Pesachim 50b — the Talmud in English

3.

And

even though he came from a place where they perform work there, and was never obligated by this custom, nevertheless,

a person must not deviate

from the custom of the place in which he is presently located,

because of dispute.

Similarly,

one must act likewise regarding the law of removing seventh-year produce.

It is forbidden to retain seventh-year produce in the house after the produce of that species has been exhausted from the field. Rather, one must remove it from the house and declare it ownerless.

For it is written: “And for your animal and for the beast that is in your land, all its produce shall be to eat.” And we expound: As long as the beast eats from the field, feed the animal in the house. But if it is finished for the beast in the field, it is also finished for your animal in the house.

The time of the produce’s being exhausted from the field varies from place to place. It follows that the produce of each and every place has its own particular time of removal.

Therefore,

one who transports seventh-year produce from a place where

already

it has been exhausted

there from the field [and has already become obligated in removal],

to a place where

it has

not yet been exhausted.

Or

one who transported produce

from a place where

it has

not yet been exhausted

from the field,

to a place where

already

it has been exhausted.

In every case he

is obligated to remove it,

because they impose upon him the stringencies of the place from which it came, and also the stringencies of the place to which it went.

If the produce was exhausted from the field in the place from which the produce came, by the fundamental law it had already become obligated in removal.

And even if it was not exhausted there, but was exhausted only in the place where the produce is presently located, he must remove it, so as not to deviate from the custom of this place, because of dispute.

Rabbi Judah says: Go out and bring for yourself—you too!

And this will be explained in the Gemara.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: A place where they practiced not doing work on the eves of Pesach until midday, they do not do so.

Since it teaches “until midday,” it implies that after midday on the eve of Pesach it is forbidden by law to perform work, and does not depend on custom.

And we raise a difficulty:

What is the reason

that the tannai chose to teach us this law

on the eves of Pesach

specifically?

But

even

on

the eves of Shabbat and the eves of festivals, also

one does not perform work on them.

For it was indeed taught: One who performs work on the eves of Shabbat and the eves of festivals from the afternoon offering and onward never sees a sign of blessing!?

And we answer:

There

on the eves of Shabbat and festivals,

it is from the afternoon offering and onward that it is forbidden

to perform it—that is, from the time of the later afternoon offering, which is nine and a half hours of the day.

But

here,

on the eves of Pesach, work is forbidden

from midday

of the day onward—that is, from six hours onward.

Alternatively,

there,

on the eves of Shabbat and festivals, there is no absolute prohibition against performing work; rather,

it is that he does not see a sign of blessing.

But

if he performed work then,

we do not excommunicate him [

we do not ostracize him for this].

But

here,

on the eves of Pesach, its prohibition is a matter of law. And if he performed work then,

we also excommunicate him.

The matter itself: One who performs work on the eves of Shabbat and the eves of festivals from the afternoon offering and onward.

And

one who performs work

on the conclusion of Shabbat, on the conclusion of a festival, and on the conclusion of Yom Kippur.

And

one who performs work

in every place where there is

a “trace [

hint]

of transgression,” including a public fast

at the time of a public fast because of the withholding of rain.

In all these cases—

he never sees a sign of blessing.

The Sages taught: There is

a craftsman who is

diligent

in his work,

and profits

from it.

And there is

one who is

diligent, and loses

as a result of his diligence.

There is

one who is

idle [

inactive] from work,

and profits

from it.

And there is

one who is

idle, and loses

because of his idleness.

Diligent and profiting—

this is a person

who works

work

the entire week [

all the week],

and does not work on the eve of Shabbat [

on the eve of Shabbat].

Diligent and losing—

this is a person

who works

work

the entire week, and also works

also

on the eve of Shabbat.

Because of his excessive diligence he loses, and never sees a sign of blessing.

There is one who is idle and profiting—

this is one

who does not work

work

the entire week, and

even

does not work on the eve of Shabbat.

For although he does not perform work on the eves of Shabbat only because of laziness, and not because of the mitzva [for he does not work during the entire week either], nevertheless, he receives reward for this.

And as we say below: “A person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot even when not for their own sake. For through not for their own sake, he comes to for their own sake.”

And there is one who is idle and losing—

this is one

who does not work

work

the entire week, and works on the eve of Shabbat,

which is a time that causes loss.

Rava said: These women of Mehoza,

the women who live in the city called Mehoza [Rava’s city], who do not perform work on the eve of Shabbat,

even though

the reason

that they do not do work on the eve of Shabbat is because of pampering [

indulgence],

it is,

and not because of the mitzva involved in the matter.

And the proof is:

for indeed they do not work every day either

work.

Even so,

they nevertheless receive reward for this. And

we call them “idle and profiting.”

Rava juxtaposed

the contradiction of the verses with one another:

It is written

“For Your kindness is great up to the heavens.”

For it implies: up to the heavens, and no further.

And it is written

“For Your kindness is great above the heavens.”

For it implies even more than the heavens.

How is this possible?

Rather,

here it is concerning those who perform

a mitzva

for its own sake,

whose reward is great even above the heavens.

