Masechet Chullin Daf 6
Daf 6
The daf opens with a couple of extremely low key miracle stories. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar was sent by Rabbi Meir to purchase wine from the Cuttim. An old man met him on the road and warned him that the wine of the Cuttim should not be trusted. Rabbi Meir sent people to investigate and they found a few Cuttim were worshiping a dove on Har Gerizim, the site of the Samaritan Temple. This led to Rabban Gamliel's gezeirah that one could not accept a Cutti's shechitah.
In an almost identical story several generations later, Rabbi Abbahu sent Rabbi Yitzhak ben Yosef to purchase wine from the Cuttim. An old man met him on the road and warned him that the Cuttim were not shomrei Torah. Rabbi Abbahu then went to Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Assi, who issued their own gezeirah against the Cuttim.
The Gemara says that Rabban Gamliel's gezeirah was not followed by the people, but Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Assi's was, which like I said yesterday seems to testify to a gradual process by which the Cuttim grew further and further from Rabbinic Judaism, until it became politically and economically possible for the Rabbis to declare them effectively not Jewish. Some of the Rabbis foresaw the split coming sooner, but were unable to move the whole community at first.
The stories are also interesting as miracle stories. They are preceded on Daf 5 by Rabbi Zeira's statement that there are mystical ways in which God prevents a Tzadik from accidentally eating nonkosher food. Taken in that frame, at best these are stories about seeing the ordinary flow of a day's events as being part of a mystical canopy. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar went out on an ordinary business trip and met a traveler on the way, who imparted some gossip to him. But this was part of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's plan to warn the Tzadikim that the meat of the Cuttim was no longer acceptably kosher.
Rabbi Elefant says that Tosafot say that Hu Saba, a certain old man, always refers to Eliyahu HaNavi, who as we all know never died and therefore has nothing better to do than travel from house to house on Pesach getting drunk. My Pushing Daisies/Book of Kings crossover fic reinterpreted Eliyahu's peregrinations as a curse, but this notion of Tosafot that Eliyahu HaNavi has become this weird old guy who randomly shows up to give cryptic advice makes the whole thing both creepier and funnier.
This entry was originally posted at https://seekingferret.dreamwidth.org/264266.html. Please comment there using OpenID. There are
comments.
The daf opens with a couple of extremely low key miracle stories. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar was sent by Rabbi Meir to purchase wine from the Cuttim. An old man met him on the road and warned him that the wine of the Cuttim should not be trusted. Rabbi Meir sent people to investigate and they found a few Cuttim were worshiping a dove on Har Gerizim, the site of the Samaritan Temple. This led to Rabban Gamliel's gezeirah that one could not accept a Cutti's shechitah.
In an almost identical story several generations later, Rabbi Abbahu sent Rabbi Yitzhak ben Yosef to purchase wine from the Cuttim. An old man met him on the road and warned him that the Cuttim were not shomrei Torah. Rabbi Abbahu then went to Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Assi, who issued their own gezeirah against the Cuttim.
The Gemara says that Rabban Gamliel's gezeirah was not followed by the people, but Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Assi's was, which like I said yesterday seems to testify to a gradual process by which the Cuttim grew further and further from Rabbinic Judaism, until it became politically and economically possible for the Rabbis to declare them effectively not Jewish. Some of the Rabbis foresaw the split coming sooner, but were unable to move the whole community at first.
The stories are also interesting as miracle stories. They are preceded on Daf 5 by Rabbi Zeira's statement that there are mystical ways in which God prevents a Tzadik from accidentally eating nonkosher food. Taken in that frame, at best these are stories about seeing the ordinary flow of a day's events as being part of a mystical canopy. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar went out on an ordinary business trip and met a traveler on the way, who imparted some gossip to him. But this was part of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's plan to warn the Tzadikim that the meat of the Cuttim was no longer acceptably kosher.
Rabbi Elefant says that Tosafot say that Hu Saba, a certain old man, always refers to Eliyahu HaNavi, who as we all know never died and therefore has nothing better to do than travel from house to house on Pesach getting drunk. My Pushing Daisies/Book of Kings crossover fic reinterpreted Eliyahu's peregrinations as a curse, but this notion of Tosafot that Eliyahu HaNavi has become this weird old guy who randomly shows up to give cryptic advice makes the whole thing both creepier and funnier.
This entry was originally posted at https://seekingferret.dreamwidth.org/264266.html. Please comment there using OpenID. There are
comments.