Chagigah 4b (ד:) — the Talmud in English

Rava said: To include

the pampered

[the delicate], who cannot walk barefoot without shoes, and a person is not permitted to enter the Temple Mount wearing the shoes on his feet [Rashi]; therefore, they cannot ascend.

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 has requested this of you, trampling My courts?”

This implies that God does not desire the trampling of God’s courtyards with shoes.

The tanna

in a beraita stated:

An uncircumcised man

[even if this is due to circumstances beyond his control, for example, his brothers died as a result of circumcision, Rashi], who is not permitted to enter the Temple courtyard, as the Gemara will explain below.

And one who is impure,

who is not permitted to enter the Temple courtyard.

These people

are exempt from

the burnt-offering of

appearance,

for they are not obligated to send their burnt-offering of appearance by means of an agent [Rashi].

And we raise a difficulty concerning this:

Granted, one who is impure—

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

it is written: “

For only at the place that the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes, to establish His Name there, shall you seek His presence and come there”; and the verse juxtaposes this with

“And you shall bring there”

as it is written:

“And you shall bring there

your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices.”

This teaches you:

Everyone who is included in entering

the Temple courtyard

is included in bringing

the burnt-offering of appearance [Tosafot].

But anyone who is not included in entering,

for example, one who is impure,

is not included in bringing

the burnt-offering of appearance.

But an uncircumcised man—

from where

do we know that he is exempt?!

And we explain:

This

beraita,

whose opinion is it?

It is Rabbi Akiva’s, who derives

for him

[Bach]

that an uncircumcised man,

who is prohibited from eating sacrificial meat and teruma, is like

one who is impure.

As it was taught: Rabbi Akiva says:

It is written:

“Any man

of the offspring of Aaron who has tzara’at or a discharge—he may not eat sacred things.” The verse repeats the word “man” twice in order

to include

the

uncircumcised

kohen as one who is impure, who may not eat teruma.

The same applies to all matters pertaining to the sacred: an uncircumcised man is equivalent to one who is impure—for example, he is exempt from the mitzva of appearance, is unfit to enter the Temple, and is unfit for sacrificial service [Meiri].

The Sages taught: One who is impure is exempt from

the burnt-offering of

appearance.

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

and juxtaposed to it is

“And you shall bring there.”

This teaches you:

Everyone who is included in entering

the Temple

is included in bringing

an offering,

but anyone who is not included in entering

the Temple, such as one who is impure,

is not included in bringing

an offering.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Dehavai said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: One who is blind in one eye is exempt from

the mitzva of

appearance

in the Temple.

As it is stated

with regard to the mitzva of appearance:

“He shall appear” [with a hiriq], but we read it as

“he shall be seen”

“He shall appear” [with a tzere]. 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

[this law was already cited earlier in the Gemara, 2a].

When Rav Huna reached this verse,

for the exposition of

“he shall see

the Lord” and

“he shall be seen

before the Lord,” he

would weep

[when he reached the exposition of this verse, he would weep].

He said

Rav Huna to explain his weeping:

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 could the day have come when his master became his enemy, to the extent that he

would distance himself from him

and order that he not see him?!

As it is written

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

When you come to appear before Me, who has requested this of you, trampling My courts!”

[to trample My courts when your hearts are not whole with Me, Rashi, Isaiah].

When Rav Huna reached this verse, he wept: “You shall slaughter peace-offerings and 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, “You shall slaughter peace-offerings and eat there”—how could the day have come when his master would

distance himself

from him

!

As it is written

[in that passage 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, lambs, and he-goats—I have no desire for it!” [Since you transgress My Torah, it is “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,” Rashi, Isaiah].

When Rabbi Elazar reached this verse, he wept: “Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?

But 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

thus

[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 wept.

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

The woman saw Samuel and cried out in a loud voice. The woman said to Saul: I see divine beings rising from the earth!

He said to her: What is his appearance? 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 feared that he was being summoned to judgment.

Therefore Rabbi Elazar wept and said:

And if the righteous Samuel feared judgment, how much more so must we

fear it.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the matter concerning Samuel

[from where do we know that Samuel feared judgment]?

Because it is written:

“The woman said to Saul: I see divine beings rising

from the earth.”

Now

“rising”

is in the plural,

which implies two

people,

and these are

the two:

one: Samuel, and the other

the second:

Samuel went and brought Moses our teacher with him

[he went and brought Moses our teacher with him].

And thus

he said to him

Samuel, asking him to ascend with him:

Perhaps, Heaven forfend, I am being summoned to judgment

[perhaps I am being summoned to stand in judgment]; therefore

rise with me

[come with me] and testify on my behalf,

for 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 wept: “Let him sit alone and be silent, for He has imposed it upon him.

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

Rabbi Ami said:

All this

all these afflictions he should endure,

and

only

“perhaps

there is hope,” an uncertain hope [see the additional explanation in the notes].

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

Rabbi Ami said:

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 wept: “Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate”—

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

Rabbi Asi said:

All this

they should do,

and

only

perhaps

the Lord will be gracious.

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

There is one who departs from the world without sin, and there was no justice requiring that he perish [Rashi], and he dies before his time [Maharsha].

And the Gemara wonders:

Is there one who departs before his time

[is there anyone who departs from the world before his time]?!

And it answers:

Yes,

indeed, there is one who perishes 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].

The Angel of Death related to him: Once,

he said to him

the Angel of Death

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

[go and 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 raised infants], because he confused “the one who braids women’s hair” with “the one who raises children.”

When the Angel of Death saw this,

he said to him

to his agent: “I told you to bring

Miriam who braids women’s hair

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

When the agent realized his mistake,

he said to him

the agent said to the Angel of Death:

If so, shall I return her

[shall I return her soul]?

He said to him

the Angel of Death said to his agent: “Do not return her, for

since you have brought her

[and brought her],

let her be counted

in the number 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 poker in her hand

[she was holding a piece of oven wood in her hand],