Yoma 75b (עה:) — the Talmud in English

The bread that they requested appropriately,

since it is impossible to do without it; therefore

it was given to them appropriately,

in the morning, and they had time to prepare it.

From here the Torah teaches proper conduct: A person should eat meat only at night.

And we challenge this:

But didn’t Abaye say: In the case of one who has a meal,

he should not eat it

he should eat it

except during the day!?

And we answer: He should eat it by the light of a torch, which is

similar to daytime—

that is what we are saying.

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said: Initially, the Israelites resembled

in their eating habits

chickens, which peck

all day

in refuse.

Until Moses came and established set times for their meals,

one in the morning and one in the evening.

The Gemara now explains that there is no contradiction between the verses concerning the quail:

In the Book of Numbers, in the passage concerning Kivrot HaTa’ava [chapter 11, verse 33], the verse states:

“The meat was still between their teeth,

before it was chewed, and the anger of the Lord flared against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very mighty plague.”

And

on the other hand

it is written

earlier [in verse 20], where God promised Israel that they would eat the meat of the quail

for an entire month.

How

do the two verses accord with one another?

Rather, this is what happened:

The intermediate ones—

immediately,

at once

died.

The wicked

were

suffering continually for an entire month.

The Gemara now explains the verse stated there, concerning Kivrot HaTa’ava: "

“They gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten ḥomarim, and they spread them out around the camp.”

“And they spread them out”—

Reish Lakish said: Do not read, ‘vayishtĕḥu,’ rather “

“—but rather

vayishḥĕṭu.”

This teaches

the verse

that the enemies of Israel became liable [a euphemistic expression referring to the people of Israel]

[a euphemistic expression referring to the people of Israel]

to slaughter

because they requested meat for their appetites.

“Spread out”—

A tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa: Do not read, ‘shatu’aḥ,’ rather, ‘shatuḥ’.”

This teaches that

the quail that

descended for Israel together with the manna

itself was

something requiring ritual slaughter.

Rabbi said: And is it from here that you learn

that there is an obligation of ritual slaughter for a bird?

But it was already stated [Psalms 78]

[Psalms 78]

“He rained meat upon them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.”

And since this verse in Psalms makes clear that the quail mentioned in the Torah is a species of bird, it is not possible that the verse in the Torah came to teach that the quail requires ritual slaughter, since this matter is a halakha given to Moses from Sinai.

And it was taught in a baraita: Rabbi says: [Deuteronomy 12]

[Deuteronomy 12]

“And you shall slaughter as I have commanded you”—

the wording

of the verse, “as I have commanded you,” which does not explain how the slaughter is performed,

teaches that Moses was commanded

orally

concerning

the slaughter of

the esophagus, and

the slaughter of

the trachea, and

the slaughter of

the majority

of one of the

organs [the esophagus or the trachea]

[the esophagus or the trachea]

in a bird, and

the slaughter of

the majority of the two

organs

in an animal.

Rather, what is the meaning of the word “spread out”?

It teaches that the quail descended for them

the quail onto the ground

in layers upon layers,

in spread-out layers.

It is written [Exodus 16] “

“[Exodus 16] “Behold, I am raining down for you

bread

from the heavens.”

And it is written “

“and its taste was like the taste of

oil”

and it is written “

“and its taste was like a wafer in

honey.”

How is this possible?

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: For the young—

bread.

For the elderly—

oil.

For children—

honey.

Each one received what was appropriate for him.

It is written shalav, but it is read salav.

Rabbi Ḥanina said: The righteous eat it in tranquility; the wicked eat it, and it seems to them like silvin,

thorns.

Rav Ḥanin bar Rava said: There are four species of salav, and these are they: shikhlei, kibalei, pasyonei, and shalav.

The finest of them all—

shikhlei.

The poorest of them all—

shalav.

And it was like a small bird,

a small bird,

and they would place

and they would place

it

to roast it

in the oven.

And

because of its abundant fat it would

swell

and become thick,

and it would fill the oven.

And they would place it

and set it down while it dripped with fat

on thirteen loaves,

one atop another; and it was impossible to eat them because of the fat absorbed into them.

And

even the

last loaf [which could in fact be eaten]

[which could in fact be eaten],

could not be eaten

by itself, since it too was full of fat,

but only when mixed with other food.

As for Rav Yehuda—

there would be found for him,

quail birds would be provided for him from Heaven

between his barrels,

between his barrels.

As for Rav Ḥisda—

there would be found for him among the wood,

in the place of the wood.

Rava,

the student and son-in-law of Rav Ḥisda—

would have

would bring

his tenant bring him every day,

quail from the field.

One day he did not bring any.

Rava

Rava said:

What is this,

that he did not bring quail today?

Rava went up

Rava

to the roof,

to the roof of his house,

and heard a young child

heard a small child

reciting

the verse in Habakkuk [chapter 3]

“I heard—

and my belly trembled.”

Rava

Rava said:

Infer from this,

from the fact that they did not bring me quail today and from the verse that the child recited for me, that: א.

from the fact that they did not bring me quail today and from the verse that the child recited for me, that: .

Rav Ḥisda has died. ב.

Rav Ḥisda has died. .

And

because

the great one has been set apart

in the merit of the master [Rav Ḥisda, Rava’s teacher],

the student eats.

And now that Rav Ḥisda, who was my master, has died, I no longer have the merit to eat quail.

It is written [concerning the manna]

[concerning the manna]

“When the layer of dew rose,

and behold, upon the surface of the wilderness was a fine, flaky substance.” This implies that the dew was above the manna.

And

on the other hand

it is written [Numbers 11]

[Numbers 11]

“And when the dew descended

upon the camp, the manna descended upon it.””

How is this possible?

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: There was dew above and dew below,

with the manna in between,

like something placed in a box.

“A fine, flaky substance.”

Reish Lakish said:

this is an acronym:

Something that melts on the palm of the hand.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

it is an expression based on gematria:

Something that is absorbed

and does not leave the intestines

through two hundred

and forty-eight limbs,

corresponding to the numerical value of “maḥespas.”

And we ask: But the gematria of

“maḥuspās”—

is much more!

For altogether it equals 254!?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: “Maḥespas”

is written lacking the letter vav

in the text.

The Sages taught:

It is stated in Psalms [chapter 78] concerning Moses our teacher

“Man ate the bread of the mighty”—

that he ate

bread that the ministering angels eat; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva.

And when these words were reported before Rabbi Yishmael, he said to them: Go and tell Akiva: Akiva, you are mistaken!

Do the ministering angels eat bread?

But it was already stated

concerning Moses our teacher, that when he ascended on high, while he was among the angels [Deuteronomy 9]:

“I did not eat bread, and I did not drink water.”

Rather, how do I understand “

bread

of the mighty”?—

Bread that is absorbed by the 248 limbs,

and they do not need to relieve themselves.

Rather, how do I understand [Deuteronomy 23]

[Deuteronomy 23]

“And you shall have a peg among your implements,

and when you sit outside, you shall dig with it, and you shall turn back and cover your excrement”? But they did not excrete feces!

This matter resulted from eating

things that the merchants of the nations of the world sold to them.

Rabbi Elazar ben Perata says: Even the things that the merchants of the nations of the world sold to them were expelled by the manna,

and they too were absorbed by the limbs.

Rather, how do I understand “And you shall have a peg among your implements”?

After they sinned.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I had said that they would be like the ministering angels,

who do not need to relieve themselves.

Now,

since they complained about the manna, calling it “the miserable bread”—

I will trouble them

to go outside the camp.

And one who went from the beginning of the camp to its end had to pass through the entire camp, whose length was

three parasangs.

As it is written [Numbers 33]

[Numbers 33]

“And they encamped by the Jordan, from Beit-HaYeshimot to Abel-Shittim.”

And Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: I myself saw that place, and it was three parasangs long.

And a tanna taught: When they relieved themselves

outside the camp, behind the clouds,

they did not relieve themselves in front of them or to their sides,

because perhaps the cloud and the Ark within it would move toward the direction in which they were relieving themselves, and they would find themselves inside the camp.

Rather,

they relieved themselves

behind them

behind the clouds, since the clouds never moved backward. [במדבר יא]

[Numbers 11]

“And now our soul is dry; there is nothing.”

They said: In the future this manna will swell in their intestines. Is there anyone born of woman who takes in food but does not expel it?

The Vilna Gaon deletes this passage:

And when these words were reported before Rabbi Yishmael, he said to them: Do not read “abirim,” rather “evarim”—

something absorbed by the 248 limbs.

Rather, how do I understand, “And you shall have a peg among your implements”?—

With regard to things that come to them from overseas.

Thus far the Vilna Gaon deletes.