Taanit 9a (ט.) — 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 meaning of the doubled expression

“You shall surely tithe”?

Tithe your produce— in order

that

you become wealthy .

Rabbi Yohanan encountered the child of Reish Lakish [ Rabbi Yohanan met Reish Lakish’s child, who was his sister’s son]. This occurred after Reish Lakish’s death, as will be explained below. He said to him Rabbi Yohanan: Tell me your verse [ tell me a verse that you have learned]!

so that]

you will become wealthy.

He said to him

the child:

“You shall surely tithe.”

He said to him

the child

to Rabbi Yohanan:

And what is the meaning of “You shall surely tithe”?

the young boy:

He said to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

Tithe— in order that you become wealthy.

He said to him

the child: From where do you know [

how do you know that this is indeed so]?

He said to him

Rabbi Yohanan:

Go and test it [

go and test 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 [ is it not stated], “You shall not test the Lord your God”! He said to him Rabbi Yohanan: This [ is what Rabbi Hoshaya said]: Indeed, it is forbidden to test the Holy One, blessed be He. But this prohibition applies to everything—

How do you know that this is indeed so]?

Rabbi Yohanan said to him:

Rabbi Yohanan

“Go and test it”

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

except for this ,

the giving of a tithe. For concerning this matter the verse explicitly states 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, and let there be food in My House , and test Me with this —said the Lord of Hosts—if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without limit.” What is the meaning of the expression “without limit”? Rami bar Hama said that Rav said: “ ‘Without limit’—that is, until they wear out. The blessing will be so abundant that your lips will wear out from saying, ‘Enough.’” That is, the blessing will be so abundant that you will constantly say, “Enough.” You will say “Enough” so many times that your lips will wear out from it . He said to him the child: If I had reached that verse [ if I had reached the book of Malachi in my studies and learned that verse, “Bring the entire tithe, etc.”]— I would not have needed you or your teacher Hoshaya [ I would not have needed you to tell me this, nor would I have needed your teacher Hoshaya, whose words you cited]. And again he encountered [ on another occasion he found]

Is it really permitted to test the Holy One, blessed be He]?

“But it is written,”

and is it not stated]

“You shall not test the Lord!”

Rabbi Yohanan said to him:

Rabbi Yohanan:

“This is how

Rabbi Hoshaya said

it”:

Indeed, it is forbidden to test the Holy One, blessed be He. But this prohibition applies in all matters—

except this one, namely, giving a tithe, because concerning this matter the verse explicitly states 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 with this

says the Lord of Hosts: If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing without limit.”

Rabbi Yohanan the child of Reish Lakish sitting [

sitting]

and saying

the verse in Proverbs:

“The folly of a person perverts his way, and his heart rages against the Lord.”

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?

Rabbi Yohanan sat and wondered [

Rabbi Yohanan sat and was perplexed by this verse].

He said: Is there anything written in the Writings that is not alluded to in the Torah [ is there anything written in the Writings] , and not alluded to by Moses in the Torah? After all, the Pentateuch is the foundation of the Prophets and the Writings! He said to him the child: Is this not indeed alluded to [ is this matter not alluded to in the Torah]? But it is written [ is it not written] concerning Joseph’s brothers, when they went up to their father Jacob and, on the way, found their money in the mouths of their sacks: “Their hearts failed them, and they trembled, each man to his brother, saying, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’” That is, they wondered at the misfortune that had befallen them and asked why the Lord had done this to them . In truth, this was punishment for their sin in selling Joseph .

the young boy:

“If I had reached that verse

If I had reached the Book of Malachi in my studies and had learned that verse, “Bring the entire tithe, and so on]—

I would not have needed you or your teacher Hoshaya

I would not have needed you to tell me this, nor would I have needed your teacher Hoshaya, in whose name you said it].

And another time he encountered

and once again he found]

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 [

he gazed at him].

His mother came—

and took him away [

the child’s mother came and removed him from before Rabbi Yohanan].

She said to him: Come away from him, lest he do to you as he did to your father [

come and leave his presence, so that he does not do to you what he did to your father]. He had cast his eyes upon him and caused his death ,

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. This refers, for example, to someone who sowed after everyone else had sown, and only he now needs rain, or to a single Jew among gentiles. Even if the rest of Israel do not need rain, 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 . If many people need an abundance, so that blessing should be sent upon their produce, then, if they are worthy, the Holy One, blessed be He sends them blessing. But if only one individual needs it, the Holy One, blessed be He does not alter the decree of the year for his sake; rather, it remains according to the blessings that were established for it at the outset.

“Is this not, in fact, hinted at in the Torah?”

