(Fol. 21b) R. Acha b. Adda, in the name of R. Hamnuna, who quoted Rab, said: "Whence do we learn that even the ordinary talk of scholars must be studied? It is written (Ps. 1, 3) And the leaf does not wither; [i.e., even a slight thing as a leaf is not valueless]."
(Fol. 23) Whose opinion does our Mishnah represent? It represents the opinion of R. Akiba, as we have been taught in a Baraitha: A Succah made on the top of a ship, Rabban Gamaliel considered invalid; but R. Akiba considered it valid. It once happened that both Rabban Gamaliel and R. Akiba were on a ship, and R. Akiba constructed a Succah on top of the ship. On the morrow a wind blew it off, and Rabban Gamaliel remarked to him: "Akiba! Where is thy Succah?"
(Fol. 26b) Rab said: "One must not sleep by day longer than a horse sleeps." How long is that? So as to enable sixty respirations.
(Fol. 27b) Our Rabbis were taught: It once happened that R. La'yi went on a festival to Lud to pay his respects to his teacher R. Eliezer. "La'yi, art thou not of those who rest on the festival?" R. Eliezer asked him; for R. Eliezer used to say: "I praise the sluggards, who do not leave their houses on a festival, for it is said (Deut. 16, 14) And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, etc." Is this so? Did not R. Isaac say: "Whence do we learn that a man must pay respects to his teacher on the festival by visiting him? It is written (II Kings 4, 23) Wherefore art thou going to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath? From this we infer that on a new moon and a Sabbath it is a duty for every one to visit his teacher." This is not difficult to explain: the latter deals with a case where one can go and return the same day [when the teacher lives in the same city]; and the former deals with a case where one cannot return on the same day [one should prefer the reunion with his family].
Our Rabbis were taught: It once happened that R. Eliezer spent his festival in upper Galilee and was sitting in the Succah of R. Jochanan b. La'yi in the city of Caesarea, or according to others, in Caesarean When the sun reached the Succah, the host asked R. Eliezer: "Shall I spread a sheet on it to shield you from the sun?" And he answered: "There was not one tribe of Israel which did not produce a judge." The sun, meanwhile, reached the middle of the Succah, and the host again asked: "How about spreading a sheet on it?" And again he answered: "There was not one tribe of Israel which did not produce prophets, and the tribes of Juda and Benjamin produced kings at the command of the prophets." Finally the sun reached the bottom part of the couch [where R. Eliezer was sitting]. R. Jochanan b. La'yi then took a sheet and spread it over the Succah; whereupon R. Eliezer fixed his cloak, threw it over his body, and went off. These [evasive replies of R. Eliezer] were made not because he desired to divert their minds by words, but because he never said anything which he had not heard from his teacher.
(Fol. 28) Our Rabbis were taught: Once when R. Eliezer stayed over the Sabbath in Upper Galilee, he was asked thirty [Halachic] questions regarding the Succah. On twelve he answered: "So have I been informed." And on eighteen he answered: "I was not informed of them." R. Jose b. R. Juda says: On the contrary, to eighteen he answered, "I have heard," and to twelve, "I have not heard anything concerning them." "Rabbi," the inquirer said to him, "are all your decisions only from what you have heard?" Whereupon he remarked: "Now, you compel me to tell you one thing which I have not heard from my teachers; viz., never in my life did a man come ahead of me into the house of learning; I never slept in the house of learning — neither a long nor a short sleep; I never left a man in the house of learning when I went away; I never uttered profane talk, and I never decided a thing which I had not heard from my teacher."
It was said of R. Jochanan b. Zakai: Never in his life did he speak in profane language; he never walked four cubits without studying the law and without wearing Tephilin; he never slept in the house of learning — neither a long nor a short sleep; he was never preceded by anyone in the house of learning; he did not leave a man in the house of learning when he went away; he never thought of matters of the Torah while passing through unclean alleys; and he was never found to be sitting in silence, but he was always studying the Torah; nobody else, except he, ever opened the door for his disciples to enter: he never said a thing he had not heard from his teacher, and he never said it was time to leave the house of learning except on the eves of the Passover and the Day of Atonement. And so did R. Eliezer his disciple conduct himself after him.
Our Rabbis were taught: Eighty disciples did Hillel have; thirty of them were worthy that the Shechina should rest upon them, as it did upon Moses, our teacher; thirty of them were worthy that the sun should be stopped for their sake, as it did before Joshua; and twenty were ordinary. The superior among them was Jonathan b. Uziel, the inferior among them was R. Jochanan b. Zakai. It was related of R. Jochanan b. Zakai that he did not leave [unstudied] the Bible, the Mishnah, the Gemara, the Halachoth (laws), the Agadoth (legends), subtle points in the interpretation of the Biblical laws, the special points in rabbinical enactments, the restrictive and non-restrictive rules, rules of analogy, astronomy, geometry, the whisper of the angels, the whisper of the evil spirits, and the whisper of palm trees, foxes, fables, washers-fables, major affairs and minor affairs. Major affairs [refers to] esoterics and minor affairs the discussions of Abayi and Raba; all this to confirm the passage (Prov. 8, 21) That I may cause those that love Me to inherit a lasting possession, and their treasuries will I fill. And since the most inferior of all was so great, how much the more was the most superior of all? It was said of Jonathan b. Uziel, that when he studied the Law every bird that flew overhead was instantly consumed.
(Fol. 29) Our Rabbis have taught: An eclipse of the sun occurs for the following four reasons: For not having sufficiently lamented the death of a chief judge; for not having helped a betrothed virgin when she called in town for help [to save her from ill treatment]; for committing adultery, and for killing two brothers on the same day. Because of the following four reasons both the sun and the moon are eclipsed: For committing forgery; for false witness; for raising sheep and goats in the land of Israel, and for cutting down fruitful trees. Because of four things the property of householders deserves to be transferred (confiscated) to the government: For keeping paid notes; for usury; (Ib. b) for not preventing certain evils even when having power to do so; and for charity promised the people, but not given.
Rab said: "For four reasons the property of house-holders becomes annihilated: For not paying the wages of laborers in time; for not [sufficiently] paying laborers; for robbing; for casting off obligations from oneself and placing them upon others; and for arrogance. Arrogance is the worst of all, but concerning the modest, it is written (Ps. 37, 11) But the humble shall inherit the land and shall delight themselves because of the abundance of peace."