Hostile Hospitality: Confrontations Between the Exilarch’s Retinue and Talmudic Sages (Gittin 67b-68a)
Members of the Exilarch's household tormented Rav Amram the Pious; Rav Sheshet's Encounter with the household of the Exilarch
Outline
Members of the Exilarch's household tormented Rav Amram the Pious
Rav Sheshet's Encounter with the household of the Exilarch
Pt.1 - Trying to trick Rav Sheshet into eating “a limb severed from a living animal” (אבר מן החי)
Pt.2 - Trying to cause Rav Sheshet to choke
Pt.3 - Trying to get Rav Sheshet to fall into a pit
The Passage
Members of the Exilarch's household tormented Rav Amram the Pious
The narrative describes how members of the Exilarch's house (בי ריש גלותא) tormented Rav Amram the Pious (רב עמרם חסידא) by making him sleep in the snow (תלגא), exacerbating his chills. He was then asked by them what he wanted, to heal. Anticipating their contrary behavior, Rav Amram cunningly requested red meat roasted over coals and diluted wine, hoping they would bring the opposite.2 As expected, they served him fatty meat and undiluted wine, which were actually the appropriate remedies for his condition.
Yalta, Rav Naḥman’s wife, upon learning of his ordeal, took proactive measures by bringing Rav Amram to a bathhouse (בי מסותא). There, she immersed him in the bathhouse water until it turned red and his skin developed coin-like spots, indicating a severe reaction but also a therapeutic one.
רב עמרם חסידא, כי הוה מצערין ליה בי ריש גלותא, הוו מגנו ליה אתלגא.
למחר אמרו ליה: מאי ניחא ליה למר דלייתו ליה?
אמר: הני, כל דאמינא להו – מיפך אפכי.
אמר להו: בישרא סומקא אגומרי, וחמרא מרקא.
אייתו ליה אינהו: בישרא שמינא אגומרי, וחמרא חייא.
שמעה ילתא,
ומעיילה ליה לבי מסותא,
ומוקמי ליה במיא דבי מסותא –
עד דמהפכי מיא דבי מסותא והוו דמא, וקאי בישריה פשיטי פשיטי.
[...]
It was related: When the members of the Exilarch’s house would afflict Rav Amram the pious they would make him lie down to sleep all night on the snow.
The next day they would say to him: What is preferable for the Master, i.e., Rav Amram, for us to bring him to eat?
Rav Amram said to himself: Anything I say to them, they will do the opposite.
He said to them: Bring me red meat roasted over coals and diluted wine.
They brought him fatty meat roasted over coals and undiluted wine instead, which is what Rav Amram had intended, because this is the remedy for one who suffers from the chills.
Yalta, Rav Naḥman’s wife, heard what the members of the Exilarch’s house did, and that Rav Amram was suffering from the chills.
And she brought him to the bathhouse,
and placed him in the water of the bathhouse
until the water of the bathhouse turned red like blood, and his flesh became covered with spots that looked like coins [peshitei].
[...]
Rav Sheshet's Encounters with the household of the Exilarch
Pt.1 - Trying to trick Rav Sheshet into eating “a limb severed from a living animal” (אבר מן החי)
The Gemara relates a long story involving Rav Sheshet and the Exilarch's house. Suspicions about the integrity of the Exilarch's servants prompted him not to eat there.
Rav Sheshet explains that he’s concerned that the servants might serve him non-kosher meat, specifically, “a limb severed from a living animal” (אבר מן החי), devised a test. He instructed his servant to stealthily remove one leg from a slaughtered animal at the Exilarch's house. When the remaining meat was presented, only three legs were visible, exposing the servants' dishonesty when they hastily cut a leg from another live animal to cover their tracks.
אמר ליה ריש גלותא לרב ששת: מאי טעמא לא סעיד מר גבן?
אמר ליה: דלא מעלו עבדי, דחשידי אאבר מן החי.
אמר ליה: מי יימר?
אמר ליה: השתא מחוינא לך.
