rabina

Mar b. Rabina quoted in objection : In the evening [the reading of the Shema'] is both preceded and followed by two benedictions. If, then, thou sayest that the Ge'ullah must be joined to the Tefillah, behold that condition is not fulfilled because one is required to say the prayer "Cause us, O Lord our God, to lie down!

But it is not so ! For behold, Raba b. Rab Shaba visited Rabina on one of those days when the individual does not complete the Hallel, and Rabina did not interrupt [to greet him]!

But it is not so ! For behold, Raba b. Rab Shaba visited Rabina on one of those days when the individual does not complete the Hallel, and Rabina did not interrupt [to greet him]!

It is different with Raba b. Shaba, since he was not highly esteemed by Rabina.

Rabina said to Raba : Has the master seen the Rabbinical scholar who has come from the West and said, "Who has no water wherewith to wash his hands should rub them with earth or pebbles or sawdust"?

What is the point of divergence between them ? Rabina said : They differ whether we have fear of mice [gnawing the body] ; the former holds there is such fear, the other there is not.

Rabina asked Raba : Is the recital of the Grace after meals by women an ordinance from the Torah or the Rabbis ? What is the point at issue ? It is whether they have the power of exempting others. It is quite right if thou sayest it is from the Torah ; then one who is enjoined by the Torah [to keep the observance] comes and exempts one [whose observance is likewise commanded] by the Torah. But if thou sayest it is from the Rabbis, then it is not a compulsory observance, and one who is not under the obligation [to keep the observance] cannot exempt others. How is it then ?

GEMARA Rabina said : [The statement of the Mishnah] means to say that meditation is the equivalent of speech ; for if it enter thy mind that it is not the equivalent of speech,

The question was raised : May a man, wearing his Tefillin, enter a regular privy for the purpose of urinating? Rabina permitted it; Rab Adda b. Mattena prohibited it. The question was put to Raba, and he replied : It is forbidden, because we are afraid that he may relieve himself otherwise while wearing them. Another version is : [We are afraid] that he may break wind while wearing them.

But there is a difficulty in the matter of expectoration! No, there is no difficulty; for it may be [that Rabbi acted] according to the teaching of Rab Judah who said : If one is standing in prayer and his spittle collected in his mouth, he may empty it into his Tallit, and if his Tallit is costly, he may empty it into his underwear. Rabina was once standing before Rab Ashe [during prayer], and the spittle collected in the latter's mouth, and he expectorated behind him. Rabina said to him, "Does not the master hold the opinion of Rab Judah that one should empty his spittle into his underwear?" He replied, "I am fastidious [in this matter]."

But there is a difficulty in the matter of expectoration! No, there is no difficulty; for it may be [that Rabbi acted] according to the teaching of Rab Judah who said : If one is standing in prayer and his spittle collected in his mouth, he may empty it into his Tallit, and if his Tallit is costly, he may empty it into his underwear. Rabina was once standing before Rab Ashe [during prayer], and the spittle collected in the latter's mouth, and he expectorated behind him. Rabina said to him, "Does not the master hold the opinion of Rab Judah that one should empty his spittle into his underwear?" He replied, "I am fastidious [in this matter]."

Rabina said : I was once standing before Rab Jeremiah of Difti ; he noticed some excrement, and he said to me, "See whether its surface has hardened or not." Another version is : He said to him, "See whether it has become cracked."

Abbai said : Should the excrement be but a minute quantity, one can nullify it [by covering it] with spittle. Raba said : It must be with thick spittle. Raba said : If excrement be in a hole, he may place his sandal over it and read the Shema'. Mar b. Rabina asked : How is it if excrement adheres to his sandal ? The question remained unanswered.

And lo, Rabina raised the question : How is it with a place which had been designated to be used as a privy? Do we take account of the designation or not ? How is this question of Rabina to be understood ? Whether one may stand in such a place to pray therein, not to pray over against it.

And lo, Rabina raised the question : How is it with a place which had been designated to be used as a privy? Do we take account of the designation or not ? How is this question of Rabina to be understood ? Whether one may stand in such a place to pray therein, not to pray over against it.

Mar b. Rabina made a wedding-feast for his son, and noticed that the Rabbis were very merry.

The Rabbis said to Rab Hamnuna the Small at the wedding-feast of Mar b. Rabina, "Let the master sing for us." He replied to them, "Woe to us for we are destined to die! Woe to us for we are destined to die!" They said to him, "What can we answer after thee ?" He said to them, "Where is the Torah and where the religious precept which will protect us?"

Rabina asked Raba : What is the Halakah [if one pronounced the "Division" in the Tefillah, must he say it over the cup of wine] ? He replied : It is like the Sanctification ; although one sanctifies [the Sabbath] in the Tefillah, he must do so over the cup of wine; so also with the Habdalah, although he said it in the Tefillah, he must do so over the cup of wine.

