Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sotah

Folio 49a

R. Elai b. Jebarekya said: Had it not been for the prayer of David, all Israel would have been sellers of rubbish,²  as it is stated: Grant them esteem, O Lord.³

R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: Had it not been for the prayer of Habakkuk, two disciples of the Sages would have to cover themselves with one garment⁴  and occupy themselves with Torah; as it is stated: O Lord, I have heard the report of Thee and am afraid; O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years⁵  — read not 'in the midst of the years [bekereb shanim]' but in the drawing together of two [bekerub shenayim].⁶

R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: If two disciples of the Sages proceed on a journey and there are no words of Torah between them, they are deserving of being burnt with fire; as it is stated: And it came to pass, as they still went on, that, behold, a chariot of fire etc.⁷  The reason [why the chariot of fire appeared] was that there was discussion [of Torah between them]; hence if there had not been such discussion, they would have deserved to be burnt.

R. Elai b. Jebarekya also said: If two disciples of the Sages reside in the same city and do not support each other in [the study of] the law, one dies and the other goes into exile;⁸  as it is stated: That the manslayer might flee thither, which slayeth his neighbour without knowledge,⁹  and 'knowledge' means nothing but Torah, as it is stated: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.¹⁰

R. Judah, son of R. Hiyya said: Any disciple of the Sages who occupies himself with Torah in poverty will have his prayer heard; as it is stated: For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; He will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear, He will answer thee,¹¹  and it continues, And the Lord will give you bread in adversity and water in affliction.¹²  R. Abbahu said: They also satisfy him from the lustre of the Shechinah, as it is stated: Thine eyes shall see thy Teacher.¹³  R. Aha b. Hanina said: Neither is the veil¹⁴  drawn before him, as it is said: 'Thy teacher shall no more be hidden.'

RABBAN SIMEON B. GAMALIEL SAYS IN THE NAME OF R. JOSHUA:¹⁵  FROM THE DAY THAT THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, THERE IS NO DAY etc. Raba said: And the curse of each day is severer than that of the preceding, as it is stated: In the morning thou shalt say: Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say: Would God it were morning.¹⁶  Which morning [would they long for]? If I say the morning of the morrow, nobody knows what it will be. Therefore [it must be the morning] which had gone.¹⁷  How, in that case, can the world endure?¹⁸  — Through the doxology recited after the Scriptural reading,¹⁹  and [the response of] 'May His great Name [be blessed]' [which is uttered in the doxology] after studying Aggada;²⁰  as it is stated: A land of thick darkness, as darkness itself, a land of the shadow of death, without any order.²¹  Hence if there are Scriptural readings, it is illumined from the thick darkness.

THE DEW HAS NOT DESCENDED FOR A BLESSING AND THE FLAVOUR HAS DEPARTED FROM THE FRUITS etc. It has been taught: R. Simeon b. Eleazar Says: [The cessation of] purity has removed taste and fragrance [from fruits]; [the cessation of] tithes has removed the fatness of corn. R. Huna once found a juicy date which he took and wrapped in his mantle. His son, Rabbah, came and said to him, 'I smell the fragrance of a juicy date'. He said to him, 'My son, there is purity in thee',²²  and gave it to him. Meanwhile [Rabbah's] son, Abba, came; [Rabbah] took it and gave it to him. [R. Huna] said to [Rabbah], 'My son, thou hast gladdened my heart²³  and blunted my teeth'.²⁴  That is what the popular proverb Says, 'A father's love is for his children; the children's love is for their own children.'

R. Aha b. Jacob reared R. Jacob, his daughter's son. When he grew up, [the grandfather] said to him, 'Give me some water to drink'. He replied: 'I am not thy son'.²⁵  That is what the popular proverb says: 'Rear me, rear me;²⁶  I am thy daughter's son'.

MISHNAH. DURING THE WAR WITH VESPASIAN²⁷  THEY [THE RABBIS] DECREED AGAINST [THE USE OF] CROWNS WORN BY BRIDEGROOMS AND AGAINST [THE USE OF] THE DRUM.²⁸  DURING THE WAR OF QUIETUS²⁹  THEY DECREED AGAINST [THE USE OF] CROWNS WORN BY BRIDES AND THAT NOBODY SHOULD TEACH HIS SON GREEK. DURING THE FINAL WAR³⁰  THEY DECREED THAT A BRIDE SHOULD NOT GO OUT IN A PALANQUIN³¹  IN THE MIDST OF THE CITY, BUT OUR RABBIS DECREED THAT A BRIDE MAY GO OUT IN A PALANQUIN IN THE MIDST OF THE CITY.

WHEN R. MEIR³²  DIED, THE COMPOSERS OF FABLES CEASED. WHEN BEN AZZAI³³  DIED, THE ASSIDUOUS STUDENTS [OF TORAH] CEASED. WHEN BEN ZOMA³⁴  DIED, THE EXPOSITORS CEASED.³⁵  WHEN R. AKIBA³⁶  DIED, THE GLORY OF THE TORAH CEASED. WHEN R. HANINA B. DOSA DIED, MEN OF DEED³⁷  CEASED. WHEN R. JOSE KETANTA DIED, THE PIOUS MEN CEASED; AND WHY WAS HIS NAME CALLED KETANTA? BECAUSE HE WAS THE YOUNGEST³⁸  OF THE PIOUS MEN.³⁹  WHEN R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI⁴⁰  DIED, THE LUSTRE OF WISDOM CEASED.⁴¹  WHEN RABBAN GAMALIEL THE ELDER DIED, THE GLORY OF THE TORAH CEASED, AND PURITY AND ABNEGATION PERISHED. WHEN R. ISHMAEL B. FABI⁴²  DIED, THE LUSTRE OF THE PRIESTHOOD CEASED. WHEN RABBI DIED, HUMILITY AND FEAR OF SIN CEASED.⁴³  R. PHINEAS B. JAIR SAYS: WHEN [THE SECOND] TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, SCHOLARS⁴⁴  AND NOBLEMEN WERE ASHAMED AND COVERED THEIR HEAD,⁴⁵  MEN OF DEED WERE DISREGARDED, AND MEN OF ARM AND MEN OF TONGUE⁴⁶  GREW POWERFUL. NOBODY ENQUIRES,⁴⁷  NOBODY PRAYS [ON THEIR BEHALF], AND NOBODY ASKS.⁴⁸  UPON WHOM IS IT FOR US TO RELY? UPON OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. R. ELIEZER THE GREAT SAYS: FROM THE DAY THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED, THE SAGES BEGAN TO BE LIKE SCHOOL-TEACHERS,⁴⁹  SCHOOL-TEACHERS LIKE SYNAGOGUE-ATTENDANTS, SYNAGOGUE-ATTENDANTS LIKE COMMON PEOPLE, AND THE COMMON PEOPLE

1. Caused them suffering in this world by our death in childhood. By this plea the bereaved parents are spared punishment.
2. Earning a precarious livelihood.
3. Ps. IX, 21 (E.V. 'Put them in fear'). ['Them' are Israel, and the prayer is that God will bestow on them worldly goods which will secure for them the esteem of the nations.]
4. Through poverty.
5. Hab. III, 2.
6. 'Thy work' is the study of Torah; and 'drawing together of two' refers to two students sharing one garment.
7. II Kings II, 11.
8. One being the cause of the other's death, he has, so to speak, to flee to a city of refuge; he is exiled.
9. Deut. IV, 42.
10. Hos. IV, 6.
11. Isa. XXX, 19. The people dwelling in Zion symbolise students of Torah.
12. Ibid. 20 sic.
13. Ibid. 'Teacher' is applied to God.
14. Hiding the glory of God from man.
15. The wording in the Mishnah is: R. Joshua testified.
16. Deut. XXVIII, 67.
17. Because yesterday was less severe than today. Therefore they longed for its return.
18. If every day is worse than the preceding day.
19. [Kidushah-de-Sidra. Lit., 'the doxology of the order'. This name is given to the passage recited at the conclusion of the morning service which begins 'And a Redeemer shall come unto Zion' (v. P.B. p. 73) and which consists of Scriptural verses including the doxology in Hebrew and Aramaic. It was designed according to Rashi to take the place of the daily study of the law which is enjoined upon every Jew. For other explanations v. Abrahams, I., Companion to the Daily Prayer Book, p. LXXXIII.]
20. V. p. 197, n. 1.
21. Job X, 22. The word for 'order' is the same as that for the Scriptural reading.
22. For that reason he was able to smell its fragrance.
23. With his purity.
24. By displaying more love for the son than the father, because he gave him the date.
25. He claimed that the duty of honouring parents did not apply to grandparents, although he had been reared by him.
26. And yet I have not the duty of a son.
27. Which ended in the destruction of the second Temple.
28. At wedding festivities.
29. The text has Titus; but Neubauer's Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles, II p. 66 has the correct reading. Quietus was a Moorish prince, appointed by Trajan to command the army which overran Babylon in 116 C.E.
30. Rashi explains: when the Temple was destroyed. More probably it refers to the last stand against Rome under Bar Kochba in 135 C.E.
31. In which she was conveyed to her husband's house.
32. He was renowned for his fables, V. Sanh, 38b.
33. He was wedded to the Torah. V. supra p. 15.
34. He was a famous expositor. V. Ber. 12b.
35. [The text of the separately printed Mishnah adds: WHEN R. JOSHUA DIED, GOODNESS DEPARTED FROM THIS WORLD. WHEN R, SIMEON B. GAMALIEL DIED, THE LOCUST CAME AND TROUBLE INCREASED. WHEN R. ELEAZAR B. AZARIAH DIED, WEALTH DEPARTED FROM THE SAGES.]
36. He studied every letter of the Torah and derived ideas from every peculiarity of expression.
37. The phrase has been variously interpreted. V. Buchler, Some Types of Jewish-Palestinian Piety, pp. 79ff, He explains it as men who devoted their lives to deeds of loving kindness.
38. I.e., the last of them. There is no other mention of him in Rabbinic literature.
39. [J. B.K. III, makes him identical with Jose the Babylonian, the son of Akabia b. Mahalaliel. V. Derenbourg. Essai, p. 483.]
40. His disciples called him 'the lamp of Israel'. V. Br. 28b.
41. [On the wide sweep of his knowledge embracing the whole gamut of sciences known in his day v. B.B. 134a.]
42. Appointed High Priest by Agrippa II in 59 C.E. He was executed in Cyrene after the destruction of the Temple (Josephus, War VI, II, 2.).
43. Since Rabbi (Judah I, the Prince) was the redactor of the Mishnah, this paragraph is clearly a later addition. V. Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten, II, p. 222, n. 4.
44. Haberim, v. Glos.
45. Through the insolence of inferior Persons who grew powerful.
46. Demagogues.
47. Concerning Israel's plight.
48. About the welfare of his neighbour.
49. They deteriorated in quality.

GEMARA. Rab said: [The decree against the use of a crown] applies only to one made of salt and brimstone,⁹  but if made of myrtle or roses it is permitted; and Samuel said: Also one made of myrtle or roses is prohibited, but if made of reeds or rushes it is permitted; and Levi said: Also one made of reeds or rushes is prohibited. Similarly taught Levi in his Mishnah:¹⁰  It is also prohibited if made of reeds or rushes.

AND AGAINST [THE USE OF] THE DRUM [IRUS]. What means IRUS? — R. Eleazar said: A drum with a single bell.¹¹  Rabbah b. R. Huna made a tambourine for his son; his father came and broke it, saying to him, 'It might be substituted for a drum with a single bell. Go, make for him [an instrument by stretching the skin] over the mouth of a pitcher or over the mouth of a kefiz'.¹²

DURING THE WAR OF QUIETUS THEY DECREED AGAINST [THE USE OF] CROWNS WORN BY BRIDES etc. What means 'crowns worn by brides'? — Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Johanan: A [miniature] golden city.¹³  There is a teaching to the same effect: What are 'crowns worn by brides'? — A golden city. But one may make a cap for her out of fine wool. A Tanna taught: They also decreed against [the use of] the canopy of bridegrooms. What means 'canopy of bridegrooms'? — Crimson silk embroidered with gold. There is a teaching to the same effect. The canopy of bridegrooms is crimson silk embroidered with gold. But we may make a framework of laths and hang on it anything one desires.

AND THAT NOBODY SHOULD TEACH HIS SON GREEK. Our Rabbis taught: When the kings of the Hasmonean house fought one another,¹⁴  Hyrcanus was outside and Aristobulus within. Each day¹⁵  they used to let down denarii in a basket, and haul up for them [animals for] the continual offerings. An old man there, who was learned in Greek wisdom,¹⁶  spoke with them¹⁷  in Greek,¹⁸  saying: 'As long as they carry on the Temple-service, they will never surrender to you'. On the morrow they let down denarii in a basket, and hauled up a pig.¹⁹  When it reached half way up the wall, it stuck its claws [into the wall] and the land of Israel was shaken over a distance of four hundred parasangs. At that time they declared, — 'Cursed be a man who rears pigs and cursed be a man who teaches his son Greek wisdom!' Concerning that year we learnt that it happened that the 'omer²⁰  had to be supplied from the gardens of Zarifim and the two loaves from the valley of En-Soker.²¹  But it is not so!²²  For Rabbi said: Why use the Syrian language in the land of Israel? Either use the holy tongue or Greek! And R. Joseph said: Why use the Syrian language in Babylon? Either use the holy tongue or Persian! — The Greek language and Greek wisdom are distinct.²³  But is Greek philosophy forbidden? Behold Rab Judah declared that Samuel said in the name of Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel, What means that which is written: Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city?²⁴  There were a thousand pupils in my father's house; five hundred studied Torah and five hundred studied Greek wisdom, and of these there remained only I here and the son of my father's brother in Assia!²⁵  — It was different with the household of Rabban Gamaliel because they had close associations with the Government;²⁶  for it has been taught: To trim the hair in front²⁷  is of the ways of the Amorites;²⁸  but they permitted Abtilus b. Reuben²⁹  to trim his hair in front because he had close associations with the Government. Similarly they permitted the household of Rabban Gamaliel to study Greek wisdom because they had close associations with the Government.

DURING THE FINAL WAR THEY DECREED THAT A BRIDE SHOULD NOT GO OUT IN A PALANQUIN etc. Why? — For reasons of chastity.³⁰

WHEN RABBAN JOHANAN [B. ZAKKAI] DIED, [THE LUSTRE OF] WISDOM CEASED. Our Rabbis taught: When R. Eliezer died, the Torah-scroll was hidden away.³¹  When R. Joshua died, counsel and thought ceased.³²  When R. Akiba died, the arms of the Torah ceased and the fountains of wisdom were stopped up. When R. Eleazar b. Azariah died, the crowns of wisdom ceased, because the crown of the wise is their riches.³³  When R. Hanina b. Dosa died, men of deed ceased. When Abba³⁴  Jose b. Ketanta died, the pious men ceased; and why was his name called Abba Jose b. Ketanta? Because he was the youngest of the pious men. When Ben Azzai died, the assiduous students [of Torah] ceased. When Ben Zoma died, the expositors ceased. When Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel died, locusts³⁵  came up and troubles increased. When Rabbi died, troubles were multiplied twofold.

WHEN RABBI DIED, HUMILITY AND FEAR OF SIN CEASED. R. Joseph said to the tanna,³⁶  Do not include [when reciting this Mishnah] the word 'humility', because there is I.³⁷  R. Nahman said to the teacher, Do not include 'fear of sin', because there is I.³⁸

1. Just before his advent.
2. Jast. renders; the nobility shall be oppressed. In Sanh. 97a there is a variant: honour will be perverted; or, according to Jast. the nobility will pervert (justice).
3. Through the spread of drunkenness.
4. These words are omitted in the Talmud ed. of the Mishnah. The meaning is: The Roman Empire will go over to Christianity. V. Herford, op. cit., p. 207.
5. Perhaps Gebal of Ps. LXXXIII, 8, i.e., the Northern part of Mount Seir. [Others: Gaulan, E. of the Sea of Galilee and the Upper Jordan.]
6. Lit., 'scribes'.
7. V. Micah VII, 6.
8. Impervious to shame. [In some editions the whole of this passage beginning 'R. Phineas b. Jair' is introduced with 'Our Rabbis taught', and not as part of the Mishnah.]
9. Rashi explains that it was a crown cut out of a block of salt upon which figures were traced with brimstone.
10. His own collection of traditional teachings.
11. Lit., 'mouth'.
12. A vessel of the capacity of three log.
13. According to Shab. 59a a golden crown designed in the form of Jerusalem. V. Krauss. Tal. Arch., I, p. 662 n. 961.
14. The allusion is to the struggle between the two sons of Alexander Jannaeus, Hyrcanus had the assistance of the Romans who besieged Jerusalem.
15. According to Josephus Ant. XIV, II, 2, this demand for animals was for the Passover only.
16. [Sophistry, v, Graetz, Geschichte. III, 710ff.]
17. He was in Jerusalem and addressed his words to the besiegers. He spoke in Greek because the people in the city did not understand it.
18. Lit., 'in great wisdom'.
19. In Josephus' version, they took the money but sent up no animals. So the men in Jerusalem 'prayed to God that He would avenge them on their countrymen. Nor did He delay that punishment, but sent a strong and vehement storm of wind that destroyed the fruits of the whole country.'
20. The sheaf of the first fruits and the meal-offering of two tenth parts of an ephah (Lev. XXIII, 10, 13) should consist of produce grown in the vicinity of Jerusalem. But that year the surroundings were devastated and the produce had to be brought from distant places.
21. For further notes on this passage v. B.K. (Sonc. ed.) pp. 469ff.
22. That it is forbidden to teach Greek.
23. The language is permitted but not the wisdom,
24. Lam. III. 51.
25. So Greek wisdom was studied by Rabban Gamaliel's pupils. Assia was a town east of the lake of Tiberias, v. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) p. 151, n, 1.
26. An exception was made in their case.
27. Forming a fringe on the forehead and letting the curls hang down over the temples. V. Krauss, op. cit., I. p, 647 n. 845.
28. A heathenish practice which is forbidden.
29. Nothing more is recorded of him in Rabbinic literature.
30. There was danger of her being attacked.
31. A tribute to his great learning.
32. He was a protagonist of Judaism against heathen attacks. V. Hag. 5b.
33. Prov. XIV, 24. He was extremely wealthy. V. Shab. 54b.
34. Abba, 'father', was a title of affection given to a number of Rabbis.
35. Some understand this literally; others see a reference to exacting tax-gatherers who despoiled the people. [The reference is said to be to R. Simeon II b. Gamaliel II, (the father of Rabbi) and to the plague of locusts and pestilence that broke out in the year 164 C.E. — about the time of his death. V. Kerem Chemed IV, p. 220.]
36. Who conveyed his teaching to the students, v. Glos. s.v. (b).
37. He claimed to be humble, [V. Hor. (Sonc. ed.) p. 105.]
38. [In the separate printed editions of the Mishnah there follows: R. PHINEAS B. JAIR USED TO SAY: HEEDFULNESS LEADS TO CLEANLINESS; CLEANLINESS LEADS TO PURITY; PURITY LEADS TO ABSTINENCE; ABSTINENCE LEADS TO HOLINESS; HOLINESS LEADS TO HUMILITY; HUMILITY LEADS TO FEAR OF SIN; FEAR OF SIN LEADS TO SAINTLINESS; SAINTLINESS LEADS TO (THE POSSESSION) OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD; AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD COMETH THROUGH ELIJAH OF BLESSED MEMORY, AMEN. On this passage which has been named the Saint's Progress, v. A.Z., 20b. (Sonc. ed.) p. 106.]