Taanit 22a (כב.) — the Talmud in English

In the morning they wrapped them up, took them, and went out to the marketplace [

In the morning, the Torah scholars wrapped the woolen mattresses, took them, and went out with them to the marketplace to sell them there] —

and found them [

and Abba the bloodletter found them there].

They said to him: Let the master appraise how much they are worth [

Appraise for us how much these mattresses are worth, and purchase them for yourself]!

The Sages wanted to test whether he would suspect them of being robbers, or whether he would appraise the mattresses at less than their value, so that he would not lose much by purchasing them from them even though they were his.

He said to them: Such and such [

They are worth such and such an amount].

They said to him: Perhaps they are worth more [

Perhaps they are worth more than that]?

He said to them: I purchased them for this amount [

I myself purchased them for this sum] .

They said to him: They are yours—

and we took them from you [

These mattresses are yours—we took them from you].

They said to him: Please, what did you suspect us of [

Please tell us: When you saw that we were attempting to sell your mattresses without your permission, what did you suspect us of]?

He said to them: I thought [

I said to myself], perhaps

an urgent opportunity to redeem captives had arisen for the Sages, and they were embarrassed to tell me [

Perhaps an urgent mitzva of redeeming captives had arisen for you, and you were embarrassed to tell me that you needed the money]. Therefore, you initially came to stay at my house, so that you could obtain money in some manner.

They said to him: Now let the master take them [

Now that it has become clear to you that we intended only to test you, take your mattresses].

He said to them: From that moment—

I dismissed them from my mind for charity [

From the moment I thought that you had taken the mattresses for the purpose of redeeming captives, I relinquished them and intended that they be used for charitable purposes].

The Gemara continues its account:

Rava’s spirits were troubled—

because of Abaye [

Rava’s spirits were troubled because of Abaye’s superior merit. For that divine voice came to Abaye once a week, whereas it came to Rava only once a year, on the eve of Yom Kippur].

He appeared to him in a dream [

Heavenly beings appeared to him in a dream], and

they said to him: It is enough for you that you protect the entire city [

It is sufficient for you that, through your merits, you protect all the inhabitants of your city] .

Rabbi Beroka Ḥoza’a [

who was from a place called “Bei Ḥozai”]

was frequently present in the marketplace of Bei Left [

he was often present in the marketplace of a place called “Bei Left”].

Elijah was frequently with him [

Elijah the prophet was often present there with him].

He said to him

Rabbi Beroka said to Elijah: Is there anyone in this marketplace who is a member of the World-to-Come [

Is there a person in this marketplace who is destined for the World-to-Come]?

He said to him: No.

There is no such person here .

Meanwhile [

In the meantime, while they were standing and speaking],

he saw a certain man who was wearing black shoes and did not place a thread of tekhelet in his garment [

Elijah saw a certain man who wore black shoes, unlike the practice of the Jews] , and he likewise did not have a thread of tekhelet attached to his garment . He said to him

to Rabbi Beroka:

This man

,

the man standing before us,

is a member of the World-to-Come

[a member of the World-to-Come]

indeed .

The Iyyun Yaakov explained that the reason this man was a member of the World-to-Come was that he brought merit to the masses. Whoever brings merit to the masses—sin does not come through his agency, and consequently he will be a member of the World-to-Come.

He called to him, but he did not come to him [

Rabbi Beroka called to him, but the man did not come to him].

He ran after him [

Rabbi Beroka ran after him].

He said to him

to that man:

What is your occupation [

What do you do? What is your work]?

He said to him

that man said to Rabbi Beroka:

Go now and come tomorrow [

Go now and return tomorrow], and then I will answer your questions.

The next day

Rabbi Beroka again met that man.

He said to him: What is your occupation [

What do you do]?

He said to him: I am a prison guard [

I guard a prison].

And I confine the men separately and the women separately [

I keep the men apart from the women],

and I place my bed between these and those [

I place my bed between the men and the women], that is, I sleep between the men and the women,

so that they will not come to transgression [

so that the men and women will not mingle and come to sin].

When I see a Jewish girl upon whom the gentiles cast their eyes

I risk my life—

and save her [

When I see among the prisoners a Jewish girl at whom the prison officials cast their eyes for the purpose of transgression, I risk my life and save her from the prohibition].

The man continued his account:

One day there was an engaged girl with us, upon whom the gentiles had cast their eyes [

One day there was an engaged girl in our prison, and the gentiles had cast their eyes upon her].

