Talmud sur Les Nombres 35:15

¹⁸From here to the end of the next paragraph, the text is from Ševi‘it 8:5, Notes 77–84. Jehudah from Ḥusa hid himself in a cave for three days because he wanted to find the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He came to Rabbi Yose bar Ḥalaphta and said, I was hiding in a cave for three days because I wanted to find the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He called his son Rebbi Abba and asked him about the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He said to him (Num. 35:15): “These [six] cities shall be”, each town shall be, and only afterwards their surroundings around them. He [R. Yose] said to him [Jehudah from Huṣa], what did cause you [this emharassment]? That you did not study with your companions!

Jehudah from Ḥuṣī⁸²An otherwise unknown personage from tannaïtic times. Neither the tradition of his name nor that of his place are certain. hid himself in a cave for three days because he wanted to find the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He came to Rabbi Yose bar Ḥalaphta who asked him, where have you been? He said, I was hiding in a cave for three days because I wanted to find the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He called his son Rebbi Vardimos and said to him, answer, what is the reason why the necessities of life of one’s town have precedence over the necessities of life of another town. He said to him (Num. 35:15): “These [six] cities shall be”, each town shall live⁸³It seems that this is based on identifying ה and ח which not only where pronounced identically but also written almost identically, with the left leg of ה touching the roof slightly towards the middle, the left leg of ח being at the extreme left end and going up slightly over the roof. Since היה indicates permanency, one might also explain the argument that the first duty of the city government is to insure the continued survival of its inhabitants., and only afterwards their surroundings around them⁸⁴The surroundings are mentioned in slightly different formulations Num. 35:2,3. In the Babli, Nedarim 81a, verse 3 “their surroundings [of the Levitic town] shall be for its animals and its life-necessities” is explained (following R. Yose) “for its animals and clothes-washing.”. He [R. Yose] said to him [Jehudah from Ḥuṣi], what did cause you [this embarassment]? That you did not search with your companions!

“If any of them collapsed, one rebuilds it from the same tribe. And from where also from other tribes? The verse says, six⁷⁹Num. 35:15.. That they should be parallel and receiving like the earlier ones.”