Does this matter not have an allusion 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 found their money in the mouths of their sacks on the way:

“Their hearts failed them, 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 misfortune that had happened to them and asked why God had done this to them. In truth, this was punishment for their sin in selling Joseph.

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

they lifted his eyelashes

They raised the eyelashes that lay over and covered his eyes, using silver forks, so that he could see], and

he looked at him

and gazed at him].

His mother came—

and took him away

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

She said to him: “Come away from him, so that he does not do to you what he did to your father”

Come and leave his presence, so that he does not do to you what he did to your father]. He fixed his eyes upon him and caused his death, as stated in tractate Bava Metzia [84a].

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Rain

comes into the world even

for the sake of a single person

who needs it. This refers, for example, to someone who sowed after everyone else had sown and is now the only one who needs rain, or to a single Jew among non-Jews. Even if the rest of Israel does not need rain, 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.

If many people need an abundant harvest, then, if they merit it, the Holy One, blessed be He sends them blessing. But if only one person needs it, the Holy One, blessed be He does not alter the decree of the year for him; rather, it remains according to the blessings that were established for it at the outset.

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, assists even an individual, so that his crops will not be inferior to those 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 know this?

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”.

Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings down rain even for the needs of a single individual.

That

sustenance

comes specifically

on account of the many,

we learn from

as it is written

with regard to the descent of the manna in the wilderness:

“I am going to rain down bread for you.”

Thus, it is specifically for the needs of the many that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings blessing.

The Gemara raises an objection: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: Three providers [appointed officials who attended to the needs of the community]

[appointed leaders who attended to the needs of the community]

of great merit arose for Israel.

These are:

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 traveled with Israel, from which water flowed, came

in the merit of Miriam .

The pillar of cloud

came

in the merit of Aaron.

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

The manna,

the food of Israel during their stay in the wilderness, came

in the merit of Moses.

When

Miriam died,

the well vanished,

because it had come in her merit.

As it is stated: “And Miriam died there,” and immediately afterward it is written

:

“And there was no water for the assembly.”

Moses then struck the rock, but it did not yield its water for his sake, since Miriam had died.

And it returned,

the well afterward,

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

As it is stated, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: “You both shall speak to the rock, and it will give its water.”

When Aaron died,

the Clouds of Glory vanished

that had surrounded Israel in the wilderness and had come in Aaron’s merit.

As it is stated

after Aaron died:

“And the king of Arad, the Canaanite, heard

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

What report [which report]

[what report]

did

the Canaanite king of Arad hear, that caused him to come and fight against Israel?

He heard that Aaron had died, and

because of this

the Clouds of Glory vanished

that had come in his merit ,

and he thought

that

he had been given permission to fight against Israel.

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: “And all the assembly saw that Aaron had perished.”

Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read “vayiru,”

the language of seeing,

but “vayeira’u” ,

the language of becoming visible. For when Aaron died, the Clouds of Glory that had surrounded Israel vanished and they became visible to everyone .

This exposition is formulated

as expounded by

[as

Resh Lakish expounds].

For Resh Lakish said:

The word

“ki” serves

in the Torah

in

each of

four

the

meanings

listed below:

a. Sometimes it comes in place of the word

“i” [if],

b. Sometimes it comes in place of the word

“dilma” [perhaps],

c. Sometimes it comes in place of the word

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

d. And sometimes it comes in place of the word

“deha” [for]. As in the verse cited above: “And all the assembly saw that Aaron had perished.” That is, the assembly of Israel became visible, for Aaron had died and the Clouds of Glory had vanished .

[that is, contradicting the preceding statement],

d. And sometimes it takes the place of the word

“deha”

[for]. As in the verse cited above: “The entire assembly saw that Aaron had died.” This means that the assembly of Israel became visible, for Aaron had died and the clouds of glory had disappeared .

Both returned,

the well and the Clouds of Glory ,

in the merit of Moses.

Evidently,

And when

Moses died,

they all vanished.

And from where do we know that they indeed vanished upon his death?

As it is stated: “And I will cut off

the three shepherds in one month [in one month]

[in one month]

.”

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

This 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, while Moses

died in

the month of

Adar!

Rather, it teaches [the verse teaches us]

[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—were nullified,

and all vanished in one month,

in the month of Adar, when Moses died.

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

Apparently,

this shows us that

we find

[that] sustenance is given

on account of a single individual!

The Gemara answers:

Moses is different

[different]

because

, since he was needed by the many

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

he is considered like the many

[he is regarded as the many] .

Rav Huna bar Menoaḥ, Rav Shmuel bar Idi, and Rav Ḥiyya of Vostania

[this is the name of a place]

were frequent before Rava

[they regularly appeared 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].

Whenever he would state a teaching to them 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 convincing].

His mind was weakened

[Rav Pappa’s mind was weakened], because this affronted his honor.