פסחים 68 — Soncino English Talmud

¹He who has intercourse with a niddah is like he who is unclean by the dead. In respect of what: shall we say, in respect of their uncleanness, — but uncleanness for seven [days] is written in connection with the one, and uncleanness for seven days is written in connection with the other? Hence it must surely be in respect of their camp; and since the second clause is in respect of their camps, the first clause too is in respect of their camps? — What argument is this! the one is as stated, and the other is as stated. An objection is raised: A leper is more stringent than a zab, and a zab is more stringent than he who is unclean by the dead. A ba'al keri is excepted, for he who is unclean by the dead is more stringent than he. What does ‘is excepted’ mean? Surely [it means], he is excepted from the rule of a zab and is included in the rule of him who is unclean by the dead, seeing that he who is unclean by the dead is more stringent than he, and [yet] he is permitted within the Levitical camp? — No: [it means that] he is excepted from the camp of him who is unclean by the dead and is included in the camp of a zab; and though he who is unclean by the dead is more stringent than he, and [yet] he may enter the Levitical camp. [nevertheless] we compare him [the ba'al keri] to what is like himself. A tanna recited before R. Isaac b. Abdimi: Then he shall go abroad out of the camp: this means the camp of the Shechinah; he shall not come within the camp: this means the Levitical camp. From this [we learn] that a ba'al keri must go without the two camps. Said he to him, You have not yet brought him in that you should [already] expel him! Another version: you have not yet expelled him, and [already] you [discuss whether] he should enter! Rather say: ‘abroad out of the camp’ — this is the Levitical camp; ‘he shall not come within the camp’- that is the camp of the Shechinah. To this Rabina demurred: Assume that both refer to the camp of the Shechinah, [it being repeated] so that he should violate an affirmative command and a negative command on its account? If so, let Scripture say, ‘Then he shall go abroad out of the camp’ and ‘he shall not enter": what is the purpose of ‘within the camp’? Infer from it that it is to prescribe another camp for him. AND THE CLEANSING [MIHUY] OF ITS BOWELS. What is THE CLEANSING OF ITS BOWELS? — R. Huna said: [It means] that we pierce them with a knife. Hiyya b. Rab said: [It means the removal of] the viscous substance of the bowels, which comes out through the pressure of the knife. R. Eleazar observed, What is Hiyya b. Rab's reason? Because it is written, and the waste places of the fat ones [mehim] shall wanderers eat. How does this imply it? — As R. Joseph translated: and the estates of the wicked shall the righteous inherit. Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture [kedobram]: Menassia b. Jeremiah interpreted it in Rab's name: As was spoken about them [kimedubbar bam]. What means ‘as was spoken about them’? — Said Abaye: ‘And the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat’. Said Raba to him, If ‘the waste places’ were written, it would be well as you say; since, however, ‘and the waste places’ is written, this states another thing. Rather, said Raba: [It is to be explained] as R. Hananel said in Rab's name. For R. Hananel said in Rab's name: The righteous are destined to resurrect the dead. [For] here it is written, ‘Then shall the lambs feed kedobram’, while elsewhere it is written, Then shall Bashan and Gilead feed as in the days of old. [Now] Bashan means Elisha, who came from Bashan, as it is said, ‘and Janai and Shaphat in Bashan, while it is written, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. [Again,] Gilead alludes to Elijah, for it is said, And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said [unto Ahab]. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in R. Jonathan's name: The righteous are destined to resurrect the dead, for it is said, There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age; and it is written, and lay my staff upon the face of the child. ‘Ulla opposed [two verses]. It is written, He will swallow up death for ever; but it is written, For the youngest shall die a hundred years old? There is no difficulty: there the reference is to Israel; here, to heathens. But what business have the heathens there? — Because it is written, And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. R. Hisda opposed [two verses]. It is written, Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; whereas it is written, Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of the seven days? There is no difficulty: the former refers to the world to come; the latter to the days of the Messiah. But according to Samuel, who maintained, This world differs from the Messianic age only in respect of the servitude to governments, what can be said? — Both refer to the world to come, yet there is no difficulty: one refers to the camp of the righteous; the other, to the camp of the Shechinah. Raba opposed [two verses]: It is written, I kill, and I make alive; whilst it is also written, I have wounded, and I heal: seeing that He even resurrects, how much the more does He heal! But the Holy One, blessed be He, said thus: What I put to death I make alive, just as I wounded and I heal [the same person]. Our Rabbis taught: ‘I kill, and I make alive’: You might say, I kill one person and give life to another, as the world goes on. Therefore it is stated, ‘I have wounded, and I heal’: just as the wounding and the healing [obviously] refer to the same person, so death and life refer to the same person. This refutes those who maintain that resurrection is not intimated in the Torah. Another interpretation: At first what I slay I resurrect; and then, what I wounded I will heal.45^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

^ᵃnote:V. Glos.
