Taanit 20a — the Talmud in English

The governor mocked him.

He said

in his heart:

“The entire year, no rain has fallen,” ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location")

and

exactly

now,

at the last moment,

rain has fallen?!

Immediately the governor entered

the governor

the bathhouse joyfully.

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

the Temple

sad.

He wrapped himself—

and stood in prayer.

He said before Him [before the Holy One, blessed be He]:

before the Holy One, blessed be He]:

“Master of the world! It is manifest and known

the matter

before You, that I did not do what I did for my own 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,

in order

that water should be available for those ascending for the pilgrimage

who come to Jerusalem and 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 over their banks.

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

When

the governor and Nakdimon

encountered one another, he said to him

Nakdimon said to the governor jokingly:

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

for the springs have been filled with more than what 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.

But I still have an opening for an argument

and a claim

against you, that

through it

I will take my money from you.”

And what was that claim—

“For the sun had already set,

and the day had passed” .

And the rain

that fell—

fell under my authority [that is, since the day had passed and rain had not fallen, you must pay me my silver talents, as you undertook. And the rain that has now fallen and filled the pits is my water]!

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 again entered the Temple.

He wrapped himself and stood in prayer, and said before Him: “Master of the world! Make known [A0094]]prove to everyone

demonstrate to everyone]

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

a miracle with the falling of the rain,

also perform

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

Immediately the wind blew and the clouds dispersed,

and

the sun shone again,

and it became clear that it was still day.

At that moment the master said to him: Had the sun not pierced [A0110]broken through

burst through ]

the clouds

through the clouds,

I would have had an opening for an argument against you, by which I would take my money from you.

A tanna taught:

At first,

Nakdimon

was

not

his name, but

his

name was “Buni.”

And why was his name called Nakdimon—

Because of

the sun’s piercing through for his sake.

The Sages taught: Three

there were for whom

the sun was advanced

for their sake

because of them.

And these are they:

Moses,

and Joshua,

and Nakdimon son of Gurion.

The Gemara asks:

Granted, Nakdimon son of Gurion—

a tradition .

It is a received tradition in our hands that this event occurred.

Joshua also [that is, Joshua too] is written explicitly in the

Joshua as well] is explicitly written in the

Scripture,

that the sun stood and was halted for his sake.

As it is written [Joshua 10], when Joshua fought the five kings who came against Gibeon:

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 [from where do we know]

that the sun was advanced for his sake?

Rabbi Elazar said: It is derived [this matter is learned] through a

gzerah shavah:

“I shall begin”—

“I shall begin.”

It is written here,

concerning Moses’ war with Sihon: “This day

I shall begin to put your dread,” and it is written there,

concerning Joshua’s war: “This day

I shall begin your greatness.”

And from this gzerah shavah we learn: Just as for Joshua the sun was advanced, as we find explicitly in Scripture, so too for Moses the sun was advanced.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: It is derived [this matter is learned] through a

gzerah shavah:

“To put”—

“to put.”

It is written here,

concerning Moses’ war with Sihon:

“I shall begin to put your dread,” and it is written there,

concerning Joshua’s war:

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

Rabbi Yohanan said:

This matter is not learned through a gzerah shavah, but

it is derived from the body of the verse [this matter is learned from the body of the verse].

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

As it is said later in the verse cited above, “This day I shall begin to put your dread, and so on”:

“When they hear the report of you, they shall tremble and be in anguish before you.”

When did they tremble and become anguished

the nations

before you—

when the sun was 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 upon one city, and upon one city I will not cause rain.”

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 the city upon which abundant rain fell, the abundance of rain will ruin the produce. And in the city upon which rain does not fall, the produce does not grow.

For in a city upon which excessive rain fell, the abundance of rain will ruin the crops; and in a city upon which rain does not fall, the crops do not grow.

And since we have brought a verse whose plain meaning is that one city will have a blessing, but in truth it too is for a curse—

the Gemara brings another verse whose plain meaning is for a curse, but in truth it is a blessing.

It is written in the Scroll of Lamentations:

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

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

What the prophet compared Jerusalem to a menstruant woman—

is a blessing. Jerusalem is

like a menstruating woman.

like a menstruant woman.

Just as a menstruant woman,

although she is forbidden now,

has a permitted status

after some time,

so too Jerusalem,

although now she is despised,

has a remedy

in the future.

It is further 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 truly a widow.

Rather,

she is

like a woman whose husband went to a country across the sea, and whose intention is to return to her.

For at present she is like a widow, dwelling without a husband, but she is not truly like a widow, because 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 Divine Presence does not dwell within her. But in the future it will return and dwell in 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—in truth

is a blessing

it is.

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 [A0292]]they do not appoint from us, from the people of Israel,

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

river-heads [A0294]]tax collectors,

tax collectors],

or gazirifti [A0296]]policemen.

soldiers and police officers].

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

“And the Lord shall strike Israel as the reed is swayed in the water.”

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav:

That which the prophet compared Israel to a reed, although he said, “And the Lord shall strike, etc.”—

for a blessing

it is.

For Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: What is written

in the Book of Proverbs:

“Faithful are the wounds of a lover, and abundant are

the kisses of a hater”

—that is, the lover, although he wounds, intends for the good; whereas the hater, although he kisses, intends for evil—

Better

the

curse with which Ahijah the Shilonite cursed Israel

—for this is “the wounds of a lover,” since Ahijah loved Israel—than what he said to them: “And the Lord shall strike Israel as the reed is swayed in the water”—

more than the blessing with which the wicked Balaam blessed them

—for this is “the kisses of a hater,” since Balaam hated Israel—as he said to them: “Like cedars beside water.”

And now the Gemara explains the matter.

Ahijah the Shilonite cursed them

—he cursed Israel—

with

a comparison to a

reed.

For he

said to Israel: “And the Lord shall strike Israel as the reed is swayed.”

And this comparison, although it appears to be for a curse—for a blessing it is.

For

just as this reed stands in a place of water

, and its stalk is renewed, and its roots are numerous, and even if all the winds in the world come and blow against it—

they do not move it from its place, but it goes and comes with them

with the winds, because of its flexibility.

And therefore,

at the moment when

the winds subsided—

the reed stood in its place,

and it was not harmed at all.

But the wicked Balaam blessed them with

a comparison to a

cedar.

As it is stated: “Like cedars

beside water.”

And this comparison, although it appears to be a blessing—for a curse it is.

For

just as this cedar does not stand in a place of water, and its stalk is not renewed, and its roots are not numerous, 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 exceedingly strong, since the cedar is not flexible, but strong and hard,

it uproots it

the wind from its place—

and overturns it on its face.

And not only that, but

there is another advantage in the reed.

For the reed merited to have a pen taken from it ,

and

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

the reed has an additional advantage.

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

in his conduct with people,

and he should not be hard like a cedar.

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

The beraita brings an incident from which it is proven how much a person must take care to conduct himself with flexibility like a reed, and not be hard 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 sat there for a long time and studied Torah,

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

in order to rejoice and take pleasure.

And he rejoiced with great rejoicing, and his mind became haughty

over him

, because he had learned much Torah.

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