Kiddushin 82a — the Talmud in English

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Everything is for the sake of Heaven!

Everything depends on the intention. And specifically, it is forbidden when it is for the sake of the affection of marriage; but I intended only to bring satisfaction to her mother, to show that I cherish her daughter, who is my granddaughter.

Mishna:

A single man may not teach

[accustom]

a person who is unmarried

to be among the

scribes

[teachers of children].

And

likewise

a woman may not teach

[train]

a woman

to be among the

scribes.

Rabbi Elazar says: Even one who does not have a wife may not teach the scribes.

And in the Gemara it will be explained what he adds to the words of the first tanna.

Rabbi Yehuda says: An unmarried man may not tend animals,

so that he will not desire animals and come to bestial intercourse.

And two unmarried men may not sleep under one cloak,

so that they will not come to male intercourse.

And the Sages permit,

since the Israelites have not been suspected of this.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: A single man may not teach the scribes.

And we raised a difficulty about it:

What is the reason?

If you say, because

there is concern lest they come to sin with the

children

[the infants] through male intercourse—

It is impossible to explain it this way.

For

was it not taught: They said to Rabbi Yehuda: The Israelites have not been suspected of male intercourse, nor of bestial intercourse?

And for this reason the Sages disputed him in the latter clause of the Mishna.

And we conclude:

Rather, an unmarried man

may not teach the scribes

because of the mothers of the children.

For the mothers of the children are constantly present with the teachers, to bring their sons to the school.

And

a woman

may not teach the scribes

because of the fathers of the children,

who come with them to the school.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Eliezer says: Even one who does not have

a wife may not teach the scribes.

They raised a dilemma before them:

Did Rabbi Elazar forbid only

one who has no wife at all,

and did he come to add to the words of the first tanna [who said only that an unmarried man, who had never married a woman, is forbidden to teach children, but if he once had a wife and she died, he is permitted to teach them, despite the fact that he now has no wife], and Rabbi Elazar came to say that if his wife died and he now has no wife at all, he is forbidden to teach children?

But if he has a wife, although she is not presently with him, Rabbi Elazar agrees that he is permitted to teach them.

Or perhaps,

Rabbi Elazar’s intention was to add and be more stringent, that even

if

he has a wife, but

she does not reside with him

[she is not presently with him], he also may not teach children.

And the Gemara resolves it:

Come and hear

from a beraita [which must be according to Rabbi Elazar]:

For it was taught:

Even one who has

a wife,

but

she

does not reside with him may not teach the scribes. And this beraita must be according to Rabbi Elazar, for according to the Rabbis he is not an unmarried man, and he is permitted to teach children.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Yehuda says:

He may not tend

animals, and two unmarried men may not sleep under one cloak. And the Sages permit.

It was taught: They said

the Sages

to Rabbi Yehuda: The Israelites have not been suspected of male intercourse, nor of bestial intercourse.

And therefore there is no basis to forbid this to an unmarried man.

Mishna:

Although an ordinary person is permitted to seclude himself with three women or more,

every

person

whose business is with women

[whose occupation is for the needs of women]

may not seclude himself with women,

even many together, because his heart is accustomed to them and he is not embarrassed before them. And there is concern lest, if he sins with one of them, the other women will cover for him.

And a person may not teach his son an occupation

that is for the needs of

women.

Because this occupation causes him to be accustomed to being among women.

Rabbi Meir says: A person should always teach his son a clean and easy occupation.

And

he should not say in his heart that this occupation does not make one wealthy; rather,

he should pray to Him to whom wealth and possessions belong,

and from Heaven they will send him his livelihood.

For

indeed

there is no occupation in which there is not poverty and wealth,

and in every occupation it is possible to succeed, and it is possible to fail.

For not

does

poverty come from the occupation, nor

does

wealth come from the occupation; rather, everything

is measured for a person from Heaven,

according to his merit.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says:

And have you

ever seen an animal or a bird that has an occupation?

And

nevertheless

they are sustained without distress.

And

it is a kal va-chomer:

indeed,

these living creatures

were created only to serve me

[man].

And

if only

I had been created to serve my Creator.

And if they are sustained without distress,

is it not the case that

I too

would be sustained without distress?!

And this was indeed so when the first man was in the Garden of Eden.

But, for

indeed

and

I

my

deeds,

when the first man sinned while he was in the Garden of Eden,

and

therefore

I forfeited my livelihood.

That is to say, it was decreed upon all human beings to suffer over their livelihood.

Abba Gurya, a man of Sidon, says in the name of Abba Guria: A person may not teach his son

to be a

donkey-driver,

one who leads donkeys, or a

camel-driver, or a

potter

[seller of pots], or a

sailor, or a

shepherd,

or a

shopkeeper.

And

a shopkeeper.

Because

their occupation

of these

is an

occupation of

bandits

.

