תּלמוד אויף מלאכי 3:23

⁶⁸This paragraph has been copied by the corrector from B. It is neither in the scribe’s text nor in ג; it is a Babylonian addition. It is a slight rewrite of a text in Šabbat1, Notes 274–286, based on the Babylonian version of the last Mishnah in Soṭah.[“And so did Rebbi Phineas ben Yair say, promptitude brings to cleanliness, cleanliness brings to purity, purity brings to holiness, holiness brings to meekness, meekness brings to fear of sin, fear of sin brings to piety, piety brings to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit to the Resurrection of the Dead, the Resurrection of the Dead brings to Elijah, may his remembrance be a blessing.” “Promptitude brings to cleanliness,” as it is written⁶⁹Lev. 16:20., he finishes, and he atones. “Cleanliness brings to purity,” as it is written⁷⁰Lev. 12:8., the Cohen shall atone for her, then she will be pure. “Purity brings to holiness,” as it is written⁷¹Lev. 16:19., he shall purify it and sanctify it. “Holiness brings to meekness,” as it is written⁷²Is. 57:15., for so says the High and Elevated One, Who thrones eternally, His name is Holy, in sublimity … and the oppressed and of meek spirit.“Meekness brings to fear of sin,” as it is written⁷³Prov.22:4., the consequence of meekness is fear of the Eternal. “Fear of sin brings to piety,” as it is written⁷⁴Ps. 103:17., the Eternal’s piety is eternally on those who fear Him. “Piety brings to the Holy Spirit,” as it is written⁷⁵Ps. 89:20., then You spoke in a vision to Your pious ones. “The Holy Spirit brings to the Resurrection of the Dead,” as it is written⁷⁶Ez. 37:14., I shall give My Spirit into you and you will live. “The Resurrection of the Dead brings to Elijah, may his remembrance be a blessing,” as it is written⁷⁷Misquote of Pr. 2:5., then you will understand the fear of the Eternal, and the knowledge of God you will find. It was stated in the name of Rebbi Meïr: Anybody permanently in the Land of Israel who speaks the holy language, eats its produce in purity, and recites the Shema` mornings and evenings is assured of his place in the World to Come.]

²⁷⁴This baraita is the end of the Babylonian Mishnah Soṭah (quoted in Avodah zarah 20b); it is not in the Yerushalmi Mishnah. The entire paragraph appears in a slightly different version (adapted to the Babylonian Mishnah) in the hand of the first corrector in Šeqalim 3:4; the differences will be indicated in the Notes. The Šeqalim text, with the Babylonian version, consist- ently has the full form “a brings to b”.
There also exists a Genizah text edited by L. Ginzberg (op. cit. Note 25 p. 66ff.) which here is too fragmentary to be of much use.
The different version has the sequence cleanliness purity holiness meekness fear of sin piety Holy Spirit resurrection. In Yerushalmi sources it also is found in Cant. rabba 1(9) whereas the version in the text here is in the Munich ms. of the Babli Avodah zarah 20b. The Šeqalim text is reproduced in Midrash Prov. Chap. 15[32]. The different implications naturally require different verses.“From here did Rebbi Phineas ben Yair say, promptitude brings to cleanliness, cleanliness brings to purity, purity brings to holiness, holiness to meekness, meekness to fear of sin, fear of sin to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit to piety, piety to the Resurrection of the Dead, the Resurrection of the Dead through Elijah, may his remembrance be a blessing.”“Promptitude to cleanliness,” he finishes, and he atones²⁷⁵It seems that the correct quote is given in Šeqalim: וְכִלָּה֙ מִכַּפֵּ֣ר he finishes to atone (Lev. 16:20). The High Priest, who has to perform all the rites of the day of Atonement unaided, has to be quick because only if he finishes all required ceremonies will there be atonement..“Cleanliness to purity,” the Cohen shall atone for her, then she will be pure²⁷⁶Lev. 12:8..“Purity to holiness,” he shall purify it and sanctify it²⁷⁷Lev. 16:19..“Holiness to meekness,” for so says the High and Elevated One, Who thrones eternally, His name is Holy, in sublimity and holiness I dwell, and the suppressed and of meek spirit²⁷⁸Is. 57:15. The verse is explained differently in the Babli, Megillah 31a..“Meekness to fear of sin,” the consequence of meekness is fear of the Eternal²⁷⁹Prov. 22:4. In the first quote, the implied meaning “consequence” is intended, in the second the original meaning “heel”.. Rebbi Isaac bar Eleazar said, what wisdom proclaimed as a crown to its head, meekness made a heel for its sandal²⁸⁰Latin solea, -ae f. “sandal”., for it is written, the head of wisdom is the fear of the Eternal²⁸¹Ps. 111:10. The usual meaning is the beginning of wisdom is …, but it is written, the heel of meekness is fear of the Eternal²⁷⁹Prov. 22:4. In the first quote, the implied meaning “consequence” is intended, in the second the original meaning “heel”..“Fear of sin to the Holy Spirit,” as it is written, then you will understand and knowledge of God you will find²⁸²Prov. 2:5..“The Holy Spirit to piety,” as it is written, then You spoke in a vision to Your pious²⁸³Ps. 89:20..“Piety to the Resurrection of the Dead,” as it is written, I shall give My Spirit into you and you will live²⁸⁴Ez. 37:14..“The Resurrection of the Dead through Elijah, may his remembrance be a blessing,” as it is written, behold I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Eternal, that he turn the fathers’ hearts to the sons and the sons’ hearts to their fathers²⁸⁵Mal. 3:23–24..It was stated in the name of Rebbi Meïr: Anybody permanently in the Land of Israel who eats his profane food in purity, speaks in the holy language, and recites the Shemaˋ mornings and evenings is assured to participate in the life of the World to Come²⁸⁶In Šeqalim: “… eats his produce in purity, …, may be told that …”..

"How so: If a conflagration," etc. The rabbis taught: How many meals should a man eat on the Sabbath? Three. R. 'Hidka said four. Said R. Johanan: Both the rabbis and R. 'Hidka adduced their opinions from the same passage, as follows [Exodus xvi. 25]: "And Moses said, Eat it to-day; for a Sabbath is this day unto the Lord: to-day ye will not find it in the field." R. 'Hidka holds that, day being mentioned three times, three meals should be eaten during the day and one at night, and the rabbis hold that the day includes the night and only three meals are required. Our Mishna, however, which decrees that only enough for three meals should be saved, does therefore not agree with R. 'Hidka. According to whose opinion, however, will the following Mishna be? (Tract Peah): "If a poor man have sufficient for two meals, he must not apply for another at the public kitchen (where food is distributed), but he may apply to the general charity fund. If he have, however, sufficient for fourteen meals (for the week) he must not even apply to the general charity fund!" If the Mishna were of the opinion of R. 'Hidka, he should have had sufficient for sixteen meals, so as to afford him four meals on the Sabbath, and, according to the rabbis, for fifteen meals in order to have three meals on the Sabbath? It is therefore neither in accord with R. 'Hidka nor with the rabbis. Nay; it is in accord with the rabbis, and the poor man should eat his Sabbath-night meal on the Sabbath day, so with his Friday-night meal it will make three meals on the Sabbath. It may also be said that the Mishna holds with R. 'Hidka, and that the poor man should leave his Friday meal for the Sabbath. Shall we make the poor man then fast on Friday? It would therefore be better to hold the Mishna's opinion to be in accord with R. Aqiba, who says, that the poor man should make Sabbath equal to a weekday in order not to be forced to rely upon charity. Thus fourteen meals are sufficient, and he may eat only two on Sabbath. But according to whose opinion is the Mishna (Tract Peah): "If a wandering mendicant come to a town, he must be given a loaf which can be bought for a Pundian (one forty-eighth of a Sela) when the price of flour is one Sela for four Saahs (and the sages calculated that such a loaf is sufficient for two meals). If he remain over night he must be given lodging, and if he remain over Sabbath he must be given three meals for Sabbath." Shall we assume, that this Mishna holds with the rabbis and not with R. 'Hidka? It might also be in accord with R. 'Hidka if the mendicant happen to have one meal with him, he is told to eat the one he has and is given three more. Should the mendicant then depart empty-handed? Nay; he is also given a meal to take along on the way. What must he be given for lodging? Said R. Papa: Enough to hire a bed and a pillow. The rabbis taught: The dishes used on the eve of Sabbath may be cleansed for the Sabbath-morning meal. The dishes used in the morning may be cleansed for the mid-day meal, and those of the mid-day meal for the afternoon; but those of the afternoon must not be cleansed until the Sabbath is over. All this is said concerning dishes; but glasses, cups, and all drinking utensils may be cleansed at any time, because there are no fixed times for drinking. R. Simeon ben Pazi in the name of R. Jehoshua ben Levi, quoting Bar Qapara, said: One who keeps the commandment to eat three times on the Sabbath will be rid of three punishments, viz.: "The tribulations (at the time) of Messiah; the punishment of Gehenna, and the war of Gog and Magog." From the tribulations of Messiah, because the Sabbath is always mentioned as the day, and it is written [Malachi iii. 23]: "Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord, the great and the dreadful." From the punishment of Gehenna, because it is written [Zephaniah i. 15]: "A day of wrath is that day," etc., meaning the Gehenna. From the war of Gog and Magog, because it is written [Ezekiel xxxviii. 18]: "On the day of Gog's coming."