Sanhedrin 113a — the Talmud in English

And we raise a difficulty:

but

still,

let us resolve it [that is, let us redeem it],

as we learned:

An item purchased with second tithe money that became impure—

it shall be redeemed!

And we say: The

b

eraita is in accordance with the

opinion of Rabbi Yehuda.

It is,

as he says

that an item purchased with second tithe money that became impure—

is buried.

The Gemara now challenges the substance of this answer, which said that the case concerns second tithe produce that became impure:

If so,

if the case concerns second tithe produce that became impure,

why specifically

does the beraita need to state this law—that the items must be stored away—specifically in

an apostate city?

After all,

even

second tithe produce that became impure

in general,

in an ordinary city,

also

must be stored away!

Rather, actually

the case concerns

pure

second tithe produce,

and it is a case in which the walls fell, in accordance with the statement of Rava. For Rava said: A wall is required in order to eat—

by Torah law. In order to absorb—

by rabbinic law. And when the Sages decreed—

they decreed only when the wall is present. When the wall is not present—

they did not decree.

We learned in the beraita:

Sacred writings must be stored away.

The Mishna is not in accordance with Rabbi Eliezer.

As it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: Any city in which there is even a single mezuzah—

does not become an apostate city. As it is stated: “You shall burn the city and all its spoils with fire, completely.” And where there is a mezuzah—

it is impossible to burn

the city and everything in it, since the mezuzah would then also be burned, and it contains several written names of God. It is forbidden to do so,

as it is written: “

You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations served there and so on, and you shall obliterate their names from that place;

you shall not do so to the Lord your God.”

From this verse we derive that it is forbidden to destroy an object on which the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is written.

We learned in our Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, and so on [If you make an apostate city, I will regard you as though you had offered a burnt offering entirely before Me].

We learned in our Mishna:

Later in the Mishna, Rabbi Yosei the Galilean and Rabbi Akiva disagree about whether it is possible to make gardens and orchards in place of the apostate city.

Shall we say that they disagree about the statement of Rabbi Avin in the name of Rabbi Ilaa?

For Rabbi Avin said in the name of Rabbi Ilaa: Wherever you find a general rule stated as a positive commandment,

such as what is said concerning an apostate city, “It shall remain a desolate mound,” which is a general statement that the place of the city must remain desolate, with neither gardens nor orchards there, and this command is stated in the form of a positive commandment,

and a specific rule—

in

the form of

a prohibition, “It shall not be built again,” where the verse specifies in the form of a prohibition that one may not build houses there—

one does not interpret it by the method of “general rule and specific rule,”

which is one of the thirteen hermeneutical principles by which the Torah is interpreted. According to that method, the rule is: only what is stated in the specific rule is included in the general rule, because the specific rule explains the general rule. That is, what the verse says, “It shall remain a desolate mound,” means: “It shall not be built again”—one may not build houses there. But gardens and orchards would be permitted.

Rather, we say that the verse stated two separate matters here: “It shall remain a desolate mound”—that no gardens or orchards may be made there; “It shall not be built again”—no type of construction whatsoever, even gardens and orchards, may be made there again.

And we interpret the verse according to this principle: Any matter that was included in a general rule and then was singled out in order to teach something, was not singled out only to teach about itself; rather, it was singled out to teach about the entire general rule.

Here too, the prohibition against building houses was included in the general statement, “It shall remain a desolate mound.” Why, then, was it singled out—why did the verse write explicitly, “It shall not be built again”?

It was singled out in order to compare all building to the general prohibition of “It shall remain a desolate mound,” and to teach you: Just as the particular form of building mentioned is one that provides settlement for people, so too, every form of building, such as gardens and orchards, is prohibited. This is what I heard.

The one who says

that Rabbi Yosei the Galilean

holds in accordance with Rabbi Avin

[that he follows Rabbi Avin’s opinion],

and therefore it is forbidden to make even gardens and orchards there.

And the one who says

that Rabbi Akiva

does not hold in accordance with Rabbi Avin,

and therefore he maintains that it is permitted to make gardens and orchards there.

And we reject this:

No.

It is actually possible to say

that everyone holds in accordance with Rabbi Avin, and here they disagree about this:

One master,

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean,

holds:

The verse says, “It shall not be built

again.” The word

“again”

means completely,

indicating that it may not be built in the future for any purpose, even for gardens and orchards.

And the other master,

Rabbi Akiva,

holds

that “It shall not be built

again”

means

that which had not been built,

meaning that houses may not be built there again.

But it may be made into gardens and orchards.

The Sages taught: If there were

in the apostate city

detached trees—

they are forbidden.

But if there were trees that were

attached

—

to the ground—

they are permitted.

The reason is that it is stated: “You shall gather and burn,” indicating that the verse concerns something that requires nothing more than gathering and burning. Attached trees are excluded, since they also require uprooting from the ground.

Trees belonging to another city, whether detached or attached—

are forbidden.

What is meant by “another city”?

Rav Ḥisda said: The city of

Jericho.

As it is written: “The city shall be devoted to destruction, it and everything in it, to the Lord. And Joshua administered an oath at that time, saying: Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises and builds this city

and everything in it

for the Lord; with his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”

“It and everything in it” indicates that even the trees attached to the ground there are forbidden.

It was taught in a beraita: One may not build the city of

Jericho,

and name it after another city.

And

one may

not build

another city,

and name it

after Jericho.

This is so that the name “Jericho” will be erased from the world.

As it is written: “Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. With Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and with Segub, his youngest, he set up its gates.”

This means that Hiel built another city and named it Jericho, and thereby violated Joshua’s curse. This is the meaning of the expression “the Bethelite”: Hiel violated the curse.

by the name of Jericho.

