Chullin

It was sifted, but the ass would not eat it. It was carefully picked; still the ass would not eat it. ‘Perhaps’, suggested R. Phinehas, ‘it is not tithed’? It was at once tithed, and the ass ate it. He, thereupon, exclaimed, ‘This poor creature is about to do the will of the Creator, and you would feed it with untithed produce’! But was it at all necessary [to be tithed]? Have we not learnt: He who buys [corn from an ‘am ha-ares] for sowing or for feeding animals, or flour for [preparing] hides, or oil for the lamp or for oiling vessels, need not tithe it because of demai?1 — Surely there has been reported on this [Mishnah] the dictum of R. Johanan that this is so only if one bought the corn specifically for animals; but if one bought it originally for human consumption and later decided to give it to animals, it must be tithed!2 And so it has been taught in a Baraitha, viz., He who buys fruit in the market for eating and decides later to use it for animals, may not give it either to his own animal or to his neighbour's animal without first tithing it. When Rabbi heard of the arrival of R. Phinehas, he went out to meet him. ‘Will you please dine with me’? asked Rabbi. ‘Certainly’, he answered. Rabbi's face at once brightened with joy;3 whereupon R. Phinehas said: ‘You imagine that I am forbidden by vow from deriving any benefit from an Israelite. Oh, no. The people of Israel are holy. Yet there are some who desire [to benefit others] but have not the means; whilst others have the means but have not the desire,4 and it is written: Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties; for as one that hath reckoned within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.5 But you have the desire and also the means. At present, however, I am in a hurry for I am engaged on a religious duty; but on my return. I will come and visit you’. When he arrived, he happened to enter by a gate near which were some white mules. At this he exclaimed: ‘The angel of death is in this house! Shall I then dine here’? When Rabbi heard of this, he went out to meet him. ‘I shall sell the mules’, said Rabbi. R. Phinehas replied: ‘Thou shalt not put a stumbling block before the blind’.6 ‘I shall abandon them’. ‘You would be spreading danger’. ‘I shall hamstring them’. ‘You would be causing suffering to the animals’. ‘I shall kill them’. ‘There is the prohibition against wanton destruction’.7 Rabbi was thus pressing him persistently, when there rose up a mountain between them. Then Rabbi wept and said. ‘If this is [the power of the righteous] in their lifetime, how great must it be after their death’! For R. Hanina b. Hama asserted: The righteous are more powerful after death than in life, for it is written. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet.8 Said R. Papa to Abaye: Perhaps [the restoration to life was] to fulfil Elijah's blessing, as it is written: Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me!9 — He replied: If so, why has it been taught: He stood upon his feet but walked not to his home?10 Wherein, then, was Elijah's blessing fulfilled? — As R. Johanan has said: He healed the leprosy of Naaman,11 leprosy being the equivalent of death, as it is written: Let her not, I pray, be as one dead.12 R. Joshua b. Levi said: Why are they [mules] called yemim?13 — Because they cast fear [emah]14 upon men. For R. Hanina has said: ‘No one has ever consulted me for a case of a wound from a white mule and has recovered’. But do we not see people recovering from it? — ‘I mean, never has the wound healed’. But do we not see cases where the wound has healed? — ‘I am referring to [a wound inflicted by] a white-legged mule’. There is none else beside Him:15 R. Hanina said: Even sorcery.16 A woman once attempted to cast a spell over R. Hanina.17 He said to her, ‘Try as you will, you will not succeed in your attempts, for it is written: There is none else beside Him’. Has not, however, R. Johanan declared: Why is sorcery called keshafim? Because it overrules [the decree of] the heavenly council?18 — R. Hanina was in a different category, owing to his abundant merit.19 R. Hanina further said: No man bruises his finger here on earth unless it was so decreed against him in heaven, for it is written: It is of the Lord that a man's goings are established.20 How then can man look to his way?21 R. Eleazar said: The blood of a bruise atones like the blood of a burnt-offering. Raba added: It is only the blood of a second bruising of the thumb of the right hand that atones, and then only if it happened to one who was about to do a religious act. It is related of R. Phinehas b. Jair that never in his life did he say grace over22 a piece of bread which was not his own;23 and furthermore, that from the day he reached years of discretion he derived no benefit from his father's table. II Kings IV, 33-35), while after his death his mere touch revived a dead man; thus proving that the righteous are greater after death than in life. blessing, for in that case the dead man should have lived on for some time, but to the greatness of Elisha, who could not suffer the wicked to touch him after his death. traditional Jewish interpretation of the word is ‘mules’. statements. Ma'alah. (Opposes the Council on High).