Makkot 24a — the Talmud in English

“Torah” -

in gematria

is six hundred and eleven,

[six hundred and eleven], which is the number of the mitzvot transmitted to the community of Israel from Moses our teacher.

For these two mitzvot,

“I am” and “You shall have no other gods,” we heard from the mouth of the Might,

as it is written: “One thing God spoke, and these two I heard.” That is: “I am,” and “You shall have no other gods.”

And together they are six hundred and thirteen mitzvot.

Mnemonic: D-M-SH-M-K S-K:

And the Gemara continues to bring the words of Rabbi Simlai:

At first, in the early generations, the community of Israel were righteous, and they were able to accept the yoke of many mitzvot; but the later generations were not so righteous, and if they came to observe them all, there is no person who would merit it. Therefore

David came and reduced them to eleven,

so that they would merit it if they fulfilled these eleven mitzvot , and likewise each generation that passed, they continued to reduce them, as will be explained below.

And these are the eleven mitzvot to which David reduced them:

As it is written:

[Psalms 15]

“A psalm of David. Hashem, who may dwell in Your tent, who may reside on Your holy mountain? -

a

who walks wholeheartedly,

b

and performs righteousness,

c

and speaks truth in his heart.

d

Who has not slandered with his tongue,

e

who has done his fellow no harm,

f

and has not borne disgrace against his close one.

g

Despised in his eyes is the rejected one,

h

and he honors those who fear Hashem.

i

He swears to do evil and does not change,

j

he has not given his money at interest,

k

and he has not taken a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these -

shall never be moved.”

a.

“Who walks wholeheartedly” -

this is Abraham, as it is written

[Genesis 17]

“Walk before Me and be wholehearted.”

b.

“And performs righteousness” -

such as Abba Hilkiah,

who refrained from greeting the Sages while he was working as a day laborer [Ta’anit 23].

c.

“And speaks truth in his heart” -

such as Rav Safra.

He had one object to sell, and a man came before him while he was reciting the Shema and said to him: Give me the object for such-and-such an amount of money. Rav Safra did not answer him because he was in the middle of the Shema. That man thought that he did not agree to the amount he had named, and he added to the amount and said: Give it to me for more than that. After Rav Safra finished reciting the Shema, he said to him: Take the object for the amount you said at first, because at that amount I had intended to give it to you. d. “Who has not slandered with his tongue” - this is Jacob our father,

who did not wish to lie at the outset when his mother sent him to bring delicacies to Isaac,

as it is written

[there, 27]

“Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as a mocker.”

Rather, his mother compelled him by prophetic command, as it is said: “Let your curse be upon me, my son”; and in the translation: “It was said to me in prophecy that curses should not come upon you, my son.”

e.

“Who has done his fellow no harm” -

that he did not descend into his fellow’s trade 4.

f.

“And has not borne disgrace against his close one” -

this is one who brings his relatives close.

He does not tolerate the disgrace of his close one.

g.

“Despised in his eyes is the rejected one” -

Whoever is rejected by the Holy One, blessed is He, is despised in the eyes of man.

This is King Hezekiah, who

despised his father in his eyes, for his father was rejected before the Holy One, blessed is He, because he worshiped idolatry, and therefore

he dragged

the

bones of his father on a bed of ropes.

h.

“And he honors those who fear Hashem” -

this is Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who, whenever he saw a Torah scholar, would rise from his throne, embrace him and kiss him, and call him

“My father, my father,”

, “My teacher, my teacher,” “My master, my master.”

i.

“He swears to do evil and does not change” -

like Rabbi Yohanan. For Rabbi Yohanan said: “I shall fast until I come home.”

He would swear this against the evil inclination, for he would say this in order to evade the members of the Resh Galuta who had invited him to dine with them [Ta’anit 12b].

j.

“He has not given his money at interest” -

even at interest to an idolater.

He does not lend at interest even to a gentile, so that he will not be drawn into lending to a Jew at interest

. k.

“And he has not taken a bribe against the innocent” -

Even a bribe that he was permitted to take,

such as Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei.

His tenant, who had a case before him, brought him his own produce before its time. Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei did not wish to take the produce from him before its time because he feared it was a bribe, although according to the strict law this was not a bribe.

And

it is written

concerning one who performs these mitzvot,

“He who does these shall never be moved.”

When Rabban Gamliel reached this verse, he would weep.

