Bava Kamma 165

לשון סורסי למה או לשון הקדש או לשון יונית וא"ר יוסי בבל לשון ארמי למה או לשון הקדש או לשון פרסי אמרי לשון יוני לחוד חכמת יונית לחוד

[where] either the Holy Tongue or the Greek language [could be employed]?' And R. Jose said: 'Why use the Aramaic language in Babylon [where] the Holy Tongue or the Persian language [could be used]?' — It may, however, be said that the Greek language is one thing and Grecian Wisdom is another. But was Grecian Wisdom proscribed? Did not Rab Judah say that Samuel stated in the name of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel: '[The words] <i>Mine eye affected my soul because of all the daughters of my city</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lam. III, 51. ');">¹</span>

וחכמת יונית מי אסירא והאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל משום רשב"ג (איכה ג, נא) עיני עוללה לנפשי מכל בנות עירי אלף ילדים היו בבית אבא חמש מאות מהם למדו תורה חמש מאות למדו חכמת יונית ולא נשתייר מהם אלא אני כאן ובן אחי אבא בעסיא

[could very well be applied to the] thousand youths who were in my father's house; five hundred of them learned Torah and the other five hundred learned Grecian Wisdom, and out of all of them there remain only I here and the son of my father's brother in Asia'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sot. 49b and Git. 58a. [This proves that even Grecian Wisdom was not proscribed.] ');">²</span>

אמרי שאני בית רבן גמליאל שהיו קרובים למלכות וכדתניא המספר קומי הרי זה מדרכי האמורי אבטולמוס בר ראובן התירו לו לספר קומי מפני שהוא קרוב למלכות של בית רבן גמליאל התירו להם לספר בחכמת יונית מפני שקרובים למלכות:

— It may, however, be said that the family of R. Gamaliel was an exception, as they had associations with the Government, as indeed taught: 'He who trims the front of his hair<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Like a fringe on the forehead and lets the curls hang down on the temples (Jast.).] ');">³</span>

לא יגדל אדם את הכלב אא"כ קשור בשלשלאות כו': תנו רבנן לא יגדל אדם את הכלב אלא אם כן קשור בשלשלת אבל מגדל הוא בעיר הסמוכה לספר וקושרו ביום ומתירו בלילה

in Roman fashion is acting in the ways of the Amorites.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which should not be imitated. ');">⁴</span>

תניא רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר המגדל כלבים כמגדל חזירים למאי נפקא מינה למיקם עליה בארור

Abtolmus b. Reuben however was permitted to cut his hair in the Gentile fashion as he was in close contact with the Government. So also the members of the family of Rabban Gamaliel were permitted to discuss Grecian Wisdom on account of their having had associations with the Government.

אמר רב יוסף בר מניומי אמר רב נחמן בבל כעיר הסמוכה לספר דמי תרגמה נהרדעא

NO MAN SHOULD BREED A DOG UNLESS IT IS ON A CHAIN etc. Our Rabbis taught: No man should breed a dog unless it is kept on a chain. He may, however, breed it in a town adjoining the frontier where he should keep it chained during the daytime and loose it only at night. It was taught: R. Eliezer the Great says that he who breeds dogs is like him who breeds swine. What is the practical bearing of this comparison? — That he<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who breeds a dog. ');">⁵</span>

דריש ר' דוסתאי דמן בירי (במדבר י, לו) ובנחה יאמר שובה ה' רבבות אלפי ישראל ללמדך שאין שכינה שורה על ישראל פחות משני אלפים ושני רבבות חסר אחת והיתה אשה מעוברת ביניהם וראויה להשלים ונבח בה כלב והפילה נמצא זה גורם לשכינה שתסתלק מישראל

be declared cursed.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As if he would breed swine. ');">⁶</span>

ההיא איתתא דעלת למיפא בההוא ביתא נבח בה כלבא אמר לה מריה לא תיסתפי מיניה שקולי ניביה אמרה ליה שקילי טיבותיך ושדיא אחיזרי כבר נד ולד:

R. Joseph b. Manyumi said in the name of R. Nahman that Babylon was on a par with a town adjoining the frontier.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. 'Er. 45a. ');">⁷</span>

אין פורסין נישבין ליונים וכו': ומי אזלי כולי האי והתנן מרחיקין את השובך מן העיר חמשים אמה אמר אביי מישט שייטי טובא כרסייהו בחמשים אמה מליא

This, however, was interpreted to refer to Nehardea. R. Dostai of Bira<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [In Galilee, v. Klein, op. cit., p. 39.] ');">⁸</span>

ומישט שלשים ריס ותו לא והתניא בישוב אפילו מאה מיל לא יפרוס רב יוסף אמר בישוב כרמים רבה אמר בישוב שובכין

expounded: <i>And when it rested, he said, Return O Lord unto the tens of thousands [and] the thousands of Israel</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. x, 36; E.V.: unto the many thousands of Israel. ');">⁹</span>

ותיפוק ליה משום שובכין גופייהו איבעית אימא בדעובד כוכבים ואיבעית אימא בדהפקר ואיבעית אימא בדידיה:

This, [he said,] teaches that the <i>Shechinah</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The Divine Presence. ');">¹⁰</span>

<br><br><big><strong>הדרן עלך מרובה</strong></big><br><br>

does not rest upon Israel if they are less than two thousand plus two tens of thousands.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., twenty-two thousand, comprising the minimum of the plural tens of thousands which is twenty thousand and the minimum of the thousands which is two thousand, cf. also Yeb. 64a. ');">¹¹</span> Were therefore the Israelites [to be twenty-two thousand] less one, and there was there among them a pregnant woman thus capable of completing the number, but a dog barked at her and she miscarried, the [dog] would in this case cause the <i>Shechinah</i> to depart from Israel. A certain woman<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Shab. 63a; and supra p. 271. ');">¹²</span> entered a neighbour's house to bake [there bread], and a dog suddenly barked at her, but the owner of the house said to her: Do not be afraid of the dog as its teeth are gone. She, however, said to him: Take thy kindness and throw it on the thorns, for the embryo has already been moved [from its place]. IT IS NOT RIGHT TO PLACE NETS FOR DOVES UNLESS AT A DISTANCE OF THIRTY <i>RIS</i> FROM INHABITED SETTLEMENTS. But do they proceed so far? Did we not learn that a dove-cote must be kept at a distance from the town of fifty cubits?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that the doves should not consume the produce of the town. (B.B. 11, 5.] ');">¹³</span> — Abaye said: They certainly fly much further than that, but they eat their fill within fifty cubits.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On account of which a dove-cote need not be kept away from the town for more than fifty cubits. ');">¹⁴</span> But do they fly only thirty <i>ris</i> and no more? Was it not taught: 'Where there is an inhabited settlement no net must be spread even for a distance of a hundred <i>mil'</i>? — R. Joseph said: The latter statement refers to a settlement of vineyards;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Where the doves could thus take rest and fly on to great distances. ');">¹⁵</span> Rabbah said that it refers to a settlement of dove-cotes.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Where the doves could thus take rest and fly on to great distances. ');">¹⁵</span> But why not lay down the prohibition to spread nets on account of the dovecotes themselves?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Why then base the prohibition upon the proximity of a settlement? ');">¹⁶</span> — If you like I can say that they belong to Cutheans,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who did not recognise the necessity of being scrupulous to such an extent and should therefore not be treated better than they treated others: cf. supra p. 211, n. 6. [For a full discussion of the regulations laid down in our Mishnah and developed in the Gemara, as well as their application in the practical life of the Jewish communities in Talmudic times, v. Krauss, REJ, LIII, 14-55.] ');">¹⁷</span> or if you like I can say that they are ownerless, or if you again like I can say that they are his own.