Rabina found Mar b. Rab Ashe throwing away the berries and eating the caper-buds. He said to him : What is thy opinion — like R. 'Akiba's who takes the lenient view? Then let the master act in accord with Bet Shammai who take a still more lenient view. For there is a Mishnaic teaching : In the case of the caper-bush. Bet Shammai say : It constitutes Kila'im in a vineyard ; but Bet Hillel say : It does not. Both, however, admit that it is subject to 'Orlah.

One of the Rabbis asked Raba : How is it with Trimma ? Raba was not sure what he had asked him. Rabina was sitting in the presence of Raba and said [to the questioner] : Dost thou mean a brew of sesame seeds, or of saffron, or of grape-kernels ?

The people of Nehardea acted according to R. Hiyya, but the Rabbis acted according to Raba. Rabina said : My mother told me, "Thy father acted according to R. Hiyya, for R. Hiyya maintained that the benediction must conclude with [the breaking of] the bread ; but the Rabbis acted according to Raba." The Halakah is in agreement with Raba who maintained that one should say the benediction and afterwards break the bread.

Rab Nahman b. Isaac said : He who fears Heaven complies with the regulation of the law according to the teaching of both ; and who is it [that acts thus]? Mar b. Rabina, for he used to place the piece of bread with the whole loaf and break both.

Rab Aahe said : I saw Rab Kahana take two loaves but only break one. R. Zera used to break off [on the Sabbath a piece of bread to suffice] for the whole of the meal. Rabina said to Rab Ashe : But this must have looked like voracity ! He replied : Since he did not act so every day but only now [on the Sabbath] it would not have that appearance.

Raba said : The Halakah is in agreement with R. 'Akiba. Rabina and Rab Hamma b. Buzi visited the house of the Exilarch. [When about to say Grace] Rab Hamma stood up and looked about to see whether there were a hundred people present. Rabina said to him : It is unnecessary ; thus said Raba : The Halakah is in agreement with R. 'Akiba.

Raba said : The Halakah is in agreement with R. 'Akiba. Rabina and Rab Hamma b. Buzi visited the house of the Exilarch. [When about to say Grace] Rab Hamma stood up and looked about to see whether there were a hundred people present. Rabina said to him : It is unnecessary ; thus said Raba : The Halakah is in agreement with R. 'Akiba.

Rabina said : Consequently, even if he has finished the meal, he may go back and say the benediction ! For there is a teaching : If one has had immersion and ascended [from the water], as he ascends he should say "Blessed... Who hast sanctified us with Thy commandments and commanded us concerning immersion."

Lo, there was the man who was journeying by 'Eber Jamina when a lion attacked him, and a miracle was wrought for him and he was rescued. He came before Raba who told him : Whenever thou reachest that spot, say "Blessed... Who hast wrought a miracle for me in this place." And Mar b. Rabina was passing through the valley of 'Arabot and thirsted for water ; a miracle was wrought for him and a well was created and he drank.

When Raba saw asses carrying this dust, he struck them upon the back with his hand and exclaimed, "Run, ye righteous, to perform the will of your Master." When Mar b. Rabina came to Babylon, he took up some earth in his mantle and cast it out, to fulfil that which was said, "I will sweep it with the besom of destruction" (Is. xiv. 23). Rab Ashe said : I had not heard that of Rab Hamnuna, but from my own mind I said all those benedictions.

Our Rabbis have taught: "Who beholds the graves of Israel says: "Blessed... Who formed you in judgment, Who nourished you in judgment, sustained you in judgment, and gathered you in judgment, and will hereafter raise you in judgment." Mar b. Rabina concluded the benediction in the name of Rab Nahman : "And knowest the number of you all in judgment, and will hereafter restore you to life and cause you to survive. Blessed... Who quickenest the dead." [Who beholds] the graves of idolaters says, "Your mother shall be sore ashamed" (Jer. 1. 12).

Rab Pappa said to Raba (other versions : Rabina to Raba ; Rab Adda b. Mattena to Raba) : Why should one derive it [by analogy] from a shoe ; let him derive it from the short cut !

R. 'Ashi said: A scholar who is not hard like iron is not a real scholar, as it is said: "And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces." Said R. 'Abba to R. 'Ashi, you derive it from that verse, we derive it from the following (Deut. 8.9): "A land whose stones are iron"; do not read 'ābānēha (its stones), but bōnēha (its builders, i.e., the scholars). Said Rabina: It is nevertheless one's duty to train oneself to be gentle, as it is said (Eccl., 11.10): "Remove anger from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh."

R. Tanḥum b. Ḥanilai said: No rain falls unless the sins of Israel first have been forgiven, as it is said (Ps. 85.2-3): "Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land; Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people, Thou hast pardoned all their sin, Selah." Said Ze'iri of Dahabat to Rabina: You derive this teaching from that verse, we derive it from this verse (I Kings, 8.36): "Then hear Thou in heaven and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, when Thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance."

R. Tanḥum son of R. Ḥiyya of Kefar 'Akko said: Rain is not withheld unless the enemies of Israel have been condemned to destruction, as it is said (Job, 24, 19): "Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so doth the nether-world those that have sinned." Said Ze'iri of Dahabat to Rabina: You derive this teaching from that verse, we derive it from this (Deut., 11.17): "And He will shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, etc., and ye perish quickly."

