Moed Katan 51

ואלו קרעין שאין מתאחין הקורע על אביו ועל אמו ועל רבו שלימדו תורה ועל נשיא ועל אב ב"ד ועל שמועות הרעות ועל ברכת השם ועל ספר תורה שנשרף ועל ערי יהודה ועל המקדש ועל ירושלים וקורע על מקדש ומוסיף על ירושלים

And these are rents that are not [to be] sewed up: One who rends [his clothes] for his father or mother; or his master who taught him Wisdom,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., Torah.');">¹</span> for a Nasi, or Ab Beth din;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos.');">²</span> or on hearing evil tidings or [hearing] God's name blasphemed, or when a scroll of the law has been burnt; or at the [sight of the ruined] cities of Judea, the Holy Temple or Jerusalem.

אביו ואמו ורבו שלימדו תורה מנלן דכתיב (מלכים ב ב, יב) ואלישע ראה והוא מצעק אבי אבי רכב ישראל ופרשיו אבי אבי זה אביו ואמו רכב ישראל ופרשיו זה רבו שלימדו תורה

And one rends [first] for the Temple and then enlarges [the rent] for Jerusalem.' For his father or mother or for his master who taught him Wisdom'. Whence derive we [these rulings]? - From what is written: And Elisha saw it and he cried: My father.

מאי משמע כדמתרגם רב יוסף רבי רבי דטב להון לישראל בצלותיה מרתיכין ופרשין

my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings II, 12.');">³</span> 'My father, my father', that is, [to rend on the loss of] one's father or mother.' The char of Israel and the horsemen thereof', that is [for] a Master who taught one Torah.

ולא מתאחין מנלן דכתיב (מלכים ב ב, יב) ויחזק בבגדיו ויקרעם לשנים קרעים ממשמע שנאמר ויקרעם איני יודע שלשנים אלא מלמד שקרועים ועומדים לשנים לעולם

How exactly does it convey this [meaning]? - As R'Joseph rendered it [in Aramaic]: 'My master, my master, who was better [protection] to Israel with his prayer than chariots and horsemen'. And whence that these rents are not [to be] reunited? - From what is written [in the same passage]: And he [Elisha] took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings II, 12.');">³</span> Once it says 'and he rent then;', do I not know that he rent them in two [asunder]?

אמר ליה ריש לקיש לרבי יוחנן אליהו חי הוא אמר ליה כיון דכתיב (מלכים ב ב, יב) ולא ראהו עוד לגבי דידיה כמת דמי

It must be meant to teach that the severed parts ever remain rent [apart] in two.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the two edges of the torn part remain as they are, apart. Cf supra 22b.');">⁴</span> Said Resh Lakish to R'Johanan: Elijah [however] is alive!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He constantly reappears, from time to time, communing with saintly persons. Cf. B.M. ');">⁵</span> - He replied, Since it is written there 'And he saw 'him no more,' he was as dead to him [to Elisha].'

נשיא ואב בית דין ושמועות הרעות מנלן דכתיב (שמואל ב א, יא) ויחזק דוד בבגדיו ויקרעם וגם כל האנשים אשר אתו ויספדו ויבכו ויצומו עד הערב על שאול ועל יהונתן בנו ועל עם ה' ועל בית ישראל כי נפלו בחרב

For a Nasi or Ab Beth din or on hearing evil tidings'. Whence do we derive [these rulings]? - From what is written: Then David took hold of his clothes and rent them,' and likewise all the men that were with him. And they wailed and wept and fasted until even, for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. I, 11-12.');">⁶</span>

שאול זה נשיא יהונתן זה אב ב"ד על עם ה' ועל בית ישראל אלו שמועות הרעות

Now 'Saul', that is the Nasi [Prince]; 'Jonathan', that is the Ab Beth din.' And for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel', tha refers to 'evil tidings' [that reached them]. Said Rab B'Shabba to R'Kahana: Might not one explain that [they did] not [rend their clothes] until [after hearing] all those misfortunes [that had then happened]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The case of Saul and Jonathan.');">⁷</span>

