ראש השנה 31:2 — Soncino English Talmud

and from Jabneh to Usha, and from Usha [back] to Jabneh, and from Jabneh [back] to Usha, and from Usha to Shefar'am, and from Shefar'am to Beth She'arim, and from Beth She'arim to Sepphoris, and from Sepphoris to Tiberias; and Tiberias is the lowest-lying of them all, as it says, And brought down thou shalt speak out of the ground. R. Eleazar says: There were six banishments, as it says, For he hath brought down them that dwell on high, the lofty city, laying it low, laying it low even to the ground, bringing it even to the dust. Said R. Johanan: And from there they are destined to be redeemed, as it says, Shake thyself from the dust, arise. MISHNAH. R. JOSHUA B. KORHA SAID: THIS FURTHER REGULATION DID R. JOHANAN B. ZACCAI MAKE, THAT SHOULD THE HEAD OF THE BETH DIN BE IN SOME OTHER PLACE THE WITNESSES SHOULD STILL PROCEED ONLY TO THE PLACE OF THE ASSEMBLY. GEMARA. A certain woman was summoned to appear before Amemar in Nehardea. Meanwhile Amemar went to Mahuza, but she did not follow him. He accordingly wrote out a summons [under the penalty of the ban] against her. Said R. Ashi to Amemar: [Is this right] seeing that we have learnt: SHOULD THE HEAD OF THE BETH DIN BE IN SOME OTHER PLACE THE WITNESSES SHOULD STILL PROCEED ONLY TO THE PLACE OF THE ASSEMBLY? — He replied: This refers only to the testimony with regard to the new moon, and [the reason for it is that] if this [were to be insisted on], the result might be to put a stumbling block in their way for the future; but in this case, the borrower is a servant to the lender. Our Rabbis have taught: ‘The priests are not permitted to ascend the duchan in their sandals, and this is one of the nine regulations laid down by Rabban Johanan b. Zaccai’. [What are these nine?] — Six mentioned in this chapter and one in the preceding chapter and the following one, as it has been taught: ‘One who becomes a proselyte at the present time must set aside a quarter for a nest of pigeons’. Said R. Simeon b. Eleazar: Rabban Johanan took a vote on it and annulled this rule, because it may lead to wrongdoing. As to the last, there is a difference of opinion between R. Papa and R. Nahman b. Isaac. R. Papa said it was [the regulation] regarding a vine of the fourth year, whereas R. Nahman b. Isaac said it was the one regarding the thread of scarlet. ‘R. Papa said it was the regulation regarding the vine of the fourth year’, for we have learnt: [The fruit of] a vine in the fourth year was taken to Jerusalem from any point within a day's journey on all sides. The boundary of this area was as follows: Elath on the north, Akrabath on the south, Lydda on the west, and Jordan on the east’. [In reference to this] ‘Ulla (or as some say, Rabbah b. ‘Ulla) said in the name of R. Johanan: What was the reason? To decorate the streets of Jerusalem with fruit. It has been further taught: ‘R. Eliezer had a vine in its fourth year east of Lydda at the side of Kefar Tabi, and R. Eliezer had a mind to declare it free to the poor, but his disciples said to him, Rabbi, your colleagues have already taken a vote on it and declared it permitted’. Who are his ‘colleagues’? — Rabban Johanan b. Zacca. ‘R. Nahman b. Isaac said it was the tongue of scarlet’, as it has been taught: ‘Originally they used to fasten the thread of scarlet on the door of the [Temple] court on the outside. If it turned white the people used to rejoice, and if it did not turn white they were sad. They therefore made a rule that it should be fastened to the door of the court on the inside. People, however, still peeped in and saw, and if it turned white they rejoiced and if it did not turn white they were sad. They therefore made a rule that half of it should be fastened to the rock and half between the horns of the goat that was sent [to the wilderness]’. Why did not R. Nahman b. Isaac accept the view of R. Papa? — He could reply: If you assume that it was R. Johanan b. Zaccai [who made the rule about the vine], was he the colleague of R. Eliezer? He was his teacher! [What replies] the other [to this]? — Since they were his disciples [who reported the rule to him], it was not polite of them to say to their teacher, ‘your teacher’. Why did not R. Papa accept the view of R. Nahman b. Isaac? — He could reply: If you assume It was R. Johanan b. Zaccai [who made the rule], was there in the days of R. Johanan b. Zaccai a thread of scarlet [which turned white]? Has it not been taught: ‘R. Johanan b. Zaccai lived altogether a hundred and twenty years. For forty years he was in business, forty years he studied, and forty years he taught’, and it has further been taught: ‘For forty years before the destruction of the Temple the thread of scarlet never turned white but it remained red’. Further, the statement of the Mishnah is, ‘After the destruction of the Temple R. Johanan b. Zaccai made a rule’. [What says] the other [to this]? — During those forty years that he studied his status was that of a disciple sitting before his teacher, and he would offer a suggestion and make good his reasons^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

^ᵃnote:This was in the time of Rabban Gamaliel II.
^ᵇnote:The last three in the time of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. [The Sanhedrin met at Usha mostly after the Hadrianic persecutions, and apparently ceased functioning during the reign of Verus, and re-established in Shefar'am under Marcus Aurelius; v. Horowitz, Palestine, p. 34.]
^ᶜnote:The last three were in the time of Rabbi.
^ᵈnote:Being on Lake Galilee below sea-level. This is a figurative way of saying that at Tiberias the authority of the Sanhedrin sank to its lowest level.
^ᵉnote:Isa. XXIX, 4.
^ᶠnote:Ibid. XXVI, 5. The six are (i) he hath brought down, (ii) laying it low, (iii) laying it low, (iv) even to the ground, (v) bringing it, (vi) even to the dust.
^ᵍnote:Ibid. LII, 2.
^ʰnote:And the Beth din should declare the New Moon hallowed without the head, though by rights this was his privilege, v. sura 24a.
^ⁱnote:Heb. tjh,p lit., ‘opening’ of legal proceedings.
^ʲnote:Viz., that they should go after the head.
^ᵏnote:As the messengers will refrain from going to all this trouble in order to give evidence.
^ˡnote:Quoted from Prov. XXII, 7.
^ᵐnote:V. Glos.
^ⁿnote:Viz., (i) that the shofar should be blown on Sabbath wherever there is a Beth din, (ii) that the lulab should be taken in the provinces seven days, (iii) that new corn should be forbidden the whole of the sixteenth of Nisan, (iv) that testimony with regard to the new moon should be received the whole day, (v) that witnesses should go only to the place of assembly, (vi) and that the priests should not ascend the duchan in their sandals. [Read with R. Hananel: ‘One, the one (first stated), five in this chapter’.]
^ᵒnote:That the witnesses should be allowed to profane Sabbath only for Nisan and Tishri, v. supra 21b.
^ᵖnote:I.e., when there is no Temple.
^ᵠnote:It is not certain whether this means a quarter of a shekel (== half a denar) or a quarter of a denar. V. Tosaf. s.v. gcur .
^ʳnote:While the Temple stood a new convert had to bring a sacrifice (v. Ker. 9a), a couple of pigeons being the smallest, and after the destruction of the Temple the Rabbis still insisted on his bringing them in case the Temple should be rebuilt.
^ˢnote:Because the money set aside might be used for secular purposes.
^ᵗnote:Lit., ‘and the other’.
^ᵘnote:Lit., tongue’. The explanation follows immediately.
^ᵛnote:According to Lev. XIX, 24 fruit produced by a tree in its fourth year was to be ‘holy for giving praise to the Lord’ and the Rabbis interpreted this to mean that it was to be consumed in Jerusalem. If, however, the tree was not in the Jerusalem district, the money value of the fruit could be taken to Jerusalem instead of the fruit itself.
^ʷnote:[Mishnah M.Sh. V, 2 reverses: Elath on the south, Akrabath on the north. Akrabath is perhaps the modern Akrabah twenty-five miles north of Jerusalem, and Elath is identified with (a) Eleutheropolis (Horowitz, Palestine, p. 41) (b) Beth Elonim near Hebron (Klein, D.J. s.v.).]
^ˣnote:Hence all this area was put by the Rabbis under the same rule as Jerusalem itself.
^ʸnote:I.e., between Lydda and Jerusalem.
^ᶻnote:So as not to have the trouble of taking it to Jerusalem.
^ᵃᵃnote:Because as there was no longer a Temple, there was no point any more in decorating the streets of Jerusalem.
^ᵃᵇnote:After the High Priest had performed the service on the Day of Atonement. V. Yoma, 67a.
^ᵃᶜnote:This being a sign that their sins had been forgiven.
^ᵃᵈnote:When then could R Johanan have had an opportunity of making this rule?
^ᵃᵉnote:This applies presumably to all his rules and regulations.
^ᵃᶠnote:While the Temple still existed.