: "By thy crying thou canst be saved with all who are gathered with thee." * Said Rabba b. b. Hana in the name of R. Johanan : One must not emigrate from Palestine when money is cheap, but the grain high ; but if vice versa, even when the price of four saahs is only one selah. one may. As R. Johanan said: I remember a time when there were four saahs for one selah, and there were many who starved, as they did not have an issar. And he said again: I remember that working people did not wish to take work on the east side of the city, as the smell of bread (which the west wind carried * Leeser translates differently ; the Talmud, however, takes it literally. TRACT BABA BATHRA (LAST GATE). 201 to them) would kill them, as they had not eaten fresh bread for a long time. The same said again : I remember when a child used to break a piece of carob, threads of honey would leak out and moisten his hands. R. Elazar said : I remember, when a raven would catch a piece of meat, a thread of fat would be seen dropping from the height to the ground. R. Johanan said again : I remember times when a young girl of sixteen and a boy of seventeen walked together and did not sin. He said again: I remember what was said in college : Who yields to idolaters in discussion, the end will be that he will fall into their hands; and he who confides in them, all that he possesses will remain in their hands. It is written [Ruth, i. 2]: " Mahlon and Kilyon," and in [I Chron. iv. 22]: " Joash and Saraph." Rabh and Samuel differ. One said that the real names were Mahlon and Kilyon ; but why were they named Joash and Saraph ? Joash, because they despaired of redemption, and Saraph, because they were liable to burning. And the other says their real names were Joash and Saraph ; and why were they named Mahlon and Kil- yon ? Mahlon, because they made themselves very common by their emigration, and Kilyon, because they were liable to destruction.* It seems that Mahlon and Kilyon were their real names, as we have learned in the following Boraitha: It is written [ibid,, ibid.]: "And Jokim and the men of Coseba, and Joash and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab and Jashubi-lechem. And these are ancient things." Jokim means Joshua, who had confirmed the oath which was given to the men of Gibeon ; and " the men of Coseba " f means the men of Gibeon, who lied before Joshua. Joash and Saraph were Mahlon and Kilyon ; and why were they named Joash and Saraph ? Because they despaired of redemption, and for this they were liable to burning. "Who had dominion in Moab" means that they had married daughters of Moab. " And Jashubi-lechem " means Ruth the Moabitess, who had returned and was attached to Beth-Se'hem. " And these are ancient things" means the above was said by Him who is older than the days. As it is written [Ps, Ixxxix. 21]: "I have found David my servant." It is also written [Gen. xix. 15]: "And * Joash means despair; Saraph, burn; Choolin, common; and Kilyon, de- stroying. f Khzb in Hebrew means lie. 202 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. thy two daughters, that are found." * It is written [I Chron. iv. 23] : " These were the potters (Hayozrim), and those that dwelt in plantations and sheepfolds ; for the king's sake, to do his work, they dwelt there." Hayozrim f means the children of Jonadabh b. Rechab, who preserved the oath of their father. In plantations " means the king Solomon, who was a plant in his kingdom. Vegidroh (sheepfolds) means the Sanhedrin, who had fenced the broken partition of Israel. " For the king's sake," etc., means Ruth the Moabitess, who lived to see the kingdom of Solomon her great-grandson. As it is written [I Kings, ii. 19]: " And placed a chair for the king's mother." And R. Elazar said that it means " to the mother of the king- dom." The rabbis taught: It is written [Lev. xxv. 22]: " Shall ye eat yet of the old harvest," which means without need of pre- serving. How is this to be understood ? Said R. Na'hman: It will not be worm-eaten. And R. Shesheth said: It will not be singed. There is a Boraitha in accordance with R. Na'hman: " Of the old harvest," lest one say that Israel must wait for the new crop, as the old has already gone, therefore it is written [ibid., ibid.]: " Until its harvest come in," which means, until the harvest shall come by itself (and he will not need to take it before it is ripe, and make it fit for use by drying). And there is also a Boraitha in accordance with R. Shesheth : " Ye shall eat yet from the old harvest," lest one say that Israel would have to wait for the new harvest because the old one became spoiled, therefore it is written, " Until its harvest come ^in," which means that the old will suffice until the new shall come in its natural way, without any need to take it before it is ripe. The rabbis taught: It is written [ibid. xxvi. 10]: " And ye shall eat very old store." From this maybe inferred that a thing that is older is better, but this is said of things which are used to be preserved. But whence do we know of things which are not to be preserved? Therefore it is written: " Joshon Noshon " (literally, old, old) [ibid., ibid.], " and the old ye shall remove because of the new," from which is to be inferred that at that time all their granaries were filled up with the old crop and their barns with the new. And Israel used to say: " Why * Leeser translates "they are here"; but in the Bible is written Hninzouth, literally, " who are found." f Nozar in Hebrew mtSins preserveJ. TRACT BABA BATHRA (LAST GATE). 203 should we remove the old, which is as good as the new, for the latter ?" Said R. Papa: All old things are good, except dates and the beer thereof, and harsnah (a dish at that time used by the poor — see Aboda Zara, 73«). Rabba said:* Sailors told me the wave that usually makes the ship sink is visible by a ray of whitish light, and we struck it with a stick, upon which is engraved, " I will be that I will be" [Ex. iii. 14]. Then it became quiet. He said again: The sailors told me that from one wave to the other are three hun- dred parsas, and the height of each wave is also three hundred parsas. It once happened that I was on the boat, and a wave lifted me up to such a height that I could see the basis of a little star, and in my eyes it looked as a space where forty saahs of mustard could be sown. Should the wave have lifted me up higher, I would have been burned by the heat of that star; and I heard a voice, one wave speaking to the other : My colleague, did you leave something in the world which thou hast not destroyed, that I may accomplish it ? And the answer was: Go