Talmud zu Schemuel I 4:26

“ ‘To save you’, that is the camp of the Ark.” But some say, that is the Name which was given in the Ark⁴²Similarly, the Babli (Soṭah42b/43a, Baba batra 14b) notes that “The Name and all its replacements are deposited in the Ark” (in one of Rashi’s versions, “standing in the Ark”). In the Tosephta (7:17): “For the Eternal, your God, is He Who goes with you, “that is the Name deposited in the Ark”. Midrash Num. rabba 4(20) refers to 1Chr. 13:6 which calls the ark Name: “God’s ark, the Eternal, Who resides above the Cherubim, which is called Name.”, as it was stated⁴³From here to the end of the Halakhah the text is in Šeqalim 7:1, (49c, line 26 ff.)’⁴⁴Tosephta 7:18; Baraita Melekhet Hamishkan 6.: “Rebbi Jehudah ben Laqish says, two arks were travelling with Israel in the desert; one in which the Torah was deposited and one in which the broken pieces of the tablets were deposited⁴⁵The ark mentioned in Deut. 10:1.. The one in which the Torah was deposited was put into the Tent of Meeting; that is what is written⁴⁶Num. 14:44; the exact description of the ark implies that another ark went out with the people.: “Moses and the Ark of the Eternal’s covenant did not move from the camp.” The one in which the broken pieces of the tablets were deposited was going out and coming in with them. But the Rabbis say, it was only one⁴⁷Babli Berakhot 8b, Baba batra14b, Menaḥot 99a., and once it went out in the days of Eli and was taken prisoner. A verse supports the Rabbis: ⁴⁸1Sam. 4:8.“Woe to us, who will save us from this mighty god?” A word [which shows that] they never had seen it before. A verse supports Rebbi Jehudah ben Laqish. “Saul said to Aḥiya: present God’s Ark⁴⁹1Sam. 14:18.”. But was the Ark not at Qiryat Ye‘arim⁵⁰1Sam. 7:1–2.? What do the rabbis with it? ‘Present to me the High Priest’s diadem.’ Another verse supports Rebbi Jehudah ben Laqish: “The Ark, Israel, and Jehudah, dwell in huts.⁵¹2Sam. 11:11.”. Was the Ark not in Zion? What do the rabbis with it? The straw roof cover⁵²The legal definition of a “hut” to be used on Tabernacles is any dwelling place whose roof is made from vegetable matter immune to impurity, called סְכָךְ. The construction of the walls is immaterial. that was in the walls⁴¹In the Genizah fragment: כַקִּירוּי “acted as roof”. This is the better reading., since the Temple was not yet built.

On acts of kindness. How so? It says (Hosea 6:6), “For I desire kindness, not a well-being offering.” The world was created from the very beginning with kindness, as it says (Psalms 89:3), “For I have said that the world will be built on kindness, and the heavens will be established on Your faith.” Once, Rabban [our rabbi] Yohanan ben Zakkai, left Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yehoshua followed after him. And he saw the Holy Temple destroyed. [Rabbi Yehoshua said: Woe to us, for this is destroyed –] the place where all of Israel’s sins are forgiven!²I.e., via the bringing of sacrifices. [Rabbi Yohanan] said to him: My son, do not be distressed, for we have a form of atonement just like it. And what is it? Acts of kindness, as it says (Psalms 89:3), “For I desire kindness, not a well-being offering.” And so we find that Daniel, the precious man, would busy himself with acts of kindness. And what were these acts of kindness that he was so busy with? If you would say that in fact he did bring burnt offerings and other sacrifices in Babylon, doesn’t it already say (Deuteronomy 12:13–14), “Take care not to bring burnt offerings in just any place you see, but only in the place that the Eternal will choose in one of your tribal territories shall you bring burnt offerings.” So what were the acts of kindness he busied himself with? He would help a bride and bring her happiness, he would escort the dead [in a funeral procession], and he would always give a perutah to a poor person. And he would pray three times a day, and his prayers would be gladly accepted, as it says (Daniel 6:11), “When Daniel learned that [the ban against worshiping God] had been put in writing, he went to his house, in whose upper chamber he had windows made facing Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt down, prayed, and made a confession to his God, as he had always done.”
