2. Babylonian Talmud, Menachot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •scroll of fasts (megillat taanit) Found in books: Balberg (2017) 116 | 65a. b And this is as we learned /b in a mishna ( i Shekalim /i 13b): b Petaḥya /b was responsible b for the nests /b of birds, i.e., the doves or pigeons brought by a i zav /i , a i zava /i , a woman after childbirth, and a leper. These individuals would place the appropriate sum of money into the horn designated for this purpose, and each day Petaḥya oversaw the purchase of birds from that money and their sacrifice in the proper manner. b This /b Sage b is Mordekhai; /b and b why was he called Petaḥya, /b which resembles the word for opening [ i petaḥ /i ]? The reason is b that he would open, /b i.e., elucidate, difficult b topics and interpret them /b to the people, b and /b because b he knew /b all b seventy languages /b known in that region at the time.,The Gemara asks: What was unique about Petaḥya? b All /b of the members of the b Sanhedrin also know /b all b seventy languages. As Rabbi Yoḥa says: /b They b place on the /b Great b Sanhedrin only /b men b of wisdom, and of /b pleasant b appearance, and of /b high b stature, and of /b suitable b age /b so that they will be respected. b And /b they must also be b masters of sorcery, /b i.e., they know the nature of sorcery, so that they can judge sorcerers, b and /b they must b know /b all b seventy languages /b in order b that the Sanhedrin will not /b need to b hear /b testimony b from the mouth of a translator /b in a case where a witness speaks a different language.,The Gemara answers: b Rather, /b Petaḥya was unique b as /b he not only knew all seventy languages, but also had the ability to b combine /b various b languages and interpret /b them. b This is /b the meaning of that b which is written with regard to Mordekhai: “Bilshan” /b (Nehemiah 7:7). Bilshan is interpreted as another name for Mordekhai, as he would combine [ i balil /i ] languages [ i lashon /i ]., strong MISHNA: /strong b How would they perform /b the rite of the harvest of the i omer /i ? b Emissaries of the court /b would b emerge on the eve of the festival /b of Passover b and fashion /b the stalks of barley into b sheaves while /b the stalks were still b attached to the ground, so that it would be convenient to reap /b them. The residents of b all the towns adjacent to /b the site of the harvest b would assemble there, so that it would be harvested with great fanfare. /b , b Once it grew dark, /b the court emissary b says to /b those assembled: b Did the sun set? /b The assembly b says /b in response: b Yes. /b The emissary repeats: b Did the sun set? /b They again b say: Yes. /b The court emissary next says to those assembled: Shall I reap the sheaves with b this sickle? /b The assembly b says /b in response: b Yes. /b The emissary repeats: With b this sickle? /b The assembly b says: Yes. /b The court emissary then says to those assembled: Shall I place the gathered sheaves in b this basket? /b The assembly b says /b in response: b Yes. /b The emissary repeats: In b this basket? /b The assembly b says: Yes. /b ,If the sixteenth of Nisan occurs b on Shabbat, /b the court emissary b says to /b the assembled: Shall I cut the sheaves on b this Shabbat? /b The assembly b says /b in response: b Yes. /b The emissary repeats: On b this Shabbat? /b The assembly b says: Yes. /b The court emissary says to those assembled: b Shall I cut /b the sheaves? b And they say to him /b in response: b Cut. /b The emissary repeats: b Shall I cut /b the sheaves? b And they say /b to him: b Cut. /b ,The emissary asks b three times with regard to each and every matter, and /b the assembly b says to him: Yes, yes, yes. /b The mishna asks: b Why do I /b need those involved to publicize each stage of the rite b to that extent? /b The mishna answers: It is b due to the Boethusians, as they /b deny the validity of the Oral Law and b would say: There is no harvest of the i omer /i at the conclusion of the /b first b Festival /b day of Passover unless it occurs at the conclusion of Shabbat. The publicity was to underscore that the sixteenth of Nisan was the proper time for the i omer /i harvest., strong GEMARA: /strong b The Sages taught /b in a i baraita /i : b These are the days on which fasting is prohibited, and on some of them eulogizing is prohibited /b as well: b From the New Moon of Nisan until the eighth of /b the month, the proper sacrifice of b the daily offering was established, /b and therefore it was decreed b not to eulogize /b on these dates. b And /b furthermore, b from the eighth of /b Nisan b until the end of the festival /b of Passover, the correct date for the b festival of i Shavuot /i was restored, /b and it was similarly decreed b not to eulogize /b during this period.,The Gemara discusses the i baraita /i : b From the New Moon of Nisan until the eighth of /b the month the proper sacrifice of b the daily offering was established, /b and therefore it was decreed b not to eulogize /b on these dates. The Gemara explains b that the Sadducees would say: An individual may donate and bring /b the b daily offering, /b in opposition to the accepted tradition that the daily offering must be brought from communal funds. b What /b verse did the Sadducees b expound? “The one lamb shall you offer [ i ta’aseh /i ] in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer in the afternoon” /b (Numbers 28:4). Since the verse is in the singular form, the Sadducees maintained that even an individual may donate the daily offering.,The Gemara asks: b What /b did the Sages b reply /b to refute the argument of the Sadducees? They cited the verse: “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: b My food that is presented to Me for offerings made by fire, /b of a pleasing aroma unto Me, b you shall observe [ i tishmeru /i ] /b to offer to Me in its due season” (Numbers 28:2). The term: “You shall observe” is in the plural form, which indicates that b all of the /b daily offerings b should come from collection of the /b Temple treasury b chamber. /b Since during that period, between the New Moon of Nisan and the eighth of Nisan, the Sages overruled the Sadducees, it was established as a period of rejoicing, and it was prohibited to eulogize on those dates.,The Gemara discusses the next period listed in the i baraita /i : b From the eighth of /b Nisan b until the end of the festival /b of Passover, the correct date for the b festival of i Shavuot /i was restored, /b and it was similarly decreed b not to eulogize /b during this period. b As the Boethusians would say /b that the festival of b i Shavuot /i /b always occurs b after Shabbat, /b on a Sunday. Their reasoning was that the verse states, with regard to the i omer /i offering and the festival of i Shavuot /i that follows seven weeks later: “And you shall count for you from the morrow after the day of rest [ i hashabbat /i ], from the day that you brought the sheaf [ i omer /i ] of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete” (Leviticus 23:15). Disregarding the oral tradition, the Boethusians interpreted the phrase “from the morrow after the day of rest [ i hashabbat /i ]” literally, as referring to Shabbat, not the Festival day.,At the time, b Rabban Yoḥa ben Zakkai joined /b the discussion with the Boethusians b and said to them: Fools! From where /b have b you /b derived this? b And there was no man who answered him, except for one elderly man who was prattling [ i mefatpet /i ] at him, and he said: Moses, our teacher, was a lover of the Jewish people and he knew that i Shavuot /i is /b only b one day. /b Therefore, b he arose and established it after Shabbat, in order that the Jewish people would enjoy themselves for two days. /b Rabban Yoḥa ben Zakkai b recited this verse /b in response b to /b that old man: b “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the way of Mount Seir” /b (Deuteronomy 1:2). |
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