פסחים 54:1 — Soncino English Talmud

but a man of understanding will draw it out. ‘Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water’ — this applies to ‘Ulla; ‘but a man of understanding will draw it out’ — this applies to Rabbah b. Bar Hanah. And in accordance with whom did they hold their view? — In accordance with the following which R. Benjamin b. Japheth said in R. Johanan's name: We recite a blessing over light both at the termination of the Sabbath and at the termination of the Day of Atonement, and that is the popular practice. An objection is raised: We do not recite a blessing over light except at the termination of the Sabbath, since it was then created for the first time; and as soon as he sees [it] he immediately recites a blessing. R. Judah said: He recites them in order over the cup [of wine]. Now R. Johanan said thereon: The halachah is as R. Judah? — There is no difficulty: here the reference is to light that has burnt over the Sabbath; there it refers to light which issues from tinder and stones. One [Baraitha] taught: We can recite a blessing over light which issues from tinder and stones; [while] another taught: We cannot recite a blessing over it? — There is no difficulty: one refers to the termination of the Sabbath, [and] the other refers to the termination of the Day of Atonement. Rabbi used to ‘scatter’ them. R. Hiyya ‘collected’ them. R. Isaac b. Abdimi said: Though Rabbi scattered them, he subsequently repeated them in [their] order over the cup [of wine], so as to quit his children and household [of their obligation]. Yet was light created at the termination of the Sabbath? Surely It was taught: Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight. These are they: the well, the manna, the rainbow, the writing and the writing instrument[s], the Tables, the sepulchre of Moses, the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood, the opening of the ass's mouth, and the opening of the earth's mouth to swallow up the wicked. R. Nehemiah said in his father's name: Also fire and the mule. R. Josiah said in his father's name: Also the ram and the shamir. R. Judah said: Tongs too. He new thing to the person, since he did not benefit from the light during the day. used to say: Tongs are made with tongs; then who made the first tongs? Hence in truth it was a Heavenly creation. Said they to him, it is possible to make it in a mould and shape it simultaneously. Hence in truth it is of human manufacture! — There is no difficulty: one refers to our fire, the other to the fire of the Gehenna. Our fire [was created] at the termination of the Sabbath; the fire of the Gehenna, on the eve of the Sabbath. Yet was the fire of the Gehenna created on the eve of the Sabbath? Surely it was taught: Seven things were created before the world was created, and these are they: The Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah. The Torah, for it is written, The Lord made me [sc. the Torah] as the beginning of his way. Repentance, for it is written, Before the mountains were brought forth, and it is written, Thou turnest man to contrition, and sayest, Repent, ye children of men. The Garden of Eden, as it is written, And the Lord planted a garden in Eden from aforetime. The Gehenna, for it is written, For Tophet [i.e., Gehenna] is ordered of old. The Throne of Glory and the Temple, for it is written, Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, Thou place of our sanctuary. The name of the Messiah, as it is written, His [sc. the Messiah's] name shall endure for ever, and has exited before the sun! — I will tell you: only its cavity was created before the world was created, but its fire [was created] on the eve of the Sabbath. Yet was its fire created on the eve of the Sabbath? Surely it was taught, R. Jose said: The fire which the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the second day of the week shall never be extinguished, as it is said, And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against me,’ for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched? Again, R. Bana'ah son of R. ‘Ulla said: Why was ‘it was good’ not said concerning the second day of the week? Because the fire of the Gehenna was created therein. Also R. Eleazar said, Although ‘it was good’ was not said in connection with it, yet He re-included it in the sixth, as it is said, And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. — Rather, the cavity [was made] before the world was created, and its fire on the second day of the week; while as for our fire, on the eve of the Sabbath He decided to create it, but it was not created until the termination of the Sabbath. For it was taught, R. Jose said: Two things He decided to create on the eve of the Sabbath, but they were not created until the termination of the Sabbath, and at the termination of the Sabbath the Holy One, blessed be He, inspired Adam with knowledge of a kind similar to Divine [knowledge], and he procured two stones and rubbed them on each other, and fire issued from them; he also took two [heterogenous] animals and crossed them, and from them came forth the mule. R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: The mule came into existence in the days of Anah, for it is said, This is the Anah who found the mules in the wilderness. Those who interpret symbolically used to say: Anah was unfit, therefore he brought unfit [animals] into the world, for it is said, These are the sons of Seir the Horite [. . . And Zibeon and Anah], while it is written, And these are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. Hence it teaches that Zibeon cohabited with his mother and begat Anah by her. But perhaps there were two Anahs? Said Raba: I say a thing which [even] King Shapur could not say, and who is that? Samuel. Others say, R. Papa said: I say a thing which even King Shapur did not say, and who is that? Raba. The Writ saith, that is Anah [meaning], that is the original Anah. Our Rabbis taught: Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: The well, manna, the rainbow, writing, the writing instruments, the Tables, the sepulchre of Moses and the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood, the opening of the ass's mouth, and the opening of the earth's mouth to swallow up the wicked. While some say, Also Aaron's staff, its almonds and its blossoms. Others say, The harmful spirits [demons] too. Others say, Also^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ

^ᵃnote:Prov. XX, 5.
^ᵇnote:Who understood from R. Abba the error of Rabbah b. Bar Hanah.
^ᶜnote:He understood why ‘Ulla looked at him with displeasure, though he gave no reason.
^ᵈnote:viz., ‘Ulla and Rabbah, who would not accept R. Abba's ruling.
^ᵉnote:Various blessings which are to be recited on the termination of Sabbath.
^ᶠnote:It had burnt during the day. Nevertheless it had observed the Sabbath, as it were, in that it was lit in permitted circumstances, e.g.. for an invalid or a woman about to be delivered of child. Or in the case of the Day of Atonement, it had been lit prior to its commencement. There a blessing is recited at the termination of the latter too, because it is as a
^ᵍnote:I.e., which is made now. A blessing over this is recited only at the termination of the Sabbath, when light was likewise created for the first time, but not at the termination of the Day of Atonement.
^ʰnote:Immediately he saw light after the termination of the Sabbath he recited the appropriate blessing. Later, when spices were brought to him, he recited a further blessing over them. Thus the blessings were ‘scattered’.
^ⁱnote:He recited both blessings together over a cup of wine, as is the present practice.
^ʲnote:I.e., he recited the blessings a second time on their behalf.
^ᵏnote:The Well of Miriam which followed the Israelites in the Wilderness; v. Num. XXI, .16-18, which some relate to this.
^ˡnote:V. Gen. IX, 13f.
^ᵐnote:I.e., the shape of letters.
^ⁿnote:Ex. XXXII, 16.
^ᵒnote:When God allowed them to see His glory; v. Ex. XXXIII, 22; I Kings XIX, 9.
^ᵖnote:Num. XXII, 28.
^ᵠnote:Ibid. XVI, 30. That these last two should happen when the need arose was decreed at the time of the creation.
^ʳnote:The mule is regarded as a hybrid, as stated infra. But according to R. Nehemiah, the first was created directly, and was not the result of cross-breeding.
^ˢnote:Which Abraham offered as a substitute for Isaac, Gen. XXII, 13; it was ordained at the Creation that the ram should thus be ready to hand.
^ᵗnote:A legendary worm used for the building of the Temple. It was laid upon the stones and cut through them, and so obviated the need for iron tools, in conformity with Ex. XX, 22; v. I Kings VI, 7 and Git. 68a.
^ᵘnote:The already manufactured tongs must hold the iron on the anvil as it is beaten out into another pair of tongs.
^ᵛnote:Lit., ‘was this not etc.?’
^ʷnote:Without beating it out.
^ˣnote:For the whole passage v. Ab. V, 5 and notes a.l. in Sonc. ed. pp. 62-64. — This shows that fire was created already on Sabbath eve.
^ʸnote:Hell or purgatory.
^ᶻnote:Prov. VIII, 22.
^ᵃᵃnote:Ps. XC, 2f. ‘Before’ etc. applies to ‘repent’.
^ᵃᵇnote:Gen. II, 8.
^ᵃᶜnote:Isa. XXX, 33.
^ᵃᵈnote:Jer. XVII, 12.
^ᵃᵉnote:Ps. LXXII, 17. — Thus the Gehenna was created before the world. — The general idea of this Baraitha is that these things are indispensable pre-requisites for the orderly progress of mankind upon earth. The Torah, the supreme source of instruction; the concept of repentance, in recognition that ‘to err is human’, and hence, if man falls, the opportunity to rise again; the Garden of Eden and the Gehenna, symbolizing reward and punishment; the Throne of Glory and the Temple, indicating that the goal of Creation is that the Kingdom of God (represented by the Temple) shall be established on earth, as it is in heaven; and finally, the name of the Messiah, i.e., the assurance that God's purpose will ultimately be achieved.
^ᵃᶠnote:Because it is the fire of the Gehenna.
^ᵃᵍnote:Isa. LXVI, 24.
^ᵃʰnote:In which the world was created.
^ᵃⁱnote:Gen. I, 31.
^ᵃʲnote:Lit., ‘it came up in (His) intention’.
^ᵃᵏnote:Lit., ‘of above’.
^ᵃˡnote:E.V. ‘hot Springs’.
^ᵃᵐnote:Gen. XXXVI, 24.
^ᵃⁿnote:,urunv harus Lit., ‘those who interpret (Scripture) as jewels’, i.e., as ethical teachings. Levi connects the phrase with rnuv a beautiful and graceful gazelle, i.e., those who teach with charming and graceful interpretations.
^ᵃᵒnote:Pasul, i.e., the issue of an incestuous union.
^ᵃᵖnote:I.e., the offsprings of hetereogeneous breeding, i.e., one sees in this the teaching that evil begets evil.
^ᵃᵠnote:Gen. XXXVI, 20.
^ᵃʳnote:Ibid. 24. In the first verse Anah appears as Zibeon's brother, whereas in the second he is his son.
^ᵃˢnote:Shapur I, King of Persia, was a contemporary of Samuel, while Shapur II was a contemporary of Raba. These names are applied here to Samuel and Raba, as indicating their acknowledged authority in learning. v. MGWJ. 1936, p. 217.
^ᵃᵗnote:Identical with the first mentioned.
^ᵃᵘnote:V. Num. XVII, 23. This too was ordained at the Creation.