Cast of Characters:
Rav Nachman was a third generation Amora (~290-320 CE). Lived in Babylon and was the head of the yeshiva in Nehardea.
Yalta was his wife and the daughter of the exilarch (political head of Babylonian Jewish community), which enabled Rav Nachman to entertain guests frequently. She is the most frequently named woman in the Babylonian Talmud.
Ulla was a third generation Amora who frequently traveled to Babylon from his home in Israel. Was strict in his interpretation of Jewish law.
Rav Yochanan was a second generation Amora (~250-290 CE) who lived in Israel and was the head of the yeshiva in Tiberias.
Rav Yehuda was a second generation Amora. Lived in Babylon and was the head of the yeshiva in Pumbedita, which became the center of Talmudic learning.
Shmuel was a first generation Amora (~230-250 CE). Was taught by R. Yehuda haNasi, who compiled the mishna.
עולא אקלע לבי רב נחמן כריך ריפתא בריך ברכת מזונא יהב ליה כסא דברכתא לרב נחמן אמר ליה רב נחמן לישדר מר כסא דברכתא לילתא אמר ליה הכי אמר רבי יוחנן אין פרי בטנה של אשה מתברך אלא מפרי בטנו של איש שנאמר וברך פרי בטנך פרי בטנה לא נאמר אלא פרי בטנך... שמעה ילתא קמה בזיהרא ועלתה לבי חמרא ותברא ארבע מאה דני דחמרא אמר ליה רב נחמן נשדר לה מר כסא אחרינא שלח לה כל האי נבגא דברכתא היא שלחה ליה ממהדורי מילי ומסמרטוטי כלמי
The Gemara relates: Ulla happened to come to the house of Rav Naḥman. He ate bread, recited Grace after Meals, and gave the cup of blessing to Rav Naḥman.
Rav Naḥman said to him: Master, please send the cup of blessing to Yalta, my wife.
Ulla responded to him: There is no need, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: The fruit of a woman’s body is blessed only from the fruit of a man’s body, as it is stated: “And He will love you, and bless you, and make you numerous, and He will bless the fruit of your body” (Deuteronomy 7:13).
The Gemara infers: “He will bless the fruit of her body” was not stated. Rather, “He will bless the fruit of your [masculine singular] body.” For his wife to be blessed with children, it is sufficient to give the cup to Rav Naḥman....
The Gemara relates that meanwhile Yalta heard Ulla’s refusal to send her the cup of blessing. Yalta was the daughter of the Exilarch and was accustomed to being treated with deference, so she arose in a rage, entered the wine-storage, and broke four hundred barrels of wine.
Afterward, Rav Naḥman said to Ulla: Let the Master send her another cup. Ulla sent Yalta a different cup with a message saying that all of the wine in this barrel is wine of blessing; although you did not drink from the cup of blessing itself, you may at least drink from the barrel from which the cup of blessing was poured.
She sent him a stinging response: From itinerant peddlers come meaningless words, and from rags come lice.
Rav Naḥman suggested: Let the Master send greetings of peace to my wife Yalta.
Rav Yehuda said to him: This is what Shmuel says: A woman’s voice is considered nakedness, and one may not speak with her.
Rav Naḥman responded: It is possible to send your regards with a messenger.
Rav Yehuda said to him: This is what Shmuel says: One may not send greetings to a woman even with a messenger, as this may cause the messenger and the woman to relate to each other inappropriately. Rav Naḥman countered by suggesting that he send his greetings with her husband, which would remove all concerns.
Rav Yehuda said to him: This is what Shmuel says: One may not send greetings to a woman at all.
Yalta, his wife, who overheard that Rav Yehuda was getting the better of the exchange, sent a message to him: Release him and conclude your business with him, so that he not equate you with another ignoramus.
Cast of Characters:
Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus was a prominent Tanna - he is the sixth most frequently cited rabbi in the Mishna. He served on the Sanhedrin under the leadership of his brother-in-law.
Rabban Gamliel was a second generation Tanna who was the first head of the Sanhedrin after the fall of the Second Temple.
Imma Shalom was Rabban Gamliel's sister and Rabbi Eliezer's wife.
Imma Shalom, the wife of Rabbi Eliezer, was Rabban Gamliel’s sister. There was a Christian philosopher [pilosofa] in their neighborhood who disseminated about himself the reputation that he does not accept bribes. They wanted to mock him and reveal his true nature. She privately gave him a golden lamp, and she and her brother came before him, approaching him as if they were seeking judgment.
She said to the philosopher: I want to share in the inheritance of my father’s estate.
He said to them: Divide it.
Rabban Gamliel said to him: It is written in our Torah: In a situation where there is a son, the daughter does not inherit.
The philosopher said to him: Since the day you were exiled from your land, the Torah of Moses was taken away and the avon gilyon was given in its place. It is written in the avon gilyon: A son and a daughter shall inherit alike.
The next day Rabban Gamliel brought the philosopher a Libyan donkey. Afterward, Rabban Gamliel and his sister came before the philosopher for a judgment.
He said to them: I proceeded to the end of the avon gilayon, and it is written: I, avon gilayon, did not come to subtract from the Torah of Moses, and I did not come to add to the Torah of Moses. And it is written there: In a situation where there is a son, the daughter does not inherit.
She said to him: May your light shine like a lamp, alluding to the lamp she had given him. Rabban Gamliel said to him: The donkey came and kicked the lamp, thereby revealing the entire episode.
Imma Shalom, the wife of Rabbi Eliezer, was the sister of Rabban Gamliel. From that incident forward, she would not allow Rabbi Eliezer to lower his head and recite the taḥanun prayer, which includes supplication and entreaties. She feared that were her husband to bemoan his fate and pray at that moment, her brother would be punished.
A certain day was around the day of the New Moon, and she inadvertently substituted a full thirty-day month for a deficient twenty-nine-day month, i.e., she thought that it was the New Moon, when one does not lower his head in supplication, but it was not. Some say that a pauper came and stood at the door, and she took bread out to him. The result was that she left her husband momentarily unsupervised. When she returned, she found him and saw that he had lowered his head in prayer.
She said to him: Arise, you already killed my brother. Meanwhile, the sound of a shofar emerged from the house of Rabban Gamliel to announce that the Nasi had died.
Rabbi Eliezer said to her: From where did you know that your brother would die?
She said to him: This is the tradition that I received from the house of the father of my father: All the gates of Heaven are apt to be locked, except for the gates of prayer for victims of verbal mistreatment.