It was taught in a beraita: Upon the death of

Abiram his firstborn,

who was wicked, Hiel did not have to learn that he should not continue building the city, because he could attribute Abiram’s death to Abiram’s wickedness, rather than to Joshua’s curse.

But

upon the death of

Segub his youngest—

he should have learned.

And we inquire about this:

What did Abiram and Segub do?

[What did they do?] Why does the tanna call them wicked?

And we explain: In truth, we do not know whether Abiram and Segub were wicked or not; that was not the subject of the tanna’s statement.

But

And

this is what

the tanna means:

From the death of Abiram his firstborn, he, that wicked man, should have learned,

meaning Hiel. He should have learned from the death of his firstborn, Abiram, that this punishment had come upon him because of Joshua’s curse.

It is written in the verse quoted above:

“With Segub his youngest.”

And this is difficult: From the implication of the statement, “With Abiram his firstborn,” do I not know that Segub— was the youngest

of Hiel’s sons?

What does the verse teach by saying, “Segub his youngest”?

It teaches that

Hiel

continued burying

[while building that city] all his sons,

from Abiram

his firstborn

until Segub,

—

Ahab—

was his close friend

[he was Hiel’s friend and beloved companion].

He and Elijah came

[they came, he and Elijah]

to inquire about the welfare of the house of mourning

[to ask about Hiel’s welfare, as he was mourning his sons].

his firstborn

Ahab sat

and

said: Perhaps when Joshua cursed, this is how he cursed:

[Perhaps when Joshua cursed, he said as follows:]

He shall not

build

Jericho in the name of another city

[even if he calls it by another name],

and he shall not

build another city—

in the name of Jericho?

Elijah said to him: Yes.

That is indeed so.

He said to him,

Ahab said to Elijah:

Now, even Moses’ curse is not being fulfilled,

[now even Moses’ curse is not being fulfilled],

for

it is written:

“You shall turn aside and serve

other gods

and so on,” and it is written

later:

“The anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will restrain the heavens and so on,”

for Moses cursed them that if they worship idolatry, there would be no rain.

And that man

[he was referring to himself]

set up idolatry on every furrow

[he made so many idols that he placed one on every furrow],

and

nevertheless so much rain fell that it ruined the roads, to the point that

it did not allow him to go and bow down before it

[because of the rain, he could not go to worship idolatry]!

“The anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens, etc.,”

But if Moses’ curse is not being fulfilled,

will Joshua’s curse, his student’s, be fulfilled?

[Will Joshua’s curse be fulfilled?]

Immediately: “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the residents of Gilead, said to Ahab: As the Lord, God of Israel, lives, there shall be neither dew nor rain during these years, and so on.”

[This verse follows directly after the verse concerning Hiel the Bethelite quoted above.]

He prayed for mercy

[Elijah requested mercy],

and they gave him the key to rain

[they gave him from Heaven the key to rain],

and he arose and went away [he got up from there and left].

will Joshua’s curse, his disciple’s, be fulfilled

It is written afterward:

“And the word of the Lord came to him

[to Elijah]

saying: Go from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith.”

And it is written later:

“And the ravens brought him

[to Elijah]

bread and meat in the morning, and so on.”

From where

[did the ravens bring it to him]? Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: From Ahab’s slaughterhouse

[from Ahab’s kitchen].

[to Elijah]

It is written later:

“And it happened after some time that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.”

When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw

[since He saw]

that there was suffering in the world

because no rain had fallen, He wanted Elijah to return the key to rain so that He could bring rain. He arranged matters so that Elijah would return it, as follows.

It is written: “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying: Arise, go to Zarephath

which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” And so it was, as is related there.

And it is written

later: “And it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill,

and his illness became very severe, until no breath remained in him.”

“And she said to Elijah: What do I have to do with you, man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to kill my son?”

Elijah requested

from Heaven

that they give him the key to the revival of the dead

[Elijah requested that they give him from Heaven the key to the revival of the dead], in order to revive the son of that widow.

They said to him

from Heaven: All the keys to the treasuries of the Holy One, blessed be He, were given into the hands of appointed agents. But

three keys—

were never given

to

an agent,

and these are they:

The key to childbirth

[the key held by a woman giving birth],

the key to rain, and the key to the revival of the dead.

And if We now give you the key to the revival of the dead as well, in addition to the key to rain that is already in your possession, people will wonder and

say: Two

[two keys]

—

only

one is in the hand of the teacher!?

Bring this one

—

and take this one

[Bring the key to rain, and We will give you the key to the revival of the dead].

And from where do we know that this is what happened?

As it is written,

as the Holy One, blessed be He, later said to Elijah:

“Go, appear before Ahab, and I will give rain.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, did not say to him, “Give rain,” but rather, “I will give rain.” This shows that the Holy One, blessed be He, took the key to rain from him and gave rain.

A certain Galilean taught before Rav Ḥisda: To what may Elijah’s parable be compared?

To a man who slammed his gate shut and lost its key.

[To a man who slammed and locked his gate and lost the key to the gate.] So too, Elijah locked the gates of rain and ultimately lost the key to rain, so that the gate would not be opened through him.

[bring the key to rain, and We will give you the key to the revival of the dead].

And from where do we know that this is what happened?

As it is written,

as the Holy One, blessed be He, subsequently said to Elijah:

“Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, did not say to him, “and give rain,” but rather, “and I will give rain.” It follows that the Holy One, blessed be He, took the key to rain from his hand and gave rain.

A certain Galilean expounded before Rav Hisda: The incident involving Elijah—to what may it be compared?

To a man who locked his door and lost his key

[to a man who slammed and locked his gate and lost the key to the gate]. So too, Elijah locked the gates of rain and ultimately lost the key to rain, so that the gate would not be opened through him.