Avodah Zarah, Daf Vav, Part 6
Introduction
Today s section deals with R. Judah s ruling in the mishnah. I quote it in full here for ease of reference:
Rabbi Judah says: we should receive repayment from them, as this can only depress them;
But they [the Rabbis] said to him: even though it is depressing at the time, they are glad of it subsequently.
רבי יהודה אומר נפרעין מהן כו’:
ולית ליה לרבי יהודה אף על פי שמיצר עכשיו שמח הוא לאחר זמן? והתניא רבי יהודה אומר אשה לא תסוד במועד מפני שניוול הוא לה ומודה ר’ יהודה בסיד שיכולה לקפלו במועד שטופלתו במועד אע"פ שמצירה עכשיו שמחה היא לאחר זמן.
R. Judah says: we should receive repayment from them
Does R. Judah not hold that though it is depressing at the time they are glad of it subsequently? Is it not taught: R. Judah says: A woman must not smear lime on her face on the intermediate days of the festival because it disfigures her.
R, Judah, however, admits that if the lime can still be scraped off during the festival, it may be applied on the festival for though she is troubled by it for the while, it will eventually please her.
R. Judah in our mishnah seems to contradict R. Judah s opinion in another mishnah. This mishnah is about what one is allowed to do during the intermediate days of the festival (hol hamoed). The issue here is whether a woman can put a lime cream on her face (probably a whitening agent, women back then wanted to look whiter, not tanner). R. Judah allows this only if the positive results will occur during the festival. Although she will be disfigured temporarily, she will be happy during the festival. So here we see that R. Judah accepts the notion that we consider something to be joyous even if it causes temporary pain as long as the final result is joyful.
אר"נ בר יצחק הנח להלכות מועד דכולהו מיצר עכשיו שמחה לאחר זמן.
רבינא אמר עובד כוכבים לענין פרעון לעולם מיצר.
R. Nahman b. Yitzchak said: Leave aside the laws relating to [work permitted on] the intermediate days of the festival: they all cause trouble now, and are pleasant later.
Ravina said: To an idolater, the matter of repayment is always troubling.
There are two answers here. R. Nahman b. Yitzchak says that everything that a person is allowed to do on the festival is currently a trouble but brings about pleasant results later. For instance, slaughtering an animal is difficult, but will bring about the pleasant result of having meat to eat. Thus there is nothing unusual here.
Ravina answers from a different angle altogether. R. Judah disagrees on the facts he believes that idolaters will always be upset that they had to pay back the money. Thus this is not a case of something being troublesome now and pleasant later on.