Sotah 97

Chapter 97

א שמבזבזין דין אביהם לעתיד לבוא אומרים לפניו רבונו של עולם מאחר שאתה עתיד ליפרע מהן למה הקהיתה שיניהם בם
1 who despoil the verdict upon their fathers in the Hereafter, Saying before Him, 'Sovereign of the Universe! Since thou art about to exact punishment of them, why hast Thou blunted their teeth?'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Caused them suffering in this world by our death in childhood. By this plea the bereaved parents are spared punishment. ');"><sup>1</sup></span> R. Elai b. Jebarekya said: Had it not been for the prayer of David, all Israel would have been sellers of rubbish,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Earning a precarious livelihood. ');"><sup>2</sup></span>
ב אמר ר' אילעא בר יברכיה אלמלא תפלתו של דוד היו כל ישראל מוכרי רבב שנאמר (תהלים ט, כא) שיתה ה' מורה להם וא"ר אילעא בר יברכיה אלמלא תפלתו של חבקוק היו ב' תלמידי חכמים מתכסים בטלית אחת ועוסקין בתורה שנאמר (חבקוק ג, ב) ה' שמעתי שמעך יראתי ה' פעלך בקרב שנים חייהו אל תקרא בקרב שנים אלא בקרוב שנים
2 as it is stated: Grant them esteem, O Lord.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. IX, 21 (E.V. 'Put them in fear'). ['Them' are Israel, and the prayer is that God will bestow on them worldly goods which will secure for them the esteem of the nations.] ');"><sup>3</sup></span> R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: Had it not been for the prayer of Habakkuk, two disciples of the Sages would have to cover themselves with one garment<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Through poverty. ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
ג ואמר ר' אילעא בר יברכיה שני תלמידי חכמים המהלכין בדרך ואין ביניהן דברי תורה ראוין לישרף באש שנאמר (מלכים ב ב, יא) ויהי המה הולכים הלוך ודבר והנה רכב אש וגו' טעמא דאיכא דיבור הא ליכא דיבור ראוין לישרף
3 and occupy themselves with Torah; as it is stated: O Lord, I have heard the report of Thee and am afraid; O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hab. III, 2. ');"><sup>5</sup></span> — read not 'in the midst of the years [bekereb shanim]' but in the drawing together of two [bekerub shenayim].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Thy work' is the study of Torah; and 'drawing together of two' refers to two students sharing one garment. ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
ד וא"ר אילעא בר יברכיה שני ת"ח הדרין בעיר אחת ואין נוחין זה לזה בהלכה אחד מת ואחד גולה שנאמר (דברים ד, מב) לנוס שמה רוצח אשר ירצח את רעהו בבלי דעת ואין דעת אלא תורה שנאמר (הושע ד, ו) נדמו עמי מבלי הדעת
4 R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: If two disciples of the Sages proceed on a journey and there are no words of Torah between them, they are deserving of being burnt with fire; as it is stated: And it came to pass, as they still went on, that, behold, a chariot of fire etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Kings II, 11. ');"><sup>7</sup></span> The reason [why the chariot of fire appeared] was that there was discussion [of Torah between them]; hence if there had not been such discussion, they would have deserved to be burnt.
