THE TALMUD OP JEEUSALEM. TRANSLATED FOB THE FIRST TIME BY Dr. MOSES SCHWAB, OF THE "iilBLlOTHKqUE NATIOXALR," I'AKIS. .Jit. (>' (.'. VOL. L BEI^AKHOTH[. WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1886. 5 PEEFAGE. The Talmud has very often been spoken of, but is little known. The very great linguistic difficulties, and the vast size of the work, have up to the present time prevented the effecting of more than the translation of the Mishna only into Latin and, later, in German. At the instance of some friends, we have decided upon publishing a complete textual and generally literal version of the Talmud, that historical and religious work which forms a continuation of the Old and even of the New Testament.^ "We are far from laying claim to a perfect translation of all the delicate shades of expression belonging to an idiom so strange and variable, which is a mixture of neo-Hebrew and Chaldean, and concise almost to obscurity. We wish to take every opportunity of improving this work. A general introduction will be annexed, treating of the origin, composition, spirit, and history of the Talmud. This introduction will be accompanied by : 1st. An Alphabetical Index of all the incongruous subjects treated of in this vast and unwieldy Encyclo- paedia; 2nd. An Index of the proper and geographical names; 8rd. Concordantial Notes of the various Bible texts employed, permitting a reference to the commentaries made on them (which will sometimes serve a^ Errata). This general introduction can, for obvious reasons, only appear on the completion of the present version. The com- mencement, however, gives an idea of the contents. The " Version of the Berakhoth " (or Blessing), as Mr. A.d. Franck^ says, carries us into the bosom of a society and a creed in which everything is a subject of blessing and prayer. God is blessed for the bread and the wine,^ for the fruit plucked frOm the trees, and the produce of the ^ See the works of Messrs. J. Barclay, H. Polano, Js. Herslion (with Preface by Rev. F. Farrar), and Dr. H. Oort. 2 Journal des Savants, Septem])er, 1872, pp. iiSS, 554. 3 See the Jewish Prayer-book. 421909 — IV PREFACE. earth. Light and fire, the rainbow, the storm, the lightning, the new moon, were so many reasons for blessing God. Every action and event in life was the occasion of blessing and prayer to God ; on rising in the morning, on retiring at night, in repose or in labour, at a birth, marriage, or death, in passing a cemetery, on seeing a prince or a king. Once the principle admitted, all possible inferences must be drawn from it. The formulae of blessing and of prayer, once hallowed and sanctioned by tradition or faith, we shall see under what circumstances and at what hours they are to be recited. Equal care will be taken in defining the various conditions which permit or forbid the blessing or invocation of the Almighty, when man, by reason of his purity, is worthy, or by reason of his legitimate im- jDurity, unworthy to bless or invoke God. This it is that necessi- tates a Treatise, or what may be called the Science of Blessings {Berahliotli). For general philology, the following is a list of the Greek and Latin terms used in this first volume : a^da-Kavra, 156. KklVTrjpLOV, 56. demissus, 168. aXi/jLo<i, 118. KOpO'i, 7. domus, 46. avaKXiTa, 56. KoaynKov 160. funda, 170. avOvTraro^, 99. KOa/jLOKpaTCOp, 154. linteum, 124. a7ret8&5y, 158. XevKQ'i, 156. muscus, 124. apLaTov, 76. \T]aT7]<;, 18. nanus, 156. ap-)(^LTeKT(i3V, 151. Xlfirjv, 68. narthecium, 101. ap')((i)v, 53, 99. vordpio^, 19. nicolai, 121. aadevii]^, 48, 140. ^evia, 15, 90. palatia, 59, 100. (3dXav€tov, 121. 6x^0^, 153, 157. patronus, 152. ^aaiXev^, 151. 7r6A,6/i09, 19. qusestionarius, 153. ryapca/jbaTa, 120. airelpa, 157. semita, 68. hrjfioaia, 53, QQ. .avyKXrjTiKo^, 161. speculare, 145. SccraKKiov, 70. cr^eSta, 93. speculator, 159. cIkovlov, 57. Tifi}'], 150. spicula, 168. etrapy^ia, 154. capitatus, 119. stola, 71. eVei^Suxr;?, 170. cathedra, 122. strata, 4, 100. evdiKo^, 16. ch'censes, 83, 158 strategus, 146. e')(^ihva, 144. comes, 161. theatrum, 1 58. Xi]<jL<i, 123. compendiaria (via), 170. triclinium, 70, 147. KLudpa, 118. conditum, 33, 121. typus, 25. THE TllEATISE OF THE BERAIvHOTH. CHAPTER I. MISHNA. 