Megillah 10a — the Talmud in English

The sanctity of Shiloh ![](pamud.bmp "

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has permission after it,

for after Shiloh was destroyed, the high places were permitted.

And

if

the sanctity of Jerusalem—

there is no permission after it,

for even after the Temple was destroyed, the high places were not again permitted.

Gemara:

Rabbi Yitzhak said: I heard that they offer sacrifices in the House of Honyo [

it is the altar that Honyo, who was the son of Shimon the Just, built in Egypt , and he built it for the sake of Heaven ]

at this time.

And we explain:

he holds

that Rabbi Yitzhak follows the one who says that

the House of Honyo—

is not a house of idolatry [

for there is one who says that it is idolatry], and

he also holds

that

the first sanctity,

with which Jerusalem was consecrated,

consecrated it

only

for its time, and did not consecrate it

for the future,

that is, when it was destroyed. Rather, once it was destroyed, the high places were permitted. And therefore they offer sacrifices in the House of Honyo, for it is considered like a high place.

And from where does he derive this?

For it is written

concerning the permission of the high places at Gilgal:

“For you have not until now come to the rest and to the inheritance.”

And we interpret:

“rest”—

this is Shiloh. “Inheritance”—

this is Jerusalem. Scripture compares

the verse

inheritance—

to rest. Just as rest—

has permission after it,

for once Shiloh was destroyed, the high places were permitted until the Temple was built,

so too, inheritance,

Jerusalem—

has permission after it.

And for this reason it is permitted to offer sacrifices in the House of Honyo at this time, after the Temple was destroyed.

They said to Rabbi Yitzhak:

Did you really

say

this matter, that the sanctity of Jerusalem has permission after it?

He said to them: No,

I did not say [it].

Rava said: By the God [

an expression of an oath], at first

Rabbi Yitzhak said

this matter,

and

I

learned it from him [

I learned it from him].

And for what reason did he retract from it?

Because of the difficulty that

который задал ему

Rav Mari

raised against him.

For Rav Mari raised an objection:

And were high places permitted after the Temple was destroyed?

But we learned in our Mishna:

The sanctity of Shiloh—

has permission after it; the sanctity of Jerusalem—

has no permission after it!

And furthermore,

there is a difficulty from what

we learned: “Once they came to Jerusalem, the high places became forbidden, and there was no further permission for them”—

even when the Temple was destroyed,

and

the reason they became forbidden is that

it—

Jerusalem—

was the inheritance

mentioned in the verse concerning the permission of the high places: “For you have not until now come, etc., and to the inheritance.” For it implies that after they come to the inheritance, the high places will become forbidden!

And this matter—whether the first sanctity consecrated [the place] for its time and consecrated it for the future, or not—

is a dispute among the tannaim.

For it was taught: Rabbi Eliezer said: I heard

from my teachers that

when they were building the Sanctuary

in the construction of the Second Temple, in the days of Ezra, they

made curtains for the Sanctuary [

in the place of the Sanctuary], adjacent to the walls being built.

And it might have entered our minds now that they did this so that the curtains would be considered like a building until they built the walls themselves, so that the altar built in the Temple courtyard would be as though it stood at the “entrance of the Tent of Meeting” [for it is written concerning the offering of sacrifices that the offering must be at the “entrance of the Tent of Meeting”], and they would be able to offer sacrifices upon it even before the construction of the Sanctuary was completed [for they began offering sacrifices immediately when they went up in the days of Cyrus, while construction of the Temple was completed only twenty-two years later].

And

likewise, they made

curtains for the Temple courtyard.

And it might have entered our minds that they made curtains so that it would be considered a house, and they would be able to offer sacrifices.

However,

the difference between them was this:

in the Sanctuary,

they

built

the walls of the Sanctuary

from the outside [

outside the curtains], so that the builders would not enter the place of the Sanctuary ,

whereas in the courtyard

they

built from the inside [

from before the curtains].

And the conclusion of that Mishna is:

And Rabbi Yehoshua said: I heard that they offer

sacrifices at this time—

even though there is no Temple

that exists,

and that they

eat the most holy offerings—

even though there are no curtains [

despite the fact that the status of offerings of lesser sanctity is that they are eaten inside the curtains],

and that they eat

offerings of lesser sanctity and second tithe,

whose place of eating is in Jerusalem, inside the wall—

even though there is no wall

for Jerusalem.

Because the first sanctity consecrated it for its time—

and consecrated it for the future.

And for this reason, all these places remain in their first sanctity.

And we infer:

It follows that Rabbi Eliezer

who said that they made curtains for the Sanctuary and for the courtyard

holds

that the first sanctity

did not consecrate it for the future,

and therefore they had to make curtains and once again consecrate the place with thank-offerings and song [as we say in tractate Shevuot].

We see that it is a dispute among the tannaim: according to Rabbi Yehoshua, it consecrated it for the future, and according to Rabbi Eliezer, it did not consecrate it!

Ravina said to Rav Ashi: From where

[do you know] that everyone

holds,

that

the first sanctity consecrated it for its time—

and consecrated it for the future. And one—

whatever he heard, he says, and the other—

whatever he heard, he says.

For Rabbi Eliezer heard that they made curtains, but not because it was necessary to consecrate [the place], and he does not dispute Rabbi Yehoshua. [And Rabbi Yehoshua did not come to dispute Rabbi Eliezer, but rather he had not heard his words and said whatever he had heard. Rashi in tractate Shevuot].

And if you would say:

if so,

the curtains, according to Rabbi Eliezer—

why do I need them?

For he holds that it consecrated it for the future!

For modesty alone

they made them.

Rather,

this that we say, that this question—whether the first sanctity consecrated it for the future or not—is a dispute among the tannaim,

is like these tannaim

:

For it was taught: Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei said:

We learned in tractate Arakhin [32a] concerning houses of walled cities: “And these are the houses of walled cities, etc., surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua son of Nun, such as the old fortress of Tzippori and the fortress of Gush Halav,” and there the Mishna enumerates nine cities.

And

why did the Sages enumerate

specifically

these

cities

?

But there were many other cities surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, and there too, at the end of the Mishna, we learned: “And similarly those like them”! Rather,

when the exiles went up, they found

only

these

cities

and consecrated them. But the earlier ones,

all the other cities that had been surrounded,

все остальные города, окруженные стенами,

were nullified when the Land was nullified [

when they were exiled].

It follows that this tanna holds:

the first sanctity

consecrated it for its time—

but did not consecrate it for the future.

And for this reason, only those cities that they consecrated when they went up from the exile became consecrated.

And we raise a contradiction: Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei said: And were

these nine cities

alone? But it has already been stated

concerning the kingdom of Og: “And we captured all his cities, etc.,

sixty cities, the entire region of Argov,” and it is written

about them, those cities:

“All these were fortified cities, high walls”?

Rather, why did the Sages enumerate

specifically

these

cities

?

Because

when the exiles went up, they found

the cities

these—

and consecrated them.