Shekalim 15a — the Talmud in English

For this reason we shall distinguish

also in cattle

between

the libations of a calf and the libations of an ox.

The verse therefore says: “So shall it be done for the one ox.”

It indicates

the Scripture

that it did not distinguish between the libations of a calf and the libations of an ox.

And the Gemara continues to expound this verse:

“Or for a ram” —

why is this stated?

If it is to teach us that a ram requires libations, it was already stated: “Or for a ram you shall make a meal-offering”!

Rather,

it could have been logically said

otherwise.

If we find that the Scripture distinguished

in the libations of sheep

between the libations

of a one-year-old lamb

and the libations of a two-year-old, for this reason we shall distinguish

as well

between the libations

of a sheep

two years old and the libations of

one

three years old, and we would say that its libations should be greater than those of a ram.

The verse therefore says: “Or for the one ram.” It teaches that from two years onward, he always brings two tenths, according to the law of the ram.

The verse therefore says: “Or for a lamb among the sheep.”

It teaches that from two years onward, he always brings two tenths, according to the law of the ram.

“Or for a lamb among the sheep” —

why is this stated?

If it is to teach us that a lamb requires libations, it was already stated: “Or for the sacrifice, for the one lamb.”

Rather,

it could have been logically said

:

If we find that the Scripture distinguished

in a male sheep

between the libations of a lamb and the libations of a ram, for this reason we shall distinguish

as well among females

between the libations of a ewe and the libations of a mature ewe, and we would say that the libations of a mature ewe should be two tenths, like the libations of a ram.

The verse therefore says: “Or for a lamb among the sheep,” to include that even the law of the libations of a mature ewe is like that of a lamb and not like that of a ram.

The verse therefore says: “Or for a lamb among the sheep,”

to include that even a mature ewe has the law of its libations like a lamb and not like a ram.

“Or among the goats” —

why is this stated?

Are goats not included among sheep, and has the law of sheep already not taught us that they require libations?

Rather,

it could have been logically said

:

If we find that the Scripture distinguished

in sheep

between the libations of a lamb

one year old

and the libations of a ram

two years old,

for this reason we shall distinguish

as well

between the libations of a kid

a small goat in its first year

and the libations of a he-goat [a large goat], and we would say that the libations of the he-goat should be greater, like those of a ram.

The verse therefore says: “Or among the goats.”

The Scripture compared

the small one among the goats to the large one among the he-goats; just as this

the small one among the goats

its libations

are three log

of wine and oil,

so this one also

the he-goat, the largest among the goats, its libations

are three log.

We learned in our Mishna:

And the name was written

on them [on all the seals].

And we challenge this:

Consider for yourself!

What benefit is there in having the name of the day of the week written on the seal? You must be concerned

that the swindler will contrive

to target

that day

of the week and redeem the seal. For if “Tuesday” is written on it, and it is lost, and this swindler finds it, he will come and redeem it on Tuesday of the following week. What benefit does this enactment have in preventing swindlers?

And he answers:

Even the name of the watch

that served in the Temple during that week

was written on it.

For there were twenty-four watches in the Temple, and each week a different watch would serve. Since the name of the watch and the day of the week are recorded, waiting until the following week with this seal will no longer help him, for the watch of this week is not recorded on the seal of the previous week.

And we challenge this:

Consider for yourself!

There is still reason for concern

that he will contrive

to wait until

that watch

returns after twenty-four weeks, and will arrange it for the same day of the week recorded on the seal, and redeem it?

And we answer: These seals had

the name of the day

of the week

and the name of the Sabbath

which week-number of the month it was,

and the name of the month was written on them,

as well as the name of the watch.

Therefore,

even if he wants to contrive

to target

the day —

it is not feasible to contrive it.

For it is not common that the same watch should again fall on the same day and in the same week of the month, and on the same day of the month, all together. Therefore there is no concern about this with regard to swindlers.

Halakha 4 — Mishna:

There were two chambers

rooms

in the Temple: one

was called

the Chamber of the Silent Ones, and one

was called

the Chamber of the Vessels.

The Chamber of the Silent Ones

served for the needs of charity. And

those who feared sin

would

place money into it

secretly

in private,

and poor people of good lineage

would come there

and support themselves from it secretly,

so that they would not be ashamed. And from this came its name: the Chamber of the Silent Ones.

The Chamber of the Vessels —

anyone who volunteered a vessel

for the repair of the House

would throw it into it.