ה אמר ר' יהודה בריה דר' חייא כל ת"ח העוסק בתורה מתוך הדחק תפלתו נשמעת שנאמר (ישעיהו ל, יט) כי עם בציון ישב בירושלים בכה לא תבכה חנון יחנך לקול זעקך כשמעתו ענך וכתיב בתריה (ישעיהו ל, כ) ונתן ה' לכם לחם צר ומים לחץ
5 R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: If two disciples of the Sages reside in the same city and do not support each other in [the study of] the law, one dies and the other goes into exile;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One being the cause of the other's death, he has, so to speak, to flee to a city of refuge; he is exiled. ');"><sup>8</sup></span> as it is stated: That the manslayer might flee thither, which slayeth his neighbour without knowledge,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. IV, 42. ');"><sup>9</sup></span>
ו ר' אבהו אומר משביעין אותו מזיו שכינה שנאמר (ישעיהו ל, כ) והיו עיניך רואות את מוריך ר' אחא בר חנינא אמר אף אין הפרגוד ננעל בפניו. שנאמר (ישעיהו ל, כ) ולא יכנף עוד מוריך
6 and 'knowledge' means nothing but Torah, as it is stated: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hos. IV, 6. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> R. Judah, son of R. Hiyya said: Any disciple of the Sages who occupies himself with Torah in poverty will have his prayer heard; as it is stated: For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; He will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear, He will answer thee,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. XXX, 19. The people dwelling in Zion symbolise students of Torah. ');"><sup>11</sup></span>
ז רשב"ג אומר משום ר' יהושע מיום שחרב בהמ"ק אין וכו' אמר רבא בכל יום ויום מרובה קללתו משל חבירו שנאמר (דברים כח, סז) בבקר תאמר מי יתן ערב ובערב תאמר מי יתן בקר הי בקר אילימא בקר דלמחר מי ידע מאי הוי אלא דחליף
7 and it continues, And the Lord will give you bread in adversity and water in affliction.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 20 sic. ');"><sup>12</sup></span> R. Abbahu said: They also satisfy him from the lustre of the <i>Shechinah</i>, as it is stated: Thine eyes shall see thy Teacher.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 'Teacher' is applied to God. ');"><sup>13</sup></span>
ח ואלא עלמא אמאי קא מקיים אקדושה דסידרא ואיהא שמיה רבא דאגדתא שנא' (איוב י, כב) ארץ עפתה כמו אופל צלמות ולא סדרים הא יש סדרים תופיע מאופל
8 R. Aha b. Hanina said: Neither is the veil<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hiding the glory of God from man. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> drawn before him, as it is said: 'Thy teacher shall no more be hidden.'
ט ולא ירד טל לברכה וניטל טעם פירות וכו' תניא ר"ש בן אלעזר אומר טהרה בטלה טעם וריח מעשר ביטל שומן דגן
9 RABBAN SIMEON B. GAMALIEL SAYS IN THE NAME OF R. JOSHUA:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The wording in the Mishnah is: R. Joshua testified. ');"><sup>15</sup></span> FROM THE DAY THAT THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, THERE IS NO DAY etc. Raba said: And the curse of each day is severer than that of the preceding, as it is stated: In the morning thou shalt say: Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say: Would God it were morning.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXVIII, 67. ');"><sup>16</sup></span>
י רב הונא אשכח תומרתא דחינוניתא שקלה כרכה בסודריה אתא רבה בריה א"ל מורחינא ריחא דחינוניתא א"ל בני טהרה יש בך יהבה ניהליה אדהכי אתא אבא בריה שקלה יהבה ניהליה א"ל בני שמחת את לבי והקהיתה את שיני היינו דאמרי אינשי רחמי דאבא אבני רחמי דבני אבני דהוו ליה
10 Which morning [would they long for]? If I say the morning of the morrow, nobody knows what it will be. Therefore [it must be the morning] which had gone.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because yesterday was less severe than today. Therefore they longed for its return. ');"><sup>17</sup></span> How, in that case, can the world endure?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If every day is worse than the preceding day. ');"><sup>18</sup></span>
יא רב אחא בר יעקב איטפל ביה ברב יעקב בר ברתיה כי גדל א"ל אשקיין מיא אמר לו לאו בריך אנא והיינו דאמרי אינשי רבי רבי בר ברתך אנא
11 — Through the doxology recited after the Scriptural reading,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Kidushah-de-Sidra. Lit., 'the doxology of the order'. This name is given to the passage recited at the conclusion of the morning service which begins 'And a Redeemer shall come unto Zion' (v. P.B. p. 73) and which consists of Scriptural verses including the doxology in Hebrew and Aramaic. It was designed according to Rashi to take the place of the daily study of the law which is enjoined upon every Jew. For other explanations v. Abrahams, I., Companion to the Daily Prayer Book, p. LXXXIII.] ');"><sup>19</sup></span> and [the response of] 'May His great Name [be blessed]' [which is uttered in the doxology] after studying Aggada;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 197, n. 1. ');"><sup>20</sup></span>
יב <big><strong>מתני׳</strong></big> בפולמוס של אספסיינוס גזרו על עטרות חתנים ועל האירוס
12 as it is stated: A land of thick darkness, as darkness itself, a land of the shadow of death, without any order.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Job X, 22. The word for 'order' is the same as that for the Scriptural reading. ');"><sup>21</sup></span> Hence if there are Scriptural readings, it is illumined from the thick darkness.
