83b----------------------------------------83b
1)THE WICKED ARE LIKE BEASTS OF THE FOREST
דרש רבי זירא ואמרי לה תני רב יוסף מאי דכתיב תשת חשך ויהי לילה בו תרמוש כל חיתו יער תשת חשך ויהי לילה זה העולם הזה שדומה ללילה בו תרמוש כל חיתו יער אלו רשעים שבו שדומין לחיה שביער תזרח השמש יאספון ואל מעונתם ירבצון תזרח השמש לצדיקים יאספון רשעים לגיהנם ואל מעונתם ירבצון אין לך כל צדיק וצדיק שאין לו מדור לפי כבודו יצא אדם לפעלו יצאו צדיקים לקבל שכרן ולעבודתו עדי ערב במי שהשלים עבודתו עדי ערב
Translation: R. Zeira expounded, and some say that Rav Yosef taught: What is the meaning of what is written: 'You place darkness, and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep'? (Tehilim 104:20) 'You place darkness and it is night' - this refers to this world which is like night. 'In which all the beasts of the forest creep' - these are the wicked in the world that are like the beasts of the forest. 'The sun shines and the animals gather together, and they lay down in their dens.' (Tehilim 104:22) 'The sun shines' for the Tzadikim, the wicked 'are gathered' to Gehinom. 'And they lay down in their dens' - there is not a single Tzadik who does not have a dwelling place according to his honor. 'Man goes out to his labor' - [Tehilim 104:23, first half of the verse.] the righteous go out to get their reward. 'And to his work until evening' - (Tehilim 104:23, second half of the verse.) who worked straight until the evening (meaning until his death).
(a)How are the wicked 'like the beasts of the forest'?
1.Ben Yehoyada: Wild animals that walk in the desert are visible, so people are able to avoid them. But as for wild animals that hide in the forest, people do not feel their presence, so they do not protect themselves from them. The same applies to the wicked. Some are well known to be completely wicked, so there is less reason to be afraid from them. But one should be afraid from the wicked who are not well known.
2)R. ELAZAR'S ADVICE TO THE THIEF-CATCHER
ר׳ אלעזר ב״ר שמעון אשכח לההוא פרהגונא דקא תפיס גנבי אמר ליה היכי יכלת להו לאו כחיותא מתילי דכתיב בו תרמוש כל חיתו יער איכא דאמרי מהאי קרא קאמר ליה יארב במסתר כאריה בסוכו דלמא שקלת צדיקי ושבקת רשיעי א״ל ומאי אעביד הרמנא דמלכא הוא אמר תא אגמרך היכי תעביד עול בארבע שעי לחנותא כי חזית איניש דקא שתי חמרא וקא נקיט כסא בידיה וקא מנמנם שאול עילויה אי צורבא מרבנן הוא וניים אקדומי קדים לגרסיה אי פועל הוא קדים קא עביד עבידתיה ואי עבידתיה בליליא רדודי רדיד ואי לא גנבא הוא ותפסיה
Translation: R. Elazar ben R. Shimon once met an officer who would catch thieves. He said to him, How can you catch them? Are they not like wild beasts, about who it is written: 'In which all the beasts of the forest creep'? (Tehilim 104:20) Some say he quoted from this Pasuk to him: 'Hiding in ambush like a lion in its den.' (Tehilim 10:9) Maybe you take the righteous and leave the wicked to escape? He said to him, So what should I do? It is the King's command. He said, Let me teach you what to do: Go into a bar in the fourth hour of the day. When you see a man drinking wine and he is holding a cup in his hand and is dozing, ask about him. If he is a Talmid Chacham and he is dozing, you can assume it is because he woke up very early to learn Torah. If he is a laborer, you can assume he woke up early to go to work. And if his work is the kind of job that is done at night, but you did not see him working at night, maybe he was pressing thin metal. (Without using a hammer, to avoid making noise.) And if not, he is a thief and you should arrest him.
(a)Why did R. Elazar assume that if the young Talmid Chacham is dozing at four hours, he got up early to learn? Perhaps he was learning until late at night?
1.Yosef Da'as: The time of the Seudah of a Talmid Chacham is the sixth hour of the day. The Magen Avraham (OC 157 sk 1) writes that the sixth hour is calculated from when he wakes up in the morning. So if the Talmid Chacham here is dining at the fourth hour, he must have got up (two hours) early to learn.
