Eruvin 19a — the Talmud in English

As it is written

“And I shall make Samaria like a ruin in the field” ![](pamud.bmp "

precise page location") and

“for planting a vineyard,”

and its neighbors will benefit from it; this is praise for it, since it is mentioned favorably.

8. Like its measure:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: Come and see how unlike the measure of the Holy One, blessed be He, is the measure of flesh and blood!

The measure of flesh and blood is this: When a person is sentenced to death by the government, they place a gag into his mouth,

a piece of wood that holds his mouth open and prevents him from speaking,

so that he will not curse the king.

But

the measure of the Holy One, blessed be He, is different: When a person

is

sentenced to death by the Omnipresent,

he

remains silent!

As it is stated: “For You, silence —

is praise.”

For everyone is silent before You.

Moreover, he even praises

the Holy One, blessed be He, for having exacted his punishment from him in this world, thereby making him worthy of the World to Come — Maharsha].

As it is stated:

“For You, silence”

“is praise.”

Moreover, it is considered for him as though he had offered a sacrifice.

For he accepts the suffering that comes upon him willingly and with love.

As it is stated:

“For You, silence is praise, O God, in Zion,”

“and to You a vow shall be fulfilled,”

meaning, to offer a sacrifice: The silence with which he remains silent and accepts suffering is considered for him like the fulfillment of a vow.

And

this is what Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Those who pass through the valley of weeping make it a spring; the early rains cover it with blessings”?

“Those who pass through”: These are people who transgress the will of the Holy One, blessed be He.

In the

“valley”: Because Gehenna is made deeper for them.

“Of weeping,”

“make it a spring”:

Because they weep and shed tears like a spring of the Shittin,

which was a hole in the structure of the altar, into which the wine that they poured into the bowls on the altar descended throughout the year.

“The early rains cover it with blessings”: They justify the judgment imposed upon them and say before Him: Master of the Universe, You judged well, You acquitted well, You convicted well. And You arranged things well: Gehenna for the wicked,

and

the Garden of Eden for the righteous!

And we raise a difficulty concerning what we said, that they justify the judgment imposed upon them:

But Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The wicked do not repent even at the entrance to Gehenna, as it is stated: “And they shall go out and see the corpses of the people who transgressed against Me,”

“for their worm [the worm that eats their flesh — Rashi] shall not die, and their fire [their fire in Gehenna — Rashi] shall not be extinguished.”

And we infer: The expression

“who transgressed

against Me” is in the past tense, implying that they transgressed but are no longer transgressing

is not stated.

Rather, it says: “who transgress against Me,”

in the present tense, implying that they continue to transgress even while their “worm” and “fire” are upon them. This teaches

that they continue transgressing forever [

their souls do not even care about themselves after death, because they are proceeding toward destruction — Ritva].

We see, then, that they do not justify the judgment imposed upon them?!

And we answer:

This is not difficult:

This

statement that they justify the judgment imposed upon them refers to

Jewish transgressors.

That

statement that they continue transgressing forever refers to

transgressors among the gentiles.

And we support this answer:

Indeed, it is reasonable

that Reish Lakish did not interpret the verse, “And they shall go out and see the people who transgress against Me,” as referring to Jewish transgressors.

For if so,

if this verse, in which it says, “and their fire shall not be extinguished,” refers to Jewish transgressors,

there would be a difficulty

with

this statement of Reish Lakish,

another statement of

Reish Lakish:

For

he

said: “The fire of Gehenna does not prevail over Jewish transgressors

or

control them,”

to burn them; rather, it only blackens their faces [Tosafot]. And we derive this by

an a-fortiori inference from the golden altar

[the inner altar]:

If the golden altar, which had only a layer of gold as thick as a dinar upon it, stood for many years and fire did not prevail over it

to diminish its gold, which was a miracle — Rashi, tractate Chagiga 27a [but Tosafot there explains that the reference is to the wood beneath the gold].

Then Jewish transgressors, who are full of mitzvot like a pomegranate

[concerning whom it is stated, “more desirable than gold” — Maharsha, Chagiga, according to the explanation of Tosafot],

as it is stated: “Your temple is like a split pomegranate,”

and

concerning this

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Do not read “your temple,” but “your empty ones,”

an expression referring to emptiness,

for even the empty ones among you are full of mitzvot like a pomegranate,

which is full of seeds —

all the more so

that fire will not prevail over them [because the mitzvot protect them — Maharsha, there].

Since this is so, it is impossible to interpret the verse, “And they shall go out and see … those who transgress against Me,” in which it says, “and their fire shall not be extinguished,” as referring to Jewish transgressors. Rather, it must refer to transgressors among the gentiles — as we have said!

Now that we have cited Reish Lakish’s statement that the fire of Gehenna does not prevail over Jewish transgressors, we ask:

But what about that which is written

in the earlier verse:

“Those who pass through the valley of weeping,”

which we interpreted as meaning that Gehenna is made deeper for them, and which we said refers to Jewish transgressors? How can this be?!

And we explain:

That

verse refers to those

who are liable to be in Gehenna at that moment. And Abraham our forefather comes and brings

them up

[and raises them from there]

and receives them, except for a Jew who had relations with a gentile woman, whose foreskin is drawn out

[Rabbi Meir explains in the Alphabet of Rabbi Makir that this refers to the foreskins of young boys who died before circumcision; they take those foreskins from them and attach them to the one who had relations with a gentile woman — Rabbeinu Peretz],

and he does not recognize

[Makir]

him

as a Jew, Abraham, because once his foreskin is drawn out he appears to him as one who was never circumcised, and he does not bring him out of Gehenna.

Rav Kahana challenges

the interpretation we gave earlier of “those who transgress against Me,” that they are still transgressing:

Now that you have said that “those who transgress” means that they transgress and continue

even now,

if that is so,

what about

“Who brings out”

you from the land of Egypt,

and

it is likewise written:

“Who raises”

you from the land of Egypt, in the present tense? Should

this too

be interpreted as meaning

“who continues to raise and bring out”

[continues to raise and bring out]

you

[this is a rhetorical question]?!

Rather,

the certain meaning is

“He raised and brought out”

in the past, and not now.

If so,

likewise

the verse that says “those who transgress” in the present tense means

that they transgressed

in the past;

that is its meaning.

9. Three:

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: Gehenna has three entrances: one in the wilderness, one in the sea, and one in Jerusalem.

One

in the wilderness: As it is written

concerning Korah and his congregation in the wilderness: “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them.”

“And they and all that belonged to them descended alive into the underworld.”

And this underworld is Gehenna, as will be explained below.

One

in the sea: As it is written

concerning Jonah son of Amittai, when he called to the Holy One, blessed be He, from inside the fish:

“From the belly of the underworld I cried out; You heard my voice.”

The fact that Jonah mentioned the term “underworld,” meaning Gehenna, indicates that he was at the place of the entrance to Gehenna — Maharsha.

One

in Jerusalem: As it is written: “The word of the Lord: He has fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem.”

And the tan[n]a of the school of Rabbi Yishmael said:

“He has fire in Zion” —

this is Gehenna

itself.

“And a furnace in Jerusalem” —

this is the entrance to Gehenna.

And we raise a difficulty:

And furthermore,

are there no other

entrances

to Gehenna?!

But Rabbi Maryon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi — and some say that the tan[n]a was Rabba bar Maryon —

a beraita, a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna, that was arranged

in the school of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai

[similar to the Tosefta, which was compiled by Rabbi Hiyya and Rabbi Oshaya]:

“There are two palm trees

[date palms]

in the Valley of Ben Hinnom

[near Jerusalem — Rashi, Sukkah],

and smoke rises between them, and this is

[that is, these are the palm trees]

that we learned

in the Mishna in Sukkah:

‘The palms

[date palms]

of the Iron Mountain’ —

are fit

to take a lulav from them,

and this is the entrance to Gehenna!”

We see, then, that there is another entrance to Gehenna!

And we reject this:

Perhaps

this entrance in the Valley of Ben Hinnom

is

the entrance to Gehenna

in

in

Jerusalem,

as it is written: “And the border went up through the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the shoulder of the Jebusite from the south; that is Jerusalem” — Tosafot.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Gehenna has seven names, and these are they:

1.

Sheol,

2.

Abaddon,

3.

the Pit of Destruction,

4.

the Pit of Turmoil,

5.

the Mire of Mud,

[it is mire in which one sinks, unlike ordinary mud, which is thick and suitable for building] 6.

the Shadow of Death,

7.

the nethermost land!

1.

Sheol: As it is written

concerning Jonah inside the fish:

“From the belly of Sheol I cried out; You heard my voice”

[as we said above, he intended Gehenna].

2.

Abaddon: As it is written: “Can Your kindness be told in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?”

3.

The Pit of Destruction: As it is written: “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your faithful one to see destruction.”

And “destruction” and “the Pit of Destruction” are one expression.

4–5.

“The Pit of Turmoil” and “the Mire of Mud”: As it is written: “He brought me up from the Pit of Turmoil, from the Mire of Mud.”

6.

“The Shadow of Death”: As it is written: “Those who dwell in darkness and the Shadow of Death”

“before I go and do not return to the land of darkness and the Shadow of Death”

[Tosafot].

7.

“The nethermost land”: This is a tradition of the Gemara

[it is handed down to us].

And we raise a difficulty:

Are there no more

names for Gehenna?

But there is “Topheth.”

And we answer: This is not its name. Rather, it is called so because it is

a valley as deep as Gehenna

like the Valley of Ben Hinnom mentioned at the beginning of the verse.

Furthermore [Maharsha],

everyone descends

there

for matters of vanity

[Bach], namely, forbidden sexual relations.

We raise another difficulty:

But there is also

another name:

Topheth.

As it is written:

[Isaiah 30:33]

“For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday”

[Gehenna — Rashi on Isaiah]; “it too is prepared for the king” [Sennacherib]; “its pyre is deep and broad, with abundant fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, burns within it.”?!

And we answer: This is not its name. Rather,

that

is named so because

everyone who is enticed by his inclination will fall there.

And where is the entrance to

the Garden of Eden? Reish Lakish said: If it is in the Land of Israel,

the Garden of Eden,

Beit She’an is its entrance,

because its fruits are sweeter than those of anywhere else in the Land of Israel.

And if it is in Arabia,

it is,

Beit Gerem is its entrance.

And if it is between the rivers, Domaskanin is its entrance.

And if

in Babylonia

it is:

Abaye praised the fruit of the region beyond

the Euphrates

to the south

[on the river’s southern side, to the right of one facing east; they are sweet and excellent, and there is the entrance to the Garden of Eden].

Rava praised the fruit of Harpanya,

and there is the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

We learned in the Mishna:

“And between them there is enough space for two

and so on, tied and not loose”:

And we wonder:

Is it not obvious

that they are not loose, since

once the Mishna taught that they were tied, we know that they were not loose?!

And we answer:

It might have been said that “tied,”

as we learned, means

something resembling tied, but actually

not so; therefore it teaches us

through the repetition of the wording

“and not loose”

that they must actually be tied.

We learned in the Mishna:

“One enters and one exits”:

And we explain:

The tan[n]a taught:

Do not say that within the herd one cow enters and another exits, because if so they would not be tied.

Rather:

One herd enters and one herd exits,

for it is impossible for one herd to enter and another herd to exit unless there is space between them [commentary on the Mishna by Maimonides].

The Sages taught: What

is the measure of

the head and most of the body of a cow

concerning what we learned in the Mishna, that the partitions must be set this distance from the well?

Two cubits!

And what is the width of a cow

concerning what we learned about the space between the partitions, which is determined by the width of a cow?