Nedarim 62a — the Talmud in English

A tanna

in a beraita:

Since

most of the pruning hooks have been folded away,

are permitted—

the fruits remaining in the field and on the trees—

because of robbery,

for the owner of the fruits does not take them for himself, but declares them ownerless.

And they are exempt from tithe,

for they are ownerless.

An incident involving

Rabbi and Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda,

who

happened to arrive at a certain place

[they happened upon some place]

at a time when most of the pruning hooks had been folded away.

Rabbi was eating

[Rabbi ate] from the remaining fruits.

But

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda did not eat.

Their owner came

[the owner of the fruits arrived] and

said to them: Why are the Rabbis not eating

[why are you not eating]!? Surely now it is the time when

most of the pruning hooks have been folded away, and

they are permitted.

And even so, Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda did not eat.

For

he held

that Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda, that only

because of the evilness of the matter was this man saying this

[it was because of his bad heart that this man said it].

That is, his intention was not to say that the fruits were indeed permitted, but he was saying it by way of derision, as though he had said: “Behold, you have permitted yourselves when most of the pruning hooks have been folded away.”

Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina happened upon a certain

place

[he happened upon a particular place]

at the time when

“most of the pruning hooks had been folded away.”

He was eating; he gave [some] to his attendant, [but] he did not eat

[Rabbi Hama ate, and when he gave [some] to his attendant, the attendant did not wish to eat].

He said to him,

Rabbi Hama son of Hanina said to his attendant:

Eat!

For

thus Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yosei said to me in the name of his father:

If already

most of the pruning hooks have been folded away—

the fruits are

permitted because of robbery, and exempt from tithe.

A certain man found Rabbi Tarfon eating at the time when the pruning hooks had been folded away

[a man found Rabbi Tarfon eating from the fruits at the time when the pruning hooks had been folded away], and the owner of the fruits became angry with him.

He put him into a sack, lifted him, and brought him to throw him into the river

[he put him inside a sack and brought him to the river in order to throw him into it].

He said,

Rabbi Tarfon called out from inside the sack:

Woe to Tarfon, that

a man

is killing him!

That man heard

that it was Rabbi Tarfon,

released him and fled

[that man heard this, left Rabbi Tarfon to himself, and fled].

Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Hanania son of Gamliel: All the days of that righteous man

[Rabbi Tarfon]

he was distressed over this matter

that he had done, for

he said: Woe is me, that I made use of the crown of Torah!

For that man left him only out of honor for his Torah.

And Rabbah bar bar Hana said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Whoever makes use of the crown of Torah is uprooted from the world.

And we learn this through a

kal va-chomer:

And with regard to Belshazzar,

who made use

for drinking wine

of sacred vessels—

which had been taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, his father—

which

had already

become profane vessels, for

they had

been stated

in Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the destruction: “And I shall turn My face from them, and they shall profane My hidden place

and lawless men shall enter it and profane it.”

,

and violators shall enter it and profane it”; once they breached them

[once they treated them in a licentious manner],

they became profane—

and nevertheless

he was uprooted from the world, as it is written:

“On that night Belshazzar was killed”

[on that night Belshazzar was killed]—

One who makes use of the crown of Torah, which

is not profaned, but

exists forever and ever, all the more so

that he is uprooted from the world.

And we raise an objection:

But Rabbi Tarfon, since when he was eating, “

most of the pruning hooks had been folded away”

was

[since at the time when he ate, most of the pruning hooks had already been folded away], and it is the way of people to declare their fruits ownerless, if so,

why did

that man

[why did the owner of the fruits distress him]!?

And we answer:

Because that

man

had his grapes stolen throughout the entire year

[that man had his grapes stolen all year].

And when he found Rabbi Tarfon

[and when he found Rabbi Tarfon eating from his grapes],

he thought

that man that Rabbi Tarfon

was the one who stole them

[he was the man who had been stealing them all year].

And we raise an objection to this:

If so—

that the owner was concerned about the theft throughout the entire year, but not about this particular occasion—

why did he distress himself

[why did Rabbi Tarfon distress himself over what he said]!?

For this works well if that man’s concern was only about this occasion; therefore Rabbi Tarfon distressed himself because he had not told that man that once most of the pruning hooks had been folded away, the fruits were ownerless.

And even if that man would not have listened to him, Rabbi Tarfon should have paid him for the small amount that he had eaten.

And since he had the possibility of saving himself in another way, rather than making use of the honor of Torah, he was therefore distressed.

But if he had come to kill him because of the theft of grapes throughout the entire year, Rabbi Tarfon had no other possibility of saving himself from him! Was he required to pay money that he was not obligated to pay!?

And we answer:

Because Rabbi Tarfon was extremely wealthy, and he should have appeased him

that man

with money,

even though he was not obligated to pay it, and should not have made use of the crown of Torah.

It was taught:

It is written: “

To love the”

Lord your God, to heed His voice and to cleave to Him.”

The verse teaches

that a person should not say:

I shall read

the Written Torah, in order

that they call me a sage.

I shall study

the Mishnayot, which are the Oral Torah, in order

that they call me Rabbi.

I shall sharpen my understanding of

Gemara, in order

that I become an elder sitting in the yeshiva.

Rather, study

Torah

out of love,

and in the end honor will come.

And as

it is stated in the Book of Proverbs [chapter 7]: “

My son, keep my sayings, and treasure my commandments with you.

Keep my commandments and live, and my Torah as the apple of your eye.

Bind them upon your fingers; write them upon the tablet of your heart.”

That is: Do not direct your study of Torah and performance of the mitzvot for your own enjoyment, but so that they will be familiar in your mouth.

And he says: “

My son, guard your father’s commandment and do not forsake your mother’s Torah.

Bind them upon your heart always; tie them around your throat.”

And

the end of honor will come, for he

says: “

Fortunate is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who obtains understanding. For her commerce is better than the commerce of silver, and her produce than gold. She is more precious than pearls, and all your desires cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand; in her left, wealth and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.”

And he says

[in the adjacent verse]: “

She is a tree of life to those who hold fast to her.

And those who support her—

are happy.”

From what is stated, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness,” and it is stated, “Those who support her are happy,” we learn that in the end honor will come.

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Tzadok says:

Perform deeds,

the mitzvot of the Lord,

for the sake of their Maker,

for the sake of the Holy One, blessed is He, who made them and commanded them.

And speak of them,

study them—

for their sake.

Let all your speech and dealings be with words of Torah for the sake of the Torah, such as to know and understand, and to add learning and dialectic, and not in order to contradict or become arrogant.

Do not make them

the words of Torah

a crown with which to become great,

so that you do not study in order to become wealthy and become great.

And do not make them a spade, to dig with it.

Do not study so that the study will be the tool of your work by which you support yourself.

a crown with which to glorify yourself,

so that you will not study in order to become wealthy or honored.

And do not make them an axe with which to do work.

And a kal va-chomer: Just as Belshazzar, who made use only of sacred vessels that had become profane vessels, was uprooted from the world—

one who makes use of the crown of Torah, all the more so. Rava said: It is permitted for a person to make himself known in a place where they do not know him.

one who makes use of the crown of Torah, all the more so.

Rava said: It is permitted for a person to identify himself in a place where they do not know him.

It is permitted for a person to make himself known before people as a Torah scholar, in a place where they do not know him.

As it is stated: “

And Obadiah was on the way [who was over the house of Ahab], and behold, Elijah was coming toward him. And he recognized him, and he fell upon his face, and he said: Are you this, my lord Elijah? And he said to him: I am. Go, say to your master: Behold, Elijah! And he said: What have I sinned, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me? And it shall be, when I go from you, that the spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place that I do not know, and I will come to tell Ahab, and he will not find you, and he will kill me.”

And your servant has feared the Lord

from my youth.”

It is possible that Elijah did not recognize him.

And we raise an objection against Rava:

But this is difficult from the statement of Rabbi Tarfon,

for what reason was he distressed that he had made known to that man that he was Rabbi Tarfon, for that man did not recognize him!?

And we answer:

Because

Rabbi Tarfon

was very wealthy, and he should have appeased him with money.

He should have appeased him with money, and not made use of the honor of Torah.

Rava raised a contradiction [

he raised a contradiction between the verses]:

It is written: “

And your servant has feared the Lord

from my youth,”

which shows that it is permitted to make oneself known.

But

on the other hand,

it is written: “

Let a stranger praise you, and not your mouth”!

And we answer:

This—the verse “Let a stranger praise you, and not your mouth”—

is stated

in a place where they know him.

In a place where they know him.

This—

the verse “And your servant has feared the Lord from my youth”

is in a place where they do not know him,

in a place where they do not know him.

Rava said: It is permitted for a Torah scholar to say,

it is permitted for a Torah scholar to say to the court:

I am a Torah scholar!

And therefore,

Give precedence to my case first [

I am a Torah scholar, and give precedence to my case first].

That is to say, judge my case before the cases of the other people.

For it is written: “

And David’s sons were kohanim.”

But were

David’s sons

kohanim!?

Rather, the verse teaches that David’s sons were sages, and therefore their law is like that of kohanim:

Just as a koen takes precedence, so too a Torah scholar takes precedence.

And we explain:

And as for a koen, from where do we know

that he takes precedence?

For it is written,

with regard to honoring kohanim, “

And you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God.”

And the tanna of the school of Rabbi Ishmael: “

And you shall sanctify him”—

you must sanctify the koen and give him precedence

in every matter of holiness,

in every matter that appears great and holy.

That is to say: