Taanit 20a (כ.) — the Talmud in English

That provincial governor mocked him.

He said

to himself:

“The entire year, no rain fell,”

and

precisely

now,

at the last moment,

it rains?!

Immediately, he entered

the governor

the bathhouse joyfully.

While the master was entering the bathhouse in his joy, Nakdimon entered

the Temple

in sorrow.

He wrapped himself—

and stood in prayer.

He said before Him [

before the Holy One, blessed be He]:

“Master of the Universe! It is manifest and known

the matter

before You that I did what I did not for my honor,

what I did,

and I did not do it for the honor of my father’s house.

Rather, I did it for Your honor,

so that

water would be available for the pilgrims

who come to Jerusalem and to the Temple!”

Immediately

his prayer was accepted,

the heavens gathered clouds, and rain fell until twelve

springs of water were filled—

and

more

overflowed

and rose above their banks.

While the master was leaving the bathhouse, Nakdimon ben Gurion left the Temple.

When

the governor and Nakdimon

encountered one another, he said to him

Nakdimon said jokingly to the governor:

“Give me the value of the water that I have in your possession,

for the springs have been filled with more than the amount you gave me!”

He said to him

the governor:

“I know that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not shake His world

and bring down this rain

except for your sake.

“Nevertheless, I still have an opening for an argument

and a claim

against you, so that

through it

I can recover my money from you.”

And what was that claim?

“The sun has already set,

and the day has passed.”

And the rain

that fell—

“it fell under my authority” [

that is, since the day had passed and no rain had fallen, you must pay me my silver talents, as you undertook to do. And the rain that has now fallen and filled the pits is my water]!

When he heard this,

Nakdimon returned and entered the Temple.

He wrapped himself, stood in prayer, and said before Him: “Master of the Universe! Make known [

demonstrate to everyone]

that You have beloved ones in Your world! And just as You performed

a miracle for us through the falling of the rain,

also perform

another miracle for us, so that the governor will have no claim at all!”

Immediately, the wind blew and the clouds dispersed,

and

the sun returned and shone,

demonstrating that it was still day.

At that moment the master said to him: “Had the sun not broken through [

broken through ]

the clouds

by way of the clouds,

I would have had an opening for an argument against you, through which I could recover my money from you.”

The tanna:

Initially,

Nakdimon

was

not

his name, but “Buni”

was

his name.

And why was he called Nakdimon—

Because of

the sun’s breaking through for his sake.

The Sages taught: There were three

who

had the sun advance

for them

because of them.

And these are they:

Moses,

and Joshua,

and Nakdimon ben Gurion.

The Gemara asks:

Granted, as for Nakdimon ben Gurion—

the Gemara .

We have received this tradition that this event occurred.

Joshua also [

Joshua as well] is explicitly written in the

Scripture,

that the sun stood still and stopped for his sake.

As it is written [

Joshua, chapter 10], when Joshua fought the five kings who had come against Gibeon:

“And the sun stood still, and the moon stood, and so on.”

But Moses—

from where do we know

that the sun advanced for his sake?

Rabbi Elazar said: It is derived [

this matter is learned] through a

gzera shava—

“I shall begin” and “I shall begin.”

It is written here,

regarding Moses’ war with Sihon: “On this day

I shall begin to put the fear of you,” and it is written there,

regarding Joshua’s war: “On this day

I shall begin to magnify you.”

From this gzera shava we learn that just as the sun advanced for Joshua, as we find explicitly in Scripture, so too the sun advanced for Moses.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: It is derived [

this matter is learned] through a gzera shava:

“to put” and

“to put.”

It is written here,

regarding Moses’ war with Sihon:

“I shall begin to put the fear of you,” and it is written there,

regarding Joshua’s war:

“On the day that the Lord put the Amorite.”

Rabbi Yohanan said:

This matter is not learned through a gzera shava; rather,

it is derived from the verse itself [

this matter is learned from the body of the biblical passage].

As it is stated later in the verse cited above, “On this day I shall begin to put the fear of you, and so on”:

“Who will hear of your fame, tremble, and be in dread of you.”

When did they tremble and become afraid

the nations

before you—

when the sun advanced for Moses?

We learned in our Mishna:

“And likewise, a city upon which no rain fell, and so on,”

as it is written: “And I will cause rain to fall upon one city, but upon one city I will not cause rain to fall.”

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: And both of them,

both the city upon which rain fell and the city upon which it did not fall—

are for a curse

For in a city upon which abundant rain fell, the excess rain will ruin the produce; and in a city where rain does not fall, the produce will not grow.

Since we have cited a verse whose plain meaning is that one city will receive a blessing, although in truth it too is a curse—

the Gemara cites another verse whose plain meaning is a curse, although in truth it is a blessing.

It is written in the Scroll of Lamentations:

“Jerusalem has become like a menstruating woman among them.”

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

What the prophet compared Jerusalem to a menstruating woman—

is a blessing. Jerusalem is

like a menstruating woman.

Just as a menstruating woman,

although she is currently forbidden,

—

has a permitted status

after some time,

so too Jerusalem,

although she is currently despised,

has a remedy

in the future.

It is also written in the Scroll of Lamentations:

“She has become like a widow.”

Rav Yehuda said:

What the prophet compared Jerusalem to a widow—

is a blessing.

Jerusalem is

like a widow.

That is, she is like a woman who resembles a widow—

but is not an actual widow.

Rather,

she is

like a woman whose husband has gone to a country across the sea, and who intends to return to her.

For although she is presently like a widow, living without a husband, she is not an actual widow, since in the end her husband will return in the future.

For although she is now like a widow, living without her husband, she is not an actual widow, since ultimately her husband will return in the future.

So too Jerusalem: at present the Shekhina does not dwell within her, but in the future it will return and dwell within her.

It is written in the prophecy of Malachi, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel:

“And I have also made you despised and lowly.”

Rav Yehuda said:

This prophecy that the prophet prophesied concerning Israel, although its meaning is a curse, is in truth

a blessing

for them.

And what is the blessing in this?

For,

because we, Israel, are despised and lowly in the eyes of the gentiles,

they do not appoint from among us [

the gentiles do not appoint from among us, from the people of Israel]

river chiefs [

tax collectors],

or military officers [

soldiers, policemen].[ ^108]

It is written in the Book of Kings [I Kings, chapter 14], in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite:

“And the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in water.”

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said:

The reason the prophet compared Israel to a reed, despite saying, “And the Lord will strike Israel, etc.”, is

for a blessing:

it is .

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

in the Book of Proverbs:

“Faithful are the wounds

of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” [

that is, although a friend wounds, his intention is for the good, whereas although an enemy kisses, his intention is for the bad]—

Better

is

the curse that Ahijah the Shilonite pronounced upon Israel [

for this is “the wounds of a friend,” since Ahijah loved Israel], when he said to them: “And the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in water”—

than the blessing with which the wicked Balaam blessed them [

for this is “the kisses of an enemy,” since Balaam hated Israel], when he said to them: “Like cedars beside water.”

The Gemara now explains this matter.

Ahijah the Shilonite cursed them [

he cursed Israel]

by

likening them to a

reed.

As

he said to Israel: “And the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken.”

Although this comparison appears to be a curse, it is in fact a blessing.

For

just as this reed stands in a place of water

, and its stem is renewed, and it has many roots, and even if all the winds in the world come and blow against it—

they do not move it from its place; rather, it goes and comes with them [

with the winds], because of its pliability.

Therefore,

when

the winds became still—

the reed stood in its place,

and it was not harmed at all .

But the wicked Balaam blessed them by

likening them to a

cedar.

As it is stated: “Like cedars

beside water.”

This comparison, although it appears to be a blessing, is actually a curse.

For

just as a cedar does not stand in a place of water, and its trunk does not renew itself, and it does not have many roots, and

indeed

Although this comparison appears to be a blessing, it is in fact a curse.

For

just as a cedar does not stand in a place of water, has no renewing stem, and does not have many roots, and

indeed

even if all the winds in the world blow against it—

they do not move it from its place

because of its strength. But

once a southern wind blows against it,

which is especially powerful, since the cedar is not pliable but strong and rigid,

the wind uproots it

from its place—

and overturns it completely.

Moreover,

the reed has an additional advantage.

The reed merited that a quill be taken from it

,

and

to write with it a Torah scroll, the Prophets, and the Writings .

The Sages taught: A person should always be pliable like a reed

in his conduct with other people,

and should not be rigid like a cedar.

The beraita cites an incident that demonstrates how greatly a person must take care to conduct himself with the pliability of a reed and not be rigid like a cedar.

An incident involving Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who came from Migdal Gedor [

a place-name]

from his teacher’s house,

after he had remained there for a long time studying Torah,

and was riding on a donkey and strolling along the bank of a river

in order to rejoice and take pleasure.

He rejoiced greatly, and his mind became haughty because of him , because he had studied much Torah.