Talmud sur Josué 1:19

MISHNAH: These are the matters that have no measure¹These are obligations spelled out in the Torah, so one has to fulfill them; but the Torah did not specify either minimum or maximum obligation. However, there are rabbinic minima and sometimes maxima established for all obligations.: Peah²In harvesting a field, one is not permitted to harvest the last corner (פאה); that must be abandoned to be harvested by the poor (Lev. 19:9,23:22). There is no minimum mentioned in the Torah; the Talmud will discuss whether one may declare one’s entire field as Peah., first fruits³There is an obligation to bring the first fruits of one’s land to the Temple, Lev. 23:19, 34:26; Neh. 10:36. No amount has been specified. This obligation is the subject of tractate Bikkurim., appearance⁴There is an obligation to appear in the Temple on the three holidays of pilgrimage (Ex. 23:17, 34:23–24, Deut. 16:16). It is forbidden to appear in the Temple emptyhanded (Ex. 23:15, 34:20, Deut. 16:16), i. e., without bringing a sacrifice. The Torah does not directly spell out the value of the sacrifice, but the verse in Deuteronomy requires it to be “proportional to the blessing that the Eternal has bestowed on you.” The Talmud will discuss which of the two obligations (appearance or sacrifice) is meant here., works of kindness⁵Charity has two aspects: one is giving money and valuables to the needy; this has no explicit lower and upper limit, but it does have rabbinic limits in both directions. This, in addition to the laws of Peah, is one of the topics of the tractate. The other aspect is giving one’s time to attend funerals, weddings, visiting the sick and mourners, to work for the public good, and similar deeds. That aspect has no limits, upper or lower, expressed anywhere., and Torah study⁶It is written of the Torah (Jos. 1:8): “You should meditate upon it day and night.” Hence, there is no upper limit. The obligation of Torah study can be fulfilled by the recitation of Shema‘, but that recitation is also an independent obligation. Hence, Torah study per se has no lower limit.. These are the matters whose product a person eats in this world and whose capital remains for him⁷As deeds which merit reward in the future life. in the future world: Honoring father and mother, works of kindness, making peace between people; the study of Torah is worth all of these.

The rabbis of Caesarea in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: The disagreement: (Deut. 11:24) “Any place¹⁶In the masoretic text: כל המקום. כל מקום is in the parallel Jos. 1:3 which cannot be the verse quoted here. your foot will tread on shall be yours,” the general statement contains only the detail¹⁷The full verse reads: Any place your foot will tread on shall be yours, from the prairie and the Lebanon, from the river Euphrates to the Western Sea shall be your border region. It is a hermeneutic principle (Sifra, Introduction, 7) that a general statement followed immediately by a clarification means only what is intended in the clarification. Therefore, “Any place” means only the region described here in general terms and in detail in Num. 34:1–12; “river Euphrates” here can only mean the region of Dura Europos, nearest to the Mediterranean., and following Rebbi Jehudah¹⁸Who defines the Western Sea as the Atlantic Ocean (at the Straits of Gibraltar) rather than the Mediterranean; cf. Ševi‘it 6, Note 93.. They object to Rebbi Jehudah: If this is about the boundaries of the Land of Israel, is there not written: (Jos. 1:4) “From the prairie and this Lebanon up to the great river, the Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites¹⁹The Hittite settlement in the region after the disappearance of the Hittite empire in central Anatolia. and to the great ocean at sunset shall be your borders.” If it²⁰The general statement “any place”. cannot deal with the border regions of the Land of Israel, consider it for the border regions outside the Land²¹That, if conquered, would become part of the Land of Israel.. Then, what David was conquering in Aram of the rivers and Aram Ẓova should be subject to ḥallah! There is a difference, because David was neglecting the border regions of the Land of Israel and conquering the border regions outside the Land²²The Northern part of the Land, the region of Phoenicia, as described in Num. 34:1–12 never was part of David’s empire. Therefore, he was not authorized to conquer the regions East of the promised Land. The argument appears in greater detail in Sifry Deut. 51..

Thus used R. Eliezer to say: Great is the commandment of tefillin, for the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke as follows to Israel, But thou shalt meditate therein day and night.⁹⁵Josh. 1, 8. ‘Sovereign of the universe,’ said Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘is it possible for us to meditate day and night [in the Torah]?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, answered them, ‘My children, put tefillin on your heads and on your arms and I shall account it to you as if you meditated in the Torah day and night’; as it is stated, And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth.⁹⁶Ex. 13, 9.

