Chullin 60a (ס.) — the Talmud in English

I want to see him.

I truly wish to see him.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya went

to see him,

and positioned him

the emperor

opposite the sun

in front of the sun

during the season of Tammuz.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yehoshua said to the emperor:

Look at it,

look at the sun.

He said to him,

the emperor said to him:

I cannot!

I am unable to look at the sun.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya said to him:

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya said to him:

The sun, which is one of the servants

the sun, which is one of the servants

that stand

that stand

before the Holy One, blessed be He—you said

about it

“I cannot look at it,”

that you are unable to look at it.

The Divine Presence

itself,

all the more so

you are unable to see it?!

The emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya: I want

I wish

to prepare bread for your God.

to prepare a feast for your God.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya said to the emperor:

You cannot

prepare a feast for Him.

The emperor asked him:

Why?!

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya said to the emperor:

His forces are numerous!

Because His forces are so numerous, you cannot prepare a feast for them all.

He said to him,

the emperor said to him:

Indeed,

truly, I wish to prepare a feast for Him.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to the emperor:

Rabbi Yehoshua said to the emperor:

Go out and prepare

go out and prepare the feast for Him

at the bank of the Rivita,

on the bank of the river called Rivita,

where the world is spacious,

for the place there is spacious enough for all His forces. His intention was that he should prepare the feast in a place where the wind prevails.

The emperor exerted himself

the emperor

for six summer months,

during the six summer months, in order to prepare the feast.

A wind came,

a strong wind blew,

and swept it away,

it swept away the entire feast

into the sea,

into the sea.

The emperor exerted himself

the emperor

for six winter months,

during the six winter months, preparing the feast.

Rain came,

rain,

and drowned it

and drowned the entire feast

in the sea.

The emperor said to Rabbi Yohanan:

What is this,

why did the wind and the rain come and carry away the feast?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan said to him:

These

these are

His sweepers

the ones who sweep the house, and

His washers,

those who wash the house with water,

who come before Him.

They come before the King to prepare the place, and they were the ones who destroyed the feast.

He said to him,

the emperor said to him:

If so,

if His forces are so numerous,

I cannot!

I am unable to prepare a feast for Him.

The emperor’s daughter said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya: Your God —

is a carpenter!

Your God is a carpenter.

As it is written

in Psalms [104]:

“Who roofs His upper chambers with water,”

so it appears that He made a roof for His upper chamber. Therefore,

tell Him to make me

that He should make me

a spindle,

a spindle on which wool threads are wound after they have been spun.

He said

to her:

Certainly!

Indeed, I shall ask Him for this.

Rabbi Yehoshua prayed

Rabbi Yehoshua

for her, and she was afflicted,

the emperor’s daughter became afflicted with lesions.

They seated her

they seated her

in the Roman marketplace and gave her a spindle,

a spindle, since

it was their practice

it was customary among them in Rome

that anyone who was afflicted,

who became afflicted with lesions,

they would give him

they would give him

a spindle, and he would sit

and he would sit

in the marketplace and spin the threads,

and perform his work with the threads.

They did this

so that

in order that

people would see her,

so that people would see her lesions

and pray for her,

and request mercy on her behalf.

One day, Rabbi Yehoshua was passing

Rabbi Yehoshua

there. She was sitting

the emperor’s daughter

and spinning the threads,

after she had been seated

in the Roman marketplace.

He said to her,

Rabbi Yehoshua said to her:

Is the spindle beautiful,

do you like the spindle

that your God gave you!?

She said to him,

the emperor’s daughter said to him:

Tell Him

say

to your God —

“Let Him take what He gave me!”

let Him take what He gave me.

He said to her,

Rabbi Yehoshua said to her:

Our God gives and gives,

but

He does not take back!

He gives, but He does not take.

And Rabbi Yehuda said: An ox

is ordinarily

broad-bellied,

with a broad belly,

and broad-hoofed,

with broad hooves.

Its head is large,

its head is large,

and its tail is large.

and its tail is large.

