Kiddushin 81a — the Talmud in English

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to warn him

[to admonish him] not to have relations with her, for if he has relations with her, the water will not examine her.

Further,

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: They taught

that two men may seclude themselves with one woman

only in a city.

But on the road

even two may not seclude themselves with her

until there are three

men, because

perhaps one of them will need to urinate

and will need to distance himself for reasons of modesty, and his companion will remain alone

and it will be found that one is secluded with a forbidden woman.

And the Gemara asks:

Let us say that this supports him

Rav from what we learned above: One who goes to have his wife who secluded herself drink

is given two Torah scholars

to accompany him

lest he have relations with her on the road.

And it follows that specifically two are given to him, for

two and he

[the husband himself]

that is three

, three. But one companion together with the husband is not permitted, even though together they are two. And there is a proof from here for the words of Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav, that on the road two are insufficient.

And we reject this: This is not a proof. For

there

it is not because of the prohibition of seclusion that two are required. Rather,

so that

if her husband has relations with her on the road,

there should be upon her

these two Torah scholars

witnesses

to testify about it, so that the scroll should not be erased for her in vain.

Rav and Rav Yehuda were going along on the road

[they were walking on the road].

A certain woman was walking before them

[there was a certain woman walking ahead of them].

Rav said to Rav Yehuda: Raise your feet

[raise your feet] and go quickly

ahead of Gehenna

[in order to get ahead of her], that is, to be saved from the judgment of Gehenna.

He said to him

Rav Yehuda:

But master

[you, Rav],

are the one who said: with

two

fit

men and one woman,

it is quite well

it is permitted to seclude oneself with her.

He said to him

Rav:

Who says

that with fit men such as you and I

seclusion is also permitted?!

And Rav Yehuda asked:

Rather

fit men

such as what?

Who are those called “fit”?

And they answered: Fit men are

such as Rabbi Hanina bar Pappi and his companions

[Rabbi Tzadok and Rav Kahana], who gave over their lives in order to be saved from transgression. And concerning them it is said: “Mighty in strength, doers of His word, to hear the voice of His word.”

Rav said: They flog for

the

seclusion

with lashes of rebellion.

But

they do not prohibit

the woman to her husband

because of seclusion.

For if she secluded herself with a strange man [without her husband warning her concerning this], her status is not that of a woman who committed adultery against her husband, who is prohibited to him; rather, she is permitted to him.

Rav Ashi said: We said

that they flog for seclusion

only with the seclusion

of an

unmarried

But with the seclusion

of a

married woman, they do not

flog, in order

that she should not bring disrepute upon her sons.

For if they flog her, people will say that she committed adultery and conceived through adultery, and that her sons are mamzerim.

Mar Zutra

was

flogging

[flogging] even a married woman who secluded herself with a stranger.

And

in order that disrepute should not be brought upon her sons, he

would proclaim

concerning her that she was being flogged because of seclusion and not because of adultery.

Rav Nahman of Parhatya said to Rav Ashi: You too should flog and proclaim

[you too should flog and proclaim] concerning the seclusion of a married woman, and thereby the concern of disrepute will disappear.

He said to him:

I am concerned lest

there be one who hears this but does not hear that

[there be one who hears about the flogging but does not hear the proclamation].

Rav said: They flog for a bad reputation.

One about whom a rumor circulates that he commits transgressions has transgressed a prohibition from the words of tradition [“a bad reputation”], and he is flogged for it.

As it is stated

in Eli's words to his sons who sinned [I Samuel 2:22]: “

Do not

[not]

my sons, for the reputation that I hear is not good

” And “do not” is an expression of prohibition.

Mar Zutra challenged it: He would “bring down” someone about whom a bad reputation had gone out,

“bring down” one about whom a bad reputation had gone out,

a strap upon his shoulder

[a strap upon his shoulder, that is, he flogged him],

and he would recite it to him

and read before him: “

Do not, my sons

, for the reputation that I hear is not good,” to inform him that he was being flogged for this reason.

Rabba said:

A married woman whose

husband is in the city is not suspected

of

seclusion

because they are afraid that her husband may arrive at any moment, and they will not come to sin.

