Pesachim 50a (נ.) — the Talmud in English

And Rabbi Yehuda holds:

the measure of

returning it

to its place, in order to burn it, was based on

on

the measure of

its prohibition.

What is its prohibition [

the prohibition against eating the leaven and the consecrated item that became invalid by being taken outside its designated area]

is an olive-bulk—

so too, returning it

to its place in order to burn it, the Sages required him

an olive-bulk.

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Natan says: Both this and that [

leaven and consecrated food] are not returned in order to burn them unless they contain

the measure of two eggs.

And the Sages did not concede to him.

Since our Mishna deals with an item taken outside the walls of Jerusalem, we expound the following passage, which at its conclusion deals with the boundaries of Jerusalem.

It is written:

“And it shall be on that day: There shall be no precious light and congealing.”

And we raise a difficulty:

What is meant by “precious light and congealing”?

Rabbi Elazar said: This is the light

of the sun in its full strength,

which

is

precious

and esteemed

in this world, but

will be

“floating”

in the World-to-Come! “

Floating” is an expression for something light, and is the translation of “floats,” since every light object floats on the surface of the water.

The meaning of the verse is that in the future a great light will shine, compared to which the present light of the sun will be light and insignificant.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: These

are the laws of

nega’im and ohalot,

which are precious in this world but floating in the World-to-Come.

In this world they are stringent and difficult laws. But in the World-to-Come they will be easy and straightforward for everyone, because at that time “the earth shall be filled with knowledge” [and see the Maharsha].

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: These are wealthy people

who are not favorable before the Omnipresent,

who are precious

and esteemed

in this world but floating,

light and insignificant,

in the World-to-Come.

As in the case of Rav Yosef, son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who became ill and his soul departed [

he became ill and died; his spirit ascended above].

When it returned [

when his spirit returned to him],

his father said to him: What did you see

there, in the upper world?

He said to him,

Rav Yosef:

I saw an inverted world.

People who are

uppermost

and important in this world are found

below

in the upper world,

while

those who are

lowly

and insignificant here are found there

above.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi:

My son, you saw a clear world!

Those who are above there are the truly important ones.

They asked further:

And we,

who are Torah scholars,

how

are we found

there?

He said to him:

Just as we are here—

so are we there!

Just as we are important and honored in this world, so are we in the upper world.

He related further:

And I heard them saying

there:

Fortunate is one who comes here with his learning in his hand!

And

I further

heard them saying: No one can stand in the partition of those executed by the kingdom.

And we raise a difficulty:

And who are “

those executed by the kingdom”?

If you say Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues [

the Ten Martyrs], is all their greatness merely

because they were executed by the kingdom,

and

nothing more?

And we answer: Rather, this was said about

those executed in Lod.

The incident occurred as follows:

Once the king’s daughter was found murdered, and it was said that the Jews had killed her. Two brothers [Lulinus and Papus] admitted to her murder and gave themselves over to execution. In this way they saved all Israel.

And it is written at the end of that passage:

“On that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holy to the Lord.”

And we raise a difficulty:

What is meant by

“the bells of the horse”?

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will add to

the area of

Jerusalem

and enlarge it,

until

the distance

that a horse runs and casts [

casts its shadow] beneath it.

That is, the distance a horse runs from morning until midday.

For until midday the sun is in the east, and the horse’s shadow falls toward the west. After midday, when the sun is in the west, the shadow falls toward the east. But at midday the sun is in the middle of the sky, and the horse’s shadow falls beneath it.

Rabbi Elazar said:

This is the meaning of this verse:

All the bells [

cymbals, an ornament]

that are suspended between the horse’s eyes shall be holy to the Lord,

as the Jews will donate them to the Temple offering.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All

the

spoils that

the

Jews will plunder

from the gentiles in a single day,

until the time when the horse runs and casts [

that is, from morning until midday, when the horse casts its shadow beneath it],

shall be

donated by the Jews

as holy to the Lord.

And we raise a difficulty:

Granted, according to the one who says

that the meaning of the verse is

“All the spoils that the Jews plunder

shall be holy to the Lord,” the following is well explained:

This is why it is written

after it:

“And the pots in the House of the Lord shall be like the basins before the altar.”

Because of the great quantity of gold and silver that will be in the Temple as a result of the abundant spoils dedicated to the Lord, all the pots in the Temple will be made of silver and gold, like the basins of the altar.

But according to the one who says

that “the bells of the horse” refers to

those two

matters—enlarging the boundaries of Jerusalem or consecrating the bells of the horse—

what

is the meaning of “And the pots in the House of the Lord”?

After all, there are not enough horse ornaments to make all the Temple pots from silver and gold.

And we answer: This verse is

a separate matter,

and does not refer to the preceding verse.

It is a different statement,

saying that the Jews will become wealthy [

that they will grow rich]

and will donate and bring

much for the Temple offering. As a result of the abundance of donations, all the Temple pots will be made of silver and gold.

We raise another difficulty:

Granted, according to the one who says

that “the bells of the horse” means

the spoils

that the Jews will plunder in one day until midday and dedicate to the Lord, the following is well explained:

This is why it is written

after it:

“And there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the House of the Lord of Hosts

on that day.”

Because of the great wealth that will be in the Temple, the treasurers will no longer need to engage in commerce with consecrated property.

But according to the one who interprets “the bells of the horse”

as referring to

those two

other matters,

what

is the meaning of “And there shall no longer be a Canaanite”?

Rabbi Yirmeya said:

It is a statement in its own right: There will be no poor people there. “There shall no longer be a Canaanite” is an acronym for

“There is no poor person here.”

And according to the way we initially interpreted “There shall no longer be a Canaanite,” namely, that the treasurers will no longer need to engage in commerce with consecrated property, it follows that “Canaanite” means a merchant.

And we raise a difficulty:

And from where do we know

that “Canaanite”

is called in Scripture

a merchant [

a trader]? And we answer:

As it is written:

“And Judah saw there the daughter of a Canaanite man

named Shua, and he took her and came to her.” And the verse proceeds to explain:

What

is meant by “Canaanite”?

If you say it means an actual Canaanite,

that cannot be said. For

is it possible that Abraham came and warned

Eliezer not to take

for Isaac

a wife from the daughters of Canaan,

and Isaac came and warned Jacob

about this,

yet Judah went and married

a Canaanite woman?!

Rather, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: She was the daughter of a merchant.

And “Canaanite” means a merchant,

as it is written: “Canaan has deceitful scales in his hand.” And if you wish, say: From here

we learn that “Canaanite” means a merchant, as it is written:

“Whose merchants are princes, whose Canaanites are the honored of the land.”

It is written there:

“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord shall be One and His Name One.”

And we wonder:

Is that to say that nowadays [

now],

He is not One? Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina said: The World-to-Come is not like this world.

This

World-to-Come.

This world

contains good tidings and bad tidings.

For good tidings, a person says

:

“Blessed is He who is good and does good!” And for bad tidings

he

says: “Blessed is the Judge of truth!”

But

in the World-to-Come,

there will be no bad tidings at all, and

it will all be “He who is good and does good!”

This is the meaning of what is written: “On that day the Lord shall be One.”

We raise another difficulty concerning what is written:

“And His Name One”—

is it so that

nowadays His Name is not One?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: The World-to-Come is not like this world.

This

World-to-Come.

In this world,

the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He,

is written with

the letters

yod-he, and is read with

the letters

alef-dalet.

But in the World-to-Come,

the Name will be

entirely One,

and there will be no difference between its pronunciation and its written form. Rather, it will be

written with yod-he and read with yod-he. Rav thought [

wanted]

to expound it

by its explicit Name of yod-he

in a public lecture [

on Shabbat, when he would lecture before the public], and to explain the teachings and reasons associated with this Name.

A certain elder said to him:

It is not proper to expound it publicly, for “This is My Name

forever”

is written

without a vav, an expression of concealment. It follows that it must be concealed and not publicized.

Rav Avina raised a contradiction: “This is My Name forever” is written,

which indicates concealment.

But elsewhere it is written:

“This is My remembrance for every generation,”

which indicates that it should be mentioned and not concealed. These two verses contradict one another.

Rather, this is the meaning:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said

to Moses and taught him a Name for writing and a Name for reading:

Not according to the

form

in which I am written am I read.

I am written with yod-he.

This Name is to remain concealed.

And I am read with alef-dalet.

This Name of Mine is to be mentioned and read.

We shall return to you, chapter “These Pass Over.”

Mishna:

The prohibition against performing labor on the eve of Pesach before midday is not a matter of law. Rather, it is a custom, so that people will not be preoccupied with their work and forget to remove the leaven, slaughter the Pesach offering, and prepare the matzot,

for it is a mitzva to exert oneself during the day in all the preparations for the night, so that one may recline immediately when night falls, in order that the children should not fall asleep.

This custom is binding only in a place where it was adopted.

1.

In a place where they were accustomed to perform

labor

on the eves of Pesach until midday,

they may do so.

But

in a place where they were accustomed not to perform

labor then,

they may not do so.

2.

One who travels from a place where they perform

labor before midday

to a place where they do not perform

labor,

or one who travels from a place where they do not perform

labor

to a place where they do perform,

in either case, he may not perform labor there.

For

they impose upon him

both the

stringencies

of the

place from which he departed, and

both the

stringencies

of the

place to which he traveled.