The donkey-driver, camel-driver, sailor, and potter are travelers. When they lodge on the road, their practice is to gather fruit from foreign fields. And they also hire themselves out to people, but they do not fulfill their obligation to work in its entirety. And because of this they have the presumptive status of bandits.

And even the shepherd who tends the animals himself is suspected of grazing them in foreign fields.

And even the shopkeeper is suspected of fraud, of mixing water into wine and pebbles into wheat.

Rabbi Yehuda says in his name,

of Abba Guria:

The donkey-drivers—

most of them are wicked,

because they are suspected of robbery, as stated.

But

the camel-drivers—

most of them are fit,

because they spend much time in the wildernesses, which are places of danger, because of the bands of wild animals and bandits found there. And because of this they fear for their lives and break their hearts before the Holy One, blessed is He.

The sailors—

most of them are pious,

because they are constantly found in a place of danger, and they are always in trembling, more than the camel-drivers.

The best of physicians—

to Gehenna!

Because he is confident in himself and does not fear illness, since he knows how to take care of his health and always eats healthy foods. And because of this he does not break his heart before the Omnipresent.

And sometimes he also kills lives when he is negligent in his work. And sometimes it is within his power to heal poor people who have no means to pay, but he does not wish to heal them without receiving payment.

And the most fit among butchers

[owners of slaughterhouses],

is the partner of Amalek

! For many doubts concerning an animal rendered unfit come into his hands, and because he has pity on his money, he feeds them to Israelites.

Rabbi Nehorai says: I set aside every

all types of

occupation in the world, and I teach my son only Torah.

For

indeed

a person eats of its reward in this world, while the principal remains for him in the World to Come.

But all other occupations are not so.

For

when a person comes to illness, or to old age, or to suffering, and

already

can no longer engage in his work, he dies of hunger.

But the Torah is not so.

Rather

it

guards him from every evil in his youth, and

also

gives him a future and hope in his old age.

For even in his old age, when he can no longer engage in it, he enjoys the granting of its reward.

In his youth, what does it say?—

[Isaiah 40:31] “

But those who hope in the Lord

will renew strength.”

In his old age, what does it say?—

[Psalms 92:15] “

They will yet flourish in old age;

they will be full of sap and fresh.”

And so it says concerning Abraham our father

[Genesis 24:1]: “

And Abraham was old

and advanced in days,

and the Lord

blessed Abraham with everything.”

And this was as a reward for the Torah in which he engaged. For

we find that Abraham our father fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given

[although it had not yet been given].

As it is stated

[Genesis 26:5]: “

Because Abraham listened to My voice, and guarded My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My teachings.”

Gemara:

The Sages taught: Anyone whose business is with women, his path is evil!

That is to say, his conduct is evil. And it is bad to be near him [“his path,” from the expression “to turn aside” toward him].

Such as goldsmiths,

goldsmiths who make gold jewelry for women.

And combers,

who comb women’s garments.

And millstone carvers,

who carve hand-mills with which women grind.

And peddlers,

who sell perfume ornaments to women.

And weavers,

who weave garments for women.

And barbers,

to whom women come so that they may cut their sons’ hair.

And launderers,

to whom women bring their laundry to wash.

And bloodletters

[one who lets blood].

And bathhouse attendants

[one who heats bathhouses].

And tanners,

who process leather for them for clothing and footwear—

All these

may not have one of them appointed king, nor High Priest.

What is the reason?—

Not because they are disqualified, but because their occupation is degrading

[their occupation is despised in the eyes of people, and therefore it is not respectful to kingship and priesthood to appoint them].

The Sages taught: Ten things were said concerning a bloodletter

[one who lets blood]:

1.

He walks on his side,

in an arrogant manner.

2.

And his spirit is haughty.

3.

And he hangs and sits.

He sits only when he is leaning backward or on his side.

And these three things are signs of arrogance: he is arrogant because people place their lives in his hands.

4.

And his eye is narrow

with regard to his money, for he does not spend any of it, since he is accustomed to eating at the homes of those who invite him to let their blood.

5.

And his eye is evil,

for he sets his eyes on the healthy and waits for them to become ill, so that they will need him.

6.

He eats much,

for he is accustomed to eating with several people every day, as stated.

7.

And he excretes little,

because he eats with the sick who require bloodletting, as stated, and they are particular to eat clean bread and fatty meat. And these foods reduce excrement.

8.

And he is suspected concerning forbidden sexual relations

because of his dealings with women.

9.

And

he is suspected

of robbery

because women rob from their husbands and give to him.

10.

And

he is also suspected

of bloodshed!

For sometimes he lets too much blood, causing death.

Bar Kappara expounded: A person should always teach his son a clean and easy occupation.

And we raised a difficulty about it:

What is “

a clean and easy occupation”?