He said:

It follows from this verse that only

one who performs all of them,

who fulfills all these,

he

is the one

who shall not be moved. But

if he fulfills only

one of them -

he will be moved!

They said to him: Is it written, “He who does all these”?

“He who does these” is written!

And if so, the meaning of the verse is:

even with

fulfillment of

one of them,

the one who does this shall not be moved.

For if you do not say so,

if we do not explain it this way, but explain the meaning of the verse as saying that only if he did all these shall he not be moved, then there is a difficulty from what

is written

in

another verse

[Leviticus 18:24], in the section of forbidden sexual relations:

“Do not defile yourselves through any of these.”

And

there too

could we explain that only if he transgresses

all of them

is he defiled,

meaning that the prohibition against defiling himself through forbidden sexual relations applies only if he transgresses all the prohibitions of forbidden sexual relations, but if he defiles himself only

through one of them, it is not

forbidden for him to defile himself!?

But it is obvious that it is impossible to explain it this way!

Rather, is it not so

that necessarily the explanation there is that even to defile oneself through forbidden sexual relations

“through any one of these”

is forbidden. And if so,

here too,

we shall explain here as well that “he who does these shall not be moved” means even if only

through

fulfillment of

one of all these.

Isaiah came and reduced them

in his generation

to six

mitzvot:

And these are the mitzvot:

As it is written:

[Isaiah 33] “

a

who walks in righteousness,

b

and speaks uprightly.

c

Who despises the gain of oppressions,

d

who shakes his hands from grasping a bribe,

e

who stops his ear from hearing blood,

f

and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.”

a.

“Who walks in righteousness” -

this is Abraham our father, as it is written

[Genesis 18]

“For I have known him, so that he may command

his sons and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Hashem, to perform charity and justice.”

b.

“And speaks uprightly” -

this is one who does not embarrass his fellow’s face in public,

who does not cause him distress even through speech.

c.

“Who despises the gain of oppressions” -

such as Rabbi Ishmael son of Elisha,

who was a priest of the Temple service. The account is brought in tractate Ketubot 105b: A man brought him the first shearing of his flock. Rabbi Yishmael asked him: “Where are you from?” He replied: “From such-and-such a place.” Rabbi Yishmael said to him: “Was there no priest between there and here to whom you could have given it?” The man replied: “I have a case before you, and I thought that, since I was coming this way, I would bring it to you.” Rabbi Yishmael said to him: “You have disqualified me from judging your case,” and he did not accept it from him.

He did not wish to take it for himself, even though Rabbi Yishmael son of Elisha was a priest of the Temple service, because it appeared as though he were depriving the other priest to whom that man regularly gave his gifts.

d.

“Who shakes his hands from grasping a bribe” -

such as Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosei,

whose tenant brought him his own produce before its time, and he did not wish to take the produce from him before its time, so as to be his judge.

e.

“Who stops his ear from hearing blood” -

who does not hear the denigration of a Torah scholar and remain silent.

He does not remain silent when he hears someone belittling a Torah scholar, but responds immediately. The meaning of the verse is that his ear is stopped from hearing denigration of a Torah scholar without responding [and thereby appearing as one who accepts the words and agrees with them]; rather, as soon as he hears, he protests.

Such as Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon,

from whose ear a worm emerged after his death, and it appeared to his wife in a dream, and he said to her: This worm emerged from my ear because I heard someone belittling a Torah scholar and did not protest as I should have protested. It follows that during his lifetime he was accustomed to be exacting in this matter, and therefore the Holy One, blessed is He, was strict with him concerning that one occasion on which he did not protest.

f.

“And shuts his eyes from seeing evil” -

as Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba.

For Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: This is one who does not look

when he walks along the bank of the river

at women

when they are standing at the washing place,

for they need to stand there barefoot and uncover their legs in order to stand in the river.

And it is written

concerning one who performs these mitzvot: [Isaiah 33]

“He shall dwell on high places

“He will dwell in the heights

and so on.”

“For he who fulfills these six mitzvot, which encompass a large portion of the mitzvot of the Torah, ‘he shall dwell on high places’

he merits a great elevation.

Micah came and reduced them

in his generation

to three

mitzvot:

And these are the mitzvot:

As it is written:

[Micah 6]

“He has told you, man, what is good, and what does Hashem demand of you? Only -

a

to perform justice,

b

to love kindness,

c

and to walk humbly with your God.”

a.

“To perform justice” -

this is judgment,

that the court judges the judgment.

b.

