The disciples of Rabbi Preida asked him: In reward of what have you been living so many years? He replied: In all my years, I was always the first into the Beis Medrash; I never recited the Grace after Meals when a Kohen was present; I never ate from an animal before the priestly gifts were separated.

 

The Gemora cites a source for this: For Rabbi Yitzchak quotes Rabbi Yochanan saying that one may not eat from an animal before the gifts are separated, and Rabbi Yitzchak said: If one does, it is tantamount to eating tevel – produce before terumah and maaser are separated. The Gemora says we do not rule like these statements.

 

Rabbi Preida had said: I never recited the Grace after Meals when a Kohen was present.

 

The Gemora asks: is this a good thing? But Rabbi Yochanan said: If a Torah scholar allows even a Kohen Gadol who is an ignoramus to say Grace after Meals before him, that Torah scholar is liable to death, as it says: All that hate me [mesanne’ai] love death;do not read mesanne’ai [that hate me], but masni’ai [that cause others to hate me]?

 

The Gemora answers: When Rabbi Yochanan made this remark, he was thinking of equals. (27b – 28a)

 

The disciples of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah asked him: In reward of what have you been living so many years? He replied: In all my years, I never derived honor from my friend’s shame; I would forgive anyone who aggravated me or even cursed me before I went to sleep; I was generous with my money.

 

The Gemora elaborates: I never derived honor from my friend’s shame, as illustrated by Rav Huna who once was carrying a spade on his shoulder when Rav Chana bar Chanilai wanted to take it from him, but he (Rav Huna) said to him, “If you are accustomed to carry in your own town, take it, but if not, I do not want to derive honor through your shame.

 

I would forgive anyone who aggravated me or even cursed me before I went to sleepThis is illustrated by Mar Zutra, who, when he climbed into his bed said, “I forgive all who have aggravated us.”

 

I have been generous with my money, as a master has said: Job was generous with his money; he used to leave with the shopkeeper a perutah of his own money.

 

The Gemora presents another version: Rabbi Akiva asked Rabbi Nechunya the great: In reward of what have you been living so many years? His servants came and beat him (R’ Akiva), so he (R’ Akiva) went and sat on the top of a date tree (to escape the beatings), and said to him (R’ Nechunya): “My teacher, seeing that it says ‘a lamb’, why does it also say ‘one’?” Thereupon, he (R’ Nechunya) said, “He is a rabbinical student, leave him alone.” He then answered his question, saying: ‘One’ means ‘unique in its flock.’

 

Rabbi Nechunya continued: Then he said to him: I never accepted gifts; I did not demand reprisal against those that caused me distress; I was generous with my money.

 

The Gemora elaborates: I have not accepted gifts, as illustrated by Rabbi Elozar, for whenever Rabbi Elozar was sent a gift from the house of the Nasi, he would not accept it, and whenever he was invited to dine there, he would not go, for he used to say: It seems that the master does not want me to live, for it is written: One who hates gifts shall live.

 

Whenever Rabbi Zeira was sent a gift, he would not accept it, but whenever he was invited to dine there, he would go, for he used to say: They are honored by having me as their guest.

 

Nor did I demand reprisal against those that caused me distress, as Rava said: He who waives his right to retribution is forgiven all his sins, as it written: He pardons transgressions and passes over inquity. Whose transgressions are forgiven? The transgression of one who passes over inquity. (28a)

 

Rebbe asked of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah: In reward of what have you been living so many years? He said to him: Do you begrudge me my life? Rebbe said to him: This is a point of Torah, and it is

important for me to learn. He replied: In all my years, I never looked at the face of an evil person. For Rabbi Yochanan said: It is forbidden for a man to gaze at the face of an evil person, as it says: Were it not that I regard the presence of Yehoshaphat the king of Yehudah, I would not look toward you nor see you. Rabbi Elozar said: His eyes become dim, as it says: And it came to pass that when Yitzchak was old that his eyes were dim, so that he could not see; this was because he used to gaze at the wicked Esav.

 

The Gemora asks: But was that the cause? But Rabbi Yitzchak said: The curse of an ordinary person shall never seem of small account to you, for Avimelech cursed Sarah, and it was fulfilled in her seed, as it says: Behold it is for you a covering [kesus] of honor. Do not read ‘kesus,’ but rather ‘kesiyas’ [blinding]?

 

The Gemora answers: Both caused the affliction.

 

Rava said. We learn it from here: It is not good to regard the face of the wicked.

 

When he (Rebbe) was about to depart (from R’ Yehoshua), Rebbe said to him, “Bless me.” He said to him: May it be Heaven’s will that you attain to half my days. Rebbe exclaimed: Not to their whole length!? Rabbi Yehoshua replied: Shall those who succeed you (if you live as long as me), pasture cattle (for they will not inherit your greatness)?

 

Avuha bar Ihi and Minyamin bar Ihi both praised themselves for a certain practice: One said: May I be

rewarded because I have never gazed at a Cuthite (an idolater), and the other said: May I be rewarded because I have never gone into partnership with a Cuthite. (28a)

 

The disciples of Rabbi Zeira asked him: In reward of what have you been living so many years? He replied: In all my years, I never expressed anger in my house; I never walked in front of someone greater than me; I didn’t think about Torah matters in dirty alleyways; I never walked four amos without studying Torah and without wearing tefillin; I never slept in the Beis Medrash, not even a nap; I never rejoiced when my friend stumbled; I never called anyone by a nickname. (28a)

 

The Mishna states: Furthermore, Rabbi Yehudah rules regarding a synagogue that has been destroyed and lies in ruins: One may not eulogize people there; one is not allowed to twist ropes there; one cannot spread nets in it; One is not permitted to spread fruits to dry on its roof; One is forbidden from using it as a shortcut.

 

The Mishna cites a Scriptural verse which indicates that a synagogue retains its sanctity even when it is desolate.

 

Grass that grows in the ruined synagogue should not be uprooted because the grass will arouse the community to pray for its rebuilding. (28a)

 

The Gemora cites a braisa: One is not permitted to conduct himself with levity in a synagogue; One is not permitted to eat or drink there; One is not allowed to adorn himself there; One is not permitted to take strolls there; One cannot enter there with the intention of avoiding the heat or the rains; One may not deliver a eulogy for an ordinary person there.

 

However, one is permitted to read the Torah there, study Mishna and deliver a eulogy for a Torah scholar there.

 

Rabbi Yehudah said: When is this? When they (the synagogues) are still in use; but when they are abandoned, grass is allowed to grow in them, and it should not be plucked, so as to inspire grief.

 

The Gemora interjects: Who was speaking about grass?

 

The Gemora answers: There is as if there is an omission, and the statement should read as follows: They should be swept and watered so that grass should not grow in them. Rabbi Yehudah said: When is this? When they are still in use; but when they are abandoned, grass is allowed to grow in them, and it should not be plucked, so as to inspire grief.  (28a – 28b)

 

Rav Assi rules: The synagogues in Bavel were built on a condition that they will be permitted to use after their destruction; however, there still would be a prohibition against acting with levity there; therefore, one should not make calculations there.

 

Rav Assi said: A synagogue in which people make calculations will eventually be used for keeping a dead body in overnight.

 

The Gemora asks: You actually think it is used for keeping a dead body in? Is there no way otherwise? [Why would there be such an obligation?]

 

The Gemora answers:  Unattended corpses will be kept there overnight.

 

The braisa had stated: Nor to adorn oneself in it.

Rava said: The Sages and their disciples are permitted, since Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi has said: What is the meaning of ‘Bei Rabbanan’? The house for Torah scholars.

