Bava Kamma 82b (פב:) — the Talmud in English

And he came, Ezra

Ezra

instituted combing

specifically with a comb, as a precaution.

9.

And that merchants selling women’s cosmetics should circulate through the towns,

the reason is

because of women’s ornaments

[women’s cosmetics],

so that

they would be available to them, and

they would not become unattractive to their husbands.

10.

And he instituted immersion for those who experienced a seminal emission:

And we raise a difficulty: Is that to say that Ezra instituted this? But

is it not a Torah obligation!?

As it is written: “

And if a man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his flesh in water”!?

And we answer: Immersion

is a Torah obligation with regard to teruma and sacrificial offerings,

as it is forbidden to render them impure or to eat them in a state of impurity, and one must immerse beforehand—

and

he came,

Ezra came and

instituted it even with regard to words of Torah,

so that one may study only if he first immersed because of his seminal emission.

It was taught in a beraita:

Ten matters were stated concerning Jerusalem,

and the Gemara below explains the reason for all of them:

a.

A house does not become irrevocably the purchaser’s in it,

that is: Although the Torah states [Leviticus 25:29–30]: “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city [a house in a city surrounded by a wall since the days of Joshua], its redemption [by the seller from the purchaser] shall be until the completion of the year of its sale; for a year shall be the period of its redemption. But if it is not redeemed until a complete year has elapsed, then the house that is in the walled city shall belong irrevocably to its purchaser throughout his generations; it shall not go out in the Jubilee,” [and this is called the purchaser’s irrevocable acquisition]—nevertheless, this law does not apply in Jerusalem. Even though it is a walled city, the seller may redeem the house forever, and when the Jubilee arrives it returns to the purchaser, as is the law concerning one who sold a house in the unwalled rural towns.

b.

It does not bring the beheaded heifer,

that is: Although the Torah states [Deuteronomy 21]: “If someone slain is found on the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who killed him, then your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure toward the cities surrounding the slain man. And it shall be that the city nearest to the slain man; the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd … And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down … and they shall break the heifer’s neck in the valley … And all the elders of that city who are nearest to the slain man … shall answer and say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. Atone for Your people Israel …”—nevertheless, if the slain person is found near Jerusalem, they set Jerusalem aside and measure toward the other towns adjacent to it.

c.

It does not become an apostate city,

that is: Although the Torah states [Deuteronomy 13:13–17]: “If you hear, in one of your cities that the Lord your God gives you to dwell there, saying: Men, scoundrels, have gone out from among you and led the inhabitants of their city astray, saying: Let us go and worship other gods, which you have not known … you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the sword; you shall utterly destroy it and all that is in it and its animals with the sword. And you shall gather all its spoils into its open square, and burn with fire the city and all its spoils completely for the Lord your God …”—nevertheless, if this occurs in Jerusalem, it is not judged as an apostate city. Rather, the offenders are judged as individuals who worshipped idolatry: they are stoned, and their property goes to their heirs, as with the other people executed by a court.

d.

It does not become impure through afflictions

[house afflictions], that is: Although the Torah states [Leviticus 14:34]: “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I place a leprous affliction in a house in the land of your possession … the priest shall go out of the house to the entrance of the house and quarantine the house for seven days. And the priest shall return on the seventh day and see, and behold, the affliction has spread in the walls of the house. The priest shall command, and they shall remove the stones in which the affliction is … and he shall scrape the house from within, all around …”—nevertheless, if this occurs in Jerusalem, this law does not apply.

e.

One may not project out from it projecting beams

[beams extending from the walls]

or balconies

[balconies extending outward from the upper story].

f.

One may not make refuse heaps in it.

g.

One may not make lime kilns in it

[lime furnaces for pottery].

h.

One may not make gardens or orchards in it, except

for the rose garden

that was

that was

there

since the days of the early prophets.

[which] was there

i.

One may not raise chickens in it.

j.

One may not leave the dead overnight in it,

for if a person dies there, he is buried immediately on that same day.

The Gemara explains the reasons for these laws:

a.

