Bava Batra

to the students of the Torah?  — Resh Lakish, however, adopts the exposition [of this verse] given [also] by Raba, viz. that 'I am a wall' refers to the community of Israel,  and 'my breasts are like towers', to synagogues and houses of study. R. Nahman b. R. Hisda  levied a poll tax on the Rabbis. Said R. Nahman b. Isaac to him: You have transgressed against the Law, the prophets, and the Holy Writings. Against the Law, where it says, Although  he loveth the peoples, all his saints are in thy hand.  Said Moses to the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe, even at the time when Thou fondlest [other] peoples,  let all [Israel's] saints be in Thy hand. [The verse proceeds,] And they are cut  at thy feet.  R. Joseph learned: These are the students of the Torah who cut their feet in going from town to town and country to country to learn the Torah. He shall receive of thy words:  alluding to their discussing the utterances of God.  You have transgressed against the Prophets, where it says, Yea, though they study  among the nations, now I shall gather them, and a few of them shall be free  from the burden of king and princes.  This verse, 'Ulla has told us, is written [partly] in Aramaic,  [and is to be expounded thus:] If they all study, I will gather them even now, and if only a few of them study, they [those few] shall be free from the burden of king and princes.  You have transgressed against the Holy Writings, as it is written, It shall not be lawful to impose upon them [the priests and Levites etc.] minda, belo, and halak  and Rab Judah has explained that minda means the king's tax, belo the poll tax, and halach denotes annona. R. Papa levied an impost for the digging of a new well on orphans [also]. Said R. Shesheth the son of R. Idi to R. Papa: perhaps no water will be found there?  — He replied: I will collect the money from them in any case. If water is found, well and good, and if not, I will refund them the money. Rab Judah said: All must contribute to the building of doors in the town gates, even orphans; not, however, the Rabbis, [since] they do not require protection. All must contribute to the digging of a well  [for a public fountain], including the Rabbis. This, however, is only when there is no corvee,  but when the digging is done by corvee, we do not expect the Rabbis to participate. Rabbi once opened his storehouse [of victuals] in a year of scarcity, proclaiming: Let those enter who have studied the Scripture, or the Mishnah, or the Gemara, or the Halachah, or the Aggada; there is no admission, however, for the ignorant.  R. Jonathan b. Amram pushed his way in and said, 'Master, give me food.' He said to him, 'My son, have you learnt the Scripture?' He replied, 'No.' 'Have you learnt the Mishnah?' 'No.' 'If so,' he said, 'then how can I give you food?' He said to him, 'Feed me as the dog and the raven are fed.'  So he gave him some food. After he went away, Rabbi's conscience smote him and he said: Woe is me that I have given my bread to a man without learning! R. Simeon son of Rabbi ventured to say to him: Perhaps it is Jonathan b. Amram your pupil, who all his life has made it a principle not to derive material benefit from the honour paid to the Torah. Inquiries were made and it was found that it was so; whereupon Rabbi said: All may now enter. Rabbi [in first refusing admission to the unlearned] was acting in accordance with his own dictum. For Rabbi said: It is the unlearned who bring misfortune on the world. A typical instance was that of the crown  for which the inhabitants of Tiberias were called upon to find the money. They came to Rabbi and said to him, 'Let the Rabbis give their share with us.' He refused. 'Then we will run away,' they said. 'You may,' he replied. So half of them [the 'am ha-ares] ran away. Half of the sum demanded was then remitted. The other half then came to Rabbi and asked him that the Rabbis might share with them. He again refused. 'We will run away,' they said. 'You may,' he replied. So they all ran away, leaving only a certain fuller. The money was then demanded of him, and he ran away, and the demand for the crown was then dropped. Thereupon Rabbi said: I see that trouble comes on the world only on account of the unlearned. HOW LONG MUST HE BE IN THE TOWN TO BE COUNTED AS ONE OF THE TOWNSMEN, etc. Does not this conflict with the following: 'If a caravan of asses or camels on its way from one place to another stays there  overnight and goes astray with the population, the members of the caravan are condemned to be stoned  but their property is left untouched; if, however, they have stayed there thirty days, they are condemned to death by the sword and their property is also destroyed'?  — Raba replied: There is no contradiction. The one period [twelve months is required], in order to make a man a full member  of the town, the other [makes him] only an inhabitant  of the town, as it was taught: If a man vows that he will derive no benefit from the men of a certain town, he must derive no benefit from anyone who has resided there twelve months, but he may derive benefit from one who has resided there less then twelve months. If he vows to derive no benefit from the inhabitants of the town, he may derive none from anyone who has resided there thirty days, but he may from one who has resided there less than thirty days. But is twelve months' residence required for all imposts? Has it not been taught: '[A man must reside in a town] thirty days to become liable for contributing to the soup kitchen,  three months for the charity box,  six months for the clothing fund, nine months for the burial fund, and twelve months for contributing to the repair of the town walls'? — R. Assi replied in the name of R. Johanan: Our Mishnah also in specifying the period of twelve months was thinking of the repair of the town walls. R. Assi further said in the name of R. Johanan: All are required to contribute to the repair of the town walls, including orphans, but not the Rabbis, because the Rabbis do not require protection. R. Papa said: For the repair of the walls, for the horse-guard  and for the keeper of the armoury  even orphans have to contribute, but the Rabbis [do not, since they] do not require protection. The general principle is that even orphans have to contribute for any public service from which they derive benefit. Rabbah levied a contribution for charity on the orphans of the house of Bar Merion; whereupon Abaye said to him: Has not R. Samuel b. Judah laid down that money for charity is not to be levied on orphans even for the redemption of captives? — He replied: I collect from them In order to give them a better standing. Ifra Hormizd the mother of King Shapur  sent a chest of gold coins to R. Joseph, with the request that it should be used for carrying out some really important religious precept. R. Joseph was trying hard to think what such a precept could be, when Abaye said to him: Since R. Samuel b. Judah has laid down that money for charity is not to be levied from orphans even for the redemption of captives, we may conclude