Nedarim 50

דלי ציפתא ואמר ליה לשלוחא חזי מאי איכא מיהו לא ניחא לי דאיתהני בהדין עלמא

He lifted the mat [tzifeta] upon which he was sitting and said to the messenger: See what there is here. The place was miraculously filled with gold dinars. This demonstrated that Rabbi Yehuda could have had plenty of money if he had so desired. He explained: However, it is not amenable to me to derive benefit in this world.

רבי עקיבא איתקדשת ליה ברתיה (דבר) דכלבא שבוע שמע (בר) כלבא שבוע אדרה הנאה מכל נכסיה אזלא ואיתנסיבה ליה

§ In connection to the above incident concerning the poverty of scholars and their potential to become wealthy through remarkable circumstances, the Gemara relates an incident: Rabbi Akiva became betrothed to the daughter of bar Kalba Savua. When bar Kalba Savua heard about their betrothal, he took a vow prohibiting her from eating all of his property. Despite this, she went ahead and married Rabbi Akiva.

בסיתוא הוה גנו בי תיבנא הוה קא מנקיט ליה תיבנא מן מזייה אמר לה אי הואי לי רמינא ליך ירושלים דדהבא אתא אליהו אידמי להון כאנשא וקא קרי אבבא אמר להו הבו לי פורתא דתיבנא דילדת אתתי ולית לי מידעם לאגונה אמר לה רבי עקיבא לאנתתיה חזי גברא דאפילו תיבנא לא אית ליה

In the winter they would sleep in a storehouse of straw, and Rabbi Akiva would gather strands of straw from her hair. He said to her: If I had the means I would place on your head a Jerusalem of Gold, a type of crown. Elijah the prophet came and appeared to them as a regular person and started calling and knocking on the door. He said to them: Give me a bit of straw, as my wife gave birth and I do not have anything on which to lay her. Rabbi Akiva said to his wife: See this man, who does not even have straw. We should be happy with our lot, as we at least have straw to sleep on.

אמרה ליה זיל הוי בי רב אזל תרתי סרי שנין קמי דרבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע למישלם תרתי סרי שנין קא אתא לביתיה שמע מן אחורי ביתיה דקאמר לה חד רשע לדביתהו שפיר עביד ליך אבוך חדא דלא דמי ליך ועוד [שבקך] ארמלות חיות כולהון שנין אמרה ליה אי צאית לדילי ליהוי תרתי סרי שנין אחרנייתא אמר הואיל ויהבת לי רשותא איהדר לאחורי הדר אזל הוה תרתי סרי שני אחרנייתא

She said to him: Go and be a student of Torah. He went and studied Torah for twelve years before Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. At the completion of the twelve years, he was coming home when he heard from behind his house that one wicked person was saying to his wife: Your father behaved well toward you. He was right to disinherit you. One reason is that your husband is not similar to you, i.e., he is not suitable for you. And furthermore, he has left you in widowhood in his lifetime all these years. She said to him: If he listens to me, he should be there for another twelve years. Rabbi Akiva said: Since she has given me permission through this statement, I will go back and study more. He turned back and went to the study hall, and he was there for another twelve years.

אתא בעשרין וארבעה אלפין זוגי תלמידי נפוק כולי עלמא לאפיה ואף היא קמת למיפק לאפיה אמר לה ההוא רשיעא ואת להיכא אמרה ליה יודע צדיק נפש בהמתו אתת לאיתחזויי ליה קא מדחן לה רבנן אמר להון הניחו לה שלי ושלכם שלה הוא שמע (בר) כלבא שבוע אתא ואיתשיל על נידריה ואשתריי ואשתרי

Eventually he came back accompanied by 24,000 pairs of students. Everyone went out to greet him, as he was by then a renowned teacher, and she too arose to go out to greet him. That wicked person said to her: And to where are you going? As she was excessively poor, she was not dressed in a grand manner, as fit for the wife of one so esteemed. She said to him: “A righteous man regards the life of his beast” (Proverbs 12:10); he knows that I am in this state as a result of my dedication to him. She came to present herself before Rabbi Akiva, but the Sages tried to fend her off, as they were unaware of her identity. He said to them: Leave her. Both my Torah knowledge and yours are hers. When bar Kalba Savua heard that the famous man was his son-in-law, he came before halakhic authorities and requested the dissolution of his vow, and it was dissolved.