R. 'Ashi said, in the case of intoxicated priests the Rabbis were apprehensive, because they desecrate the service, but priests with long hair do not desecrate the service, hence the Rabbis felt no apprehension. Rabina raised an objection from the following Baraita (Tosefta, Zebaḥim, 12. 17): "The following priests die a premature death, those who perform their service while drunk, and those who perform it with long (neglected) hair." As regards drunken priests it is explicitly stated (Levit., 10. 9): "Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not." And how do we know that long hair is in the same category? It is written (Ezek., 44. 20): "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long," and immediately following it is written (ib., 44. 21): "Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court." Priests with long hair are thus compared to priests who are drunk, and we conclude that just as drunken priests die prematurely, so also priests with long hair. Now, does it not follow from this that the reason is because long hair is a desecration of the service as well as drink? Said R. 'Ashi in reply to Rabina: (this analogy based on Ezekiel has no force, for) who knew of it prior to the time of Ezekiel? If you use such argument, retorted Rabina, you must apply it also to the statement of R. Ḥisda (Zebaḥim, 22b): This law (that an uncircumcized priest is not fit for service) we do not derive from the Torah of our teacher Moses, but from the words of Ezekiel the son of Buzi (44. 9): "No alien, uncircumcized in heart and uncircumcized in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary." How could any one have knowledge of this law before Ezekiel? You will have to say therefore that the law in question was a tradition and Ezekiel expressed it in a verse; why not say the same in our case, namely, that the law (of long hair desecrating the service) was known by tradition and that Ezekiel expressed it in a verse? No, the burden of that tradition was only that long-haired priests die prematurely, but not that they desecrate the service.

R. 'Ashi said, in the case of intoxicated priests the Rabbis were apprehensive, because they desecrate the service, but priests with long hair do not desecrate the service, hence the Rabbis felt no apprehension. Rabina raised an objection from the following Baraita (Tosefta, Zebaḥim, 12. 17): "The following priests die a premature death, those who perform their service while drunk, and those who perform it with long (neglected) hair." As regards drunken priests it is explicitly stated (Levit., 10. 9): "Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not." And how do we know that long hair is in the same category? It is written (Ezek., 44. 20): "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long," and immediately following it is written (ib., 44. 21): "Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court." Priests with long hair are thus compared to priests who are drunk, and we conclude that just as drunken priests die prematurely, so also priests with long hair. Now, does it not follow from this that the reason is because long hair is a desecration of the service as well as drink? Said R. 'Ashi in reply to Rabina: (this analogy based on Ezekiel has no force, for) who knew of it prior to the time of Ezekiel? If you use such argument, retorted Rabina, you must apply it also to the statement of R. Ḥisda (Zebaḥim, 22b): This law (that an uncircumcized priest is not fit for service) we do not derive from the Torah of our teacher Moses, but from the words of Ezekiel the son of Buzi (44. 9): "No alien, uncircumcized in heart and uncircumcized in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary." How could any one have knowledge of this law before Ezekiel? You will have to say therefore that the law in question was a tradition and Ezekiel expressed it in a verse; why not say the same in our case, namely, that the law (of long hair desecrating the service) was known by tradition and that Ezekiel expressed it in a verse? No, the burden of that tradition was only that long-haired priests die prematurely, but not that they desecrate the service.

R. 'Ashi said, in the case of intoxicated priests the Rabbis were apprehensive, because they desecrate the service, but priests with long hair do not desecrate the service, hence the Rabbis felt no apprehension. Rabina raised an objection from the following Baraita (Tosefta, Zebaḥim, 12. 17): "The following priests die a premature death, those who perform their service while drunk, and those who perform it with long (neglected) hair." As regards drunken priests it is explicitly stated (Levit., 10. 9): "Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not." And how do we know that long hair is in the same category? It is written (Ezek., 44. 20): "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long," and immediately following it is written (ib., 44. 21): "Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court." Priests with long hair are thus compared to priests who are drunk, and we conclude that just as drunken priests die prematurely, so also priests with long hair. Now, does it not follow from this that the reason is because long hair is a desecration of the service as well as drink? Said R. 'Ashi in reply to Rabina: (this analogy based on Ezekiel has no force, for) who knew of it prior to the time of Ezekiel? If you use such argument, retorted Rabina, you must apply it also to the statement of R. Ḥisda (Zebaḥim, 22b): This law (that an uncircumcized priest is not fit for service) we do not derive from the Torah of our teacher Moses, but from the words of Ezekiel the son of Buzi (44. 9): "No alien, uncircumcized in heart and uncircumcized in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary." How could any one have knowledge of this law before Ezekiel? You will have to say therefore that the law in question was a tradition and Ezekiel expressed it in a verse; why not say the same in our case, namely, that the law (of long hair desecrating the service) was known by tradition and that Ezekiel expressed it in a verse? No, the burden of that tradition was only that long-haired priests die prematurely, but not that they desecrate the service.