Moed Katan 9b — the Talmud in English

Here,

as it is written, “Do not weigh”

with regard to a mitzva that cannot be performed by others,

for then, do not strive specifically to perform the greater mitzva; rather, the mitzva that first comes to your hand, perform it.

They then sat again,

Rabbi Yonatan ben Amasai and Rabbi Yehuda ben Gerim,

and they raised the following question: It is written: “

It is more precious

than the Torah

than pearls, and all your desires do not compare with it.”

It is fitting to set aside all one’s personal desires in order to study Torah.

But [with regard to] heavenly desires,

which are engagement in mitzvot—yes,

they do compare with it,

and one must set aside Torah study in order to fulfill mitzvot.

And,

on the other hand

it is written

a verse that implies the opposite: “

All desires do not compare with it.”

And since it is not written “your desires,” it implies

that even heavenly desires do not compare with it,

and a person should not interrupt Torah study in order to engage in a mitzva.

And they answered again:

Here,

“all desires do not compare with it,”

refers to a mitzva that can be performed by others,

and therefore he should leave it so that the mitzva may be fulfilled by them, and he should not interrupt his study to engage in this mitzva.

And

here,

where it is written, “your desires do not compare with it,” which implies that heavenly desires do compare with it, and he interrupts his study for heavenly desires—

this refers to a mitzva that cannot be performed by others.

For he is obligated to interrupt his study in order to fulfill a mitzva incumbent upon him.

They said to him,

to the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, who had come to receive their blessing:

What are you seeking here?

He said to them,

I came here because

my father said to me: Go to them, so that they may bless you!

They said to him,

they blessed him with seven blessings, in the language of parable and riddle:

A.

May it be the will [of Heaven] that you sow but not reap,

and he understood that his seed would not grow, or that he would not merit to harvest it.

B.

May you enter but not leave.

And he understood that he would bring merchandise but would not succeed in selling it,

C.

May you leave but not enter,

and he understood that he would take merchandise out to another place but would not succeed in bringing it back.

D.

May your house be destroyed,

and he understood this literally.

E.

And may your inn be inhabited,

and your guests should sit and dwell in your place.

F.

May your table be confused—

your table will be confused.

G.

And may you not see a new year.

You will not see the new year.

And he understood that they had cursed him, that he would not merit to see the coming year.

And therefore,

when he came,

upon his return

to his father, he said to him,

to his father:

Not only did they not bless me, but

rather

they caused me distress.

He said to him,

his father:

What did they say to you?

He said to him:

This and this they said to me,

and he recited all their words above to him.

He said to him: All of these—

are blessings!

kotorye pokinut tvoi dom, vyidiya zamuzh, no ih muzh'ya ne umrut i ne vernutsya k tebe, to est' k tebe.

They are a parable, and this is its solution:

“You will sow but not reap”—

you will bear sons and they will not die

during your lifetime.

“You will enter but not leave”—

you will bring in a daughter-in-law,

who ordinarily goes to the husband, and he takes the place of his father,

and your son will not die, so that they will leave,

for upon the son’s death the daughter-in-law leaves to return to her father’s house.

“You will leave but not enter”—

you will bear daughters,

who leave your house upon their marriage,

and their husbands will not die, so that they return to you,

to you.

For upon the death of the husband, women return to their fathers; they blessed him that they should marry and not return to him in their widowhood.

“May your house be destroyed and your inn be inhabited”—

for this world is your inn, and that world—

the World to Come is

the house.

As it is written, “

Their inward part is their houses forever.”

And we expound:

Do not read kirbam, “their inward part,” but kivram, “their graves.”

They blessed him that he should not die and sit in his house, which is his grave; rather, he should live long and sit as a guest in this world.

“May your table be confused,” with

an abundance of

sons and daughters

who confuse the table.

“And may you not see a new year”—

that your wife should not die,

that your wife should not die,

and you should not marry another woman,

and you will not need to take a new wife and fulfill with her the mitzva of rejoicing the new wife during the first year, which is written concerning one who marries a new wife.

Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta took leave of Rav.

Rav said to

him

to his son,

to his son:

Go to him, so that he may bless you.

Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said to him,

Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta to Rav’s son:

May it be the will [of Heaven]

may it be the will [of Heaven]

that you should not shame and should not be shamed.

The son of Rav

Rav’s son

came to his father.

He said to him: “What did he say to you

in his blessing?”

He said to him: “He merely said words to me.”

And he recited the blessing to him.

Rav said to him,

Rav:

He blessed you with the blessing with which the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed Israel, and repeated

and repeated

it.

For He blessed them with it twice:

As it is written, “

You shall surely eat and be satisfied, and praise

the name of the Lord, who has dealt wondrously with you,

and My people shall never be ashamed, and you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel

and I am the Lord your God and there is no other,

and My people shall never be ashamed.” .

sarak, na lico, chtoby ono pokrasnelo; eto ukrashenie dlya nee.

And the explanation of the blessing is that he should not shame others, so that he should not be shamed.

[And see the Maharsha] .

