This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found there.
R’ Abba’s Eulogy and the Shekhina: R’ Abba - Rav Huna was worthy of the Shekhina, but Babylonia prevented it
פתח עליה רבי אבא:
ראוי היה רבינו שתשרה עליו שכינה,
אלא שבבל גרמה לו.
R’ Abba opened his eulogy for [Rav Huna]:
Our rabbi [=Rav Huna] was worthy that the Shekhina should rest upon him,
except for the fact that Babylonia caused it not to rest.1
Rav Naḥman / Ḥanan bar Ḥisda - Challenge from Ezekiel’s prophecy in Babylonia
מתיב רב נחמן בר חסדא,
ואמרי לה רב חנן בר חסדא:
״היה היה דבר ה׳ אל יחזקאל בן בוזי הכהן
בארץ כשדים״
Rav Naḥman bar Ḥisda raised an objection against this,
and some say that it was Rav Ḥanan bar Ḥisda:
Is it not stated:
“The word of YHWH came [hayo haya] to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi,
in the land of the Chaldeans” (Ezekiel 1:3)2
Father silences the challenger; explanation: Ezekiel first prophesied in Israel
טפח ליה אבוה בסנדליה,
אמר ליה:
לאו אמינא לך לא תיטרוד עלמא?!
מאי ״היה״ ?
שהיה כבר.
His father3 tapped (טפח) him with his sandal on his foot, thereby hinting to him that he should be quiet.
He said to him:
Have I not told you not to trouble everyone with questions in the middle of a eulogy?!
The Talmud answers the question: What is the meaning of the doubling of the word “came [hayo haya]”?
It implies that it had already come before4
Arrival in Eretz Yisrael: R’ Ami and R’ Asi mistakenly think Rav Huna is alive; recall their reverence for him
כי אסקוה להתם,
אמרו ליה לרבי אמי ולרבי אסי:
רב הונא אתי.
§ The Talmud relates that when people5 took Rav Huna there, to Eretz Yisrael, for burial
People said to R’ Ami and R’ Asi:
Rav Huna has come6
אמרו:
כי הוינן התם
לא הוה לן לדלויי רישין מיניה.
השתא אתינן הכא —
אתא בתרין?!
[R’ Ami and R’ Asi] said:
When we were there, in Babylonia,
we did not have strength to lift our heads before [Rav Huna].
Now that we have come here to Eretz Yisrael,
has [Rav Huna] come after us?!
People clarify: Rav Huna’s coffin arrived in Eretz Yisrael; Some go out; some do not
אמרו ליה: ארונו בא.
רבי אמי ורבי אסי נפוק,
רבי אילא ורבי חנינא לא נפוק.
איכא דאמרי:
רבי אילא נפק,
רבי חנינא לא נפק.
People said to [R’ Ami and R’ Asi]: [Rav Huna’s] coffin has come.
R’ Ami and R’ Asi went out to meet the funeral procession of Rav Huna’s coffin.
R’ Ila and R’ Ḥanina did not go out.
Some say that
R’ Ila went out,
but R’ Ḥanina did not go out.
Two conflicting baraitot about whether people line up and recite blessings for a coffin traveling between places.
דנפק,
מאי טעמיה?
דתניא:
ארון העובר ממקום למקום —
עומדים עליו בשורה
ואומרים עליו
ברכת אבלים
ותנחומי אבלים.
The Talmud asks:
Those who went out,
what is the reason that they went?
As it is taught in a baraita:
When a coffin is passing from place to place —
the people stand in a line to show respect for the deceased,
and they recite
the mourners’ blessing
and the consolation of the mourners over it.
דלא נפק,
מאי טעמא?
דתניא:
ארון העובר ממקום למקום —
אין עומדין עליו בשורה
ואין אומרים עליו
ברכת אבלים
ותנחומי אבלים.
[...]
Those who did not go out,
what is the reason that they did not?
As it is taught in another baraita:
When a coffin is passing from place to place —
they do not stand in a line to show respect for the deceased,
and they do not recite
the mourners’ blessing
or the consolation of the mourners for him.
[...]
Burial Location: Decision to bury Rav Huna near R’ Ḥiyya, since both “disseminated Torah”
אמרי:
היכא נינחיה?