1. What is tlio proper momeufc for reciting the Shnna' ^ in tlio evening ? From the hour the priests enter (the Temple) to eat their Troomd (heave offerings, or oblations ^) nntil the end of the first watch \ This is the opinion of E>. Eleazar ; the (others) sages (wise *) men say : until midnight, and Rabban Gamaliel says : until the pillar of the morn ascend (daybreak*). GEMAEA. " " What is the proper moment for reading the evening SJiema', &c.? We have seen (by the Mishna) that it commences from the moment at which ^ This is the principal formula of the Jewish liturgy, and is so called from the word Shema', "Hear, Israel," with which it commences. The formula is composed of three sections : 1st, Deut. vi, 4-9 ; 2nd, Deut. xi. 13-21 ; 3rd, jS'um. xv. 37-41 ; and is recited evening and morning. Evening prayer might be said after 12.30 ji.m. (See Acts X. 9.) ^ In the event of a priest of the Temple (cohen) who was legally unclean (Lev. xxii. 7), he could not eat holy things for a whole day ; at sunset he took a bath of purification, he could then eat of the oblations which depended upon his office. ^ The night was divided, according to the Eabbis, into three or four watches of three or four hours each; this division of the night is retained by the Church under the denomination of Vigils (for its offices). The night, Avhatever its length, is divided into twelve hours which vary according to the season, for they are not so much hours as fractions of the night of more or less duration ; the first hour was from six to seven o'clock, and so on. * Or greater part of the Eabbis, that is to say, the majority of the Assembly. * According to Maimonide's Commentaries, the daybreak precedes sunrise by 1^ hours. He attributes the optical phenomenon to vapours which, rising ceaselessly from the earth, bring the solar light, by refraction, nearer to us. He fixes the height of the atmospheric clouds at 51 Talmudick miles, which are, according to some, of 18 minutes, and according to others, of 24 minutes. 3 ; 2 BERAKilOTlI. the priests enter in order to eat Troomd. U. I.Iiya taug-lit that it is at tlie hour at which the people usually return home on Friday evening- to take their meal. It is added that these two opinions are almost identical. But wait ! (we have an objection to offer) : When the priests enter to eat Troomd, it is still day, and the stars are not yet out, whilst on the other hand, when the people sit down to the Friday evening-'s meal, it is g-ene rally an hour or two after nightfall. How, then, can v/e admit tliat the two o[)inions coincide? H. Yosse answers that it relates to the small villages, the inhabitants of which leave the fields before nightfall, in order to avoid the wild beasts. It has been taught that " He who recites the evening prayer before that hour has not fulfilled his obligation.^' If this is so, why is it done at the Sj^nagogue ? li. Yosse replies : It is not recited in the Synagogue as a matter of duty, but in order to remain in prayer after the study of the Law. R. Zcira, speaking in the name of R. Jeremie, says : If one is uncertain of having said grace before meals, it must be re-said, for it is a law written in the " Turd, ^IVy\^1 : IF/ien. thoii hast eaten and art fall, then thoit shall bless the Lord" (Deut. viii. 10). If there is a doubt of having said the prayer^, it is not to be said again, for it is only prescribed by the Rabbis. This is contrary to the opinion of R. Yohanan, who says : V/ould to God that man would pray all the d;iy, for prayer (even repeated) is never lost'. As regards the question relative to the recital of the Shema^, this is a question to be resolved by the following rule: It has been taught that if the Shema,' is recited before the appointed time, the duty has not been accomplished. Now, is there not, at the moment preceding the time appointed, a doubt whether it is day or night? Therefore, in case of doubt, the Shema^ must certainly be said. What is the material indication of the hour at which the priests eat Troomd ? The appearance of the stars. Nothing- proves this in an irrefutable manner, " but there is, on this subject, an allusion in the Bible (Neh. iv. 21) : So v.'e laboured in the work ; and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared/^ and further, "That in the night they may be a guard to us, and labour in the day^' (Neh. iv. 32). Thus the duration of the day and the night are determined. How many stars should be visible to make it night? R. Pinchas, in the name of R. Abba bar-Papa, says: When is only one star is to be seen, it is still day ; when two are to be seen, it doubtful but when three are to be seen, night has certainly fallen*.