Pt2 The Temple of Onias in Egypt and Divine Worship Outside of Israel (Menachot 109b-110a)
This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
R’ Yehoshua ben Peraḥya - Before becoming Nasi, he would violently reject anyone who urged him to take office; After becoming Nasi, he would violently reject anyone who urged him to leave office
תניא,
אמר רבי יהושע בן פרחיה:
בתחלה,
כל האומר ״עלה לה״ –
אני כופתו ונותנו לפני הארי;
עתה,
כל האומר לי לירד ממנה –
אני מטיל עליו קומקום של חמין.
§ As a corollary to the statement of the rabbis with regard to one who is jealous and wants the position of another,
it is taught in a baraita that
R’ Yehoshua ben Peraḥya said:
Initially,
Now that I have become the Nasi,
in response to anyone who tells me to leave the position --
I would throw a kettle [kumkum] of boiling water at him out of anger at his suggestion.
It is human nature that after one ascends to a prestigious position he does not wish to lose it.
Saul illustrates the same principle (of attachment to power after attaining it): he initially fled from kingship (cf. I Samuel 10:21–22), but after becoming king he tried to kill David (cf. I Samuel 18–27)
שהרי שאול --
ברח ממנה,
As evidence of this principle, Saul --
initially fled from the kingship,
as he did not wish to be king, as stated in the verse: “When they sought him he could not be found…Behold he has hidden himself among the baggage” (I Samuel 10:21–22).
וכשעלה --
בקש להרוג את דוד.
[...]
But when he ascended to the kingship --
he tried to kill David,
who he thought was trying to usurp his authority (see I Samuel, chapters 18–27).
[...]
Baraita - after Sennacherib’s defeat, Hezekiah found foreign princes in golden carriages, and made them vow not to worship idols
תניא:
לאחר מפלתו של סנחריב,
יצא חזקיה
ומצא בני מלכים שהיו יושבין בקרונות של זהב,
הדירן שלא לעבוד עבודה זרה,
Abaye answered Mar Kashisha and said that R’ Meir uses this verse for that which is taught in a baraita:
After the downfall of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria who besieged Jerusalem (see II Kings, chapters 18–19),
King Hezekiah emerged from Jerusalem
and found the non-Jew princes (בני מלכים) Sennacherib had brought with him from his other conquests, sitting in carriages [bi-kronot] of gold.
He made them vow that they would not worship idols,
Prooftext - Isaiah 19:18
שנאמר:
״ביום ההוא יהיו חמש ערים בארץ מצרים
מדברות שפת כנען
ונשבעות לה׳ צבאות״.
and they fulfilled their vow,
as it is stated in Isaiah’s prophecy about Egypt:
“In that day there shall be 5 cities in the land of Egypt
that speak the language of Canaan
and swear to YHWH of hosts;
one shall be called the city of destruction” (Isaiah 19:18).
These princes then went to Alexandria, built an altar, and sacrificed for the sake of Heaven - Isaiah 19:19
הלכו לאלכסנדריא של מצרים
ובנו מזבח
והעלו עליו לשם שמים,
שנאמר:
״ביום ההוא יהיה מזבח לה׳ בתוך ארץ מצרים״.
[These foreign princes] went to Alexandria in Egypt
and built an altar
and sacrificed offerings upon it for the sake of Heaven,
as it is stated in the following verse:
“In that day shall there be an altar to YHWH in the midst of the land of Egypt,
and a pillar at its border, to YHWH” (Isaiah 19:19).
Rav Yosef’s Targum - “City of destruction” means “City of the Sun,” destined for destruction, and it was one of the Egyptian cities mentioned by Isaiah - Isaiah 19:18
״עיר ההרס יאמר לאחת״,
מאי ״עיר ההרס יאמר לאחת״?
כדמתרגם רב יוסף:
״קרתא דבית שמש
דעתיד למיחרב״,
איתאמר דהיא חדא מנהון.
The verse states: “One shall be called the city of destruction” (Isaiah 19:18).
The Talmud asks: What is the meaning of the verse: “One shall be called the city of destruction”?
The Talmud answers: As Rav Yosef translates into Aramaic:
Concerning the City of the Sun,2
which will be destroyed in the future,
it will be said that it is one of them.
The term ḥeres can mean “sun,” as shown from Job 9:7
וממאי ד״עיר ההרס״ לישנא דשימשא היא?
דכתיב:
״האומר לחרס
ולא יזרח״.
And from where is it derived that in the phrase: “The city of destruction [heres],” the term heres is referring to the sun?
As it is written:
“Who commands the sun [ḥeres],
and it does not rise;
and seals up the stars” (Job 9:7).
Rav Huna - “My sons from far” refers to the Babylonian exile, whose minds are settled like sons
״הביאי בני מרחוק ובנותי מקצה הארץ״ –
״הביאי בני מרחוק״,
אמר רב הונא:
אלו גליות של בבל,
שדעתן מיושבת עליהן כבנים.
§ After mentioning the Jewish community in Egypt, the Talmud discusses Jewish communities in other locations.
The verse states: “Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east and gather you from the west; I will say to the north: Give up, and to the south: Keep not back, bring My sons from far,
and My daughters from the end of the earth” (Isaiah 43:5–6).
What is the meaning of “bring My sons from far”?
Rav Huna says:
These are the exiles of Babylonia,
whose minds are calm, like sons,
and who can therefore focus properly on Torah study and mitzvot.
“My daughters from the end of the earth” refers to other exiles, whose minds are unsettled like daughters - Isaiah 43:5–6
״ובנותי מקצה הארץ״ –
אלו גליות של שאר ארצות,
שאין דעתן מיושבת עליהן כבנות.
What is the meaning of “and My daughters from the end of the earth”?
These are the exiles of other countries,
whose minds are unsettled, like daughters.
R’ Abba b. Yitzḥak citing Rav Ḥisda; or: Rav Yehuda citing Rav - From Tyre to Carthage, the nations recognize Israel and God; West of Tyre and east of Carthage, they recognize neither Israel nor God
אמר רבי אבא בר רב יצחק, אמר רב חסדא,
ואמרי לה אמר רב יהודה, אמר רב:
מצור ועד קרטיגני
מכירין את ישראל
ואת אביהם שבשמים,
ומצור כלפי מערב ומקרטיגני כלפי מזרח
אין מכירין את ישראל
ולא את אביהן שבשמים.
§ R’ Abba bar Rav Yitzḥak says that Rav Ḥisda says,
and some say that Rav Yehuda says that Rav says:
The non-Jews living from Tyre to Carthage (קרטיגני)
recognize the Jewish people, their religion,
and their Father in Heaven3
But those living to the west of Tyre and to the east of Carthage
recognize neither the Jewish people
nor their Father in Heaven.
For another example of “tying someone in front of a lion” as a hyperbolic threat, see my “Pt2 Rabbinic Elitism and the Am Ha’aretz: Hierarchy, Hostility, Hatred, and Distrust (Pesachim 49b)“, section “Marrying One’s Daughter to an Am Ha’aretz Is Like Tying Her Up and Placing Her Before a Lion: The Am Ha’aretz Shamelessly Beats Her Then Has Sex With Her“, where the metaphor is extended even farther; I summarize there:
R’ Meir states that marrying one’s daughter to an am ha’aretz is metaphorically likened to tying her up (כופתה) and placing her before a lion:
Just as a lion mauls (דורס) its prey without shame, an am ha’aretz mistreats his wife, beating (מכה) her and having sex (בועל) with her (without first appeasing her), with no shame (בושת פנים).
The concept is likely influenced by Roman punishment of accused, by having them eaten by lions. Compare my note in “Pt3 Defending God, Biblical Monotheism, and Jewish Distinctiveness: Twelve Dialogues Between Sages and Challengers in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b-39a)“, on section “Dialogue #8 - Roman Emperor vs. R’ Tanḥum: Proposes unification of Jews and Romans into one people; Sentenced to Death by Wild Beasts; and Miraculous Deliverance“.
קרתא דבית שמש - literally: “the city of the house of the sun [beit shemesh]”. Likely referring to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, which is literally “City of the Sun”.
I.e. God; meaning, they’re monotheists, as opposed to idolaters/pagans. However, compare Rashi’s interpretation, cited in Hebrew Wikipedia, “קרטיגנין“, section “אזכורים במקורות חז”ל“. On Carthage in the Talmud in general, see Hebrew Wikipedia ibid., and see also my notes in these pieces of mine:
“ ‘The Land of Canaan is Ours’: Alexander the Great as Moderator of Territorial Claims on ‘Canaan’ by Africans and Arabs in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 91a)”, on section “Analysis, with historical and linguistic comments“
“Pt1 The Talmudic Tales of Alexander the Great’s Adventures in Africa: The Mountains of Darkness, the City of Women, and the Waters of Eden (Tamid 32a-b)“, on section “Advice for Crossing the Mountains of Darkness to get to Africa“
In general, “Africa” in the Talmud refers to Roman Africa, which includes Carthage. See Wikipedia, “Roman Africa“:
Roman Africa or Roman North Africa is the culture of Roman Africans that developed from 146 BCE, when the Roman Republic defeated Carthage and the Punic Wars ended, with subsequent institution of Roman Imperial government, through the 5th and 6th centuries CE under Byzantine Imperial control.
In referring to “Africa”, the Romans themselves meant mainly Africa Proconsularis or Mediterranean Africa, with Roman Egypt a separate province having a distinct Greco-Egyptian culture and society, and Aethiopia representing the largely unknown bounds of sub-Saharan Africa.
The loose geography of “Roman Africa” encompasses primarily present-day Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and northern Morocco.