Kiddushin, Daf Ayin Aleph, Part 4
Introduction
This sugya continues to discuss God s name.
ת"ר בראשונה שם בן שתים עשרה אותיות היו מוסרין אותו לכל אדם משרבו הפריצים היו מוסרים אותו לצנועים שבכהונה והצנועים שבכהונה מבליעים אותו בנעימת אחיהם הכהנים
תניא אמר רבי טרפון פעם אחת עליתי אחר אחי אמי לדוכן והטיתי אזני אצל כהן גדול ושמעתי שהבליע שם בנעימת אחיו הכהנים
Our Rabbis taught: Originally they would transmit [God’s] twelve-lettered name to all people. When unruly men increased, it was confided to the discreet members of the priesthood, and these swallowed it during the chanting of their brothers, the priests.
It was taught: R. Tarfon said: I once ascended after my mother’s brother to the platform, and inclined my ear to the High Priest, and heard him swallowing the name during the chanting of his brothers the priests.
Interestingly, according to this view of history, at one point everyone knew God s twelve letter name. But people began to use it for their own gain, and at that point it needed to be hidden. They continued to transmit it to priests who would guard it properly. These priests softly uttered it during the chanting of the priestly blessing. Rashi explains that most priests would use God s four letter name, as we do today (although we do not pronounce it the way it is written). When they would extend their singing, the priests who knew the twelve-letter name would utter it so that most people couldn t hear it. Rashi even translates chanting into French as trope as in Torah trope!
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב שם בן ארבעים ושתים אותיות אין מוסרין אותו אלא למי שצנוע ועניו ועומד בחצי ימיו ואינו כועס ואינו משתכר ואינו מעמיד על מדותיו וכל היודעו והזהיר בו והמשמרו בטהרה אהוב למעלה ונחמד למטה ואימתו מוטלת על הבריות ונוחל שני עולמים העולם הזה והעולם הבא
Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: The forty-two lettered name is entrusted only to one who is discreet, humble, middle-aged, does not get agree or drunk, and does not insist on his rights. And one who knows it, and is careful with it, and observes it in purity, is beloved above and popular below, the fear of him is on all people, and he inherits two worlds, this world and the future world.
The most guarded of God s name is the 42 letter name. The qualities that one has to be able to be entrusted with this name seem to me the exact type of qualities we would want in a powerful politician. I love it how the person is supposed to be middle-aged. That s at least one characteristic that I fulfill!
אמר שמואל משמיה דסבא בבל בחזקת כשרה עומדת עד שיודע לך במה נפסלה שאר ארצות בחזקת פסול הן עומדות עד שיודע לך במה נכשרה ארץ ישראל מוחזק לפסול פסול מוחזק לכשר כשר
Shmuel said in the name of an old man: [A family] in Babylonia is in the presumption of being fit, until you know how it became unfit; [a family] from any other country is presumed to be unfit, until you know how it is fit.
As for Eretz Yisrael, he who has the presumption of being unfit is unfit; he who has the presumption of being fit is fit.
We now return to the issue of genealogical fitness. In Babylonia, people are presumed to be genealogically fit. In other lands they are assumed to be unfit. In Eretz Yisrael, whatever a person is presumed to be is his status. As we have seen before, Eretz Yisrael s lineage is superior to most lands, but not to Babylonia.
הא גופא קשיא אמרת מוחזק לפסול פסול הא סתמא כשר והדר תני מוחזק לכשר כשר הא סתמא פסול
אמר רב הונא בר תחליפא משמיה דרב לא קשיא כאן להשיאו אשה כאן להוציא אשה מידו
But this is self contradictory: you say, he who has the presumption of unfitness is unfit. Hence, when undetermined, he is fit;
then you teach, he who has the presumption of fitness is fit. Hence, when undetermined, he is unfit.
R. Huna b. Tahlifa said in the name of Rav: There is no difficulty: here it is to permit him to take a wife; there it is to take the wife away from him.
The last part of Shmuel s statement seems to be self-contradictory as far as the status of one with no presumption is that person assumed to be fit or unfit.
The solution is that in order to marry a fit woman, the man needs to be presumed to be fit. But in order to be forced to divorce a fit woman, one needs to be presumed to be unfit. In other words, there is a higher bar ab initio than there is ex post facto.
אמר רב יוסף כל שסיחתו בבבל משיאין לו אשה והאידנא דאיכא רמאי חיישינן
R. Yosef said: Anyone whose speech is Babylonian is permitted to marry a woman [of good lineage]. But nowadays, that there are deceivers, we must be concerned.
Evidently, at some point in Babylonia there was a special way of talking that showed that a person was of good lineage. From what I understand, there is such a thing in England (I m not so good at identifying English accents). But alas, people can fake their accents, so we cannot use this anymore. I can totally imagine this kind of statement being made in reference to England.
זעירי הוה קא מישתמיט מיניה דר’ יוחנן דהוה אמר ליה נסיב ברתי
יומא חד הוו קאזלי באורחא מטו לעורקמא דמיא ארכביה לר’ יוחנן אכתפיה וקא מעבר ליה
א"ל אורייתן כשרה בנתין לא כשרן
מאי דעתיך אילימא מדתנן עשרה יוחסין עלו מבבל כהני לויי אטו כהני לויי וישראלי כולהו סליקו כי היכי דאישתיור מהני אישתיור נמי מהני
אישתמיטתיה הא דאמר ר"א לא עלה עזרא מבבל עד שעשאה כסולת נקייה ועלה
Ze’iri was evading R. Yohanan, who was urging him, Marry my daughter.
One day they were travelling on a road, when they came to a pool of water. He [Ze iri] put R. Yohanan on his shoulder and carried him across.
He said to him: Our learning is fit but our daughters are not? [On] what is your view [based]? If we say, because we learned, ten genealogical classes went up from Babylonia: priests, Levites [etc.]? Did then all the priests, Levites and Israelites go up? Just as some of these were left, so were some of those [the unfit classes listed in the Mishnah] left [in Babylonia].
He forgot what R. Elazar said: Ezra did not go up from Babylonia until he made it like pure fine flour: then he went up.
This source presents the tension between Torah learning and lineage. The Torah learning in Eretz Yisrael is good enough such that Ze iri moved there from Babylonia. But the lineage is not good enough, even for him to marry R. Yohanan s daughter. R. Yohanan points out to him that there remain in Babylonia both fit Jews (priests, Levites and Israelites) and there remain there unfit classes (mamzerim and netinim). So marrying only those of Babylonian descent will not help.
But R. Yohanan forgot that which R. Elazar taught. Ezra sorted out the genealogical lines before he left Babylonia. Therefore, Ze iri did not fear marrying one from Eretz Yisrael. Sort of ironic that R. Yohanan forgets that which another Eretz Yisraeli sage teaches.