TAANIS - 022a – סדר תעניות אלו – פרק שלישי – תענית, כב ע”א

In the morning they rolled them up and took them, and they rose and went out to the market, and he found them there.

לצפרא כרכינהו - The Rabbis rolled up Abba Umna’s rugs, brought them to the market and offered them for sale.

They said to him: Let the master appraise them — how much are they worth?

אמרו ליה - To Abba Umna: “Let the master appraise them and give us their price.” They were testing him, to see whether he would suspect them of being thieves, or whether he would value them at less than their worth.

He said to them: Such-and-such.

They said to him: Perhaps they are worth more?

He said to them: That is what I paid for them.

They said to him: They are yours, and we took them from you.

They said to him: We beg of you — of what did you suspect us?

במאי חשדתינן - When we took them.

He said to them: I said to myself, a case of redeeming captives^[1] has come the Rabbis’ way, and they were embarrassed to tell me.

וכסיפא - The matter was embarrassing for you, to tell me straight out to give them; and that is why they came to sleep at my house, to go to all this trouble.

They said to him: Now let the master take them back.

לשקלינהו מר - For we wanted only to test you.

He said to them: From that moment I put them out of my mind, for charity.

Rava was distressed because of Abaye.^[2]

חלשא דעתיה דרבא אדאביי - For Rava, greetings came only from one Erev Yom Kippur to the next, and for Abaye every Erev Shabbos.

They said to him: It is enough for you that you protect the whole city.

אכולא כרכא - Upon all the people of your city.

Rabbi Beroka of Chuzai used to frequent the market of Bei Lefet,

רב ברוקא חוזאה - He was from Bei Chuzai.

דבי לפט - A place.

and Eliyahu used to appear to him there.

He said to him: Is there anyone in this market who is destined for the World to Come?

א"ל - Rav Beroka said to Eliyahu: “Is there in this market …”

He said to him: No.

Meanwhile he saw a certain man who was wearing black shoes and had not put a thread of techeles^[3] on his cloak.

מסאני אוכמי - Black shoes, not in keeping with the custom of the Jews.

ולא רמי חוטא - He had not put tzitzis on his garment.

He said to him: This one is destined for the World to Come.

אמר ליה - Eliyahu said to Rav Beroka: This one is destined for the World to Come.

He ran after him and said to him: What is your occupation?

קרא ליה - Rav Beroka called to that man.

He said to him: Go now, and come back tomorrow.

The next day he said to him: What is your occupation?

He said to him: I am a jailer,

זנדוקנא - A guard of the prison.

and I imprison the men separately and the women separately, and I place my bed between these and those, so that they will not come to sin.

רמינא פורייאי כו' - I place my bed between the men and the women.

When I see a Jewish girl upon whom the gentiles have set their eyes, I put my life at risk and save her.

דיהבי נכרים עינייהו עלה - The prison keepers.

One day there was a betrothed maiden^[4] with us upon whom the gentiles had set their eyes;

איתרמי נערה כו' - Who was in the prison.

I took dregs of wine and threw them on the hem of her garment,

דורדיא דחמרא - Wine lees, which are red like blood.

בשיפולה - On the hem of her garments.

and I said: She is menstruating.

דיסתנא - She is in her menstrual period and repulsive; it is a Persian word.

He said to him: Why do you have no threads, and why do you wear black shoes?

He said to him: I go in and out among the gentiles, so that they will not know that I am a Jew.

When they issue a decree, I inform the Rabbis, and they pray for mercy and annul their decrees.

And why, when I said to you, “What is your occupation?”, did you say to me, “Go now and come back tomorrow”?

He said to him: At that very hour they had issued a decree, and I said to myself: first I will go and inform the Rabbis, so that they may pray for mercy over the matter.

Meanwhile those two people came along.

He said to him: These too are destined for the World to Come.

אמר ליה - Eliyahu said to Rav Beroka: These too are destined for the World to Come.

