Moed Katan 50

Chapter 50

א כי מטו אגישרא קמו גמלי אמר להו ההוא טייעא מאי האי אמרו ליה רבנן דקא עבדי יקרא אהדדי מר אמר מר ניעול ברישא ומר אמר מר ניעול ברישא אמר דינא הוא דרבה בר הונא ליעול ברישא חליף גמליה דרבה בר הונא נתור ככיה ושניה דההוא טייעא

1 As they came to a bridge the camels1 halted. Said a certain Arab2 to those [who accompanied the cortege], What is that?3 - They replied that the [deceased] Rabbis were doing honour to one another: one saying [as it were], 'You, Sir, proceed first', and the other saying, 'You, Sir, proceed first'. Said he, [the Arab]: [In m judgment],4 it is right that [a notable the son of a notable],4

ב פתח עליה ההוא ינוקא גזע ישישים עלה מבבל ועמו ספר מלחמות קאת וקפוד הוכפלו לראות בשוד ושבר הבא משנער קצף על עולמו וחמס ממנו נפשות ושמח בהם ככלה חדשה רוכב ערבות שש ושמח בבא אליו נפש נקי וצדיק

2 Rabbah son of R'Huna, should take precedence. The camel bearing Rabbah son of R'Huna then passed along first. The molars and teeth of that Arab fell out.5 Then a certain child opened [his funerary oration] thus: 'A scion of ancient stock from Babylon6 came With records of prowess in combat7 and fame; Twice numerous pelican and bittern8

ג כי נח נפשיה דרבינא פתח עליה ההוא ספדנא תמרים הניעו ראש על צדיק כתמר נשים לילות כימים [על משים לילות כימים]

3 from far Came for the ravage and ruin9 in Shinear.10 When [God] views His world with displeasure, He seizes [great] souls in exacting measure, Awaiting their coming as new brides, with delight And, riding on Araboth11 in empyrean height, He welcomes the souls of the pure and right'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' With this thought, cf. Midr. Tehil. on Ps. CXVI, 15: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, a parable of a king who sent an eparchos (prefect) to a place which he directed well. Having completed his term, the king gave him another eparchia (province) . In the place which he was leaving they praised him that he had directed them well, and in the place that he was entering they (also) praised him, that he was going to rule them well. Likewise, when the Holy One, blessed be He, sent a righteous man into the world to direct the age and he directed it well, on his departure from the world, people are distressed about him (leaving) : for so long as the righteous man is among them he prevents tribulation from coming into the world while the Ministering Angels rejoice about his coming to abide among them. (Edition Buber, p. 478)');">12 When the soul of Rabina went Into repose, a certain orator opened [his funerary oration] thus: 'Ye Palms, sway your heads [and deplore]

ד א"ל רב אשי לבר קיפוק ההוא יומא מאי אמרת אמר ליה אמינא אם בארזים נפלה שלהבת מה יעשו איזובי קיר לויתן בחכה הועלה מה יעשו דגי רקק בנחל שוטף נפלה חכה מה יעשו מי גבים

4 A Saint, a noble Palm13 that is no more Who days and nights in meditation spent; For him, day and night, let us lament.' Said R'Ashi to Bar-Kipok,14 What would you say on such a day [about me]? He responded thus: 'If a flame among the Cedars fall What avails the lichen15

ה א"ל בר אבין ח"ו דחכה ושלהבת בצדיקי אמינא ומאי אמרת אמינא בכו לאבלים ולא לאבידה שהיא למנוחה ואנו לאנחה

5 on the wall?16 If Leviathan<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The monster fish. 'Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?' Job XL, 25. Cf. Isa. XXVII, 1; Ps. CIV, 25-26. vfv vkpb vcrv vkpb');">17 by hook be hauled to land, What hope have fishes of a shallow strand? If fish in rushing stream by hook18 be caught What death may in marshy ponds be wrought!' Said Bar Abin19

ו חלש דעתיה עלייהו ואתהפוך כרעייהו ההוא יומא לא אתו לאספודיה והיינו דאמר רב אשי לא בר קיפוק חליץ ולא בר אבין חליץ