HALAKHAH: Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: Because of²⁰²The reason is sought for benedictions before and after the recitation of Shema‘. The first opinion, ascribed to an early Amora, gives the reason why the two recitations should be parallel and why each one has to include a benediction of thanks for the Torah, since the recitation of the Shema‘ also helps to fulfill the obligation of Torah-study in a minimal way. The second opinion, by a late Amora in the name of one of the first ones, explains the asymmetry in the numbers since they must add up to the odd number of 7.
Since in Halakhah 9 (and in the Babli, Berakhot 14b) it is reported that in Israel one did not recite the entire last section of Shema‘ in the evening, Rebbi Simon also gives a reason for the asymmetry: In the evening one recites 4 benedictions and 2 sections, in the morning 3 benedictions and 3 sections, for a total of 6 morning and evening. In the next section it is clear that Rebbi Simon makes a distinction between the first two and the third sections of Shema‘, a distinction rejected by Rebbi Levi from the circle of Rebbi Yoḥanan. (Jos. 1:8): “You should think about it day and night”, that the thinking of day and night should be equal. Rebbi Yose bar Rebbi Abin in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: Because of (Ps. 119:164): “Seven times a day I praise You for Your just laws.” Rebbi Nachman in the name of Rebbi Mani²⁰³Usually, Rebbi Mani in the Yerushalmi is R. Mana the first, an Amora of the first generation. However, Rebbi Naḥman, the preacher, is an Amora of the last generation in Galilee, a student of Rebbi Mana the second. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that R. Mani here is R. Mana the second. However, since the late R. Yose bar Abin transmits in the name of the very early R. Joshua ben Levi, it is not impossible that the name of R. Mani is transmitted correctly.
The statement of R. Mani implies that anybody who recites Shema‘ with its benedictions regularly, every evening and every morning, cannot be considered transgressing the obligation of Torah study even if he does not study otherwise. In contrast to the first two statements, this one has practical consequences.: Everybody who keeps “seven times a day I praise you” is as if he kept also “you should think about it day and night”²⁰⁴In the Babli, Menaḥot 99b, Rebbi Yoḥanan reports in the name of R. Simeon bar Yoḥai that reading the Shema‘ alone is enough; no mention of the necessary benedictions..

“If he goes to war, he carries it with him for it is said: It shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life. Is there not an inference de minore ad majus? Since for a king of Israel, who was occupied by the needs of Israel, is it said that he shall read in it all the days of his life, a private person so much more. Similarly, it was said to Joshua: You shall meditate about it day and night²⁰⁴Jos. 1:8.. Is there not an inference de minore ad majus? Since for Joshua, who is occupied by the needs of Israel, it is said: you shall meditate about it day and night, then certainly a private person.

At that time, Moses asked to die as Aaron had died, because he saw the great honor Aaron was given at the funeral procession, with rows and rows of angels eulogizing him. But did he actually say this to someone? No, he just said it to himself. Yet the Holy Blessed One heard his whisper, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:51), “And you will die on the mountain that you go up on, and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor.” From this you learn that he asked to die as Aaron had died.
At that time, [God] said to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses. The Angel of Death went and stood before him, and said: Moses, give me your soul. But he scowled at him [and said: The place I sit, you have no right to even stand – and you ask me to give you my soul? So he scowled at him] and chased him away with a rebuke.
The Holy Blessed One said again to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses.
Finally, the Holy Blessed One said to Moses: Moses! You’ve had enough of this world. The World to Come has been prepared for you since the six days of creation. As it says (Exodus 33:22), “God said, here is a place near Me; stand on that rock.” The Holy Blessed One took Moses’ soul and stored it under the Throne of Glory. (As it says [I Samuel 25:29], “And the soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life.”) And when He took it, He did it with a kiss. As it says (Deuteronomy 34:5), “[Moses died…] by the mouth of God.” And not only Moses’ soul is stored under the Throne of Glory, but also the souls of all the righteous are stored there! As it says (I Samuel 25:29), “[If anyone sets out to pursue you and seek your life], the soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life.” Could it be that the souls of the wicked are there, too? The verse continues: “but He will fling away the lives of your enemies like a slingshot.” [(To what can this be compared?) It can be compared to someone who takes a stone and places it in a sling;] even though he flings it from place to place, he does not know where it will land. So it is for the souls of the wicked, which cast about and go wandering the world, and have no place to rest.
The Holy Blessed One said again to the Angel of Death: Go, bring me the soul of Moses. He went back to the place, and looked for Moses, but could not find him. He went to the Great Sea and said to it: Did Moses come here? And it said: I have not seen him since the day that Israel passed through me. He went to the mountains and hills and asked them: Did Moses come here? [They said to him: We have not seen him since the day that Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai. He went down to the Underworld and to Oblivion said to them: Did Moses come here? They said: We have heard his name, but we have never seen him. He went and asked the angels: Did Moses come here?] They said to him: God knows his path and his place. God stored him away for the World to Come, and no living creature knows where. As it says (Job 28:12–14, 22), “Where will wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? No human knows its measure, and it cannot be found in the land of the living. The Deep says, it is not in me, and the sea says it is not by me…. Oblivion and Death say: in our ears we heard a rumor.” Even Joshua was sitting in despair over Moses [for he did not know where he was], until the Holy Blessed One said to him: Joshua, why are you in despair over Moses? For “Moses My servant is dead.” (Joshua 1:2).

