Source: http://halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_38.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 06:17:17+00:00

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yet she1 did conceive standing.2 Another interpretation: Shealtiel, because God obtained3 [of the Heavenly court] absolution from His oath.4 Zerubbabel [was so called] because he was sown in Babylon.5 But [his real name was] Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.
Judah and Hezekiah, the sons6 of R. Hiyya, once sat at table with Rabbi and uttered not a word. Whereupon he said: Give the young men plenty of strong wine,7 so that they may say something. When the wine took effect, they began by saying: The son of David8 cannot appear ere the two ruling houses in Israel shall have come to an end, viz., the Exilarchate, in Babylon and the Patriarchate in Palestine, for it is written, And he shall be for a Sanctuary, for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both houses of Israel.9 Thereupon he [Rabbi] exclaimed: You throw thorns in my eyes, my children!10 At this, R. Hiyya [his disciple] remarked: Master, be not angered, for the numerical value of the letters of yayin11 is seventy, and likewise the letters of sod:12 When yayin [wine] goes in, sod [secrets] comes out.
R. Hisda said in Mar 'Ukba's name — others state, R. Hisda quoted from a lecture of Mari b. Mar: What is meant by the verse, And so the Lord hath hastened13 the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous?14 Because God is righteous He hastened with the evil and brought it upon us! — Even so: the Holy One, blessed be He, did a righteous [i.e., charitable] thing unto Israel in that he anticipated the exile of Zedekiah while the exile of Jechoniah was yet in being,15 for it is written with reference to the latter, And the craftsmen [he-harash] and the smiths [masger], a thousand.16 Harash,17 implies, as soon as they opened a [learned] discussion, all [the others] became as though deaf.18 Masger:19 i.e., when they closed [the discussion of] a halachah, it was not reopened.20 And how many were they? — A thousand.
Our Rabbis taught: Adam was created [last of all beings] on the eve of Sabbath. And why? — Lest the Sadducees say: The Holy One, blessed be He, had a partner [viz., Adam] in His work of creation. Another answer is: In order that, if a man's mind becomes [too] proud, he may be reminded that the gnats preceded him in the order of creation. Another answer is: That he might immediately enter upon the fulfilment of a precept.35 Another answer is: That he might straightway go in to the banquet.36 The matter may be compared to a king of flesh and blood who built palaces and furnished them, prepared a banquet, and thereafter brought in the the guests. For it is written: Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars. She hath prepared her meat, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens, she calleth upon the highest places of the city.37 Wisdom hath builded her house, — this is the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, who created the world by wisdom. She hath hewn out her seven pillars, — these are the seven days of creation. She hath prepared her meat, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table, — these are the seas and the rivers and all the other requirements of the world. She hath sent forth her maidens, she calleth, — this refers to Adam and Eve. Upon the highest places of the city; Rabbah b. Bar Hana opposed [two verses]. It is written, Upon the top of the highest places.38 But elsewhere it is written, On a seat on the high places.39 — At first40 he was seated upon the 'top' of the highest places, but subsequently upon a 'seat'.
For lack of room in prison, v. Lev. Rab. XIX.
Which He had made, to punish Jechoniah with childlessness.
They were twins. Cf. Yeb. 65b.
They were foretelling the abolition of the Nasi's office which he, Rabbi, occupied.
[H] 60 + 6 + 4 = 70.
For this meaning of [H] (E.V. 'watched over'), cf. Jer. I, 12: [H] hasten.
[H], 'craftsman' or 'deaf' (with different pointing in each case).
[H] (E.V. 'smith') from [H] 'to close'.
None would presume to cast the least doubt on their ruling.
And ye shall have been long (lit., 'grown old'). Deut. IV, 25. The numerical value of [H] (6 + 50 + 6 + 300 + 50 + 400 + 40) is eight hundred and fifty-two. Subtracting two years according to this Haggadah, there are eight hundred and fifty years left, which is the length of time between Israel's entry into Palestine and the destruction of the Temple. The Temple was erected in the four hundred and eightieth year from the Exodus out of Egypt, and it stood for four hundred and ten years. Subtracting forty years for the period of their wanderings in the desert, we reach a total of eight hundred and fifty years that acceleration by two years is here regarded as a 'righteous' (i.e., charitable) act, since it averted the complete destruction threatened in Deut. IV, 26.
For the following verse states, Ye shall speedily perish completely from off the land. Thus by 'speedily' God meant 852 years, alluded to by we-noshantem.
I.e., only one man was created.
Many early versions have Minim in this place and in several other instances further on. [H] must have been inserted by the censors, v. p. 234. n. 4.
And therefore we have no need to avoid temptation.
And therefore we have no power to resist temptation.
On the superiority of their respective ancestry.
I.e., when they all descend from one father.
I.e., if they came from different stocks.
In which case some might claim that the land originally belonged to their first ancestor.
Ibid. 15, their light = 'their visage', i.e., it is not like their neighbour's; the high arm = 'the excuse for high-handed action'.
In order that the sexes might not be confused either in the darkness or the light.
The hallowing of the Sabbath.