And when Vespasian came to destroy Jerusalem, he said to [the inhabitants]: Fools! Why do you seek to destroy this city and burn the Holy Temple? What do I request of you? Only that you give me one bow or one arrow [as a sign of your surrender], and then I will leave you be. They said to him: Just as we went out [to battle] against the two who came before you, and killed them, so will we go out against you and kill you. When Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai heard this, he sent for the men of Jerusalem and said to them: My children, why do seek to destroy this city and burn the Holy Temple? For what did he ask of you but one bow or one arrow, and then he would leave you be. They said to him: Just as we went out [to battle] against the two who came before him, and we killed them, so will we go out against him and kill him. Vespasian had men lurking within the walls of Jerusalem, and everything they heard they would would write on an arrow and shoot over the wall. So they reported that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai supported the Caesar. [Thus would he remind the men of Jerusalem, i.e., plead with them to acquiesce to Vespasian.] And after Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said this [to them] day after day, and saw that they would not accept his advice, he sent for his students, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, and said to them: My sons, take me out of this place! Make me a coffin, and I will sleep in it. So Rabbi Eliezer held [the coffin] on one end, and Rabbi Yehoshua held it (on the other, and they carried him until the sun set, right up to the gates of Jerusalem. The gatekeepers said to them: What is this? They replied: A dead body – and you know that a corpse cannot remain overnight in Jerusalem. They said: If that is a dead body, go ahead and take it out [of the city]). So they took him out (and they were carrying him until sunset) until they came to Vespasian, and they opened the coffin, and [Rabbi Yohanan] got up and stood before him. He said: So you are Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai. Ask for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you. He replied: I ask nothing from you except for Yavneh. I will go there and teach my students, and I will establish prayer, and I will do all the mitzvot [mentioned in the Torah]. [Vespasian] replied: Go. All that you wish to do, you may do. [Rabbi Yohanan] said to him: Do you want me to tell you one thing? He said: Go ahead. He said to him: Take note; soon you will ascend to the kingship. How do you know? [Vespasian] said to him. [Rabbi Yohanan answered:] We have a tradition that the Holy Temple will not be taken by an ordinary man, but only by a king. For it says (Isaiah 10:34), “And the Lebanon tree will fall in its majesty.” They say that it was not (one or two or) three days until a letter came from [Vespasian’s] city announcing that the Caesar had died and they were appointing him to ascend to the kingship. They brought him a catapult and positioned it toward the walls of Jerusalem. Then they brought him cedar posts, put them in the catapult, and fired them against the wall until they made a breach. Then they brought him the head of a pig, put it in the catapult, and flung it toward the sacrificial portions that were on the [Temple] altar.
While Jerusalem was being taken, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai was sitting and waiting, and he trembled (before God), just as Eli sat and watched, as it says (I Samuel 4:13), “There was Eli, sitting on a seat on the side of the road, waiting, and his heart trembled because of the Ark of God.” When Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai heard that Jerusalem was destroyed and the Holy Temple was burning in flames, he tore his clothes, and his students tore their clothes, and they cried and screamed and lamented.
It says (Zechariah 11:1), “Open your doors, Lebanon [i.e., the Holy Temple], and let fire consume your cedars” – these are the (high) priests who were in the Sanctuary, who [took] their keys in their hands and threw them toward the heavens, and said before the Holy Blessed One: Master of the World! Here are Your keys, which You entrusted to us. For we were not faithful custodians doing the King’s work and eating from the King’s table.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes, were also crying and screaming and lamenting, and they said (Zechariah 11:2), “Howl, cypresses, for cedars have fallen! How the mighty are ravaged!” [“Howl, cypresses, for cedars have fallen!” – these are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes.] “Howl, you oaks of Bashan” – these are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. “For the stately forest is laid low” – that is the Holy of Holies. “The voice of wailing shepherds, for their fields [have been ravaged]” (Zechariah 11:3) – these are David and his son Solomon. “The sound of the lions roaring, for the jungle of the Jordan has been ravaged” – these are Elijah and Elisha.

MISHNAH: “When the policemen finish to speak to the people, the officers will have taken up position at the head of the people.²²³Deut. 20:9.” Behind the people one puts up people with backups armed with iron axes and they have permission to break the legs of anyone who desires to abandon his post since flight is the start of falling, as it is said²²⁴1S. 4:17.: “Israel fled from before the Philistines and a great plague was among the people.” Further on it says²²⁵1S. 31:1., “the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and slain fell on Mount Gilboa.” About what have these things be said²²⁶The preceding Mishnaiot which gave permission to a number of people to be excused from military service.? About a war of choice, but in a war of obligation²²⁷The definitions are a matter of discussion in the Halakhah. everybody goes out, even a groom from his room and a bride from her bridal chamber²²⁸One might assume that the groom’s room is the bride’s bridal chamber. The expression is from Joel2:16.. Rebbi Jehudah said, about what have these things been said? About a war of obligation, but in a war of duty everybody goes out, even a groom from his room and a bride from her bridal chamber.

Rebbi Yasa in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: This is the indication: Any time the Ark is inside⁵⁷⁸The Tabernacle or the Temple., private altars are forbidden; once it left, private altars are permitted. Rebbi Ze`ura asked before Rebbi Yasa: even temporarily, as in the case of Eli⁵⁷⁹1S. 4:4. While it turned out that the absence of the Ark was permanent, it was intended to be temporary. What was the status of private altars between the removal of the Ark from Shilo and its installation in Qiryat Yearim?? Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, “there”, “there”. Just as in the case of “there” mentioned there private altars are forbidden, so in the case of “there” mentioned here private altars are forbidden⁵⁸⁰It is not quite clear to which verses this refers. In Zevaḥim119a Rashi refers to the prohibition of private altars, where “there” is used both in Deut. 12:7 and 14:23 regarding the obligation to sacrifice at the public shrine, and Ex. 40:3 regarding the place of the Ark in the Tabernacle.. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish asked before Rebbi Joḥanan, in that case if there is no Ark is there no Pesaḥ⁵⁸¹In that case there could not have been any Pesaḥ sacrifice in the Second Temple, whose basic institutions were approved by Zachariah, Haggai, and Malachia. Since we know that the Pesaḥ was sacrificed there, the argument presented must be invalid.? Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, “appellation”, “appellation”. Just as in the case of “appellation” mentioned there private altars are forbidden, so in the case of “appellation” mentioned here private altars are forbidden⁵⁸²It is not clear what this means. It cannot refer to the biblical meaning of the word אַזְכָּרָה, the declaration by the priest that the part taken is God’s part to be burned on the altar, since this does not apply to the items in question. Therefore it must refer to the rabbinic meaning of אַזְכָּרָה, the Name YHWH, which appears many times both in reference to permitted and prohibited altars.. And so Rebbi Jehudah and Rebbi Simeon were saying, Second Tithe in Nob and Gibeon. One understands Rebbi Jehudah, since Rebbi Jehudah said, purification sacrifice and Pesaḥ for the individual on the public altar, no purification sacrifice and Pesah for the individual on a private altar⁵⁸³He expressly endorses Pesaḥ on any public altar, without reference to the Ark.. Following Rebbi Simeon? Since Rebbi Simeon said, “The community only brings what Scripture fixed for it.⁵⁸⁴But Pesaḥ depends on the calendar, it is not fixed beforehand and therefore should be forbidden on a public altar. The same holds a fortiori for Second Tithe which depends on the crop; Note 521.” Rebbi Simeon is of the opinion that since when Second Tithe was introduced it was not interrupted⁵²²This statement does not belong here, it was copied from Halakhah 14. Second Tithe is the farmer’s property to be consumed in purity “before the Eternal” (Deut. 14:23). When the Tent was at Nob, the altar at Gibeon, and the Ark at Qiryat Yearim, it is difficult to see where “before the Eternal” was. He posits that the duty of Second Tithe was in force in the interval between Siloh and Solomon’s Temple..