Reference for Shabbat 276:17

תניא רבי שמעון בן יוחי אומר חס ושלום שתשתכח תורה מישראל שנאמר (דברים לא, כא) כי לא תשכח מפי זרעו אלא מה אני מקיים ישוטטו לבקש את דבר ה' ולא ימצאו שלא ימצאו

now, I do not know what this wonder is, but when it is said, Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a wonderful work among this people, even a wonderful work and a wonder [and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXIX, 14. ');">¹⁵</span> it follows that this wonder refers to Torah. Our Rabbis taught: When our Masters entered the vineyard at Yabneh,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Whither R. Johanan b. Zakkai transported or founded an academy after the destruction of the second Temple. Vineyard' is a metaphor for the academy, because the scholars sat in rows like vines, J. Ber. IV, 1. The time referred to here is probably that of the Hadrianic persecutions. ');">¹⁶</span> they said, The Torah is destined to be forgotten in Israel, as it is said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And it is said, And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Amos VIII, 11f ');">¹⁷</span> 'The word of the Lord' means <i>halachah</i>,' 'the word of the Lord' means 'The End';<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The designated time of redemption, when the Messiah will appear. Tosaf. finds the analogy for this interpretation in Ezra I. ');">¹⁸</span> 'the word of the Lord' means prophecy. And what does 'they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord' mean? Said they, A woman is destined to take a loaf of <i>terumah</i> and go about in the synagogues and academies to know whether it is unclean or clean, and none will know<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'understand'. ');">¹⁹</span> whether it is clean or unclean. But that is explicitly stated, All food which may be eaten [...shall be unclean]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XI, 34. Surely the Written Law will be available. ');">²⁰</span> Rather to know whether it is a first degree or a second degree [of uncleanness],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 55. n. 6. ');">²¹</span> and none will know. But that too is a Mishnah. For we learnt: If a [dead] creeping thing<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sherez, which defiles utensils and food. ');">²²</span> is found in an oven, the bread within it is a second, because the oven is a first?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The sherez touches the oven, which in turn touches the bread, The Rabbis could not imagine complete forgetfulness even of the Mishnah. ');">²³</span> — They will be in doubt over what R. Adda b. Ahabah asked Raba: Let us regard this oven as though it were filled with uncleanness,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For immediately the sherez enters the air space of the oven, even before it actually touches it, it defiles, hence one should regard the sherez as though completely filling it. ');">²⁴</span> and let the bread be a first? He replied, We do not say. Let us regard this oven as though it were filled with uncleanness. For it was taught: You might think that all utensils become unclean in the air space of an earthen vessel: therefore it is stated, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean … all food therein which may be eaten: food and liquids become unclean in the air space of an earthen vessel.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' But if the sherez were regarded as completely filling the oven, utensils therein too should be unclean, as though they touched the sherez, for direct contact therewith does defile them. Thus in the future it will be doubtful whose view, R. Adda b. Ahabah's or Raba's, is correct. ');">²⁵</span> It was taught. R. Simeon b. Yohai said: Heaven forfend that the Torah be forgotten in Israel, for it is said, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXXI, 21. ');">²⁶</span> Then how do I interpret, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it? They will not find

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