Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 18, scan section 6

[ibid., ibid. 15]. R. Abuhuh introduced R. Safra to the minim (who were ap- pointed by the government to collect duties) as a great man. And they freed him from duty for thirteen years. Once they met him and asked him to explain the following [Amos, iii. 2] : " Only you have I loved out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities." If one is in bad humor, will he let it out on his friend? He kept silent, as he was ignorant of the answer. And they inflicted upon him. R. Abuhuh then met them, to ask for the reason. And they answered: You introduced him as a great man, while he does not even know the explanation of a passage. Rejoined he: "I told you he was a scholar, but did I say that he was a master in the study of the Bible?" And to their question: Why 2.x t you familiar with it? He answered: " Because we have to discuss with you frequently, we give our attention to it." They say: It is for you, then, to explain the above-mentioned passage. And he answered thus : I will do it in the form of a parable. There was once a creditor of two persons, one a friend, and the other an enemy of his. From his friend, he demands to be paid in small sums, while from his enemy he demands the whole debt at once. (And the same is the case with Israel : He clears them of all their iniquities by small punishments in this world, so that they shall not have to suffer in the world to come.) The rabbis taught: The Lord becomes angry every day, but only during one instant, which is the fifty-three thousand eight hundred and forty-eighth part in one hour; and there is 8 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. no creature in the world who is able to guess this moment, ex- cept Bil'am, about whom it reads [Numb. xxiv. i6] : " Knoweth the knowledge of the Most High." Which means that he knew how to guess the second in which the Lord becomes angered. (See Sanhedrin, p 339.) R. Joseph said: It is advisable for one not to pray singly the additional benediction in the first three hours at the first day of new year, for, the heavenly judgment takes place at that time, and because of his praying attention may be given to his deeds, and he may get an unfavorable decree. But if so, one should not do it even with the congregation together? With the con- gregation is different, as the attention is given to their deeds in average. But was it not said above that in the first three hours the Lord is engaged in the Law? Yea, however, by the Torah, in which truth is mentioned [Prov. xxiii. 23]: " Buy the truth," judgment cannot be modified. But concerning judgment, truth is not mentioned, and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, modifies it. R. Joshua b. Levi said [Deut. vii. 11]: " Which I command thee this day, to do them," means to do it to-day, but not to be rewarded for it to-day. He said again: " All the performance of the commandments which Israel observed in this world, will come and testify for them in the world to come. " He said again : The crime of the golden calf was committed only to give a chance to the repenter. As it reads [ibid. v. 26]: " Who would grant that this their heart might remain in them to fear me at all times. ' ' (Hence, they were not fit to commit a crime.) Similarly said Jo- hanan in the name of R. Simeon b. Jo'hai : David was not fit to commit the crime with Bath Shaba, as concerning him it reads [Psalm, cviii. 22]: " My heart is deeply wounded within me." And also Israel was not fit for the above crime, for the reason said above. And why was it committed? For the benefit of sinners. If it happens to be an individual, it maybe said to him: Re- pent, as the individual David did. And if it happens to be a congregation, they also may be told to repent, as the congrega- tion of the desert did. And this is what R. Samuel b. Nach- man in the name of Jonathan said: It reads [II Sam. xxiii. i] : " And thus saith the man who was raised up on high " (the term in Hebrew for high is ol, which means also yoke), and is to be interpreted thus: The man who had raised the yoke of re- pentance The same said again in the name of the same author- ity: When one performs a meritorious act in this world, it pre- TRACT ABUDA ZARA (IDOLATRY). 9 cedes him in the world to come. As it reads [Is. Iviii. 8] : " And before thee shall go thy righteousness, the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward." And the same is the case with him who commits a crime in this world, that it clings to him and goes before him on the day of judgment. As it reads [Job, vi. 18].* The rabbis taught : Concerning the above-cited verse [Deut. V. 26] : Moses said to Israel : Ye are ungrateful my children, as at the time, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to you: " Who would grant," etc., ye ought to say: Thou, Lord, grant it to us. Your ungratefulness is also marked from [Numb. xxi. 5]: " And our soul loathed this miserable bread." Ye are also chil- dren of an ungrateful, as it reads [Gen. iii. 12]: " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree," etc. Moses, however, hinted this to Israel only after the forty years in which he led them in the desert. As in respect of that time it reads [Deut. xxix. 3] : " And yet the Lord gave you not a heart to perceive," etc. Said Rabha: " Infer from this that one cannot know the real mind of his master, until the elapse of forty years." R. Johanan said in the name of R. B'naha: It reads [Is. xxxii. 20]: " Happy are ye that sow beside all waters, freely sending forth the feet of the ox and the ass." Happy is Israel at the time when he is occupied with the Torah and with be- stowing of favors ; as his evil spirit is then transferred into his hands, and not vice versa. And this is inferred from the just- cited verse, " that sow," which means charity, as [Hos. x. 12]. And " by water" it means the Torah, as in [Is. Iv. i] means the Torah. And " by freely sending forth," etc., is meant, what the disciple of Elijah taught. One should always consider himself in his relation to the laws of the Torah, as an ox to its yoke, and an ass to its load. " Three days'' etc. Is such a long time needed? Does not a Mishna state: At four periods in the year, he who sells a cow to his neighbor must notify him thus: I have sold her mother or her daughter to be slaughtered. (It is biblically forbidden to slaughter the mother and her child on one and the same day), and they are: the Eve of the second festival of Tabernacles, the Eve of the first day of Passover, the Eve of Pentecost, and the Eve of New Year. According to R. Jose the Galilean: Also * We do not quote the passage, as the translation of it does not at all correspond. 10 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. the Eve of the day of Atonement in GaHlee. (Hence, we see