(b)How could a person be condemned to death for theft, just because he is tired at the fourth hour?
1.Ben Yehoyada: These were mere indications that he might be a thief and that he needed further investigation. But if he was a Talmid Chacham or a worker, he could be assumed to be innocent.
(c)Why did he say that a Talmid Chacham 'Akdumei Kadim' - 'got up very early', but for a worker he merely said, 'Kadim' - 'got up early'?
1.Toras Chaim, Ben Yehoyada: The Talmid Chacham gets up very early to learn, but the worker only gets up at sunrise.
3)R. ELAZAR BECOMES THE THIEF-CATCHER AND IS CRITICIZED
אישתמע מילתא בי מלכא אמרו קריינא דאיגרתא איהו ליהוי פרונקא אתיוה לרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון וקא תפיס גנבי ואזיל שלח ליה ר׳ יהושע בן קרחה חומץ בן יין עד מתי אתה מוסר עמו של אלהינו להריגה שלח ליה קוצים אני מכלה מן הכרם שלח ליה יבא בעל הכרם ויכלה את קוציו
Translation: This conversation was heard in the king's house. They said, Let the reader of the letter be the messenger. (Let the one who gave the advice carry it out.) R. Elazar ben R. Shimon was brought to them and he went and caught thieves. R. Yehoshua ben Korcha sent a message to him: Vinegar, son of wine! (Meaning that he was a corrupt son of a righteous father) Until when are you going to keep giving our God's people over to be killed? He sent a message back to him: I am removing thorns from the vineyard. He sent back to him: Let the Owner of the vineyard come and remove the thorns. (Meaning let Hash-m take care of them.)
(a)What is the meaning of 'vinegar son of wine'?
1.Rashi: Wicked one, son of a righteous one.
2.Ben Yehoyada, Rashba (Teshuvos haChadashos 345): The term is used in Chulin 105a to mean that the father was stringent, but the son did not follow his way. Here, R. Shimon would make effort to have evil decrees cancelled and allow Jews to live. His son, R. Elazar, was bringing (admittedly wicked) Jews to be killed. He, as well as R. Yishmael, should have been stringent like their fathers and refrain from killing them.
(b)Earlier, when R. Elazar asked the same question to the officer, and later, when Eliyahu asked it to R. Yishmael b'R. Yosi, they both answered, "What should I do? It is the king's command!". Why did R. Elazar answer differently here that, "I am removing thorns from the vineyard" and what was the meaning behind it?
1.Maharsha: Since R. Yehoshua ben Korcha referred to him as 'Vinegar son of Wine', he answered accordingly. 'Thorns growing in a vineyard damage the vines and can cause the wine to be like vinegar. I am merely removing those thorns so that the wine (i.e. Am Yisrael) not be damaged.'
2.Ben Yehoyada: Aside from the investigations R. Elazar made to confirm the guilt of the thieves he caught, he also used his Ruach haKodesh to confirm it. He could see if the suspect had any merit and whether he would have any righteous descendants. He was therefore uniquely able to state that they were 'thorns'.
3.Einei Yitzchak: The vineyard here refers to the gentiles, who put thieves to death. Since in their society they view theft so seriously, if there are Jews who are thieves, it creates terrible hatred against Klal Yisrael. Thus, the thieves are like thorns that are endangering all of Klal Yisrael and they must be removed.
4.Sefer Zecher Tzadik Livracha P.55: It appears that R. Elazar b'R. Shimon is following his opinion in Shabbos 144b. He holds there that if a person allows thorns to continue growing in his vineyard, it prohibits the grapes, as it is as if they were planted with his consent. So too here, if the Chachamim do not attempt to eradicate the wicked thieves, it is as if they approve of the wicked and it can 'prohibit the entire vineyard'.
4)CONVICTING THE LAUNDERER
יומא חד פגע ביה ההוא כובס קרייה חומץ בן יין אמר מדחציף כולי האי שמע מינה רשיעא הוא אמר להו תפסוהו תפסוהו לבתר דנח דעתיה אזל בתריה לפרוקיה ולא מצי קרי עליה שומר פיו ולשונו שומר מצרות נפשו זקפוהו קם תותי זקיפא וקא בכי אמרו ליה רבי אל ירע בעיניך שהוא ובנו בעלו נערה מאורסה ביום הכפורים
Translation: One day a launderer met him, and called him vinegar, son of wine. He said, 'Since he spoke so brazenly, hear from this that he is wicked'. He said to his servants, 'Grab him! Grab him!' Later, when his mind settled, he followed after him to get him released, but could not. He said about him the Pasuk: 'One who guards his mouth and tongue, protects himself from troubles.' [Mishlei 21:23] They hanged him (the launderer). R. Elazar stood under the gallows and cried over the death he caused. They said to him: Rebbi, do not feel bad (literally: it should not be bad in your eyes), because he and his son had relations with a betrothed girl on Yom Kippur.
(a)One who has relations with a betrothed girl is punished with Sekilah - stoning. The launderer was hanged (which is seemingly a form of Chenek - choking). If the students were trying to appease R. Elazar by reporting that the launderer was anyway liable to be killed by Beis Din, he should not have a received a different death...? Furthermore, why did they mentioned that his son also had relations with her on Yom Kippur?
1.Rashi: All who are punished with stoning are also hanged afterwards, so his punishment was appropriate.
2.Ritva: Sometimes Hash-m dispenses a lighter punishment than the person deserved.
3.Tosfos (Kesuvos 30b dh Din): Since his son had relations with her first, she was no longer a virgin, so the punishment for relations with her was Chenek - choking, rather than stoning.
4.Maayanei haChochmah: They mentioned his son to show that the launderer would also not have righteous descendants, as his son was continuing in his evil ways.
5.Maharsha: They mentioned his son in order to increase his crime. Alternatively, since those killed by Beis Din do not bequeath their property to their children, if he would have had a son who was upright, R. Elazar would have been upset that his father's money was lost from his son.
5)R. ELAZAR PROVES HIS INNOCENCE
הניח ידו על בני מעיו אמר שישו בני מעי שישו ומה ספיקות שלכם כך ודאית שלכם על אחת כמה וכמה מובטח אני בכם שאין רמה ותולעה שולטת בכם ואפי׳ הכי לא מייתבא דעתיה אשקיוהו סמא דשינתא ועיילוהו לביתא דשישא וקרעו לכריסיה הוו מפקו מיניה דיקולי דיקולי דתרבא ומותבי בשמשא בתמוז ואב ולא מסרחי כל תרבא נמי לא סריח כל תרבא לא סריח שורייקי סומקי מסריח הכא אף על גב דאיכא שורייקי סומקי לא מסריח קרי אנפשיה אף בשרי ישכון לבטח
Translation: When he heard this, he put his hand on his intestines and said: Rejoice, my intestines, rejoice! If you are this way about doubtful things, how much more so you are right about certain things! I am sure that maggots and worms will not have any power over you. Even so, his mind was not settled, so he asked to have a test done on his body. They gave him a sleeping potion (an anesthetic) and took him into a marble house and cut his belly open. They removed baskets full of fat from it, and put it in the sun during Tammuz and Av, and it did not rot. (This was taken as a sign that he had acted correctly.) But fat does not rot! (Unless flesh is attached to it. -Rashi) True, fat does not rot, but if it contains red streaks, it rots. But here, even though it had red streaks, it did not rot. He said the following Pasuk about himself: 'Even my flesh will dwell in safety.' (Tehilim 16:9)
6)R. YISHMAEL HANDS OVER JEWISH CRIMINALS
ואף ר׳ ישמעאל ברבי יוסי מטא כי האי מעשה לידיה פגע ביה אליהו אמר ליה עד מתי אתה מוסר עמו של אלהינו להריגה אמר ליה מאי אעביד הרמנא דמלכא הוא אמר ליה אבוך ערק לאסיא את ערוק ללודקיא
Translation: A similar thing happened to R. Yishmael ben R. Yosi. (Literally: came to his hands, that the Romans forced him to hand over Jewish criminals.) Eliyahu haNavi met him, and he (Eliyahu haNavi) said to him, Until when are you going to keep handing over God's people to be killed? He said to him, What should I do? It is the king's command! He said to him, Your father fled to Asyia. You should flee to Ludkia.
(a)Eliyahu said that R. Yishmael's father, R. Yosi, was exiled to Asyia. But the Gemara in Shabbos 33b says that the Romans exiled him to Tzipori?
1.Aruch: The text of the Gemara in Shabbos 33b must be changed; instead of 'to Tzipori', it should say that he was exiled 'from Tzipori'.
2.Rav Chaim Kanievski: He was first exiled to Tzipori and took residence there. Later, he was exiled to Asyia.