What I did to save her—

I took wine dregs and threw them at the hem of her garment [

I took wine dregs, which are red like blood, and threw them at the hem of her garment],

and I said [

so that those who saw her would think and say]:

She has her period [

She is menstruating ], and she is repulsive.

Rabbi Beroka said to him

:

Why [

Why do you not conduct yourself according to the practice of the Jews],

do you not have threads [

with tzitzit attached to your garment],

and do you wear black shoes [

and wear black shoes]?

He said to him: I go in and out among gentiles [

I enter and leave while among gentiles]. Therefore I do not conduct myself according to the practice of the Jews,

so that they will not know that I am a Jew [

so that the gentiles will not know that I am a Jew].

And for what purpose do I enter among the gentiles—

in order to hear their conversations and deliberations.

By doing so,

when they decree a decree [

when they decide to issue decrees against Israel],

I inform the Sages [

I inform the Sages of it],

and they plead for mercy and nullify their decree [

and they plead for mercy from Heaven, and the decrees are nullified].

Rabbi Beroka further asked him:

And why, when I asked you, “What is your occupation,” did you say to me, “Go now and come tomorrow” [

Why, when I asked you what you did, did you tell me to go now and return tomorrow]?

He said to him: At that time they were issuing a decree [

At that time I heard the gentiles issuing a decree against Israel].

And I thought [

and I said to myself],

First I will go and inform the Sages, so that they may plead for mercy concerning the matter [

First I will immediately go and inform the Sages of this, so that they may plead for mercy concerning it].

Meanwhile, two others came [

In the meantime, two more men arrived at the marketplace].

Elijah said to Rabbi Beroka

:

These two also are members of the World-to-Come [

These two too are members of the World-to-Come].

He went over to them [

Rabbi Beroka went over to those men].

He said to them: What is your occupation [

What do you do]?

They said to him: We are cheerful people; we cheer up the dejected [

We are cheerful and happy people, and we cheer up those who are sad] .

Alternatively

, we regularly do another thing:

When we see two people who have a quarrel between them [

when we see two people who are quarreling],

we exert ourselves and make peace between them [

we exert ourselves through humorous words and make peace between them] .

We learned in our Mishna:

For these calamities they sound the alarm everywhere, and so forth.

The Sages taught: For

these

following matters

they sound the alarm everywhere:

a.

For blight,

b.

and for yellowing,

,

c.

and for locusts and ḥasil,

d.

and for a dangerous animal.

Rabbi Akiva says: For blight and for yellowing,

even if they are seen

in any amount,

that is, in the smallest possible quantity—they sound the alarm .

Likewise, with regard to

locusts and ḥasil, even

if

only one wing is seen in the Land of Israel [

one of these creatures] ,

they sound the alarm over them.

We learned in our Mishna:

“And concerning a wild animal, etc.”

The Sages taught: The wild animal concerning which they said

that one sounds the alarm because of it applies specifically

when

we see

that it has been sent

by Heaven to cause harm—

one sounds the alarm because of it.

But if

it has not been sent,

but is merely walking in its usual manner—

one does not sound the alarm because of it.

We must now clarify

which

animal is considered

to have been sent, and which is—

not to have been sent.

That is, how do we know whether the animal has been sent by Heaven, so that we should sound the alarm because of it?

The beraita continues and explains:

If

the animal is seen

in a city—

it has

been sent

by Heaven, for animals do not ordinarily appear in a city, but only in their natural habitat, in the fields.

But if it is seen

in a field—

it has not been sent

by Heaven, since this is always its manner: to be in the field.

If it is seen

during the day—

it has

been sent

by Heaven.

But if it is seen

at night—

it has not been sent

by Heaven.

If

the animal sees

two people and runs [

and runs]

after them—

it has

been sent.

But if

the animal hides

from them—

it has not been sent.

If

it mauls [

killed]

two people and eats

only

one of them—

it has

been sent

by Heaven. For if not, why did it kill two people if it was hungry for only one?

It must certainly have been sent by Heaven to kill people!

But if

the animal eats

the

two of them [

the two people whom it killed]—

it has not been sent.

It killed both of them because it was hungry to eat two people.

If the animal ascends

to

the roof of the

roof and takes an infant from a cradle—

it has

been sent.

The Gemara now analyzes the words of the beraita.

The Gemara raises an objection:

The matter itself is difficult [

the words of the beraita themselves are difficult]!

You said

at first:

If it was seen in a city, it has been sent.

