Sukkah 53a — the Talmud in English

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A woman used to sort wheat by the light of the Water-Drawing celebration.

We learned in the Mishna:

pious men and men of deeds.

The Sages taught: There are some among them

who praise the Almighty by saying

“Fortunate is our youth that

we did not commit a transgression in it, and

it did not shame our old age”—

These

who praise in this manner the Almighty are

the pious men and men of deeds.

And there are some among them who say

another praise:

“Fortunate is our old age that atoned for our youth”—

These are those who repent.

Both these and those say: “Fortunate is one who did not sin.”

And one who sinned, let him return—

and it will be forgiven him.

It was taught: They said about Hillel the Elder, when he was rejoicing at the celebration of the Water-Drawing

he would expound publicly in the name of the Almighty and

say thus: If I,

the Almighty, want to be

here,

that My Divine Presence should be in the Temple, if you conduct yourselves properly—

everyone

will come

here,

because then the honor of this House will endure.

But if

you sin,

I am not here,

I will remove My Divine Presence from here, and then—

who

will come

here!?

And the Gemara brings another statement of Hillel in the name of the Almighty:

He,

Hillel,

would say thus

in the name of the Almighty:

To the place that I love—

there my feet lead me.

And what is the place that I love?

If you come,

you, the human being,

to My House

to the Temple—

I will come to your house.

If you do not come to My House—

I will not come to your house.

As it is stated [Exodus 20:21] “

“

In every place where I mention My name—

I will come to you, and I will bless you.”

He too

Hillel

saw one skull floating upon the surface of the water.

He said to it,

Hillel to the skull:

Because you drowned,

because you killed a person and caused his skull to float upon the surface of the water,

they drowned you,

they killed you and caused you to float upon the surface of the water.

And

the end of

those who drowned you—

that they too

will be drowned.

Rabbi Yohanan said: The feet of a person—

they are guarantors for him.

To the place where he is required

to the place where he is summoned by the Angel of Death to take his soul there—

there

to that place the person’s own feet

lead him

him.

And as was the incident:

Those two Cushites [A0082]of handsome appearance, who are called in the language of sagi nahor, “Cushites,”

handsome men, referred to euphemistically as “Cushites” ],

who were standing before Solomon,

and their names are mentioned in the Book of Kings I [4:3], “

Elihoref and Ahijah, sons of Shisha,”

and

they were Solomon’s scribes,

the king,

were.

One day, he saw

Solomon

the Angel of Death, who was distressed.

He said to him,

Solomon:

Why are you distressed?

He said to him: For they are requesting from me

that they have requested from Heaven that I take the souls of

these two Cushites who are sitting here.

The two Cushites who are sitting here before you, and I cannot take them.

And the Angel of Death did not reveal to him that he could not take their souls because the place where their souls were to be taken had been determined to be in the district of Luz and not here.

King Solomon wanted to save them,

he handed them over

and handed them

to the demons,

to the spirits over whom King Solomon had authority,

he sent them

and sent them by means of the demons

to the district of Luz,

which is a city in which the Angel of Death has no dominion.

But immediately

when they arrived,

when they arrived

at the district of Luz—

they died,

they died.

The next day he saw

Solomon

the Angel of Death, who was laughing,

in a cheerful mood.

He said to him,

Solomon:

Why are you laughing?

He said to him: At the place where they requested from me,

at the place where they requested from Heaven that I take their souls—

there,

to that place

you sent them.

You sent them.

Immediately Solomon opened and said: The feet of a person—

they are guarantors for him,

they are guarantors before Heaven, and therefore,

to the place where he is required,

to the place where the person is summoned to take his soul from there—

there,

to that place they

lead him,

him.

It was taught: They said about Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, when he was rejoicing with the celebration of the Water-Drawing—

he would take eight torches of fire, and throw one and take one, and they would not touch one another.

And when he

would

bow,

he would

plant both his thumbs

of his hands

in the ground, and

lean upon them until he

bowed down, and kissed the floor, and straightened himself.

And no creature could do so.

And this is the bowing

mentioned in the Writings [see Rashi’s words].

Levi demonstrated bowing before Rabbi, and became lame,

he became lame, because when he straightened his body without leaning upon his hands, the concentration of the weight of his body fell upon his loins.

And we raise a difficulty:

And

for

this

bowing

caused him

to become lame?

But Rabbi Elazar said: A person should never hurl words upward, for a great man hurled words upward [A0162]as he said, “You ascended and sat on high, and You do not take heed of Your children,”

saying: “You have ascended and sat on high, yet You do not watch over Your children” ],

and became lame; and who was he—

Levi!

And we answer:

Both this and that caused it.

The cause of the punishment was his hurling of his words, and the event of the punishment occurred when he bowed before Rabbi.

Levi used to perform before Rabbi,

and gladden him

with

the throwing of

eight knives.

Shmuel

was

before Shapur the King,

the king of Persia, and he would throw and catch

eight cups of wine,

in eight glass cups full of wine, and the wine would not spill.

Abaye

would do this

before Rabbah with eight eggs,

eggs,

and some say with four eggs.

It was taught: Rabbi Joshua ben Hanania said,

who was among the Levites who sang:

When we were rejoicing with the celebration of the Water-Drawing—

we did not see sleep in our eyes.

How so?

The first hour—

the daily offering of dawn; from there—

to prayer; from there—

to the additional offering; from there—

to the prayer of the additional offerings; from there—

to the study hall; from there—

to eating and drinking; from there—

to the afternoon prayer, from there to the daily offering between the evenings; from this point onward—

to the celebration of the Water-Drawing.

And the Gemara is astonished: How is it possible that they did not sleep at all?

Is that so? But Rabbi Yohanan said:

One who swears

an oath that I will not sleep for three days—

they flog him

for a vain oath, which he cannot fulfill,

and he sleeps immediately,

since a vain oath does not impose an obligation.

Rather, this is what he said: “We did not taste the taste of sleep,” for they would doze on one another’s shoulders.

We learned in the Mishna:

Fifteen steps.

Rav Hisda said to a certain one of the Sages who was arranging an aggadic exposition before him,

and thus

he said to him:

But

have you heard these fifteen steps—

opposite whom did David say them?

He said to him,

that one of the Sages:

Thus Rabbi Yohanan said: When David excavated

the

channels, the abyss rose up

the waters of the abyss rose,

and wanted to flood the world,

and wanted to flood the world.

David said fifteen steps, and lowered them

to the waters of the abyss, into the depth of the earth.

Rav Hisda said to him:

If so,

why did he say

fifteen “

steps”?

For once he lowered the waters of the abyss, fifteen

descending

he should have said

to say!

He said to him,

Rav Hisda to that Sage:

Since you reminded me,

and you reminded me of this matter, I remember that

thus it was stated:

When David excavated

the

channels, the abyss rose,

the waters of the abyss rose over the earth,

and it wanted to flood the world.

And the abyss wanted to flood the earth.