Shabbat 153a (קנג.) — the Talmud in English

Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Shilat, said in the name of Rav: From a person's eulogy it can be recognized whether he is destined for the World to Come or not.

For if he is a proper person, everyone weeps over him and speaks his praises.

And we challenge this:

Is that so? But Rav said to Rav Shmuel bar Shilat:

At the time of my death, exert yourself

and warm

[warm] the listeners

with the eulogy,

so that their compassion will be stirred and they will weep over me. Since

there

I

will be standing,

at the time of the eulogy, and I will hear this.

Evidently, Rav had to instruct him about this. But this is difficult: Rav was a great man and was destined for the World to Come, so why did he need to instruct him? For he said that from a person's eulogy it can be recognized whether he is destined for the World to Come.

And we answer:

This is not difficult.

For, in any event, it is necessary to warm the public, because people's compassion is not stirred of its own accord over an elderly person who dies. Rather,

when they warm him

the public over him

and they become warm [and are stirred], it is recognizable that he is destined for the World to Come.

[and become stirred], it is recognizable that he is destined for the World to Come.

But when they warm him

the public over him

but they do not become warm,

it is recognizable that he is not destined for the World to Come.

Abaye said to Rava:

A person

such as you

Rava,

whom

your

entire Pumbedita hates,

because you rebuke them with words of Heaven [for the people of Pumbedita are dishonest],

who will become warm with the eulogy

for you?

He said to him: It is enough

[that]

you and Rava bar Rav Hanan

will become warm and weep over me.

Rabbi Elazar asked Rav: Who is one destined for the World to Come?

He said to him,

Rav: It is as

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying: This is the way, walk in it, when you turn right or when you turn left.”

For if, after your bier, you hear people saying about you, “Follow this path along which this deceased person walked,” you are assured that you are destined for the World to Come.

Rabbi Hanina said: Anyone

whose

teachers are pleased with him,

because of what they hear about him and see in him, is destined for the World to Come.

It is also written there,

“And they shall go around in the marketplace, the eulogizers.”

The people of the Galilee say: Perform deeds

of goodness so that the eulogizers will mention them

before your bier.

The people of Judea say: Perform deeds

so that the eulogizers will mention them

after your bier.

And we explain: They do not disagree,

the people of the Galilee with the people of Judea. Rather,

one

[the people of the Galilee] stated

according to his locality.

In the Galilee, the eulogizers would stand before the bier. And

the other

[the people of Judea] stated

according to his locality.

In Judea, they would stand behind the bier.

We learned there: Rabbi Eliezer says: Repent

in repentance

one day before your death.

His disciples asked Rabbi Eliezer: Does a person know which

day

he will

die

on,

so that he can repent then?

He said to them,

Rabbi Eliezer:

All the more so,

since he does not know, he must repent constantly. And since repentance is beneficial one day before death,

let him repent today, lest he die tomorrow.

And likewise every day.

Thus, all his days

he is found

in a state of repentance.

And Solomon

the king

also said in his wisdom: “At all times let your garments be white, and let oil not be lacking upon your head.”

And “your garments be white” alludes to the soul, which must always be pure and clean.

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said: This is analogous to a king who invited his servants to a banquet but did not set a time

for it.

The wise among them adorned themselves immediately and sat at the entrance of the king's palace,

and prepared themselves for the banquet. Since

they said:

What if

anything is lacking

from the requirements of the banquet

in the king's palace?

After all, everything is prepared for the banquet. And perhaps they will suddenly summon us before the king.

But

the foolish among them went to their work.

Since

they said:

What if

there can be a banquet without effort?

And while they are still occupied with preparing the banquet in the king's palace, we still have plenty of time to adorn ourselves for the banquet.

Ultimately,

the king suddenly requested his servants

to come to the banquet.

The wise among them

e

entered before him while adorned.

And the foolish entered before him while soiled

from their work.

The king rejoiced at the wise and was angry at the foolish.

The king said:

The wise

ones who adorned themselves for the banquet shall sit and eat and drink.

But the foolish

ones who did not adorn themselves for the banquet shall stand and watch

the banquet of the wise, and they shall not eat.

And so it is in the World to Come. The righteous, who are always concerned that perhaps they will die tomorrow and are therefore always in a state of repentance, sit and eat there. But the wicked, who did not prepare themselves in this world, stand and behold the honor of the righteous.

Rabbi Meir's son-in-law said in the name of Rabbi Meir:

The wicked do not stand and watch. For if so,

they too would be seen

as though they were among the invited guests,

as attendants.

For it is the way of attendants to stand during the meal, and there would be no shame in this.

Rather, both these and those

[the righteous and the wicked]

sit. These eat, while those are hungry; these drink, while those are thirsty. As it is stated: “Therefore, so says the Lord: Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall thirst. Behold, My servants shall sing out from joy of heart, but you shall cry out from pain of heart.”

And he proceeds to explain Solomon's words:

Alternatively: “At all times let your garments be white” -

these are tzitzit.

For they are made of white wool.

“And let oil not be lacking upon your head” -

these are tefillin.

For tefillin are the Name of God, as it is written: “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of the Lord is called upon you.” And he expounds it as referring to the “good name” of the tefillin worn on the head, for a good name is better than good oil.

We shall return to you, chapter: One who asks

Mishna:

If it became dark for him

while he was walking on the

road,

and Shabbat was about to begin, he

gives

his

purse to a gentile

while it is still day. For he will not be able to carry it with him after the onset of Shabbat, because of the prohibition against carrying from one domain to another. Although in general it is prohibited to give a gentile an object so that he will perform work for a Jew on Shabbat, because he is considered the Jew’s agent to perform the prohibited act, here the Sages permitted it. The reason for the permission will be explained in the Gemara.

