דף 26

So-and-so keva’a from me. Levi did not understand what that man was saying to him, as he did not know the meaning of the word kava. So he went and asked in the study hall. They said to him: That man said to you: He robbed me, as it is written: “Will a man rob [hayikba] God?” (Malachi 3:8). Rava from a place called Barnish said to Rav Ashi: Had I been there in Levi’s place I would have tried to uncover the meaning of the word in a different way, for I would have said to him: How did he keva’a you? With what did he keva’a you? And why did he keva’a you? And from his answers I would have understood on my own what was being said. The Gemara comments: And Levi, who did not do this, thought that the man was talking about a matter of prohibition and not a monetary matter, and so asking the man these questions would not have helped, as they are relevant only to monetary matters.

The Gemara continues its discussion of unusual words: The Sages did not know the meaning of the word seirugin, which is found in a mishna. One day they heard the maidservant in Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house say to the Sages whom she saw entering the house not all at once, but intermittently: How long shall you enter seirugin seirugin? and from this they understood that the word seirugin means: At intervals.

It is similarly recounted that the Sages did not know the meaning of the word ḥaloglogot, which is mentioned in various mishnayot and baraitot. One day they heard the maidservant in Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house say to a certain man whom she saw scattering his purslane plants: How long shall you scatter your ḥaloglogot? So they understood that ḥaloglogot means purslane.

The Sages also did not know the meaning of the word salseleha in the verse: “Salseleha and it will exalt you” (Proverbs 4:8). One day they heard the maidservant in Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house say to a certain man who was curling his hair: How long shall you mesalsel your hair? And from this they understood that the verse means: Turn wisdom about, and it will exalt you.

It is further related that the Sages did not know the meaning of the words in the verse: “And sweep it [vetetetiha] with the broom [matatei] of destruction” (Isaiah 14:23). One day they heard the maidservant in Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s house saying to her workmate: Take a broom [tateita] and sweep [ta’ati] the house,” and they understood the meaning of these words.

The Sages also did not know the meaning of the word yehavkha in the verse: “Cast your load [yehavkha] upon the Lord and He will sustain you” (Psalms 55:23). Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: One day I was traveling with a certain Arab [Tayya’a], and I was carrying a load, and he said to me: Take your yehav and cast it on my camel, and from this I understood that yehav means a load.

MISHNA: The shofar that was used on Rosh HaShana in the Temple was made from the straight horn of an ibex, and its mouth, the mouthpiece into which one blows, was plated with gold. And there were two trumpets, one on each of the two sides of the person sounding the shofar. The shofar would sound a long blast, whereas the trumpets would sound a short blast, because the mitzva of the day is with the shofar.

And in contrast, the shofarot used on public fast days were made from the curved horns of rams, and their mouths were plated with silver. There were two trumpets in the middle between the shofarot, and the shofar would sound a short blast, whereas the trumpets would sound a long blast, for the mitzva of the day is with the trumpets.

Yom Kippur of the Jubilee Year is the same as Rosh HaShana with regard to both the shofar blasts that are sounded and the additional blessings that are recited in the Amida prayer. Rabbi Yehuda disagrees and says: There is a difference between the two days: On Rosh HaShana one blows with horns of rams, whereas in Jubilee Years one blows with horns of ibexes.

GEMARA: Rabbi Levi said: The mitzva of Rosh HaShana and of Yom Kippur of the Jubilee Year is to blow with curved shofarot, and that of the rest of the year, on fast days, is to blow with straight shofarot. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But didn’t we learn differently in the mishna: The shofar that was used on Rosh HaShana was made from the straight horn of an ibex? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Levi said his statement in accordance with the opinion of that tanna, Rabbi Yehuda, as it was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda says: On Rosh HaShana they would blow with the curved horns of rams, and on the Days of Atonement of the Jubilee Years with the horns of ibexes.

The Gemara asks: If so, let it simply say that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda. Why was it necessary to quote the baraita in full, as if it provided new information? The Gemara explains: If you had said that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, I would have said that he, Rabbi Levi, holds in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda even with regard to the shofar used in the Jubilee Year, i.e., that one must blow with the horn of ibexes at that time. Therefore, the Gemara teaches us that he agrees with Rabbi Yehuda only with regard to Rosh HaShana, and not with regard to any other matter.

The Gemara asks: With regard to what principle do these tanna’im disagree? One Sage, Rabbi Yehuda, holds that on Rosh HaShana the more a person bends his mind and humbles himself by bending in prayer, the better. Therefore, a curved shofar is sounded as an allusion to our bent minds and bodies. But on Yom Kippur, the more a person straightens his mind and prays with simplicity, the better. Therefore, a straight shofar is sounded. The other Sage, the anonymous tanna of the mishna, maintains the opposite: On Rosh HaShana, the more a person straightens his mind and avoids any crookedness, the better. On fasts, on the other hand, the more a person bends his mind and humbles himself, the better.