Shabbat 127b — the Talmud in English

And we answer: Rabbi Yohanan came to explain our Mishna, that all

these

six matters,

also—

belong

among these three matters that were taught in the Mishna,

belong

within their category.

Hosting guests and visiting the sick are included in “acts of kindness.”

And consideration in prayer is also included in this, because he “performs kindness” for himself, as it is written: “He who performs kindness for his soul is a man of kindness.”

Rising early for the study hall, and raising one’s sons for Torah study, are included in “Torah study.”

And judging one’s fellow favorably is included in “bringing peace,” because when he judges him favorably and says that he did not sin against him, there is peace between them.

The Sages taught: One who judges his fellow favorably, they judge him

in Heaven

to

a side of

merit.

And there was an incident involving a certain man

who came down from Upper Galilee and was hired

to work

by a certain householder

who was

in the South,

for

three years.

On the eve of Yom Kippur [

some versions read:

the eve of the Festival]

he said to him: Give me my wages, and I will go and provide food for my wife and children.

He said to him: I have no money.

He said to him: Give me produce

for my wages.

He said to him: I have none.

He said to him:

Give me land.

He said to him:

I have none.

He said to him:

Give me an animal.

He said to him:

I have none.

He said to him:

Give me pillows and bedding.

He said to him:

I have none.

What did that hired worker do?

He slung his belongings behind him and went home in deep distress,

in great anguish.

After the Festival, the householder took his wages in his hand, and

he took

with him

also

a load of three donkeys

that were laden,

one with food, one with drink, and one with delicacies, and he went to his home

of the hired worker.

After they had eaten and drunk, he gave him his wages.

He said to him,

the householder asked the hired worker:

When you said to me, ‘Give me my wages,’ and I said

to

you, ‘I have no money,’—

what did you suspect me of?

He replied:

I said: Perhaps merchandise

goods

came your way cheaply, and you bought

it for yourself

with

the money that

was

there, and therefore you had no money in your possession to pay my wages.

He asked him further:

And when you said to me, ‘Give me an animal,’ and I said

to

you, ‘I have no animal,’ what did you suspect me of?

He replied:

I said: Perhaps it is rented

out

to others.

He asked him further:

When you said to me, ‘Give me land,’ and I said to you, ‘I have no land,’ what did you suspect me of?

He replied:

I said: Perhaps

the land is leased

to others

[that you gave it to another person to work it, so that he would produce for you a certain amount of kor each year].

He asked:

And when I said to you, ‘I have no produce,’ what did you suspect me of?

He replied:

I said: Perhaps

the produce

has not been tithed.

He asked him:

And when I said to you, ‘I have no pillows and bedding,’ what did you suspect me of?

He replied to him: I said:

Perhaps you consecrated

all your

property to Heaven.

He said to him,

the householder:

By the Divine service [

an expression of an oath],

thus

indeed

was

the matter:

I prohibited all my property to myself for the sake of my son Hyrcanus,

because

he did not engage in Torah. And when I came to my colleagues

who were

in the South, they released all my vows.

And you, just as you judged me to

a side of

merit—

so

may the Omnipresent judge you favorably.

The Sages taught: An incident involving a certain pious man

who redeemed

from captivity

one girl,

a young woman,

a daughter of Israel.

And

when they arrived

at an inn, he lay her down beneath his feet.

The next day, he descended and immersed, and he taught his students.

And he said,

and asked

them: When I laid her beneath my feet—

what did you suspect me of?

They replied to him:

We said: Perhaps among us there is a student who has not been examined by the master,

who does not know him in his character traits, so that it would be possible to rely on him not to sin; therefore you guarded her at your feet.

And he asked them further:

When I descended and immersed, what did you suspect me of?

They replied to him:

We said: Perhaps, because of the exertion of the journey, the master experienced a seminal emission.

He said to them: By the Divine service

an expression of an oath,

thus

indeed

it was.

And you, just as you judged me favorably—

so may the Omnipresent judge you favorably.

The Sages taught: Once it was necessary

to request

one matter for Torah scholars from a certain matron

a gentile,

at whose home all the great men of Rome

were

frequently found.

They said: Who will go

to request it from her?

Rabbi Joshua said to them: I will go.

Rabbi Joshua went with his students.

When he reached the entrance to her house, he removed his tefillin at a distance of four cubits,

and entered,

and locked

the

door in their presence.

After he left, he descended and immersed, and he taught his students.

And he said

and asked

them: When I removed my tefillin, what did you suspect me of?

They replied to him:

We said: The master thinks that words of holiness should not enter a place of impurity.

He asked them further:

When I locked

the door,

what did you suspect me of?

They replied to him:

We said: Perhaps a matter of the government

that needed to be concealed

was between him and her.

He asked them further:

When I descended and immersed, what did you suspect me of?

They replied to him:

We said: Perhaps a stream of saliva

spittle,

splashed from her mouth onto the master’s garments,

and the Sages decreed that gentiles impart impurity like those with gonorrhea.

He said to them:

By the Divine service.

Thus it was. And you,

just as you judged me

to

a side of

merit, so may the Omnipresent judge you favorably,

We learned in the Mishna:

One may clear away pure teruma.

And we raised a difficulty about it:

It is obvious

that teruma is moved, since it is fit to be eaten. What did the tanna teach us with this?

And we explain:

It is necessary

to teach us only concerning teruma

that lies

in the possession

of an Israelite.

Lest you say: Since it is not fit for him

the Israelite,

it is forbidden

for him to move it, since for him it is muktzeh.

It teaches us

that

since it is fit for a koen, it is entirely acceptable

to move it even for an Israelite.

We learned in the Mishna:

And

one may clear away

demai.

And we raised a difficulty about it: Why is it permitted to move

this

demai?

It is not fit for him,

for it is not fit to eat until he tithes it; and if so, why is it not considered muktzeh, like tevel? And we explain: Demai is not considered muktzeh, because it differs from tevel.

For tevel is muktzeh because it is not fit to be eaten by everyone, whereas demai is fit to be eaten by the poor.

And therefore, for everyone as well it is considered fit to be eaten. For with regard to every person one can say:

Since, if he wishes, he can renounce ownership

of his property, and become poor, and

then

it is fit for him

to eat, since they did not decree upon the poor a prohibition against eating demai.

Therefore,

now also,

even though he did not renounce ownership of his property, it is considered as though

it is fit for him.

As we learned

in tractate Demai:

One may feed the poor

demai,

because the Sages did not decree upon them that they must tithe, since they go around to the doors of ammei ha-aretz, and they relied on the fact that most ammei ha-aretz tithe.

And

so too, one may feed demai

to the military garrison,

the army of the king of Israel, since their sustenance is imposed upon the inhabitants of the city, one may feed them

demai.

And Rav Huna said: A tanna [taught]: Beit Shammai say: One may not feed the poor demai, nor the military garrison demai.

Beit Hillel say: One may feed the poor demai, and the military garrison demai.

We learned in the Mishna:

And first tithe from which its teruma has been removed.

It entered our minds that what had been removed from it was both terumat maaser, which the Levite gives from the tithe given to him, and the great teruma, which the Israelite gives—two parts out of a hundred—from all the produce.

And we challenge: Since it is prepared—

it is obvious

that it is permitted to move it?

And we explain:

It is necessary,

but rather

that they advanced

to tithe the first tithe while the produce was still

in ears,

when the produce had not yet been piled up and was then exempt from tithes,

and

removed from it

then only

terumat maaser,

which the Levite gives from the first tithe,

and

still

the great teruma had not been removed from it,

which the Israelite gives from all the produce.

And is this not what Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Resh Lakish: First tithe that they advanced

to tithe it [before the produce was piled up, and before great teruma was removed from it], while the produce was

in ears—

it is

exempt from great teruma?

And we derive it from what

is stated

concerning the separation of the Levites’ terumat maaser from the first tithe:

“And you shall raise from it the teruma of the Lord, a tithe from the tithe.”

And this is how we expound it: Only

“a tithe from the tithe” I told you

to separate,

but not great teruma and terumat maaser from the first tithe

itself.

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: If so,

that we expound that only terumat maaser is removed from the first tithe, then

even if they advanced

to separate the first tithe before separating teruma

in the pile,

after the produce had been piled up and become obligated in terumot and tithes,

should it also be exempt?

He said to him: Concerning you the verse says

regarding terumat maaser:

“From all your gifts you shall raise

all the teruma of the Lord.” “All” is an inclusion, to tell you that from the first tithe you must remove every aspect of teruma in it, even if he advanced to separate the tithe before separating great teruma.

And we raised a difficulty about it:

And what did you see

to expound from the verse “And you shall raise” a limitation concerning first tithe that was advanced while [the produce was] in ears, and to expound from the verse “all” an inclusion concerning one who advanced the first tithe in the pile? Say the opposite!

He said to him:

This one has been piled up,

it has been piled up, its work has already been completed, and the obligation of teruma has taken effect upon it [as it is written: “The first of your grain”]. Therefore, the Levite must remove the great teruma in it [two parts out of a hundred of the tithe], give it to the koen, and afterward give him one-tenth of the entire tithe.

And

if

this one,

which they advanced to tithe while it was in ears,

had not been piled up,

and had not yet become obligated in the first tithe, but he advanced and separated it; therefore, we expound to exempt that which had not yet become obligated.

We learned in the Mishna:

And second tithe

and consecrated property that have been redeemed.

And we challenge: These

obviously

are permitted to be moved, since they are permitted to be eaten?

And we explain:

It is necessary

to teach us only in a case

where he gave the principal

for their redemption,

but did not give the fifth,

for he did not act according to the law of an owner redeeming, who is obligated to add a fifth to the redemption.

And this teaches us

the tanna,

that the

fifth

does not prevent

the redemption.

We learned in the Mishna:

And the dry lupine,

because it is food for goats.

And we infer:

Specifically,

the lupine that is

dry.

But

lupine that is

moist—

no,

we do not move it.

And we raised a difficulty about it:

What is the reason?

And we explain:

Since

it is

bitter,

bitter—the animal

does not eat it.