Talmud - Gittin 31b גיטין ל״א ב׳

It means from the time that it was set aside until the same time the day after it was set aside. In other words, he must be concerned about all of the untithed produce that he had rendered fit after the first twenty-four hour period from when he set aside the produce or money had passed.

We learned in the mishna: If he discovers that they were lost, then he must be concerned that the produce or money that he set aside was lost from the time until the same time. Granted, according to the one who said that this means from the time it was checked and found to be lost until the same time of day on the previous day, it works out well, as the wine is presumed to have turned to vinegar from that moment.

But according to the one who said that this means from the time that it was set aside until the same time the day after it was set aside, this expression: From the time until the same time, is imprecise, as the presumption is that the wine turned to vinegar dating back to the day after it had been set aside. Therefore, it should have said: One is concerned going back until then from the time it was set aside to the same time the following day, i.e., twenty-four hours after it had been set aside. The Gemara comments: The wording of the mishna is difficult according to that opinion.

The mishna teaches that this is the statement of the tanna Rabbi Elazar. The amora Rabbi Elazar says: Rabbi Elazar’s colleagues disagree with him, as we learned in a mishna (Mikvaot 2:2): In the case of a ritual bath that was known to have contained the requisite forty se’a, which was then measured and found deficient in its quantity of water, all pure items that had been rendered pure in it, retroactive to when the ritual bath was last measured, whether this ritual bath is found in the private domain or in the public domain, are impure.

The Gemara comments: It is obvious that those who ascribe to the statement of that mishna disagree with Rabbi Elazar the tanna. What novel idea is Rabbi Elazar the amora teaching? The Gemara answers: It is necessary lest you say that what the term retroactive is referring to is any item that was immersed and purified from the time it was found to be deficient until the same time the previous day, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Elazar. Therefore, he teaches us that in fact they disagree and deem impure all items immersed from the time that the ritual bath had last been checked.

§ The mishna teaches that Rabbi Yehuda says: One checks the wine at three times during the year. One of these times is when the east wind blows at the conclusion of the festival of Sukkot. A Sage taught: It is checked when the east wind blows at the conclusion of the festival of Sukkot in the season of Tishrei, i.e., autumn. However, if the summer continues until the festival of Sukkot, then in the event of this unusual occurrence one does not check the wine.

It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda says that at three times during the year one sells the grain: Before the time of the sowing, and during the time of the sowing, and before the festival of Passover. And at three times of the year one sells the wine: Before the festival of Passover, and before the festival of Shavuot, and before the festival of Sukkot. And oil is sold from the festival of Shavuot and onward. The Gemara asks: With regard to what halakha was this stated? One may sell these products whenever he so desires. Rava said, and some say that it was Rav Pappa who said: This halakha was stated with regard to partners, as one partner may sell these products without the permission of the other only at these times of the year. At other times, he must first receive permission from his partner. From this point forward, i.e., after the latest of the three times has passed, what is the halakha? Rava said: Every day is its time to be sold.

§ Having mentioned the east wind, the Gemara quotes a related verse: “And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement [ḥarishit] east wind” (Jonah 4:8). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the word “ḥarishit”? Rav Yehuda says: It means a wind that plows [ḥoreshet], as at the time that the wind blows, it forms many furrows in the sea, as though it were plowing the sea.

Rabba said to him: If that is so, then that which is written in the continuation of the verse: “And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah and he fainted” (Jonah 4:8), is difficult; it seems from the continuation of the verse that the wind was extremely hot, not strong. Rather, Rabba says: At the time that it blows, it silences all the winds before it. Therefore, it is called ḥarishit, because all other winds are silent [maḥarishot] before it. Since only this wind was blowing, it became very hot. And this is as it is written: “You whose garments are hot, when the earth is still by reason of the south wind” (Job 37:17). Rabbi Taḥalifa bar Rav Ḥisda says that Rav Ḥisda says in explanation of this verse: When are your garments hot, i.e., when is there the greatest heat? It is when the earth is still by reason of the south wind, as at the time that the southern wind blows, it silences all the winds before it.

The Gemara relates that Rav Huna and Rav Ḥisda were sitting, and Geneiva passed by them. One said to the other: Let us stand before him, as he is a son of the Torah. The other said to him: Shall we stand before a quarrelsome person? In the meantime, Geneiva came to them and said to them: With what were you dealing when you were sitting together? They said to him: We were dealing with winds.

He said to them: This is what Rav Ḥanan bar Rava says that Rav says: Four winds blow on each day, and the north wind blows together with each of the other three; as, if this were not so and the northern wind did not blow, then the world would not survive for even one hour. And the south wind is harsher than all of them, and were it not for the angel called Ben Netz, who stops it from blowing even harder, then it would destroy the entire world before it, as it is stated: “Does the hawk [netz] soar by your wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?” (Job 39:26).

The Gemara also relates that Rava and Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak were sitting, and Rav Naḥman bar Ya’akov was passing by them while sitting on a gilt carriage [goharka] and with a green cloak [sarbela] spread over him. Rava went to him, but Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak did not go to him. He said: Perhaps they are members of the house of the Exilarch. Rava needs them, but I do not need them.

When he saw that it was Rav Naḥman bar Ya’akov, he also went to him. Rav Naḥman bar Ya’akov uncovered his arm due to the heat and said: The wind called Shadya is blowing. Rava says that this is what Rav says about this wind: A woman miscarries in its wake. And Shmuel says: Even a pearl [margalit] that is in the sea decomposes in its wake. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Even the semen that is in a woman’s womb putrefies in its wake.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak, who was present, said about their statements: And the three of them derived their statements from one verse, as it is stated: “For though he be fruitful among the reed-plants, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up; he shall spoil the treasure of all precious vessels” (Hosea 13:15). The statement that a woman miscarries in its wake is based on the phrase “His spring shall become dry,” as this is referring to a woman’s womb. With regard to the phrase “And his fountain shall be dried up,” this is referring to the semen that is in a woman’s womb. And with regard to the phrase “He shall spoil the treasure of all precious vessels,” this is referring to a pearl in the sea.

Rava says: This Sage is from Sura, as they are precise with verses. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of: “Though he be fruitful [yafri] among the reed-plants”? Rava said: Even

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Gittin 31b examines the twenty-four hour retroactive concern for lost tithed produce and applies parallel reasoning to a deficient ritual bath's purification status.