yohanan

And R. Yohanan further said, What is the meaning of the verse, “And one came not near the other all the night? (Exodus 14:20) The ministering angels wanted to chant their hymns, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said, The work of my hands is being drowned in the sea, and you chant hymns?

Yohanan began his discourse on this section with the following text: “He has remembered his mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel, all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our Lord” (Psalms 98:3). When did all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our Lord? In the days of Mordecai and Esther.

Shmuel said: The face of Israel was blackened (hushcharu) in his days like the sides of a pot. R. Yohanan said: Everyone who thought of him said “alas for my head (ah lerosho).” R. Hanina said: That all became poor (rash) in his days, as it says, “And the king Ahashverosh laid a tribute” (Esther 10:1).

Yohanan said: He did indeed come from Benjamin. Why then was he called “a Jew”? Because he denied idolatry. For anyone who denies idolatry is called ‘a Jew’, as it is written, “There are certain Jews etc.” (Daniel 3:13).

Why was she [the daughter of Pharaoh] called a Jewess? Because she repudiated idolatry, as it is written, “And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the river,” (Exodus 2:5) and R. Yohanan, [commenting on this,] said that she went down to cleanse herself from the idols of her father’s house.

And R. Yohanan said that he gave her legumes, and so it says, “So the steward took away their food and gave them legumes” (Daniel 1:16).

“In the evening she went and in the morning she returned” (Esther 2:14). R. Yohanan From the disgrace of that wicked man we can learn something to his credit, that he did not have sexual relations by day.

"In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, Bigtan and Teresh were enraged" (Esther 2:21). R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Yohanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, [once] caused a master to be angry with his servants in order to fulfil the desire of a righteous man, namely Joseph, as it says, "And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, etc." (Genesis 41:12);

R. Yohanan said: Bigtan and Teresh were two Tarseans and conversed in the Tarsean language. They said: From the day this woman came we have been able to get no sleep. Come, let us put poison in the dish so that he will die. They did not know that Mordecai was one of those who had seats in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, and that he understood seventy languages.

R. Yohanan said Jeremiah was not there, as he had gone to bring back the ten tribes. From where do we know that they returned? Because it is written, “For the seller shall not return to that which is sold” (Ezekiel 7:13). Now is it possible that after the Jubilee had already ceased the prophet should prophesy that it will cease? The fact is that it teaches that Jeremiah brought them back. Josiah the son of Amon ruled over them,

“And it was that when the king saw Esther the queen” (Esther 5:2): R. Yohanan said: Three ministering angels were appointed to help her at that moment; one to make her head erect, a second to endow her with charm and a third to stretch the sceptre.

“And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends” etc (Esther 6:13). They are first called “his friends” and then they are called “his wise men.” R. Yohanan said: Whoever says a wise thing even among the nations of the world is called “wise.”

“And Parshandata . . . the ten sons of Haman” (Esther 9:7-10). R. Adda from Yaffo said: The ten sons of Haman and the word “ten” [which follows] should be said in one breath. What is the reason? Because they all died in one breath. R. Yohanan said: The vav of Vaizata must be lengthened like a boat-pole of the river Librut. What is the reason? Because they were all strung on one pole.

“But when she came before the king, he said along with the letter” (Esther 9:25). “He said”? It should read, “she said”? R. Yohanan said: She said: Let there be said by word of mouth what is written in the letter.

“And the ordinance of Esther upheld” (Esther 9:32): Only the ordinance of Esther and not the words of the fasts? R. Yohanan said: The words of the fasts and the ordinance of Esther upheld these matters of Purim.”

The Amidah prayer: From where do we know this? — As it has been taught: Shimon Hapakuli organized eighteen blessings in the presence of Rabban Gamaliel in a fixed order in Yavneh. R. Yohanan said (others report, it was stated in a baraita): A hundred and twenty elders, among whom were many prophets, drew up eighteen blessings in a fixed order.

Rabbah b. Bar Hannah said in the name of R. Yohanan: One who tells of the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, in excess is uprooted from the world, as it says, “Will it be told Him if I speak? If a man says it, he will be swallowed” (Job 37:20).

Rather a Megillah lies before him and he reads from it, verse by verse, and then writes. Shall we then say that this supports Rabbah b. Bar Hanah, for Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan: It is forbidden to write one letter [of the Megillah], not from another written copy? Perhaps [the Mishnah speaks of a case] where he just happened [to have a copy before him].

The text [above states]: Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan, It is forbidden to write one letter except from a copy. They objected: R. Shimon b. Elazar It happened that R. Meir went to intercalate the year in Assia, and there was no Megillah there and he wrote one out by heart.

R. Yohanan said: All these rabbis derived their rule from the same verse: “Then Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew wrote all the acts of power” (9:29). He who says the whole Megillah, this refers to the power of Ahashverosh;

R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Yohanan: One who reads the Megillah written among the rest of the Writings, he has not fulfilled his obligation; and he at once protested against this remark: [This was stated in reference to reading]: In a congregation.

