Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 16, scan section 29

thy son, to the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the washers' field." Why is mentioned the wash- ers' field " ? Because Achaz was ashamed to look at Isaiah, and to put upon his face the a^Xvo of the washers when he passed Isaiah in order not to be recognized. And why was Amon not counted? Because of the honor of his son, Yeshiyahu. If so, let them not count Menasseh, be- cause of the honor of Hezekiah? There is a tradition that a son can save his father, but not a father his son, as it reads [Deut. xxxii. 39] : " And no one can deliver out of my hands," which means Abraham cannot save Ishmael, and Isaac, Esau. Now, when we come to this theory it may be said that Achaz was not counted because of the honor of Hezekiah. However, the above question, why Yehoyakim was not counted is as yet unanswered. It is because of what was said by Hyya b. Abuiha that on the head of Yehoyakim was written " This and some- thing else " — i.e., one revenge more will be taken from it. The grandfather of R. Praida found a skull in the gates of Jerusalem upon which was engraved : " This and something else." He buried it once and twice, but it came out again. He then said that it must be the skull of Yehoyakim, of whom it reads [Jer. xxii. 19] : " With the burial of an ass shall he be buried, dragged about and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." 334 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. He then said : It is the skull of a king, and it must be nicely treated. He wrapped it in a silk garment and put it in a bag. When his wife saw this she thought it was the skull of his first wife, whom he does not want to forget. And she heated the oven and burned it. This was what was engraved upon it: " This and nothing else." There is a Boraitha: R. Simeon b. Elazar said: Hiskia praised himself [H Kings, xx. 3] : " And have done what is good in thy eyes " caused what is said [ibid., ibid. 8] : " What sign," etc., and this caused that idolaters were invited to his table [ibid., ibid. 13]. And these altogether caused the exile of his descendants [ibid., ibid. 17]. This is a support to Hiskia, who said that he who invites an idolater to his house and serves on him, causes exile to his children, as it reads [ibid., ibid. 18] : " And of thy sons . . . they shall be court servants in the palace," etc. Lamentation L begins with aichoh (O'how). Said Rabha in the name of R. Johanan : Why was Israel beaten with aichoh ? Because they transgressed thirty-six things to which Korath applies, and the word aicho counts 36. And he said again: Why is Lamentations written according to the alphabet? Be- cause they have transgressed what is written in the Torah, which is written with the letters of the alphabet. " Doth she sit solitary?" said Rabha in the name of R. Jo- hanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I said [Deut. xxxiii. 28] : " And then dwelt Israel in safety, alone, the foun- tain of Jacob; in a land of corn and wine; also, its heavens shall drop down dew." And now solitary is their sitting. *' The city that was full of people." Said Rabha again in the name of the same authority. They used to marry a minor to an adult and vice versa, for the purpose that they shall have many children. " Is become Hke a widow." Said R. Jehudah in the name of Rabh : Like a widow, but not a widow. Like a woman whose husband has departed to the cities of the countries of the sea, who intends to return. " She that was so great among the na- tions, the princess among the provinces." Said Rabba in the name of R. Johanan : Everywhere they came they became mas- ters of their masters, as the rabbis taught : It happened with two men who were captured in the mountain of Carmel, and their capturer was walking behind them. Said one of the captured to his colleague : The camel which walks in front of us is blind in one eye and carries two bags, one of wine and the other of TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). 335 oil. And the men who lead it, one of them is an Israelite, and the other is a heathen. Said the capturer to them : Hard- necked people, whence do you know this ? And they answered : From the grass which is in front of the camel that is consumed only from one side, hence from the side on which he sees he consumes, and on the other side on which he is blind he leaves it. It carries two bags of wine and oil; because drops of wine sink, and drops of oil float. And the leaders, one of them is an Israelite and the other a heathen; because an Israelite when he needs to do his necessity, usually turns aside, and the heathen does it on the way. The capturer then ran after them and found that it was as they said. He then kissed them on their heads, brought them to his house, prepared for them a great meal, danced before them, saying: " Blessed be He who chose the descendants of Abraham and gave them of his wisdom, and everywhere they go they become masters of their masters." He freed them, and they went in peace to their home. " Weeping, are they weeping? " * Why two weepings? Said Rabba in the name of R. Johanan : One for the first Temple, and the other for the second Temple. " In the night,'" means because of what happened in a former night [Num. xiv, i] : " And the people wept that night." And Rabba in the name of R. Johanan said : This day was the ninth of Ab, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said : " Ye have cried on this night in vain, and I shall ordain it that your genera- tions shall lament on this day forever." (See Taanith, p. 88, line 9.) According to others : In the night, because he who weeps in the night, it looks like the stars and planets are weep- ing with him. And so also with human beings. He who hears one weeping in the night, weeps with him, as it happened with Rabban Gamaliel, whose female neighbor wept because her son died, and he wept with her until the eyelids dropped. On the morrow his disciples recognized it, and they made her move away from his neighborhood. " And her tears are on her cheeks." Said Rabba in the name of R. Johanan : As a woman weeps for the husband of her youth, as it reads [Joel, i. 8] : " Lament like a woman girded with sackcloth for the be- trothed of her youth." " Her adversaries are become chiefs." Said Rabba in the name of R. Johanan : Every one who op- * It is impossible to follow Leaser's translation of the Bible in the Chapter of Haggadah, as the Talmud translates literally. 336 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. presses Israel becomes a chief, as it reads [Isa. viii. 3] : " For no fatigue befalleth him that oppresseth them," And the same said again in the name of the same authority: That from the same verse is inferred that an oppressor of Israel never be- comes tired. " Not for you, ye travellers, behold and see," etc. Said Rabba