מן שית מילי איעתר רבי עקיבא מן כלבא שבוע מן אילא דספינתא דכל ספינתא עבדין ליה מין עינא זימנא חדא אנשיוה על כיף ימא אתא הוא אשכחיה

The Gemara adds: Rabbi Akiva became wealthy from six things. First, from the money he received from Kalba Savua after his vow was dissolved. Second, he gained money from the ram of a ship [eila disfineta], as craftsmen would fashion a sculpture of a type of sheep for every ship, which would be placed on its bow, and which would be used to conceal money. On one occasion, the sailors forgot this ram on the seashore, and Rabbi Akiva came and found it with the money stored inside.

ומן גווזא דזימנא חדא יהיב ארבעה זוזי לספונאי אמר להו אייתי לי מדעם ולא אשכחו אלא גווזא על כיף ימא אתיוה ליה אמרו ליה עביד מרנא עליה אישתכח דהוה מלי דינרי דזימנא חדא טבעת ספינתא וכולי עיסקא הוה מחית בההוא גווזא ואישתכח בההוא זימנא

And third, he became wealthy from a log [gavza] of wood, as on one occasion he gave four dinars to sailors and said to them: Bring me something worthwhile. And they found only a log of wood on the seashore. They brought it to him and said to him: May our master wait with this until we bring a more worthy item. He found that the log was full of dinars, as on one occasion a ship sunk and all the merchandise, i.e., the money, owned by the people on the ship was placed in that log, and it was found on that occasion by the sailors.

דמן דסרוקיתא ומן מטרוניתא

Rabbi Akiva became wealthy from a convoy of Ishmaelites [Serukita]. And he became wealthy from a certain lady. Rabbi Akiva borrowed money from a lady and said that God would be his guarantor. When it came time to return the loan, the king’s daughter became insane and threw a purse of jewelry into the sea, which was found by that lady. She told Rabbi Akiva that his guarantor had paid his debt and she allowed him to keep the loan.

ומן אשתו של טורנוסרופוס ומן קטיעא בר שלום

And Rabbi Akiva also grew wealthy from the wife of Turnus Rufus, who converted and gave him her money, and from Ketia bar Shalom, a Roman minister who bequeathed his fortune to him.

רב גמדא יהיב ארבעה זוזי לספונאי לאתויי בהון מידעם לא אשכחו אתיוה ליה בהון קופא אישתמיט על לחרתא חפרו בתריה אשכחוה דרביע על מרגלייתא אייתינון ליה כולהון

§ The Gemara relates a similar incident: Rav Gamda gave four dinars to sailors to bring him something from overseas in exchange for them. However, they did not find anything of worth, so they bought him a monkey with the coins and brought it to him. The monkey escaped and entered a hole. When they dug after it to retrieve it, they found it crouching over pearls, and they brought all of the pearls to Rav Gamda.

אמרה ליה בת קיסר לרבי יהושע בן חנניה תורה מפוארה בכלי מכוער אמר לה למדי מבית אבוך במה מניחין יין אמרה ליה במאני דפחרא אמר לה כולי עלמא בפחרא ואתון במאני דפחרא אתון אחיתון במאני דכספא ודהבא

The daughter of the emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: You are the epitome of magnificent Torah, but it is stored in an ugly vessel, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya was an unattractive man. He said to her: You may learn the answer to your statement from your father’s house. In what container do you place wine? She said to him: In earthenware vessels. He said to her: Is it conceivable that everyone stores their wine in earthenware vessels, and you also store it in earthenware vessels? Is there no distinction between the emperor and ordinary people? You should place your wine in vessels of silver and gold.

אזלת ורמת חמרא במאני דכספא ודהבא וסרי אמר לה אף אורייתא כן והאיכא שפירין וגמירין אמר לה אי הוו סנו הוו גמירין טפי

She went and placed the wine in vessels of silver and gold, and it spoiled. Rabbi Yehoshua said to her: The same is also true of the Torah. It spoils if it is contained in a handsome person. She asked him: But are there not people who are both good looking and learned in Torah? He said to her: If they were ugly they would be even more learned.

ההיא דאתיא לקמיה דרב יהודה מנהרדעא לדינא ואיתחייבת מן דינא אמרה ליה שמואל רבך הכי דנן אמר לה ידעת ליה אמרה ליה אין גוצא ורבה כריסיה אוכם ורבה שיניה אמר לה לבזוייה קאתית תיהוי ההיא אתתא בשמתא פקעה ומתה

A certain woman came before Rav Yehuda of the city of Neharde’a for judgment, and she was found guilty in the judgment of her case. She said to him: Would Shmuel your teacher have judged me in this manner? He said to her: Did you know him? She said to him: Yes. He was short and potbellied. He was dark and his teeth were large. He said to her: Did you come here to disparage him by describing him in this manner? Let that woman be in a state of excommunication. After he excommunicated her, her belly split open and she died, as a punishment for having disparaged a Torah scholar.