²⁶⁰This is from Peah 1:1, Notes 94–97. Cf. Babli Menaḥot 99b. They asked Rebbi Joshua: May a person teach Greek to his son? He said to them, he may teach him at an hour that is neither day nor night as it is written (Jos. 1:8): “You shall meditate about it day and night.” If it is so, a man would be forbidden to teach a profession to his son since it is written: “You shall meditate about it day and night.” But Rebbi Ismael stated (Deut. 30:19): “Choose life!” That refers to a profession. Rebbi Abba, son of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: Because of informants. Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: A person may teach Greek to his daughter since it is an ornament for her. Simeon bar Abba heard that and said: Because he wants to teach his daughters, he attaches it to Rebbi Joḥanan. It should come over me that I never heard it from Rebbi Joḥanan.

Rabbi Dosa ben Hyrcanus would say: Sleeping through the morning, drinking wine in the afternoon, [the chatter of little children, and sitting around in the gathering houses with the common folk; these things drive a person from the world.]
Sleeping through the morning. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to sleep so late that the time for reciting the Shema will pass. As, if he does sleep that late, he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Proverbs 26:13), (“The door turns on its hinges, but the lazy one is still in his bed.) The lazy one says: There is a leopard in my path. A lion roams the streets.”
Drinking wine in the afternoon. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to drink in the afternoon, because whenever he does, he ends up wasting all the time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Ecclesiastes 10:16), “Woe is the land whose king is a child, and whose ministers eat late in the morning.” And then, “Happy is the land whose king is a free man [and whose ministers eat at the right time; with restraint, not guzzling].” And what is the right time? One might say it is in some future yet to come, as its says (Isaiah 60:22), “I, the Eternal, will bring it about at the right time.” Or (Numbers 23:23), “At the right time Jacob will tell Israel [what God has planned].” The Holy Blessed One said to Bil’am, “At the right time,” not: In the right time; that is, not in the time you live, but at some future time when I redeem Israel.
The chatter of little children. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan, when he is studying in his house, to chat with his wife and his sons and daughters. For when a person is studying in his house, and becomes distracted with his children and the people in his house, he ends up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Joshua 1:8), “Do not let this book of Torah depart from your mouth; reflect on it day and night.”
Sitting around in the gathering houses with the common folk. How so? This teaches that a person should not sit with those who sit around in the marketplace, or he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Psalms 1:1–2), “Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked […for only the Torah of the Eternal does he desire].” Rabbi Meir said: What does it mean [in the continuation of the verse] by “sitting with those who mock”? (Not to sit in) the theaters of mockers (in which they sentence people to death), as it says (Psalms 26:5), “I hated the gathering of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” (And the evildoers are the wicked, as it says [Psalms 37:9], “For the evildoers will be cut off.” Where is their punishment? In the World to Come, as it says) (Malachi 3:19), “For behold, the day is coming that blazes like an oven, and all the sinister and all those who do wickedness will be like straw.” These “sinister” ones are the mockers, as it says (Proverbs 21:24), “The sinister, arrogant one is called a mocker.”