Bakhtin’s work shares much regarding the nature of the crowd, viz. fair,
which is analogous to Canetti’s description. The carnivalesque quality of
these events inverts the universe and enables people to assume different
identities (Canetti: “all are equal there”). Thus, Bakhtin writes regarding
“unofficial folk culture”: “In the marketplace a special kind of speech was
heard, almost a language of its own, quite unlike the language of Church,
palace, courts, and institutions” (1968, 154). We can interpret Resh Lakish’s
statement in light of these formalists: the fair encompasses these dangers
because it is a place where many congregate, and one must be careful for
this reason.
The fear of the crowd is part of another Sage’s concern: R. Abahu of the
early fourth century CE(Caesarea). R. Abahu notes that one is permitted to
attend the fair, but only in a circumscribed fashion: “R. Abahu prohibits the
creation of a gang (chavilah) at a fair. And they taught:^4 do not exchange
salutations in a significant place. If you find him [the pagan] anywhere else,
exchange salutations [with him] respectfully.”
Thechavilahis a group, according to the commentator “Ridbaz,” which
grants weight to the event. The key to understanding this enigmatic Mish-
naic proof-text resides in the term be-makom she-mitchashev,a difficult term,
glossed by Moshe Margalit as, “like a market in public.” (The term also
appears in Mishnah Oholot1:3, where “reckoning” is the appropriate trans-
lation.) The biblical text and commentators are relevant for interpreta-
tion of the phrase. The term mitchashevis found in Numbers 23:9, where
Balaam, the prophet hired by Balak, is defining, in poetic form, the
Israelites: “They are a nation who dwells alone; and among the nations they
are not considered” (italics mine). There are a number of interpretations of
this passage but, for us, the most helpful one is found in Tanhuma Balak
12: “When the Israelites are happy, no nation rejoices with them, but
when the nations are well-off in this world, they eat with everybody and
do not consider the Jews.” This text is appropriate for the mood of the fair:
celebrations, feasting, rejoicing, and so on. The passage reflects on our
text: You must abstain from the fair because pagans, who are rejoicing, will
consider that you, too, will participate with them. Simply passing by the
fair must be done in a dignified and careful manner, lest the pagan read
it another way.
Is the Pagan Fair Fairly Dangerous? 814 In a Mishnaic ruling, namely, Gittin5:6, and modified in Tosefta Avodah Zarah1:2.