Chullin 92a — the Talmud in English

And we answer:

“Blessed”

it is not the ministering angels who say it, but rather

the ofanim,

who are from the very Throne of Glory

they say it to Him. And when we say that the ministering angels do not mention the Name except after three words, it is speaking of angels.

And when we say that the ministering angels mention the Name only after three words, this is referring to other angels.

And if you wish, say: Since permission was granted

to the angels to mention the Name after they had said three words of “Holy,”

permission was granted

to them, after they had mentioned it, from then onward, to mention it even without the preceding three words.

It is written in the Book of Hosea concerning Jacob’s struggle with the angel:

“He contended with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and entreated him.”

I do not know who became a prince over whom.

Is the meaning: “Jacob contended with an angel”—that Jacob became a prince over the angel, and Jacob prevailed over him?

Or is the meaning: “An angel contended with Jacob”—that the angel became a prince over Jacob, and the angel prevailed over him?

When it says, “For you have striven with God,

and have prevailed,”

you must say: Jacob became a prince over the angel!

And likewise concerning that which is written

“He wept, and entreated him.” I do not know who wept to whom.

When it says: “And he said, ‘Send me away,’” you must say: the angel wept to Jacob!

It is written:

“For you have striven with God and with people.”

Rabba said: The angel hinted to him

the angel to Jacob,

that two princes were destined to emerge from him: the Exilarch in Babylonia and the nasi in the Land of Israel!

For the nasi in the Land of Israel is samukh to judge cases of fines, and is called “God,” as it is stated: “The matter of both of them shall come before God.” And “with people” means the Exilarch, who is not samukh.

From here he hinted to him—

exile!

For he mentioned the Exilarch to him.

It is written in the dream of the chief cupbearer

“And in the vine were three branches.” Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rav: These are three proud princes,

who are wealthy and close to the kingdom,

who emerge from Israel in every generation.

For the vine alludes to Israel, who were compared to a vine.

Sometimes two

of them

are here,

in Babylonia,

and one is in the Land of Israel. Sometimes two are in the Land of Israel and one is here.

The Sages set their eyes on Rabbana Ukva and Rabbana Nehemiah, the son of the daughter of Rav,

for they were the two “proud princes” in Babylonia.

Rava said:

the three branches—

these are three gentile princes,

who are angels

who plead favorably for Israel in every generation.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says:

“A vine”—

this is the world.

“Three branches”—

these are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“And it blossomed; its blossoms came forth”—

these are the Matriarchs,

for a blossom is not as significant as a branch, which is a hard bough.

“Its clusters ripened into grapes”—

these are the Tribes!

Rabbi Joshua said to him,

to Rabbi Eliezer:

Do they show a person

in a dream

what has already happened? But surely they show a person only what is destined to be!

Yet all these had already existed.

Rather, “a vine”—

this is Torah.

“Three branches”—

these are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

“And it blossomed; its blossoms came forth”—

these are the Sanhedrin.

“Its clusters ripened into grapes”—

these are the righteous in every generation,

who are destined to exist.

Rabban Gamliel said: We still need the

Rabban Gamaliel said: We still require the

words of Rabbi Eliezer of Modi'in, who places the entire

verse

in one place.

For

For Rabbi Eliezer of Modi'in says:

“A vine”—

this is Jerusalem.

“Three branches”—

these are the Sanctuary, the king, and the High Priest.

“And it blossomed; its blossoms came forth”—

these are the young priests who serve in the Sanctuary.

“Its clusters ripened into grapes”—

these are libations,

for wine is made from grapes.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi expounds it

the verse

as referring to gifts

that the Holy One, blessed is He, gave to Israel.

For Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: “A vine”—this is

Torah.

“Three branches”—this is the well, the pillar, the cloud, and manna.

“And it blossomed; its blossoms came forth”—

these are the first fruits!

For He gave them a land excellent in fruits from which they bring first fruits.

“Its clusters ripened into grapes”—

these are libations,

which they bring from the grapes of the Land of Israel.

Rabbi Jeremiah bar Abba said:

“A vine”—

these are Israel, and so it says: “You drove a vine out of Egypt,”

for He brought Israel out of Egypt.

“Three branches”—

these are the three Pilgrimage Festivals, on which Israel goes up every year.

“It blossomed”—

their time had arrived

for the Jewish people to leave Egypt and

for Israel to leave Egypt and to be fruitful and multiply. And so it says: “And the Children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed.”

“Its blossoms came forth”—

the time had arrived for Israel to be redeemed. And so it says,

concerning the punishment that the Holy One, blessed is He, will bring upon Babylonia:

“And their victory shall spatter

their blood—for blood is a person’s strength and victory

upon My garments, and I stained all My clothing,”

they will be stained with blood. And likewise, the meaning of “its blossoms came forth” is that the time had arrived to spatter the victorious blood of Egypt.

“Its clusters ripened into grapes”—the time had arrived for Egypt to drink the cup of retribution.

And this is what Rava said: The three cups mentioned concerning Egypt

in the dream of the chief cupbearer

what are they? One that it drank in the days of Moses, and one that it drank in the days of Pharaoh Neco

in the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

And one that it is destined to drink together with all the idolaters

in the future.

Rava Abba said to Rabbi Jeremiah bar Abba: When Rav expounded these verses

of the dream of the chief cupbearer

in aggada, he expounded them in accordance with you.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This nation,

Israel,

was compared to a vine,

as above, as it is stated: “You drove a vine out of Egypt”:

its branches—these are the householders.

Just as the branches are the principal part of the vine, so householders: Israel endures through them, for they perform acts of kindness, support the poor, and bribe the kingdom with their money.

Its clusters—these are Torah scholars. Its leaves—these are the unlearned.

Just as the leaves protect the clusters so that they are not harmed by sun and wind, so the unlearned plow and sow for the needs of Torah scholars.

Its tendrils,

unripened grapes in which there is no benefit,

these are the empty ones among Israel.

And this is what they sent from there,

from the Land of Israel:

let the clusters request mercy for the leaves,

the clusters should request mercy for the leaves,

for if not for the leaves, the clusters would not endure.

And thus all parts of the people of Israel assist the Torah scholars.

It is written:

“And I bought her for fifteen silver pieces

and a homer of barley and a letekh of barley.”

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak:

“And I bought her”—

“buying” is nothing other than an expression of “selling,” as it is stated: “In my grave that I dug for myself,”

for Jacob bought the grave from Esau.

“For fifteen”—this is the fifteenth of Nisan, on which Israel was redeemed from Egypt. “Silver”—these are the righteous, and so it says: “He took the money-bundle in his hand” [עיין רש"י]see Rashi

for the Holy One, blessed is He, says: I bought the people of Israel on the fifteenth of Nisan on account of the righteous.

“A homer of barley”

which is thirty se’a,

“and a letekh of barley”

which is fifteen se’a:

these are the forty-five righteous through whom the world endures. And I do not know whether thirty are here

in Babylonia

and fifteen in the Land of Israel,

or

whether thirty are in the Land of Israel and fifteen are here. When it says: “And I took the thirty silver pieces and cast them into the House of the Lord, to the treasury,” you must say: thirty are in the Land of Israel,

'for there is the House of the Lord,

and fifteen are here.

Abaye said: And most of them

of the righteous in the Land of Israel

are found in the synagogue beneath the platform.

under the raised section of the synagogue.

And this is what is written: “And I said to them, ‘If it is good in your eyes, give Me My wage, and if not, refrain.’”

For the Holy One, blessed is He, said to them: If you sin, return to Me the righteous, on whose merit you would receive reward.

“And they weighed out My wage, thirty silver pieces”

the verse teaches that there will always be thirty righteous people among Israel.

Rav Judah says: These are the thirty righteous among the nations of the world, through whom the nations of the world endure.

Ulla said: These are the thirty mitzvot that the descendants of Noah accepted upon themselves, but they fulfill only three.