Every source cited by Rabbi Sheshet

With regard to Babylonia, the Gemara cites what Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: When Babylonia was cursed, its neighbors were cursed along with it. When Samaria was cursed, its neighbors were blessed. When Babylonia was cursed its neighbors were cursed along with it, as it is written: “I will also make it a possession for the bittern, a wading bird, and pools of water” (Isaiah 14:23); not only will it be destroyed, but the site will become a habitat for destructive, environmentally harmful creatures. When Samaria was cursed, however, its neighbors were blessed, as it is written: “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the field, a place for the planting of vineyards” (Micah 1:6); although destroyed, it will serve a beneficial purpose. And Rav Hamnuna said: One who sees multitudes of Israel, six hundred thousand Jews, recites: Blessed…Who knows all secrets. One who sees multitudes of gent…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

And there are those who reverse the attribution of the opinions of Rabba and Rav Yosef with regard to this matter. The mishna teaches that if a man said to ten people: Write and give a bill of divorce to my wife, one of the ten writes the bill of divorce and two sign it. The Sages taught: If one said to ten people: Write a bill of divorce and give it to my wife, one writes on behalf of them all. If he said: All of you write the document, one writes it in the presence of them all. If he said: Deliver a bill of divorce to my wife, one person brings it on behalf of them all. If he said: All of you deliver a bill of divorce, then one brings it in the presence of them all. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If he said: Write a bill of divorce, and he enumerated them by name, what is the halakha ? Can one of them write the bill of divorce on behalf of them all? Or perhaps it is comparable…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

in the heavenly entourage [ pamalia ] of angels each of whom ministers to a specific nation (see Daniel 10), and whose infighting causes war on earth; and in the earthly entourage, the Sages, and among the disciples engaged in the study of Your Torah, whether they engage in its study for its own sake or not for its own sake. And all those engaged in Torah study not for its own sake, may it be Your will that they will come to engage in its study for its own sake. After his prayer, Rabbi Alexandri said the following: May it be Your will, Lord our God, that You station us in a lighted corner and not in a darkened corner, and do not let our hearts become faint nor our eyes dim. Some say that this was the prayer that Rav Hamnuna would recite, and that after Rabbi Alexandri prayed, he would say the following: Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that our will is to perfo…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

We learned in the mishna that when the eve of Passover occurs on Shabbat, burning the fats of the Paschal lamb overrides Shabbat. The Gemara notes that it was taught in the Tosefta : Rabbi Shimon said: Come and see how dear is a mitzva performed in its proper time. For burning the fats and limbs and inner fats is valid all night and it would have been possible to wait until the conclusion of Shabbat and burn them at night, but nonetheless we do not wait with them until nightfall; rather, we burn them immediately, even on Shabbat. The mishna also taught that carrying the Paschal lamb through a public domain, bringing it from outside the Shabbat limit and cutting off its wart do not override Shabbat. The Gemara raises a contradiction from another mishna in tractate Eiruvin , which teaches: One may cut off a wart by hand on Shabbat in the Temple but not in the rest of the country outside th…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

on the inheritance of Jacob your father, as the mouth of God has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13–14). The reward for delighting in Shabbat is specifically the portion of Jacob. Not that of Abraham, about whom it is written, “Rise, walk through the land through its length and its width because I have given it to you” (Genesis 13:17), i.e., only this land alone in its borders. And not that of Isaac, about whom it is written, “Dwell in this land and I will be with you and I will bless you because I will give all of these lands to you and your offspring” (Genesis 26:3), meaning these lands and no others. Rather, that of Jacob, about whom it is written, “And your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all of the families of the land will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14). There are…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

During the Passover seder, between these cups that one is obligated to drink, e.g., between the first two of the four cups of wine, if one wants to drink he may drink. However, between the third and fourth cups, which are consumed after the meal, one may not drink. And if you say that wine satisfies a person, why may one drink extra cups? He will later eat matza when he is already satiated, which will constitute an excessive eating. Rather, learn from this that wine whets the appetite. The Gemara relates that Rav Sheshet would fast the entire eve of Passover. The Gemara asks: Shall we say that Rav Sheshet maintains that this practice was necessary because of two factors? First, when the mishna states that one may not eat adjacent to minḥa time, we learned this ruling with regard to the period of time adjacent to the greater minḥa , and the reason for the prohibition is due to the Paschal…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

whenever a person searches it for figs to eat, he finds figs in it, as the figs on a tree do not ripen all at once, so that one can always find a recently ripened fig, so too, with matters of Torah. Whenever a person meditates upon them, he finds in them new meaning. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “A loving hind and a graceful roe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times, and be you ravished always with her love” (Proverbs 5:19)? Why were matters of Torah compared to a hind? To tell you that just as with a hind, its womb is narrow and it is cherished by its mate each and every hour like the first hour, so too, matters of Torah are cherished by those who study them each and every hour like the first hour. “And a graceful roe” is expounded as follows: That the Torah bestows grace upon those who study it. “Let her breasts satisfy you at all tim…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

one rescues food for three meals. What, is this not referring to a situation where he has not yet eaten any meals? Apparently, one is obligated to eat only three meals on Shabbat. The Gemara rejects this: No, it is referring to a situation where one already ate one meal. Three meals still remain, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka, who requires four meals. The Gemara challenges this from the continuation of the mishna: If a fire ignited in the morning, one may only rescue food for two meals. What, is it not referring to a situation where one has not yet eaten one’s morning meal and the obligation is to eat only three meals, one at night and two during the day? The Gemara rejects this: No, it is referring to a situation where one has already eaten the morning meal. The Gemara challenges this from the continuation of the mishna: If a fire ignited in the afternoon, one may rescue…

William Davidson Edition - English · CC-BY-NC

When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.” Frightened, he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O E TERNAL One, take my life, for I am no better than my predecessors.” He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of G OD came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat…

THE JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition · CC-BY-NC

Abner said to him, “Turn to the right or to the left, and seize one of our boys and strip off his tunic.” But Asahel would not leave off.

THE JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition · CC-BY-NC