Shabbat 89b — the Talmud in English

d.

the wilderness of Paran— ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location")

Israel prospered and multiplied upon it

for each man's wife conceived a male after the giving of the Torah, in fulfillment of the command, “Return to your tents.”

h.

the wilderness of Sinai—

for hatred descended upon the gentiles on account of it.

And what is its name

—the actual name of Mount Sinai

? Its name is Horeb!

And it disagrees with Rabbi Abbahu, for Rabbi Abbahu said: Its name is Mount Sinai, and why is it called Mount Horeb?

For desolation descended upon the gentiles on account of it.

We learned in the Mishna:

From where [do we know] that they tie a strip of crimson wool

on the head of the scapegoat that is sent away, as it is stated: “Though your sins be like scarlet, like snow they shall whiten.”

And we raised an objection concerning it: Why is it written

“like scarlets”

in the plural?

It should have said “like two,”

corresponding to “like snow,” for it is not written “like snows”?

And we resolve it:

Rabbi Yitzhak said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel:

even

“though your sins be like scarlets”

[two in the literal sense],

those that have been arranged and have come from the six days of Creation until now,

nevertheless

“like snow they shall whiten.”

Rava expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Isaiah:

“Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord”?

And it is difficult: Why is it written

“Come now,”

for surely

it should have said “Come here now”

? And another difficulty: Why is it written

“says the Lord”

in the future tense, when

it should have said “the Lord said”

?

Rather,

in the future to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to Israel: Come now to your forefathers, and let them rebuke you.

And they will say

Israel

before Him: Master of the Universe! To whom shall we go?

Is it

to Abraham, to whom You said, “Know surely

that your offspring shall be strangers in a land that is not theirs,”

and he did not ask mercy for us?

Or

to Isaac, who blessed Esau, “And it shall come to pass when you rebel

that you shall cast off his yoke from your necks,”

and he did not ask mercy for us?

Or

to Jacob, to whom You said, “I shall descend with you to Egypt,

and I shall also surely bring you up,” “also” being an inclusion, for He hinted to him here at all four exiles,

and he did not ask mercy for us?

To whom shall we go?

Now—

“the Lord shall say”!

You say the rebuke; in You we trust that You will vindicate us.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Since you have attached yourselves to Me,

the conclusion of the verse shall be fulfilled for you:

“Though your sins be like scarlets—

like snow they shall whiten.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Isaiah:

“For You are our Father, You are. For Abraham does not know us,

and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer

from everlasting is Your name.”

In the future to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to Abraham: Your children have sinned against Me!

He will say before Him: Master of the Universe! Let them be erased for the sanctification of Your name!

So that Your name will be sanctified when You execute judgment upon those who transgress Your words.

He said

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Let Me say it to Jacob

that his children have sinned against Me,

for he had the anguish of raising children.

Perhaps he will ask mercy for them.

He said to him

to Jacob:

Your children have sinned!

He said before Him: Master of the Universe! Let them be erased for the sanctification of Your name!

The Holy One, blessed be He, said:

Not with the elders

that is, Abraham,

is the reason, and not with the young

that is, Jacob,

is the counsel.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him

God

to Isaac: Your children have sinned against Me!

He said before Him: Master of the Universe!

But are

they my children

and

not Your children?!

And behold, when they advanced before You, “We will do” to “We will hear,” You called them “My firstborn son”

[It is stated in the section of Exodus, and He called them by the name of the future, for it was revealed before Him that they would in the future say, “We will do” and “We will hear,” to accept the yoke out of love, like sons. Rashi]. But

now

You say that they are

my children, and not Your children?!

And furthermore, how much have they sinned?

How many are a person's years?

Seventy years!

Subtract

subtract from them

twenty

his first years

for You do not punish for them.

As we find concerning the generation of the wilderness, that they died only from the age of twenty years and upward.

There remain

there remain

fifty

years.

Subtract twenty-five nights,

during which a person sleeps.

There remain twenty-five.

Subtract twelve and a half for prayer,

prayer,

and eating, and the lavatory;

There remain twelve and a half.

If You bear them all—

better; but if not—

half upon me and half upon You!

And if you should say: [I will bear] them all upon me, behold, I offered my soul before You

at the Binding.

Israel opened

and

said

about Isaac:

For You are—

our Father!

Isaac said to them: Before you praise me, praise the Holy One, blessed be He! And Isaac indicated to them

—he told them to look toward

the Holy One, blessed be He, with their eyes.

Immediately they lifted their eyes heavenward and said: “You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer; from everlasting is Your name.”

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said: Jacob our father deserved to descend to Egypt in iron chains

in the manner of all exiles, for he descended there because of the decree of exile.

Rather, his merit caused it for him

that he did not descend in this manner.

As it is written

in Hosea:

“With the cords of a man I drew them, with bands of love

[Because of the affection of a man, I drew them to Egypt with cords and not with chains]

and I was to them as those who lift a yoke upon their cheeks

[like a person who assists his animal, supporting the yoke so that it should not weigh upon its neck],

and I inclined toward him, I fed him,”

I inclined toward them strength so that they could bear the harsh labor.

Mishna:

One who takes out wood,

its measure is

in order to cook

with it

a light egg

[It was explained above, folio 80, that this means a hen's egg, which is easy to cook; and not the entire egg, but enough to cook the size of a dried fig of the egg].

Spices—

in order to season a light egg.

And they combine

all types of spices

with one another

for the measure of carrying out.

Walnut shells

while they are moist,

pomegranate shells, istisa,

the root of a plant from which a sky-blue dye is made,

and fuya,

the root of a plant from which a red dye is made—all these have the measure

in order to dye with them a small garment

placed in the

mouth of a hairnet,

a piece of cloth sewn at the head of the hairnet, which is a net that women place over the hair of their heads.

Urine, natron, soap, kamulya, and ashlag

all these are substances used for cleaning and washing; their measure is

in order to wash

with them

a small garment

for the

mouth of a hairnet.

Rabbi Judah says:

their measure is

in order to remove a stain

of menstrual blood found on a garment, which they wash with these substances [Rashi. And Rambam and Rav Ovadiah of Bartenura explain “a stain” as one found on a woman's garment, where it is unknown whether it is menstrual blood or dye. For we learned in tractate Niddah that one washes the garment with seven substances, five of which are those mentioned in our Mishna, and if the stain does not come out, it is certainly dye].

Gemara:

And we raised an objection concerning it: Why does the Mishna need to inform us of the measure of wood? For

we already learned it once

the measure of an object intended for fuel.

As we learned above [folio 80]:

A reed—

in order to make a pen.

If it was thick or split

and fit only for fuel, its measure is

in order to cook the lightest of eggs, beaten,

mixed with oil,

and placed in a pan.

And we resolve it:

You might have said: There, it is because the reed is not fit

the reed

for anything

apart from fuel,

but wood, which is fit for making a key tooth,

from it, I might have said that its measure is

even any amount.

It teaches us

that specifically [the measure is] enough to cook a light egg, since the principal use of wood is for fuel.

We learned in the Mishna:

Spices, enough to season a light egg,

and they combine with one another.

And we raise a contradiction:

we learned in tractate Orla:

Spices

of prohibition, from

two or three names of one species,

such as white pepper, black pepper, and long pepper, all of which are of the pepper species, while each has a different name,

or

even if they are

from three species,

such as pepper, cumin, and cinnamon—

they are forbidden

because of orla

and they combine with one another.

For if they seasoned a cooked dish with them, and there was not enough of each one individually to season it, but only enough through the combination of all three, they combine to prohibit the dish .