Nedarim 32b — the Talmud in English

The Satan, in its calculation,

is, by gematria,

three hundred and sixty-four,

three hundred and sixty-four.

Whereas the number of days of the solar year is three hundred and sixty-five days, it follows that there is one day in the year on which the Satan has no permission to prosecute: on Yom Kippur.

And Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: It is written,

at first, that the name of Abraham our father

was “Abram,”,

and it is written

afterward, that he was called

“Abraham.”

At first, the Holy One, blessed is He, made him sovereign

over “Abram”

over two hundred and forty-three limbs,

alone, corresponding to the numerical value of Abram.

And ultimately,

once Abraham was circumcised,

He made him sovereign

the Holy One, blessed is He,

over

five additional limbs, so that they would be under his control and would not act on their own, although no person has control over them, and together they are

two hundred and forty-eight limbs,

corresponding to the numerical value of Abraham:

And

these are

the five additional limbs:

Two eyes, two ears, and the head of the body.

For hearing and sight are not under a person’s control, and only Abraham merited not to look and not to hear except a matter of mitzva; and likewise, through the covenant of circumcision, he merited to control the sanctity of the organ of circumcision.

And the Gemara brings another exposition of Rabbi Ami bar Hama:

And Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: What is,

what is the explanation of the parable

that is written

in the Book of Ecclesiastes [chapter 9]: “

A small city, and few people

were in it. And a great king came against it, and a great king came against it, and surrounded it, and built against it siegeworks and snares.

And he found [and there was found] in it a poor, wise man, and he saved the city through his wisdom.

And no one remembered that poor man.” “

A small city” —

this is the body

of a person, which is easy to conquer. “

And few people were in it” —

these are the limbs

of a person that are under his control. “

And a great king came against it and surrounded it” —

this is the evil inclination,

whose power is great, which surrounds a person with transgressions. “

And he built against it siegeworks and snares” —

these are sins.

For when a person commits a transgression, he falls captive to the evil inclination, and he is likened to one who is enclosed within the ring of siege. “

And he found in it a poor man,

who does not possess physical strength,

but

he is

wise” —

this is the good inclination,

which activates a person’s intellect so that he will stand against the power of the enticement of the evil inclination, which is entirely imagination and has no standing against the intellect, which sees correctly. “

And he saved the city through his wisdom” —

this is repentance and good deeds.

The good inclination makes a person wise to perform them, and through this it saves him from the captivity of the evil inclination. “

And

but,

no one remembered that poor man” —

the verse teaches

that at the time of the evil inclination,

at the time of the act of transgression, when the evil inclination rules over a person —

there is no one who reminds him

there is no one who reminds him

of the good inclination!

That is to say, escape from the evil inclination can be only at a time when a person has quieted down from the desire for the transgression, and he can think and reflect on his deeds, and not at the time when he is eager to perform the transgression.

King Solomon further said in the Book of Ecclesiastes [chapter 7]: “

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man, more than ten rulers.” “

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man” —

this is repentance and good deeds,

which give a person “strength” to overcome the forces of the body that rule over him.

And when he performs repentance and good deeds, he is stronger than

ten rulers

that are in his body —

two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet, the head of the body, and the mouth.

Rabbi Zechariah said in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: The Holy One, blessed is He, sought to remove the priesthood from Shem, as it is stated [

Genesis 14:18] “

And he was a priest of the Most High God.”

But

since he placed first

Shem

the blessing of Abraham

before the blessing of the Omnipresent —

He removed

the priesthood

from Abraham.

As it is stated [

Genesis 12:19–20] “

And he blessed him”

Shem first blessed Abraham,

and said: ‘Blessed is Abram to the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth,’

and afterward, “

And blessed is the Most High God.”

He said to him,

wondered

Abraham

at Shem:

“Is the blessing of a servant placed before the blessing of his Master?”

Immediately He gave

the priesthood

to Abraham.

As it is stated

in the Book of Psalms [chapter 110:1], a verse that deals with the description of Abraham’s battle against the kings and his meeting with Shem after his victory — “

The utterance of Hashem,

said the Holy One, blessed is He,

to my master,

to Abraham, who was called by everyone “my master” —

You, Abraham, who go out to war against the kings,

sit at My right hand,

wait and remain for the salvation of My right hand,

until I make your enemies,

Amraphel and his associates,

a footstool for your feet.”

And afterward,

and subsequently

it is written,

since Abraham feared that perhaps he would be punished for the populations whom he had killed in the war —

“Hashem has sworn, and He will not relent!”

You,

Abraham — you shall be

a priest forever,

for you shall inherit the priesthood and the kingship from Shem, so that your descendants will be priests and kings —

“Because of My word, Malki-Tzedek”” —

because of the statement of

Shem, who was called

Malki-Tzedek,

because he placed the blessing of a servant before that of his Master, he was punished, and the priesthood passed from him to Abraham.

And this is what is written

concerning Shem: “

And he was a priest of the Most High God.”

The verse teaches that

he,

Shem alone,

was a priest —

and not

all

his descendants were priests,

but only Abraham our father alone.

We will return to you, chapter “Four Vows.”

Mishna:

There is no

distinction

between

a person

who is prohibited by a vow from benefiting from his fellow,

who vowed that he would not benefit from his fellow in any matter, or whose fellow imposed a vow upon him that he should not benefit from him,

and

one who is

prohibited from benefiting from him,

from his fellow, only with regard to

food, but

these matters:

a.

Passage on foot,

that is, passing through his courtyard. One who is prohibited by a vow from benefiting from his fellow is forbidden even to pass through his courtyard, whereas one who is prohibited from benefiting from his food is permitted.

b.

And utensils that are not used to prepare food

[food]. One who is prohibited by a vow from benefiting from his fellow is forbidden to use them, whereas one who is prohibited from benefiting from his food is permitted. [And this is specifically in a place where these utensils are not rented out, as will be explained in the Gemara].

One who is prohibited from benefiting from his fellow’s food may not lend him

his fellow even

a sieve, a strainer, a mill, or an oven.

Although these utensils do not prepare the food itself, but merely cause the food to be prepared, and they are therefore a “cause of a cause,” nevertheless it is forbidden. And certainly he may not lend him a pot in which the food itself is cooked, or a spit on which meat is roasted.

But he may lend him a garment, a ring, a cloak, and earrings

[and the Gemara will explain whether there is a novelty in these matters, or whether the tanna taught them incidentally to his words at the beginning of the Mishna, that he may not lend him a sieve, a strainer, and so on].

Gemara:

And we raise an objection concerning it:

Who is the tanna?

Who is the tanna who holds that one prohibited by a vow from benefiting is forbidden even with regard to passage on foot?

Rav Adda bar Ahava said: It is Rabbi Eliezer.

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: Even a concession,

that is, what sellers customarily concede to buyers: when customers purchase produce, sellers customarily add one or two fruits to the sale; even that concession—

is forbidden to one prohibited by a vow from benefiting,

when the buyer is prohibited by a vow from benefiting from the seller. And even when this concerns merchandise that the seller wishes to get rid of, so that the seller’s primary benefit is involved, and there is no prohibition for the buyer to purchase the merchandise itself, nevertheless it is forbidden for him to benefit from the “concession.”

Therefore even passage on foot is forbidden, although people are not particular about it.

But the Rabbis disagree with Rabbi Eliezer, and hold that since people are not particular about it, this is not considered benefit and therefore passage on foot is permitted.

We learned in our Mishna:

“One who is prohibited from benefiting from food may not lend him, and so on.”