Eruvin 18b — the Talmud in English

What is the reason that this storehouse is wide below and narrow above, in order to receive the produce

? For if it were wide above and narrow below, when he filled it, the burden of the produce would weigh upon the walls of the storehouse and incline them.

So too the woman, wide below,

in the cavity of her womb,

and narrow above, in order to receive the fetus.

And since we are expounding the verse, we expound the entire verse:

It is written: “And the Lord God built the rib which He had taken from the man into a woman

and brought her to the man.”

This teaches that the Holy One, blessed is He, acted as a shushvin for the first man

for He concerned Himself with his marriage, to gladden him, and to attend to the needs of his wedding feast.

From here [we learn] that a great person should act as a shushvin for a lesser person, and he should not be distressed by it

in his eyes, to attend to the needs of one who is lesser than he.

And we need to ask:

But according to the one who says [that Eve was created as] a face,

and from the beginning they were male and female as one —

which of them

which of the two

went first

was walking in front, the male or the female?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It stands to reason that the male went first.

For it was taught: A person should not walk behind a woman on the road, even if she is his wife

because walking behind a woman is disgraceful for him.

And if

there happened to be

a woman

on a bridge,

and she is walking before him,

he should move her aside,

he should go around her,

to the sides,

from the side, until he passes before her.

And anyone who passes behind a woman [

a married woman ]

in a river [

where she lifts her garments at that time and he looks at her ] —

has no share in the World to Come,

if he is accustomed to doing so. Because he will come to adultery, and in the end he will descend to Gehenna — Tosafot, Berakhot 61.

And apropos of the words of Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak, we proceed from one matter to another, in the same matter:

The Sages taught: One who counts [

enumerates ]

money to a woman,

from his hand to hers or from her hand to his, in order that he look at her —

even if

that man

resembled Moses our teacher, who received the Torah from Mount Sinai, he will not be cleansed from the judgment of Gehenna.

And concerning him Scripture says: “Hand to hand

— one who passes money from hand to hand, even if he is like Moses, who received the Torah from the hand of the Holy One, blessed is He, to his hand —

will not be cleansed of evil,” he will not be cleansed from the judgment of Gehenna.

And now we return to the matter that Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak mentioned above:

Rav Naḥman said: Manoah,

the father of Samson,

was an ignoramus!

As it is stated:

“And Manoah arose and went after his wife.”

Thus, he had not learned the laws of proper conduct of the beraita above, which teaches: A person should not walk behind a woman on the road, even if she is his wife.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak challenged him: If that is so, regarding Elkanah [

who was a prophet — as it was taught in Seder Olam: “And a man of God came to Eli” — this is Elkanah. Ten prophets were called “a man of God,” and Elkanah was one of them ] —

that which is written,

“And Elkanah went after his wife”

Would

so too

we say that Elkanah was an ignoramus, yet he was a prophet?!

And

so

regarding Elisha, for it is written,

“And he arose and went after her” [

the Shunamite woman ] — would

so too

we say that he was an ignoramus?!

Rather,

it is necessarily the meaning that Elkanah went, and Elisha went,

after her words and her advice.

If so,

so too

regarding Manoah, it is possible to explain that Manoah went

after her words and her advice

of his wife.

Rav Ashi said: And according to what Rav Naḥman said,

that Manoah followed his wife literally, and

Manoah was an ignoramus,

one must say that

even in the schoolhouse [

with the children of the school of the sons — Rashi, Berakhot 61 ]

he did not read.

For Manoah did not know the teaching from that which

is written,

“And Rebecca arose, and her maidens, and they rode upon the camels, and they went after the man.”

For it implies:

and not before the man!

Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

If a person has before him the choice of walking either after a lion or after a woman, he should walk

after a lion

despite the danger to his life,

and not after a woman [

a married woman ].

And likewise, if he is unable to escape [Maharsha], he should walk

after a woman and not after

(idolatry [

a house of heresy — the meaning of Rashi ]. For perhaps he will be drawn after her. And it is written: “Keep your way far from her.” And we say: this refers to heresy.

And if he cannot escape, he should walk

behind

(idolatry

) [

a house of heresy ]

and not behind a synagogue when they are praying,

for he appears to be a denier, standing behind the synagogue and not entering.

And now we return to the other statements of Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar:

b. The Excommunicated:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years

one hundred and thirty years

that the first man was excommunicated —

for he was rebuked when the Holy One, blessed is He, rebuked him and said to him: “Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” and cursed him —

he fathered spirits, demons, and night-demons [

they are types of harmful beings ].

As it is stated:

“And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and he fathered in his likeness, according to his image.”

By implication

you learn this:

until then —

he did not father according to his image.

He objected: Rabbi Meir used to say: The first man —

was exceedingly pious.

Once he saw that death had been decreed because of him

for all human beings, when he ate from the tree of knowledge,

he sat in a fast for one hundred and thirty years [

during the day ].

And he separated from the woman for one hundred and thirty years, and he raised belts of

figs

upon his flesh for one hundred and thirty years.

And now this is difficult: Since he separated from the woman, how did you say that he fathered during these years? And we answer:

When we say that,

he fathered spirits, demons, and night-demons —

it was through a seminal emission that he saw involuntarily [

an emission that he saw involuntarily ], and from it spirits, demons, and night-demons were made.

c. Praise:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: Part of a person’s praise is spoken in his presence, but all of it —

outside his presence.

That is to say: It is proper conduct that although a person praises his fellow greatly when he is not in his presence, he should not increase his praise before him, because he appears to be flattering him to his face. And perhaps the listener will become arrogant. Maharsha.

And there is proof for this:

Part of his praise in his presence

is said from this,

as it is written,

“For you alone have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.”

Thus, the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Noah in his presence “righteous” alone, and did not call him “righteous and wholehearted” [as the Holy One, blessed is He, called him outside his presence, in the verse cited immediately below].

And he speaks his praise

all of it outside his presence

from this,

as it is written,

“Noah was a righteous and wholehearted man in his generations.”

d. The Dove:

Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written,

in the Flood: “And he again sent the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him at evening,

and behold, an olive leaf plucked was in its mouth.”

The dove said before the Holy One, blessed is He: Master of the world! May my sustenance be bitter like

the tree of

olive,

which is bitter [Tosafot],

and placed in Your hand.

And may it not be sweet as honey, and dependent upon the hand of flesh and blood. [

As it had been dependent until now upon the hand of Noah, who sustained it in the ark.]

And this is what Scripture said: “Plucked was in its mouth”:

It requested with its mouth that the olive should be “plucked,” its food,

and the proof that “plucked” is an expression of food:

It is written here

concerning the dove

“plucked,” and it is written there, “Sustain me with my allotted bread.”

e. A House:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: Every house in which words of Torah are heard at night,

whose sound is heard from afar

will never again be destroyed.

As it is stated

in the verse that Elihu said to Job:

“And he did not say,

he did not need to lament and say,

‘Where is

God, my Maker?’” —

the man who

utters songs

of Torah

at night.”

f. Two:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: From the day the Temple was destroyed,

the priests ceased blessing with the explicit Name [as is stated in Hagigah],

it is sufficient for the world that it use the Name of

two

letters. [

Which is the Name Y-H, to be pronounced as it is written. But the Name Y-K-V-K is not pronounced as it is written, but as Adonai.

And in the Temple even the Name of four letters was pronounced as it is written — Rabbeinu Peretz ]

Both for praising Him and for one person to bless his fellow.

As it is stated:

“Let every soul praise Yah

Hallelujah.”

That is to say: This is the Name which every entire soul is fit to use.

But the Name of four letters was not given to every soul, but only to the priests, as it is written: “At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ... and to bless in His Name,” and it is written concerning the priestly blessing: “And they shall place My Name,” the Name particular to Me.

g. Was cursed:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: Babylon was cursed —

its neighbors were cursed

also

by its curse, for woe to the wicked and woe to his neighbor.

because when there is woe for the wicked, there is woe for his neighbor.

But when

Samaria was cursed,

which is in the Land of Israel,

its neighbors were blessed

by its curse.

And the Gemara explains:

Babylon was cursed, its neighbors were cursed —

as it is written: “And I shall rise against them, says the Lord of Hosts, and I shall cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and descendant, says the Lord.”

And I will rise against them, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and descendant, says the Lord.”

And I shall make it an inheritance of the porcupine [

an inheritance of the porcupine ]

and pools of water” [

as is the manner of desolate places — Metzudot ], and there the wild animals go, and they harm also the places adjacent to it.

Samaria was cursed —

its neighbors were blessed [

Judah — Tosafot ha-Rosh; see there ].