יג בפולמוס של טיטוס גזרו על עטרות כלות ושלא ילמד אדם את בנו יוונית
13 THE DEW HAS NOT DESCENDED FOR A BLESSING AND THE FLAVOUR HAS DEPARTED FROM THE FRUITS etc. It has been taught: R. Simeon b. Eleazar Says: [The cessation of] purity has removed taste and fragrance [from fruits]; [the cessation of] tithes has removed the fatness of corn. R. Huna once found a juicy date which he took and wrapped in his mantle. His son, Rabbah, came and said to him, 'I smell the fragrance of a juicy date'. He said to him, 'My son, there is purity in thee',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For that reason he was able to smell its fragrance. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> and gave it to him. Meanwhile [Rabbah's] son, Abba, came; [Rabbah] took it and gave it to him. [R. Huna] said to [Rabbah], 'My son, thou hast gladdened my heart<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' With his purity. ');"><sup>23</sup></span>
יד בפולמוס האחרון גזרו שלא תצא הכלה באפריון בתוך העיר ורבותינו התירו שתצא הכלה באפריון בתוך העיר
14 and blunted my teeth'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By displaying more love for the son than the father, because he gave him the date. ');"><sup>24</sup></span> That is what the popular proverb Says, 'A father's love is for his children; the children's love is for their own children.'
טו משמת ר"מ בטלו מושלי משלים משמת בן עזאי בטלו השקדנים משמת בן זומא בטלו הדרשנים משמת ר"ע בטל כבוד התורה משמת ר' חנינא בן דוסא בטלו אנשי מעשה משמת ר' יוסי קטנתא פסקו חסידים ולמה נקרא שמו קטנתא שהיה קטנתא של חסידים
15 R. Aha b. Jacob reared R. Jacob, his daughter's son. When he grew up, [the grandfather] said to him, 'Give me some water to drink'. He replied: 'I am not thy son'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He claimed that the duty of honouring parents did not apply to grandparents, although he had been reared by him. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> That is what the popular proverb says: 'Rear me, rear me;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And yet I have not the duty of a son. ');"><sup>26</sup></span>
טז משמת רבי יוחנן בן זכאי בטל זיו החכמה משמת ר"ג הזקן בטל כבוד התורה ומתה טהרה ופרישות משמת רבי ישמעאל בן פאבי בטלה זיו הכהונה משמת רבי בטל ענוה ויראת חטא
16 I am thy daughter's son'. <b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. DURING THE WAR WITH VESPASIAN<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which ended in the destruction of the second Temple. ');"><sup>27</sup></span>
יז [<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> ת"ר] ר' פנחס בן יאיר אומר משחרב בהמ"ק בושו חברים ובני חורין וחפו ראשם ונדלדלו אנשי מעשה וגברו בעלי זרוע ובעלי לשון ואין דורש ואין מבקש ואין שואל
17 THEY [THE RABBIS] DECREED AGAINST [THE USE OF] CROWNS WORN BY BRIDEGROOMS AND AGAINST [THE USE OF] THE DRUM.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' At wedding festivities. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> DURING THE WAR OF QUIETUS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The text has Titus; but Neubauer's Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles, II p. 66 has the correct reading. Quietus was a Moorish prince, appointed by Trajan to command the army which overran Babylon in 116 C.E. ');"><sup>29</sup></span>
יח על מי לנו להשען על אבינו שבשמים
18 THEY DECREED AGAINST [THE USE OF] CROWNS WORN BY BRIDES AND THAT NOBODY SHOULD TEACH HIS SON GREEK. DURING THE FINAL WAR<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rashi explains: when the Temple was destroyed. More probably it refers to the last stand against Rome under Bar Kochba in 135 C.E. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> THEY DECREED THAT A BRIDE SHOULD NOT GO OUT IN A PALANQUIN<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In which she was conveyed to her husband's house. ');"><sup>31</sup></span>
יט ר"א הגדול אומר מיום שחרב בית המקדש שרו חכימיא למהוי כספריא וספריא כחזניא וחזניא כעמא דארעא ועמא דארעא