א"ל רב בר שבא לרב כהנא ואימא עד דהוו כולהו א"ל על על הפסיק הענין

He replied, The repetition of 'for' this 'and for' that 'and for' separate the items [from one another]. Yet do we [have to] rend [clothes] on hearing evil tidings? For when they informed Samuel that King Shapur had slain twelve thousand Jews at Caesarea-Mazaca,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Shapur I (241-272) is said to have destroyed Caesarea-Mazaca, the capital of Cappadocia, a vital military post on the main roads leading to the East, in 260 C.E. after he defeated the Emperor Valerian. It is said that there were then four hundred thousand inhabitants. Cf. Enc. Brit. (11th ed.) IV, 943a. The date 260 however makes this statement rather difficult, as Samuel died in 252 and Papa bar Nasr of Palmyra (Odenath) destroyed Nehardea 259. The occasion must therefore have been earlier, after the murder of Gordian III at Zaitha in 244 when Philip the Arab (of Hauran) made the best terms he could with Shapur [V. Graetz MGWJ 1852, p. 512 and Hoffmann D. Mar Samuel, p. 48.]');">⁸</span>

ומי קרעינן אשמועות הרעות והא אמרו ליה לשמואל קטל שבור מלכא תריסר אלפי יהודאי במזיגת קסרי ולא קרע לא אמרו אלא ברוב צבור וכמעשה שהיה

he did not [then] rend his clothes? - They [the Sages] did not say [it should be done] save where the misfortune involves the larger part of the Community resembling the typical instance.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of Saul and Jonathan.');">⁹</span> And is it a fact that King Shapur slew Jews? For [it is reported] that King Shapur said to Samuel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They were on very friendly terms.');">¹⁰</span>

ומי קטל שבור מלכא יהודאי והא א"ל שבור מלכא לשמואל תיתי לי דלא קטלי יהודי מעולם התם אינהו גרמי לנפשייהו דא"ר אמי לקל יתירי דמזיגת קסרי פקע שורא דלודקיא

'May [ill] befal me if I have ever slain a Jew!' - For there, it was they [the Jews] that had brought it on themselves, as R'Ammi said, that the noise of the harp-strings<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Played by the Jews rebelling against the Persians (Rashi) .');">¹¹</span> about Caesarea-Mazaca burst the wall of Laodicea.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., brought about the destruction of Laodicea. Laodicea Combusta lay further West.');">¹²</span> '[Rents] on [hearing] God's name blasphemed'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Resuming the discussion of the points quoted in the Baraitha.');">¹³</span>

על ברכת השם מנלן דכתיב (מלכים ב יח, לז) ויבא אליקים בן חלקיה אשר על הבית ושבנא הסופר ויואח בן אסף המזכיר אל חזקיהו קרועי בגדים

Whence do we derive this? - From what is written: Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the household and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son; of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the [blasphemous] words of Rabshakeh.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings XVIII, 37.');">¹⁴</span> Our Rabbis taught: 'It makes no difference whether one hears it [himself] or hears it from another who had heard it, he is in duty bound to rend [his clothes], but the witnesses arc not in duty bound to rend [again on reporting] as they have already rent at the time they heard [the blasphemy]'. [You say], 'as they have already rent at the time they heard [the blasphemy]', what matters it, since they do hear it now [again in reporting]? - Do not imagine such a thing.

ת"ר אחד השומע ואחד השומע מפי השומע חייב לקרוע והעדים אינן חייבין לקרוע שכבר קרעו בשעה ששמעו

For it is written, And it came to pass, when the King heard it, that he rent his clothes:'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIX, 1.');">¹⁵</span> the King [we are told], rent [his clothes], but they [who reported it] did not rend [again]. And whence [do we know] that these rents are not [to be] mended? - That is learnt from a comparison<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gezerah shawah, v. Glos.');">¹⁶</span>

בשעה ששמעו מאי הוי הא קא שמעי השתא לא ס"ד דכתיב (מלכים ב יט, א) ויהי כשמוע המלך חזקיהו ויקרע את בגדיו המלך קרע והם לא קרעו

between the 'rending' [here] by King Hezekiah and 'rending' [elsewhere].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the case of Elisha as explained above from 'and he rent them in two pieces'. II Kings II, 12.');">¹⁷</span> '[Rents] when a scroll of the law has been burnt'. What is the source for this? - What is written: And it came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four columns that he cut it with a penknife and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XXXVI, 23ff.');">¹⁸</span>

