אָמַר לוֹ קֵיסָר לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָא: מִפְּנֵי מָה תַּבְשִׁיל שֶׁל שַׁבָּת רֵיחוֹ נוֹדֵף? אָמַר לוֹ: תַּבְלִין אֶחָד יֵשׁ לָנוּ וְשַׁבָּת שְׁמוֹ, שֶׁאָנוּ מְטִילִין לְתוֹכוֹ וְרֵיחוֹ נוֹדֵף. אָמַר לוֹ: תֵּן לָנוּ הֵימֶנּוּ. אָמַר לוֹ: כׇּל הַמְשַׁמֵּר אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת — מוֹעִיל לוֹ, וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ מְשַׁמֵּר אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת — אֵינוֹ מוֹעִיל לוֹ.
The Roman emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: Why does the fragrance of a cooked Shabbat dish diffuse? He said to him: We have a certain spice called dill [shevet], which we place in the cooked dishes and its fragrance diffuses. The emperor said to him: Give us some of it. He said to him: For anyone who observes Shabbat, the spice is effective, and for one who does not observe Shabbat, it is not effective.
אָמַר רָבָא, וְאִיתֵּימָא רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: אֲפִילּוּ יָחִיד הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״, דְּאָמַר רַב הַמְנוּנָא: כׇּל הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת וְאוֹמֵר ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִילּוּ נַעֲשָׂה שׁוּתָּף לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״ — אַל תִּקְרֵי ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״ אֶלָּא ״וַיְכַלּוּ״. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מִנַּיִין שֶׁהַדִּיבּוּר כְּמַעֲשֶׂה — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בִּדְבַר ה׳ שָׁמַיִם נַעֲשׂוּ״. אָמַר רַב חִסְדָּא אָמַר מָר עוּקְבָא: כׇּל הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת וְאוֹמֵר ״וַיְכוּלּוּ״, שְׁנֵי מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת הַמְלַוִּין לוֹ לָאָדָם מַנִּיחִין יְדֵיהֶן עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וְאוֹמְרִים לוֹ ״וְסָר עֲוֹנֶךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ תְּכֻפָּר״. תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: שְׁנֵי מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מְלַוִּין לוֹ לְאָדָם בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת מִבֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת לְבֵיתוֹ, אֶחָד טוֹב וְאֶחָד רָע. וּכְשֶׁבָּא לְבֵיתוֹ וּמֹצֵא נֵר דָּלוּק וְשֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ וּמִטָּתוֹ מוּצַּעַת, מַלְאָךְ טוֹב אוֹמֵר: ״יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁתְּהֵא לְשַׁבָּת אַחֶרֶת כָּךְ״, וּמַלְאָךְ רַע עוֹנֶה ״אָמֵן״ בְּעַל כׇּרְחוֹ. וְאִם לָאו, מַלְאָךְ רַע אוֹמֵר: ״יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁתְּהֵא לְשַׁבָּת אַחֶרֶת כָּךְ״, וּמַלְאָךְ טוֹב עוֹנֶה ״אָמֵן״ בְּעַל כׇּרְחוֹ.
Rava said, and some say it was Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi who said: Even an individual who prays on Shabbat evening must recite the passage: “And the heavens and the earth were finished [vaykhullu]” (Genesis 2:1–3), as Rav Hamnuna said: Anyone who prays on Shabbat evening and recites the passage of vaykhullu, the verse ascribed him credit as if he became a partner with the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the act of Creation. As it is stated: “And the heavens and the earth were finished [vaykhullu].” Do not read it as: Were finished [vaykhullu]; rather, as: They finished [vaykhallu]. It is considered as though the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the individual who says this become partners and completed the work together. Rabbi Elazar said: From where is it derived that speech is like action? As it is stated: “By the word of God the heavens were made, and all of their hosts by the breath of His mouth” (Psalms 33:6). Rav Ḥisda said that Mar Ukva said: One who prays on Shabbat evening and recites vaykhullu, the two ministering angels who accompany the person at all times place their hands on his head and say to him: “And your iniquity has passed, and your sin has been atoned” (Isaiah 6:7). It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda says: Two ministering angels accompany a person on Shabbat evening from the synagogue to his home, one good angel and one evil angel. And when he reaches his home and finds a lamp burning and a table set and his bed made, the good angel says: May it be Your will that it shall be like this for another Shabbat. And the evil angel answers against his will: Amen. And if the person’s home is not prepared for Shabbat in that manner, the evil angel says: May it be Your will that it shall be so for another Shabbat, and the good angel answers against his will: Amen.
אָמַר רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ: חַמְרָא דִּפְרוֹגִיתָא וּמַיָּא דִדְיוֹמְסֵת קִיפְּחוּ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַשְּׁבָטִים מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲרָךְ אִיקְּלַע לְהָתָם, אִימְּשִׁיךְ בָּתְרַיְיהוּ אִיעַקַּר תַּלְמוּדֵיהּ. כִּי הֲדַר אֲתָא, קָם לְמִיקְרֵי בְּסִפְרָא, בְּעָא לְמִקְרֵי ״הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם״, אָמַר ״הַחֵרֵשׁ הָיָה לִבָּם״. בְּעוֹ רַבָּנַן רַחֲמֵי עֲלֵיהּ וַהֲדַר תַּלְמוּדֵיהּ.
Apropos Deyomset, the Gemara cites that Rabbi Ḥelbo said: The wine of Phrygia [Perugaita] and the water of the Deyomset deprived Israel of the ten lost tribes. Because the members of these tribes were attracted to the pleasures of wine and bathing and did not occupy themselves with Torah, they were lost to the Jewish people. The Gemara relates that once Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh happened to come there, to Phrygia and Deyomset, and he was drawn after them, and his Torah learning was forgotten. When he returned, he stood to read from a Torah scroll and was supposed to read the verse: “This month shall be for you [haḥodesh hazeh lakhem]” (Exodus 12:2), but he had forgotten so much that he could barely remember how to read the Hebrew letters, and instead he read: Have their hearts become deaf [haḥeresh haya libbam], interchanging the similar letters reish for dalet, yod for zayin, and beit for khaf. The Sages prayed and asked for God to have mercy on him, and his learning was restored.
וּמִדְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא נָמֵי אֵין מַזָּל לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. דְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא הַוְיָא לֵיהּ בְּרַתָּא, אָמְרִי לֵיהּ כַּלְדָּאֵי: הָהוּא יוֹמָא דְּעָיְילָה לְבֵי גְנָנָא, טָרֵיק לַהּ חִיוְיָא, וּמִיתָא. הֲוָה דָּאֵיג אַמִּילְּתָא טוּבָא. הָהוּא יוֹמָא שְׁקַלְתַּהּ לְמַכְבַּנְתָּא, דַּצְתַּהּ בְּגוּדָא, אִיתְרְמִי אִיתִּיב בְּעֵינֵיהּ דְּחִיוְיָא. לְצַפְרָא כִּי קָא שָׁקְלָה לַהּ, הֲוָה קָא סָרֵיךְ וְאָתֵי חִיוְיָא בָּתְרַהּ. אֲמַר לַהּ אֲבוּהּ: מַאי עֲבַדְתְּ? אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בְּפַנְיָא אֲתָא עַנְיָא, קְרָא אַבָּבָא וַהֲווֹ טְרִידִי כּוּלֵּי עָלְמָא בִּסְעוּדְתָּא, וְלֵיכָּא דְּשָׁמְעֵיהּ. קָאֵימְנָא, שְׁקַלְתֵּיהּ לְרִיסְתָּנַאי דִּיהַבְתְּ לִי, יַהְבִתֵּיהּ נִיהֲלֵיהּ. אֲמַר לַהּ: מִצְוָה עֲבַדְתְּ. נְפַק רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וּדְרַשׁ: ״וּצְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת״, וְלֹא מִמִּיתָה מְשׁוּנָּה, אֶלָּא מִמִּיתָה עַצְמָהּ. וּמִדְּרַב נַחְמָן בַּר יִצְחָק נָמֵי אֵין מַזָּל לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. דְּאִימֵּיהּ דְּרַב נַחְמָן בַּר יִצְחָק אָמְרִי לַהּ כַּלְדָּאֵי: בְּרִיךְ גַּנָּבָא הָוֵה. לָא שְׁבַקְתֵּיהּ גַּלּוֹיֵי רֵישֵׁיהּ. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: כַּסִּי רֵישָׁיךָ, כִּי הֵיכִי דְּתִיהְוֵי עֲלָךְ אֵימְתָא דִשְׁמַיָּא, וּבְעִי רַחֲמֵי. לָא הֲוָה יָדַע אַמַּאי קָאָמְרָה לֵיהּ. יוֹמָא חַד יָתֵיב קָא גָרֵיס תּוּתֵי דִיקְלָא, נְפַל גְּלִימָא מֵעִילָּוֵי רֵישֵׁיהּ, דְּלִי עֵינֵיהּ חֲזָא לְדִיקְלָא, אַלְּמֵיהּ יִצְרֵיהּ, סְלֵיק, פַּסְקֵיהּ לְקִיבּוּרָא בְּשִׁינֵּיהּ.
And from that which transpired to Rabbi Akiva as well it can be derived that there is no constellation for the Jewish people, as Rabbi Akiva had a daughter, and Chaldean astrologers told him that on the same day that she enters the wedding canopy, a snake will bite her and she will die. She was very worried about this. On that day, her wedding day, she took the ornamental pin from her hair and stuck it into a hole in the wall for safekeeping, and it happened that it entered directly into the eye of the snake. In the morning, when she took the pin, the snake was pulled and came out with it. Her father Rabbi Akiva said to her: What did you do to merit being saved from the snake? She told him: In the evening a poor person came and knocked on the door, and everyone was preoccupied with the feast and nobody heard him. I stood and took the portion that you had given me and gave it to him. Rabbi Akiva said to her: You performed a mitzva, and you were saved in its merit. Rabbi Akiva went out and taught based on this incident that even though it is written: “And charity will save from death” (Proverbs 10:2), it does not mean that it will save a person only from an unusual death, but even from death itself. And from that which transpired to Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak as well it can be derived that there is no constellation for the Jewish people, As Chaldean astrologers told Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak’s mother: Your son will be a thief. She did not allow him to uncover his head. She said to her son: Cover your head so that the fear of Heaven will be upon you, and pray for Divine mercy. He did not know why she said this to him. One day he was sitting and studying beneath a palm tree that did not belong to him, and the cloak fell off of his head. He lifted his eyes and saw the palm tree. He was overcome by impulse and he climbed up and detached a bunch of dates with his teeth. Apparently, he had an inborn inclination to steal, but was able to overcome that inclination with proper education and prayer.