Chagigah 4b — the Talmud in English

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the pampered

And this—that a person does not enter the Temple Mount with his shoes—we learn from

And the fact that a person may not enter the Temple Mount wearing his shoes, we learn from

as it is written: “When you come to appear before Me, who requested this from your hand, to trample My courtyards.”

And it follows that it is not the will of the Lord that the courtyards of the Lord be trampled with shoes.

It was taught

in a beraita:

an uncircumcised man

even because of circumstances beyond his control, such as when his brothers died because of circumcision, Rashi , who is not permitted to enter the Temple courtyard, as the Gemara explains below.

and the impure person,

who is not permitted to enter the Temple courtyard.

These

are exempt from the

burnt-offering of

appearing,

for they are not obligated to send their burnt-offering of appearing by means of an agent, Rashi.

And we raise an objection concerning this:

Granted, an impure person—

who cannot enter the Temple courtyard—it is understandable that he is exempt from bringing the burnt-offering of appearing, because

it is written: “

For only to the place that the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes, to place His Name there; you shall seek His dwelling-place

and you shall come there,”

and the verse juxtaposes:

“And you shall bring there

your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices.”

This teaches you:

whoever is included in entering

the Temple courtyard

is included in bringing

the burnt-offering of appearing, Tosafot.

And whoever is not included in entering,

such as one who is impure—

is not included in bringing

the burnt-offering of appearing.

But an uncircumcised man—

from where do we know

that he is exempt?!

And we explain:

this

this beraita

is whose opinion—

it is Rabbi Akiva’s, who includes

him

[Bach]

the uncircumcised man

who is prohibited from eating sacrificial foods and teruma

like an impure person.

For it was taught: Rabbi Akiva says:

it is written:

“Any man, any man

from the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or a zav—he shall not eat of the sacred offerings”; the verse repeated the word “man” twice in order

to include

the priest

who is uncircumcised

like an impure person, who does not eat teruma.

And the same is true of all matters pertaining to the Most High: the uncircumcised man is equivalent to the impure person, such as that he is exempt from the mitzva of appearing, is unfit to enter the Sanctuary, and is unfit for the Temple service, Meiri.

The Sages taught: An impure person is exempt from the

burnt-offering of

appearing.

For it is written: “And you shall come there,”

and adjacent to it is:

“And you shall bring there.”

This teaches you:

whoever is included in entering

the Sanctuary

is included in bringing

an offering,

and whoever is not included in entering

the Sanctuary, such as an impure person,

is not included in bringing

an offering.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Dehabai says in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: One who is blind in one of his eyes is exempt from the

mitzva of

appearing

in the Temple.

As it is stated

concerning the mitzva of appearing:

“He shall appear” [with a hiriq], and we read

“he shall be seen”

“He shall be seen” [with a tzere], and this teaches you:

In the manner in which one comes to see, so he comes to be seen: Just as he comes to see with both his eyes, so he comes to be seen with both his eyes

Just as he comes to see, so he comes to be seen: just as he comes to see with both his eyes, so too, to be seen with both his eyes

and this law was already brought earlier in the Gemara, 2a.

When Rav Huna reached this verse,

for the exposition of

“he shall see

the Holy One, blessed be He” and

“he shall be seen

before the Holy One, blessed be He,” he was

crying

when he reached the exposition of this verse, he would cry.

Rav Huna said

to explain his crying:

A servant

who is so beloved by his master that

his master awaits seeing him,

as it is said, “he shall see, he shall be seen”—how did the day arrive when his master turned into his enemy, so that he

should distance himself from him

and commanded that he not see him?!

For it is written

in Isaiah: “Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord.”

“When you come to appear before Me, who requested this from your hand, to trample My courtyard!”

to trample My courtyard, since your heart is not wholehearted with Me, Rashi on Isaiah.

When Rav Huna reached this verse, he cried: “And you shall slaughter peace-offerings, and you shall eat there

and rejoice before the Lord your God.”

Rav Huna said:

A servant

who is so beloved by his master that

his master awaits eating at his table,

as it is written, “And you shall slaughter peace-offerings and you shall eat there”—how did the day arrive when

his master would distance himself

his master

from him!

For it is written

there in Isaiah:

“Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord.

I am sated with burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals. And the blood of bulls, sheep, and he-goats—I did not desire!” [Since you transgress My Torah, it is “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,” Rashi on Isaiah.]

When Rabbi Elazar reached this verse, he cried: “

And Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?

And his brothers could not answer him, for they were terrified before him.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

And if the rebuke of flesh and blood

Joseph

is such

that his brothers could not answer him,

the rebuke of the Holy One, blessed be He—

all the more so!

When Rabbi Elazar reached this verse, he cried.

It is written: “And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, and he saw, and his heart trembled greatly. And Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him. And Saul said to his servants: Seek for me a woman who possesses an ov, and I shall go to her and inquire through her. And he said [Saul]: Please divine for me through an ov, and bring up for me the one whom I shall tell you. And the woman said: Whom shall I bring up for you? And he said: Bring up Samuel for me.”

And the woman saw Samuel, and she cried out in a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul: “I saw divine beings coming up from the earth”!

And he said to her: “What is his appearance?” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.

And Samuel said to Saul: “Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?”

For Samuel was afraid that they were summoning him to judgment.

And therefore Rabbi Elazar cried and said:

And if the righteous Samuel was afraid of judgment, we, all the more so

must fear it.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the matter concerning Samuel

from where do we know that Samuel was afraid of judgment?

Because it is written:

“And the woman said to Saul: I saw divine beings coming up

from the earth.”

But

“coming up”

which is an expression in the plural,

two

men

are implied,

and these are they:

one: Samuel, and the other

the second:

Samuel went and brought Moses our teacher with him

.

And thus

Samuel said to him

Samuel said to Moses when asking him to ascend with him:

Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I am being summoned to judgment

and therefore

arise with me

and testify on my behalf

that there is no matter that you wrote in the Torah that I did not fulfill.

[for there is nothing that you wrote in the Torah that I did not fulfill].

When Rabbi Ami reached this verse, he cried: “

He shall sit alone and be silent, for he has taken it upon himself.

Let him put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is hope.”

Rabbi Ami said

Rabbi Ami:

All this

he shall accept all these sufferings,

and

only

“perhaps”

there is hope, which is not certain [see the additional explanation in the notes].

When Rabbi Ami reached this verse, he cried: “Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s anger’,”

Rabbi Ami said

Rabbi Ami:

All this,

after they acquire such important traits for themselves,

and

only

perhaps

you will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s anger.

When Rabbi Asi reached this verse, he cried: “Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate—

perhaps the Lord, God of Hosts, will be gracious.”

Rabbi Asi said:

All this

they shall do,

and

only

perhaps

He will be gracious.

When Rav Yosef reached this verse, he cried: “And there is one who perishes without judgment.”

There is one who is destroyed from the world without sin in his hand, and there was no judgment to destroy him [Rashi], and he dies before his time [Maharsha].

And the Gemara wonders:

Is there one who departs before his time

—is there anyone who dies from the world before his time?!

And it answers:

Yes,

indeed there is one who is destroyed before his time.

As in the case of Rav Bibi bar Abaye, with whom the Angel of Death was frequently present

the Angel of Death was frequently in his house and related his deeds to him, Tosafot.

And the Angel of Death related to him: Once

the Angel of Death said to his agent

the Angel of Death

to his agent: Go and bring me Miriam who braids women’s hair

go, kill, and bring me the soul of Miriam, who braids women’s hair!

He went and brought him Miriam who raises children

the agent went and mistakenly killed Miriam who raises infants, because he confused “one who braids women’s hair” with “one who raises infants.”

When the Angel of Death saw this,

he said to him

to his agent: Here,

I told you Miriam who braids women’s hair

I told you to kill Miriam who braids women’s hair, and not this Miriam.

When the agent became aware of his error,

the agent said to him

the agent said to the Angel of Death:

If so, shall I return her

her soul?

The Angel of Death said to him

the Angel of Death said to his agent: Do not return it, because

since you have brought her

and brought her—

let her be included in the count,

in the count of souls that I must collect.

But how were you able to kill her!?

But how could you kill her, since her time to die had not arrived?! The agent said to the Angel of Death:

She was holding a piece of wood in her hand

she was holding a piece of wood from an oven in her hand,