(4) Thus said God of Hosts, the God of Israel, to the whole community which I exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon: (5) Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit. (6) Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, do not decrease. (7) And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to God in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.
(י) שְׁמַעְיָה וְאַבְטַלְיוֹן קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר, אֱהֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה, וּשְׂנָא אֶת הָרַבָּנוּת, וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת:
(10) Shemaiah and Avtalion received [the oral tradition] from them. Shemaiah used to say: love work, hate acting the superior, and do not attempt to draw near to the ruling authority.
(ב) רַבִּי חֲנִינָא סְגַן הַכֹּהֲנִים אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתְפַּלֵּל בִּשְׁלוֹמָהּ שֶׁל מַלְכוּת, שֶׁאִלְמָלֵא מוֹרָאָהּ, אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ חַיִּים בְּלָעוֹ.
(2) Rabbi Chanina, the vice-high priest said: pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, every person would swallow their neighbour alive..
(ד) נוֹדְרִין לָהֳרָגִין וְלָחֳרָמִין וְלַמּוֹכְסִין שֶׁהִיא תְרוּמָה אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינָהּ תְּרוּמָה, שֶׁהֵן שֶׁל בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינָן שֶׁל בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בַּכֹּל נוֹדְרִין, חוּץ מִבִּשְׁבוּעָה. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אַף בִּשְׁבוּעָה. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, לֹא יִפְתַּח לוֹ בְנֶדֶר. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אַף יִפְתַּח לוֹ. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בְּמַה שֶּׁהוּא מַדִּירוֹ. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אַף בְּמַה שֶּׁאֵינוֹ מַדִּירוֹ. כֵּיצַד, אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אֱמוֹר קוֹנָם אִשְׁתִּי נֶהֱנֵית לִי, וְאָמַר קוֹנָם אִשְׁתִּי וּבָנַי נֶהֱנִין לִי, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, אִשְׁתּוֹ מֻתֶּרֶת וּבָנָיו אֲסוּרִין. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ מֻתָּרִין:
(4) One may vow to murderers, robbers, or tax collectors that it [the produce which they demand] is terumah (produce set aside for the Temple), even if it is not; [or] that it belongs to the royal house, even if it does not. Beit Shammai says: one may make any form of vow, except an oath; But Beit Hillel says: even an oath. Beit Shammai says: he must not volunteer to vow; Beit Hillel says: he may do so. Beit Shammai says: [he may vow] only as far as he makes him vow; Beit Hillel says: even in respect of what he does not make him vow. How so? If they said to him, say: “I swear off any benefit my wife has of me”, and he said, “I swear off any benefit my wife and children have of me,” Beit Shammai says: his wife is permitted, but his children are forbidden; Beit Hillel says: both are permitted.
But didn’t Shmuel say: The law of the kingdom is the law? Rav Chinnana said that Rav Kahana said that Shmuel said: The mishna is referring to a tax collector who has no fixed amount for collection. A Sage of the school of Rabbi Yannai said: The mishna is referring to a tax collector who establishes himself as such independently.
(יד) כְּלָלוֹ שֶׁל דָּבָר כָּל דִּין שֶׁיַּחְקֹק אוֹתוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ לַכּל וְלֹא יִהְיֶה לְאָדָם אֶחָד בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ אֵינוֹ גֵּזֶל. וְכָל שֶׁיִּקַּח מֵאִישׁ זֶה בִּלְבַד שֶׁלֹּא כַּדָּת הַיְדוּעָה לַכּל אֶלָּא חָמַס אֶת זֶה הֲרֵי זֶה גֵּזֶל. לְפִיכָךְ גַּבָּאֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וְשׁוֹטְרָיו שֶׁמּוֹכְרִים הַשָּׂדוֹת בְּמַס הַקָּצוּב עַל הַשָּׂדוֹת מִמְכָּרָן מִמְכָּר. אֲבָל מַס שֶׁעַל כָּל אִישׁ וְאִישׁ אֵינוֹ גּוֹבֶה אֶלָּא מִן הָאָדָם עַצְמוֹ וְאִם מָכְרוּ הַשָּׂדֶה בְּמַס שֶׁעַל הָרֹאשׁ הֲרֵי זֶה אֵינוֹ מִמְכָּר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן הָיָה דִּין הַמֶּלֶךְ כָּךְ:
(14) The general principle is: Any law that a king decrees to be universally applicable, and not merely applying to one person, is not considered robbery. But whenever he takes from one person alone in a manner that does not conform to a known law, but rather seizes the property from the person arbitrarily, it is considered to be robbery. Therefore, the king's dues collectors and his officers that sell fields with a defined tax on the fields, their sale is valid. But a personal tax is only collected from the person himself, and if they sold the field with a personal tax, behold this is not a valid sale unless the king has decreed that it is.