Rav Yosef said:

And likewise, if in the house in which they are staying there is

an open doorway facing the public domain, they are not suspected because of seclusion.

Rav Bibi happened to come

by chance

to the house of Rav Yosef.

After he had eaten bread

[after he ate] with Rav Yosef and his wife upstairs, they went downstairs, and he remained upstairs.

He said to them

Rav Yosef said to the members of his household:

Remove the ladder from beneath Bibi

. Take away the staircase ladder of the upper story, so that Rav Bibi will not be able to descend and seclude himself with my wife when I leave the house.

And we are astonished:

But Rabba said:

If the woman's

husband

is present

in the city, they are not suspected

of

seclusion.

And why was Rav Yosef concerned lest Rav Bibi seclude himself with his wife?

And we answer:

Rav Bibi is different, for

Rav Yosef's wife

was his close companion

[she was his intimate friend],

and she was familiar with him

[her heart was at ease with him]. Therefore there was concern about seclusion even though her husband was in the city.

Rav Kahana said:

A house that has two rooms, one inside the other: if the

men

are staying

outside

in the outer room,

and the

the

women are inside

in the inner room,

there is no

they

concern because of seclusion,

for the man who is in the outer room does not need to pass through the inner one when leaving the house.

And even though, if one of the women wishes to leave, she will pass through the outer room, there is nothing to this, for one woman may seclude herself with two men.

But if the

men

are present

inside, and the

the

women are outside, there is concern

for them

because of seclusion,

for perhaps one of the men will go outside, pass through the outer room, and seclude himself with them.

In a teaching, it was taught oppositely:

if the men are in the outer room and the women in the inner one, there is seclusion, for we are concerned lest one of them enter inside without his companions noticing it.

But if the women are outside, there is no seclusion, for even if one of the women enters inside, one woman may seclude herself with two men.

And even if one of the men goes outside into the women's room, there is no seclusion, for he is afraid lest at any moment one of his companions go outside and pass through the outer room.

Abaye said: Now that Rav Kahana said this, and it was taught oppositely in a teaching—

I shall act stringently!

And we shall prohibit both when the men are inside and the women outside, and when the men are outside and the women inside.

Abaye,

when the public would gather, such as at the time of a discourse or a wedding,

would arrange earthenware jugs

[he arranged rows of earthenware jugs] between the place of the men and the place of the women, so that if one group came to the other, the jugs would make noise. His purpose was to separate them.

Rava

would

arrange reeds

[he arranged rows of reeds], and he did so for the same purpose, since the reeds too make noise when one passes through them.

Avin said: The weakness

[weakness, frailty]

of the year

is the pilgrimage festival!

The time of vulnerability throughout the year is the days of the pilgrimage festivals, because then men and women gather together to hear the discourse, and they conduct business and converse with one another.

And the Gemara brings several incidents from which one can learn what the power of the evil inclination is: without special heavenly assistance, it would have had the power to cause even great people to stumble.

An incident involving

those captives

[captive women]

who came to Nehardea.

Rav Amram the Pious ordered that they be redeemed.

They brought them up

[bring them up]

to

the upper story of

the house of Rav Amram the Pious,

and

they removed the ladder from before them

[they took away the upper-story stairs from beneath them].

As one of them passed by

[when one of them passed] beside the opening of the skylight from the upper story into the house,

light fell into the skylight,

light fell into the house through the opening of the upper story, because her face was exceedingly radiant.

Rav Amram took the ladder

[he took the staircase ladder], in order to climb to the upper story and solicit her for a transgression.

And although the ladder was exceedingly heavy,

so that ten people could not lift it

[so that even ten people could not raise it], the strength of Rav Amram overcame him and

he raised it by himself

[he lifted it alone].

He went up and proceeded

[he went up and went] to the upper story.

When he reached halfway up the ladder

[when he reached the middle of the ladder], he stopped and

spread apart

[spread apart] his legs, in order to stand firmly in his place and overcome his inclination.

He raised his voice

[he raised his voice] and proclaimed: A

fire

[conflagration] has broken out

in Amram's house!

And he summoned the people of the neighborhood to come and extinguish it.

And he did this so that everyone would gather, and through being ashamed before them he would refrain from the transgression.