A house does not become irrevocably the purchaser’s in it:

Because

it is written: “

And the house

that is in the city

that has a wall shall belong irrevocably to its purchaser throughout his generations”—

and he holds

the tanna of the beraita:

Jerusalem was not apportioned among the tribes,

as the rest of the Land was apportioned, and I do not apply to Jerusalem the phrase “to its purchaser throughout his generations,” for who conveyed it to him?

b.

It does not bring the beheaded heifer:

Because

it is written: “

When someone slain is found on the land that the

Lord your God gives you to possess,”

and Jerusalem was not apportioned among the tribes.

c.

It does not become an apostate city

because

it is written: “

your cities,”

and Jerusalem was not apportioned among the tribes.

it is written: “If a slain person is found on the land that the Lord your God gives you to inherit”, and Jerusalem was not divided among the tribes. 3.

d.

It does not become impure through afflictions

because

it is written: “

And I place a leprous affliction in a house in the land of your possession,”

and Jerusalem was not apportioned among the tribes.

e.

One may not project out from it projecting beams or balconies,

the reason is:

Because of a tent of impurity,

lest an olive-bulk of a corpse be lying on the ground, and the balconies cast a tent over it and over many people, thereby increasing the impurity.

And

also

so that those who make the pilgrimage would not be injured

[so that those who make the pilgrimage would not be injured] when they stumble against projecting beams and balconies. f.

One may not make refuse heaps in it,

the reason is

because of creeping creatures,

which tend to grow in refuse heaps and increase impurity, since they die there and render the sacrificial offerings in Jerusalem impure.

7.

And kilns may not be made in it,

the reason is

because of smoke [

which blackens the wall, and this is disgraceful; and we require Jerusalem to be a city “perfect in beauty.”

8.

And gardens and orchards may not be made in it,

the reason is

because of foulness [

stench], from bad herbs that grow there; they uproot them and throw them outside. And it is also customary to use them as fertilizer, which causes foulness.

9.

And chickens may not be raised in it,

the reason is

because of consecrated items,

as chickens peck in refuse and bring pieces of the flesh of dead creeping creatures in their mouths, thereby rendering consecrated items impure.

10.

And a corpse may not be left overnight in it: Gemara

This is a tradition handed down to us, and there is no reason for the matter. We learned in the Mishna:

Pig may not be raised anywhere:

Our Rabbis taught: When the kings

of

the Hasmonean dynasty laid siege to one another,

as there were many brothers from the Hasmonean family contending over the kingship,

Hyrcanus

[one of the brothers]

was inside, and Aristobulus

[a second brother]

was outside,

as he was besieging Jerusalem and had brought Roman troops with him—

And every day they would lower to them—

the people of Jerusalem who were under siege, to those who were besieging them—

a basket of dinars [

from the chamber contribution] by way of the wall,

and they would raise up to them—

those who were besieging them from outside—

the daily offerings

to be sacrificed on the altar.

There was—

inside, among the people of Jerusalem—

one elderly man who was familiar with Greek wisdom,

and

he communicated with them—

those outside—

in Greek wisdom: “

As long as they are engaged

those inside

in the Temple service, they will not

they

be delivered into your hands!”

The next day they lowered dinars into the basket, and they raised up to them

those outside

a pig.

When the pig reached

the

middle of the wall, it drove

the pig

its claws into the wall,

as is the way of a pig when it is dragged,

and the Land of Israel trembled—

because of the King’s anger, which burned over the desecration of His name—

four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs.

At that time they said:

a.

Accursed is the man who raises pigs.

b.

And accursed is the person who teaches his son Greek wisdom.

And concerning that same time—

when they laid siege to the city and destroyed the crops of the fields surrounding Jerusalem—

we learned

in the Mishna, Menahot 64b: “The mitzva of the Omer is to bring it from the nearby place [ from a place near Jerusalem], if the nearby place near Jerusalem did not ripen, it is brought from anywhere;

it happened that the Omer was brought from the gardens of Tzerifin, [

which is the name of a place very far from Jerusalem],

and the two loaves were brought from the valley of Ein Sokher,” [

the name of a place very far from Jerusalem].

It might have occurred to us that “Greek wisdom” means the Greek language, and therefore we ask:

But is Greek wisdom forbidden

[is it, in fact, prohibited]?!

But it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi said: