Gittin 57a (נז.) — the Talmud in English

With what did he sentence himself?

The

entire day they gather

his ashes, judge him, burn him, and scatter them over the seven seas.

They judge me for what I decreed upon myself: Every day they gather my ashes, judge me, burn me again, and scatter my ashes over the seven seas.

Onkelos went

Onkelos

and raised Balaam by necromancy. He said to him: Who is esteemed in that world?

He said to him: Israel!

Onkelos again raised Balaam by necromancy and asked him: Who is esteemed in the supernal world? Balaam answered him: Israel!

Onkelos continued and asked Balaam

What about cleaving to them?

Would it be worthwhile to cleave to them and convert?]

Balaam said to him

to Onkelos, in the language of the verse: “

You shall not seek their peace or their welfare” —

of Israel —

all the days!

For indeed, in the supernal world Israel are esteemed, but in this physical world Israel are oppressed by suffering, and so are converts. Therefore, if he prefers a life of license and pleasures, it is worthwhile for him to refrain from seeking the peace and welfare of Israel.

Onkelos said to

Balaam:

With what is that man judged?

By what are you judged in Heaven?

Balaam said to him

to Onkelos:

With boiling semen

they judge me! It is measure for measure, because on Balaam’s advice the people began to engage in licentious relations with the daughters of Moab.

He went and raised Jesus

by necromancy,

and

said to him: Who is esteemed in that world?

Onkelos again raised Jesus the Nazarene by necromancy and asked him: Who is esteemed in that world?

The sinner said to him

to Onkelos:

Their welfare

of Israel

seek,

but

do not seek their harm,

because

whoever touches them is as though he touches the apple of His eye.

He said

to

him: With what is that man judged?

He said to him: With boiling excrement, as the Master said: “

Anyone who mocks the words of the Sages is judged with boiling excrement.”

The Gemara adds to this account of Onkelos:

Come and see

[come and see]:

What is the difference between

that Jesus, who is among the

sinners of Israel, and the prophets of the nations of the world

who worship idolatry?

For although that Nazarene sinned and caused others to sin, he was an Israelite, and he recognized the truth that there is no good except for one who benefits Israel. Balaam, however, although he was a prophet, was an evil gentile, and he gave Onkelos advice to harm Israel.

The Gemara further cites a beraita concerning the incident of bar Kamtza:

It was taught: Come and see how great is the power of shame, for the Holy One, blessed be He, assisted bar Kamtza

who was shamed,

by those who humiliated him,

and destroyed His House and burned His Sanctuary.

Concerning this incident of bar Kamtza, from which the account proceeded to the destruction of Jerusalem, I apply the verse: “

Happy is the person who is always fearful, but one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” for had they taken care to foresee the consequences and worried lest a great mishap result from their actions, they would not have acted as they did.

And the second matter to which I apply this verse is:

b.

Because of a rooster and a hen, Mount Royal was destroyed:

Because of a rooster and a hen, Mount Royal was destroyed.

And how did these events unfold?

They were accustomed, when

[when]

they would bring out

[they would bring out]

a bridegroom and bride, to bring a rooster and a hen out before them.

They were accustomed in that place to bring out a rooster and a hen before the bridegroom and bride when they escorted them to the wedding canopy.

That is to say: Be fruitful and multiply like roosters.

There was an allusion in this custom: They blessed the bridegroom and bride that they should be fruitful and multiply like roosters, which are exceedingly fruitful.

One day, a

in that place

Roman troop passed by,

and

seized them from the people.

At a wedding held one day, a troop of Roman soldiers passed there and snatched the rooster and hen from them.

The people

of Mount Royal

fell upon them,

and

struck them.

The people of Mount Royal attacked the troop and struck them.

Concerning this matter too I apply the verse: “Happy is the person who is always fearful, but one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” meaning: Happy is the person who takes care to foresee the consequences, lest a mishap result from his actions.

For they should not have been so insistent about their custom, and they did not foresee the consequences of attacking the troop of soldiers.

They

[the soldiers]

said to the emperor: The Jews have rebelled against you

[the Jews] of Mount Royal.

The emperor heard their words, and

came against them,

coming to wage war against them.

There was among them

[among the Jews]

a certain bar Deroma

[a man from the south, whom they called “bar Deroma”]

who could leap a mil and kill among them.

Bar Deroma could leap the distance of a mil in a single jump, and he did so, leaping into the enemy camp and killing them.

When the emperor saw the supernatural power of that Jew,

the emperor removed his crown and placed it on the ground.

The emperor took his crown from his head and placed it on the ground.

and

he said

in prayer:

Master of the entire world, if it is pleasing to You, do not deliver that man

[that man — he was referring to himself],

him and his kingdom, into the hands of one man,

namely, “bar Deroma.”

He prayed and said: Master of the entire world, if it is pleasing to You, do not deliver me and my kingdom into the hands of one man, that is, into the hands of bar Deroma.

His mouth caused

bar Deroma

[his mouth caused him to stumble by saying something improper].

And he said

above, in the language of the verse: “

Is it not You, God, who have rejected us, and You, God, do not go forth with our armies,”

and his intention was to say: We will triumph through the strength of our armies, and we have no need for Your assistance.

And we raise an objection: But

David also said this,

for this wording, which bar Deroma said, is a verse in Psalms, and David said it; it cannot be an improper statement!?

And we answer:

David was expressing astonishment.

That is, bar Deroma did not say it as David did, for David said it as a question of wonder: O Lord, why do You not go forth with our armies? But bar Deroma, in his error, said it declaratively, as though there were no need for His assistance.

After bar Deroma said this,

he went

bar Deroma

to the privy; a dragon came, tore out his intestines, and bar Deroma died.

After bar Deroma said this, he entered the privy, and a snake came and bit him in his intestines, and bar Deroma died.

The emperor said

the emperor:

Since a miracle has happened to me, this

time

[on this occasion],

I shall leave

Israel alone; and indeed

he left them and went

to return to his place.

After bar Deroma died, the emperor said: Since such a miracle occurred for me, I shall therefore leave Israel alone; and indeed he left them alone and went back to his place.

When the emperor had gone,

the people of Mount Royal rejoiced exuberantly

the people of Mount Royal,

and they ate and drank and lit lamps, until the seal engraved on a ring could be seen from a distance of a mil.

Once the emperor had gone, the people of Mount Royal leaped and danced for joy. They ate and drank and lit lamps, whose light could be seen far away, so that one walking a mil from the city could see the design engraved on a ring.

When he saw the extent of their celebration,

he said: The Jews are rejoicing specifically over me

that is, they are mocking me.

And therefore

he again came against them

[he returned and came to wage war against them].

Rabbi Asi said: Three hundred thousand men who drew swords entered Mount Royal.

Three hundred thousand swordsmen entered Mount Royal.

And they killed there for three days and three nights.

They killed in Mount Royal for three days and three nights.

While on the other side there were weddings and celebrations, and those here did not know what was happening to those there.

On one side they were killing, while on the other side there were weddings and celebrations; because of the province’s vast size, the people on one side did not discern what was happening on the other.

It is written in the Scroll of Lamentations [2:2]: “

The Lord has swallowed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob.”

When Ravin came

from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia,

he said

in the name of

Rabbi Yohanan: “

The dwellings of Jacob,” which the verse mentions:

These are the six hundred thousand towns that King Yannai had in Mount Royal

as stated by Rav Yehuda,

for Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav Asi: There were six hundred thousand

[six hundred thousand]

towns that King Yannai had in Mount Royal, and in each and every one

of these towns

there were

six hundred thousand

corresponding to the number

of those who left Egypt,

except for three

towns

in which there were twice as many as those who left Egypt

[one million two hundred thousand], and

these are: Kfar Bish, Kfar Sikhlaim, and Kfar Dakhreya.

The Gemara expounds the names of these three towns, explaining why they were called by these names:

Kfar Bish

[“evil”]: They were miserly, and their place was called this because

they did not give a house to a guest

[they did not provide a house for a guest who came to lodge].

Kfar Sikhlaim was called by this name because

it was called so because

their livelihood came from cress

[the name of a particular food].

Kfar Dakhreya,

[an expression referring to males],

Rabbi Yohanan said:

it was called by this name because

their wives first gave birth to male children, then gave birth to a female child, and ceased.

Ulla said: I myself saw that place, and it could not contain even sixty ten-thousands of reeds.

I saw that place, which was called Mount Royal, and it was so small that it could not contain even six hundred thousand reeds.

A certain Sadducee said to Rabbi Hanina: You are fabricating lies,

when you say that there were six hundred thousand towns in Mount Royal, for its area could not even contain six hundred thousand reeds!

He said to him

[Rabbi Hanina replied]: “

A land of a deer”

is written concerning it

[concerning Eretz Yisrael].

And this comes to teach us:

Just as a deer’s skin cannot contain its flesh,

for when its skin is removed, it contracts, and it is impossible to put it back over the deer’s flesh,

so too is Eretz Yisrael: When people dwell upon it —

it expands

[it expands] —

and when people do not dwell upon it —

it contracts,

it contracts.

