Berakhot 62a (סב.) — the Talmud in English

It was taught: Rabbi Akiva said: Once I entered

after Rabbi Yehoshua into the lavatory

in Judea,

and I learned three things from him:

I learned that one does not relieve oneself facing east or west, but only facing north or south.

And I learned that one does not uncover oneself

[by removing one’s clothing] when one needs to relieve oneself while

standing, but

only after one is

seated.

And I learned that

after relieving oneself,

one does not wipe with the

right

hand, but with the

left

hand.

Ben Azzai said

to Rabbi Akiva:

Have you gone so far as to be insolent toward your master?

Rabbi Akiva said to him:

It is Torah, and I must learn!

It is Torah, and I must learn!

It was taught: Ben Azzai says: Once I entered after Rabbi Akiva into the lavatory

and I learned three things from him: I learned that one does not relieve oneself

facing east or west, but only north or south; and I learned that one does not uncover oneself while standing, but while seated. And I learned that one does not wipe with the right hand, but with the left.

Rabbi Yehuda said to him

to Ben Azzai:

Have you gone so far as to be insolent

and look at all these matters

in the presence of your master? He said to him

Ben Azzai:

It is Torah, and I must learn!

Rav Kahana

was

entered and lay beneath Rav’s bed

[that is, he entered and lay beneath Rav’s bed].

He heard him

Rav

that he

was

speaking

with his wife idle conversation intended to encourage marital relations,

and laughing

with her,

and

afterward

attending to

his needs

[that is, engaging in marital relations].

He said to him

Rav Kahana said to Rav from his place beneath the bed:

My father’s mouth

[Rav’s],

is like that of a

person

who has never tasted

[swallowed]

a cooked dish

in his life; that is, you conduct yourself frivolously like a person consumed by desire who has never engaged in marital relations.

He said to him

Rav:

Kahana, are you here?! Go out

[from here],

for it is not proper conduct

for you to be present here now.

He said to him

Rav Kahana:

It is Torah, and I must learn!

The Gemara discusses this:

Why does one not wipe with the

right

hand, but only with the left?

Rava said: Because the Torah was given with the right hand

of the Holy One, blessed be He,

as it is stated

[Deuteronomy]:

“From His right hand, a fiery law for them,”

and therefore the right hand is more important.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said:

the right hand is more important

because it is close to the mouth,

as one customarily uses it to bring food to the mouth, and human life depends upon food.

And Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said:

the right hand is more important

because one binds with it

the

phylacteries.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Because

one who reads from the Torah, the Prophets, or the Writings

uses it to indicate the cantillation of the Torah

and its vocalization, moving his right hand according to the cantillation and vocalization.

Just as the amoraim disagreed about this,

so

the

tannaim also disagreed about it:

As it was taught:

Rabbi Eliezer says:

One does not wipe with the right hand

because one eats with it!

This is in accordance with Rabba bar bar Ḥana.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: Because one writes with it

sacred matters.

Rabbi Akiva says: Because one uses it to indicate the cantillation of the Torah,

in accordance with Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak.

Rav Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai said: Anyone who conducts himself modestly in the lavatory is saved from three things,

namely:

from

snakes, scorpions, and harmful spirits

[demons], because through conducting himself modestly, calmly, and silently, snakes and scorpions do not sense him, and the harmful spirits also spare him.

And some say: His dreams, too, are settled for him,

because the harmful spirits that bring about some dreams [as above, 55b] do not frighten him.

There was a certain lavatory in Tiberias

where,

even when two people entered it

together, and

even during the day,

they

were harmed. Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would enter it

each

separately, and nevertheless

and nevertheless

they were not harmed.

The Sages said to them:

Do

you not fear

[are you not afraid] of the harmful spirits when entering there?

They said to them

Rabbi

Ami and Rabbi Asi: We have a tradition

that we have learned,

we have received two traditions:

one tradition

says

that in the

a

lavatory

one should practice

modesty and silence!