R. Hiyya b. Abba also said in the name of R. Yohanan: That a space should be left unstitched [in the Sefer Torah] is a halakhah from Moshe on Sinai and he at once protested the remark by saying: They only said this so that it should not be torn.

R. Hiyya b. Abba also said in the name of R. Yohanan: Had there remained in the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood a hole the size of the eye of a fine needle, they would not have been able to endure the light, as it says, “For man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).

R. Hiyya b. Abba also said in the name of R. Yohanan: What is the meaning of what is written, And on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the Mount” (Deuteronomy 9:10)? It teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the minute details of the Torah, and the minute details of the Scribes, and the innovations which would be introduced by the Scribes; and what are these? The reading of the Megillah.

One verse says, "And I sat [va'eshev] on the mountain" (Deuteronomy 9:9), and another verse says, "And I stood on the mountain"(Deuteronomy 10:10): Rav says: He [Moses] stood when he learned and sat while he repeated [what he had learned]. R. Hanina said: He was neither sitting nor standing, but stooping. R. Yohanan said: Sitting here means only "staying", as it says, "And you stayed [teshvu] in Kadesh many days" (Deuteronomy 1:46). Rava said: The easy things [he learned] standing and the hard ones sitting

R. Joshua b. Levi said: The ten men of leisure in the synagogue. R. Joseph said: The ten commandments which were given to Moses on Sinai. R. Levi said: The ten times Hallels [praises] which David said in the book of Psalms.) R. Yohanan said: The ten statements with which the world was created.

“If the middle one reads four verses, he is praiseworthy”, as it has been taught: ‘[The seven lamps] shall give light in front of the candlestick” (Numbers 8:2); this teaches that they leaned in to face the western lamp and the western lamp faced the Shekhinah. And R. Yohanan said: This shows that the middle one is praiseworthy.

But where the subject is not completed, we do not [read less than twenty-one verses]? Didn't R. Shmuel b. Abba say: Many times I stood before R. Yohanan, and when I had read ten verses he said, Stop! In a place where there is a translator it is different, since R. Tahlifa b. Shmuel has taught: They only taught this in a place where there is no translator, but where there is a translator a stop may be made [earlier].

GEMARA. From where do we know this? R. Hiyya b. Abba said in the name of R. Yohanan: Because the verse says, "But I will be sanctified among the children of Israel" (Leviticus 22:32): every act of sanctification should not be done with less than ten.

Nor do they say the blessing of mourners nor the blessing of bridegrooms etc. What is the blessing of mourners? The blessing said in the public square, as R. Yitzchak said in the name of R. Yohanan: The blessing of mourners requires the presence of ten, the mourners are not counted; the blessing of bridegrooms requires the presence of ten, and the bridegroom is counted.

Yohanan said: A blind person in even one of his eyes should not lift up his hands. But was there not one in the neighborhood of R. Yohanan who used to spread forth his hands?... The townspeople had become accustomed to him. It was also taught in a baraita: A blind person even in one of his eyes should not lift up his hands, but if the townspeople are accustomed to him, he is permitted.

Yohanan said: A blind person in even one of his eyes should not lift up his hands. But was there not one in the neighborhood of R. Yohanan who used to spread forth his hands?... The townspeople had become accustomed to him. It was also taught in a baraita: A blind person even in one of his eyes should not lift up his hands, but if the townspeople are accustomed to him, he is permitted.

Bar Kappara gave the following derashah: What is it that is written, “And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem even every great house he burned with fire” (II Kings 25:9)? “The house of the Lord” this is the Temple. “The king’s house”: this is the royal palace. “All the houses of Jerusalem”: literally. “Even every great house he burned with fire’: Yohanan and R. Joshua b. Levi gave different interpretations of this. One said, it means the place where the Torah is magnified; the other said, the place where a prayer is magnified.

Come and hear, that Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan in the name of Rabban Shimon b. Gamaliel: A man should not sell an old Torah in order to buy a new one with the proceeds!

Come and hear, that R. Yohanan said in the name of R. Meir: A man should not sell a Sefer Torah except to study Torah or to marry a woman.

Yohanan said in the name of R. Meir: If the people of one town go to another town and the [charity collectors] there assessed them for charity, they should pay it and on leaving they should bring the money back with them to assist with it the poor of their own town. It has also been taught in a baraita:

Yohanan said: R. Meir follows the view of R. Judah, who said that interest which is only contingent is permitted,

as R. Yitzchak said in the name of R. Yohanan: It is forbidden to eat from an animal from which the priestly dues have not been taken out; and R. Yitzchak further said: To eat from an animal from which the priestly dues have not been taken out is like eating untithed produce. The halakhah does not follow him.

But did not R. Yohanan said: Any talmid hakham in front of whom someone else blesses, even a high priest, who is all ignoramus, that talmid hakham is liable for the death penalty, as it says, “All that hate me [mesanai] love death” (Proverbs 8:36); read not mesanai [that hate me], but masni’ai [that cause me to be hated]?