He went over to them and said to them: What is your occupation?

They said to him: We are jesters; we cheer up the sad.

בדוחי - Joyful, and they make people joyful.

Also, when we see two people who have a quarrel between them, we take pains and make peace between them.

טרחינן - With words of humor between them.

עד דעבדי שלמא - For these are among the things whose fruits a person eats in this world while the principal remains, etc. — bringing peace between a person and his fellow.^[5]

For these they sound the alarm everywhere, etc.^[6]

The Rabbis taught: For these they sound the alarm everywhere: for blight, for mildew, for locusts and chasil, and for a wild beast.^[7]

Rabbi Akiva says: For blight and for mildew, in any amount;

שדפון וירקון - Since it was seen in any amount, they sound the alarm; and the “full oven” of our Mishnah^[8] is for fasting. Alternatively, that is simply how the incident happened.

for locusts and chasil, even if only a single winged one was seen in Eretz Yisrael, they sound the alarm over them.

כנף אחד - One bird of that species, like every bird, every winged thing (Bereishis 7:14).

And for a wild beast, etc.^[9]

The Rabbis taught: The wild beast of which they spoke — when it is “sent,” they sound the alarm over it; when it is not sent, they do not sound the alarm over it.^[10]

משולחת - From Heaven.

Which is a sent one, and which is not a sent one?

If it was seen in the city, it is sent; in the field, it is not sent.

בשדה אינה משולחת - For that is its usual way.

By day, it is sent; by night, it is not sent.

If it saw two people and ran after them, it is sent; if it hid from them, it is not sent.

If it mauled two people and ate one of them, it is sent;

טרפה שני בני אדם - And it ate only one of them — it is certainly sent: since it was hungry for only one, why did it kill the other?

if it ate both of them, it is not sent.

שניהן אינה משולחת - For it ate them out of hunger.

If it climbed onto a roof and took an infant from a cradle, it is sent.

עלתה לגג - People used to do all their household activities on the roofs, which were not sloped but smooth and level; and the same applies to the house beneath it.

עריסה - Bertzol (cradle) in Old French.

This itself is difficult: You said if it was seen in the city, it is sent — no matter whether by day or by night; and then you said by day it is sent, by night it is not sent?!^[11]

It is not difficult; this is what it means:

הכי קאמר - When the beraisa teaches seen in the city, etc., this is what it means: seen in the city, meaning seen by day, since an unqualified “seen” implies by day; but at night it is not sent. And when it teaches seen by day, that refers to the field: if it was seen in the field by day, it is not sent.

If it was seen in the city by day, it is sent; in the city by night, it is not sent.

Alternatively: in the field, [even] by day it is [not] sent.

If it saw two people and ran after them, it is sent — implying that if it stood still, it is not sent; and then you said if it hid from them, it is not sent — implying that if it stood still, it is sent?!^[12]

הא עמדה - In the field, where it neither ran nor hid.

It is not difficult: here it is in a field adjoining a marsh,

בשדה הסמוכה לאגם - If it stood still, it is not sent: since the field adjoins a marsh, that is its habitat, and it did not flee, thinking: if they come after me, I will escape into the marsh at once.

there it is in a field that does not adjoin a marsh.

בשדה שאינה סמוכה לאגם - If it stood still, it is sent: since this is not its habitat and yet it stands there, it is certainly sent — it is a decree.

אגם - Marais in Old French: a marsh near the city, full of thorns.

If it mauled two people together and ate one of them, it is sent; both of them, it is not sent — but you said that even running after them makes it sent?!^[13]

Rav Pappa said: When that was taught, it was about a marsh.

כי תניא ההיא - That if it ate, yes, but if it only ran, no — in a marsh: since that is its place, it relied on itself and ran after them.

The matter itself: If it climbed onto a roof and took an infant from a cradle, it is sent.^[14]

This is obvious!

Rav Pappa said: It refers to the huts of hunters.