^ᵇnote:This is the conclusion of the Mishnah just quoted, Zab. V, 11.
^ᶜnote:V. Lev. XV, 24; Num. XIX. 11.
^ᵈnote:Both are sent out of the camp of the Shechinah only.
^ᵉnote:Lit., ‘as it is’, i.e., each clause is governed by its own particular requirements.
^ᶠnote:The leper being sent out of all three camps, whereas the zab is sent out of two only; supra 67a.
^ᵍnote:The last-named being sent out of the camp of the Shechinah only.
^ʰnote:Lit., ‘enters’.
^ⁱnote:Viz., a zab. Thus the meaning of the Baraitha is this: A leper, a zab, and he who is unclean by the dead follow the rule that the more stringent the uncleanness the further away is he sent; but a ba'al keri is excepted from this rule, and though his uncleanness is less than that of a person unclean by the dead, he is sent further away, because he must be compared to a zab, since both are unclean through bodily discharge.
^ʲnote:Deut. XXIII, 11; the reference is to a ba'al keri.
^ᵏnote:The Sanctuary.
^ˡnote:Ibid.
^ᵐnote:I.e., if he is in the Temple (‘the camp of the Shechinah’) when he becomes a ba'al keri, he must leave both that and the Temple mount (‘the Levitical camp’).
^ⁿnote:I.e., since Scripture states that he must not enter the Levitical camp, it follows that he is without: how then say that he is inside? (Rashi).
^ᵒnote:I.e., you have not yet ordered him to leave the Levitical camp, and yet you are already forbidding him to enter.
^ᵖnote:From which he must depart.
^ᵠnote:To allow the dung to fall out.
^ʳnote:Isa. V, 17.
^ˢnote:[V. Targum version a.l. The Targum on the Prophets is ascribed by some to R. Joseph. V. B.K., Sonc. ed. p. 9, n. 9.]
^ᵗnote:Thus he translates ‘mehim’ the wicked, i.e., the repulsive; similarly ‘mihuy’ refers to the repulsive matter, viz., the viscous substance.
^ᵘnote:Ibid. One part of the verse having been quoted and translated, the Gemara proceeds to discuss the other half.
^ᵛnote:I.e., in accordance with the promise made: ‘lambs’ is understood as meaning Israel.
^ʷnote:The second part of the verse being explanatory of the first.
^ˣnote:Mic. VII, 14.
^ʸnote:I Chron. V, 12.
^ᶻnote:II Kings III, 11.
^ᵃᵃnote:I Kings XVII, 1. Now both Elijah and Elisha resurrected the dead (v. ibid. IV; I Kings XVII, 21 seq.) ‘feed’ is therefore understood to allude to this metaphorically; hence the same meaning is assigned to ‘feed’ in the first verse too, ‘the lambs’ being the righteous.
^ᵃᵇnote:Zech. VIII, 4.
^ᵃᶜnote:II Kings IV, 29. The staff was employed to revive the child (ibid. seq.), and the same purpose is assumed for it in the first verse.
^ᵃᵈnote:Isa. XXV, 8.
