Shekalim 14a — the Talmud in English

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this rock is what? [which rock]

[which rock]

its water is cooled [its waters are cool],

[its waters were cool],

and this rock has what? [and which one has warm water].

[and some were warm].

And how far does its warmth reach [and how far does its warmth extend].

[and how far did its warmth reach].

Rabbi Eliezer said:

Although he was occupied and concerned that there should be water to drink for those ascending for the pilgrimage, nevertheless

his son died of thirst.

Rabbi Hanina said: Whoever says that the Merciful One is lenient, may his intestines be made to slacken [Whoever says that the Holy One, blessed is He, is lenient, in that He overlooks those who transgress His words: “May his intestines slacken,” that they be overturned and their functioning cease].

[Whoever says that the Holy One, blessed be He, is lenient, that He overlooks those who transgress His word—“may his intestines become disordered,” so that they turn over and cease to function].

Rather,

the Holy One, blessed is He, His way is that He

lengthens His spirit, and

in the end—He

collects from him!

For He is not lenient, but He lengthens His anger, and in the end collects His debt.

And we also learned this matter from this incident of Nehunya the digger of cisterns, for although he engaged in this mitzva, nevertheless his son died of thirst because Nehunya did not cover the pits, since there is no overlooking before Him.

And although according to the law he was exempt from covering them, since he had handed them over to the public, nevertheless the Holy One, blessed is He, is exacting with the righteous to the thickness of a hairsbreadth.

And as

Rav Aha said: It is written

in Psalms:

“And around Him it is exceedingly hair-splitting.”

And the intention of the verse is to say that those who are around the Holy One, blessed is He—that is, the righteous, who are close to Him and cleave to Him—

He is exacting

the Holy One, blessed is He,

with them

in their deeds

to the thickness of a hairsbreadth.

And the expression “hair-splitting” is an expression of a hair.

Rabbi Yose said: It is not for this reason

that we learn this.

Rather, from that which is written

in Psalms:

“And He is awesome over all those around Him.”

It follows that the Holy One, blessed is He, imposes His

awe

and the dread of His judgments

upon those close

to Him

more than upon those far away.

Rabbi Hagai said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani: There was an incident involving a certain pious man, who would dig pits, cisterns, and caves for passersby.

Once, his daughter was passing

on her way to go

and be married, and a river swept her away.

And all the people were going in to him.

They sought to console him [and all the people would go to him to console him],

[and all the people went to him to comfort him],

but he did not accept consolation from them [and he did not accept their consolation].

[and he did not accept their condolences].

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair entered

[he entered]

to him. And he sought to console him, but he did not accept consolation from him [and he too wished to console him with words, but the pious man did not accept his consolation].

[and he, too, wished to comfort him with words, but the pious man did not accept his consolation].

He said to them

[to them] Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair: Is it possible that

this is your pious man [Is this the one concerning whom you say that he is pious]? Yet he does not justify the judgment upon himself and does not accept consolation!

[is this the one whom you call pious]? Yet he does not justify the judgment upon himself and does not accept consolation!

They said to him

to Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair:

Rabbi, this and this is what he used to do,

for he would dig water pits for the needs of the public.

And this and this happened to him,

for the river waters came and swept away his daughter on her way to her marriage.

He said to them

Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair: If he did this for the sake of Heaven, is it possible that

he honored his Creator with water and He would deprive him

and punish him

with water—

by drowning his daughter in the river waters? It is impossible. Rather, certainly his daughter will rise from the river.

Immediately there fell

a

report in the city: “The daughter of that man has arrived!”

for she had been saved from the flooding of the river.

Some say:

she was saved

by a branch she encountered—

for a branch happened upon her in the river, and she grasped it and emerged.

And some say: An angel descended

from Heaven

in the form of Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair, and saved her.

We learned in our Mishna:

Gavini

was appointed over the

herald, who would make proclamations in the Temple

in the morning.

And

what would he say? “Rise, kohanim, for the service; Levites, to your platform; and Israelites, to your station.”

King Agrippa heard his voice

of Gavini when he proclaimed,

as far as eight parasangs.

And he gave him many gifts.

Ben Gavver—

was appointed

over the locking of the gates.

Rav translated

[he interpreted]

before

[before]

the house of Rabbi Sheila

the following that we learned in the first chapter of Yoma: Every day they removed the ashes from the altar at “the call of the rooster.”

And he said: “the call of the rooster” means:

the man called and the herald proclaimed [the rooster called and the herald proclaimed], and this is the call of Gavini, who would proclaim: “Stand, kohanim, for your service.”

[the man called and proclaimed], and this was the call of Gavini, who would proclaim: “Priests, rise for your service.”

