Ketubot 104A

דמדליא ובסים אוירא.

which is situated at a high altitude and whose air is scented.

ההוא יומא דנח נפשיה דרבי, גזרו רבנן תעניתא, ובעו רחמי, ואמרי: כל מאן דאמר ״נח נפשיה דרבי״⁠ — ידקר בחרב.

§ It is related that on the day that R' Yehuda HaNasi died, the rabbis decreed a fast, and begged for divine mercy so that he would not die. And they said: Anyone who says that R' Yehuda HaNasi has died will be stabbed with a sword.

סליקא אמתיה דרבי לאיגרא, אמרה: עליונים מבקשין את רבי, והתחתונים מבקשין את רבי. יהי רצון שיכופו תחתונים את העליונים. כיון דחזאי כמה זימני דעייל לבית הכסא וחלץ תפילין ומנח להו וקמצטער, אמרה: יהי רצון שיכופו עליונים את התחתונים.

The female slave of R' Yehuda HaNasi ascended to the roof and said: The upper realms are requesting the presence of R' Yehuda HaNasi, and the lower realms are requesting the presence of R' Yehuda HaNasi. May it be the will of God that the lower worlds should impose their will upon the upper worlds. However, when she saw how many times he would enter the latrine and remove his tefillin, and then exit and put them back on, and how he was suffering with his intestinal disease, she said: May it be the will of God that the upper worlds should impose their will upon the lower worlds.

ולא הוו שתקי רבנן מלמיבעי רחמי. שקלה כוזא, שדייא מאיגרא [לארעא], אישתיקו מרחמי, ונח נפשיה דרבי.

And the rabbis, meanwhile, would not be silent, i.e., they would not refrain, from begging for mercy so that R' Yehuda HaNasi would not die. So she took a jug [kuza] and threw it from the roof to the ground. Due to the sudden noise, the rabbis were momentarily silent and refrained from begging for mercy, and R' Yehuda HaNasi died.

אמרו ליה רבנן לבר קפרא: זיל עיין, אזל אשכחיה דנח נפשיה. קרעיה ללבושיה ואהדריה לקרעיה לאחוריה, פתח ואמר: אראלים ומצוקים אחזו בארון הקדש, נצחו אראלים את המצוקים, ונשבה ארון הקדש. אמרו ליה: נח נפשיה? אמר להו: אתון קאמריתו ואנא לא קאמינא.

The rabbis said to bar Kappara: Go and ascertain the condition of R' Yehuda HaNasi. He went and found that R' Yehuda HaNasi had died. He tore his clothing and reversed them so that the tear would be behind him and not be noticed. When he returned to the rabbis he opened his remarks and said: The angels [erelim] and righteous mortals [metzukim] both clutched the sacred ark. The angels triumphed over the righteous, and the sacred ark was captured. They said to him: Has he died? He said to them: You have said it and I did not say it, as it had been decided that no one should say that he died.