Taanit 9a — the Talmud in English

And Rabbi Yohanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written “

You shall surely tithe all the produce of your seed that comes forth in the field year by year,” what is the reason for the repetition of the wording

“You shall surely tithe”?

Even according to the one who says in tractate Bava Metzia [31b] that the Torah spoke in the language of human beings, and this is the way of human beings, to repeat their words, nevertheless, wherever it is possible to expound the repetition, they expound it. Maharsha.

Tithe

your produce —

for the sake of

in order

that you become wealthy .

Rabbi Yohanan encountered the child of Reish Lakish

[Rabbi Yohanan met the child of Reish Lakish, who was his sister’s son]. This incident took place after the death of Reish Lakish, as will be explained below.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Tell me your verse

[say to me a verse that you have learned]!

He said to him,

the child:

“You shall surely tithe.”

He said to him,

the child to Rabbi Yohanan:

And what is “You shall surely tithe”?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Tithe —

for the sake of becoming wealthy.

He said to him,

the child:

From where do you know

[from where do you know that this is indeed so]?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Go and try

[go and try it yourself], and you will see that this is indeed so .

He said to him,

the child:

And is it permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He

[is it indeed permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He]?

But it is written

[and is it not stated]

“You shall not test the Lord”!

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan:

Thus

[so]

said Rabbi Hoshaya:

Indeed, it is forbidden to test the Holy One, blessed be He. But this was said with regard to all matters —

except for this, the giving of tithe. For concerning this matter it is explicitly stated in the verse that it is permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He.

As it is stated

in the book of Malachi:

“Bring the entire tithe to the storehouse, so that there may be food in My House

, and test Me, please, with this

—said the Lord of Hosts—if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing without limit.”

What

is the meaning of

“without limit”?

the verse in Proverbs:

Rami bar Hama said in the name of Rav: “Until without” — meaning, until they wear out. The blessing will be so abundant

The meaning of the verse is: “The folly of a person perverts his way”—a person’s folly causes him to pervert his way and sin. And when punishment and misfortune befall him—“his heart rages against the Lord.” He becomes angry and says: Why has this misfortune happened to me?

that your lips will wear out from saying ‘Enough.’

That is, the blessing will be so abundant that you will say “enough” all the time. And you will say “enough” so many times that your lips will wear out [become worn] through this .

He said to him,

the child:

If I had reached there, to that verse

[if I had reached in my studies the book of Malachi, and had learned that verse, “Bring the entire tithe, etc.”] —

I would not have needed you or your Rabbi Hoshaya

[I would not have needed you to tell me the matter, nor would I have needed your Rabbi Hoshaya, whose words you quoted in his name].

And again he encountered

[on another occasion he found]

Rabbi Yohanan the child of Reish Lakish, who was sitting

[who was sitting]

and saying

the verse in the book of Proverbs:

“A person’s folly perverts his way, and his heart becomes angry with the Lord.”

And the meaning of the verse is: “A person’s folly perverts his way”—a person’s folly causes him to pervert his way and sin. And when punishment and affliction come upon him—“his heart becomes angry with the Lord,” for he becomes angry and says: Why did this affliction happen to me?

Rabbi Yohanan sat and was astonished

[Rabbi Yohanan sat and was astonished by this verse].

He said: Is there anything that is written in the Writings that is not hinted at in the Torah

[is there something written in the Writings ] and Moses did not hint at it in the Torah]? For the Pentateuch is the foundation of the Prophets and the Writings!

He said to him,

the child:

Is this not hinted at

[is this matter not hinted at in the Torah]?

But it is written

[and is it not written] concerning Joseph’s brothers, when they went up to their father Jacob, and on the way they found their money in the mouths of their sacks:

“Their hearts went out, and they trembled each man to his brother, saying, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’”

That is, they were astonished at the evil that had happened to them, and asked why the Lord had done this to them . And in truth, this was punishment for their sin in selling Joseph .

Rabbi Yohanan was impressed by the child’s sharp words and wanted to see him. Therefore

they lifted his eyes

[they raised his eyelashes, which lay over and covered his eyes, with silver forks, so that he could see]

and he looked at him

[and gazed at him].

His mother came —

she took him out

[the child’s mother came and took him out from before Rabbi Yohanan].

She said to him: Come away from before him, so that he does not do to you as he did to your father

[come and leave from before him, so that he does not do to you as he did to your father]. For he cast his eyes upon him and killed him , as is brought in tractate Bava Metzia [84a].

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Rain

comes into the world even

for the sake of a single individual

who needs it. That is, for example, if he sowed after everyone else had sown, and only he now needs rain, or if he is a single Jew among non-Jews. Even though the rest of Israel do not need rain, the rain falls for his sake.

But

livelihood,

that is, an abundance of goodness and sustenance for the entire world, comes only

for the sake of the many .

For if many need abundance, that blessing should be sent to their produce, then, if they merit it, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends them blessing. But if only one individual needs this, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not alter the decree of the year for his sake; rather, it remains according to the blessings established for it from the outset.

That is to say, the Holy One, blessed is He, assists even an individual, so that his produce should not be inferior to that of others. But He does not assist an individual in making his field produce more than usual, like a field of abundance.

And from where do we have this matter?

That

rain

comes

on account of an individual,

we learn from

as it is written: “The Lord will open for you His good treasury, to give the rain of your land”.

Behold, the Holy One, blessed is He, brings down rain even for the need of an individual.

That

sustenance

comes specifically

on account of the many,

we learn from

as it is written

concerning the descent of the manna in the wilderness:

“Behold, I am causing bread to rain down for you.”

Behold, specifically for the need of the many the Holy One, blessed is He, brings blessing.

The objection is raised: Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Judah says: Three good providers [appointed officials, occupied with the needs of the community]

stood for Israel.

These are they:

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

And three good gifts were given through them [through those three providers] to Israel.

And these are

those three gifts:

The well, the cloud, and the manna.

The well,

that rock which rolled along with Israel, and from which water flowed, came

through the merit of Miriam .

A pillar of cloud came through the merit of Aaron.

because of Miriam .

The pillar of cloud

came

The manna,

the food of Israel throughout their stay in the wilderness, came through the merit of Moses. When

Miriam died—

the well departed,

which had come through her merit.

As it is said: “And Miriam died there,” and it is written immediately afterward [and it is written immediately after that]:

“And there was no water for the congregation.”

And then Moses struck the rock, and it did not wish to let its waters flow for his sake, because Miriam had died.

And it returned

the well afterward

through the merit of both of them [through the merit of Moses and Aaron] .

As it is said, that the Holy One, blessed is He, said to them: “And you two shall speak to the rock, and it will give its waters.”

Aaron died—

the clouds of glory departed

which surrounded Israel in the wilderness, which had come through the merit of Aaron.

As it is said

after Aaron died:

“And the Canaanite, the king of Arad,

and so forth, and he fought against Israel and took a captive from him.”

that had surrounded Israel in the wilderness and had come because of Aaron.

As it is stated

What report [which report]

did

the Canaanite, the king of Arad, hear, on account of which he came to fight against Israel?

He heard that Aaron had died, and on account of this the clouds of glory departed which had come through his merit ,

and he thought

that

permission had been granted to him to fight against Israel.

He heard that Aaron had died, and

therefore

the clouds of glory disappeared

that had come because of him ,

And this is what is written: “And all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished.”

Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read “va-yiru,”

the expression of seeing,

but “va-yei’rau” , the expression of being exposed. For through Aaron’s death, the clouds of glory that surrounded Israel departed, and they were exposed to everyone’s eye . And this exposition is expounded as expounded by Resh Lakish. For Resh Lakish said: the word “ki” serves in the Torah in each of four the usages below: a. Sometimes it comes in place of the word

And this is what is written: “The entire assembly saw that Aaron had died.”

Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read it as “vayiru,”

the expression meaning “they saw,”

but as “vayeira’u” ,

the expression meaning “they became visible.” When Aaron died, the clouds of glory that had surrounded Israel disappeared, and the people became visible to everyone .

“i” [if],

b. At times it comes in place of the word

“dilma” [perhaps],

c. At times it comes in place of the word

“ela” [rather, that is, contradicting the preceding statement],

d. And at times it comes in place of the word

“deha” [for]. As in the verse that we brought above: “And all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished.” That is to say, the congregation of Israel became exposed, for Aaron had died and the clouds of glory had departed .

in the Torah

Both returned,

the well and the clouds of glory ,

through the merit of Moses.

the

And when

Moses died—

they all departed.

And from where do we know that indeed they departed at his death?

As it is said: “And I eliminated

the three shepherds in one month [in one month]

.”

And “the three shepherds” means Moses, Aaron, and Miriam .

And it is difficult: Did all three of them die in one month ? But Miriam died in the month of Nisan, and Aaron— in the month of Av, and Moses— in the month of Adar!

“ela”

[that is, contradicting the preceding statement],

d. And sometimes it takes the place of the word

Rather, it teaches [the verse teaches us]

that the three good gifts that were given through them were nullified [through Moses, Aaron, and Miriam], namely: the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna,

and they all departed in one month,

in the month of Adar, when Moses died.

In any event, we find that the manna descended through the merit of Moses alone.

Evidently,

behold, we have

found [we found] that

sustenance is given on account of an individual!

And the Gemara answers:

Moses is different [different]

Moses

, for since he is needed by the many [since he is needed by the many], although in essence he is an individual—

he is considered like the many [he is considered like the many] .

The “three shepherds” are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam .

Rav Huna bar Manoaḥ, Rav Shmuel bar Idi, and Rav Hiyya of Vostania [it is a place name],

were frequently before Rava [they were present before Rava],

studying Torah before him.

When Rava’s soul came to rest

Rava [when Rava died]—

they came before Rav Pappa [they came to study before Rav Pappa].

in

the month of

Av, and Moses

in

Whenever he would state a tradition to them and it did not seem reasonable to them [whenever Rav Pappa would state a tradition, and his words did not seem reasonable to them],

they would signal to one another [they would signal to one another] that the matter did not appear so.

His mind was weakened [Rav Pappa’s mind was weakened], for this involved an affront to his honor.

[the verse teaches us]

that the three good gifts given through them

[through Moses, Aaron, and Miriam], namely, the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna,

all disappeared in one month,

in the month of Adar, when Moses died.

In any event, we find that the manna fell because of Moses alone.

Apparently,

we have here

found

[we find] that

livelihood is given because of a single individual!

And the Gemara answers:

Moses is different

[is different]

because

since he was needed by the many,

[since he was needed by the many], although he was actually a single individual,

he is considered like the many

[he is considered like the many] .

Rav Huna bar Menah, Rav Shmuel bar Idi, and Rav Hiyya from Mavsethania

[which is a place name]

were frequently before Rava

[they were often in Rava’s presence], studying Torah before him.

When

Rava

[passed away]

they came before Rav Pappa

[they came to study before Rav Pappa].

Whenever he would state a teaching and it did not seem reasonable to them

[whenever Rav Pappa would state a teaching and his words did not seem reasonable to them],

they would signal to one another

[they would signal to one another] that the matter did not appear correct.

His mind was distressed

[Rav Pappa’s mind was distressed], because this was an affront to his honor.