Bava Batra 115

למדורה וקדרות מקיפות אותה

a hearth with pots all round.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because he puts the cloth and the bread in the middle and the dishes all round. ');">¹</span>

מטה של תלמידי חכמים כיצד כל שאין תחתיה אלא סנדלין בימות החמה ומנעלין בימות הגשמים ושל עם הארץ דומה לאוצר בלוס:

What is the sign of the bed of a <i>talmid hakam</i>? — That nothing is kept under it save sandals in the summer season and shoes in the rainy season.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sandals were worn in the winter and shoes in the summer, and each was put away under the bed when not in use. ');">²</span>

ר' בנאה הוה קא מציין מערתא כי מטא למערתא דאברהם אשכחיה לאליעזר עבד אברהם דקאי קמי בבא א"ל מאי קא עביד אברהם א"ל גאני בכנפה דשרה וקא מעיינא ליה ברישיה

But the bed of an 'am ha' arez is like a packed storeroom.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So many things are under it. ');">³</span>

א"ל זיל אימא ליה בנאה קאי אבבא א"ל ליעול מידע ידיע דיצר בהאי עלמא ליכא עייל עיין ונפק

R. Bana'ah used to mark out caves [where there were dead bodies].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He placed marks outside over the place of the graves, so that people should not walk over them and become unclean. ');">⁴</span>

כי מטא למערתא דאדם הראשון יצתה בת קול ואמרה נסתכלת בדמות דיוקני בדיוקני עצמה אל תסתכל הא בעינא לציוני מערתא כמדת החיצונה כך מדת הפנימית ולמ"ד שני בתים זו למעלה מזו כמדת עליונה כך מדת התחתונה

When he came to the cave of Abraham,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Machpelah. ');">⁵</span>

א"ר בנאה נסתכלתי בשני עקיביו ודומים לשני גלגלי חמה הכל בפני שרה כקוף בפני אדם שרה בפני חוה כקוף בפני אדם חוה בפני אדם כקוף בפני אדם אדם בפני שכינה כקוף בפני אדם

he found Eliezer the servant of Abraham standing at the entrance. He said to him: What is Abraham doing? He replied: He is sleeping in the arms of Sarah, and she is looking fondly at his head. He said: Go and tell him that Bana'ah is standing at the entrance. Said Abraham to him: Let him enter; it is well known that there is no passion in this world.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore there could be no objection to his seeing Abraham sleeping with Sarah. ');">⁶</span>

שופריה דרב כהנא (מעין שופריה דרב שופריה דרב) מעין שופריה דרבי אבהו שופריה דר' אבהו מעין שופריה דיעקב אבינו שופריה דיעקב אבינו מעין שופריה דאדם הראשון

So he went in, surveyed the cave, and came out again. When he came to the cave of Adam,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to tradition, Adam and Eve were also buried in the cave of Machpelah, according to one version in an inner cave, and according to another in a lower one. ');">⁷</span>

ההוא אמגושא דהוה חטיט שכבי כי מטא אמערתא דרב טובי בר מתנה תפשיה בדיקניה אתא אביי א"ל במטותא מינך שבקיה לשנה אחריתי הדר אתא תפשיה בדיקניה אתא אביי לא שבקיה עד דאייתי מספרא וגזיא לדיקניה

a voice came forth from heaven<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Bath kol, lit., 'daughter of a voice'. ');">⁸</span>

ההוא דאמר להו חביתא דעפרא לחד בראי חביתא דגרמי לחד בראי חביתא דאודרא לחד בראי לא הוו ידעי מאי קאמר להו אתו לקמיה דרבי בנאה אמר להו אית לכו ארעא אמרו ליה אין אית לכו חיותא אין אית לכו בסתרקי אין אי הכי הכי קאמר לכו

saying Thou hast beholden the likeness of my likeness,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Abraham who was the likeness of Adam. ');">⁹</span>

ההוא גברא דשמעה לדביתהו דקא אמרה לברתה אמאי לא צניעת באיסורא הך איתתא עשרה בני אית לה ולית לי מאבוך אלא חד כי שכיב אמר להו כל נכסי לחד ברא

my likeness itself thou mayest not behold.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Adam who was made in the likeness of God. ');">¹⁰</span>

לא ידעי להי מינייהו אתו לקמיה דרבי בנאה אמר להו זילו חבוטו קברא דאבוכון עד דקאי ומגלי לכו להי מינייכו שבקא אזלו כולהו ההוא דבריה הוה לא אזל אמר להו כולהו נכסי דהאי אזלו אכלו קורצא בי מלכא אמרי איכא גברא חד ביהודאי דקא מפיק ממונא מאנשי בלא סהדי ובלא מידי אתיוהו חבשוהו

But, he said, I want to mark out the cave. The measurement of the inner one is the same as that of the outer one [came the answer]. (Those who hold that there was one chamber above another [say that the answer was], The measurement of the lower one is the same as that of the upper one.) R. Bana'ah said: I discerned his [Adam's] two heels, and they were like two orbs of the sun. Compared with Sarah, all other people are like a monkey to a human being, and compared with Eve Sarah was like a monkey to a human being, and compared with Adam Eve was like a monkey to a human being, and compared with the <i>Shechinah</i> Adam was like a monkey to a human being. The beauty of R. Kahana was a reflection of [the beauty of Rab; the beauty of Rab was a reflection of]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to another reading, this clause is omitted. ');">¹¹</span>

אזלא דביתהו אמרה להו עבדא חד הוה לי פסקו לרישיה ופשטו למשכיה ואכלו בישריה וקא מלו ביה מיא ומשקו ביה לחברייא ולא קא יהבי לי דמי ולא אגריה

the beauty of R. Abbahu; the beauty of R. Abbahu was a reflection of the beauty of our father Jacob, and the beauty of Jacob was a reflection of the beauty of Adam.

לא ידעי מאי קא אמרה להו אמרי ניתו לחכימא דיהודאי ולימא קריוהו לר' בנאה אמר להו זרנוקא אמרה לכו אמרי הואיל וחכים כולי האי ליתיב אבבא ונידון דינא

There was a certain magician who used to rummage among graves.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Persian fire worshippers considered it sinful to defile Mother Earth with dead bodies. They would accordingly rummage among Jewish graves, exhume the bodies and expose them to the birds. 'Magician' stands here for a Gueber, as in many other places in the Talmud, v. Perles, J., Die Leichenfeierlichkeiten im nachbiblischen Judentum, p. 8.] ');">¹²</span>

חזא דהוה כתיב באבולא כל דיין דמתקרי לדין לא שמיה דיין אמר להו אלא מעתה אתא איניש מעלמא

When he came to the grave of R. Tobi b. Mattenah (R. Tobi) took hold of his beard. Abaye<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who was apparently a friend of the magician. ');">¹³</span> came and said to him: 'pray, leave him.' A year later he again came, and he [the dead man] took hold of his beard, and Abaye again came, but he [the dead man] did not leave him till he [Abaye] had to bring scissors and cut off his beard. A certain man [when on his deathbed] said: I leave a barrel of dust to one of my sons, a barrel of bones to another, and a barrel of fluff to the third. They could not make out what he meant, so they consulted R. Bana'ah. He said to them: Have you any land? We have, they replied. Have you cattle? Yes. Have you cushions? Again the answer was in the affirmative. If so, said R. Bana'ah, that is what your father meant. A certain man heard his wife say to her daughter, Why do you not observe more secrecy in your amours?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'forbidden acts'. ');">¹⁴</span> I have ten children, and only one is from your father. When [the man was] on his deathbed, he said, I leave all my property to one son. They had no idea which of them he meant, so they consulted R. Bana'ah. He said to them: Go and knock at the grave of your father, until he gets up and tells you which one of you [he has made his heir]. So they all went to do so. The one who was really his son, however, did not go. R. Bana'ah thereupon said: All the estate belongs to this one. They then went and slandered him before the king, saying: There is a man among the Jews who extorts money from people without witnesses or anything else. So they took him and threw him in prison. His wife came [to the Court] and said: I had a slave, and some men have cut off his head, skinned him, eaten the flesh and filled the skin with water and given students to drink from it, and they have not paid me either its price or its hire. They did not know what to make of her tale, so they said: Let us fetch the wise man of the Jews and he will tell us. So they called R. Bana'ah, and he said to them: She means a goat-skin bottle. They said: Since he is so wise, let him sit in the gate and act as judge. He saw that there was an inscription over the gateway, 'Any judge who is sued in court is not worthy of the name of judge'. He said: If that is so, any man from the street can come and