19 IN THE MIDST OF THE CITY, BUT OUR RABBIS DECREED THAT A BRIDE MAY GO OUT IN A PALANQUIN IN THE MIDST OF THE CITY. WHEN R. MEIR<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He was renowned for his fables, V. Sanh, 38b. ');"><sup>32</sup></span> DIED, THE COMPOSERS OF FABLES CEASED. WHEN BEN AZZAI<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He was wedded to the Torah. V. supra p. 15. ');"><sup>33</sup></span> DIED, THE ASSIDUOUS STUDENTS [OF TORAH] CEASED. WHEN BEN ZOMA<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He was a famous expositor. V. Ber. 12b. ');"><sup>34</sup></span> DIED, THE EXPOSITORS CEASED.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [The text of the separately printed Mishnah adds: WHEN R. JOSHUA DIED, GOODNESS DEPARTED FROM THIS WORLD. WHEN R, SIMEON B. GAMALIEL DIED, THE LOCUST CAME AND TROUBLE INCREASED. WHEN R. ELEAZAR B. AZARIAH DIED, WEALTH DEPARTED FROM THE SAGES.] ');"><sup>35</sup></span> WHEN R. AKIBA<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He studied every letter of the Torah and derived ideas from every peculiarity of expression. ');"><sup>36</sup></span> DIED, THE GLORY OF THE TORAH CEASED. WHEN R. HANINA B. DOSA DIED, MEN OF DEED<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The phrase has been variously interpreted. V. Buchler, Some Types of Jewish-Palestinian Piety, pp. 79ff, He explains it as men who devoted their lives to deeds of loving kindness. ');"><sup>37</sup></span> CEASED. WHEN R. JOSE KETANTA DIED, THE PIOUS MEN CEASED; AND WHY WAS HIS NAME CALLED KETANTA? BECAUSE HE WAS THE YOUNGEST<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the last of them. There is no other mention of him in Rabbinic literature. ');"><sup>38</sup></span> OF THE PIOUS MEN.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [J. B.K. III, makes him identical with Jose the Babylonian, the son of Akabia b. Mahalaliel. V. Derenbourg. Essai, p. 483.] ');"><sup>39</sup></span> WHEN R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' His disciples called him 'the lamp of Israel'. V. Br. 28b. ');"><sup>40</sup></span> DIED, THE LUSTRE OF WISDOM CEASED.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [On the wide sweep of his knowledge embracing the whole gamut of sciences known in his day v. B.B. 134a.] ');"><sup>41</sup></span> WHEN RABBAN GAMALIEL THE ELDER DIED, THE GLORY OF THE TORAH CEASED, AND PURITY AND ABNEGATION PERISHED. WHEN R. ISHMAEL B. FABI<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Appointed High Priest by Agrippa II in 59 C.E. He was executed in Cyrene after the destruction of the Temple (Josephus, War VI, II, 2.). ');"><sup>42</sup></span> DIED, THE LUSTRE OF THE PRIESTHOOD CEASED. WHEN RABBI DIED, HUMILITY AND FEAR OF SIN CEASED.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since Rabbi (Judah I, the Prince) was the redactor of the Mishnah, this paragraph is clearly a later addition. V. Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten, II, p. 222, n. 4. ');"><sup>43</sup></span> R. PHINEAS B. JAIR SAYS: WHEN [THE SECOND] TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, SCHOLARS<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Haberim, v. Glos. ');"><sup>44</sup></span> AND NOBLEMEN WERE ASHAMED AND COVERED THEIR HEAD,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Through the insolence of inferior Persons who grew powerful. ');"><sup>45</sup></span> MEN OF DEED WERE DISREGARDED, AND MEN OF ARM AND MEN OF TONGUE<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Demagogues. ');"><sup>46</sup></span> GREW POWERFUL. NOBODY ENQUIRES,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Concerning Israel's plight. ');"><sup>47</sup></span> NOBODY PRAYS [ON THEIR BEHALF], AND NOBODY ASKS.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' About the welfare of his neighbour. ');"><sup>48</sup></span> UPON WHOM IS IT FOR US TO RELY? UPON OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. R. ELIEZER THE GREAT SAYS: FROM THE DAY THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, THE SAGES BEGAN TO BE LIKE SCHOOL-TEACHERS,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They deteriorated in quality. ');"><sup>49</sup></span> SCHOOL-TEACHERS LIKE SYNAGOGUE-ATTENDANTS, SYNAGOGUE-ATTENDANTS LIKE COMMON PEOPLE, AND THE COMMON PEOPLE