We learned in the Mishna: “And a woman may make her adornments”

during the Festival.

The Sages taught: These are women’s adornments: she applies blue eye-paint,

she colors blue around her eyes to beautify them,

and she applies pokeset

she combs her hair ,

and she applies

a substance called

sarek, to her face,

so that they become red, and it is an adornment for her.

And some say: she removes the depilatory paste

and some versions read: a knife

over the face of the bed to remove the hair there.

to remove the hair there.

His wife

the wife of

Rav Hisda adorned herself

during the intermediate days of the Festival

before her daughter-in-law,

before her son’s wife.

Rav Huna bar Hinena was sitting before Rav Hisda, and he sat and said: They taught this only

that it is permitted for a woman to adorn herself during the Festival

with regard to a young woman,

a girl, who has joy in adornment, since this is her practice, and it is permitted during the Festival.

But an old woman—not

did they permit her to do so!

And he challenged Rav Hisda for having permitted his wife to adorn herself, even though she already had a married son and was considered elderly, and adornment was forbidden to her.

He said to him,

Rav Hisda:

By the Almighty!

[an expression of oath]

Even your mother, and even your mother’s mother, and even

an extremely old woman who

is standing

so to speak

over her grave,

are permitted to adorn themselves during the Festival, because they need this.

And as

people say: A sixty-year-old is like a six-year-old; at the sound of the drum she runs,

for they run to the sound of various melodies at celebrations. And likewise, they are equal with regard to adornment.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Judah says: She may not apply depilatory paste.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Judah says: A woman may not apply depilatory paste during the Festival, because it is a disfigurement for her,

for it is disgraceful to her and she suffers from it.

And Rabbi Judah concedes with regard to paste that she can fold it

away from her face and remove it

during the Festival,

and she will derive benefit from it during the Festival—

that she applies it

smears it

during the Festival

on her body.

And the reason for the permission is

that although she suffers now

when the paste is upon her,

she rejoices later.

For the paste softens the flesh and removes the hair. And since this joy is during the Festival, she is permitted to endure the suffering of the paste.

And we raise an objection:

Does Rabbi Judah actually hold this reasoning

that it is permitted to suffer now during the Festival for the sake of joy afterward?

But we learned: Rabbi Judah says:

during the festivals of the gentiles,

they collect

the debts

from them,

because

he suffers.

For a person who pays a debt is distressed, and we do not collect a debt from them because they rejoice in this on the day of their festival and give thanks to idolatry for having brought them the collection of the debt.

And the Sages disagreed with him and

said to him:

Why is it permitted to collect from him on his festival? After all,

although he is distressed now, he rejoices afterward

that he no longer has a debt.

And Rabbi Judah does not hold this reasoning. If so, how does he permit applying paste during the Festival on the basis of this reasoning?

And we resolve it:

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: Leave

the laws of the Festival alone, for all of them

the laws of the Festival—the reason for their permission is that they

are cases in which one suffers now and rejoices afterward .

For even baking and cooking cause one to suffer through the exertion involved in them, and they are permitted because one rejoices afterward when one eats them during the Festival.

Ravina said

another resolution of the contradiction in Rabbi Judah’s view:

A gentile, with regard to repayment, is always distressed

at being compelled to pay, and Rabbi Judah always holds the reasoning that he rejoices afterward, in every matter and not only during the intermediate days of the Festival; but only with regard to collecting a debt from a gentile on his festival day does this reasoning not help.

Rav Judah said: Israelite girls who have reached their maturity

whose hair has grown

but have not reached the years,

for they are still not twelve years old and are embarrassed by the growth of their hair before its time:

If they are

poor,

they

apply depilatory paste to themselves,

as it is the least expensive preparation for removing their hair.

Rich women apply semolina to themselves.

Daughters of kings

apply it

with myrrh oil.

As it is stated

concerning the cosmetics given to the wives of King Ahasuerus: “

six months with myrrh oil.”

And we explain:

What is myrrh oil?

Rav Huna bar Hiyya said: stakhet.

Rav Yirmeya bar Ami said: Olive oil that has not reached

in its growth

one-third.

It was taught: Rabbi Judah says: “Anpikinon”

is

olive oil that has not reached

its cooking

one-third.

And why do they apply it

the paste, the semolina, and the oil?

Because

it removes the hair and softens

makes yellow and bright

the flesh.

Rav Bibi had a daughter; he applied paste to

each

limb

and

limb

separately, and she became so beautiful that she

received

from her husband, as her marriage settlement,

for

the sake of

her four hundred zuz.

There was a certain gentile in his neighborhood

in his vicinity

who had a daughter,

and he wanted to do with her as Rav Bibi had done.

He applied paste

to all of her

at one time, and she died.

The gentile said,

the gentile:

Bibi has killed

killed

my daughter,

my daughter.

Rav Nahman said,

only

Rav Bibi,

because

he drank beer,

which causes the hair to grow and become thick,

his daughters require

his daughters need

paste,

in order to remove the hair and beautify them.

But

we, who do not drink beer—

our daughters do not require

our daughters

paste.