And the reverse

the opposite is the case

with a donkey,

with a donkey, whose belly is ordinarily narrow, whose hooves are narrow, and whose tail is small.

And we explain:

What practical difference

does it make to us what the ox’s natural form is and what the donkey’s natural form is?

It is relevant to buying and selling.

When one sells an ox or a donkey to another, he must give him an ox or donkey of this sort.

And Rabbi Yehuda said: The ox that Adam offered —

it had one horn on its forehead.

As it is stated in Psalms, where King David said to the Holy One, blessed be He [chapter 69]:

“And may it please”

[my prayer]

“the Lord more than an ox, a bull with horns and hooves,”

which was offered by Adam.

And we raise an objection: Behold,

“with horns”

as it is written in this verse,

implies two,

meaning two horns, as with other oxen; and from where did you learn that Adam’s ox had one horn?

Rav Naḥman said: “With a horn”

written defectively,

is written

in the verse: “From an ox, a bull, with a horn and hooves,” which implies “a horn,” in the singular.

And Rabbi Yehuda said: The ox that Adam offered,

was created fully formed with its horns. [In contrast, the hooves of other oxen are born with them, while their horns grow later, as the ox grows,] and it follows

that its horns preceded its hooves,

for when the first ox emerged from the earth, its head emerged first with its horns, and only afterward did its hooves emerge.

As it is stated: “And may it please the Lord” —

“more than an ox, a bull, with horns and hooves.”

This implies

“with horns,”

that its horns emerged

first. And afterward, with hooves,

that its hooves emerged afterward.

And the Gemara continues that Rabbi Yehuda’s statement

supports Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.

As Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: All the works of Creation —

were created in their full stature.

Their entire stature was completed already at the time of their creation, and therefore its horns preceded its hooves, since they were formed with it and emerged from the earth first. And this is the meaning of what is written, “more than an ox, a bull”: on the first day, when it was an ox—that is, on the day it was born—it was already as large as a mature bull [an ox on the day of its birth is called an ox, as it is written: “an ox when it is born”; whereas it is an established tradition that an animal is called a mature bull beginning at the age of three].

Likewise, all the works of Creation

were created with their consent.

The Holy One, blessed be He, informed them that they would be created, and they consented.

They were created according to their chosen form,

in the form they chose for themselves.

As it is stated

in Genesis 2:

“And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.” Do not read it as tziva’am, “their hosts,” but as tzivyoneim, “their chosen forms.”

For this implies that they were created according to their chosen forms.

Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa expounded:

Regarding what is written in Psalms [104]:

“May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works”—this verse

was uttered by the Minister of the World,

the angel appointed over the world, who is Metatron,

who uttered it.

When the Holy One, blessed be He,

commanded the creation of the grasses and trees, He said

“according to its kind” regarding the trees,

as it is written: “Fruit trees producing fruit according to its kind”; but regarding the grasses, “according to its kind” was not stated, as it is written: “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed.”

The grasses raised

and reasoned

a kal va-chomer for themselves: If the Holy One, blessed be He, desired creation to be mixed together, why did He say

“according to its kind” regarding the trees?!

Furthermore,

the grasses raised

a kal va-chomer: If trees, which do not ordinarily emerge mixed together,

since even without a command they would emerge that way, as they are large and unsuitable for growing densely together but only when spread out, nevertheless

the Holy One, blessed

said concerning them

“according to its kind,”

so that each tree would emerge by itself, at a distance from the others.

We,

the seeds, which ordinarily emerge mixed together—and if we do not take care to have each type of grass emerge separately rather than mixed together, each seed will not be distinguishable by itself—

all the more so

must we emerge separately, each one by itself!

Immediately, each and every one

of the seeds

emerged according to its kind,

as it is written: “And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to its kind.”

The Minister of the World began and said: “May the glory of the Lord —

be forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works!”

For all of them are careful to fulfill His mitzvot.

Ravina raised a question: If one grafted two species of grasses one onto the other —