“To love kindness” -

this is acts of kindness.

c.

“And to walk humbly” -

this is taking out the dead and bringing in the bride,

for concerning them the expression “walking” is written: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting” [Ecclesiastes 7]. And even there one must be modest: to eat in a proper measure, to rejoice in a proper measure, and not to conduct himself with frivolity.

And some explain that if one needs to give charity for taking out a poor dead person, or for bringing in a poor bride, he should do so privately, and should not tell everyone who still does not know about it.

And from this they learn a kal va-chomer: And as for matters

such as bringing in a bride and accompanying the dead,

which are not ordinarily done privately,

since others are occupied with them and they know who provided the money for the expenses, nevertheless

the Torah said, “and to walk humbly.”

Matters that are ordinarily done privately,

such as charity given to a poor person in secret, for which there is no need to inform anyone,

all the more so

must be done privately. And this is what Micah said: Everything must be done privately.

Isaiah returned and reduced them

in his generation

to two.

And these are the mitzvot:

As it is stated

[Isaiah 56]

“So said Hashem: -

a

Observe justice,

b

and perform righteousness.”

Amos came and reduced them

in his generation

to

one

mitzva,

as it is stated

[Amos 5]

“So said Hashem to the house of Israel: Seek Me, and live.”

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak objected to this: Say

that the meaning of the verse is

“Seek Me through the entire Torah,”

that one must fulfill all the mitzvot of the Torah!?

Rather, Habakkuk came and reduced them

in his generation

to

one

mitzva,

as it is stated

[Habakkuk 2]

“But the righteous, through his faith

shall live.”

Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina said: Moses our teacher issued four decrees against Israel.

Four prophets came and annulled them.

And these are they:

a.

Moses said

[Deuteronomy 33]

“And Israel shall dwell securely, alone, the eye of Jacob.”

When shall Israel dwell securely? Only when they are righteous like Jacob.

Amos came and annulled it.

As it is stated

[Amos 7]

“Please desist; who can raise Jacob, for he is small?”

“Please desist” - that blessing which Moses said: “And Israel shall dwell”.

“Who can raise Jacob?” - who can be pious like Jacob?

“For he is small” - the good ones who will be righteous like Jacob are few.

And it is written:

[there]

“Hashem relented concerning this

and so on,”

for Hashem relented concerning the blessing with which Moses blessed.

b.

Moses said

[Deuteronomy 28]

“And among those nations you shall have no repose,”

that the community of Israel would have no rest in exile.

Jeremiah came and annulled it. And he said:

[Jeremiah 31]

“Going to give Israel repose,”

that they would have rest in their exile.

c.

Moses said

[Exodus 34]

“Visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children,”

Ezekiel came and annulled it:

[Ezekiel 18]

“The soul that sins, it shall die.”

4.

Moses said [

Leviticus 26]

“And you shall perish among the nations.”

Isaiah came and said: [

Isaiah 27]

“And it shall be on that day: a great shofar shall be sounded, and those lost in the land” and so forth.

This teaches that they will not be lost among the nations.

Rav said: I am afraid [

I am afraid]

of this verse [

of what is stated in this verse],

“And you shall perish among the nations,”

whose meaning is that all Israel, Heaven forbid, will be lost among the nations.

Rav Pappa challenged this: Perhaps

the meaning of the verse is that they will be lost

like a sought-after lost object,

which is found after a time,

as it is written [

Psalms 119]

“I have wandered like a lost sheep; seek Your servant.”

Rather, from the end [

of the verse]

I am afraid, as it is written [Leviticus 26]

“And the land of your enemies shall consume you.”

Mar Zutra challenged this [

and some say Rav Ashi]:

Perhaps

the meaning of the verse is

like the eating of cucumbers and gourds,

some of which are eaten and some of which are not eaten.

And it already happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva were walking on the road, and they heard the sound of the multitude of Rome, from a palace [

from a house of Rome]

at a distance of

one hundred and twenty mil,

and they began to weep, while Rabbi Akiva

was

laughing [

laughing].

They said to him: Why are you

Rabbi Akiva

laughing?

He said to them: And you, why are you weeping?

They said to him: Those are nations -

who bow down to idols and offer incense to idolatry, sitting secure and tranquil. And we -

the house that is the footstool of our God is burned ![](pamud.bmp "

precise column location")

in fire, and shall we not weep?!