Shabbat

a clear halachah or a clear Mishnah  in any place. It was taught. R. Jose b. Elisha said: If you see a generation overwhelmed by many troubles, go forth and examine the judges of Israel, for all retribution that comes to the world comes only on account of the Judges of Israel, as it is said, Hear this, I pray you ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the Lord, etc.  They are wicked, but they place their confidence in Him Who decreed, and the world came into existence.  Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring three punishments upon them answering to the three sins which they cultivate,  as it is said, Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.  And the Holy One, blessed be He, will not cause His Divine presence to rest upon Israel until the wicked judges and officers cease out of Israel, for it is said, And I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning, etc. 'Ulla said: Jerusalem shall be redeemed only by righteousness,  as it is written, Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and her converts with righteousness. R. Papa said: When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi  shall cease [among the Persians]. When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi  shall cease. 'When the haughty cease to exist [in Israel], the magi shall cease [among the Persians]'; as it is written, And I will surely purge away thy haughty ones.  When the judges cease to exist [in Israel], the chiliarchi shall cease, as it is written, The Lord hath taken away thy judgements, he hath cast out thine enemy. R. Melai  said in the name of R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon: What is meant by the verse, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers?  'The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked' refers to the judges who become a staff for their sheriffs;  'the sceptre of the rulers' refers to the scholars in the families of the judges.  Mar Zutra said: This refers to the scholars who teach the laws of the public  to ignorant judges. R. Eleazar b. Melai said in the name of Resh Lakish: What is meant by the verse, For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness?  'For your hands are defiled with blood': this refers to the judges: 'and your fingers with iniquity', to the judges' scribes;  'your lips have spoken lies' to the advocates of the judges;  'your tongue muttereth wickedness' — to the litigants. R. Melai also said in the name of R. Isaac of Magdala: From the day that Joseph departed from his brothers he did not taste wine, for it is written, [The blessings of thy father...shall be on the head of Joseph]. And on the crown of the head of him who was a nazirite [since his departure] from his brethren.  R. Jose b. R. Hanina said: They too did not taste wine, for it is written, And they drank, and drank largely with him:  which implies [that they did] not [drink] until then. And the other?  — There was no extensive drinking,  yet there was [moderate] drinking. R. Melai also said: As a reward for, and when he seeth thee, he shall be glad in his heart,  he was privileged to wear the breastplate of judgment upon his heart. The citizens of Bashkar  sent [a question] to Levi: What about [setting up] a canopy [on the Sabbath]; what about cuscuta in a vineyard?  what about a dead man on a Festival?  By the time he [the messenger] arrived [at Levi's home] Levi had died. Said Samuel to R. Menashia, If you are wise, send them [an answer]. [So] he sent [word] to them: 'As for a canopy, we have examined it from all aspects and do not find any aspect by which it can be permitted'. But let him send them [a permissive ruling] in accordance with Rami b. Ezekiel?  [He did not do this] because they were not learned in the law.  'Cuscuta in a vineyard is a [forbidden] mixture'. But let him send them [a reply] in accordance with R. Tarfon. For it was taught: As for cuscuta, R. Tarfon maintains: It is not kil'ayim  in a vineyard; while the Sages rule: It is kil'ayim in a vineyard. And it is an established principle: The view of him, who is lenient in respect to Palestine,  is halachah without Palestine? — [Likewise] because they were not learnt in the law. Rab announced: He who wishes to sow cuscuta in a vineyard, let him sow.  R. Amram the pious would ban [a person] for this. R. Mesharsheya would give a perutah  to a Gentile child to sow it for him.  Then let him give it to an Israelite child? — He would come to adhere [to this practice when he grew up]. Then let him give it to an adult Gentile? … He might come to substitute an Israelite for him. As for a corpse. he sent [word to them]: Neither Jews nor Syrians [non-Jews] may occupy themselves with a corpse, neither on the first day of a Festival nor on the second.  But that is not so? For R. Judah b. Shilath said in R. Assi's name: Such a case happened in the synagogue of Ma'on  on a Festival near the Sabbath,