Taanit

. There chanced to meet him an exceedingly ugly man who greeted him, ‘Peace be upon you, Sir’. He, however, did not return his salutation but instead said to him, ‘Raca,1 how ugly you are. Are all your fellow citizens as ugly as you are?’ The man replied: ‘I do not know, but go and tell the craftsman who made me, "How Ugly is the vessel which you have made".’ When R. Eleazar realized that he had done wrong he dismounted from the ass and prostrated himself before the man and said to him, ‘I submit myself to you, forgive me’. The man replied: ‘I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and say to him,"How ugly is the vessel which you have made".’ He [R. Eleazar] walked behind him until he reached his native city. When his fellow citizens came out to meet him greeting him with the words, ‘Peace be upon you O Teacher, O Master,’ the man asked them, ‘Whom are you addressing thus’? They replied, ‘The man who is walking behind you.’ Thereupon he exclaimed: ‘If this man is a teacher, may there not be any more like him in Israel’! The people then asked him: ‘Why’? He replied: ‘Such and such a thing has he done to me. They said to him: ‘Nevertheless, forgive him, for he is a man greatly learned in the Torah.’ The man replied: ‘For your sakes I will forgive him, but only on the condition that he does not act in the same manner in the future.’ Soon after this R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon entered [the Beth Hamidrash] and expounded thus, A man should always be gentle as the reed and let him never be unyielding as the cedar. And for this reason the reed merited that of it should be made a pen for the writing of the Law, Phylacteries and Mezuzoth.2 AND SO TOO, IF A PLAGUE RAGES IN A CITY OR [ITS BUILDINGS] COLLAPSE etc. Our Rabbis have taught: The ‘COLLAPSE spoken of refers only to sound buildings but not to those already dilapidated; only to those which are not likely to fall in but not to those that are likely to fall in. Are not ‘sound buildings’ the same as ‘those that are not likely to fall in’? And are not those already dilapidated’ the same as ‘those likely to fall in’? — It is necessary [to distinguish between them] when for instance they collapsed because of their excessive height, or, when they stood on the bank of a river.3 In Nehardea there was a dilapidated wall and neither Rab nor Samuel would go past it although it had remained standing in the same position for thirteen years. One day R. Adda b. Ahaba happened to come there and Samuel said to Rab: ‘Come, Sir, let us walk around it’, and the latter replied, ‘This precaution is not necessary now because R. Adda b. Ahaba is with us; his merit is great and therefore I do not fear’. R. Huna had wine [stored] in a certain dilapidated house and he desired to remove it. He took R. Adda b. Ahaba into that house and kept him occupied with traditional teaching until he had removed it. As soon as he had left the house it fell in. R. Adda b. Ahaba noticed this and was offended, because he agreed with the statement of R. Jannai who said: A man should never stand in a place of danger and declare, ‘A miracle will befall me’; perhaps a miracle will not befall him. And if a miracle does befall him he suffers thereby a reduction from his merits. R. Hanan said: This can be inferred from the verse where it is written, I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the truth.4 .4 What were the merits of R. Adda b. Ahaba?-Thus it has been stated: The disciples of5 R. Adda b. Ahaba asked him: To what do you attribute your longevity? — He replied: I have never displayed any impatience in my house, and I have never walked in front of any man greater than myself, nor have I ever meditated [over the words of the Torah] in any dirty alleys, nor have I ever walked four cubits without [musing over] the Torah or without [wearing] phylacteries, nor have I ever fallen asleep in the Beth Hamidrash for any length of time or even momentarily, nor have I rejoiced at the disgrace of my friends, nor have I ever called my neighbour by a nickname given to him by myself, or, some say by the nickname given to him by others.6 Raba said to Rafram b. Papa: Tell me some of the good deeds which R. Huna had done. He replied: Of his childhood I do not recollect anything, but of his old age I do. On cloudy [stormy] days they used to drive him about in a golden carriage and he would survey every part of the city and he would order the demolition of any wall that was unsafe; if the owner was in a position to do so he had to rebuild it himself, but if not, then [R. Huna] would have it rebuilt at his own expense. On the eve of every Sabbath [Friday] he would send a messenger to the market and any vegetables that the [market] gardeners had left over he bought up and had then, thrown into the river. Should he not rather have had these distributed among the poor? — [He was afraid] lest they would then at times be led to rely upon him and would not trouble to buy any for themselves. Why did he not give the vegetables to the domestic animals? — He was of the opinion that food fit for human consumption may not be given to animals7 Then why did he purchase them at all? — This would lead [the gardeners] to do wrong in the future [by not providing an adequate supply].8 Whenever he discovered some [new] medicine he would fill a water jug with it and suspend it above the doorstep and proclaim, Whosoever desires it let him come and take of it . Some say, he knew from tradition a medicine for that disease, Sibetha9 and he would suspend a jugful of water and proclaim, Whosoever needs it let him come [and wash his hands] so that he may save his life from danger. When he had a meal10 he would open the door wide and declare, Whosoever is in need let him come and eat. Raba said: All these things I could myself carry out except the last one foundations. Huna suspended a jug filled with water in order to warn those whose hands were unwashed to wash them and so save themselves from the power of the evil spirit, v. Rashi ad loc. [R. Hananel takes Sibetha to be the name of a liquid medicine.] hence the phrase.