Chullin 7b — the Talmud in English

They threshed them

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

it did not eat.

They picked them over

the barley by hand, to clean it of stones and refuse, but still

it did not eat.

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair:

Perhaps

the barley

has not been tithed?

They tithed it

the barley,

and the donkey ate

some of it.

Rabbi

Rabbi Pinhas said:

This poor animal is going to fulfill the will of its Owner

in the mitzva of redeeming captives,

and you are feeding it untithed produce?!

And this is what we say: “The animal of the righteous—the Holy One, blessed be He, does not bring a stumbling block through them.”

And we ask:

Is it obligated

the food of an animal purchased from an am ha-aretz to tithe it on account of demai?

But we learned: One who purchases

produce from an am ha-aretz not for the purpose of eating, but

for seed,

and to feed

an animal, and flour to

work with

leather, and oil for a lamp, and oil with which to anoint utensils—

is exempt

from demai, for as a matter of law one may rely on the fact that most amei ha-aretz tithe, and it was only the Rabbis who decreed [the obligation], and they decreed specifically with regard to human eating. And since demai produce purchased for feeding an animal is exempt from tithing, why did the donkey not eat?

And we answer:

There, it was stated concerning it

that Mishna:

Rabbi Yohanan said: They taught

that it is exempt from demai

only when he purchased it

from an am ha-aretz

initially for

the purpose of eating by an

animal.

But if he

purchased it initially for

the purpose of eating by a

person, and

afterward

reconsidered concerning it

to feed it

to an animal, he is obligated to tithe.

And proof for Rabbi Yohanan:

And it was taught in a beraita: One who purchases

produce

of demai from the market for eating, and reconsiders concerning it

to change it

for

animal

food—he may not give it either before his own animal or before his fellow’s animal unless he has tithed it.

And this barley that they placed before the donkey—they originally purchased it for a person, and that is why it did not eat.

Rabbi heard

that Rabbi Pinhas had arrived,

he went out toward him. He said to him:

If

you wish,

it is

dine with me.

Rabbi Pinhas said to him

Rabbi:

Yes!

Rabbi’s face became radiant

out of joy, because Rabbi Pinhas was not accustomed to benefit from others.

He said to him

Rabbi Pinhas said to Rabbi:

Do you think that I am mudar hanaa from Jews?

That is not so. For

Jews are holy.

Certainly they are worthy of having benefit received from them. But the reason that it is not my practice to benefit from them is that

there is

someone who

wants

to give others benefit from what is his,

but he does not have

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

And there is

someone

who has

the ability in his possession,

but does not wish

for this; and although he calls me to dine with him, in his heart he does not desire it. And from him I do not wish to benefit, because

it is written [Proverbs 23]

[Proverbs 23]:

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

And Rabbi Pinhas concluded his words: But

you, you want

truly to give me benefit,

and

also

you have

the ability in your possession! For Rabbi was exceedingly wealthy.

And Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair continued and said:

At least now, I am hurrying [

I am hurrying ],

for in a matter of a mitzva

of redeeming captives

I am occupied,

and I have no time to dine.

But

when I return

to return from the mitzva,

I will come,

and

I will enter to you.

When

Rabbi Pinhas came on his return from redeeming the captives to Rabbi’s place,

it happened

that

at that entrance

of Rabbi’s house

there were standing

at that entrance

white mules [

white mules ] belonging to Rabbi.

Rabbi Pinhas said:

Rabbi Pinhas 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 does not heal, as explained below.

Rabbi heard

Rabbi Pinhas’s words,

he went out toward him. He said to him: “I shall sell them”

the mules.

He said to him

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

“You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind”

is written. Therefore, it is forbidden for you to sell them.

He said to him:

“I shall declare them ownerless!”

And I shall send them into the forests of the world, to be ownerless.

Rabbi Pinhas said to him: All the more so is it forbidden to do so. For

their harm will increase

through this. Since they are not guarded, they will cause more harm.

He said to him:

“I shall uproot their hooves”

so that they will not be able to kick. Rabbi Pinhas said to him: This too is forbidden, because

there is

a prohibition of

causing suffering to living creatures.

He said to him:

“I shall kill them!”

He said to him:

There is

a prohibition because of

“Do not destroy!”

Rabbi

was

pressing him

[he urged him]

greatly,

that he nevertheless dine with him, but he did not heed him.

A mountain rose between them,

as though a high mountain rose between them and separated them. That is, the matter caused them to become distant from one another.