ומותר בביצה טורמיטא מאי ביצה טורמיטא אמר שמואל עבדא דעביד לה שוי אלפא דינרי ומעייל לה אלפא זימני במיא חמימי ואלפא זימני במיא קרירי עד דמתזוטרא כי היכי דבלעיתה ואם אית כיבא סריך עלה וכד נפקא ואתיא ידע אסיא מאי סמא מתבעי ליה ובמאי מתסי

§ The mishna teaches that if one said: Cooked food is konam for me, and for that reason I will not taste it, he is prohibited from tasting a loose cooked food but is permitted to taste a thick one, and he is likewise permitted to eat a turemita egg. The Gemara asks: What is a turemita egg? Shmuel said: A slave who knows how to prepare it is worth a thousand dinars. And this is how one prepares it: He insets it into hot water a thousand times and in cold water a thousand times, until it shrinks enough so that it can be swallowed whole. And if there is a lesion in one’s intestines, part of the lesion adheres to the egg, and when the egg emerges the doctor knows what medicine the patient requires and with what he can be healed. It is therefore an important dish for medicinal purposes.

שמואל הוה בדיק נפשיה בקולחא עד דמסתרין אינשי ביתיה עליה שעריהון

The Gemara relates: Shmuel would examine himself with a stalk that he would swallow for this purpose. This would weaken his body and cause him to look faint to such an extent that the members of his household would tear their hairs out for him in grief, as they would think he was dying.

תנן התם היה עושה בכלופסין לא יאכל בבנות שבע בבנות שבע לא יאכל בכלופסין מאי כלופסין מינא דתאיני דעבדין מנהון לפדי

Besides vows, there are other areas of halakha where there is a distinction between different varieties of the same food. We learned in a mishna there (Ma’asrot 2:8): A hired worker who was working with keloppasin, a type of fig, may not partake of benot sheva, a different species of fig, during his work. A worker may partake only of the fruit that he is handling at the time (see Deuteronomy 23:25–26). Similarly, if he was working with benot sheva he may not partake of keloppasin. The Gemara asks: What are keloppasin? The Gemara answers: A type of fig from which compote [lifdei] is made.

ההוא גברא דיהב עבדא לחבריה לאגמוריה אלפא מיני לפדי אגמריה תמני מאה אזמניה לדינא לקמיה דרבי אמר רבי אבותינו אמרו נשינו טובה אנו אפילו בעינינו לא ראינו

The Gemara relates: There was a certain man who gave a slave to his friend so that the friend would teach him how to prepare a thousand varieties of compote from figs. However, he taught him only eight hundred. He therefore brought his friend for judgment before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: Our forefathers said: We have forgotten prosperity (see Lamentations 3:17). They forgot the opulence they enjoyed in better times, but they at least experienced it. By contrast, we have not even seen it with our eyes. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi had not imagined that so many types of compote could be prepared from figs.

רבי עבד ליה הלולא לרבי שמעון ברבי כתב על בית גננא עשרין וארבעה אלפין ריבואין דינרין נפקו על בית גננא דין ולא אזמניה לבר קפרא אמר ליה אם לעוברי רצונו כך לעושי רצונו על אחת כמה וכמה אזמניה אמר לעושי רצונו בעולם הזה כך לעולם הבא על אחת כמה וכמה

§ The Gemara relates: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi made a wedding for Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Someone wrote on the canopy: 24,000 myriad dinars were expended on this canopy, and nevertheless Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi did not invite bar Kappara to the wedding. The insulted bar Kappara said to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi: If to those who transgress God’s will, i.e., you who act improperly, their reward is such, as Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was very wealthy, all the more so those who perform His will are to be rewarded. Upon hearing his reaction, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi invited him. Bar Kappara then said: If to those who perform His will their reward is such in this world, all the more so will they be rewarded in the World-to-Come.

יומא דמחייך ביה רבי אתיא פורענותא לעלמא אמר ליה לבר קפרא לא תבדיחן ויהיבנא לך ארבעין גריוי חיטי אמר ליה ליחזי מר

The Gemara relates additional incidents that occurred between the two scholars. On a day when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would laugh, calamity would befall the world, as Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s sufferings would atone for the sins of the Jewish people. He therefore said to bar Kappara: Do not cause me to laugh, and I will give you forty se’a of wheat in return. Bar Kappara said to him: The Master will see