רב הונא ריבץ תורה בישראל,
ורבי חייא ריבץ תורה בישראל הוה.
People said:
Where shall we bury [Rav Huna]?
People concluded:
Rav Huna disseminated Torah to the people of Israel,
and similarly R’ Ḥiyya disseminated (ריבץ) Torah to the people of Israel;
therefore, it is appropriate to bury Rav Huna next to R’ Ḥiyya.
Who May Enter the Cave: Rav Ḥagga volunteers, citing his purity at age 18, long service to Rav Huna, and his knowledge of Rav Huna’s pious deeds (e.g., 40 fasts for a tefillin strap flipped)
מאן מעייל ליה?
אמר להו רב חגא:
אנא מעיילנא ליה,
דאוקמתיה לתלמודאי כי הוינא בר תמני סרי שנין
ולא חזי לי קרי,
ומשמע לי(ה) קמיה,
וידעי בעובדיה,
דיומא חד אתהפיכא ליה רצועה דתפילין
ויתיב עלה ארבעין תעניתא.
They asked: Who will take [Rav Huna’s body] in to R’ Ḥiyya’s burial cave, as few are fit to enter it?
Rav Ḥagga said to them:
I will take [Rav Huna’s body] into the cave,
for I presented my studies before Rav Huna when I was just 18 years old,
never having experienced a seminal emission (קרי - keri).
And so too I attended to him and knew his great deeds.
For example, one day one of the straps of his tefillin turned around, the unpainted side being turned outward,
and he observed 40 fasts for this,
as he had acted negligently, allowing the black side to face inward.
Inside the Cave: Encounter with Yehuda and Ḥizkiyya - Spirits/ corpses of R’ Ḥiyya’s sons respond to Rav Huna’s presence; Ḥizkiyya rises with a pillar of fire; Rav Ḥagga escapes unharmed by propping up the coffin
עייליה,
הוה גני
יהודה מימיניה דאבוה
וחזקיה משמאליה.
Rav Ḥagga took [Rav Huna’s body] in.
Laid (גני) buried
the body of R’ Ḥiyya’s son Yehuda to the right of his father [=R’ Ḥiyya’s body],
and the body of R’ Ḥiyya’s other son Ḥizkiyya lay to [R’ Ḥiyya’s body’s] left.
אמר ליה יהודה לחזקיה:
קום מדוכתיך!
דלאו אורח ארעא דקאים רב הונא.
The spirit of Yehuda said to the spirit of Ḥizkiyya:
Rise from your place!
as it is not proper conduct to remain lying when the body of Rav Huna is standing here.
בהדי דקאים —
קם בהדיה עמודא דנורא.
חזייה רב חגא,
איבעית,
זקפיה לארוניה
ונפק אתא.
When Ḥizkiyya’s corpse7 stood up,
a pillar of fire rose with him.
When R’ Ḥagga saw this,
he was frightened by what he saw,
and so he stood up Rav Huna’s coffin
and went away.
והאי דלא איענש (ענש),
משום דזקפיה לארוניה דרב הונא.
The Talmud comments:
And [R’ Ḥagga] was not punished or harmed by this pillar of fire
because he set up (זקפיה) Rav Huna’s coffin as protection for himself.
Rav Ḥisda’s Death: Torah Scroll Issue Reappears
They again propose placing a Torah scroll; R’ Yitzḥak objects: he did not approve this practice in life
כי נח נפשיה דרב חסדא,
סבור לאותובי ספר תורה אפורייה.
אמר להו רבי יצחק:
מילתא דלרביה לא סבירא ליה,
אנן ניקום נעביד ליה?!
§ The Talmud relates another story about the burial of one of the Babylonian rabbis:
When Rav Ḥisda died
people thought to place a Torah scroll on [Rav Ḥisda] bier.
R’ Yitzḥak said to them:
This is a practice that this rabbi [=Rav Ḥisda] did not hold with during his lifetime;
should we stand up and do it for him now that he is dead?!
They think they must not re-sew; R’ Yitzḥak bar Ami says: once they turn away from the bier, they may
סבור דלא למישלל קרעייהו.
אמר להו רבי יצחק בר אמי:
חכם,
כיון שהחזירו פניהם מאחורי המטה —
שוללין.
