CHAGIGAH - 005a – הכל חייבין – פרק ראשון – חגיגה, ה ע”א

She was sweeping out the oven; she took [the poker] and set it on her foot, it burned her, her fortune was weakened, and he brought her.^[1]

וקא מחריא תנורא - She was sweeping the oven.

אותיבתיה אגבה דכרעה - She set it on the top of her foot, was burned, and her fortune was weakened.

Rav Bibi bar Abaye said to him: Do you have permission to do this?

He said to him: And is it not written: “But there are those swept away without judgment”?^[2]

He said to him: But it is written (Koheles 1): “One generation goes and another generation comes”!

He said: I tend them myself until the years of the generation are complete, and then I hand him over to Dumah.^[3]

דרעינא להו אנא - I do not hand them over to the keeper of the dead, whose name is Dumah; rather they roll along with me and roam the world until his years are filled, and that span is what is called a “generation.”

He said to him: In the end, what do you do with his years?

He said: If there is a young Torah scholar who passes over slights, I add them to him, and they become his replacement.^[4]

דמעביר במיליה - He passes over his measures, forgiving those who wrong him.

When R’ Yochanan reached this verse he wept (Iyov 2): “And you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”^[5]

A servant whose master is incited against him and is swayed, does he have any remedy?!

When R’ Yochanan reached this verse he wept (Iyov 15): “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones.”^[6]

If He puts no trust in His holy ones, in whom will He trust?

One day he was walking on the road and saw a certain man picking figs: he left the ones that were ripe and took the ones that were not ripe.

דמטו - That had ripened.

He said to him: Are these not better?

He said to him: I need these for the road; these keep, and those do not keep.

הני מינטרן - Those that have not fully ripened are not quick to rot.

He said: This is what is written: “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones.”

היינו דכתיב כו' - Just as one fears that the good ones will rot, so righteous young men are seized by death lest they sin.

Is that so? But there was a certain student in the neighbourhood of R’ Alexandri who died while young, and he said: Had this scholar wished, he would have lived.

אדזוטר - While he was still a young man.

אי בעי האי מרבנן - To walk in the way of the good, he would have lived.

And if it is so, perhaps he was of “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones”?

That one used to scorn his teachers.

מבעט ברבותיו הוה - R’ Alexandri knew that he was not one of the holy ones, and it is written: “But it shall not be well with the wicked, nor shall he prolong his days, like a shadow, because he does not fear before God” (Koheles 8). And it was taught in Maseches Kiddushin (33b): “This fear, I do not know what it is. When it says, ‘You shall honour the face of the elder, and you shall fear your God’ (Vayikra 19), say: this fear is honour of the Sages.”

When R’ Yochanan reached this verse he wept (Malachi 3): “And I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely, and against those who withhold the hired worker’s wages.”^[7]

A servant whose master draws him near to judge him and hastens to testify against him, does he have any remedy?!

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said: Woe to us, for Scripture has weighed light sins for us like severe ones.

קלות כחמורות - Those who withhold a hired worker’s wages are listed with adulterers and sorcerers.

Reish Lakish said: Whoever perverts the judgment of a convert is as if he perverts the judgment of the One Above, as it says (Malachi 3): “And those who turn aside the convert”; u’matai is written.^[8]

ומטי גר - It is written in this same verse.

R’ Chanina bar Pappa said: Whoever does a thing and regrets it is forgiven at once, as it says (Malachi 3): “And they do not fear Me”; hence if they fear Me, they are forgiven at once.

ולא יראוני - And it is written in this verse.

When R’ Yochanan reached this verse he wept (Koheles 12): “For God shall bring every deed into judgment, concerning every hidden thing.”^[9]

כי את כל מעשה האלהים יביא במשפט על כל נעלם - Even for things hidden from him, which he did unwittingly, He brings him into judgment.

A servant whose master weighs his unwitting sins like deliberate ones, does he have any remedy?!

What is “concerning every hidden thing”?

על כל - It implies even a small matter.

Rav said: This is one who kills a louse in front of his friend, and he is disgusted by it.

ונמאס - His friend’s mind was revolted by the thing.

And Shmuel said: This is one who spits in front of his friend, and he is disgusted.

What is “whether good or whether evil”?^[10]

מאי אם טוב - For it implies that He brings him into judgment even over a good deed.

The school of R’ Yannai said: This is one who gives charity to a poor man in public.

As in this case: R’ Yannai saw a certain man giving a zuz to a poor man in public.

He said to him: Better that you had not given it to him than now, that you gave it to him and shamed him.

The school of R’ Sheila said: This is one who gives charity to a woman in private, for he brings her under suspicion.

Rava said: This is one who sends his wife meat that is not trimmed on the eves of Shabbos.^[11]

שאינו מחותך - That is not cleaned of the forbidden fat and the forbidden sinews.

בערבי שבתות - For since they hurry to prepare what Shabbos needs, they do not pay attention to whether it is cleaned.

But Rava used to send!

Rav Chisda’s daughter is different, for he was certain about her that she is expert.^[12]

When R’ Yochanan reached this verse he wept (Devarim 31): “And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles befall him.”

A servant whose master brings evils and troubles upon him, does he have any remedy?!

What are “evils and troubles”?

Rav said: Evils that become rivals to each other, such as a wasp and a scorpion.^[13]

צרות סמוכות זו לזו - The word is as in “and her rival vexed her” (Shmuel I 1): two wives together.

זיבורא ועקרבא - He chose this because we say in Maseches Avodah Zarah, perek Ein Ma’amidin (28b): “Hot things for a scorpion and cold things for a wasp, and the reverse is dangerous.” Therefore, where a wasp and a scorpion have both stung him, they become rivals to each other, so that he has no remedy, neither with cold things, which are bad for the scorpion, nor with hot things, which are bad for the wasp.

And Shmuel said: This is one who provides money for a poor man at the time of his distress.^[14]

זה הממציא מעות לעני בשעת דוחקו - This refers back to the verse above, “whether good or whether evil”: one who is accustomed to provide his charity to the poor man only at the time of his distress, and not before the time of distress, when he could still seek his food and buy it while it is cheap.

Rava said: This is what people say: A zuz for produce is not to be found; for hanging, it is found.^[15]

לעללא - To buy grain, as the Targum renders “the produce of the land” as ועללת ארעא (Vayikra 25).

לתליתא - For loss and waste; so I heard. But it seems to me: to buy at the time of distress food that one hangs in his basket, as the master said (Pesachim 111b): “Hang up the basket, hang up the food; things hanging in the house are hard for poverty.”

(Devarim 31) “Then My anger shall be kindled against them on that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them.”

Rav Bardela bar Tavyomi said in the name of Rav: Whoever is not in “hiding of the face” is not of them; whoever is not in “and they shall be devoured”^[16]…

מוסיפנא לו והוה חלופיה - One may ask against R’ Akiva, who holds at the end of perek Hacholetz (Yevamos 50a) that from his own they added to Chizkiyahu,^[17] and does not hold that if one merits, years are added to him; yet here it implies that they add to him. This requires study.

מבעט ברבותיו הוה - And so one can say about the case in the first perek of Shabbos (13a): a certain man died, and his wife carried his tefillin around the batei midrash and said: It is written, “For it is your life and the length of your days”; my husband, who read much and learned much, why did he die in half his days? And no one answered her a word. Yet they did not say that he was of those of whom it says “He puts no trust in His holy ones.” Alternatively, that would not have been a decisive answer.

הא יראוני מוחלין - It is written about withholding a hired worker’s wages, which is a negative commandment; and this disagrees with R’ Yishmael in the last perek of Yoma (86a), who says teshuvah suspends and Yom Kippur atones.^[18] But there is another beraisa that says that for a positive and a negative commandment teshuvah atones. Further, one can distinguish between kinds of teshuvah: there is one who repents and is forgiven at once, and there is one who repents and is forgiven, but not with complete forgiveness, and there is still punishment, and that punishment is suspended. And what we say in Shevuos (12b), one who transgresses a positive commandment and regrets it does not move from there before he is forgiven, means complete forgiveness; and if he repents with all his heart, through suffering his sins will be atoned.

שנעשות צרות זו לזו כגון זיבורא ועקרבא - Rabbeinu Tam explained: the remedy for this bite is harmful to that bite; and so we say at the beginning of the second perek of Avodah Zarah (28b): “Hot things for a scorpion, cold things for a wasp.”

