Nedarim 32a — the Talmud in English

Because

when they arrived at the lodging-place on the way,

engaged

Moses our teacher

in

arranging the matters of the

lodging-place first,

and did not circumcise his son immediately.

As it is stated [ [A0011]Exodus 4:24 ] “

Exodus 4:24] “

And it came to pass on the way—

at the lodging-place,

and the Lord encountered him and sought to put him to death.”

It follows that the obligation of death was for Moses’s involvement with the matter of the lodging-place.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: It was not Moses our teacher whom Satan sought to kill, but that infant.

As it is stated [ [A0019]Exodus 4:25 ] “

Exodus 4:25] “

For you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

Go out and see who is called

here “

bridegroom”?

Moses our teacher is surely not fit to be called by Zipporah his wife by the name “bridegroom”—therefore

you must say: This is the infant.

Rabbi Yehuda bar Bizna expounded: When Moses our teacher became negligent concerning the circumcision, there came

two angels of destruction, who were called “

Af”

and “

Hema,”

and they swallowed him

Moses,

and left nothing of him except his feet.

Immediately, “

And Zipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son.”

And

immediately, “

And He withdrew from him.”

At that time, Moses our teacher sought to kill them,

these two angels of destruction.

As it is stated [ [A0042]Psalms 37 ] “

Psalms 37] “

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.”

And some say: The angel of

“

wrath”

indeed

killed him.

As it is stated [ [A0050]Isaiah 27 ] “

Isaiah 27] “

Wrath”—

I have nothing!”

And we challenge this:

But it is written [ [A0055]Deuteronomy 9, which Moses said a long time afterward ], “

Deuteronomy 9, where Moshe said much later], “

For I was afraid of the anger and the wrath”!

And it implies that the angel of wrath also still existed!

And we answer:

Two

angels whose names were

“

Wrath”

existed. One killed Moses, and the other remained.

And if you wish, say

that another answer may be given:

the troop

of the

of

angel

“

Wrath” remained, and Moses was afraid of them; but he himself was killed by Moses.

It was taught in a beraita, Rabbi says: Great is

the mitzva of

circumcision—

for you have no one who was occupied with mitzvot like Abraham our father, and

nevertheless

he was not called

Abraham our father

“

whole”

except because of

the circumcision,

when he was circumcised.

As it is stated [ [A0085]Genesis 17 ], when the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded him concerning circumcision: “

Genesis 17], when the Almighty commanded him regarding circumcision: “

Walk before Me, and be whole.”

And it is written

afterward: “

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you.”

Another matter: Great is circumcision—

for it is equivalent to all the mitzvot in the Torah!

As it is stated [ [A0093]Exodus 34 ] “

Exodus 34]: “

For according to these words

I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Another matter: Great is circumcision—

for were it not for circumcision, heaven and earth would not have endured.

As it is stated [ [A0100]Jeremiah 33 ] “

Jeremiah 33]: “

If not for My covenant, day and night—

I would not have appointed the statutes of heaven and earth.”

And this disputes

this exposition with

that of Rabbi Elazar.

For Rabbi Elazar said: Great is Torah—

for were it not for Torah, heaven and earth would not have endured.

As it is stated: “

If not for My covenant, day and night, I would not have appointed the statutes of heaven and earth.”

And it concludes.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham our father “

Walk before Me and be whole”—

a trembling seized

Abraham,

He said,

Abraham, when he heard the word of the Lord to him, “Be whole”:

Perhaps there is some repulsive matter within me

in my traits!?

Once

He continued and

said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He: “

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you,”

and through this you will be whole,

his mind was put at ease. [ [A0129]Genesis 15 ] “

Genesis 15] “

And He brought him outside”—

Abraham said before Him:

Abraham:

Master of the world!

I have looked at my astrological sign

in the stars,

and

I see that

I am not worthy to father a son!

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him:

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Go out from your astrology! There is no constellation for Israel!

And this means that they can change their fortune through their good deeds and through their prayers.

Rabbi Yitzhak said: Anyone who makes himself whole,

who truly and wholeheartedly trusts only in the Holy One, blessed be He, and not in any other factor—

the Holy One, blessed be He, makes him whole.

Who fulfills his needs completely.

As it is stated [ [A0149]II Samuel 22 ] “

II Samuel 22]: “

With the pious man—

You will act piously.

With the whole man—

You will act wholly.”

Rabbi Hoshaya said: Anyone who makes himself whole—

the hour

at which people rise to greatness

stands by him,

to merit greatness.

As it is stated [ [A0160]Genesis 17 ] “

Genesis 17]: “

Walk before Me, and be whole.”

And it is written

afterward: “

And you will be a father of a multitude of nations.”

Rabbi says: Anyone who divines

the future by every kind of means of divination—

for him is divination!

The snakes and sorceries pursue him, for he is harmed by everything [the Ran].

As it is stated [ [A0170]Numbers 23 ] “

Numbers 23]: “

For there is no divination in Jacob.”

For one who divines—for him there is divination!

And we challenge this:

But

the word “not” in the verse “For there is no divination in Jacob”

is written with lamed-alef,

and it is not written with the letters lamed-vav, as you expounded from “For there is divination for Jacob”!

And we answer: This is not a derivation from “for him is divination,”

but rather, because of measure for measure.

For anyone who divines is harmed by his divinations.

Ahava, son of Rabbi Zeira, taught: Anyone who does not divine—

they bring him into a partition within which even the ministering angels cannot enter.

As it is stated: “

For there is no divination in Jacob, and no sorcery in Israel—

at this time it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel: What has God wrought!”

And this means that since there are no divinations and sorceries among the Children of Israel, they merit entering beyond the partition into which the ministering angels are permitted to enter.

Therefore, the ministering angels will come and ask the Children of Israel who enter beyond this partition, and they will ask them, “What has God wrought?” What did you see there that we did not merit seeing!

And now the Gemara brings three reasons for the punishment of the exile in Egypt, with which Abraham our father was punished.

Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: Why was Abraham our father punished, and his descendants enslaved to Egypt for two hundred and ten years?

a.

Because he imposed forced labor,

a use for warfare,

upon Torah scholars

when he took them out to fight against the kings, in order to save Lot, who had been captured by them.

As it is stated [ [A0197]Genesis 14 ] “

Genesis 14]: “

And he drew out,”

Abraham hurried to take

his trained men, born in his household.”

And although this was a war of mitzva to save lives, and the war lasted only one night, all the descendants of Abraham were punished with the enslavement in Egypt.

b.

And Shmuel said: Because he went too far,

made an excessive request,

concerning His attributes,

beyond the proper measure,

of the Holy One, blessed be He.

This was because he asked the Holy One, blessed be He to know how the promise of the Holy One, blessed be He to give the Land of Israel to his descendants would be fulfilled, and he was not satisfied with the word of the Lord concerning the promise.

As it is stated

after Abraham our father received the promise of the land: [ [A0211]Genesis 15 ] “By what shall I know that I shall inherit it!?”

Genesis 15] “How shall I know that I shall inherit it?!”

And this means that he sought to know it in a more tangible manner than the promise that the Holy One, blessed be He, had promised him.

Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him with, “Know surely that your descendants shall be strangers in a land that is not theirs”!

c.

And Rabbi Yohanan said:

Because

he kept

Abraham

people from entering beneath the wings of the Divine Presence.

For Abraham could have kept the captives whom he had captured from the kings under his control; and if he had agreed to the request of the king of Sodom, he would have released them.

As it is stated [ [A0222]Genesis 14 ], in the request of the king of Sodom: “

Genesis 14, in the request of the king of Sodom]: “

Give me the people, and take the property for yourself.”

And Abraham agreed to this, even though through this he kept them from entering beneath the wings of the Divine Presence. “

And he drew out his trained men, born in his household”—

Rav said: This teaches that he drew them out

hurried them

in Torah.

And Shmuel said: “

‘And he drew out’ is an expression of ‘yellow’ [and in the language of the Sages, ‘yellow’ is a color resembling the color of gold]. The verse teaches”

that he drew them out with

much

gold

so that they would go out to fight with him against the kings. “

Three hundred and eighteen”—

Rabbi Ami bar Abba said:

The verse teaches that

Eliezer,

whose numerical value is this number, was equal

to them all.

Some say: It was only Eliezer who

went out with Abraham. And the number stated in the Torah is an allusion to Eliezer,

for its calculation,

the calculation of the name Eliezer by gematria,

is thus.

And Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: At the age of three years Abraham recognized his Creator!

As it is stated [ [A0249]Genesis 26 ] “

Genesis 26]: “

Because Abraham listened to My voice.”

Its calculation,

the calculation of the gematria of “because,” is

one hundred and seventy-two [172],

that is, corresponding to the number of years “because” Abraham listened to the voice of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And since Abraham died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five, it follows that he recognized his Creator at the age of three [3 = 172 - 175].

And Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: