Nedarim 38a (לח.) — the Talmud in English

“Zot” in the phrase “the mitzva,”

that is, the word “zot” from the verse, “for he was careful to perform this entire mitzva”

“Yidroch” in the phrase “the one who treads,”

that is, the word “yidroch” in the verse, “the one who treads his bow,”

“five” in the phrase “the southern side,”

that is, the second occurrence of the word “five” in the verse, “and these are its measurements, etc.: five hundred, etc.”

“Im” in the phrase “for a redeemer,”

that is, the word “im” in the verse, “for indeed I am a redeemer.”

These,

the above verses,

are written —

but are not read.

Rav Aḥa bar Adda said: In the West

[the Land of Israel]

they divide this verse into three verses

[they divide the following verse into three verses]:

“And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am coming to you in the thick cloud

so that the people may hear when I speak with you, and they will also believe in you forever. And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.”

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Moses became wealthy —

only from the fragments of the Tablets

of the covenant.

As it is stated: “Carve for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones.”

And they expound that the intention of the verse is:

The fragments

of the Tablets—that is, whatever remained of the stones after he carved the Tablets from them—

shall be yours

[and the Tablets were made of sanpireon, a precious stone ].

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: The Torah was given —

only to Moses and his descendants.

As it is stated: “Write for yourself,” “Carve for yourself.” Just as the fragments —

shall be yours, so too the writing —

shall be yours.

But

Moses conducted himself with regard to it

the Torah

generously —

and gave it to Israel.

And concerning him the verse states: “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, etc.”

Rav Ḥisda objected:

But it is written:

“And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you,”

which shows that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to give the Torah to Israel!

And we explain: Moses said as follows:

“And He commanded me,”

the Holy One, blessed be He,

“and I”

applied myself to teaching it

to you.

The objection is raised further: But it is written:

“See, I have taught you

statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me,”

which implies that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to teach Israel!

And we explain that here too the intention is that

“He commanded me, and I”

applied myself to teaching it

to you.

The objection is raised further: But it is written:

“And now, write for yourselves this song!”

And we say: Only

the song itself

[alone] did the Holy One, blessed be He, command Moses to teach the Children of Israel. But the rest of the Torah was given to Moses alone, and he gave it to Israel.

The objection is raised further: But it is written:

“So that this song may be a witness for Me among the Children of Israel,”

and if this refers only to the song, what testimony does it contain?

Rather,

in truth the Torah itself was given to Israel. But

mere dialectical analysis,

that is, understanding and acumen, was given to Moses alone , and he conducted himself generously and transmitted it to Israel.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, causes His Divine Presence to rest

permanently

only upon

one who is

mighty, wealthy, wise, and humble.

And all of these qualities are learned

from Moses,

who possessed all these qualities, and upon whom the Holy One, blessed be He, caused His Divine Presence to rest .

And now we explain:

From where do we know that Moses was

mighty?

As it is written: “And he spread the tent over the Tabernacle,” and the Master said: Moses our teacher spread it

himself.

And it is written: “Ten cubits was the length of the board, etc.”

[The height of the Tabernacle was ten cubits, and Moses spread the curtains at that height.] It is evident from here that Moses was ten cubits tall. And since he was so tall, he was presumably also physically strong.

The objection is raised:

Perhaps

Moses was indeed

tall,

but

small,

that is, weak in strength!?

Rather, it is derived from this verse, as it is written: “And I grasped the two Tablets and cast them from my two hands and shattered them.” And it was taught: The Tablets were six

handbreadths long,

six handbreadths wide, and three handbreadths thick.

Thus, he certainly had to possess great strength in order to shatter them.

That Moses was

wealthy —

from where do we know it?

From what we brought above, that they expound the verse

“Carve for yourself” —

the fragments shall be yours.

And that Moses was

wise —

from where do we know it?

Rav and Shmuel both said: Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world ,

and all of them were given to Moses —

except for one,

that is, knowledge of the Almighty in His true essence.

As it is stated: “And You have made him slightly less than God.”

That Moses was

humble —

from where do we know it?

As it is written: “Now the man Moses was very humble.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All the prophets were wealthy.

From where do we know it?

From Moses, from Samuel, from Amos, and from Jonah.

Moses, as it is written

that he said to the Holy One, blessed be He, in the episode of Korah and his assembly:

“I have not taken even one donkey from them.”

Now, what did Moses intend?

If

he intended to say that he had not taken a donkey from them

without payment,

without compensation,

to exclude one who takes without payment?

That is, is this something of which he boasts—that he did not take from them without paying compensation?!

Rather,

the intention must be

that even with payment

he did not take anything from them. He never benefited from others, because he possessed everything and had no need of them.

The objection is raised:

Perhaps

the reason he did not take from them was

because he was poor

and

had no money with which to pay compensation!?

Rather, it is derived from “Carve for yourself” —

the fragments shall be yours,

as above.

Samuel,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

As it is written

that Samuel said to the people:

“Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken?”

Now, what is the meaning here?

If he means ‘for nothing,’ to exclude one who takes for nothing?

That is, is this something of which he boasts—that he did not take from them for nothing?!

Rather —

even for payment

he did not take anything from them, because he had no need of anything.

The objection is raised:

Perhaps he was poor,

and had no money with which to pay compensation!

Rather, it is derived from here: “And it would be, year after year, that he would go around Bet El and Mitzpa and judge Israel, etc.,

and he would return to Rama

[and afterward return to Rama]

for there was his home.”

And seemingly, this is difficult: surely I know that his home was there!

And Rava said:

The intention of the verse is to say that

everywhere Samuel went

Samuel’s

home accompanied him.

That is, all the utensils he used at home and all the equipment for his encampment were with him, so that he would not benefit from others.

Rava said: What is stated concerning Samuel is greater —

than what is stated

about

Moses.

For concerning Moses our teacher it is written: “I have not taken even one donkey from them,”

and that means

even for payment

he did not take anything from them against their will. But if they offered willingly, he did take.

But concerning Samuel, even willingly —

he did not hire them. For it is written: “And they said: You have neither defrauded us nor oppressed us, etc.”

This is because sometimes people agree out of embarrassment, while in truth they are not pleased with it.

Amos,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

As it is written: “And Amos answered and said to Amaziah: I was not a prophet, nor was I the son of a prophet, for I am a herdsman and a dresser

of sycamores.”

And

as Rav Yosef translates: “For I am the owner of a herd, and I have sycamores in the lowland, etc.”

That is, Amos said: I am not one of your false prophets who take payment to prophesy, for I have no need of that and have never conducted myself in such a manner. I am wealthy, and I own herds and property. I own presses, and I have sycamores in the lowland.

Jonah,

from where do we know that he was wealthy?

As it is written:

“And he found a ship going to Tarshish

and paid its fare and boarded it.” And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He paid the fare for the entire ship .

Rav Romanus said: The fare of the ship was four thousand gold dinars.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At first Moses would study Torah and forget it ,

until it was given to him as a gift. As it is stated: “And He gave it to Moses when He finished speaking with him.”

Mishna:

And he may provide sustenance

for the one who imposed a vow,

to his wife and his sons

of the one prohibited by a vow,

even though he,

the one prohibited by a vow,

is obligated to provide their sustenance.

But he may not provide sustenance for the animal

of the one prohibited by a vow,

whether it is impure or whether it is pure.

For by doing so he directly benefits him, since the animal thereby increases in value.

Rabbi Eliezer says: He may provide sustenance for the impure animal, but he may not provide sustenance for the pure animal .

They said to him: What is the difference between an impure animal and a pure one?

He said to them: The pure animal, its life is for Heaven —

but its body belongs to him

for eating, and thus he benefits him, since it is thereby improved for consumption.