ככוכא דציידי - A small hut of hunters, dug out as an ambush for birds. Even though it is not a permanent building and is not like a settlement, it is sent.

For the sword, etc.^[15]

The Rabbis taught: The sword of which they spoke — it need not be said a sword that is not of peace, but even a sword of peace;

אין צריך לומר חרב שאינו של שלום - For which they sound the alarm; rather, even a sword of peace: one passing through that kingdom on its way to fight somewhere else.

for you have no sword more peaceful than that of Pharaoh Necho, and even so King Yoshiyahu stumbled over it,^[16]

as it is said

Tosfos

טרפה שני בני אדם אכלה אחד מהן משולחת - The same applies if it did not eat one of them: it is sent. For if it ate both of them it is not sent, since eating both is not a sign of being sent but of being hungry. And the beraisa mentions “it ate one of them” as a novelty: even though it ate one of them, it is sent.

Notes

1. 1. Redeeming captives (pidyon shevuyim) is a great mitzvah, for which communal funds take priority. Abba Umna assumed the Rabbis had urgent need of money for it and were too embarrassed to ask him outright.
2. 2. Earlier (21b) the Gemara related that Abba Umna received greetings from the Heavenly Academy every day, Abaye every Erev Shabbos, and Rava only once a year, on Erev Yom Kippur.
3. 3. Techeles is the sky-blue dye required for a thread of the tzitzis (Bamidbar 15:38). A man with no tzitzis and black shoes did not look like an observant Jew at all, which is why Rav Beroka was surprised.
4. 4. A na’arah me’orasah is a girl of twelve to twelve and a half who has been betrothed (kiddushin) but not yet married. Relations with her are a grave capital offense, so the jailer went to great lengths to protect her.
5. 5. Rashi quotes the Mishnah (Pe’ah 1:1) listing deeds whose “fruits” a person enjoys in this world while the principal remains for the World to Come; bringing peace between people is one of them.
6. 6. The Mishnah lists calamities for which an alarm is sounded — fasting and crying out in prayer — even by communities far from the affected place: blight, mildew, locusts, chasil, a wild beast and the sword.
7. 7. Shidafon (blight) blackens the grain through a hot east wind; yerakon (mildew) turns it pale yellow. Arbeh and chasil are species of locust that devour the crops.
8. 8. The Mishnah records that elders decreed a fast because blight the size of an oven’s mouth was seen in Ashkelon. Rashi explains this is no contradiction to Rabbi Akiva: either that measure is for fasting, or it was simply the size in that incident.
9. 9. The Mishnah includes a wild beast among the calamities for which the alarm is sounded everywhere. The beraisa that follows defines when a beast counts as such.
10. 10. “Sent” (meshulachas) means sent from Heaven as a punishment. A wild animal that acts against its nature, without fear of people, shows that it is a Heavenly decree, and that calls for an alarm.
11. 11. Wild animals naturally avoid human settlement, so one seen in the city is behaving abnormally. The Gemara asks why the beraisa then distinguishes between day and night.
12. 12. An animal chasing two people acts against its nature; one that hides from them behaves normally, out of fear. The Gemara asks about the case in between, an animal that simply stands still.
13. 13. Killing two but eating only one shows it killed beyond its need for food, a sign that it was sent; eating both shows it acted from hunger. The Gemara asks: the beraisa already said that merely running after them is a sign.
14. 14. A roof was part of the house, used for daily living. An animal that climbs there and takes an infant has entered the settlement itself; the Gemara asks why this needed stating after “seen in the city.”
15. 15. The Mishnah lists the sword — an army on the move — among the calamities for which an alarm is sounded everywhere.
16. 16. Pharaoh Necho of Egypt marched through Eretz Yisrael to fight at Carchemish, not against Israel. King Yoshiyahu went out against him and was killed at Megiddo (Melachim II 23:29; Divrei HaYamim II 35:20–24).