I.e., that all nature should be ready for his use.
Prov. IX 14, which denotes a lower station (Rashi). Tosaf. reverses their significance.
Before his sin. Tosaf. At first, before Eve was created, he merely sat on the top etc., but afterwards, Eve's creation raised him to a higher pinnacle, so that he had a throne set for him.
Who is referred to as enticing.
Rab Judah said in Rab's name: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to create man, He [first] created a company of ministering angels and said to them: Is it your desire that we make a man in our image? They answered: Sovereign of the Universe, what will be his deeds? Such and such will be his deeds, He replied. Thereupon they exclaimed: Sovereign of the Universe, What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou thinkest of him?12 Thereupon He stretched out His little finger among them and consumed them with fire. The same thing happened with a second company. The third company said to Him: Sovereign of the Universe, what did it avail the former [angels] that they spoke to Thee [as they did]? the whole world is Thine, and whatsoever that Thou wishest to do therein, do it. When He came to the men of the Age of the flood and of the division [of tongues] whose deeds were corrupt, they said to Him: Lord of the Universe, did not the first [company of angels] speak aright? Even to old age I am the same, and even to hoar hairs will I carry,13 He retorted.
Why were these46 necessary? To teach R. Johanan's dictum; viz.: The Holy One, blessed be He, does nothing without consulting His Heavenly Court,47 for it is written, The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the Holy Ones.48 Now, that is satisfactory for all [the other verses], but how explain Till thrones were placed? — One [throne] was for Himself and one for David.49 Even as it has been taught: One was for Himself and one for David: this is R. Akiba's view. R. Jose protested to him: Akiba, how long will thou profane the Shechinah?50 Rather, one [throne] for justice, and the other for mercy. Did he accept [this answer] from him or not? Come and hear! For it has been taught: One is for justice and the other for charity; this is R. Akiba's view. Said R. Eleazar b. Azariah to him: Akiba, what hast thou to do with Aggada? Confine thyself to [the study of] Nega'im and Ohaloth.51 But one was a throne, the other a footstool: a throne for a seat and a footstool in support of His feet.
A Min once said to R. Ishmael b. Jose: It is written, Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord:63 but from him should have been written! A certain fuller64 said, Leave him to me, I will answer him. [He then proceeded,' It is written, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech;65 but he should have said, my wives! But such is the Scriptural idiom — so here too, it is the Scriptural idiom.
His head, the most exalted part of his body, comes from Eretz Yisrael the most exalted of all lands.
I.e., Cain and his twin sister were born. V. Yeb. 62a. Abel and his other twin sister were born after they sinned. V. Tosaf. a.l.
[H], lit., 'tarrieth not over night'.
Man's majesty keeps the wild beasts in check only as long as he does not descent to their level.
[H], He is like the beasts that perish.
Isa. XLVI, 4. I.e., I shall suffer mankind under all conditions.
Rashal rightly deletes the bracketed passage, because on this dictum the verse must be read: He created man upon the earth and reaching up to the end of Heaven, i.e., he reached from earth to Heaven.
Ps. CXXXIX, 17. This Psalm deals with the creation of man. [H] 'weighty', and [H] 'thoughts' are Aramaisms.
R. Akiba was executed by Tineius Rufus after being most cruelly tortured. Cf. Ber. 61b.
Perhaps to be understood here with a twofold meaning: weighty = honoured; and weighty = a source of heaviness and grief.
[H] is probably here taken in its usual Hebrew meaning, 'Thy friends'.
V. Glos. V. p. 234, n. 4; it is to be observed that Min is contrasted (in the next passage) with unbeliever.
I.e., he removed the mark of circumcision.
Gen. XVII, 14. with reference to circumcision.
Gen. XVII, 14. Ms.M. omits the bracketed passage; rightly so, for it is irrelevant.
Jer. XXII, 9, referring to belief in God.
Who endeavours to draw support from the Torah for his beliefs. [H] is derived from the personal name, Epicurus, and is adopted by the Talmud for the sake of the play upon the word [H] 'to be free from restraint'. To denote one who denies God and his commandments, v. Herford, Christianity in Talmud p. 120.
Lit., 'He is more lawless.' With him, therefore, discussion is not advised since he is deliberate in his negation and not therefore easily dissuaded (Rashi).
E.g., where God is spoken of in the plural.
By asserting that a human being sit beside Him.
Name of an Angel, probably derived from metator, guide. In Talmud and Midrash he is regarded notably as the defender of the rights of Israel (cf. Hag. 16a).
Cf. Rashi on Ex. XXIII, 21. The numerical value of Metatron ([H]) is equal to that of [H] (the Almighty) viz. 314.
[H] is here taken, in the sense of 'exchange', from [H].
That he is not to be worshipped, but God alone.
Ibid. Surely, he has no authority to do so.
Lit., 'Postman' — of forgiveness.
[H] v. supra p. 178 n. 3.
Probably of those collected by R. Meir, since many other fox fables are found scattered throughout the Talmud and Midrash. Cf. Ber. 61b; Eccl. Rab. V. 14.

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