Rabbi wept and said: “If during their lives

of the righteous

this is how

the Holy One, blessed be He, assists them so that they do not violate their intention, as here, when the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Rabbi Pinhas to enter specifically through this entrance and see the mules and withdraw from me, so that he would not violate his original intention not to benefit from others,

in their death,

when they are greater,

all the more so

that all their wishes are fulfilled.”

For Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: The righteous are greater in their death than in their life. As it is stated: “And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw the band, and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha; and when the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood upon his feet.”

For when Elisha, during his lifetime, wished to revive the Shunamite woman’s son, he had to place his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and seek mercy, whereas after his death, by mere touching, he revived the dead man.

Rav Pappa said to Abaye:

But what proof is there?

Perhaps

it was not through Elisha’s power, but he merited this because of

fulfilling in him Elijah’s blessing.

For

as it is written

that Elisha asked of him:

“Let there be, I pray you, a double portion of your spirit upon me,”

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

He said to him

Abaye:

If so,

since it was because of Elijah’s blessing, the difficulty is

this is what was taught in a beraita:

That which is written, “and stood upon his feet,”

he stood upon his feet,

but

he did not go to his house.

Rather, immediately upon leaving Elisha’s grave, he died again. And all that Elisha revived him for was only in order to remove him from him. And if it is as you say, that it was because of Elijah’s blessing, he should have truly revived him, just as Elijah revived the son of the Zarephathite woman. For without this, “a double portion” is not fulfilled.

Rather, necessarily, it was through Elisha’s merit. And it is properly proven that “the righteous are greater in their death than in their life.”

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

but in what was it fulfilled?

And we answer:

As Rabbi Yohanan said, when he healed

Elisha

Naaman’s leprosy. For

leprosy

is equivalent to a dead person. As it is stated

concerning Aaron, when he asked Moses to pray for Miriam that she be healed of her leprosy, and he said:

“Let her not, I pray, be as one dead.”

And through this “a double portion” was fulfilled: he revived the Shunamite woman’s son and healed Naaman of his leprosy.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Why are

the names of the white mules

“days”?

Because

their dread is cast upon creatures.

For Rabbi Hanina [who was a physician] said:

Never did a person ask me

for a cure

for a wound from a white mule

that he had,

and live.

And the Gemara now understood that “live” means that the person who was struck did not live.

And we are astonished:

But we see

that even one who has this wound

lives?

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

say:

“Never did a person ask me about a wound from a white mule

and it heal

[and the wound be healed].”

And we ask again:

But we see that a wound from white mules is healed

?

And we answer: Mules

whose heads of their legs are white,

concerning them

we are saying

that their wound is not healed.

That which is written,

“There is none beside Him,” Rabbi Hanina said: “Even sorcery.”

For even sorcery is not beside Him—that is, not without His knowledge. For if there is no decree from before Him, sorcery cannot harm a person.

There was a certain woman who was attempting to take dust from beneath Rabbi Hanina’s feet,

and she took pains to do this in such a manner that he would not understand her actions. Her intention was to kill him through sorcery.

He said to her: “Take

dust according to your desire, for in any event

your efforts will not succeed

in bewitching me, for

“there is none beside Him,” it is written,

as he expounded above.

And we ask:

But Rabbi Yohanan said: Why are they called “sorcery”?

Because

they

are as though

“they deny” the heavenly entourage.

For although they did not decree that a person should die, sorcery kills him. And how did Rabbi Hanina make light of this?

And we answer:

Rabbi Hanina is different, for his

merits are

many,

and therefore sorcery does not harm him.

And Rabbi Hanina said: A person does not strike his finger below unless they proclaim

[decree]

upon 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?”

For everything that a person does is not from his own understanding; rather, from Heaven they direct his way.

Rabbi Elazar said: Blood from a striking

[when a person strikes his foot against a stone, is wounded, and blood comes out]

atones

for him, to atone through it

like the blood of a burnt offering.

Rava said:

Rabbi Elazar’s statement concerns one who strikes

the

toe

of the great

toe

of the right

foot, for he strikes it with greater force and his pain is greater.

And

it concerns

a second striking,

before his wound from the first striking has healed, for this too adds to his pain.

And it

atones specifically when this happens to him while

he is going to perform a mitzva.

They said about Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair: In all his days he never broke bread over a piece that was not his, and from the day he attained understanding he did not benefit from his father’s meal.