ולא מתאחין מנלן אתיא קריעה קריעה

What is the point of saying '[had read] three or four columns'? - They told [King] Jehoiakim that Jeremiah had written a book of Lamentations, [and] he said to them: What is written there? [They quoted] 'How doth the city sit solitary'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lam. I, 1ff.');">¹⁹</span> - [The King] replied: I am the King.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' There is nothing in that verse about the King himself, but only lamentations about the city of Jerusalem.');">²⁰</span>

ספר תורה שנשרף מנלן דכתיב (ירמיהו לו, כג) ויהי כקרא יהודי שלש דלתות וארבעה ויקרעה בתער הסופר והשלך אל האש אשר אל האח וגו' מאי שלש דלתות וארבעה

They then cited to him [the second verse]: She weepeth sore in the night. He replied [again]: I am the King. [They then cited the third verse]: Judah is gone into exile because of affliction.

אמרו ליה ליהויקים כתב ירמיה ספר קינות אמר להו מה כתיב ביה (איכה א, א) איכה ישבה בדד אמר להו אנא מלכא א"ל (איכה א, ב) בכה תבכה בלילה אנא מלכא (איכה א, ג) גלתה יהודה מעוני אנא מלכא (איכה א, ד) דרכי ציון אבלות אנא מלכא

[Again he replied]: I am the King. [They continued with verse four]: The ways of Zion do mourn. I am the King [he replied].

(איכה א, ה) היו צריה לראש אמר להו מאן אמרה (איכה א, ה) כי ה' הוגה על רוב פשעיה מיד קדר כל אזכרות שבה ושרפן באש והיינו דכתיב (ירמיהו לו, כד) ולא פחדו ולא קרעו את בגדיהם מכלל דבעו למיקרע

[They continued with the fifth verse]: Her adversaries are become the head. He asked: Who said that? - [They continued with that same verse]: For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Forthwith he [began to] cut out all the names of God mentioned therein and burnt them in the fire; hence it is written [in the report there]: Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the King, nor any of his servants that heard all these words,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XXXVI, 24.');">²¹</span>

אמר ליה רב פפא לאביי אימר משום שמועות הרעות א"ל שמועות רעות בההיא שעתא מי הוו

which implies that the [bystanders] should have rent [their clothes]. Said Abaye to R'Papa: Might it not be suggested that the reason [why they should have rent was] for hearing evil tidings?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And not for blasphemy.');">²²</span> - He replied: [Hardly, for] were there at that time any evil tidings as yet?

א"ר חלבו אמר רב הונא הרואה ספר תורה שנקרע חייב לקרוע שתי קריעות אחד על הגויל ואחד על הכתב שנאמר (ירמיהו לו, כז) אחרי שרוף המלך את המגלה ואת הדברים

Said R'Helbo, as citing R'Huna: One who witnesses a scroll of the law being torn<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' MS.M., Asheri and other texts read here burnt.');">²³</span> is in duty bound to make two rents: one on account of the [injury to the] parchment<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is especially prepared as dedicated for a sacred text.');">²⁴</span> and one for [the injury to] the writing, as [may be gathered] from what is said: Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after that the King had burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. v. 27.');">²⁵</span>

רבי אבא ורב הונא בר חייא הוו יתבי קמיה דרבי אבא בעא לאפנויי שקליה לטוטפתיה אחתיה אבי סדיא אתאי בת נעמיתא בעא למיבלעיה

'The roll,' that is, the parchment and 'and the words', that is, the writing.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So MS.M. and J.M.K.');">²⁶</span> R'Abba and R'Huna B'Hiyya were once sitting together. R'Abba got up to [go and] relieve himself.