People then thought not to tack8 the rips that they had made in their clothes.
R’ Yitzḥak bar Ami said to them:
When the deceased is a sage (חכם),
once they turn their faces from the bier --
they may tack the tears
Rabba bar Huna and Rav Hamnuna
The two coffins on camels reach a single-file bridge; animals stop
כי נח נפשיה דרבה בר הונא ורב המנונא,
אסקונהו להתם.
כי מטו אגישרא,
קמו גמלי.
The Talmud relates that when Rabba bar Huna and Rav Hamnuna died,
People took them both up there, to Eretz Yisrael.
When they reached a bridge that could be crossed only in single file,
the camels carrying the two rabbis stood in their places and would not cross the bridge.
An Arab says the honor order requires Rabba bar Huna to go first; after saying this, his teeth fall out for disrespecting Rav Hamnuna
אמר להו ההוא טייעא: מאי האי?
אמרו ליה:
רבנן דקא עבדי יקרא אהדדי.
מר אמר: מר ניעול ברישא,
ומר אמר: מר ניעול ברישא.
אמר: דינא הוא דרבה בר הונא ליעול ברישא.
חליף גמליה דרבה בר הונא,
נתור ככיה ושניה דההוא טייעא.
A certain Arab [tayya’a] who witnessed what was happening said to them:
What is this phenomenon that the camels have stopped moving?
People said to [the Arab]:
The deceased rabbis are showing honor to each other.
It is as if
one rabbi is saying: The Master should go and cross the bridge first,
while at the same time the other rabbi is saying: The Master should go and cross first.
The Arab said: Logically (דינא), the coffin of Rabba bar Huna should go first, since he is the son of a great man (=Rav Huna),
and the camel carrying the coffin of Rabba bar Huna thus passed first.
Shortly thereafter, the molars (ככיה) and other teeth of that Arab fell out9
Steinsaltz:
In other words, it was only because [Rav Huna] lived in Babylonia and not in Eretz Yisrael that the Shekhina did not rest upon him.
Steinsaltz:
[the verse] thereby implying that a prophet can prophesy outside of Eretz Yisrael
I.e., Rav Naḥman/Ḥanan b. Ḥisda’s father (=Rav Ḥisda).
Steinsaltz:
i.e., that Ezekiel had already begun to prophesy in Eretz Yisrael, and his prophecy in Babylonia was merely a continuation of that prophecy.
אסקוה
Literally: “they raised/brought up”. I changed Steinsaltz’s literal translation “they” throughout to generic “people”, to clarify the pronouns.
In general, I’ve clarified pronouns throughout; in (bolded) translation, via bracketing the proper name(s).
Steinsaltz:
and R’ Ami and R’ Asi misunderstood [what was told to them,] and thought that Rav Huna was still alive [and coming to Eretz Yisrael].
Or: skeleton/bones.
Steinsaltz: “i.e., sew up”.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “שָׁלַל I”, sense #2:
to make chain-stitches, to baste,
as opposed to אחה to sew together with fine stitches.
Jerusalem Talmud Moed Katan 3:5:3 - על כל המתים הוא שׁוֹלֵל … ומאחה וכ׳ for all deceased relatives one may baste the rent after seven days, and sew it after thirty days; ויִשְׁלוֹל יום שביעי וכ׳ let him be permitted to baste it on the seventh day etc.;
Moed Katan 22b:16 האשה שׁוֹלַלְתּוֹ וכ׳ a woman may baste it immediately (after rending), out of regard for her dignity; Moed Katan 26b.
Moed Katan 26b:14 דלא ניתן לשׁוֹלְלוֹ because it is not to be basted (during the seven days);
and elsewhere.
And ibid., entry “שָׁלָל II”:
masculine
(שָׁלַל 1) chain, loose stitch, baste
Moed Katan 26b:2 הקורע מתוך הש׳ he who rends his garment (in mourning) where it has been stitched;
Yerushalmi ibid. 3, 83b top מן הש׳.
Mishnah Oktzin 2:6 שְׁלַל הכובסין the washers’ materials loosely stitched together;
Shabbat 48b:2 ש׳ של כובסים.
נתור
Steinsaltz: “due to the disrespect [that the Arab had] showed [toward] Rav Hamnuna”.