Bava Kamma 92b (צב:) — the Talmud in English

And the leper in whom the affliction is found, his garments shall be torn, his head shall be unkempt, and he shall cover his upper lip

and he shall call out: Impure, impure" [Leviticus 13:45], for the leper

[and anyone who is impure] must inform everyone that he is impure, so that they will not come into contact with him and become impure. And it is not enough for the leper to suffer the disgrace of his affliction; he must also disgrace himself, because the verse imposed upon him the obligation to publicize his impurity against his will.

4.

He said

[he asked]

Rava asked Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that the Sages said:

Rise early and eat,

that is, take care to eat morning bread, and through this you will be saved

in summer—

from the heat, and in winter

you will be saved by morning bread

from the cold. And

he further asked him: From where is this matter that

people say: Sixty runners ran but could not catch the man who ate in the morning

[sixty men (“runners”) ran but did not catch that man who ate in the morning ] that is, one who eats morning bread possesses great strength, and it is impossible to catch him.

He said to him,

Rabba bar Mari said to Rava:

As it is written

[Isaiah 49:10]:

“They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them,”

and we interpret the verse as follows: “Neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them,” since “they shall neither hunger nor thirst.”

Rava said to him,

Rava said:

You derived it from there

[from the words of the Prophets],

but I derive it from here

[from the Torah], as it is written [Exodus 23:25]:

“And you shall serve the Lord your God”—

this refers to the recitation of Shema and prayer.

“And He shall bless your bread and your water”—

this refers to bread with salt

and a pitcher of water; from this point onward

[by virtue of “and you shall serve” ... and through bread with salt and a pitcher of water]:

“And I shall remove illness from your midst.”

And it was taught

in a beraita:

“Illness”—this

mentioned here is the illness found in the

gallbladder; and why is it called simply “illness”?

Without further qualification!?

Because there are eighty-three illnesses

[types of illness]

in it

[in the gallbladder], and

“illness” has this numerical value

[eighty-three],

and

all

of them

[all those illnesses]

bread with salt

in the

morning and a pitcher of water

eliminate them.

5.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that the Sages said: If your fellow calls you a donkey, put a saddle on yourself

[if your fellow calls you “donkey,” take a saddle and place it upon yourself, as one does with donkeys], that is, acknowledge his words and do not argue with him.

He said to him: As it is written

[Genesis 16:8]:

“And he said

[the angel]

‘Hagar, maidservant of Sarai, from where have you come and where are you going?’”

Thus, the angel called her a maidservant.

And it is written:

“And she said, ‘I am fleeing from before Sarai, my mistress.’”

Even though Hagar believed that she had already been freed from Sarai and was no longer a maidservant, nevertheless Hagar accepted the angel’s statement that Sarai was her mistress. 6.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: A disgrace that is in you, say first

[a disgraceful matter that is in you, be the first to state it] yourself, before others mention it to your face.

He said to him: As it is written

concerning Eliezer in the house of Bethuel, Rebecca’s father [Genesis 24:34]:

“And he said

[Eliezer, at the beginning of his words]—

‘I am a servant of Abraham.’”

7.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: The gosling walks with its head bowed, but its eyes look upward

[a young goose walks with its head lowered, yet its eyes are raised upward so that it can see far away and find its food]? That is, a person should not be ashamed to ask for something he needs, whether concerning Torah, his livelihood, or the collection of a debt.

Nabal rebelled against David, and Abigail, Nabal’s wife, appeased David so that he would not judge her husband as a rebel against the monarchy, since Saul was still alive.

When Abigail appeased David, she prophesied through the Divine Spirit that her husband Nabal would not live long; at the same time, she mentioned that David was destined to become king over Israel.

Rabba bar Mari said to him:

Rabba bar Mari said to Rava:

As it is written

[I Samuel 25:31], at the conclusion of Abigail’s appeasement:

“And the Lord shall do good to my master

[that he will reign]

and you shall remember your maidservant”—

she hinted to him that he should remember her beauty and marry her. Thus, even while appeasing him, her eyes looked far ahead, to secure her future.

8.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: Sixty afflictions reach the teeth of one who hears his fellow eating and does not eat

[sixty] [pains come upon a person] [who hears his fellow eating while he himself does not eat]?

Rabba bar Mari said to him:

Rabba bar Mari said to Rava:

As it is written

[I Kings 1:26], concerning the feast that Adonijah made:

“But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and Solomon your servant, he did not invite.”

Thus, he complained that he had not been invited to the feast.

Rava said to him:

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari:

You derived it from there

[from the Prophets],

but I derive it from here

[from the Torah]:

“And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother.”

[Genesis 24:67]

And it is written afterward

[ibid. 25:1]:

“And Abraham added,

for he was jealous of Isaac,

and took a wife, and her name was Keturah.”