They said to him

the members of the house of Rabbi Sheila: From where do you have grounds to interpret that “the call of the rooster” is the call of Gavini?

Say,

interpret that the meaning of “the call of the rooster” is:

the rooster called!

For a rooster is called “gבר” [“man”], as we say in tractate Yoma: One who sets out on a journey before the call of the rooster. And this is the rooster’s call.

He said to them:

Is it the case that wherever it says “gבר,” it is a rooster?

And we learned

in our Mishna:

Ben Gavver

over the gates. And can

you say

that

he is the son of a rooster

?

And necessarily, not every place where “gבר” is mentioned means a rooster; sometimes it means a man, and sometimes a rooster.

We learned in our Mishna:

Ben Bavi

was appointed

over the whip.

And what would he do?

He would join wicks,

twisting and braiding them.

Rabbi Yose entered

[he entered]

Kufra

[a place].

They sought to appoint over them

[he wanted to appoint over them]

administrators

[charity collectors]

but they did not accept from him

[they did not wish to accept upon themselves being administrators].

He entered and said before them

[he entered and said before them]: We learned in our Mishna:

Ben Bavi

was appointed

over the whip.

Thus they appointed him among the worthy appointees in every generation.

And if this one

[Ben Bavi],

who was appointed

only

over

the repair of

the wicks, merited being counted among the great men of the generation.

You, who are appointed over the lives of souls,

over charity and the needs of the public,

how much more so

that you should not refuse to be appointed to this important position.

We learned in our Mishna:

Ben Arza

was appointed

over the cymbal.

As that which we learned there,

in tractate Tamid: When the High Priest came to pour wine as a libation on the altar,

the deputy waved cloths.

And when they saw the cloths,

Ben Arza struck the cymbal,

and after him all the Levites began to sing.

Hogras ben Levi

was appointed

over the song.

Rabbi Aha said: He knew an additional melody,

which Hogras knew how to produce with his mouth,

and they said about Hogras ben Levi that he would sweeten his voice in song.

And when he would insert his thumb into his mouth, he would produce several kinds of song.

And all his fellow kohanim would recoil from him with a sudden movement [they recoiled from the sound of his voice] backward.

[they recoiled from the sound of his voice] backward.

We learned in our Mishna:

The house of Garmo

were appointed

over the making of the showbread.

The Sages taught:

The house of Garmo were expert in the making of the showbread and in removing it

from the oven. For it was a great skill to remove it without the bread breaking, since the form of the showbread was made like a chest whose cover had been removed, with two of its walls opposite one another.

And they did not wish to teach

this skill to others.

And because of this the Sages removed them from their service. And

the Sages sent

and brought craftsmen from Alexandria

in Egypt

who were expert in the making of the showbread

to bake it properly; however,

in removing it

from the oven

they were not expert

in removing it as they did.

For

the house of Garmo would heat

the oven

from inside and bake

the loaves

from inside

the oven, and the bread was baked completely,

and it did not become moldy.

But these—

the men of Alexandria—

would heat

the oven

from outside and bake

the bread

from outside

on top of the oven and not inside it [the version of the Vilna Gaon, and so it is in the Babylonian Talmud], since they were afraid to bake it inside, so that the bread would not break when removing it; and since the heat of the oven did not reach the bread sufficiently, it was not baked completely.

And

therefore

it became moldy.

But the house of Garmo, who were expert in removing the showbread, were not afraid to bake the bread inside, and through this the bread did not become moldy.

When the Sages learned of this matter,

that the men of Alexandria were not expert in removing the bread, and therefore baked it outside, and the bread became moldy,

they said: Everything that the Holy One, blessed is He, created—

He created for His honor.

As it is stated: “Everything the Lord has done

is for His sake.”

And this is not for honor, but is disgraceful, that the bread should become moldy.

And therefore

they sent after them

[after the house of Garmo] to restore them to their service,

but they did not agree to come until they doubled for them

the Sages

their wages

[from the funds of the chamber contribution].

For until then

they would take twelve maneh

every day as their wages, and now they increased their wages

and gave them twenty-four

maneh.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Twenty-four

maneh

they would take

every day,

and they gave them

now

forty-eight

maneh.

The Sages said to them

:

Why do you not wish to teach

the wisdom of making the showbread and removing it?

They said to them,

the house of Garmo:

We have a tradition in our hands from our fathers that this House

[the Temple]

is destined to be destroyed,

and we are concerned

that others will teach

who are unworthy, and they will go

and perform

this act

before their idolatry.

And with these matters the Sages mention them

for

praise: “That there never emerged from the hands of their sons fine bread,”

but they would eat coarse bread, which was not fine, so that it could not be mistaken for and exchanged with the showbread, so that

they would not be

the people murmuring and

saying, “From the making of the showbread

which they received from their fathers

they are eating.”