 

The braisa had stated: Nor to go into them in summer to escape the heat and in the rainy season to escape the rain. For instance, Ravina and Rav Adda bar Masnah were once standing and asking questions of Rava when a shower of rain came on. They went into the synagogue, saying, “Why we have gone into the synagogue is not because of the rain, but because the discussion of a halachic point requires clarity, like

a clear day of the north wind.” (28b)

 

Rav Ashi told Rav Acha the son of Rava: If one needs to call his friend out from the synagogue, he should enter and study one halachah. If he only knows Mishna, he should recite a Mishna. If he only knows Scripture, he should recite a verse. If he cannot learn anything, he should ask a child to read for him a verse in the Torah that he is currently learning or he should walk around in the synagogue, which is also regarded as a mitzvah. (28b)

 

The braisa had stated: To deliver public eulogies in them. What is meant by a public eulogy? Rav Chisda motioned: For instance, a eulogy at which Rav Shishes is present.Rav Sheishes motioned: For instance, a eulogy at which Rav Chisda is present.

 

Rafram had a eulogy delivered for his daughter-in-law in the synagogue, saying: To pay

honor to me and to the dead, all the people will come.

 

Rabbi Zeira delivered a eulogy for a certain rabbinical student in the synagogue, saying:

Whether to pay honor to me or to pay honor to the dead, all the public will come.

 

Rish Lakish delivered a eulogy for a certain rabbinical student who frequented the Land

of Israel and who used to repeat halachos before twenty-four rows of disciples. He said: Woe!

The Land of Israel has lost a great man.

 

On the other hand, there was a certain man who used to learn halachos, Sifra and Sifrei and Tosefta, and when he died they came and said to Rav Nachman:

Master, will you deliver a eulogy for him, and he said: How are we to deliver a eulogy over him: Woe! A basket full of books has been lost!

 

The Gemora notes: Observe now the difference between the haughty scholars of the Land of Israel and the pious of Babylon.

 

We have learned a Mishna elsewhere: Whoever makes use of a crown (of Torah) passes away from the world, and Rish Lakish commented: This applies to one who accepts service from one who learns halachos and Ulla said: A man may accept service from one who learned four (out of the six) orders of the Mishna, but not from one who taught them. This is illustrated by the following story of Rish Lakish, ashe was once traveling along a road when he came to a pool of water, and a man came up and put him on his shoulders and began taking him across. He said to the man: Have you learned the Scriptures? He answered: I have. Have you learned the Mishna? He replied: I have learned four orders of the Mishna. Rish Lakish thereupon said: You have hewn four orders and you carry Rish Lakish on your shoulder? Throw the son of Lakish into the water! He replied: I would sooner that your honor tell me something. If so, he replied, learn from me this dictum which was

said by Rabbi Zeira: Jewish women have adopted the stringency that they wait for seven clean days, even if they only saw a small drop of blood the size of a mustard seed. (28b)

 

It was learned in a braisa from Eliyahu: One who learns halachos is guaranteed to merit the World to Come, as it says: The ways of the world are his. Do not read ‘halichos’ (ways); rather, read halachos. (28b)

 

DAILY MASHAL

 

FORGIVING BEFORE SLEEPING

 

The Gemora states: Rabbi Nechunya ban Hakanah said that one of the meritorious acts that he performed earning him longevity was the fact that he never went to bed to go to sleep before forgiving anyone that harmed him in any manner.

The Rosh Yosef explains the reasoning for this: At night, a person’s neshama ascends to the heavens to receive judgment on all the day’s actions. While in heaven, the neshama, if the person merits, is able to enter into the room of Hashem and listen to hidden secrets. The Gemora in Shabbos (149b) states: A person, that someone else is punished on his account, does not merit entering this private chamber. That is why it is integral to forgive anyone that harmed you before falling asleep. Rabbi Nechunya waited the entire day because he wanted to give the people that caused him harm a chance to repent on their own and to perform the mitzva of repenting.

It is said over regarding the Skulener Rebbe that there was a person that went out of his way every day to pain the Rebbe and cause him grief. Yet, the Rebbe greeted him every morning with a cheerful “good morning” and a huge smile. When asked to explain himself, the Rebbe said that before going to sleep, he forgives everyone and each day is a new beginning. Every person deserves a cheerful greeting.