Chagigah 5a — the Talmud in English

And she was stoking ![](pamud.bmp "

Exact location of the column")

and sweeping -

the oven [she was sweeping the oven],

she was sweeping the oven],

she took it, and placed it on the back of her foot [she took the poker and placed it on the back of her leg].

she took the poker and placed it on the back of her leg].

It burned her, her fortune worsened, and I brought her [her leg was burned, her fortune worsened, she died, and I brought her soul to you].

her leg was burned, and her fortune turned bad, meaning that she died, and I brought you her soul].

Rav Bibi bar Abaye said to him

to the Angel of Death: Do you

have permission to do this [was permission given to you to do so]?!

were you given permission to do so]?!

He said to him

the Angel of Death to Rav Bibi:

And

do you

not find written: “There is one who is swept away without justice”?!

He said to him

Rav Bibi to the Angel of Death:

But it is written: “A generation goes, and a generation comes”?! And it implies that for every person the years of a “generation”—the years designated for him—are completed, and they are not cut off in the middle, without justice.

This implies that each person completes the years of a “generation,” meaning the years allotted to him, and that they are not cut short without justice.

He said

to him, the Angel of Death to Rav Bibi: I can cut short a person’s years of life even without justice, and the explanation of the verse “A generation goes, and a generation comes” is as follows:

I shepherd them, until the generation is completed [I shepherd and guard their souls with me, and they wander and roll about with me until the years of the generation are completed],

[I shepherd and guard their souls with me, and they wander and revolve with me until the years of the generation are completed],

and

only

afterward, I deliver it to Dumah [afterward I transfer the souls to the guardian of the dead, whose name is Dumah].

afterward I transfer the souls to the guardian of the dead, whose name is Duma].

Rav Bibi said to him

Rav Bibi to the Angel of Death:

In the end, what do you do with the second one [what happens to the years of life allotted to this person]?!

what happens to the years of life allotted to this person]?!

The Angel of Death said

to him, to Rav Bibi:

If there is a Torah scholar who is yielding regarding his matters, I add them to him, and he becomes his replacement [if there is a Torah scholar who is forgiving regarding his measures, I add this person’s years to him, so that he lives in place of the dead man].

if there is a Torah scholar who is forgiving, I add this person’s years to him, so that he will live in place of the deceased].

Rabbi Yohanan, when he reached this verse, wept [when he reached this verse, he would weep].

when he reached this verse, he would cry].

For it is written at the beginning of the Book of Job: "

And the Lord said to the Satan: “Have you set your heart upon My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man.

And the Satan answered the Lord and said: “Does Job fear God for nothing!? But now, please stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has—if he will not bless You to Your face”!

And the Lord said to the Satan: “Behold, all that he has is in your hand.”

And after the Satan tried to cause Job to stumble and failed, it is said: "

And the Lord said to the Satan: “Have you set your heart upon My servant Job? For there is none like him

! And you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”

Rabbi Yohanan said in his weeping:

A servant whose

to

his master

there are

those who incite against him [against the servant],

against the servant],

and

his master indeed

is incited—

is there

any remedy for him?!

Rabbi Yohanan, when he reached this verse, wept,

for it is written

“Behold, He does not trust His holy ones.”

When he said:

If He does not trust His holy ones—

in whom [in whom, then] is He

[in whom] does He

to trust?!

Until

one day he was walking

Rabbi Yohanan

on the road [once he was walking along the road],

once he was walking along the road],

he saw a certain man who was gathering figs [he saw a man gathering figs], and he was

he saw a man gathering figs], and he was

leaving those that had ripened, and taking those that had not ripened [that man was leaving the figs whose time had already arrived, which had ripened, and gathering those that had not ripened].

the man was leaving the figs whose time had come and which had ripened, and was gathering those that had not yet ripened].

Rabbi Yohanan said to him

to that man: Do

these not taste better [are the ripe ones not better]?!

are the ripe ones not better]?!

That man said to him

to Rabbi Yohanan:

These—

we need them for the road [I am gathering them in order to take them with me on the road].

I am gathering them to take with me on the road].

These keep, and these do not keep [the unripe ones are preserved from rotting, whereas the ripe ones are not preserved].

the unripe ones will remain protected from rotting, whereas the ripe ones will not remain protected].

Rabbi Yohanan said

Rabbi Yohanan:

This is what is written: “Behold, He does not trust His holy ones.”” For the Holy One, blessed is He, fears lest the righteous young men rot, and they are seized for death lest they sin.

The Holy One, blessed be He, fears that the righteous young men might rot, and therefore they are taken to die before they sin.

And we raise an objection to this:

Is that so! But there was a certain student who was in the neighborhood of Rabbi Alexandri, and he died young [there was a certain student who lived near Rabbi Alexandri and died in his youth].

there was a student who lived near Rabbi Alexandri and died in his youth].

And

regarding this Rabbi Alexandri

said: If this Torah scholar had wished, he would have lived [if that student had wished to walk in the way of the good, he would have lived].

If this Torah scholar had wanted to live, he would have lived [

And let us raise a difficulty:

And if it is so [if it is as you say], that people die young so that they should not sin, then from where could he have lived even had he walked in the way of the good? For perhaps

If that is so [

perhaps

that student

was among those of whom “Behold, He does not trust His holy ones” [among those about whom Scripture says, “Behold, He does not trust His holy ones”]—that is, perhaps he died before his time so that he would not become wicked?!

he was among those about whom Scripture says, “He does not trust His holy ones”—meaning, perhaps he died before his time so that he would not become wicked]?!