Rabbi asked R. Joshua b. Korha: How have you lived such a long life? He said to him: Are you trying to shorten my life? Rabbi said to him: Rabbi, this is Torah and I need to learn. He replied: Never in my life have I looked at the countenance of a wicked man; As R. Yohanan said: It is forbidden for a man to look at the image of the countenance of a wicked man, as it says, “Were it not that I regard the presence of Yehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you nor see you” (II Kings 3:14). Elazar said:

Yohanan said: Wherever you find [mentioned in the Bible] the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, you also find his humility. This fact is stated in the Torah, repeated in the Prophets, and stated a third time in the [Sacred] Writings.

Sheftiah said in the name of R. Yohanan: One who rolls up a Sefer Torah, he should make it close at a seam.

Shefatiah further said in the name of R. Yohanan: One who rolls together a Sefer Torah should roll it from outside and should not roll it from within,

Shefatiah further said in the name of R. Yohanan: If ten have read in the Torah, the greatest among them rolls up the Sefer Torah. He who rolls it up receives the reward of all of them, since R. Joshua b. Levi said: If ten have read from the Torah, the one who rolls it up receives the reward of all of them. The reward of all of them, do you really think? Rather say he receives a reward equal to that of all of them.

Shefatiah further said in the name of R. Yohanan: From where do we know that we do may make use of a heavenly voice? Because it says, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying” (Isaiah 30:21). This applies only if one hears the voice of a man in town and of a woman in the field, and only if it says, yes, yes, or no, no.

Sheftiah further said in the name of R. Yohanan: If one reads [Scripture] without a melody or recites the Mishnah without a tune, of him the verse says, “For I gave them also statutes that were not good.” (Ezekiel 20:25).

Parnakh said in the name of R. Yohanan: Whoever takes hold of a scroll of the Torah without a covering (naked) is buried naked. Naked! Do you really think? Rather say: naked without mitzvoth.

Which Tanna holds that it is atonement? R' Hisda said, R' Yishmael, the son of R' Yohanan ben Broka, as it is taught, 'he gave a ransom from his life', that is the money of the victim. [However] R' Yishmael, the son of R' Yohanan son of Broka says, it means the money of the owner. Is it not that the difference here is that one [the Rabbis] explains it is monetary compensation, and the other [R' Yishmael] explains it is an atonement

Which Tanna holds that it is atonement? R' Hisda said, R' Yishmael, the son of R' Yohanan ben Broka, as it is taught, 'he gave a ransom from his life', that is the money of the victim. [However] R' Yishmael, the son of R' Yohanan son of Broka says, it means the money of the owner. Is it not that the difference here is that one [the Rabbis] explains it is monetary compensation, and the other [R' Yishmael] explains it is an atonement

R' Abahu asked R' Yohanan a question: If a person was ascending a ladder and a rung broke under him and it fell and struck someone below and killed him, is this a situation of ascent [where he would be exempt] or descent [where he would be held liable]? He said to him: You've already touched on this [in an earlier baraita]—in a case of descending for the purpose of ascent [here, we mean that the rung is going downward for the purpose of the person ascending].

[Now we return back to the debate between R' Abahu and R. Yohanan about the case of the fallen rung]. Let us say this same issue was the matter of a Tannaitic debate: One who is ascending a ladder and a rung falls. One tanna taught that he is liable and another taught that he is exempt. Was it not about this that they were disagreeing? One of them held that it was a case of descent [where he is liable] and one of them holds that he is ascending [where he is exempt].

But it was stated: Rav Yitzhak bar Yoseph said [in the name of] Rabbi Yohanan: Rebi, and Rabbi Yehudah ben Roetz, and the School of Shammai, and Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Akiva, all of them hold that the pronunciation [how we actually read the word] is what matters! This is why Rebi said "and furthermore!" [He needed to give another reason because in general he does hold that pronunciation is what matters.]

that does not [even] have the value of a perutah. As Rabbi Ami said Rabbi Yohanan said: One who strikes and makes a wound that is not worth a perutah is lashed. And we do not make an analogy from striking to cursing.

Rabbi Yohanan: "The teacher that is exiled—they exile his yeshiva with him." Is this so?! But Rabbi Yohan said: "From where [do we learn] that the words of Torah are effective at providing refuge? As it is said: 'Betzer in the wilderness...' (Deuteronomy 4:43), (and afterwards it is written) 'And this Torah' (Deuteronomy 4:44)"?! [I.e., why is a teacher being exiled at all? Why don't the words of Torah protect him?].

And if you want to say [another solution]: What [does Rabbi Yohanan mean when he says the words of Torah] are effective at providing refuge? [Refuge] from the angel of death. For when Rav Hisda was sitting and studying in the yeshiva, the messenger, the angel of death, was not able to come near him since his mouth was never quiet from his learning. He climbed and sat on the cedar tree of the yeshiva. The cedar broke and he was silent, and [then] the [angel of death] was able [to take him].