אמר ליה לשמעיה: זיל גנוב, אייתי לי חדא כרעא מחיותא.
אייתי ליה.
אמר להו: אהדמו לי הדמי דחיותא.
אייתו תלת כרעי, אותיבו קמיה.
אמר להו: הא בעלת שלש רגלים הואי?!
פסוק אייתו חדא מעלמא, אותיבו קמיה.
אמר ליה לשמעיה: אותביה נמי להך דידך.
אותבה.
אמר להו: האי בת חמש רגלים הואי?!
The Gemara relates another incident of the house of the Exilarch: The Exilarch said to Rav Sheshet: What is the reason that the Master, i.e., Rav Sheshet, does not eat with us?
He said to him: Because the slaves do not act according to a high standard, as they are suspected of transgressing the prohibition against eating a limb severed from a living animal.
The Exilarch said to him: Who says that this is so?
Rav Sheshet said to him: I will now show you.
Rav Sheshet said to his servant: Go steal one leg from the animal that the servants of the Exilarch’s house slaughtered for a meal and bring it to me.
Rav Sheshet’s servant brought one leg to him
and afterward Rav Sheshet said to the servants of the Exilarch’s household: Set out the portions of the animal for me.
They brought him only three legs and placed them before him, because the fourth leg had been stolen.
Rav Sheshet said to them: Did this animal have only three legs?!
When the servants heard this they cut one leg from another living animal and they brought it and placed it before Rav Sheshet.
Rav Sheshet said to his servant: Bring out this leg of yours, i.e., that you stole, as well.
He placed that leg on the table and Rav Sheshet said to them: Did this animal have five legs?!
Pt.2 - Trying to cause Rav Sheshet to choke
Despite this, the servants tried to sabotage Rav Sheshet, who was blind, by hiding a small bone in his food, hoping he would choke. Rav Sheshet, aware of the potential hazard, wrapped the meat in his scarf. When accused of not eating, he revealed he had detected diseased meat, which he proved by instructing a check that confirmed the presence of disease in the meat.
אמר ליה: אי הכי, ליעבדו קמיה (שמעיה) דמר, וליכול.
אמר ליה: לחיי.
קריבו תכא קמייהו,
ואייתו קמיה בישרא,
ואותיבו קמיה ריסתנא דחנקא חמתא.
גששיה ושקלה, כרכה בסודריה.
לבתר דאכיל, אמרי ליה: איגניב לן כסא דכספא!
בהדי דקא מעייני ואתו, אשכחוה דכרוכה בסודריה.
אמרי ליה: חזי מר, דלא מיכל קא בעי – אלא לצעורן!
אמר להו: אנא מיכל אכלי, וטעמי ביה טעמא דחיורא.
אמרי ליה: חיורא לא עביד לן האידנא.
אמר להו: בדקו בדוכתיה;
דאמר רב חסדא: אוכמא בחיורא, וחיורא באוכמתא – לקותא היא.
בדוק אשכחוה.
The Exilarch realized that he could not rely on his servants. He said to Rav Sheshet: If so, they should prepare the meat in the presence of my Master’s servant and then you can eat without concern.
Rav Sheshet said to him: Very well.
They brought a table before them,
and they brought the meat before him.
And the servants placed a small bone in the meat before him so that it would cause Rav Sheshet to choke. Since Rav Sheshet was blind, they thought that he would be unable to notice the bone.
He felt it, took the entire piece of meat and wrapped it in his scarf [sudarei] out of concern that he would be hurt by the small bones that he could not see.
After he ate, the servants realized what he had done and they wanted to show the Exilarch that Rav Sheshet did not eat the meat that was given to him. Therefore, the servants said to the Exilarch: A silver cup was stolen from us, and they searched everyone for it.
When they were checking they found the piece of meat wrapped in his scarf.
The Exilarch’s servants said to the Exilarch: See Master, i.e., the Exilarch, Rav Sheshet does not desire to eat, rather he wishes only to afflict us. Even after everything that was done for him he did not eat from the Exilarch’s meal.