We learned in our Mishna:

The house of Avtinas

were appointed

over the making of the incense.

The Sages taught:

The house of Avtinas were expert in the making of the incense,

for they knew how to pound the spices and mix them well.

And they were likewise expert

and

knew

the

herb called

the smoke-riser,

which caused the smoke to rise straight and tower upward like a staff,

but they did not wish to teach

this to others, and because of this the Sages removed them from their service.

And

they sent and brought craftsmen from Alexandria of Egypt, and they were

these craftsmen

expert in the making of the incense,

for they knew how to pound the spices and mix them well; but

in the smoke-riser they were not expert,

for no person knew the herb except the house of Avtinas.

And it is not that they did not know the herb “smoke-riser” at all, for the smoke-riser is one of the ingredients of the incense, and if one omitted any one of its ingredients, he is liable to death; rather, they knew another herb that raised smoke, but not so well.

And therefore, the incense

of the house of Avtinas would tower and rise

straight

like a staff.

And when the smoke of the incense reached the ceiling of the Sanctuary, its column

would spread

[spread to the sides]

and descend.

And

if the incense

of these

who came from Alexandria

would spread

[spread]

immediately

downward, at the beginning of the smoke’s ascent.

And

when the Sages learned of this matter,

that the craftsmen of Alexandria were not expert in the smoke-riser,

they said: Everything that the Holy One, blessed is He, created, He created for His honor.

As it is stated: “Everything that is called by My name and for My honor I created

and formed it, indeed I made it.” And therefore we must return the house of Avtinas to their service.

The Sages sent

after

them

to restore them to their service,

but they did not wish to come, until the Sages doubled for them

the

wages

[from the funds of the chamber contribution].

For until then

they would take twelve maneh

as their wages every day, and now they increased their wages

and gave them twenty-four

maneh.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Twenty-four

maneh

they would take

every day,

and they gave them

now

forty-eight

maneh.

The Sages said to them

:

Why do you not wish to teach

the craft of the incense?

They said to them,

the house of Avtinas:

We have a tradition in our hands from our fathers that this House is destined to be destroyed,

and we are concerned

that others will learn

who are unworthy, the making of the incense,

and will perform it before their idolatry.

And

with these matters the Sages mention them

for

praise: “That no woman from any one of them ever went out perfumed.”

And furthermore, when one of them would marry a woman from elsewhere,

who was not familiar with this practice of the house of Avtinas,

he would stipulate

and make an agreement

with her

that he was marrying her

on condition that she not perfume herself.

So that

the people would not be

the people

saying

and murmuring that

from the making of the incense

in which their husbands were occupied

they are perfuming themselves.

And they conducted themselves with this caution,

to fulfill that which is stated: “And you shall be innocent before the Lord and before Israel.”

Rabbi Yose said: Once I was standing in Jerusalem, and I found a certain child from the house of Avtinas. I said to him: My son, from what family are you?

He said to me: From the family of so-and-so.

That is, from the family of the house of Avtinas.

I said to him: My son, your fathers, because they intended to increase their honor

by not wishing to teach the making of the incense,

and to diminish

through this

the honor of Heaven.

Therefore, their honor was diminished,

for when the House was destroyed, there was no longer a need for their craft,

and the honor of Heaven was increased.

[In Yoma, page 38a, we read: “And the honor of the Omnipresent remains in its place.” See the Korban ha-Edah.]

Rabbi Akiva said: Shimon ben Luga told me:

Once I went out to the field, and

I was gathering

herbs, I and a certain child from

the family of

the house of Avtinas.

And I saw him crying, and

again

I saw him laughing.

I said to him: My son, why did you cry?

He said to me: Over the honor of my father’s house, which was diminished

at the destruction of the House, because the service of the incense and the smoke-riser ceased, I am crying.

I said to him:

And why did you laugh?

He said to me: Over the honor prepared for the righteous in the future,

when the House is rebuilt and they will again require the smoke-riser.

I said to him:

And what did you see

now that you remembered this and cried and laughed?

He said to me: I saw a herb

raising smoke before me,

and therefore I remembered the honor of the Father, which was diminished with the absence of this herb, and which is destined to return in the future to come.

I said [

I said ]

to him: My son, show it to me

alone, for I will certainly be careful that this herb not reach idolatry.

He said to me: Rabbi, I have a tradition from my fathers not to show it to any person!

And Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri said:

once

an old man from the House of Avtinas encountered me, and a scroll of spices

of the incense

was in his hand.

He said to me: Rabbi, formerly my father's household were discreet,