זה הממציא מעות לעני בשעת דוחקו - Rashi explained that this refers back to “whether good or whether evil”: he waits until the time of high prices, and the poor man ends up buying expensively; and litlisa means buying bread for the moment, as one buys it into his basket, as we say: “Hang up the basket, hang up the food.” Rabbeinu Tam finds this difficult. First, why did it say so much, and interrupt it with the other verse, “And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles befall him”? Further, we say: one who lends to a poor man in his time of distress, of him it is said, “Then you shall call, and Hashem will answer” (Yeshayahu 58:9), in perek Haba al Yevimto (Yevamos 63a)^[19]; though there the Rivan distinguishes between lending and providing. Further, the Gemara would be citing something uncommon, hanging up bread, since it says in Arvei Pesachim (111b): “Things hanging in the house are hard for poverty.” Rabbeinu Tam explains: “many troubles and evils” is one who provides money for a poor man in his time of distress, for example when the ruler seized him, and this man came and offered to lend him money on his land; had he not come, the ruler would have been lenient with his ransom, since he is pressed and poor. “A zuz for produce is not found”: if he wanted to buy grain to feed his household, no one would bring out money for him; “for hanging”: as in “hang and sell” (Bava Basra 47b), when they press him to sell his property, putting it up so that he can redeem himself. [See also Tosfos Sanhedrin 76b, s.v. Vehamalveh.]

Notes

1. 1. This continues the story from 4b: the Angel of Death, who was a frequent presence with Rav Bibi bar Abaye, told his messenger to bring Miriam the women’s hairdresser, and he brought Miriam the children’s nurse by mistake. This line tells how he was able to take her.
2. 2. Mishlei 13:23. Some people die before their time, not by a judgment against them.
3. 3. Dumah is the angel in charge of the souls of the dead.
4. 4. Ma’avir al midosav: one who does not insist on his due and forgives those who wrong him. To him are added the years lost by the one who died before his time.
5. 5. Iyov 2:3: Hashem’s words to the Satan about Iyov, who had incited Him to bring suffering on Iyov without cause.
6. 6. Iyov 15:15, from the words of Elifaz: even in His holy ones, the righteous, Hashem does not trust that they will not sin.
7. 7. Malachi 3:5. The verse lists those who withhold a hired worker’s wages together with sorcerers, adulterers and false swearers.
8. 8. The word can be read u’matai, “those who turn Me aside”; so perverting a convert’s judgment is like perverting the judgment of Hashem Himself.
9. 9. Koheles 12:14. The verse ends “whether good or whether evil,” which the Gemara takes up below.
10. 10. The end of the verse. It means that even a deed that looks good is judged, if it was done improperly.
11. 11. Nikkur: removing the forbidden fat (cheilev) and sinews from meat. Sending one’s wife meat that is not trimmed leads her into eating something forbidden.
12. 12. Rav Chisda’s daughter was Rava’s wife.
13. 13. The scorpion’s remedy (hot things) harms a wasp sting, and the wasp’s remedy (cold things) harms a scorpion sting (Avodah Zarah 28b). One stung by both has no remedy.
14. 14. Rashi: he waits and gives to the poor man only once he is pressed and must buy expensively. Rabbeinu Tam (in Tosfos): he lends him money when the ruler has seized him, and because of this the ruler is not lenient with his ransom.
15. 15. Alla is produce. Money to buy grain cheaply is not available to the poor man, but money to buy for the moment at a high price is.
16. 16. Devarim 31:17. The verse goes on, “and they shall be devoured,” and the statement continues on the next amud.
17. 17. Chizkiyahu was told, “Behold, I will add to your days fifteen years” (Yeshayahu 38:5). According to R’ Akiva these were years originally allotted to him (Yevamos 50a).
18. 18. Teshuvah toleh: one who violated a negative commandment and repented has his punishment suspended until Yom Kippur, and Yom Kippur atones. This seems to contradict “forgiven at once.”
19. 19. Yevamos 63a: one who lends a sela to a poor man in his time of distress, of him Scripture says, “Then you shall call, and Hashem will answer.”