Pesachim 112a — the Talmud in English

Whoever

has blood let from his shoulders

,

and does not wash his hands

, does not wash his hands afterward—

is frightened for seven days.

Whoever

removes his hair

, one who has his hair cut,

and does not wash his hands—

is frightened for three days.

Whoever

cuts his nails

, one who cuts his fingernails,

and does not wash his hands—

is frightened for one day and does not know what he is frightened by.

A hand to the nose

, one who is accustomed to place his hand over his lips beside his nostrils—

a ladder for fear

, it is as though he places a ladder for fear to come to him. And this is that he prepares a path for the fear of an evil spirit, so that it will rest upon him.

A hand to the forehead

, one who places his hand upon his forehead—

a ladder for sleep

, he brings sleep upon himself.

The tanNay taught: Food and drink beneath a bed—even

they

are covered with iron vessels—

an evil spirit rests upon them.

The Sages taught: A person should not drink water neither on the nights of Wednesdays nor on the nights of Shabbat in darkness

[Rashbam].

And if he drank—

his blood is upon his head because of danger.

And we explain:

What is the danger?

An evil spirit!

And if he is thirsty

, and if he is thirsty to drink—

what is his remedy?

How should he drink?

Let him say

, let him say

the seven voices that David said concerning the waters, and afterward let him drink

, and afterward he should drink.

As it is stated

: one.

“The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon many waters.”

Two.

“The voice of the Lord is in strength.”

Three.

“The voice of the Lord is in majesty.”

Four.

“The voice of the Lord breaks cedars, and the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.”

Five.

“The voice of the Lord hews flames of fire.”

Six.

“The voice of the Lord makes the wilderness tremble; the Lord makes the wilderness of Kadesh tremble.”

Seven.

“The voice of the Lord causes the does to calve and strips forests bare, and in His Temple all say: Glory.”

And if not

, if he did not say the seven voices—

let him say this: Lul, Shafan, Anigron, Anirdafon

[it is an incantation]—

“Among stars I sit; among the lean ones of my kind I walk.”

Here there are around me lean people and fat people—choose from them, and take for yourselves, and leave me.

And if not

, if he did not say this—

if there is a person with him

[and he is asleep],

let him awaken him

, let him awaken him from his sleep,

and let him say to him: So-and-so son of so-and-so

, meaning, I, so-and-so son of so-and-so,

“I am thirsty for water,”

thirsty for water,

“and afterward I shall drink.”

And if not

, if no other person is found with him—

let him rattle the cover against the jug

, let him strike the jug with its cover [so that the demon will think that another person is with him, Rashi, Avoda Zara 12b, s.v. Ve-kirkesh],

and afterward let him drink.

And if not, let him throw something into it

, let him throw something into the water,

and afterward let him drink.

The Sages taught: A person should not drink water neither from rivers nor from lakes at night. And if he drank—

his blood is upon his head because of the danger.

And we explain:

What is the danger?

The danger of “Shivriri,”

which is a demon appointed over the affliction of night-blindness.

And if he is thirsty

[thirsty]—

what is his remedy?

If there is a person with him, let him say to him: So-and-so son of so-and-so—

“I am thirsty for water!”

I am thirsty for water.

And if not, let him say to himself

, let him say to himself:

So-and-so

, meaning, I am so-and-so,

“My mother said to me: Beware”

, be careful,

“of Shivriri, Shivriri, Briri, Riri, Yiri, Ri.”

[It is an incantation, which diminishes the letters of the demon’s name, and then the demon departs when it hears the diminishing of the words of its name, from “Shivriri,” one letter at a time, until “Ri.” Rashi there, s.v. Izhadar].

“I am thirsty for water in white cups”

, I am thirsty to drink from white earthenware cups.

We learned in the Mishna: And they should not provide him with fewer than four cups,

even from the communal charity dish.

And we raise an objection:

It is obvious

that they must give him four cups from the communal charity dish?!

And we answer:

It was necessary only even according to Rabbi Akiva, who says: Make your Shabbat like a weekday

, that you should reduce the Shabbat meal,

and do not become dependent upon other people.

