Bava Batra 121a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean says: ![](pamud.bmp "

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The appointed times of Hashem were stated; the Shabbat of Creation was not stated.

Ben Azzai says: The appointed times of Hashem were stated; the annulment of vows was not stated.

Thus far is the beraita. And all of it will be explained below.

Rabbi Yosei bar Natan had learned this beraita

[learned this beraita],

but did not know how to explain it.

He went after him

[he followed]

when Rav Sheshet went to Nehardea, but he did not find him

[he did not find him]

. He went after him to Mehoza and found him.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yosei to Rav Sheshet:

What is the meaning of: “The appointed times of Hashem were stated; the Shabbat of Creation was not stated”?

He said to him:

The intention of the beraita is to say: only

the appointed times of Hashem require sanctification by the court ,

but

Shabbat

of Creation

that is, every Shabbat ,

does not require sanctification by the court.

And it needed to inform us of this law, for

it might enter your mind to say: since it is written

Shabbat of Creation

in connection with the appointed festivals ,

it too

should require sanctification by the court like the appointed festivals; it teaches us

that the day of Shabbat is not dependent on sanctification by the court. And in any event, the seventh day is Shabbat.

Rabbi Yosei asked further:

What is the meaning of: “The appointed times of Hashem were stated; the annulment of vows was not stated”?

He said to him: The intention of the beraita is to say: only

the appointed times of Hashem,

that is, the sanctification of the month on the basis of the sighting,

require experts,

but

the annulment of vows does not require experts.

Rather, three laymen suffice.

And from here Beit Shammai learned that for the annulment of vows an expert court is not required; rather, three laymen suffice.

And the Gemara raises an objection:

But

in the passage concerning vows

“heads

of the tribes,” it is written,

and it implies experts?

Rav Hisda said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan:

The verse comes to teach us that if he wished to annul the vow

alone,

he could annul it if he were

an expert.

Indeed, with regard to the sanctification of the month, one alone does not suffice, even an expert like Moses our teacher, until there are three experts.

The Gemara returns to discuss that which “the tribes were permitted to marry one another”:

We learned there: Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel said: There were no festivals for Israel like the fifteenth of Av

and like Yom Kippur, on which the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white garments,

and even if she had garments of her own, she would borrow from her friend, in order

not to shame one who did not have any.

And we inquire concerning it:

Granted, Yom Kippur—the day of forgiveness and pardon, the day on which the second Tablets were given ,

and it is understandable why there were no festivals for Israel comparable to it.

But what is the fifteenth of Av?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: The day on which the tribes were permitted to come into one another .

For on that day the generation of those who entered the Land, upon whom the transfer of inheritance from tribe to tribe had been prohibited, came to an end, and they were permitted to marry whomever they wished.

What did they expound?

From where did they expound the permission?

From what is written,

“This is the matter,”

and we expound:

This matter shall apply only in this generation.

As above.

Rabba bar bar Hanna said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The day on which the tribe of Benjamin was permitted to enter the congregation.

For it is written: “And the man of Israel swore at Mitzpa, saying: No man among us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”

And on the fifteenth of Av that generation which had sworn that they would not give any of their daughters to the sons of Benjamin came to an end.

What did they expound?

That is, where did they find an opening to permit the oath that their forefathers had sworn?

Rather, they expounded:

“From us,” but not from our sons.

Rav Dimi bar Yosef said in the name of Rav Nahman: The day on which the dead of the wilderness came to an end .