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Text Excerpt
״אין פרץ״ — שלא תהא סיעתנו כסיעתו של דוד שיצא ממנו אחיתופל. ״ואין יוצאת״ — שלא תהא סיעתנו כסיעתו של שאול שיצא ממנו דואג האדומי. ״ואין צוחה״ — שלא תהא סיעתנו כסיעתו של אלישע שיצא ממנו גחזי. ״ברחובותינו״ — שלא יהא לנו בן או תלמיד שמקדיח תבשילו ברבים, כגון ישו הנוצרי.
“There is no breach”; that our faction of rabbis should not be like the faction of David, from which Ahitophel emerged, who caused a breach in the kingdom of David. “And no going forth”; that our faction should not be like the faction of Saul, from which Doeg the Edomite emerged, who set forth on an evil path. “And no outcry”; that our faction should not be like the faction of Elisha, from which Geihazi emerged. “In our open places”; that we should not have a child or student who overcooks his food in public, i.e., who sins in public and causes others to sin, as in the well-known case of Jesus the Nazarene.
״שמעו אלי אבירי לב הרחוקים מצדקה״, רב ושמואל, ואמרי לה רבי יוחנן ורבי אלעזר. חד אמר: כל העולם כולו נזונין בצדקה, והם נזונין בזרוע. וחד אמר: כל העולם כולו נזונין בזכותם, והם אפילו בזכות עצמן אין נזונין. כדרב יהודה אמר רב.
Having cited a dispute with regard to the interpretation of a verse where we are uncertain whether the dispute is between Rav and Shmuel or R' Yoḥanan and R' Elazar, the Talmud cites another verse with regard to which there is a similar dispute. It is said: “Hear Me, stubborn-hearted who are far from charity” (Isaiah 46:12). While both agree that the verse refers to the righteous, Rav and Shmuel, and some say R' Yoḥanan and R' Elazar, disagreed as to how to interpret the verse. One said: The entire world is sustained by God’s charity, not because it deserves to exist, while the righteous who are far from God’s charity are sustained by force, as due to their own good deeds they have the right to demand their sustenance. And one said: The entire world is sustained by the merit of their righteousness, while they are not sustained at all, not even by their own merit, in accordance with the statement that Rav Yehuda said that Rav said.