Bava Batra 91b (צא:) — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara cites another statement of his, in his exposition of the verse in I Chronicles (chapter 29): “Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom,

and You are exalted above all as head.”

Rav Naḥman bar Rava said that Rav said: Even

the simple appointment of a

water-distribution officer,

the official responsible for distributing the water of the city’s cisterns—who will draw water from them today and who tomorrow—

is made by Heaven.

This is the meaning of the verse: Whoever is elevated to be a leader, whatever the matter may be, is appointed by Heaven.

The Gemara now returns to the matter mentioned above, at the beginning of the previous page: Elimelech and his sons were punished for leaving Eretz Yisrael on account of the famine.

Rav Ḥiyya bar Avin said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: Heaven forbid

that one should say that they were punished because they left the Land on account of the famine, since

even if they had found bran

with which to sustain themselves,

they would not have left. But for what reason were they punished?

Because

they should have sought mercy for their generation, but they did not seek it!

And so

it is stated

in the Book of Isaiah (chapter 57):

“When you cry out—

your collections will save you.”

That is, if you cry out in prayer on behalf of the entire community gathered with you in your city, and do not pray only for your personal salvation, you will immediately be answered and saved together with them. This is because the merit of the multitude, for whom you prayed, will assist you in your salvation together with them.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They taught

that one may not leave for outside the Land on account of high prices

only

when the

money was inexpensive,

meaning that it was easy to earn money,

and produce was expensive. But

if the

money was expensive,

meaning that it was difficult to earn a livelihood because the price of merchandise had fallen sharply, causing losses to those engaged in commerce, then

even if four se’a stood at one sela,

meaning that produce was cheap,

they may leave!

It is permitted to leave because of the lack of livelihood, as will be explained below:

A mnemonic

for the following five statements in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan:

sela, laborer, carob, youth, they say.

a.

For Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember,

I recall,

when four se’a stood at one sela,

when produce was cheap,

and there were many people dying of hunger in Tiberias, from having nothing,

because they did not even have

an issar

with which to buy food! This means that a shortage of money, even when produce is cheap, causes great suffering to people who cannot buy it because they lack money; therefore, at such a time it is permitted to leave the Land.

b.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember, when the laborers would not hire themselves out,

when the laborers were unwilling to hire themselves for work

in the eastern part of the city,

because

the smell of bread would kill them.

For the wind blows from west to east and carried to the eastern part of the city the smell of the hot bread baked in the city. Because of their hunger, they would die from the smell of the bread being baked; therefore they refused to work and earn a livelihood in the eastern part of the city.

c.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember, when I was a child, I would cut a carob,

when he was a child and would cut open a carob,

and a thread of honey would flow over both my arms.

A thread of honey would run down both his arms.

And Rabbi Elazar

said something similar to Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement:

I remember, when a raven would take meat,

when the raven would sneak in, take meat, and fly upward with it,

and a thread of fat would run

a thread of grease would extend

from the top of the wall

from the top of the wall

to the ground,

to the ground beside the wall, because the meat was so fatty.

d.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember when

a boy and a girl would play together,

a youth and a maiden,

a boy and a girl,

in the marketplace,

in the city marketplace, and their age was

about sixteen,

about sixteen years old,

or about seventeen, and they did not sin,

they did not sin despite playing with one another.

e.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember when they would say in the study hall,

they would state a general principle concerning conduct with gentiles:

Whoever agrees with them,

one who appeases them by agreeing with their words and does not argue with or contradict them, will ultimately

fall into their hands.

But whoever

trusts them,

who relies on them not to harm him and reveals to them what he possesses, will ultimately see that the property

belonging to him

will become property

belonging to them.

This is as happened to Hezekiah: Because he relied on the emissaries of the king of Babylonia, he showed them his treasures, and ultimately they took them from him.

The Gemara now returns to the matter of Mahlon and Chilion:

In the Book of Ruth

it is written, “Mahlon and Chilion,”

whereas in the Book of Chronicles (chapter 4)

it is written

that they are called

“Joash and Seraph”!?

Rav and

Shmuel

disagreed in resolving this apparent contradiction.

One said: Mahlon and Chilion

are

their actual names. And why were they called

by the names

Joash and Seraph

in the Book of Chronicles? To teach you, by the designation

Joash, that they despaired of redemption,

for they did not trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, to redeem them from the famine. Rather, they settled permanently in the exile and married Moabite women.

And to teach you, by the designation

Seraph, that they were liable

to the punishment of

burning by Heaven,

because they left for outside the Land; therefore they died emaciated by hunger. This is akin to burning.

And one said: Joash and Seraph

are

their actual names,

the true names of Mahlon and Chilion.

And why were they called

in the Book of Ruth

Mahlon and Chilion?

To teach you, by the designation

Mahlon, that they made their bodies profane.

They profaned their bodies by leaving the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael for outside the Land, which is impure and has no sanctity. And to teach you, by the designation

Chilion, that they were liable to destruction by Heaven,

because they left Eretz Yisrael.

It was taught in a beraita in accordance with the one who says that “Mahlon and Chilion” were their actual names:

As it was taught in a beraita, what

is the meaning of the verse

that is written

in that passage of Chronicles, where the verse lists the descendants of Judah throughout the generations: “

And Jokim, and the men of Kozeba, and Joash and Seraph, who ruled over Moab, and the inhabitants of Leḥem; and the matters are ancient”?

This is the meaning of the verse:

“And Jokim”—

this is Joshua,

who belonged to the tribe of Judah through his mother, and was called “Jokim” because

he upheld an oath for the people of Gibeon

not to harm them.

But

“and the men of Kozeba”

do not belong to the tribe of Judah; rather,

these

are

the people of Gibeon, who deceived Joshua,

and because of their deception he upheld his oath to them not to harm them.

“And Joash and Seraph”—

these are Mahlon and Chilion,

who belonged to the tribe of Judah, since their father Elimelech was the son of Naḥshon, the son of Aminadav.

And why were they called Joash and Seraph?

“Joash,” because they despaired of redemption,

as they thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not redeem them from the famine.

“Seraph,” because they were liable to burning by Heaven.

“Who ruled over Moab”—

because they married Moabite women.

“And the inhabitants of Leḥem”—

this is Ruth the Moabite, who returned

and attached herself to Bethlehem of Judah,

and her sons belonged to the tribe of Judah.

“And the matters are ancient”—

these matters,

that it should happen in this way—that Mahlon and Chilion would leave the Land and thereby die, that Ruth the Moabite would come and marry Boaz, and that from this union the kings of the House of David would be born—

the Ancient of Days

the designation for the Holy One, blessed be He,

spoke them,

for He decreed and declared concerning them that events would unfold in this way so that David would descend from them. And these matters had come forth from Him beforehand, but they had been concealed.

As it is written

in Psalms 89:

“I have found David, My servant,” and it is written

in Genesis 19, concerning Lot, the father of Moab and the father of Ammon, from whom Ruth the Moabite descended, using the language of finding:

“Your two daughters who are found.”

This alludes to the fact that already then, when Lot was in Sodom, the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed that David would emerge from Ruth the Moabite.

The Gemara continues to expound the following verse in Chronicles, concerning the tribe of Judah and Ruth the Moabite:

“These were the craftsmen, and the inhabitants of plantations and hedges; with the king in his work they dwelt there.”

“These were the craftsmen”—

these are the descendants of Jehonadab ben Rechab, who guarded their father’s oath,

because their father adjured them not to drink wine and not to build houses.

“The inhabitants of plantations”—

this is Solomon, who resembles a planting

that continues to grow,

in his kingdom,

which likewise grew and became stronger.

“And hedges”—

this is the Sanhedrin, who fenced in the breaches of Israel,

through the enactments and safeguards they established for the Torah.

“With the king in his work they dwelt there”—

this is Ruth the Moabite, who witnessed the kingdom of Solomon, the son of the son of her son.

As it is stated

in I Kings 2, when Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, came to ask him to give Abishag the Shunammite to his brother Adonijah: “The king rose to meet her and bowed to her, and sat on his throne;

and he placed a throne for the king’s mother,

and she sat at his right hand.”

And Rabbi Elazar said:

King Solomon placed the throne

for the mother of royalty,

namely, Ruth the Moabite, from whom all the kings of the House of David descended.

The Sages taught:

It is written in Leviticus 26 concerning the blessing of the produce that grows in the sixth year before the Sabbatical year:

“And you shall eat the old produce,”

meaning that the produce of the sixth year will be

without salmanton,

the substance that prevents produce from aging properly, causing it instead to rot.

The Gemara explains:

What is meant by “without salmanton”?

Rav Naḥman said: Without worms,

so that there will not be a worm that consumes the produce.

And Rav Sheshet said: Without overheating,

so that the produce will not become heated, since heating prevents it from aging and consequently causes it to rot.

It was taught in a beraita in support of Rav Sheshet,

and conversely,

it was taught in a beraita in support of Rav Naḥman.

The Gemara explains:

It was taught in a beraita in support of Rav Naḥman,

as it was taught:

“And you shall eat the old produce.”

One might have thought that Israel would await the new produce,

the new produce of the eighth year,

because the old had been consumed,

meaning that because of the worm, the old produce from the sixth year would be consumed shortly before the harvesting of the new produce in the eighth year, and Israel would await the harvest of the eighth-year produce. This would be so because the verse says, “And you shall eat the old produce until near the time of the harvest,” but not including the harvest itself.

The verse therefore states: “Until the coming of its produce,”

so that they will have old produce to eat

until the produce comes

of the eighth year,

by itself.

They will have it until the new produce has ripened properly; the old produce will not be consumed by worms, and they will not need to hasten the harvesting of the new produce while it is still moist, nor roast it in order to make it fit for eating.

It was taught in a beraita in support of Rav Sheshet: “And you shall eat the old produce.” One might have thought that Israel would await the new produce because of the old

that was in their possession, since

it

was

bad.

That is, the kernels of the produce would be whole, but the produce would become heated; this is the meaning of overheating!?

The verse therefore states: “Until the coming of its produce,” until produce comes

by itself.

The Sages taught:

It is written in Leviticus 26:

“And you shall eat old produce that is very old,” teaching

the verse

that whatever is older than its counterpart is superior to its counterpart.

And I know this

only with regard to the blessing that whatever is older than its counterpart is superior

in the case of things that are customarily aged,

such as wheat and wine.

With regard to things that are not customarily aged,

such as fruit, which ordinarily rots,

from where

do I know that the blessing of the seventh year applies to them as well, so that they will not rot, but, on the contrary, the older ones will be superior!?

The verse therefore states: “Old produce that is very old,”

the verse repeated the expression and said “old produce that is very old” in order to teach you that

in any event,

with regard to everything, there will be a blessing in the old.

“And you shall remove the old because of the new”—

this teaches that the storehouses were

of produce from the sixth year

full of old produce

even in the eighth year,

while the granaries

of produce from the eighth year were

full of new produce. And Israel would say: How shall we remove this,

the superior old produce from the storehouses,

because of this,

the new produce, which is not as superior as it!? This was because there would be such an abundance in the sixth year that there would be no room to store the new produce of the eighth year.

Rav Pappa said: Everything is better when old,

it is good when aged and old,

except dates, beer, and small fish fried in oil.

small fish preserved in oil.

We have completed the chapter “One who sells a ship.”