Megillah 25b — the Talmud in English

And what is before -

and what is behind,

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

it informs us.

The account of Lot and his two daughters -

is read and translated.

And we ask:

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that we should be concerned for his honor

of Abraham,

for Lot was his brother's son,

it informs us .

The account of Tamar and Judah -

is read and translated.

And we ask:

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that we should be concerned for the honor of Judah; it informs us

that

his praise

of Judah

is

that we read this account -

for

he

admitted

to his sin.

The account of the first calf -

is read and translated.

And we ask:

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that we should be concerned for the honor of Israel; it informs us that, all the more so, it is agreeable to them, for it becomes an atonement for them

through their being embarrassed by the matter .

Curses and blessings -

are read and translated.

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that perhaps the mind of the congregation will become discouraged

when they hear all the punishments, and they will say: If so, it is better for us to enjoy this world according to all our desire, since in any event we are destined to be punished

! It informs us.

Warnings and punishments -

are read and translated.

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that perhaps they will come to perform

the mitzvot

out of fear,

and their heart will not be toward Heaven,

it informs us .

The account of Amnon and Tamar -

is read and translated,

and likewise

the account of Absalom -

is read and translated.

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that we should be concerned for the honor of David

[for the honor of David], since Amnon and Absalom were his sons,

it informs us.

The account of the concubine at Gibeah -

is read and translated.

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

It might have entered your mind that we should be concerned for the honor of Benjamin,

for the men of Gibeah were from the tribe of Benjamin,

it informs us.

The verse

“Make known to Jerusalem her abominations” -

is read and translated.

Is it obvious!?

And we explain:

To exclude [the ruling] of Rabbi Eliezer.

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

He said to him

Rabbi Eliezer:

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

They investigated after him and found in him a trace of disqualification .

And the Mishna informs us that we are not concerned for this possibility -

and we read [the passage] .

And these are

the passages that

are read -

but are not translated [

symbol: RABDaN]:

The account of Reuben -

is read but is not translated.

And there was an incident involving Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel, who went to Kabul. And the reader of the synagogue was reading

in the account of Reuben:

“And it came to pass when Israel dwelt.” And Rabbi Hanina said

Rabbi Hanina

to the translator: Do not translate -

but

the final verse

only,

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

And the Sages praised him

for this.

The account of the second calf -

is read but is 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.,” for Aaron began to recount the account of the calf anew, and this is the beginning of the account of the second calf,

until: “And Moses saw

the people, that it was unrestrained, etc.”

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

indeed

from the answer that Aaron gave Moses,

when Moses asked him: What did this people do to you -

the heretics became audacious

to say that there is substance in idolatry.

As it is stated

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

and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out,”

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

And they will not believe the Sages' midrash, who said that the mixed multitude made it through sorcery, or through the Name that was in Micah's possession [Maharsha].

The priestly blessing -

is read but is not translated.

What is the reason?

Because it is written

in it:

“May He lift

the Lord His face toward you,” and we are concerned lest they say that the Holy One, blessed is He, shows partiality to Israel. And they do not know that Israel is worthy that He show them partiality, as it is stated in tractate Berakhot [20b], that the Holy One, blessed is He, said: I said, “You shall eat and be satisfied and bless,” but they are stringent with themselves, [requiring a blessing] even for an olive-sized portion and an egg-sized portion [Rashi] .

The account of David and Amnon -

is neither read nor translated.

And we ask:

But you said

above in this beraita, that

the account of Amnon and Tamar -

is read and translated?

And we answer:

This is not difficult.

What we said, that it is neither read nor translated, is in a case

where it is written: “Amnon son of David,”

for this is disgraceful to David. But

this

that we said, that it is read and translated, is in a case

where “Amnon” is written without qualification.

The Sages taught: All passages written in the Torah for disgrace -

we read them in praise ,

because it is disgraceful to utter a disgraceful matter from one's mouth [Maharsha].

For example,

that which is written:

“He will lie with her” -

we read:

“He will lie with her” .