They came

they came

the Sages

to assist him, and saw that there was no fire there.

They said to him: You have shamed us!

You shamed us by summoning us for nothing, and thus it became publicly known that Torah scholars can stumble in a matter of transgression.

He said to them: Better that you be shamed through Amram

that you be ashamed here, in my house, which is

this world

[in this world],

and not be shamed because of him in the World to Come

[and not be ashamed because of me in the World to Come]!

He made the evil inclination swear

Rav Amram made the evil inclination swear,

that it should come out of him

[that it should come out from him].

It came out of him

the evil inclination,

like a pillar of fire

[in the form of a pillar of fire].

He said to it

Rav Amram said to the evil inclination:

See, you are

fire, and I am flesh, and I am superior to you!

Although you are fire and I am flesh, I am superior to you, and I succeeded in overcoming you.

Rabbi Meir would mock those who committed transgressions,

saying: If they wished, they could overcome their inclination, because it is an easy matter.

One day, it appeared to him

the

Satan as a woman

[it appeared to him in the form of a woman], and she stood

on the other side of the river

[on the opposite bank of the river].

Rabbi Meir wished to cross the river in order to solicit her for a transgression. But

there was not

there

a ferry

[a ferry boat]. Rather, there was only a narrow plank laid across the width of the river, and a rope was stretched above it. Whoever wished to cross would grasp the rope and pass along it.

Rabbi Meir took

the

rope

[he grasped the rope]

and crossed.

When he reached halfway along the rope

[when he reached halfway along the length of the rope],

he let it go

[he left it], his inclination.

He said

to him, Satan:

if they were not proclaiming in Heaven “

Be careful with Rabbi Meir and his Torah,

I would have made your blood worth two ma’ah [I would have made your blood the value of two coins, that is, like something without value]!

[I would have treated your blood as worth only two coins, meaning as something of no value]!

Rabbi Akiva used to mock those who commit transgressions, and would say that it is easy to overcome the evil inclination.

and he would say that overcoming the evil inclination is easy.

One day, Satan appeared to him as a woman [he appeared to him as a woman], and stood

[he appeared to him as a woman], and stood

at the top of a palm tree [at the top of the palm tree].

[at the top of the palm tree].

He seized

Rabbi Akiva

the palm tree, and began climbing and going up, in order to reach her.

in order to reach her.

When he reached half of the

height of the

palm tree, he abandoned him [his evil inclination abandoned him].

[his evil inclination abandoned him].

The evil inclination said

to him:

if they were not proclaiming in Heaven: “

Be careful with Rabbi Akiva and his Torah,

I would have made your blood worth two ma’ah!

Pelimo was accustomed to saying every day: An arrow in Satan’s eye [an arrow in your eye, Satan]!

[an arrow in your eye, Satan]!

One day,

that

it was the eve of Yom Kippur [it was the eve of Yom Kippur],

[it was the day before Yom Kippur],

he appeared to him as a poor man [Satan appeared to him as a poor man].

[the Satan appeared to him as a poor man].

He came, [Satan who appeared as a poor man came, and]

the Satan who appeared as a poor man, and

called at the door [at the entrance of the house]: Give me food to eat!

[of the house]: Give me something to eat!

They brought him bread [they brought him bread].

[they brought him bread].

He said to him

Satan to Pelimo:

On a day such as today,

when

everyone is inside, and I am outside?! [On a day like this, when everyone is eating inside the house, shall I sit outside?]

On such a day, when everyone is eating inside the house, should I sit outside?

They brought him in [Pelimo brought him into the house],

[Pelimo brought him into the house],

and brought bread near to him [bread].

[bread].

He said to him

Satan:

On a day such as today, everyone

in the world

is sitting

at the table [beside the table],

[beside the table],

and I

shall sit

alone?!

They brought him,

and

seated him at the table. They brought him and seated him beside the table.

They brought him and seated him beside the table.

He was sitting,

and

filled his body with boils and lesions upon him [he caused boils and pustules to appear on his body],

[he caused boils and blisters to appear on his body],

and he was doing disgusting things [and he was doing disgusting things before them].

[and did disgusting things in their presence].