And we answer:

That

student—

was one who kicked at his teachers! And regarding him it is said: “It shall not be well with the wicked, nor shall he prolong his days—all who are not fearful before God.” And the Sages interpreted it as referring to one who does not honor the Sages.

Regarding him it is said: “It will not be well with the wicked, and he will not lengthen his days—one who does not fear before God.” The Sages interpreted this as referring to one who does not honor the Sages.

Rabbi Yohanan, when he reached this verse, wept: “And I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wages of a hired worker

the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the stranger, and do not fear Me.”

He said:

A servant whose master brings him near to judge him [“And I will draw near for judgment”],

“I will draw near for judgment”],

and hastens to testify against him [a swift witness]—is there

any

remedy for him?!

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said regarding

this verse:

Woe to us! For Scripture equated the lesser matters [those who oppress the wages of a hired worker]

oppressing the wages of a hired worker]

with the severe matters [sorcerers and adulterers].

sorcery and adultery].

Reish Lakish said: Whoever perverts the judgment of a convert is as though he perverts the judgment of Above.

As it is stated

there:

“And those who turn aside

[with a tzeirei]

the convert.”

And

behold,

“turn aside”

[with a ḥiriq]

is written [with a hiriq],

as it is the tradition. And it implies: he turns me aside.

Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa said: Whoever does a thing and repents of it, they forgive him immediately.

As it is stated

there:

“And they do not fear Me”—but if they fear Me—

they forgive him immediately.

Rabbi Yohanan, when he reached this verse, wept: “For every deed, God will bring into judgment, concerning every hidden thing,

whether good or evil.” And this means an inadvertent act.

He said:

A servant whose master weighs his inadvertent acts like intentional sins—

is there

any remedy for him?!

And the Gemara explains the continuation of the verse:

What

“will He bring into judgment”

concerning “every” hidden thing?,

which implies even concerning a minor matter?

Rav said: This is one who kills a louse in the presence of his fellow, and his fellow is disgusted

his fellow

by it.

And Shmuel said: This is one who spits in the presence of his fellow, and his fellow is disgusted

by it.

And the Gemara continues in explaining the verse:

What “

He will bring into judgment concerning every hidden thing,”

“whether good or evil”?

But if for evil He will pay him according to his recompense, for good He will certainly pay him according to his recompense, since the measure of good is greater than the measure of punishment?!

They said in the academy of Rabbi Yannai:

this good also contains evil, and the Holy One, blessed is He, will bring it into judgment on account of the evil within it [Iyun Yaakov]:

This is one who gives charity to a poor person,

which is a good thing, and does so

in public,

which is an evil thing, since the poor person is embarrassed by this.

As in the case of Rabbi Yannai, who saw a certain man giving a zuz to a poor person in public [he saw a man giving a zuz to a poor person in public],

he saw a man giving a coin to a poor person publicly],

Rabbi Yannai said to him

to that man:

It would be better had you not given it to him than now that you gave it to him and embarrassed him.

It would have been better not to give it to him than to give it to him and embarrass him.

Those of the academy of Rabbi Shila say: This is one who gives charity to a woman,

which is a good thing, and does so

in secret,

which is an evil thing. Because

he brings her to suspicion [there is suspicion of a transgression with him].

suspicion of a transgression attaches to them].

Rava said: This is one who sends to his wife

to prepare for the Shabbat meal, which is a good thing [Maharsha]],

meat that has not been cut,

which has not been cleaned of forbidden fat and sinews, and he sends her the meat

on the eves of Shabbat,

when time is pressed then, and it is possible that she will not pay attention to see that it is not kosher, for since she is not expert and time is pressing, she relies on her husband, that he certainly cleaned it [Iyun Yaakov].

And we raise the difficulty:

Is that so! But Rava

himself

would send [would send]

uncut meat to his wife?!

And we answer:

Different is

Rava’s wife, who was

the daughter of Rav Hisda, and it was established for him

for Rava

regarding her that she was expert [Rava knew regarding her that she was expert],

and she would easily discern that the meat he sent her had not been cleaned.

Rabbi Yohanan, when he reached this verse, wept: “And it shall be, when many evils and troubles befall it.”

He said:

A servant whose master brings evils and troubles upon him—

is there

any remedy for him?!

What are “evils and troubles”?

Rav said: Evils that become

adjacent, like rival wives dwelling in one house,

to one another.

For example, a hornet [the bite of a snake]

a snake

and a scorpion [and the sting of a scorpion], Rashi.

a scorpion, [Rashi].

And the Gemara continues to explain the verse “whether good or evil”:

And Shmuel said: This is one who provides [who regularly provides, Rashi]

who regularly provides, Rashi]

money to a poor person

only

at the time of his distress,

and not before the time of distress. For had he provided for him earlier, the poor person could have requested his provisions and purchased them when they were inexpensive.

Rava said: This is what people say: A zuz for grain,

to buy grain,

is not available

to the poor person. But

for bread,

to buy bread, which is more expensive than buying grain—

it is available

to the poor person.

It is written:

“And My anger will flare against him on that day, and I will abandon them, and I will hide My face from them,

and it shall become food.”

And the word “from them” can be expounded forward and backward [Iyun Yaakov]:

Rav Bardela bar Taviumi said in the name of Rav: Anyone who is not subject to the hiding of the face,

who does not cry out over troubles that come upon him and pray without being answered, necessarily

is not one of them,

from the seed of Israel, for regarding them Scripture says, “And I will hide My face from them.”

And likewise

anyone who is not in “and it shall become food”

[the gentiles do not plunder his property],