And once every thirty days, the treasurers

of the sacred property

would open it, and every vessel in which they found a need for the repair of the House

for use in the Temple service or for the repair of the building

they would leave

and retain

it

for the repair of the House.

And the remainder,

which had no need for use in the repair of the House,

would be sold.

And their proceeds would fall

into the chamber of

the repair of the House,

where money for the repair of the House was placed.

Gemara:

Rabbi Yaakov bar Idi and Rav Yitzhak bar Naḥman were charity administrators

they were charity collectors,

and they would give

to

Rabbi Ḥama, the father

of Rabbi Yehoshaya,

a dinar

from the charity money in their possession,

and he would give it to others

who were poor.

And the distribution was done in this manner so that the poor would not be ashamed, since they were embarrassed to receive from the collector; therefore Rabbi Ḥama would receive the money from the collector and give it to these poor people in secret.

Rabbi Zekharya, the son-in-law

of Rabbi Levi,

everyone would slander

and speak

about him.

For they

would say that he did not need

charity

and yet he took it

.

When he died,

they examined and found

that he would distribute it to others

who were poor. And he derived no benefit from it at all, and they had slandered him for no reason.

Rabbi Ḥinena bar Pappa would distribute charity

at night,

and would bring it to the poor so as not to embarrass them.

Rabbi Ḥinnana bar Pappa would distribute charity

Once, on his way, he encountered the chief of the spirits

once, while going at night to distribute charity, he encountered the chief of the demons.

He said to him to Rabbi Ḥinena:

Have you not thus taught us,

Rabbi: “You shall not move the boundary of your fellow”!?

At night, permission is given to demons and spirits to wander, and not to human beings. Thus you are trespassing on the boundary of the demons.

He said to him,

Rabbi Ḥinena:

Is it not thus written: “A gift in secret subdues anger”?

I, who engage at night in giving in secret, you have no permission to harm me, for a gift in secret has the power to subdue the harmful forces.

When the chief of the demons heard this,

he became afraid of him

lest he subdue him,

and fled from before him.

It is written in Psalms [chapter 41]: “Fortunate is one who acts wisely toward the poor; on the day of evil the Lord will deliver him.”

Rabbi Yona said: “It is not written here, ‘Fortunate is one who gives to the poor,’

but rather, ‘Fortunate is one who acts wisely toward the poor.’

The Scripture speaks only of

one who looks

and considers and acts wisely

with regard to the mitzva

of giving charity

how to perform it

without the poor person being embarrassed.

And for this reason the Scripture used the expression “acts wisely” and not “gives,” for the mitzva depends not only on giving, but on considering the manner of performing it.

And the Gemara brings an incident involving Rabbi Yona, who acted wisely and considered the manner in which charity should be given.

How would Rabbi Yona act

in the mitzva of charity?

When

Rabbi Yona

would see a poor person of good lineage who had lost his property, he would say to him: My son,

I heard that you have lost your property and need money. But

because I heard that an inheritance has fallen to you from another place

and you must wait some time before receiving it,

take

money from me now as a loan,

and

when you receive your inheritance

you will repay

me.

After he would take it,

after he had taken the money from him,

he would say to him

Rabbi Ḥinena: The money that I lent you —

it is a gift to you,

and since he had already taken it earlier as a loan, he was no longer ashamed to take the money as a gift.

Ḥiyya bar Adda

would say:

There were elders in our days

who would not take charity throughout the entire year; only

when someone would give it to them

between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

would they take it.

But

from then onward

they would not take it

charity until Rosh Hashanah of the following year.

They would say:

“Our livelihood is with us,”

for our food allowance for the entire year had already been decreed for us on Yom Kippur, and we had no need to take charity. Only between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when their judgment in Heaven had not yet been sealed, would they agree to take from charity [according to Təkalin Ḥadatin].

Nehemiah of Sikhin encountered a certain Jerusalemite

poor man.

He said to him

to Nehemiah:

Do charity with me

and bring me

one chicken

to eat.

He said to him

Nehemiah:

Here is a tumita, and

go

buy meat

here is this coin, and buy yourself ox meat; you do not need to eat specifically chicken meat, which is the food of the wealthy.

This poor man went and bought ox meat,

and ate, and died.

For he was delicate, and only poultry suited him, not the meat of an animal.

And

when Nehemiah saw that poor man die,

he cried out and said: Come and mourn the one killed by Nehemiah,

for had he given him chicken meat as was his custom, he would have lived.

Naḥum of Gam Zo would carry a gift

a load of three donkeys laden with food, drink, and delicacies [Ta'anit 21a]

to his father-in-law’s house.