9.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: The wine belongs to its owner, but the merit belongs to the one who pours it.

That is, although the wine belongs to its owner, those who drink it show gratitude and thank the one who pours the drink and serves it to them.

Rabba bar Mari said to him:

Rabba bar Mari said to Rava:

As it is written

concerning Joshua [Numbers 27:18, 20]:

“And you shall lay your hand upon him ... so that the entire assembly of the children of Israel may hear,” and it is written

[Deuteronomy 34:9]:

“And Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the children of Israel listened to him,

and they did as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Thus, it attributed the wisdom and greatness to Moses, as though he gave them to Joshua, although they came only from the Holy One, blessed be He.

10.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: A hungry dog swallows even pebbles

[a starving dog swallows even stones ]?

He said to him: As it is written

[Proverbs 27:7]: “

A satisfied soul—

it tramples honeycomb

[it will tread underfoot even the honey of the comb],

but a hungry soul—

every bitter thing is sweet

to it.”

11.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this

matter that people say: A bad palm tree wanders and grows beside a grove of barren trees

[it is the way of a poor-quality palm tree to grow beside a barren tree]?

Rabba bar Mari said to him:

Rabba bar Mari said to Rava:

“This matter is written in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, stated a third time in the Writings, taught in the Mishna, and taught again in a beraita.”

That is, there are many examples of this, and we find them in the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, the Mishna, and the beraita:

“Written in the Torah,” as it is written

[Genesis 28:9]:

“And Esau went to Ishmael”

and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives, as a wife.”

“Repeated in the Prophets,” as it is written

[Judges 11:3]:

“And worthless men gathered themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.”

Plain wooden vessels” are pure; that is, wooden vessels that have no receptacle do not become impure, unless they are used for lying down or sitting.

“Stated a third time in the Writings,” as it is written:

Every bird dwells with its own kind, and people with those like themselves. “

Plain wooden vessels” are pure; that is, wooden vessels that have no receptacle do not contract impurity, unless they serve for lying down or sitting.

We learned in the Mishna

[Kelim 12:2]: A hook of a bedstead and of a table is impure, while one of a wooden lampstand is pure; this is the general principle:

Anything attached to an impure object—

Rabbi Eliezer holds [Hullin 62a] that the starling is an impure bird, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 14:12, 14]: “And these are the ones that you shall not eat among them ... and every raven according to its kind.” The phrase “according to its kind” comes to include the starling. And we learned in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: It was not for nothing that the

is impure; anything attached to a pure object—

is pure.

Rabbi Eliezer holds [Chullin 62a] that the starling is an impure bird, as it is stated [Deuteronomy 14:12, 14]: “And this is what you shall not eat from them ... and every raven according to its kind.” And what the verse says, “according to its kind,” comes to include the starling.

And we also learned in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: It was not for nothing that

the

starling

went to live and dwell

beside

the

raven, but because it is of its kind,

and is impure like it.

12.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: If you call your fellow and he does not answer you, knock down a great wall and throw it upon him

[bring the wall down upon him]. That is, if you called your fellow in order to admonish him and he did not answer you, leave him to fall in his wickedness, and even push him down with your own hands.

He said to him

Rabbah bar Mari:

as it is written [

Ezekiel 24:13]:

“Because I purified you [

I sent prophets to you to admonish you],

but you were not purified [

to repent],

from your impurity you shall not be purified any longer,

until I bring My wrath to rest upon you”]. 13.

Rava said to Rabbah bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: “The well from which you drank, do not throw a stone into it” [

A pit from which you drank when you were thirsty—you should not throw clods of earth into it]. That is to say, something that once benefited you, you should not subsequently disgrace.

He said to him

Rabbah bar Mari:

as it is written [

Deuteronomy 23:8]:

“You shall not despise an Edomite—

for he is your brother; and you shall not despise an Egyptian—

for you were a stranger in his land,”

and they provided you with lodging in a time of distress.

14.

Rava said to Rabbah bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: “If there is someone to lift the load with me, I will lift it; but if not, I will not lift it alone” [

If you will raise and carry the burden with me, I will carry it; but if not, I will not carry it by myself]?

This is a proverb concerning a person who does not wish to accept a burden and responsibility, or to undertake a financial risk, unless his fellow participates with him.

He said to him

Rabbah bar Mari:

as it is written [

Judges 4:8]:

“And Barak said to her: If you will go with me—

I will go; but if you will not go with me—

I will not go.”

15.

Rava said to Rabbah bar Mari: From where is this matter that people say: “When we were young—

we were considered men; now that we have grown old—

we are like children” [

When we were young, we were considered men; now that we have grown old, we are lowly like infants]?

He said to him

Rabbah bar Mari: From here, as

initially it is written [

Exodus 13:21]:

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to guide them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to illuminate for them,” and ultimately it is written [

Exodus 23:20]: