Talmud - Bava Kamma 83a בבא קמא פ״ג א׳

why would one speak the Syriac [Sursi] language? One should speak either the sacred tongue, Hebrew, or the Greek language. And Rabbi Yosei said similarly: In Babylonia, why would one speak the Aramaic language? One should speak either the sacred tongue or the Persian language. At any rate, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s statement indicates that there is nothing wrong with learning and speaking Greek. The Sages say in response: The Greek language is discrete, and Greek wisdom is discrete. In other words, these are two separate issues; only Greek wisdom is prohibited, not the Greek language.

The Gemara further pursues this line of inquiry: And is Greek wisdom itself actually prohibited? But doesn’t Rav Yehuda say that Shmuel says in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: It is written: “My eye affected my soul, because of all the daughters of my city” (Lamentations 3:51). Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel applied this verse to a personal tragedy: There were a thousand children in the household of my father, Rabban Gamliel; five hundred of them studied the Torah, and five hundred of them studied Greek wisdom. All of them were killed by the Romans; and the only ones that remain of them are I, who is here, and the son of my father’s brother, who is in Asia Minor [Asya]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s statement indicates that it is permitted to study Greek wisdom.

The Sages say in response: The household of Rabban Gamliel is different, as they held close ties with the government. Since knowledge of Greek wisdom was crucial for the members of this family, the Sages exempted them from the general decree, as it is taught in a baraita: With regard to one who cuts his hair in the fashion of komi, a certain haircut favored by the Romans, this is considered one of the ways of the Amorites, i.e., a gentile practice prohibited by the Torah (Leviticus 18:3). Despite this, the Sages permitted Avtolmos bar Reuven to cut his hair in the fashion of komi, because he had close ties with the government. Likewise, they permitted the members of the household of Rabban Gamliel to discuss matters of Greek wisdom, because they had close ties with the government.

§ The mishna teaches: A person may not raise a dog unless it is tied with chains. The Sages taught in a baraita: A person may not raise a dog unless it is tied with a chain. But he may raise a dog in a city that is close to the border of the country, and in that case he should tie it during the day but may release it at night.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: One who raises dogs is like one who raises pigs. The Gemara asks: What is the practical significance of this statement? Since both are prohibited, what is the point of this comparison? The Gemara answers: The significance is with regard to determining when one is liable to be cursed for it. Rabbi Eliezer is saying that the same curse meted out to one who raises pigs also applies to one who raises dogs.

Rav Yosef bar Minyumi says that Rav Naḥman says: Babylonia is considered like a city close to the border, and therefore it is permitted to raise dogs there. The Gemara qualifies this statement, and in this context, Babylonia is interpreted as referring only to Neharde’a, a city that was close to the border.

With regard to raising dogs, Rabbi Dostai from Biri expounded: It is written in connection to the Ark of the Covenant: “And when it rested, he said: Return, O Lord, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel” (Numbers 10:36). This verse serves to teach you that the Divine Presence does not rest upon the Jewish people if they number fewer than two thousand and two myriads, where one myriad is equal to ten thousand. The plural form of “myriads” and “thousands” indicates at least two of each. If they are lacking one individual from this total, and there was a pregnant woman among them, who was fit to complete the number by giving birth, and a dog barked at her and she miscarried as a result of the fright, this owner of the dog is found to have caused the Divine Presence to depart from the Jewish people.

There was a certain woman who entered a certain building to bake. A dog barked at her. Its owner said to her: Do not be afraid of it; its canine teeth have been removed. She said to him: It is too late for your reassurances. Take your favors and throw them on the thorns! I have felt that the baby has already moved from its place in the womb and will not be born alive.

§ The mishna teaches: One may spread out traps for pigeons only if this was performed at a distance of at least thirty ris, which is eight thousand cubits, from any settled area, to ensure that privately owned pigeons are not caught in the traps. The Gemara asks: And do pigeons really travel that far from their established places? But didn’t we learn in a mishna (Bava Batra 23a): One must distance a dovecote fifty cubits from the city, so that the pigeons that settle in the cotes do not eat the crops that grow in the gardens of the city. This shows that the range of a pigeon is only fifty cubits, whereas four mil is eight thousand cubits. Abaye said: Pigeons fly much more than fifty cubits away from their cotes, but their stomachs become full from the food they find within fifty cubits, and therefore they do not eat any more beyond that range.

The Gemara asks: And with regard to flying, is their range only thirty ris and no more? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: In a settled area, one may not spread out a trap for pigeons even at a distance of one hundred mil from the settlement? This indicates that a privately owned pigeon might be trapped even one hundred mil away from a settled area. Why, then, does the mishna permit trapping beyond four mil? Rav Yosef said: The baraita is not talking about an ordinary city but about a settled area where vineyards are grown. Since the pigeons rest in the vineyards as they travel, they are able to traverse great distances. Rabba stated a different answer: The baraita is dealing with a settled area where there are many dovecotes in which they can rest from their flight.

The Gemara asks: If there are many dovecotes along the way, let the tanna derive the prohibition against setting pigeon traps due to the dovecotes themselves. Since the mishna teaches that it is prohibited to trap pigeons within four mil of privately owned dovecotes, it should be irrelevant that there is a city one hundred mil away. The Gemara answers: If you wish, say that the baraita is dealing with dovecotes that belong to a gentile, and the prohibition against trapping pigeons from private dovecotes applies only to birds owned by Jews. Or if you wish, say that the baraita is dealing with abandoned dovecotes that are ownerless. Or if you wish, say that it is referring to dovecotes that are his, i.e., they belong to the same individual who is setting the pigeon trap.

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

BavaKamma 83a explores debates over speaking Greek versus studying Greek wisdom, using Rabban Gamliel's household as a case tied to Roman government ties.