Chagigah 3b — the Talmud in English

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“And who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land?”

They added and said to Rabbi Yehoshua:

And he too—

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya [Rashi] —

began and expounded:

It is written:

“The words of the wise are like goads, and like firmly planted nails, the masters of assemblies

all

given by one Shepherd.”

And Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya expounded:

Why were words of Torah compared to a “goad

[an iron point at the end of a staff]—as it is written: “The words of the wise are like goads”?

To tell you:

Just as this goad directs the cow along its furrows

[to make the plowing straight] so as

to bring life to the world

[people live from the grain that grows in the field],

so too, words of Torah direct those who study them from paths of death to paths of life.

If

[you might say, also]

just as this goad is moved about

[it does not remain fixed in its place, Maharsha],

so too, words of Torah are moved about

and do not remain established.

The verse therefore states:

and like

“nails

firmly planted.”

And as they said: Many kings issue decrees and they are annulled, whereas Moses issued several decrees and they are never annulled [Maharsha].

If

[you might say]

just as this nail is deficient

[it removes material from the wall as it enters it],

and does not add to it, so too, words of Torah are deficient and do not add

[they diminish the heart of the listener and do not augment it].

The verse therefore states: “And like

nails

firmly planted.”

To tell you:

Just as this planting grows and multiplies, so too, words of Torah grow and multiply

in the one who hears them.

And what is the meaning of what is written:

“The masters of assemblies

given by one Shepherd”?

These are Torah scholars who sit in assemblies upon assemblies

[groups upon groups, for Torah is acquired through gathering, Maharsha],

and engage in Torah study.

And there are disagreements among them:

These deem the item impure, and these deem it pure.

These prohibit, and these permit.

These disqualify

people [for testimony or for the priesthood],

and these deem them fit.

Perhaps a person will say: How can I study Torah from now on

—how will I know how to decide between them?!

The verse therefore states: “Given by one Shepherd.”

And since

one God gave them

[among those who disagree, none cites as proof for his words the teaching of another god, but only the Torah of the Holy One, blessed be He],

and since

one leader

[Moses our teacher]

stated them from the mouth of the Master of all deeds, blessed is He

[among those who disagree, none cites as proof the words of another prophet who came to dispute Moses our teacher].

As it is written: “And God spoke all these words.”

And since everyone’s heart was directed toward Heaven:

You too, make your ears like a hopper

[a receptacle standing above the millstones into which the wheat is placed, and from which it pours slowly into the millstones], to hear everyone’s words.

And acquire for yourself an understanding heart, to hear the words of

those who

deem impure, and the words of

those who

deem pure; the words of

those who

prohibit, and the words of

those who

permit; the words of

those who

disqualify, and the words of those who deem fit!

That is: Weigh, according to your understanding, everyone’s words, and you will be able to distinguish for yourself, among all the opinions, which is the straight path.

And decide, according to your judgment, whose words constitute the halakha!

And when Rabbi Yehoshua heard all these homilies that they had conveyed to him in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya,

he said to them in these words:

There is no orphaned generation in which Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya resides.

That is: A generation in which Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya resides is not an orphaned generation!

And we challenge this:

Let them say to him—

Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka and Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥisma to Rabbi Yehoshua—

directly

[let them immediately tell him everything that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya expounded. Why did they initially need to say to him, “We are your students,” and the like?!

And we answer:

Because of an incident that occurred!

As it was taught in a beraita: There was an incident involving Rabbi Yosei ben Durmaskit, who went

during the festival

to greet Rabbi Elazar

his teacher

in Lod.

Rabbi Elazar said to Rabbi Yosei:

What new teaching was there in the beit-midrash today?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yosei:

They counted

[they disagreed about the matter, and counted the number of those who said this and those who said otherwise in order to decide according to the majority]

and concluded,

and enacted:

The land of

Ammon and Moab

[which is across the Jordan, conquered by Israel from Sihon and Og, who had conquered it from Ammon and Moab], which is not presently sanctified with the sanctity of the Land so that the laws of the Sabbatical year and tithes apply there,

the Sages enacted concerning it that they should

separate the tithe for the poor during the Sabbatical year

[the matter is explained below in the Gemara].

Rabbi Elazar said to him,

Rabbi Elazar:

Yosei! Stretch out your hands and receive your eyes!

For Rabbi Elazar was displeased that Rabbi Yosei had bestowed a crown upon that expounder, although the substance of the matter had already been enacted by the Men of the Great Assembly who preceded them [Rashi].

[And in the Turei Even he cites the words of Rabbi Shimon, who explained: Rabbi Elazar was strict with Rabbi Yosei because he had not initially said to him: “I am your student, and I drink from your waters.” The Maharsha likewise wrote this, and this is the meaning of what they said: “Because of an incident that occurred.”]

Rabbi Yosei stretched out

his

hands and received his eyes.

Rabbi Elazar wept and said: “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and His covenant is to make it known to them.”

And He had likewise made known to them what had already been enacted [as Rabbi Elazar continued and said].

Rabbi Elazar said to him,

Rabbi Elazar to Rabbi Yosei:

Go and say to them,

to the Sages whose words you cited in their name,

Do not be concerned about your counting!

That is: Do not fear that what you counted and decided according to your count is incorrect.

For

this is what I received as a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher: It is a law given to Moses at Sinai

[a matter as certain as a law given to Moses at Sinai, Rosh] that in the land of

Ammon and Moab, the tithe for the poor is separated during the Sabbatical year.

What is the reason?

Many cities

[including the land of Ammon and Moab]

were conquered by those who came up from Egypt

when they entered the Land and it was sanctified with its first sanctity, which was subsequently nullified when they were exiled from it,

but were not conquered by those who came up from Babylonia

to sanctify them with a second sanctity when they returned from the exile.

And they did not possess the sanctity of the Land of Israel by virtue of its first sanctity,

because the first sanctity sanctified

only

for its time,

until they were exiled,

but did not sanctify for the future.

And

the reason that

they left them

unsanctified

was so that the poor would be able to rely upon them during the Sabbatical year.

Thus, the fields of those cities would not be ownerless for everyone, as is the law during the Sabbatical year, and the poor would benefit even during the seventh year from the gifts to the poor, such as the tithe for the poor, leket, and the like.

And since, according to the fundamental law, because they did not sanctify it, the land of Ammon and Moab is not obligated in tithes, it was in the Sages’ power to enact whatever tithe they wished, and they enacted the tithe for the poor [rather than the second tithe] in order to support the poor.

The tanna

in the beraita

taught:

After Rabbi Elazar’s

mind had been appeased,

he

said: May it be God’s will that Yosei’s eyes return to their places! And

they did return.

The Sages taught: Who is considered a fool

in every context—one who is exempt from the mitzvot and from punishment, whose acquisition is not a valid acquisition, and whose sale is not a valid sale?

a.

One who goes out alone at night.

b.

One who spends the night in a cemetery.

c.

One who tears his garment.

It was stated: Rav Huna said: He is not considered a fool until all of them are

present in him

at one time

[the three signs mentioned]—

then he is called a fool.

тогда он называется «безумцем».

Rabbi Yohanan said: Even if he displays only one of them,

he is called a fool.

The Gemara raises a difficulty concerning Rav Huna’s position:

What are the circumstances?!

If he performs them

all three acts

in a foolish manner,

then

even if he performs

the act of

one

alone of these three acts,

also

he should likewise be considered a fool.

And

if he does not perform them in a foolish manner,

then

even

if he performs

all of them—

also, he is not

considered a fool.

And we answer:

Ultimately,

the case is that he is

performing them in a foolish manner, and nevertheless, if he possesses only one of the three signs, he is not a fool. For with regard to each one individually, it can be assumed that he is not doing it because of foolishness, even though he performs it in a foolish manner, because:

но если в нем присутствует только один из трех признаков, он не является безумцем. В отношении каждого из них отдельно можно предположить, что он делает это не из-за безумия, даже если совершает это по безумной причине, поскольку:

One who spends the night in a cemetery—

perhaps

[one may say]:

he does so so that a spirit of impurity should rest upon him

[the spirit of demons, which will help him become a sorcerer]—

he is the one who does this,

and he is not a fool.

And one who goes out alone at night—

perhaps: he has been seized by a fever

[his body has become heated], and therefore he goes out to a place with air; but he is not a fool.

And one who tears his garment—

perhaps he is a “man of thoughts”

and not a fool.