And if he has no gentile with him, he places it

the purse

on the donkey,

and the donkey carries it until he reaches the city . But if he has a gentile with him, he may not place it on the donkey, because he is commanded regarding the resting of his animal. The Gemara will explain that this refers to a case in which there is no prohibition of “driving one’s animal.”

When he

reaches the outer courtyard

of the city [which is a guarded place], he

takes

from atop the donkey

the vessels that may be carried

[those permitted to be moved]

on Shabbat.

And

the vessels

that may not be carried

on Shabbat because of the prohibition of muktze, he may not take. Rather, he

unties

the

ropes

of the saddle,

and the sacks

tied to it, with those vessels inside them,

and they fall by themselves

from the donkey’s back.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: He gives his purse to a gentile.

And we raise a difficulty:

What is the reason that the Rabbis permitted him to give his purse to a gentile?

Is the gentile not his agent to carry it on Shabbat, which is prohibited as a rabbinic restriction?

And we answer:

The Rabbis knew that a person does not restrain

[prevent]

himself from

saving

his property. And if you do not permit him

to give it to a gentile,

he will come to carry

the purse

four cubits in the public domain

himself.

Rava said: Specifically

his

purse

was he permitted to give to a gentile.

But a found object

that he found on the road,

he may not

give to a gentile so that the gentile will carry it for him on Shabbat. Since he does not care for it to the same degree, we do not say with regard to it, “A person does not restrain himself from his property.” And even if we do not permit him to give it to a gentile, he will not come to carry it in the public domain.

And we object:

Obviously

this is so, for

“his purse,” we learned.

What, then, did Rava teach us by saying this?

And we answer:

It might have entered your mind that the same law applies

to

even a found object

and that he gives it to a gentile.

And the reason that the Mishna teaches “his purse”

is because

it is the usual circumstance

that his purse is with him on the road; therefore it

teaches

this way.

It teaches us

that Rava means that specifically “his purse” is taught.

And we said this

that he may not give a found object to a gentile

only

with regard to a found object

that had not come into his possession

before nightfall. Since he had not yet acquired it, he did not care for it. And even if we do not permit him to give it to a gentile, he will not come to carry it in the public domain on Shabbat.

But

if it had already

come

the found object

into his possession

before nightfall, and he had already acquired it,

it is considered like his purse.

Once it became his property in every respect, we say with regard to it, “A person does not restrain himself from his property.”

Some say:

Rava was not stating this matter as an obvious ruling; rather, he stated it as a question.

For

Rava raised a dilemma: What is the law regarding a found object

that had already

come into his possession

before nightfall?

May

he give it to a gentile?

Do we say:

Since it came into his possession

and he had already acquired it before Shabbat,

it is considered like his purse?

And since he cares for it, we must be concerned that perhaps he will come to take it out into the public domain.

Or perhaps

we are concerned about this specifically with regard to money in his purse, which he acquired through labor. But with regard to a found object,

since he did not labor for it, it is not considered like his purse,

and he will not come to carry it into the public domain.

And we conclude:

The matter remains unresolved.

We learned in the Mishna: And if

he has no gentile with him,

he places it on the donkey.

And we infer:

The reason

that they permitted him to do this is

that he has no gentile with him.

It follows that

if he has a gentile with him, he gives it to the gentile,

and he does not place it on the donkey.

And we raise a difficulty:

What is the reason

that giving it to a gentile is preferable to placing it on the donkey?

And we answer:

With regard to a donkey, you are commanded regarding its resting

by Torah law, as it is written: “So that your ox and your donkey may rest.” But

with regard to a gentile, you are not commanded regarding his resting.

His prohibition is only that instructing a gentile is a rabbinic restriction. Therefore, the prohibition involving a gentile is less severe than the prohibition of placing it on the donkey.

Although below we establish the Mishna as referring to a case in which he does not violate the Torah obligation that his animal rest, nevertheless it is more stringent than the case of a gentile. For when the donkey performs fully-fledged labor, he is obligated by Torah law to ensure that it rests [Ran].

Just as they permitted him to place his purse on the donkey, so too they permitted him to give it to a deaf-mute, or an imbecile or minor, if he has no donkey with him.

But if he has a

donkey, and likewise

if he has a

deaf-mute, imbecile, or minor, he places it on the donkey

for his purse. But

he does not give it to a deaf-mute, imbecile, or minor.

And we raise a difficulty:

What is the reason?

And we answer:

These

[a deaf-mute, imbecile, or minor]

are human beings, and among their kind there are human beings who are obligated in the mitzvot. If we permit one to give them the purse to carry on Shabbat, people will confuse them with those who are obligated in the mitzvot and permit giving it even to those obligated in the mitzvot. But

And if he has with him

this one

[the donkey]

is not a human being, and a human being will not be confused with a donkey.

If he has with him only

a

deaf-mute and an imbecile, he should give it

to the

imbecile

and not to the deaf-mute, because an imbecile has no awareness whatsoever, whereas a deaf-mute possesses limited awareness.

If he has with him

an

imbecile and a minor, he should give it

to the

imbecile and not to the minor, because a minor possesses more awareness than an imbecile.

They raised a dilemma:

If he has with him

a

deaf-mute and a minor, what is the law? To whom should he give his purse? And we explain:

According to Rabbi Eliezer, you need not ask the question,

for he should certainly give it to the minor and not to the deaf-mute, because he holds that a deaf-mute may possibly possess awareness and is therefore obligated in the mitzvot as a matter of doubt.