^ᵃᵉnote:Ibid. LXV, 20.
^ᵃᶠnote:Ibid. LXI, 5.
^ᵃᵍnote:Ibid. XXIV, 23.
^ᵃʰnote:Ibid. XXX, 26.
^ᵃⁱnote:Then the sun and the moon shall be ashamed — i.e., fade into insignificance because of the light radiating from the righteous (Rashi in Sanh. 91b).
^ᵃʲnote:V. Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 601, n. 3.
^ᵃᵏnote:I.e., delivery from oppression.
^ᵃˡnote:Deut. XXII, 39.
^ᵃᵐnote:Ibid.
^ᵃⁿnote:Why then state it? v. Sanh. 91b and notes a.l. in the Sonc. ed.: the point of the difficulty is explained there differently.
^ᵃᵒnote:As explained in the next passage.
^ᵃᵖnote:People dying and others being born.
^ᵃᵠnote:V. Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 601, n. 5 and p. 604, n. 12.
^ᵃʳnote:I.e., in the same state.
^ᵃˢnote:After their resurrection I will heal them of the blemishes they possessed in their former life.

²AND THE BURNING OF ITS FAT. It was taught, R. Simeon said: Come and see how precious is a precept in its [proper] time. For lo! the [precept of] burning the fats and limbs and the fat-pieces is valid all night, yet we do not wait for [burning] them until nightfall. ITS CARRYING AND ITS BRINGING etc. But the following contradicts it: You may cut off a wart [of an animal] in the Temple, but not in the country, and if [it is done] with a utensil [a knife], it is forbidden in both cases? R. Eleazar and R. Jose b. Hanina one answered, Both refer to [removing the wart] with the hand: one refers to a moist [wart]; the other, to a dry one While the other maintains, Both refer to a moist [wart], yet there is no difficulty: one means by hand, and the other means with a utensil. Now according to him who explained. ‘One means by hand, and the other means with a utensil,’ why did he not say. Both mean by hand, yet there is no difficulty: one refers to a moist [wart]; the other, to a dry one? — He can answer you: a dry one [just] crumbles away. And according to him who maintained, ‘Both mean by hand, yet there is no difficulty: one refers to a moist [wart]; the other to a dry one’; why did he not say: Both refer to a moist [wart], yet there is no difficulty: one means by hand, and the other means with a utensil? — He can answer you: as for a utensil, Surely he [the Tanna] teaches there, ‘if [it is done] with a utensil, it is forbidden in both cases!’ And the other? That which he teaches [about] a utensil here, [is because] he comes to inform us of the controversy of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua. SAID R. ELIEZER . . . IF SHECHITAH etc. R. Joshua is consistent with his view, for he maintains, Rejoicing on a Festival too is a religious duty. For it was taught, R. Eliezer said: A man has nought else [to do] on a Festival save either to eat and drink or to sit and study. R. Joshua said: Divide it: [devote] half of it to eating and drinking, and half of it to the Beth Hamidrash. Now R. Johanan said thereon: Both deduce it from the same verse. One verse says, a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God, whereas another verse says, there shall be a solemn assembly unto you: R. Eliezer holds: [That means] either entirely to God or entirely to you; while R. Joshua holds, Divide it: [Devote] half to God and half to yourselves. (Mnemonic: ‘abam.) R. Eleazar said: All agree in respect to the Feast of Weeks [‘azereth] that we require [it to be] ‘for you’ too. What is the reason? It is the day on which the Torah was given. Rabbah said: All agree in respect to the Sabbath that we require [it to be] ‘for you’ too. What is the reason? And thou shalt call the Sabbath a delight. R. Joseph said: All agree that on Purim we require ‘for you’ too. What is the reason? Days of feasting and gladness is written in connection therewith. Mar son of Rabina would fast the whole year, except on the Feast of Weeks, Purim, and the eve of the Day of Atonement. The Feast of Weeks, [because] it is the day on which the Torah was given: Purim, [because] ‘days of feasting and gladness’ is written in connection therewith. The eve of the Day of Atonement: for Hiyya b. Rab of Difti taught: And ye shall afflict your souls on the ninth day of the month: do we then fast on the ninth? Surely we fast on the tenth! But this is to tell you: whoever eats and drinks on the ninth thereof, the Writ ascribes [merit] to him as though he had fasted on the ninth and the tenth. R. Joseph would order on the day of Pentecost: ‘Prepare me a third-born calf,’ saying. ‘But for the influence of this day. how many Josephs are there in the market place!’ R. Shesheth used to revise his studies every thirty days, and he would stand and lean at the side of the doorway and exclaim, ‘Rejoice, O my soul, Rejoice. O my soul; for thee have I read [the Bible], for thee have I studied [the Mishnah].’ But that is not so, for R. Eleazar said, But for the Torah, heaven and earth would not endure, for it is said, If not for my covenant by day and by night,I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth? — In the first place when a man does it [sc. studies], he does so with himself in mind. R. Ashi said: Yet according to R. Eliezer too, who maintained that [rejoicing on] a Festival is [merely] voluntary, he can be refuted: if a Festival, when labour for a voluntary [requirement] is permitted, yet the shebuth which accompanies it is not permitted; then the Sabbath, whereon only labour [required for the carrying out of] a precept is permitted, is it not logical that the shebuth which accompanies it is not permitted!^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ

^ᵃᵗnote:I.e., as soon as it can be performed, even if it can be postponed.
^ᵃᵘnote:But do it immediately, though it is the Sabbath.
^ᵃᵛnote:Medinah, ‘province’. This is the technical designation for all places outside the Temple.
^ᵃʷnote:‘Er. 103a.
^ᵃˣnote:Our Mishnah refers to a moist wart. Even when it is removed by hand, which is merely a Shebuth, it is forbidden, since it could have been removed the previous day. But in ‘Er. 103a the reference is to a dry one, the removal of which is not even regarded as a shebuth.
^ᵃʸnote:The former is permitted, while the latter is forbidden. — This of course is a more lenient explanation.
^ᵃᶻnote:It would not be called cutting at all.
^ᵇᵃnote:Why then should it be repeated in the present Mishnah?
^ᵇᵇnote:Does he not accept the force of this argument?
^ᵇᶜnote:Not merely permitted.
^ᵇᵈnote:Deut. XVI, 8.
^ᵇᵉnote:Num. XXIX, 35.
^ᵇᶠnote:A mnemonic is a word or phrase, whose letters or words respectively each stand for a tithe or catchword of a subject, strung together as an aid to the memory. Here ‘a _ ‘azereth’ B _ Shabbath; M _ Purim.
^ᵇᵍnote:Lit., ‘the solemn assembly’ — without a further determinant this always means the Feast of Weeks.
^ᵇʰnote:Therefore we must demonstrate our joy in it by feasting.
^ᵇⁱnote:Isa. LVIII, 13.
^ᵇʲnote:Esth. IX, 22.
^ᵇᵏnote:Lit., ‘sat in a fast’.
^ᵇˡnote:That is if the occasion arose.
^ᵇᵐnote:Lev. XXIII, 32. The punctuation of the E.V. has been disregarded, as is required by the context.
^ᵇⁿnote:Together.
^ᵇᵒnote:I.e., the third calved by its mother. Others translate: (i) in its third year; or (ii) third grown, i.e., one that has reached a third of its full growth. On all translations this was regarded as particularly choice.
^ᵇᵖnote:Lit., ‘if this day had not caused (it).’
^ᵇᵠnote:I.e., I owe my eminence to having studied the Torah, which was given on this day.
^ᵇʳnote:Jer. XXXIII, 25. I.e., if not for my Torah, which is to
^ᵇˢnote:Lit., ‘there is a refutation for him’.
^ᵇᵗnote:I.e., shechitah, though the eating of meat, which constitutes rejoicing, is voluntary.