Here, because of publicizing the miracle—

he concedes

that Rabbi Akiva must become dependent upon other people, provided that he drinks four cups.

The tanNay of the school of Elijah taught: Even though Rabbi Akiva said: Make your Shabbat like a weekday and do not become dependent upon other people, nevertheless he does

for the honor of Shabbat

a small thing within the house.

What is it?

What is the small thing?

Rav Pappa said: “A cup of fish-hash,”

small fish fried in their oil.

As we learned

in Tractate Avot:

Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima says: Be bold as a leopard

, to strengthen oneself in a mitzva beyond one’s ability [and here too, one must strengthen himself and honor Shabbat beyond his ability].

And light as an eagle, swift as a gazelle, and mighty as a lion—

to do the will of your Father in Heaven!

The Sages taught: Rabbi Akiva commanded Rabbi Yehoshua his son seven things: My son—

One.

Do not sit at the height of a city

, a place where the people of the city pass to and fro,

and study

, so that they will not interrupt you from your study.

Two.

And do not dwell in a city whose leaders are Torah scholars,

for they are occupied with their study and do not devote themselves to the needs of the public.

Three.

And do not enter your house suddenly

, but make your voice heard beforehand, perhaps they are engaged in a private matter.

All the more so your fellow’s house.

Four.

And do not withhold shoes from your feet,

for it is disgraceful for a Torah scholar to walk barefoot.

Five.

Rise early and eat in the summer because of the heat, and in the winter because of the cold.

Six.

And make your Shabbat like a weekday and do not become dependent upon other people.

Seven.

And make an effort with a person whose hour is smiling upon him.

Rav Pappa said: Not to buy from him and not to sell to him,

the intention is not that he should make an effort to sell to him or buy from him, for, on the contrary, since his hour is smiling upon him, he will profit in the transaction and not you.

Rather, to form a partnership with him,

so that through his fortune you too will profit.

And now that Rav Shmuel bar Yitzhak said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in the Book of Job, that the Satan said concerning Job,

“The work of his hands You bless,”

its explanation is:

Anyone who takes a peruta from Job—

is blessed!

If so,

even to buy from him

from a person whose hour is smiling upon him

and to sell to him—

it is proper,

for through this too he is blessed.

Rabbi Akiva commanded Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai five things, when

Rabbi Akiva

was imprisoned in the prison

[and they are detailed below].

He said to him

, Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

Teach me Torah!

He said

to him, Rabbi Akiva:

I will not teach you!

For he was concerned for Rabbi Shimon, since Rabbi Akiva himself had been imprisoned because he had engaged in Torah.

He said to him

, Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

If you do not teach me, I shall say to my father Yohai, and he will hand you over to the government

[so that he will report against you something more serious in the eyes of the government than the study of Torah. Maharsha].

He said to him

, Rabbi Akiva:

More than the calf wants to suck, the cow wants to nurse!

That is to say, I want to teach you Torah more than you want to learn, but I fear the government.

He said to him

, Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

And who is in danger?

Is it not the calf that is in danger!

And what concern is it of yours?

Rabbi Akiva agreed to teach him and

said to him:

One.

If you seek to be strangled—

hang on to a great tree.

That is to say, if you wish to say something that people will accept from you, say it in the name of a great person.

Two.

And when you teach your son, teach him from a corrected book.

And the Gemara explains:

What is it?

Rava said, and some say Rav Mesharsheya: With a new one,

when the child begins to learn, for then one must be especially careful that he not learn from an uncorrected book, because

an error, once it enters, enters!

For it is difficult to remove from a child an error that has become rooted in him.

Three.

Do not cook in a pot in which your fellow cooked.

What is this?

Do not marry

a divorcee during the lifetime of her husband.

For the master said: A divorcee who married a divorcee—four opinions in the bed

at the time of intercourse, for each of them also has his first partner in mind. And the Sages said that a person should not have intercourse with his wife while turning his eyes toward another woman, because then the children are close to being mamzerim.

And if you wish, say: Even with a widow

, he should not marry her.