Rav Sheshet said to them: I ate and I tasted the taste of white leprous spots in the meat and therefore I did not eat it.
They said to the Exilarch: We did not prepare an animal with white spots today.
Rav Sheshet said to them: Check the skin in the place of the portion that I was given.
He issued this instruction in accordance with the statement of Rav Ḥisda, as Rav Ḥisda said: Black spots within white skin and white spots within black skin are an affliction and a sign of disease.
They checked and found that the animal was afflicted in this manner.
Pt.3 - Trying to get Rav Sheshet to fall into a pit
As Rav Sheshet was leaving, the servants set another trap by covering a pit with a reed mat. Forewarned by Rav Ḥisda's discreet signal and a timely biblical verse recited by a child, Rav Sheshet avoided the pit.
כי קא נפיק,
כרו ליה בירא,
ושדו ליה ציפתא עילויה,
ואמרי ליה: ליתי מר לינח.
נחר ליה רב חסדא מאחוריה.
אמר ליה לינוקא: פסוק לי פסוקיך,
אמר ליה: ״נטה לך על ימינך או על שמאלך״.
אמר ליה לשמעיה: מאי קא חזית?
אמר ליה: ציפיתא דשדיא.
אמר ליה: הדר מינה.
לבתר דנפק, אמר ליה רב חסדא: מנא הוה ידע מר?
אמר ליה:
חדא – דנחר לי מר.
ועוד – דפסק לי ינוקא פסוקא.
ועוד – דחשידי עבדי דלא מעלו.
When Rav Sheshet was exiting the house of the Exilarch
the servants dug a pit
and placed a reed mat [tzifta] on top of it so that the pit would not be noticed.
And they said to Rav Sheshet: The Master, i.e., Rav Sheshet, should come and rest for a short time, and they intended for him to fall and be hurt.
Rav Ḥisda, who was also present, snorted [neḥar] to him from behind in order to signal to him.
Rav Sheshet said to a child who was there: Recite your verse for me that you studied today.
The child said to him: “Turn to your right or to your left” (II Samuel 2:21).
Rav Sheshet, who was blind, said to his servant: What do you see?
His servant said to him: I see a mat that has been placed on the ground.
Rav Sheshet said to him: Turn away from it and we will go around it.
After Rav Sheshet left the Exilarch’s house, Rav Ḥisda said to him: From where did the Master, i.e., Rav Sheshet, know that the servants had dug a pit in that place?
Rav Sheshet said to him: There were several matters that raised my suspicions.
One, that the Master, i.e., Rav Ḥisda, snorted to me to signal that I should beware.
And additionally, when the child recited the verse for me it alluded to this matter.
And additionally, servants are suspect of not acting according to a high standard, and I suspected that they would attempt to cause me harm.
These stories are embedded in a long sugya on wide variety of medical remedies. I plan to have a future series of pieces on that broader sugya.
Meaning, reverse psychology. For another example of the usage in the Talmud of reverse psychology, see Yevamot.63a.13, where the Talmud says it’s clever, but it’s better to avoid it, since it’s a form of falsehood:
כי גדל חייא בריה, אפיך לה.
אמר ליה: איעליא לך אמך!
אמר ליה: אנא הוא דקא אפיכנא לה.
אמר ליה, היינו דקא אמרי אינשי: דנפיק מינך, טעמא מלפך.
את לא תעביד הכי, שנאמר: ״למדו לשונם דבר שקר העוה וגו׳״.
When Ḥiyya, his son, grew up, he would reverse the requests Rav asked him to convey to her, so that Rav would get what he wanted.
Rav said to his son Ḥiyya: Your mother has improved now that you convey my requests.
He said to Rav: It is I who reverse your request to her.
Rav said to him: This is an example of the well-known adage that people say: He who comes from you shall teach you wisdom; I should have thought of that idea myself.
You, however, should not do so, i.e., reverse my request, as it is stated: “They have taught their tongue to speak lies, they weary themselves to commit iniquity, etc.” (Jeremiah 9:4). If you attribute such a request to me, you will have uttered a falsehood.