Megillah 25b (כה:) — the Talmud in English

And what is before -

and what is behind,

that is, what was before the creation of the world and what will be after it [so Rashi explained. Tosafot brought another explanation: what is at the ends of the world's boundaries, to the east and to the west]] -

this comes to teach us.

The account of Lot and his two daughters -

is read and translated.

And we raise a difficulty:

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that we should be concerned for the honor

of Abraham,

since Lot was his nephew,

this comes to teach us.

The account of Tamar and Judah -

is read and translated.

And we raise a difficulty:

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that we should be concerned for the honor of Judah, this comes to teach us

that

his praise

of Judah

is

that we read this account -

for

he

acknowledged

his sin.

The account of the first calf -

is read and translated.

And we raise a difficulty:

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that we should be concerned for the honor of Israel, this comes to teach us that all the more so they are pleased, since it serves as atonement for them

through their being shamed by the matter.

Curses and blessings -

are read and translated.

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that perhaps the דעת of the congregation will be impaired

when they hear all the punishments and say: “If so, it is better for us to enjoy this world as we wish, since in any event we are destined to be punished,”

this comes to teach us.

Warnings and punishments -

are read and translated.

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that perhaps they will come to perform

the mitzvot

out of fear,

and their hearts will not be directed toward Heaven,

this comes to teach us.

The account of Amnon and Tamar -

is read and translated,

and likewise

the account of Absalom -

is read and translated.

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that we should be concerned for David’s honor

[for David’s honor], since Amnon and Absalom were his sons,

this comes to teach us.

The account of the concubine at Gibeah -

is read and translated.

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

Lest you say that we should be concerned for the honor of Benjamin,

since the people of Gibeah were from the tribe of Benjamin,

this comes to teach us.

The verse

“Make known to Jerusalem her abominations” -

is read and translated.

Is this obvious?!

And we explain:

This excludes the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer.

As it was taught in a beraita: There was an incident involving a certain man who was reading above Rabbi Eliezer: “Make known to Jerusalem her abominations.”

He said to him

Rabbi Eliezer:

Before you investigate the abominations of Jerusalem, go out and investigate the abominations of your mother!

They investigated his lineage and found in him a trace of disqualification.

And the Mishna comes to teach us that we are not concerned about this possibility -

and we read it.

And these

are the passages that

are read -

but are not translated [the mnemonic is

The account of Reuben -

is read but not translated.

And there was an incident involving Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel, who went to כבול. The synagogue attendant was reading

the account of Reuben:

“And it came to pass when Israel dwelt.”

Rabbi Hanina

said to the translator: Do not translate -

but

the final verse,

the last one,

namely: “And the sons of Jacob were twelve.”

And the Sages praised him

for this.

The account of the second calf -

is read but not translated.

What is the account of the second calf?

From: “And Moses said to Aaron

“What did this people do to you?” etc., “And Aaron said,” etc., where Aaron began to recount the account of the calf once again; this is the beginning of the account of the second calf,

until: “And Moses saw

the people, that it had become unrestrained,” etc.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: A person should always be careful in his answers. For

since

as a result of the answer that Aaron gave Moses,

when Moses asked him, “What did this people do to you?” -

the heretics became emboldened

to say that there is substance to idolatry.

As it is stated

in Aaron’s answer: “And I said to them: Whoever has gold, take it off; and they gave it to me,

and I cast it into the fire, and this calf emerged,”

and from this the heretics can say that there is substance to idolatry, since the verse implies that the calf was formed by itself.

They will not accept the Sages’ exposition that the mixed multitude made it through sorcery, or through the Divine Name that was in Micah’s possession [Maharsha].

The Priestly Blessing -

is read but not translated.

What is the reason?

Because it is written

in it:

“May He lift

the Lord His countenance toward you,” and we are concerned that they might say that the Holy One, blessed be He, shows favoritism to Israel. They do not know that Israel is worthy of having Him show them favor, as it is stated in tractate Berakhot [20b], that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I said, “And you shall eat, and be satisfied, and bless,” but they are stringent with themselves to recite the blessing even after eating an olive-bulk or an egg-bulk [Rashi].

The account of David and Amnon -

is neither read nor translated.

And we raise a difficulty:

But you said

earlier in this beraita that

the account of Amnon and Tamar -

is read and translated?

And we answer:

This is not difficult.

When we say that it is neither read nor translated, this is where

it is written: “Amnon son of David,”

which is derogatory to David. But

this

when we say that it is read and translated, is where

Amnon is written without further designation.

The Sages taught: All passages written in the Torah in a derogatory manner -

we read them in a laudatory manner, ,

because it is disgraceful to utter an offensive expression.

For example,

the one where it is written:

we read:

And the one where it is written:

we read:

because “בעפולים” is a more explicit and therefore more derogatory expression.

And likewise, regarding the passage where it is written: “And there was a great famine in Samaria,” etc., “until” etc.,

“for five silver pieces,” we do not read “חריונים,” which is especially derogatory, as it implies that they ate their own excrement from the severity of the famine. Rather, we read

that is, what flows from pigeons.

And likewise, in the passage concerning the siege that Ravshakeh, the commander of the Assyrian army, laid against Jerusalem, Ravshakeh said: “Is it not upon the men sitting on the wall

to eat their חוריהם and drink their מימי שיניהם,”

where “חוריהם” means feces expelled through the opening of the anus, and “מימי שיניהם” means moist, soft excrement [so called because the rectum has teeth], which those men would eat because of the famine of the siege; we do not read it in that manner. Rather, we read it euphemistically:

“to eat their excrement and drink the water of their feet.”

And where it is written: “And they demolished the house of Baal and made it

that is, a privy, from a term denoting the opening through which excrement emerges - we read it euphemistically:

Rabbi Joshua ben Korha says: “למחראות”

we read here

as it is written, because it is derogatory to idolatry.

Rav Naḥman said: All mockery is prohibited, except for mockery of idolatry -

which is permitted.

From where do we derive this?

As it is written: “Bel crouches, Nebo is bowed down,” and it is written: “They crouch, they bow down together; they cannot rescue the burden,” etc.

And this is the meaning of these verses: “Bel” and “Nebo” are names of idols in Babylonia. The verse mocks the idols, saying that they crouched and fell in their places and could not rescue themselves when Babylonia was captured.

The verse “They could not rescue the burden” means that they could not rescue themselves together with the burden in their bowels.

And the verse “They cannot rescue the burden” means as follows: They could not rescue themselves together with the burden in their entrails .

Rabbi Yannai said,

from here we see that mockery of idolatry is permitted:

As it is written:

“For the calves of Beth-aven, the inhabitants of Samaria will fear; for its people will mourn over it, and its priests who rejoiced over it, over its glory, because it has departed from it.”

And this is the meaning of the verse:

Because of the punishment destined to come upon the calves of Beth-aven [which is Beth-el], the inhabitants [literally, those dwelling] of Samaria will fear, saying: If the calves did not protect themselves, how will they protect us?!

For its people, who believed in the calf, will mourn over it, and its priests, who had previously rejoiced over it [as they were accustomed to rejoice in it], will now mourn over its glory, because it has departed from it when it is taken into captivity.

And we expound this verse as mockery of idolatry:

Do not read

“over”

“its glory,” but

“over”

“its heaviness.”

That is, the weight of the excrement that was in it, and the weight of its buttocks.

Rav Huna bar Menaḥem said in the name of Rav Aḥa, son of Rav Ika: It is permitted for a Jew to say to a gentile: “Take

[take]

the idol, and place it in the שין תיו

[the genital area, as in: “the exposed buttocks of Egypt”]

of it.”

Rav Ashi said: One whose reputation is bad

[concerning whom evil and hateful rumors have circulated, that he is an adulterer] -

it is permitted to disgrace him

that is, גימ״ל - son of a convert-woman [that is, an adulteress, as the Jerusalem Talmud translated “the adulterer and the adulteress”] גיורא וגיורתא], שי״ן - שמה סריא [a stinking name]. It is permitted to disgrace even his mother who bore him.

One whose reputation is good

[whose reports are favorable] -

it is permitted to praise him.

And one who praises him -

blessings will rest upon his head.

We shall return to you, chapter “The Reader Stands.”

Mishna:

The residents of the city who sold

the

city square—

they may purchase a synagogue with its proceeds .

But they may not purchase a non-sacred object with its proceeds, because one elevates matters in sanctity and does not lower them [see Rashi, who cites the source of this principle from the Tosefta]. The city square possesses sanctity because they pray there on fast days and on the days of the ma'amadot [ corresponding to each of the twenty-four mishmarot, the divisions that went up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, there were twenty-four ma'amadot in the cities of Israel. When that division was offering the sacrifice, they prayed for the sacrifice of their brethren that it should be accepted favorably, fasted, and read from the Torah, as stated in tractate Ta'anit 26a. See there].

And if they sold

a synagogue —

they may purchase

with its proceeds

a Torah ark [

the ark of the Sanctuary] , which possesses greater sanctity than a synagogue.

If they sold

a Torah ark—

they may purchase

with its proceeds

cloths

with which Torah scrolls are wrapped.