The Sages now come to explain the spiritual greatness and exalted stature of the inhabitants of one of the many towns that were in Mount Royal, and the reason their place was destroyed despite their extraordinary righteousness.

Rav Minyumi bar Hilekiya, Rav Hilekiya bar Tuvya, and Rav Huna bar Hiyya,

all three of them,

were sitting together

[they sat together].

They said: If anyone has heard something

[who had heard something] about the conduct of the inhabitants of

the town “

Sikhnaya of Egypt”

which was in Mount Royal,

let him say it

[let him relate what he knows]:

One of them began

one of the Sages

and said

to his colleagues:

There was an incident involving an engaged man and his fiancée,

who were from that city. The woman was betrothed to him, and they had not yet reached the wedding canopy.

They were taken captive among the gentiles, and

they

married them to each other.

She said to him

the fiancée:

Please, do not touch me,

because

I do not have a marriage contract from you,

and I am rabbinically forbidden to you, for the Sages prohibited a bride to her husband when she has no marriage contract.

And

indeed,

he did not touch her

the fiancé

until the day of his death.

And when he died

the fiancé,

she said

the fiancée

to them

[to the Jews who attended his burial]:

Eulogize this one who trifled

[who scorned]

with his inclination more than Joseph did,

the righteous man who withstood the test involving Potiphar’s wife.

And in three matters he trifled with his inclination more than Joseph:

a.

For in Joseph’s case there was only one hour

[one hour of testing],

whereas this one

[the fiancé]

faced it every single day.

b.

Joseph was not in one bed,

he was not,

whereas this one was in one bed,

he was compelled to be with her, and nevertheless he did not touch her.

c.

Joseph was not with his wife,

she was not,

whereas this one was with his wife,

she was his wife, but the Sages had prohibited her to him, and he did not stumble with her.

Another sage began another sage

another sage

and said:

There was an incident that occurred in that village,

that took place in that village, and

and the price stood the price of

at which their price stood

forty measures of grain

measures of grain

per dinar; one measure was subtracted from the rate, and thirty-nine measures stood at one dinar [an increase of approximately two percent].

and thirty-nine measures stood per dinar [a rise of approximately two percent per hundred].

The inhabitants of the place were aroused to investigate why this had happened to them, why the rate had risen,

and they investigated and found that there had been a wicked deed among them:

a wicked deed that had taken place among them:

A father and his son who had relations with a betrothed maiden on Yom Kippur.

They brought them before the court, and witnesses testified against them that they had done this deed, with witnesses present and after an admonition,

and witnesses testified against them that they had committed this act, with witnesses present and after being warned,

and they stoned them.

And immediately

immediately

the rate of the grain

of the grain

returned to its place, so that it was sold at forty measures per dinar.

so that it was again sold at forty measures per dinar.

Another sage began the third sage

the third sage

and said to his colleagues:

to his colleagues:

There was an incident involving a certain man who lived in that village,

from that village

who had set his sights on divorcing his wife, but her ketuba was substantial; and he could not rid himself of her without paying her ketuba, unless he brought an evil name upon her, in which case the court would deprive her of her ketuba.

and he could not free himself from her without paying the marriage settlement unless he brought an evil name upon her, in which case the court would deprive her of her marriage settlement.

What did he do? He went and summoned his groomsmen his friends,

his friends,

and he fed them and gave them drink and

and

made them drunk he gave them enough to become drunk,

gave them drink until they became drunk,

and he laid them down on a single bed with his wife.

with his wife.

And he brought egg white, which resembles semen, in order to spread a report that they had had relations with his wife.

which resembles semen, in order to spread a report that they had relations with his wife.

And he appointed witnesses for them to testify that they had been on a single bed, and that they had found something resembling semen on the bed.

to the fact that they had been on one bed, and that something resembling semen had been found on the bed.

And he came before the court, to bring a false accusation against his wife.

to bring a false accusation against his wife.

And he thought that the court would tell him to divorce her without paying her ketuba, because they were righteous men, and it was their practice to rule according to halakha, that a woman leaves her husband when witnesses testify concerning disgraceful acts that she had committed.

There was an elderly man there, one of the disciples of the elder Shammai, and his name was Bava ben Buta.

He said to them Bava ben Buta said to the court:

Bava ben Buta said to the judges:

This is what I received as a tradition from the elder Shammai: Egg white when it is held before a light,

when it is held up to a light,

contracts dries and congeals

dries and congeals

from the light because of the heat of the fire,

because of the heat of the fire,

whereas if

if

semen is repelled absorbed into the garment

is absorbed into the garment

by the light.

Accordingly, it could be examined whether it was indeed semen, or whether this was a false accusation and it was egg white that he had placed among them.

The court examined it

the court

and found it as he had said, that it was nothing but egg white, and it emerged that he had brought a false evil name upon his wife.

it was nothing but egg white, and it turned out that he had brought an evil name upon his wife.

And therefore,

therefore,

they brought him before the court, flogged him, and collected her ketuba from him they collected her ketuba from him.

they collected her ketובה from him.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: But since they were so exceedingly righteous so much,

so greatly,

why were they punished?

He said to him: Because they did not mourn they did not mourn

they did not mourn

for Jerusalem.

As it is written Isaiah 66:10: “

Isaiah 66:10: “

Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her, all who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all who mourn for her.” We learn from this that only those who mourn for Jerusalem will rejoice with Jerusalem; from here it follows that one is obligated to mourn for Jerusalem.

We learn from this that only those who mourn over Jerusalem will rejoice with Jerusalem; from here it follows that one is obligated to mourn over Jerusalem.

And the third matter to which I apply the verse, “Fortunate is the person who is always fearful,” is:

3.

Because of the sideboard of a litter because of the wall of a women’s carriage,

because of the side of a women’s carriage

Beitar was destroyed:

For they were accustomed in Beitar, that

in Betar that

when a male child was born, they planted a cedar, and when a

and when a

female child was born they

was

planted an acacia. They had a custom that when a baby was born, they would plant a cedar, and when a baby girl was born, they would plant an acacia tree.

They had a custom that when a baby boy was born, they planted a cedar tree, and when a baby girl was born, they planted an acacia tree ].

And

when they married, they would cut them down and make a wedding canopy. When they married, they would cut down the trees that they had planted at their birth and make a canopy for the couple from them.

When they married, they would cut down the trees that had been planted at their births and make a bridal canopy from them for the couple. ]

One day, the daughter of the Caesar was passing by; the sideboard of her litter broke, so they cut down a cedar and brought it to her. One day, the Caesar’s daughter passed there in her carriage, and the side of her carriage broke. Her servants cut down a cedar to repair the side of the carriage for her.

One day, the emperor’s daughter passed by there in her carriage, and one side of her carriage broke. Her servants cut down a cedar tree in order to repair the side of the carriage for her. ]

They came upon them and beat them the inhabitants came, attacked them, and struck them.

the inhabitants of the place came, attacked them, and struck them.

They did not consider that this act would cause the Caesar to return to take revenge on them. Thus they transgressed what is written, “Fortunate is the person who is always fearful, but one who hardens his heart will fall into misfortune,” because they did not take heed to foresee what would result.

They said to the Caesar: The Jews have rebelled against you, and he came against them the Caesar came to wage war.

the emperor came to wage war.

It is stated in the Scroll of Lamentations (2:3): “

He has cut down in fierce anger every horn of Israel”

and this verse was fulfilled in the destruction that occurred at Beitar.

a.

Rabbi Zeira said that Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

These were eighty thousand horns of war the commanders of troops who sounded horns, around whom the soldiers of their armies gathered,

heads of troop units who blow the horn and gather to themselves the members of their army.

who entered the city of Beitar when they captured it.

And they killed men, women, and children and spilled their blood, and the quantity of their blood was so great

spilling their blood, and the amount of blood was so great

that their blood flowed and streamed like a river until it reached

and streamed like a river until it reached

and fell into the Great Sea.

Lest you say that it was close that Beitar was close to the Great Sea, and that the blood was therefore not so great a quantity?

and that Betar was close to the Great Sea, so that the amount of blood was not actually so great?

It was not so; rather,

it was one mil away two thousand cubits from the Great Sea.

from the Great Sea.

It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: There are two streams in the Yadim Valley the name of a place,

[the name of a place],

one of them

of

flows in this direction toward one side,

toward one side,

and one flows in that direction toward the other side.

toward the other side.

The blood of the slain reached these streams and flowed into the Great Sea,

and the Sages estimated that at that time there was in the streams

that at that time the streams contained

two parts water, and one

one

part one-third

a third

blood.

In the metanita it was taught: For seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards from the blood of Israel, without fertilizer, because the blood absorbed into the soil served as fertilizer for their fields for seven years, and they did not need to fertilize their fields as was their practice, each and every year.

because the blood absorbed into the soil served as fertilizer for their fields for seven years, and they did not need to fertilize their fields in the usual manner each and every year.