במוכס העומד מאליו - שלא במצות המלך וכתבו - בתוספות דדוקא במלכי עובדי כוכבים אמר דדינא דמלכותא דינא מפני שהארץ שלו ויכול לומר להם אם לא תעשו מצותי אגרש אתכם מן הארץ אבל במלכי ישראל לא לפי שא''י כל ישראל שותפין...
2. The tax collector standing over him. ...In the Tosafot it says that that this concept is specifically in a case of non-Jewish Kings; since the land is his, and he can say to them "if you don't obey my commands, I will expel you from the land"; however, Jewish kings may not because all Jews are partners in the Land of Israel.
(5) You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which a person shall live: I am God.
The cow of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya would go out on Shabbat with a strap between its horns, contrary to the will of the Sages. The Talmud asks: Did Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya have only one cow? Didn’t Rav say, and some say that Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya would tithe from his herds 12,000 calves each and every year? There were 120, 000 calves born in his herds annually. There is no way, then, to speak of the cow of Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya.
The Gemara answers: It was taught in the Tosefta: The cow was not his; rather, it was his neighbour’s. And because he did not protest her conduct and tell her that doing so is prohibited the cow was called by his name to his discredit, as if it were his.
It was related that Rav, and Rabbi Chanina, and Rabbi Yochanan, and Rav Chaviva taught…: Anyone who had the capability to effectively protest the sinful conduct of the members of their household and did not protest, they themselves are apprehended for the sins of the members of their household and punished. If in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the people of his town, and they fail to do so, they are apprehended for the sins of the people of their town. If in a position to protest the sinful conduct of the whole world, and fails to do so, they are apprehended for the sins of the whole world.
Rav Pappa said: And the members of the household of the Exilarch were apprehended and punished for the sins of the whole world. Because their authority extends across the entire Jewish world, it is in their hands to ensure that nobody commit a transgression. As indicated by that which Rabbi Chanina said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “God will enter into judgment with the Elders of God’s people and its princes, saying: It is you who have eaten up the vineyard; the robbery of the poor is in your houses” (Isaiah 3:14)? The question arises: If the princes sinned by committing robbery, [55a] what did the Elders, i.e., the Sages of that generation, do that was considered a sin? Rather, say: God will enter into judgment with the Elders because they did not protest the sinful conduct of the princes.
The Gemara relates: Rav Yehuda was sitting before Shmuel when this woman came and cried before Shmuel about an injustice that had been committed against her, and Shmuel paid no attention to her. Rav Yehuda said to Shmuel: Doesn’t the Master hold in accordance with the verse: “Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard” (Proverbs 21:13)? He said to him: Big-toothed one! your superior, i.e., I, your teacher, will be punished in cold water. The superior of your superior will be punished in hot water. Mar Ukva, who sits as president of the court, is responsible for those matters.
And from where is it derived that this responsibility is incumbent upon the house of the Exilarch? As it is written: “House of David, so says God: Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 21:12). The Exilarch is a direct descendant of the house of David.
With regard to the issue of reprimand, it was related that Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Simon: Let the Master reprimand the members of the house of the Exilarch, as Rabbi Simon had some influence over them. Rabbi Simon said to him: They will not accept reprimand from me. Rabbi Zeira said to him: Let my master reprimand them even if they do not accept it.
As Rabbi Acha, son of Rabbi Chanina, said: Never did a promise manifesting a good attribute emerge from the mouth of the Holy Blessed One that was later retracted and rendered evil, except with regard to this following matter, as it is written: “And God said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark [tav] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry on account of all the abominations that are done in her midst” (Ezekiel 9:4).
The Holy Blessed One said to the angel Gabriel: Go and inscribe a tav of ink on the foreheads of the righteous as a sign so that the angels of destruction will not have dominion over them. And inscribe a tav of blood on the foreheads of the wicked as a sign so that the angels of destruction will have dominion over them.
The attribute of justice said before the Holy Blessed One, Master of the Universe, how are these different from those? God said: These are full-fledged righteous people and those are full-fledged wicked people. The attribute of justice said: Master of the Universe, it was in the hands of the righteous to protest the conduct of the wicked, and they did not protest.
God said to that attribute: It is revealed and known before Me that even had they protested the conduct of the wicked, they would not have accepted the reprimand from them. They would have continued in their wicked ways. The attribute of justice said before God: Master of the Universe, if it is revealed before You that their reprimand would have been ineffective, is it revealed to them? The Holy Blessed One, retracted the promise to protect the righteous and decided that those who failed to protest would also be punished.
And that is the meaning of that which is written: “Slay utterly old and young, both maid, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My Sanctuary” (Ezekiel 9:6). And it is written in that same verse: “Then they began with the elderly men who were before the house.”
Rav Yosef taught: Read not: My Sanctuary [mikdashi], rather: Those sanctified to Me [mekudashai]. These are people who observed the whole Torah in its entirety from alef through tav. And immediately: “And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lies toward the north, and every man with his weapon of destruction in his hand; and one man among them was clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkwell by his side; and they went in and stood beside the bronze altar” (Ezekiel 9:2).
