Shekalim 13b (יג:) — the Talmud in English

Since the Gemara had mentioned the virtues of those praised and the virtues of the Sages, it brought additional expositions concerning the virtues of the Sages.

Rabbi Yona said: It is written

in Isaiah, chapter 53:

“Therefore I will allot him [a portion and a lot]

among the many [with the earlier Patriarchs],

and with the mighty he shall divide the spoil,

because he exposed his soul to death.”

“I will allot him” —

this refers to Rabbi Akiva, who established the expositions of halakhot and aggadot

that are expounded publicly.

And anyone else who gives his life for God will likewise have a share in the Torah of God, like Rabbi Akiva.

And some say: These

— the expositions of halakhot and aggadot —

were established by the Men of the Great Assembly,

as the exposition already existed from the time of the Men of the Great Assembly.

Rather, what did this one establish [Rabbi Akiva]? —

General principles.

He formulated general principles for the Torah, as we find in several places in the Talmud: “Rabbi Akiva stated a general principle…”

And

he likewise established

particular details. He expounded heaps upon heaps of halakhot concerning every crown and crown of the letters of the Torah.

Rabbi Abbahu said: It is written

in Chronicles:

“The family of scribes, the inhabitants of Jabez.” [The group of Jabez, who ruled over them and taught them.] And Jabez was Otniel ben Kenaz.

What does “scribes” teach us?

That is, what greatness is there in this, such that Scripture praises them for it?

Rather, they made the Torah into counted units.

They provided signs for the Torah and assigned a number to each body of halakhot, as we find in many places in the Mishna, where the number of the halakhot is stated.

As we learned in tractate Terumot:

Five —

may not separate teruma.

And at the beginning of tractate Hallah we likewise learned:

Five matters are obligated in hallah.

And at the beginning of Yevamot we learned:

Fifteen women

who are forbidden as forbidden relations

exempt their rival wives

from yibbum. If one of them was married to his brother, who had two wives, and his brother died without children, both women are exempt from yibbum and from halitza, as is derived there from a verse.

And at the beginning of tractate Keritot we learned:

Thirty-six

cases of those liable for

karet

are found

in the Torah. And at the beginning of tractate Taharot we learned:

Thirteen matters were stated concerning the carcass of a kosher bird.

And at the beginning of tractate Bava Kamma we learned:

There are four primary categories of damages.

And in tractate Shabbat we learned:

The primary categories of labor

that are prohibited by Torah law to perform on Shabbat are

forty minus one.

Rabbi Eliezer said: It is written

in Ezra, chapter 7:

“To Ezra the priest, the scribe,

the scribe of the words of the mitzvot of God and His statutes concerning Israel.”

And we raise an objection: Since it has already written, “Ezra the scribe” — \-

what does it teach us

that it again says

“scribe”?

Rather, just as he was a scribe

and counted

the words of Torah,

for he counted all the letters in the Written Torah and established the Masoretic tradition —

so was he a scribe concerning the words of the Sages,

to assign a number to the halakhot, as stated above.

Rabbi Haggai in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani

said: The

early Sages: They plowed and sowed, weeded, hoed, furrowed, reaped, gathered into sheaves, threshed, winnowed, selected, ground, sifted, kneaded, shaped, and baked,

and after they finished preparing the bread for us, still

we have no mouth with which to eat!

That is, although the early Sages labored and arranged for us the expositions of halakha and aggada, made the Torah into counted units, and performed all these actions to make it easier for us to understand the Torah, it is still difficult for us to understand the words of Torah in their full clarity.

Rabbi Abba bar Zavina in the name of Rabbi Zeira

said:

If the early ones were angels,

[then]

we are human beings.

And if they were human beings,

[then]

we are like donkeys.

There was an incident involving Rabbi Yirmeya, who sent a basket of figs to Rabbi Zeira. They had not been prepared with regard to the prohibition of demai, because Rabbi Yirmeya assumed that Rabbi Zeira would not eat them without tithing.

Conversely, Rabbi Zeira assumed that Rabbi Yirmeya had certainly tithed them.

Consequently, he ate them, and it turned out that he had eaten untithed produce [as explained in the first chapter of Demai].

Rabbi Mana said: At that moment they said,

At that moment Rabbi Zeira said: We, who are comparable to donkeys,

were not even comparable to the donkey

of Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair

[we did not resemble it]. The donkey of Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair did not suffer a mishap like mine, as in the following incident.

The donkey

of

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair was stolen by bandits at night

[the bandits stole it at night].

And it remained hidden with them for three days and tasted nothing

[it was concealed among the thieves for three days and tasted nothing], because their produce had not been tithed.

After three days

[after those three days]

they decided to return it

[they resolved to return it].

They said: Let us take it out of here, lest it die with us

[they said to one another: Let us take it out of the cave so that it will not die among us and make the cave foul].

They took it out.

It went and stood at the entrance of its master’s gate

[it went and stood at the entrance of the gate of its owner, Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair].

It began braying

[it opened its mouth and cried out].

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair said to his students:

Open for this unfortunate creature

[open the gate for this unfortunate creature],

which has gone three days without tasting anything

[which has gone three days without tasting anything].

They opened for it and it entered,

[they opened for it and it entered].

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair said to his students:

Give it something to eat

[bring it something that it can eat].

They brought before it

[they brought before it]

barley, but it did not want to eat

[and it did not want to eat it].

His students said to him

:

Rabbi, it does not want to eat

[it does not want to eat].

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair said to his students:

Are they prepared?

[Are the barley kernels properly prepared?]

They said to him: Yes

[yes, they are prepared and fit for eating, without any waste].

He said to them: Have you removed the demai?

[Did you prepare this barley with regard to the prohibition of demai?]

They said to him:

Rabbi,

did our Rabbi not teach us

[did we not learn in the Mishna from our Rabbi]:

One who purchases seed

from an am ha-aretz in order to feed it

to an animal,

or who purchases

flour

not for eating but

for hides,

to process them, or who purchases

oil for lighting is exempt from demai.

We originally purchased this barley with the intention of giving it to an animal, and it follows that it is exempt from the requirement of preparing it with regard to demai.

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair said to his students: You are indeed correct that this barley is exempt from demai. But

what shall we do

[what shall we do]

for this unfortunate creature

[for this unfortunate creature],

which is exceedingly strict with itself

[which is exceedingly strict with itself], and will not eat from it until it is prepared with regard to the prohibition of demai. Therefore, go and separate the appropriate tithes from the barley and prepare it with regard to the prohibition of demai, so that it will eat it.

And they removed the demai

[and indeed they separated the required tithes from it]

and it ate,

[and they ate].

We learned in our Mishna:

Petahya

the official

in charge of the bird offerings. Petahya was Mordecai. And why was he called Mordecai? Because he would open matters, expound them, and know seventy languages.

Come and see how great was the power of that man: He would open matters and expound them.

For he was appointed over the bird offerings and had to understand and solve the calculations of the bird offerings, which people were obligated to bring in all kinds of cases of uncertainty and different circumstances, as is stated in tractate Kinnim.

We learned in our Mishna: Petahya was Mordecai, and

he knew seventy languages.

It was taught: A Sanhedrin in which there are two who can speak

seventy languages

and all of them are fit to hear,

meaning that they understand seventy languages, even though they do not know how to speak them and respond,

is fit to serve as a Sanhedrin,

in a situation of necessity.

responsible for the bird offerings. Petahiah was Mordechai. And why was he called Mordechai? Because he would open matters, expound them, and knew seventy languages.

And if it contains

three

who can speak seventy languages, while all of them are fit to understand but not to speak,

it is a

middle-ranking Sanhedrin,

and is superior to the preceding one.

And if it contains

four

who know how to speak,

it is wise

and excellent.

And in the Sanhedrin that was in Yavne there were four

who knew how to speak seventy languages.

Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Ben Hakhinai, and Rabbi Elazar ben Matitya, Rabbi Hisda said,

said:

Once the Land of Israel became dry,

because no rain fell.

And they did not know where to obtain

barley for the

Omer offering. For this offering must be brought from grain that grew in the Land of Israel.

And there was there

[there was there]

one mute

[one mute person who could neither hear nor speak],

who pointed with one hand

[who pointed with one hand]

toward

the direction of the

rooftops, and with his other hand

[and with his other hand]

toward

the direction of the

huts. [“Huts” is the name of a booth made of willow branches without a roof, but pointed at the top.]

They brought him before

[they brought him before]

Petahya,

so that he would understand and interpret the mute man’s intention through these gestures.

He said to them

Petahya said:

Is there a place called

[is there a place called]

“Rooftops of Huts” or “Huts of Rooftops”? Go there and you will find barley for the Omer.

Petahya understood this from the fact that the mute man had pointed with one hand toward the rooftops and with the other toward the huts.

They went there

[they went there] to search for barley,

and found it,

and indeed found barley for the Omer offering.

Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Bun said: Once the entire world was struck by blight

[was afflicted by blight],

and they did not know where to obtain the Omer.

And there was there one

mute man, who placed one hand over his eye

[who placed one hand over his eye]

and his other hand

Is there a place called

over the lock-hole

[the hole in the doorpost into which the bolt is inserted to lock the door].

They brought him to Petahya

so that he would understand from him the place to which he was referring.

He said to them

Petahya said:

Is there a place called

[is there a place called]

“Eye of the Lock” or “Lock of the Eye”?

From the fact that the mute man had placed one hand over his eye and the other over the lock-hole, he learned that they could find grain for the Omer there.

And there was there one

mute man who placed one hand over his eye

[he placed one hand over his eye]

and his other hand

over

the

lock socket

[the hole in the doorpost into which the bolt is inserted to lock the door].

They brought him to Petahiah

so that he would understand from him toward which place he was pointing.

Petahiah said to them

:

Is there a place called

[there is a place called]

Ein Sokher or Sokher Ein, and he learned this from the fact that the mute man had placed one hand over his eye and the other over the lock socket. There you will be able to find produce for the Omer.

Ein Sokher or Sokher Ein, and he learned this from the fact that the mute man had placed one hand over his eye and the other over the lock socket. There you will be able to find produce for the Omer.

And there we investigated and found.

There was an incident involving

three women

who

brought their bird pairs

to the priests to be offered in the Temple.

One says:

“I brought this pair

for my eye”; and

one says: “I brought this pair

for my sea, and one says: for my ziva.”

This one who says

“I brought”

for my [unclear: the term appears corrupted],

the priests thought it meant that

she was flowing

with blood

like a spring,

and wished to bring a pair for purification from her ziva: one bird as a sin-offering and one bird as a burnt-offering.

He said to them,

Pethahiah [Mordecai], the official in charge of the bird pairs: “This one who said, ‘I brought a pair for my eye’—

in her eye

she was endangered.”

Perhaps her eye had been in danger and she recovered, and she vowed to bring a voluntary pair. One who brings a voluntary pair brings two birds as burnt-offerings, rather than one as a sin-offering and one as a burnt-offering.

Likewise,

this one who says

“I brought a pair

for my sea,”

the priests thought

that she intended that

she was flowing

with blood

like the sea,

and was bringing an obligatory pair for purification from her ziva.

Mordecai said to them:

Perhaps she did not intend to say that she was a zavah. Rather, she intended to say that

she was endangered at sea,

that she was in danger at sea and was saved. Therefore, she vowed to bring a voluntary pair, and she must bring two birds as burnt-offerings, as is the law governing a voluntary pair.

Likewise,

this one who says

“I brought a pair

for my ziva,”

the priests thought

that she was

truly a zavah,

and was bringing an obligatory pair.

Mordecai said to them:

“

A wolf came upon her to take her son,”

and she vowed to bring a pair for the rescue of her son; she must bring two burnt-offerings, as is the law governing a voluntary pair.

We learned in our Mishna:

Ben Ahiyya

was appointed over intestinal ailments.

The Gemara explains: Why were there many priests who suffered from intestinal ailments?

And we say:

Because the priests walked barefoot on the floor and ate

the sacrificial meat,

and drank water,

since they were forbidden to drink wine in the Temple courtyard,

they came to suffer from intestinal ailments.

And he knew,

the official in charge of intestinal ailments,

which

one

wine

was

good for the intestines,

and

which wine was harmful

to them

for the intestines.

We learned in our Mishna:

Nehunya

was

a digger of pits.

And we say:

He dug

pits,

wells, and caves.