And here it is concerning those who perform

a mitzva

not for its own sake.

For their reward is only up to the heavens, and no further.

However, they have reward, for in the end they performed a mitzva,

and in accordance with what Rav Judah said in the name of Rav.

For Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: A person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot, even though

he is doing

not

for their own sake.

For through

engaging in them

not for their own sake,

he

comes

to perform them

for their own sake.

The Sages taught: One who expects to

be supported by

his wife’s earnings, and

one who expects to profit from

millstones—

never sees a sign of blessing!

And it proceeds to explain.

With his wife’s earnings

he does not see a sign of blessing—that is with a

weighing scale [

scales], since she takes a scale in her hand and walks in the marketplace to rent it to all who need it, her earnings being little. And thus his wife is disgraced for little earnings.

And that which concerns

a millstone

and he does not see a sign of blessing—that is

with rental [

for hire]. For if he buys millstones in order to rent them out, his trouble is great and his earnings are little. But one who buys millstones in order to sell them again—this is like other commerce and merchandise.

But

a woman who

works and sells [

sells] the products of her hands—

the verse praises her greatly.

As it is written

in the description of the woman of valor:

“She makes sheets and sells them.”

The Sages taught: One who profits from

the making of

reeds [

thin sticks for making fences and partitions]

and jugs never sees a sign of blessing.

And we inquire concerning it:

What is the reason?

And we answer:

Since their bulk is great [

their volume is large],

the eye rules over them [

the evil eye].

The Sages taught: Street merchants,

who sell their merchandise in the marketplace, and the eye rules over them;

and raisers of small livestock [

for everyone cries out against them];

and cutters of good trees [

for everyone wonders at them and slanders them];

and

people who, when dividing with others,

give

always

their eyes to the choice portion

and insist on taking it for themselves—

each one of them

never sees a sign of blessing!

What is the reason?

Because

people wonder [

are astonished]

at him, and slander them. And through this the evil eye rules over them.

them. And as a result, the evil eye rules over them.

The Sages taught: Four small coins never have a sign of blessing.

And these are they:

1.

The earnings of writers [

scribes].

2.

The earnings of translators,

who stand before the Sage on Shabbat and make his sermon heard to the public.

3.

And the earnings of orphans.

One who takes the money of orphans to conduct business with it, in order to divide the profit with them, half and half.

4.

And money that comes from overseas.

A person who continually sends his ships for trade to a place of danger.

And we inquire concerning it:

Granted, the earnings of translators

have no blessing,

because the translator appears

the translator

as

taking

payment

for work

on Shabbat.

And likewise the money of

orphans also,

the reason is that orphans

are not capable of waiving their rights.

And if he diminishes their share of the profit, it is theft in his hand.

And likewise

money that comes from overseas

has no sign of blessing,

because a miracle does not occur every day.

And since he continually endangers his property, in the end he comes to loss.

Rather, the earnings of writers—

what is the reason

that they have no sign of blessing?

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

The reason for the matter is because of

the twenty-four fasts that the men of the Great Assembly held concerning the writers of Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot,

in order

that they should not become wealthy.

For had

they

become wealthy,

they would abandon their work

and would not write.

The Sages taught: The writers of Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot—

they, and their merchants [

the merchants who sell them],

and the merchants of their merchants [

those who buy them from the merchants and sell them to others],

and

also

all who engage in the work of Heaven—

including sellers of tekhelet

for ritual fringes—

do not see

in their money

a sign of blessing ever.

So that they should not become wealthy and abandon their work.

And if

they

engage

in this

for its own sake,

so that the mitzva will be available to all who need it—

they see

a sign of blessing! Since they engage in the mitzva for its own sake, there is no concern that they will abandon it because of their wealth.

The sons of Beishan

were

accustomed not to go from Tyre to Sidon on the eve of Shabbat [

on the eve of Shabbat]. And although the eve of Shabbat was market day in Sidon, they were stringent with themselves not to go there, so as not to neglect preparation of the needs of Shabbat.

Their sons came [

their descendants]

before Rabbi Yohanan, and said to him: Our fathers

[our ancestors] accepted this stringency upon themselves because

it was possible for them

to refrain from the marketplace, since they were wealthy.

But

we, for whom it is not possible

to forgo the market of the eve of Shabbat in Sidon—

what

is our law regarding this custom of our fathers? Are we obligated to uphold it, or not?

He said to them, Rabbi Yohanan: It is forbidden for you to deviate from a custom, since

your fathers already accepted

it

upon themselves.

As it is stated: “Hear, my son, the discipline of your father, and do not abandon the teaching of your mother.”

The sons of Huzai practiced that

they

would separate hallah from rice [

rice].

They came and said to Rav Joseph

this matter.

He said to them: Let a non-priest eat it in their presence!

Let a non-priest [who is forbidden to hallah] eat in their presence that hallah which they separated from the rice. For it has no status of hallah at all, since the obligation of hallah applies only to the five species of grain, and rice is not of the species of grain.

Abaye raised an objection to him

from what was taught:

Things that are permitted, and others practiced a prohibition with regard to them—