6 to him: '[God] forfend that I should talk of "hook" or "flame" in connection with the righteous'. Then what would you say? - I should say: 'Weep ye for the mourners Not for what is lost: He found him rest; 'Tis we are let distressed'. R'Ashi was' offended20 with them,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' At their ill-chosen metaphors, such as a flame among the cedars (cf. Judg. IX, 15) ; hooking the Leviathan (cf. n. 5) , or marshy shallows, or 'what is lost', implying as it were that all his life's best work, the encouragement of scholarship and the careful redaction of the Talmud, are of no lasting value.');">21 and their feet22

ז רבא כי הוה אתא לדגלת א"ל לבר אבין קום אימא מילתא קאי ואמר באו רוב שלישית במים זכור ורחם תעינו מאחריך כאשה מבעלה אל תזניחנו כאות מי מרה

7 were turned.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., they turned about and fled in confusion, ashamed of their indiscreet and almost impudent poetic effusion. For the idiomatic use of this expression, cf. R. Johanan's similar utterance in a sharp disputation with Resh Lakish who was his junior: 'We cut off the legs of the youngster'. Me'ila ');">23 On that day [of R'Ashi's demise] they did not come to make a lament for him, and that is what R'Ashi had said: 'Neither shall Bar-Kipok24 bare [his shoulder] nor shall Bar-Abin24 bare<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., shall not attend my funeral nor bare their shoulder as is done at the lament of a Principal of an Academy. Cf. supra p. 140, n. 7. The traditional explanation takes the above observation as referring to their 'lameness' in connection with a discussion between R. Ashi and Amemar on the possibility of effecting the rite of halizah, i.e., taking off the shoe, by the levir or brother of a deceased childless husband, if he is a cripple where the malformation of his foot is such as to render it impossible to walk or don or take off a shoe, as required by Scriptural law. Deut. XXV, 5-10. According to this interpretation the translation of the sentence is: 'Neither Bar-Kipok nor Bar-Abin are fit to submit to the rite of halizah. V. Yeb., Sonc. ed. ' p. 709. ,kds');">25 [his shoulder, for me]'. When Raba once came to Dagleth [Tekrit],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' . Tagrit, Tekrit or Tikrit (cf. Obermeyer p. 142) . It could not be here the Tigris, as Mahoza itself lay on the Tigris. Tagrit or Tekrit lies higher up on the Tigris between Mosul and Baghdad and is often mentioned in Syrian literature.');">26 he said to Barabin,27

ח (חנין יוחנן זירא אבא יעקב יוסי שמואל חייא מנחם סימן)

8 Get up and say something. He rose and said [the following]:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The following poem seems to be part of a which had been composed by Bar-Abin on the occasion of a bad flooding of the Tigris in spring time, April-May, cf. Ta'an. ');">28 When more than a 'third'29 wadeth in water deep Remember the covenant30 and mercy keep.31 We strayed from Thee as a wayward wife;32 Leave us not: as at Marah<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Var. lec. by virtue of the old favour at Marah's water', or, as our text: . Deliver us now miraculously as when the bitter water was healed and sweetened for our forefathers at Marah, Ex. XV, 23-25.');">33

ט רבי חנין חתניה דבי נשיאה הוה לא קא הוו ליה בני בעא רחמי והוו ליה ההוא יומא דהוה ליה נח נפשיה פתח עליה ההוא ספדנא שמחה לתוגה נהפכה ששון ויגון נדבקו בעת שמחתו נאנח בעת חנינתו אבד חנינו אסיקו ליה חנן על שמיה

9 save our life. R'Honin34 was a son-in-law in the Nasi's family. He had no children but he prayed for mercy and had [his wish granted]. On the day when the child was [born] unto him he himself went to his repose, and the funeral orator on that occasion opened [his lament] thus: Joy is turned to sorrow and Gladness linked with sadness.

י כי נח נפשיה דר' יוחנן פתח עליה ר' יצחק בן אלעזר קשה היום לישראל כיום בא השמש בצהרים דכתיב (עמוס ח, ט) והיה ביום ההוא והבאתי השמש בצהרים ואמר ר' יוחנן זה יומו של יאשיהו

10 When the time of joy35 came nigh The father heaved a dying sigh: At [the birth of] his Gracious-little-son36 The Gracious-sire's life was done. They gave the child the name of Hanan after his father. When the soul of R'Pedath37

יא כי נח נפשיה דר' יוחנן יתיב רבי אמי שבעה ושלשים אמר רבי אבא בריה דרבי חייא בר אבא רבי אמי דעבד לגרמיה הוא דעבד דהכי אמר ר' חייא בר אבא אמר ר' יוחנן אפילו רבו שלימדו חכמה אינו יושב עליו אלא יום אחד

11 went into repose, R'Isaac B'Eleazar38 opened [his address] thus: This day is as hard for Israel as the day when the sun set at noon-tide, as it is written: And it shall come to pass in that day. that I will cause the sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day. And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. as the mourning of an only so,39 And, said R'Johanan, that was the day of King Josiah's death.40 When the soul of R'Johanan went into repose R'Ami observed [on his account] the seven [days of mourning] and the thirty.

יב כי נח נפשיה דרבי זירא פתח עליה ההוא ספדנא ארץ שנער הרה וילדה ארץ צבי גידלה שעשועיה אוי נא לה אמרה רקת כי אבדה כלי חמדתה

12 Said R'Abba son of R'Hiyya B'Abba: What R'Ammi did, he did but on his own initiative;41 for thus said R'Hiyya B'Abba, as citing R'Johanan: 'Even for his master who had taught him Wisdom42 one sits but one day'. When the soul of R'Zera43 went into repose the orator of that occasion opened [his address] thus: 'The land of Shinear44 was his home of birth The land of Glory45

יג כי נח נפשיה דרבי אבהו אחיתו עמודי דקסרי מיא דרבי יוסי שפעו מרזבי דציפורי דמא דרבי יעקב אתחמיאו כוכבי ביממא דר' אסי איעקרו כל אילניא דר' חייא נחיתו כיפי דנורא מרקיעא דר' מנחם ברבי יוסי אישתעו צלמנייא והוו למחלצייא

13 reared her Darling46 to fame; "Woe is me!" saith Rakath47 in lament, For she hath lost her choicest ornament.' When the soul of R'Abbahu went into repose the columns at Caesarea ran with tears.48 At [the death of] R'Jose49 the roof gutters at Sepphoris ran with blood. At that of R'Jacob [b.

יד דר' תנחום בר חייא איתקצצו כל אנדרטיא דר' אלישיב איחתרו שבעין מחתרתא בנהרדעא דרב המנונא נחיתו כיפי דברדא מרקיעא דרבה ורב יוסף נשוק כיפי דפרת אהדדי דאביי ורבא נשוק כיפי דדגלת אהדדי כי נח נפשיה דר' משרשיא טעון דיקלי שיצי

14 Aha],50 Stars were visible in daytime. At that of R'Assi [all cedars]51 were uprooted; [at the death of R'Samuel B'Isaac]51 all trees were uprooted. At that of R'Hiyya [b. Abba]50

טו ת"ר

15 fiery stones came down from the sky; at that of R'Menahem [b. Simai]50 all images were effaced<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As he refused to look even at the image of coins. Cf. J.A.Z. ibid. 'At the death of R. Nahum b. Simai they covered all the images, saying that as he never looked at them in his lifetime he should not see them after he fell asleep'.');">52 and came to be [used] as stone rollers;53 at that of Tanhum son of R'Hiyya [of Kefar Acco]51 all human statues were torn out of their position; at that of [R'Isaac, son of R.]51 Eliashib seventy houses were broken into [by theives] at Tiberias;54 at that of R'Haninuna,55 hail stones came down from the sky; at that of Rabbah and R'Joseph the rocks of the Euphrates kissed each other;56 at that of Abaye and Raba the rocks of the Tigris kissed each other. When the soul of R'Mesharsheya went into repose the palms were laden with thorns.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [According to the Meiri (Jerusalem 1937) , these were figures of speech introduced by orators as the funerary orations respectively on the deaths of the above-named scholars, describing the gravity of the loss.]');">57 Our Rabbis taught:

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