And on his way

he encountered a leper, and the man said to him: Do charity with me from what you have,

bring me food from the provisions you carry.

Naḥum of Gam Zo said to him:

“When I return,”

when I return from unloading the donkey’s burden, I will give you food; he did not wish to delay then, because of the honor of his father-in-law.

He went and

returned, and found him

on his return, this poor man,

dead.

And he would say to himself:

“The eyes that saw you and did not give to you —

let them become blind.”

Eyes that saw you and did not give you charity immediately when you asked shall become blind.

“The hands that did not stretch out to give to you” —

let them be cut off.

Hands that did not stretch themselves out to give you charity shall be cut off.

“The legs that did not run to give to you” —

let them be broken.

Legs that did not run to give you charity shall be broken.

And this happened to him,

and indeed it came upon him in this manner: his eyes became blind, and his hands and feet were cut off.

Rabbi Akiva came up to him

and

visited him.

He said to him

Rabbi Akiva:

Woe is me

to see you in such a state,

suffering these afflictions.

He said to him

Naḥum of Gam Zo:

Woe is me that I do not see you in such a state.

He said to him

Rabbi Akiva:

Why are you cursing me,

so that this should also happen to me?

He said to him

Naḥum of Gam Zo:

And why are you

kicking against the afflictions,

by saying, “Woe is me that I see you in such a state”?

Rabbi Hoshaya the Great had a son who was blind

and he was accustomed to eat with him every day.

Once he had guests and did not come to eat with him.

In the evening he came up to him

and

said to him

Rabbi Hoshaya:

Let my master not be angry with me

because I did not come to you to eat,

because I had guests today

and did not wish to come with them to you,

for I said that perhaps they would disgrace you in the honor of my master today.

For this reason I did not eat with my master today.

He said to him

the blind man: Since

you have appeased me,

to the One who appears and does not see

to the One who is seen but does not see, therefore

the One who sees and is not seen

will accept your appeasement,

and repay you with good for it.

He said to him

Rabbi Hoshaya the Great:

From where did you get this

how did you learn to bless in this manner?

He said to him: I learned this matter

from an incident that occurred

with Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.

For Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov entered a certain blind man into his city.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov sat lower than him, so that

people would say

that were he not

this

great man, Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov would not sit lower than him.

And indeed, because of this,

people made him

an honored livelihood

they provided him with a livelihood and gave him charity in an honorable manner.

He said to them

the blind man:

What is this

what have you seen to honor me so greatly?

They said to him

the people of the place: We saw

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov

sitting

in the beit-midrash

lower than you,

and from this we understood that you are an important person worthy of honor.

When the blind man heard that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov had acted toward him in this manner,

he prayed this prayer for him:

“You have done kindness to the One who appears and does not see

to the one who is seen and does not see.

May the One who sees and is not seen

do kindness to you.”

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina and Rabbi Hoshaya were walking through these synagogues of Lod,

they were walking through the synagogues in Lod.

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said to Rabbi Hoshaya: “How much money my fathers invested here,”

for they built these synagogues from their own money.

He said to him

Rabbi Hoshaya:

“How many lives did your fathers invest here!?”

Were there not people who would toil in Torah,

and would it not have been preferable to support poor people who were learned in Torah with this money, rather than give it for the construction of a synagogue?

an honorable livelihood

[they provided him with a livelihood and gave him charity in an honorable manner].

He said to them

[the blind man said to them]:

“What is the reason for this?”

[what have you seen that makes you honor me so much]?

They said to him

the people of the place: We saw

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov

who

sitting

in the house of study

below you

[beneath you], and from this we understood that you are an important person worthy of honor.

When the blind man heard that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov had treated him in this way,

he prayed this prayer for him

[he prayed this prayer for Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov]:

“You performed kindness for the one who is seen but does not see

[the one who is seen but does not see].

May the One who sees but is not seen

[the one who sees but is not seen]

repay you

[you]

with kindness.”

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina and Rabbi Hoshaya were walking through these synagogues in Lod,

[they were walking through the synagogues in Lod].

Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said to Rabbi Hoshaya: “How much money my ancestors invested here,”

since they built these synagogues with their own money.

Rabbi Hoshaya said to him

Rabbi Hoshaya:

“How many lives did your ancestors invest here!?”

For

were there not people who would study Torah

[were there not people who studied Torah], and would it not have been preferable to support poor Torah scholars with this money rather than use it to build the synagogue?