Then one is not harmed by the harmful spirits. Therefore, we entered one at a time, because entering two together is not a practice of modesty, since each one sees the other’s exposed body. Nor is it silence, because when two people are together they are likely to converse.

And another tradition

we received says

that

one should accept

suffering

with

silence,

and not rebel against suffering, but a person should pray

and

seek

request mercy

from God, that He have mercy upon him.

Abaye’s mother raised a lamb for him

[she raised a sheep for him], so that he could

enter the lavatory with it!

He should not go there alone, because of the harmful spirits.

The Gemara asks:

Why did she not raise a young goat for him

[why did she not raise a kid goat for this purpose]?

The Gemara explains: A kid goat belongs to the species called “sa’ir,” and the demon of the lavatory is also called a “sa’ir.” There was concern lest

one sa’ir be confused with another sa’ir,

so that the kid would be confused with the demon and the demon would harm him.

Before Rava became the head

[before he became head of the academy], when he would enter the lavatory,

Rav Ḥisda’s daughter would rattle

would make noise

a nut in a cup

she was Rava’s wife

outside the lavatory,

placing a nut in a copper cup and rattling it, thereby protecting him from the harmful spirits.

After

After he became king

and became head of the academy, and required greater protection [because harmful spirits are more jealous of Torah scholars than of other people],

she made for him

a lavatory

a window

[and when Rava entered there, his wife would put her hand through the window]

and place her hand on his head.

Ulla said:

If one is

behind a wall,

he

may relieve himself immediately,

and need not distance himself at all. But if he relieves himself

in an open field,

which is an exposed place, he may relieve himself only at a distance from other people.

As long as

he is

making sounds

[sounds from below]

that his companion cannot hear,

that is sufficient, and he need not distance himself to the point that they cannot see him.

Isi bar Natan taught it in this manner:

If one is

behind a wall,

he must distance himself, and may relieve himself only

as long

as

he is

making sounds that his companion cannot hear. And

if he is

in an open field,

he may relieve himself only at a great distance, the measure of which is

as long as his companion cannot see him.

The Gemara raises an objection:

We learned [Tohorot 10:2]: Those who guard ritually pure oil, if they need to relieve themselves,

leave the entrance of the olive press and relieve themselves behind the wall,

and they do not fear that meanwhile an am haaretz entered and touched the oil and rendered it impure. Rather,

they

[the oils]

remain pure!

This indicates that it is permitted to relieve oneself behind a wall without any distance at all, which challenges Isi bar Natan, who said that even behind a wall one must distance himself until his companion cannot hear him when he makes sounds.

The Gemara answers: The laws governing those who guard pure oil are different, because

for the sake of

guarding

ritual purity, the Sages relaxed

the laws of the lavatory.

The Gemara raises another objection:

Come and hear: How far must

those who guard ritually pure produce distance themselves from the pure produce,

and

still

remain pure,

so that we do not suspect that an am haaretz touched it and rendered it impure? —

So that the guard

can

see him

if he touched it or not. Since they cannot distance themselves farther, it necessarily follows that if they need to relieve themselves, they may do so even in a place where they can be seen. This challenges what Isi bar Natan said: if one relieves himself not behind a wall, he must distance himself until he cannot be seen.

The Gemara answers:

Those who eat ritually pure produce are different, because the Sages relaxed the law for them

with regard to the laws of the lavatory, and permitted them to relieve themselves even in a place where they can be seen, so that they would be able to guard their ritually pure produce.

Rav Ashi said: What is the meaning of “as long as his fellow does not see

him”?

That which Isi bar Natan said—

as long as his fellow does not see his exposure ,

his uncovered flesh;

but with regard to himself,

it is permitted for his fellow to be

able to see him.

And if so, the objection from the guardians of ritual purity is resolved, for they are not required to distance themselves except to the extent that their exposure will not be seen; nevertheless, they can still see whether an am ha’aretz touches the items whose purity they are guarding.

A certain eulogizer came before Rav Naḥman

to deliver a eulogy for the deceased, and

said

about the deceased:

This man

who died

was modest in his conduct!

Rav Naḥman said to him:

Did

you enter the lavatory with him, and know whether he was modest

or

not!?

If you do not know his conduct there, you have no right to call him “modest,”

as it was taught in a beraita: The Sages do not

the Rabbis

call someone “modest” unless he is

he

modest in the lavatory!

The Gemara asks:

And what difference did it make to Rav Naḥman

what the eulogizer said, and why did he need to reprimand him?

The Gemara explains:

Because it was taught: Just as the dead are held accountable

for mitzvot they did not fulfill,

so too eulogizers are held accountable

for saying about the dead that they fulfilled a mitzva that they had not performed,

and

also

those who answer after them

and affirm the eulogizers’ words. Therefore, Rav Naḥman reprimanded the eulogizer, because he did not want to be punished like the others who answered after him.

The Sages taught in a beraita: Who is a modest person? —

One who relieves himself at night in the place where he

he

relieves himself during the day,

for even when he goes out at night, he distances himself from people just as he does during the day.

The Gemara objects:

Is that so? But Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: A person should always accustom himself

to relieve himself in the

morning

[before the day grows light]

and in the evening

after dark,

so that he will not need to distance himself

from others when he relieves himself [for there is danger in holding back one’s bodily functions while distancing oneself ], which indicates that one need distance himself only during the day.

Furthermore,

there is another difficulty:

Rava,

when he needed to relieve himself,

would go as far as a mil during the day. And

whereas

at night he would say to his attendant, “Find me a place in the main street of the city”,

and he did not distance himself at all.

Likewise,

there is a difficulty from what

Rabbi Zeira said to his attendant

at night:

“See whether there is anyone behind the house of the scholars”

[whether there is anyone behind the beit-midrash], because

“I wish to relieve myself”

[there], which indicates that one need not distance himself at night.

The Gemara answers:

Do not say

that the beraita says, “One who relieves himself at night

in the

place where he relieves himself during the day”;

rather, say: “In the manner in which he relieves himself during the day”.

That is, just as during the day he exposes only a handbreadth behind him and two handbreadths in front of him, and relieves himself while seated, so too he must conduct himself in this manner when he relieves himself at night.

Rav Ashi said: You may even say that the beraita means, “One who relieves himself at night

that “one who relieves himself at night

in the

place where he relieves himself during the day”; nevertheless, there is no difficulty, because

the beraita was not needed

to teach how far he must distance himself at night when he is in an exposed place,

but to

teach how the law applies when there is nearby a

corner,

where he must relieve himself even at night, just as during the day, and he should not relieve himself in an exposed place.

The essential text: Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: A person should always accustom himself

to relieve himself

in the morning and evening. So that he will not need to distance himself!

It was taught likewise: Ben Azzai says: Rise early and go out

to relieve yourself before the day grows light.

And let evening come and go out

to relieve yourself after dark.

So that you will not need to distance yourself

from people when you relieve yourself in daylight.

And when you probe your bodily openings with a pebble or a splinter in order to open them, first

probe, and

afterward

sit. And do not sit

first,

and

afterward

probe,

because

anyone who sits and

afterward

probes

is endangered because of sorcery. For

even if sorcery is performed in Aspamia,

which is very far away, their sorcery

comes upon him.

But if he forgets

[and

sits and afterward probes, what remedy does he have?—

When he rises

from the lavatory,

let him say as follows: “Not for me, not for me

[you cannot prevail over me],

not taḥim and not taḥtim

[these are names of sorcery that operates through the lower bodily regions],

not hanei and not mehani

[not any sorcery, and not even part of it ],

not the sorcery of male sorcerers, and not the sorcery of female sorcerers

[not the sorcery of male practitioners, and not the sorcery of female practitioners].