Pesachim 57a — the Talmud in English

And we raise it as an issue:

shall we say that there were three tannaim

concerning this matter? The first tanna according to Rabbi Yosei holds that one gives turnip and cabbage. And the first tanna according to Rabbi Shimon holds that one gives turnip and leek. And Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Shimon hold that one gives all three.

And we reject this:

No.

Rather,

there were only two tannaim

.

And the first tanna according to Rabbi Shimon

who says, “One gives turnip and leek,”

is Rabbi Yosei.

For Rabbi Yosei, too, obligated only with regard to these two, and not with regard to cabbage.

And the first tanna according to Rabbi Yosei

who says, “One gives turnip and cabbage,”

is Rabbi Shimon.

For Rabbi Shimon, too, obligated only with regard to these two, and not with regard to leek.

And what

“also”

did Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yosei say [which implies that they agreed with the words of their first tanna, and came only to add to them]?

They did not agree with all the words of the first tanna, but only

with the first.

That is, with the first species that he mentioned. For with regard to what the first tanna said, that one gives turnip and cabbage, Rabbi Yosei agreed with him only concerning turnip, and added leek as well.

And likewise, with regard to what the first tanna of the other beraita said, “One gives turnip and leek,” Rabbi Shimon agreed with him only concerning turnip, and added cabbage.

It follows that there are two positions concerning the matter:

The first position is that one gives turnip and cabbage. And the second position is that one gives turnip and leek. But there is no one who says that one gives all three.

The Sages taught: Ben Buḥyan gave the peah of vegetables. And his father came and found poor people carrying vegetables and standing at the entrance of the garden.

He said to them: My sons, throw off

the vegetables that you took,

and I will give you double that amount of tithed vegetables

as required by law.

And it is not because my eye is begrudging

what you took that I am telling you to throw it away.

Rather, because the Sages said: One does not give peah for vegetables!

And it is forbidden to give peah from it, because peah is exempt from the tithe. As it is written concerning the tithe: “And the Levite shall come, because he has no portion or inheritance with you.” And we expound: With regard to something concerning which he has no portion or inheritance with you, you are obligated to tithe. Peah is excluded, since the poor Levite has a portion and inheritance with you in it. For it is ownerless property for the poor.

Therefore, when he gives peah from vegetables, although it is not obligated [in peah], it is obligated in the tithe, since it does not have the legal status of peah by Torah law. And when the poor eat from it without tithing it, as though it were peah, it follows that they are eating untithed produce.

And we wonder:

Why did

Ben Buḥyan

need to say to them

the poor

“It is not because my eye is begrudging”?

But he had promised them double the amount from tithed produce. It is obvious that it was not out of begrudgingness that he told them to return the peah.

And we answer: He said this to them

so that they would not say

to themselves

“He is merely putting us off!”

And in truth, in the end he will give us nothing. For if he wishes to give, why did he ask us to return what we took? Therefore, he needed to explain to them his reason for the matter.

The Sages taught:

The skins of burnt offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, and all communal offerings were divided among the priests.

At first they would place

the

skins of the sacred offerings

[of the most sacred offerings]

in the Chamber of the House of Parvah

in the Temple courtyard.

And in the evening they would divide them among the men of the paternal house

who had served that day. For each division served in turn was divided into six paternal houses. And each paternal house served on a different day. And each paternal house would take the skins of that day, whether they were many or whether they were few.

And the men of power

[powerful priests]

would take them by

the force

of the arm.

Therefore

they instituted that they should divide them from one Sabbath eve to the next Sabbath eve.

For all the divisions would come and take them together!

The skins that had accumulated throughout the week would be divided equally among all the priests of the division. And since all the members of the division were present at the time of the distribution, the men of power could no longer take them by force. Rather, they were divided equally.

And still the prominent members of the priesthood

[the officers among them]

would take them by force.

And because of this

all the priests of the divisions who were

the

owners

of the skins

arose and consecrated them to Heaven.

So that their colleagues would not be able to take them by force.

And as a result, the money of the sacred treasury increased.

And they said: There were not

[there did not pass]

many days before they plated the entire Sanctuary with tablets of gold, which were

the size of

a cubit by a cubit, and as thick as a gold dinar.

And at

the time of the Festival pilgrimage,

they would fold them

[the tablets]

and place them on the back of

the

elevation on the Temple Mount

[there was an open area outside the courtyard, and in it were six steps].

So that the pilgrims would see

how

beautiful their craftsmanship was, and that it had no blemish

[defect].

A tanna taught: Abba Shaul says: There were beams

[tree trunks attached to the ground]

of sycamore trees in Jericho. And the men of power would take them by force

from their owners.

The owners arose

and

consecrated them to Heaven,

in order to forbid them to the men of power.

Concerning them

[the powerful priests]

and those like them, Abba Shaul ben Batanit said in the name of Abba Yosef ben Ḥanin:

Woe is me because of the House of Boethus

[he was a high priest, and his name was Boethus].

Woe is me because of their clubs

[their staffs], for their servants were violent, and they would strike the people with clubs.

Woe is me because of the House of Ḥanin,

the high priest,

woe is me because of their whispering.

For they would whisper and give evil counsel.

Woe is me because of the House of Kathros,

the high priest,

woe is me because of their pens.

For they would write letters for evil.

Woe is me because of the House of Ishmael ben Phiabi,

the high priest,

woe is me because of their fists.

For

all of these

were high priests, and their sons were treasurers, and their sons-in-law were administrators

[officials of the sacred treasury. It is an acronym for “he says all,” for according to his word all the needs of the sacred treasury were determined].

And their servants

would

strike the people with clubs.

The Sages taught: The Temple courtyard uttered four cries.

The

first cry

was:

“Go out from here, sons of Eli, who have defiled the Sanctuary of the Lord!”

As it is written: “And Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons would do, and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.”

And the courtyard uttered another cry,

the second cry:

“Go out from here, Issachar of the village of Barkai, who honors himself and profanes the sacred offerings of Heaven!”

And we explain:

This

priest

would wrap his hand in silk

[he wrapped his hand in a garment]

and perform the Temple service!

And this service is invalid, because an interposition disqualifies with regard to sacred offerings, as it is written: “And the priest shall take.” And we require that he take it with his hand, without an interposition. And he was also thereby disgracing the service.

And another

third cry

the courtyard cried: “Lift up your heads, O gates, and let Ishmael ben Phiakhi enter, the disciple of Phinehas, and serve as high priest!”

For he himself was fit. And that which it said above, “Woe is me because of the House of Ishmael ben Phiakhi,” was because the members of his household were men of power.

And another

fourth cry

the courtyard cried: “Lift up your heads, O gates, and let Yoḥanan ben Narbai enter

the high priest,

the disciple of Pankai, and let him fill his belly from the sacred offerings of Heaven!”

They said about Yoḥanan ben Narbai that he would eat three hundred calves, drink three hundred jugs of wine, and eat forty seah of fledglings as a dessert at the end of the meal!

That is, he maintained many priests in his household, and their meals required such a great quantity of food.

They said: Throughout all the days of Yoḥanan ben Narbai, no notar was found in the Temple,

for he would eat the meat of the sacred offerings completely.

And we raise the issue:

What became of

the end of

Issachar of the village of Barkai?

They said: A king and a queen

of the Hasmonean house

were sitting. The king said:

The meat of a

kid is better

[better] as food than the meat of a lamb!

And the queen said: The meat of a

The meat of a

lamb

[a lamb]

is better

than that of a kid!

They said: Who can prove

[who can bring proof] this matter? —

The high priest who raises

[brings up]

offerings every day

will decide the matter!

He came

[Issachar of the village of Barkai, the high priest] before them.