And that which is written:

“Hemorrhoids” -

we read:

“Tumors,”

because “hemorrhoids” is a more explicit expression of disgrace.

And likewise concerning that which is written: “And there was a great famine in Samaria, etc., until there was, etc.

pigeon droppings

for five silver pieces,” we do not read “pigeon droppings,” which is especially disgraceful, for it implies that they were eating their excrement from the severity of the famine; rather, we read:

“dove droppings,”

namely, that which drips from doves .

And likewise in this verse, which is written concerning when Ravshakeh, the commander of the army of Assyria, besieged Jerusalem, Ravshakeh said: “Is it not upon the men sitting on the wall

to eat their excrement and drink their urine,”

for “their excrement” means feces that comes out through the opening of the anus, and “their urine” means moist and soft feces [and it is called this because the rectum has teeth], which those men would eat because of the famine of the siege; we do not read it in this manner. Rather, we read it in a refined expression:

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

And that which is written: “And they tore down the house of Baal and made it

into latrines,”

namely, a bathroom, from the expression for the opening through which feces exits - we read it in a refined expression:

“into places of excrement.”

Rabbi Joshua ben Korha says: “Into latrines”

we read here

according to its plain meaning. Because it is disgraceful to idolatry.

Rav Nahman said: All mockery is forbidden, except for mockery of idolatry -

which is permitted.

From where do we know this?

For it is written: “Bel crouches, Nebo stoops,” and it is written: “They stoop, they crouch together; they cannot rescue the burden, etc.”

And this is the explanation of these verses:

“Bel” and “Nebo” are names of idols in Babylonia. And the verse mocks the idols, saying that they crouched and fell in their places, and they were unable to rescue themselves when Babylonia was captured.

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

Rabbi Yannai said,

from here we see that mockery of idolatry is permitted:

For it is written:

“For the calves of Beth-aven they will fear, the inhabitants of Samaria; 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 explanation of the verse:

Because of the calamity destined to come upon the calves of Beth-aven [which is Beth-el], the inhabitants [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 it will mourn over it [over the calf], and also its priests who previously rejoiced over it [who were accustomed to rejoice in it] - now they will 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 burden of excrement that was in it, and the weight of its buttocks.

Rav Huna bar Menahot said in the name of Rav Aha son of Rav Ika: It is permitted for a Jewish person to say to a gentile: Take it

[take]

for the idolatry, and place it in the shin-tav

[nakedness, as in: “and the nakedness of Egypt will be exposed”]

of it.

Rav Ashi said: One whose reputation is bad

[bad and hateful rumors have spread about him, that he is an adulterer] -

it is permitted to disgrace him

with gimel and shin,

namely, gimel - son of a female convert , namely, adulterer [for the Jerusalem Talmud translated “the adulterer and the adulteress”] a foreigner and a female foreigner], shin - her name is foul [a corrupt name]. For it is permitted to disgrace even the mother who gave birth to him.

One whose reputation is good

[whose reports are good] -

it is permitted to praise him .

And whoever praises him

may blessings rest upon his head.

We shall return to you, chapter “The One Who Stands to Read.”

Mishna:

The people of the city who sold

the

city square —

purchase with its proceeds a synagogue .

But they may not purchase with its proceeds an ordinary object, because one elevates in holiness, and one does not lower. [See Rashi, who brought the source of this principle from the Tosefta.] And the city square has holiness, because they pray in it during fasts and ma'amadot [ corresponding to each of the twenty-four watches that would go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, there were twenty-four ma'amadot in the cities of Israel. And when the watch was offering the sacrifice, they would pray for the sacrifice of their brethren that it be accepted willingly, fast, and read from the Torah. As it is brought in tractate Ta'anit 26a. See there].

And if they sold

a synagogue —

they purchase

with its proceeds

an ark [

the holy ark] , which has greater holiness than a synagogue.

They sold

an ark —

they purchase

with its proceeds

cloths

with which they wrap scrolls.