אמר השתא איחייבין לי שתי קריעות א"ל מנא לך הא והא בדידי הוה עובדא ואתאי לקמיה דרב מתנה ולא הוה בידיה אתאי לקמיה דרב יהודה ואמר לי הכי אמר שמואל לא אמרו אלא בזרוע וכמעשה שהיה

He took off his head phylactery and put it down on a pillow, when a young ostrich came and wanted to swallow it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'R. Huna seized the bird and held it by the throat'. J.M.K. III, 7.');">²⁷</span> Said he [R'Abba]: [If that had been swallowed] I should now have had to make two rents.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If the ostrich had swallowed or destroyed it. for the parchment and also for the text.');">²⁸</span> Said the other:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' R. Huna b. Hiyya. In J.M.K. the names are reversed.');">²⁹</span>

ערי יהודה מנלן דכתיב (ירמיהו מא, ה) ויבאו אנשים משכם משילו ומשמרון שמונים איש מגולחי זקן וקרועי בגדים ומתגודדים ומנחה ולבונה בידם להביא בית ה' וגו'

Whence do you derive this? A similar thing happened to me and I came to R'Mattenah [asking for guidance] and he had none to give me. I then came to Rab Judah and he told me: Thus said Samuel: 'The [Rabbis] taught [that one should rend] only where [a sacred text is torn or burnt] by force majeure<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An irresistible attack, lit., 'by arm'.');">³⁰</span>

א"ר חלבו אמר עולא ביראה אמר ר' אלעזר הרואה ערי יהודה בחורבנן אומר (ישעיהו סד, ט) ערי קדשך היו מדבר וקורע ירושלים בחורבנה אומר (ישעיהו סד, ט) ציון מדבר היתה ירושלם שממה וקורע בית המקדש בחורבנו אומר (ישעיהו סד, י) בית קדשנו ותפארתנו אשר הללוך אבותינו היה לשריפת אש וכל מחמדינו היה לחרבה וקורע:

and as in the example cited'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Blasphemously, as did Jehoiakim and his friends; but not when happening casually, as in this instance.');">³¹</span> 'Or at the [sight of the ruined] cities of Judea: the Holy Temple or Jerusalem'. Whence do we learn this? - From what is written: And it came to pass the second day after he<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ishmael the son of Nethaniah.');">³²</span>

קורע על מקדש ומוסיף על ירושלים: ורמינהו אחד השומע ואחד הרואה כיון שהגיע לצופים קורע וקורע על מקדש בפני עצמו ועל ירושלים בפני עצמה

had slain Gedaliah and no man knew it that there come certain men from Shechem, front Shiloh and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent and having cut themselves, with meal-offerings and frankincense in their hand to bring them in the house of the Lord.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. XLI. 4.5.');">³³</span> Said R'Helbo. as citing 'Ulla of Berai who reported R'Eleazar: One who sees the cities of Judah in their [state of] ruin, recites the verse: Thy holy cities are become a wilderness,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. LXIV, 9.');">³⁴</span>

לא קשיא הא דפגע במקדש ברישא הא דפגע בירושלים ברישא

and rends his garment. [On seeing] Jerusalem in its [state of] ruin, one recites: Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, is burned with fire and all our pleasant things are laid waste,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 10.');">³⁵</span> and rends his garment.'

תנו רבנן וכולן רשאין לשוללן ולמוללן וללוקטן ולעשותן כמין סולמות אבל לא לאחותן

He [first] makes a rent for the Holy Temple and then enlarges [the rent] for Jerusalem'. [In contrast to th some cited [the following Baraitha]: 'It is all the same whether one hears [that Jerusalem is fallen into ruin]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Enlarged according to the version in J.M.K. III, which is merely condensed in our texts.');">³⁶</span> or sees [Jerusalem in ruin he is] in duty bound to rend [his garment].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Enlarged according to the version in J.M.K. III, which is merely condensed in our texts.');">³⁶</span>

אמר רב חסדא

As soon as he reaches the Scopus he rends; and he rends for the holy Temple separately and for Jerusalem separately'? - This [seeming discrepancy] is not difficult [to explain]. The former ruling obtains where he first [of all] encounters the sit of the [ruined] Sanctuary<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Without somehow having caught sight of the ruins of Jerusalem on entering the city, travelling in a covered van, for instance or entering at dusk. He then rends first for the ruined Sanctuary and enlarges the rent on beholding the ruins of Jerusalem.');">³⁷</span> and the latter, where he encounters Jerusalem [ruins] first [and afterwards the Sanctuary]. Our Rabbis taught: 'And all these [rents] they may tack together,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Soon after, the next day.');">³⁸</span> baste or pick up [the frayed edges]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' With a herringbone or cross stitch.');">³⁹</span> or with a ladderstitch, but may not reunite the edges [by a sewn seam]'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sew up permanently.');">⁴⁰</span> Said R'Hisda: