Jerusalem is indeed a most beautiful city. When the sun sets, the city turns golden because all buildings are faced with that special Jerusalem stone. When I was a student I bought a poster which quoted in Hebrew today’s daf TB Kidushin 49 “עֲשָׂרָה קַבִּים יוֹפִי יָרְדוּ לָעוֹלָם, תִּשְׁעָה נָטְלָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם וְאֶחָד כׇּל הָעוֹלָם כּוּלּוֹ-Ten kav (measures-gg) of beauty descended to the world; Jerusalem took nine and all the rest of the world in its entirety took one.” and hung it up on my dorm wall. When Judy taught Israeli cities in her fifth grade Hebrew school class, she hung this poster on the classroom wall along with other posters celebrating Israeli cities. I thought that the rabbis were praising Jerusalem’s beauty, but classical commentators explain that the rabbis were praising the beauty of Jerusalem’s children for both the Gemara TB Baba Metzia 84a and Midrash Rabbah Esther praise the beauty of Jerusalem’s children!
The Gemara then goes on and teaches us the rabbis’
world view of different nations. “Ten kav of wisdom descended to the
world; Eretz Yisrael took nine of them and all the rest of the
world took one. (Let’s face
it, we received the Torah which the book of Proverbs calls wisdom-gg) Ten kav
of wealth descended to the world; Rome took nine and all the rest of the
world in its entirety took one. (With the taxes Rome collected from all the countries it subjugated, Rome
build magnificent buildings, temples, highways, and provided entertainment for
the masses. Consequently, the rabbis saw that they were the richest nation in
the world-gg) Ten kav of poverty descended to the
world; Babylonia took nine and all the rest of the world in its entirety
took one. (Here the Gemara is
describing the poverty level of the Jews who were exiled to Babylonia after the
first Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE. They worked their own land in the land
of Israel, but as captives they had to work other people’s lands either as
slaves or sharecropper farmers. They were reduced to poverty because of their
existential situation.-gg) Ten kav of arrogance
descended to the world; Eilam took nine and all the rest of the world in
its entirety took one.
"The Gemara asks: But did arrogance not descend to Babylonia? But isn’t it written: “Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold there came forth two women, and the wind was in their wings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the measure between the earth and the heaven. Then I said to the angel that spoke with me: ‘To where do they take the measure?’ And he said to me: ‘To build her a house in the land of Shinar’” (Zechariah 5:9–11). And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This refers to flattery and arrogance that descended to Babylonia, i.e., Shinar. This indicates that arrogance reached Babylonia as well.
“The Gemara answers: Yes, it descended to here, to Babylonia, and it made its way to there, to Eilam. The language of the verse is also precise, as it teaches: “To build her a house,” which indicates that the original intention was to build a house in Babylonia, but it was not built there. The Gemara comments: Conclude from it that arrogance did not remain in Babylonia.
“The Gemara further asks: Is that so? But didn’t the Master say: A sign of arrogance is poverty, and there is poverty in Babylonia, and not in Eilam. The Gemara answers: To what kind of poverty is this referring? It is poverty with regard to Torah, which was characteristic of Eilam. As it is written: “We have a little sister, and she has no breasts” (Song of Songs 8:8), and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This refers to Eilam, whose inhabitants merited to learn but did not merit to teach. They did not produce Torah scholars capable of imparting their wisdom to others.
“The Gemara returns to its list of endowments of various groups: Ten kav of strength descended to the world; the Persians took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of lice descended to the world; Media took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of witchcraft descended to the world; Egypt took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of plagues descended to the world; pigs, which carry disease, took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of licentiousness descended to the world; Arabia took nine and the rest of the world took one.
“Ten kav of brazenness descended to the world; Meishan, near Babylonia, took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of conversation descended to the world; women took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten kav of drunkenness descended to the world; the Kushites took nine and the rest of the world took one. (The land of Kush is identified as Ethiopia. I was aghast with the thought the rabbis identified drunkenness with Blacks. However this is probably not the correct version of our text. There are manuscripts that read שחרות- blackness instead of שִׁכְרוּת -drunkenness. Both the Khet (ח) and the Khaf (כ) are guttural letters and could be easily confused. I like to think that the rabbis were commenting that the Kushites just had black skin as opposed to whatever skin the rabbis had-gg)Ten kav of sleep descended to the world; slaves took nine and all the rest of the world in its entirety took one.” (Sefaria.org translation)
I just wonder how the rabbis would
describe us United States citizens today? What do you think?
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