Chullin 7b (ז:) — the Talmud in English

They threshed them

They threshed the barley in a sieve to clean it, but it did not help. And still

it did not eat.

They picked them clean

They cleaned the barley by hand, removing stones and refuse, but still

it did not eat.

He said to them

Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair:

Perhaps

the barley

has not been tithed?

They tithed it

the barley,

and it ate

some of it, the donkey.

Rabbi Pinḥas

said: This

poor animal is going to fulfill the will of its Owner

by performing the mitzva of redeeming captives,

and you are feeding it produce from which tithes have not been separated?!

This is what we say: “The Holy One, blessed be He, does not cause a stumbling block to be brought about through the animals of the righteous.”

And we object:

But is

food for an animal purchased from an am ha-aretz obligated to be tithed because of demai?

But we learned in the Mishna: One who purchases

produce from an am ha-aretz, not for human consumption but

for seed

or to feed

to an animal, or flour to

work leather with,

or oil for a lamp, or oil with which to anoint utensils—

is exempt

from demai, for in principle one may rely on the fact that most amei ha-aretz tithe their produce; it was only the Sages who decreed otherwise, and they decreed this specifically with regard to human consumption. Since produce of demai status purchased for feeding an animal is exempt from tithing, the question arises: Why did the donkey not eat?

And we answer:

There, this was stated concerning it

that Mishna:

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They taught

that it is exempt from demai

only when he purchased it

from an am ha-aretz

initially for

the purpose of feeding an

animal.

But if

he initially purchased it for

the purpose of feeding a

person, and

afterward

reconsidered regarding it

and decided to feed it

to an animal, he is obligated to tithe.

And there is proof for Rabbi Yoḥanan:

And it was taught in a beraita: One who purchases

produce

of demai from the market for human consumption, and reconsiders regarding it

and decides to change its use

to

animal

feed may not give it either to his own animal or to another’s animal unless he has tithed it.

And this barley that they placed before the donkey had initially been purchased for human consumption, and that is why it did not eat.

Rabbi heard

that Rabbi Pinḥas had arrived,

and he went out to greet him. He said to him

: If

you wish

to do so,

dine with me.

He said to him

Rabbi Pinḥas:

Yes!

His face shone

with joy, because Rabbi Pinḥas was not accustomed to benefiting from others.

Rabbi Pinḥas said to him

Rabbi:

Do you think that I am one who has vowed not to derive benefit from Jews?

That is not the case. For

Jews are holy.

They are certainly worthy of providing benefit. But the reason I do not ordinarily benefit from them is that

there is

someone who

wants

to provide others with what is his,

but does not have

the ability to do so, and I do not want to burden him.

And there is

someone who

does have

the ability,

but does not want

to do so; although he invites me to dine with him, he does not truly desire it in his heart. I do not wish to benefit from such a person, because

as it is written Proverbs 23:

[Proverbs 23]:

“Do not eat the bread of one whose eye is evil, and do not crave his delicacies. For as he calculates within himself, so is he. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you.”

Rabbi Pinḥas concluded his words: But

you truly want

to provide me with benefit,

and

also

you have

the ability to do so, for Rabbi was exceedingly wealthy.

Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair continued and said:

For now, I am hastening I am in a hurry,

[I am in a hurry],

because I am occupied with a mitzva matter

of redeeming captives,

and

I have no time to dine.

But

when I return

from the mitzva,

I will come,

and

I will enter to you.

When

Rabbi Pinḥas returned from redeeming the captives to Rabbi’s place,

it happened

that

at that entrance

of Rabbi’s house,

there stood

at that entrance

white mules white mules of Rabbi.

[white female mules] belonging to Rabbi.

Rabbi Pinḥas said

:

“The angel of death is in this man’s house, and I shall dine with him?!”

For when these mules kick a person, their blow is severe and cannot be healed, as explained below.

Rabbi heard

the words of Rabbi Pinḥas,

and he went out to greet him. He said to him: I will sell them

the mules.

Rabbi Pinḥas said to him

: Just as it is forbidden for you to keep them, so is it forbidden for others, as

it is written: “And before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block.”

Therefore, it is forbidden for you to sell them.

He said to him:

I will declare them ownerless!

I will send them into the forests, where they will be ownerless.

Rabbi Pinḥas said to him: All the more so, it is forbidden to do so, for

their danger will increase

because, being unguarded, they will cause even more harm.

He said to him:

I will remove their hooves

so that they will be unable to kick. Rabbi Pinḥas said to him: This too is forbidden, because

there is

a prohibition against

causing suffering to living creatures.

He said to him:

I will kill them!

He said to him:

There is

a prohibition on account of

“Do not destroy!”

Rabbi

was

pressing him urging him

[he urged him]

greatly

to dine with him nevertheless, but he did not accept his invitation.

A mountain rose between them,

as though a high mountain had risen between them and separated them. That is, this caused them to distance themselves from one another.

Rabbi wept and said: If during their lifetimes

the righteous

are thus

assisted by the Holy One, blessed be He, so that they do not transgress their own resolve—as here, where the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that Rabbi Pinḥas should enter specifically through this entrance and see the mules, and consequently withdraw from me, so that he would not violate his initial resolve not to benefit from others—

in their deaths,

when they are even greater,

all the more so

is every one of their wishes fulfilled.

For Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: The righteous are greater in their deaths than in their lifetimes, as it is stated: “And it happened, as they were burying a man, that they saw the band, and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha; and when the man came and touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life, and stood on his feet.”

For during Elisha’s lifetime, when he wished to revive the Shunamite woman’s son, he had to place his mouth upon the boy’s mouth and his eyes upon the boy’s eyes and pray for mercy; whereas after his death, merely touching his bones revived the dead man.

Rav Pappa said to Abaye:

What proof is this?

Perhaps

it was not through Elisha’s power that this occurred, but he merited it in order

to fulfill Elijah’s blessing

that

as it is written,

he had requested of him:

“Let there be, please, a double portion of your spirit upon me.”

And he answered him: “If you see me taken from you, so shall it be for you.” Elijah revived one dead person, the son of the widow of Zarephath, and Elisha revived the Shunamite’s son during his lifetime. In order for the blessing of “a double portion” to be fulfilled in him, he had to revive one more dead person. It was therefore Elijah’s merit, for it is impossible that his blessing should not be fulfilled, as it is written concerning the righteous: “You shall also decree a matter, and it shall be established for you.” But from where do we know that “the righteous are greater in their deaths”?

He said to him

Abaye:

If so,

if it occurred because of Elijah’s blessing, the difficulty is:

this is what was taught in a beraita:

With regard to that which is written, “and he stood on his feet,”

he stood on his feet,

but

he did not go to his home.

Rather, immediately upon emerging from Elisha’s grave, he died again. Elisha revived him only in order to remove him from his presence. And if it is as you say, that it occurred because of Elijah’s blessing, he should have revived him fully, just as Elijah revived the son of the widow of Zarephath. For without this, the blessing of “a double portion” would not be fulfilled.

Rather, it must be that it occurred through Elisha’s merit. And it is properly demonstrated that “the righteous are greater in their deaths than in their lifetimes.”

And we object: Since you have said that in this incident Elijah’s blessing was not fulfilled,

but through what was it fulfilled?

And we answer:

As Rabbi Yoḥanan said, that Elisha healed

Naaman’s

leprosy. For

leprosy

is equivalent to death, as it is stated

with regard to Aaron, when he asked Moses to pray that Miriam be healed of her leprosy, and said:

“Let her not, please, be as one dead.”

Thus, the blessing of “a double portion” was fulfilled: he revived the Shunamite’s son and healed Naaman of his leprosy.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Why are

the white mules

called “yemim”?

Because

they inspire fear in people.

As Rabbi Ḥanina said [who was a physician]:

Never has anyone asked me

for a remedy

for an injury inflicted by a white mule

that he had sustained,

and lived.

The Gemara now assumed that “and lived” means that the person who was struck did not survive.

And we are astonished:

But we see

that even one who has such an injury

lives?

And we answer: It does not refer to the person. Rather,

say:

“Never has anyone asked me about an injury inflicted by a white mule

and it lived

and the injury healed.”

And we object again:

But we see that an injury inflicted by white mules heals

?

And we answer: It is

mules whose hooves are white,

and it is

with regard to them that we say

that their injuries do not heal.

Concerning that which is written,

“There is none besides Him,” Rabbi Ḥanina said: Even witchcraft.

For witchcraft too is not independent of Him—that is, it does not occur without His knowledge. If there is no decree from before Him, witchcraft cannot harm a person.

There was a certain woman who was going around trying to take dust from beneath the feet of Rabbi Ḥanina,

taking care to do so in a manner that would prevent him from understanding her actions. Her intention was to kill him through witchcraft.

He said to her: Take

as much dust as you wish, for in any event

your efforts will not succeed

in bewitching me, since

“There is none besides Him,” it is written,

as he expounded above.

And we object:

But Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why is it called “kishuf,” witchcraft?

Because it is as though

it

“denies”

the heavenly entourage.

For although they did not decree that a person should die, witchcraft kills him. How, then, did Rabbi Ḥanina make light of it?

And we answer:

Rabbi Ḥanina is different, for great are

the many

merits he possesses,

and therefore witchcraft cannot harm him.

And Rabbi Ḥanina said: A person does not injure his finger below unless they proclaim decree

[decreed]

against him above, as it is stated: “From the Lord the steps of a man are established.”

And it is likewise written:

“What can a person understand of his way?”

Everything a person does is not solely the result of his own understanding; rather, his path is directed from Heaven.

Rabbi Elazar said: The blood from an injury when a person strikes his foot against a stone, is wounded, and bleeds

[when a person strikes his foot against a stone, is wounded, and bleeds]

serves as atonement

for him

like the blood of an olah.

Rava said:

Rabbi Elazar’s statement concerns one who strikes

the

toe

of the great

toe

of the right

foot, where he strikes with greater force and the pain is greater.

And

it concerns

a second injury,

before the wound from the first injury has healed, which likewise adds to his pain.

And it

serves as atonement specifically when this happens while he is

going to perform a mitzva.

They said about Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair: In all his days he never broke bread over a piece that was not his, and from the time he became self-aware he never benefited from his father’s meal.