This implies that in every case,

it makes no difference [

it is no different] whether it was seen

during the day—

and it makes no difference

whether it was seen

at night,

if it was in a city, it has been sent.

And then,

later in the beraita,

you said: During the day it has been sent; at night—

it has not been sent.

This implies that if it was seen at night, even if it was in a city, it has not been sent!

The Gemara answers:

It is not difficult.

This is what he is saying [

this is what he said and this is what he intended]: the tanna of the beraita:

If

the animal is seen

in a city,

for example, it was seen

during the day,

since the ordinary meaning of the expression “it was seen” indicates that this occurred during the day—it has

been sent.

It follows that if it was seen

in a city at night—

it has not been sent.

For at night the animal is not wary, even in a city.

Alternatively,

there is another circumstance in which it is not considered to have been sent: if it was seen

in a field, even

if this was

during the day—

it has not been sent,

since that is its natural habitat.

The Gemara raises another objection to the beraita:

We learned:

If it saw two people and ran after them—

it has been sent.

This implies:

If

it saw two people but did not run after them, even though it remained

standing,

and did not flee and hide from them—

it has not been sent.

And then [

afterward, later in the Mishna]

you said: If it hid from them,

from those two people—

it has not been sent.

This implies:

If

it is

standing

in its place and does not flee and hide from them, it has

been sent!

The Gemara answers:

It is not difficult.

Here,

the implication of the first clause—that if it stood, even though it did not hide, it has not been sent—refers to

a field adjacent to a marsh [

a marsh is an area near the city, filled with thorns, where animals hide].

Since the animal is near its natural habitat, it does not flee. For it reasons that if people pursue it, it will immediately flee and hide from them.

Whereas

here,

the implication of the continuation of the Mishna—that if it stood, it has been sent—refers to

a field not adjacent to a marsh.

In such a situation, it is not usual for it to stand rather than flee. Since this animal does not flee, it is a sign that it has been sent by Heaven because of a decree.

We learned further in the beraita:

If it mauled two people at once

, and ate one of them—

it has been sent.

If it ate

both of them—

it has not been sent.

The Gemara wonders: How can the tanna say that if the animal ate two people, it has not been sent,

but you said

that

even

if it

ran [

ran] after people, although it did not maul anyone at all, it has been sent!

Rav Pappa said: When that was taught,

the statement taught by the tanna—that it has been sent specifically when it ate, but if it merely pursued them, it has not been sent—refers to

a marsh [

the marsh, the place where the animals are found]. Since it is in its natural habitat, it is not wary of pursuing people.

The text itself [

we learned in the body of the Mishna]:

If it ascended to the roof and took an infant from a cradle—

it has been sent.

The Gemara wonders:

Isn’t it obvious!

It is obvious that if an animal was so brazen as to climb onto the roof of a house inhabited by people and take an infant, it has certainly been sent!

Rav Pappa said:

This is not referring to a house located within a settlement. In such a case, it would indeed be obvious that it has been sent, and the tanna would not need to teach us this ruling.

Rather, the tanna is speaking of a house

like the dens of hunters [

a den, a structure used by hunters when they are not engaged in hunting], located in a field, where they hide in order to ambush birds and catch them.

And he teaches us that although this is not a permanent building, is not considered a settlement, and is located in the animals’ natural habitat—in the field, where the law is that if an animal is seen there, it has not been sent—

nevertheless, if an animal climbs onto the roof of that hunters’ den and takes an infant from a cradle, this is not its natural behavior, and it has been sent.

We learned in our Mishna:

“Concerning the sword, etc.”

The Sages taught: The sword concerning which they said

in our Mishna that one fasts because of it ,

the tanna need not

say

and teach this matter concerning a

sword that is not peaceful,

that is, a war coming against the Jewish people. For it is obvious that one sounds the alarm over this.

Rather,

the tanna means that

even concerning a

peaceful sword,

that is, an army that is not coming to fight the Jewish people, but is merely passing through the Land of Israel in order to fight elsewhere—one sounds the alarm .

And why must one sound the alarm over a peaceful sword, given that they are not coming to fight the Jewish people?

For

after all,

there is no peaceful sword more so than

the army of

Pharaoh Neco, and nevertheless he was defeated by it,

in that war,

King Josiah,

as will be recounted below.

As it is stated

when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, wished to pass through the Land of Israel in order to fight Assyria at the place called Carchemish, which is on the Euphrates River , and Josiah, king of Israel, went out to war against him in order to prevent him from passing through the Land of Israel: