דף 8

say them with calmness so that they will accept instruction from him. Rav Ashi said: I did not hear this statement of Rabba bar bar Ḥana, and yet I fulfilled it through my own reasoning.

Rabbi Abbahu says: A person should never impose excessive fear upon the members of his household, as a great man imposed excessive fear upon his household and they fed him something that carried a great prohibition.

The Gemara asks: And who was this individual? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamliel. The Gemara asks: Would it enter your mind to say that they actually fed him forbidden food? Now consider that the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not cause an error to be performed through the animals of the righteous. With regard to the righteous themselves is it not all the more so? How can you say that Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamliel ate forbidden food?

Rather, it means that they sought to feed him something that carried a great prohibition. And what was this? A limb from a living animal. One day the animal they brought him was missing a limb, and as the members of his household were very fearful they severed a limb from a living animal to make his meal appear whole, and he almost ate it.

§ After mentioning letters sent from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia and the issue of scoring parchment, the Gemara relates: Mar Ukva, the Exilarch in Babylonia, sent a letter to Rabbi Elazar, who was in Eretz Yisrael, in which the following was written: With regard to people who stand over and torment me, and I have the power to deliver them into the hands of the government, what is the halakha? May I hand them over to the authorities or not?

Rabbi Elazar scored parchment and wrote to him the following verse: “I said: I will take heed to my ways, that I do not sin with my tongue; I will keep a curb upon my mouth, while the wicked is before me” (Psalms 39:2). Rabbi Elazar quoted this verse to allude to the following response: Even though “the wicked is before me,” “I will keep a curb upon my mouth.”

Mar Ukva sent word to him again: They are tormenting me a great deal and I cannot stand them. Rabbi Elazar sent to him in response: “Resign yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently [hitḥolel] for Him; do not fret yourself because of he who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass” (Psalms 37:7). This verse indicates: “Resign yourself to the Lord,” i.e., do not do anything, and He will strike them down as many corpses [ḥalalim]. Rise before and stay later than them in your visits to the study hall, and they will disappear on their own. The Gemara relates: The matter emerged from the mouth of Rabbi Elazar, and Geneiva, Mar Ukva’s tormentor, was placed in a neck iron [kolar], as one sentenced by the government.

The Gemara further relates: They sent the following question to Mar Ukva: From where do we derive that song is forbidden in the present, following the destruction of the Temple? He scored parchment and wrote to them: “Rejoice not, O Israel, to exultation, like the peoples” (Hosea 9:1).

The Gemara asks: And let him send them a response from here: “They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them who drink it” (Isaiah 24:9), indicating that song is no longer allowed. The Gemara answers: If he had answered by citing that verse, I would say that this matter applies only to instrumental music, in accordance with the previous verse: “The mirth of tabrets ceases, the noise of them who rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases” (Isaiah 24:8); however, vocal song is permitted. Therefore, Mar Ukva teaches us that all types of song are forbidden.

In connection to the incident in which Mar Ukva was instructed not to take revenge against his tormentors, the Gemara relates similar discussions. Rav Huna bar Natan said to Rav Ashi: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Kina, and Dimonah, and Adadah” (Joshua 15:22)? He said to him: The verse is listing the cities of Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Huna said to him: Is that to say that you think I don’t know that the verse is listing the cities of Eretz Yisrael? This is certainly the straightforward meaning of the verse. Rather, Rav Geviha from Argiza said an explanation of this verse, suggesting that it is an allusion to the following idea: Anyone who harbors jealousy [kina] toward another, and yet remains silent [domem], He who dwells for all eternity [adei ad] performs judgment on his behalf.

Rav Ashi said to him: If that is so, you should also expound the verse: “Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah” (Joshua 15:31), in a similar manner. Rav Huna said to him: If Rav Geviha from Bei Argiza was here, he would say an explanation for it. The Gemara relates: Rav Aḥa from Bei Ḥoza’a said this about that verse: Anyone who has a complaint against another over a sip [tza’akat legima], i.e., he has a claim that someone did not give him food, and remains silent [domem], the One who dwells in the burning bush [seneh] performs judgment on his behalf.

The Exilarch said to Rav Huna: From where do we derive that it is prohibited to place a garland on a groom’s head? Rav Huna said to him: It is prohibited by rabbinic law, as we learned in a mishna (Sota 49a): In the war [pulmus] of Vespasian they decreed upon the garlands of bridegrooms, meaning that bridegrooms may no longer wear garlands, and they decreed upon the drum [irus], meaning they also banned the playing of drums.

In the meantime Rav Huna stood to relieve himself, and after he left, Rav Ḥisda, who had not spoken up to that point out of reverence for his teacher, Rav Huna, said to the Exilarch: A verse is written with regard to this matter: “Thus says the Lord God: The mitre shall be removed, and the garland taken off; this shall no more be the same; that which is low shall be exalted, and that which is high abased” (Ezekiel 21:31).

But in what way is a mitre connected to a garland? These two are not placed on the head of the same type of person. Rather, this verse serves to say to you: When the mitre is found on the head of the High Priest, i.e., when the Temple is standing, then a garland may be found on the head of every man at his wedding. However, once the mitre is removed from the head of the High Priest, the garland is removed from the head of every man.

In the meantime, Rav Huna came back and he found them sitting and discussing this matter. He said to Rav Ḥisda in the form of an oath: By God! This prohibition applies by rabbinic law. However, your name is Ḥisda and your words find favor [ḥisda’in], as you have discovered a fine source for this halakha.

The Gemara relates: Ravina found Mar bar Rav Ashi braiding a garland for his daughter upon her marriage. He said to him: Doesn’t the Master hold in accordance with the aforementioned halakha derived from the verse: “The mitre shall be removed and the garland taken off”? He said to him: This prohibition was stated in reference to one who is similar to a High Priest, and is only applicable with regard to men. However, with regard to women, the Sages did not issue this decree.

With regard to the above verse, the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the expression: “This shall no more be the same”? Rabbi Avira interpreted this verse homiletically. Sometimes he would say it in the name of Rav Ami, and sometimes he would say it in the name of Rav Asi: When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people at the time of the destruction of the Temple: “Remove the mitre and take off the garland,” the ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, is this the appropriate treatment for the Jewish people, who, at the giving of the Torah at Sinai, preceded the statement of: “We will do” to the statement: “We will hear” (Exodus 24:7)?

God said to them: Is this not appropriate for the Jewish people, who lowered the exalted and who exalted the lowly, i.e., they did not serve God, and instead worshiped idols when they established an idol in the Sanctuary? This response is alluded to in the verse: “This shall no more be the same.”

The Gemara cites another statement by the same Sages. Rav Avira interpreted a verse homiletically. Sometimes he would say it in the name of Rav Ami, and sometimes he would say it in the name of Rav Asi: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Thus says the Lord: Though they be in full strength [shelemim], and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away; and though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more” (Nahum 1:12). This means: If a person sees that his sustenance is limited he should use it for charity, and all the more so when it is plentiful. In other words, if his livelihood has finished [nishlam] he should perform charity, and he should certainly act in this manner if his means are plentiful.

The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: “Even so shall they be cut down [nagozzu], and he shall pass away”? A Sage from the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Anyone who shears off [gozez] some of his property and performs charity with it will be saved from the judgment of Gehenna. The Gemara offers a parable that compares this case to two sheep that were passing through the water. One of them was shorn and the other one was unshorn. The shorn sheep crossed to the other side, but the unshorn sheep did not cross, as its wool absorbed the water and it drowned. Similarly, one who shears off his property and gives it as charity will not descend to Gehenna.