Pesachim 113b — the Talmud in English

A tanna taught [the amora who taught the beraitot]

амора, который передавал барайты,

before Rava and Rav Safra

the above beraita, which states that the Holy One, blessed is He, proclaims about three people every day, among them a bachelor who resides in a city and does not sin.

Rav Safra’s face brightened,

for he rejoiced, since he was a bachelor who resided in a city.

Rava said to him: It is not such as the Master!

Rather, such as Rav Hanina and Rav Oshaya, who were shoemakers

in the Land of Israel,

and they would sit in the market of prostitutes and make shoes for them

they would make shoes

for the prostitutes. And they would bring them in,

and bring them to the prostitutes.

They,

the prostitutes, would

look at them.

And they,

Rav Hanina and Rav Oshaya,

would not raise their eyes

they would not raise their eyes

to look at them.

And they would make them swear,

and the prostitutes were accustomed to swear by the life of Rav Hanina and Rav Oshaya

as follows: By their life,

by the life of

“the holy Sages of the Land of Israel”!

Three are loved by the Holy One, blessed is He:

a.

One who does not become angry.

b.

And one who does not become intoxicated.

c.

And one who does not insist on his measures

to repay evil to one who distressed him.

Three are hated by the Holy One, blessed is He:

a.

One who speaks one thing with his mouth and another thing in his heart.

b.

And one who knows testimony concerning his fellow

that can benefit him,

and does not testify for him.

c.

And one who sees an immoral matter concerning his fellow and testifies against him alone.

As in the case of Tuvya, who sinned

in an immoral matter,

and Zigud came

Zigud [a man’s name]

a man’s name,

alone,

by himself,

and testified against him

he testified against him

before Rav Pappa.

He flogged him,

Rav Pappa flogged

Zigud.

He said to him

Zigud said to Rav Pappa: Is it so that

Tuvya sinned, and Zigud is flogged?!

How is it possible that Tuvya committed a transgression, whereas I, Zigud, am flogged!?

He said to him

Rav Pappa:

Indeed,

it is indeed so, because

it is written

“One witness shall not rise against a man.”

And you alone testified against him.

And since your testimony is not accepted, because you are a single witness, there is no mitzva upon you to testify. Rather, on the contrary,

you are merely bringing out an evil report about him,

and you transgressed “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people,” and therefore you were flogged.

Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzhak said in the name of Rav:

Even though he is not permitted to testify against him, nevertheless

it is permitted

for him

to hate him,

since he knows with certainty that he is wicked.

A proof to the matter:

as it is stated

“When you see the donkey of your enemy [the one hated by you]

who is hated by you

lying under its burden,

you shall surely help him” [to unload its burden].

And we raised a question about it:

What is [the meaning of] “enemy”?

Who is that “enemy”?

If you say [it means] an enemy who is a gentile.

But it was taught: “Enemy”

that they said means an Israelite enemy, and not a gentile enemy.

For if he is a gentile, you are not required to assist him with unloading and loading.

Rather, it is obvious: an enemy

who is

an Israelite.

And is it permitted to hate him

to hate him?

But it is written

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart”!

And evidently Scripture is not speaking about wicked people who transgress this prohibition.

Rather,

perhaps you will say that it is speaking of a case in which

there are

two

witnesses that he committed a transgression,

and therefore it is permitted to hate him. This too cannot be, for if so the question would arise:

everyone else also hates him.

What is different about this one,

whom Scripture calls “your enemy,” implying that only he hates him? But if there are witnesses that he committed a transgression, everyone hates him!

And we conclude:

Rather, is it not in a case such as this, where he himself saw an immoral matter in him,

and there is no other single witness with him who can testify about it. Therefore, only he is permitted to hate him.

From here there is proof for Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzhak in the name of Rav.

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said:

It is not only permitted to hate him when he alone saw that he committed a transgression, but also

it is a mitzva to hate him.

As it is stated:

“Fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.”

Rav Aha, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: What is [the law] regarding telling his teacher so that he will hate him?

Is it permitted for one who saw a person commit a transgression, while he himself is only a single witness, to tell his teacher, so that he too will hate him?

He said to him

Rav Ashi

If he knows that his teacher considers him trustworthy as [he would] two witnesses,

if he knows that his teacher believes him as he would believe two witnesses,

let him tell him,

so that he will hate him.

But if not, let him not tell him!

For there is no benefit in this, since his teacher will not believe him and will not hate him.

The Sages taught: Three— their lives are not lives.

a.

The excessively compassionate

ones.

b.

And the hot-tempered.

c.

And the delicate of temperament,

the pampered.

These three are constant at every hour; therefore, one whose nature is thus has no rest, and his life is not a life.

And Rav Yosef said: All of them are in me!

I possess all three of these traits.

The Sages taught: Three hate one another.

And

these are they:

a.

Dogs.

b.

And chickens.

c.

And the Haverim

Persian priests [the first part of Maharsha].

And some say: Prostitutes as well.

And some say: The Torah scholars of Babylonia as well.

The Sages taught: Three love one another.

These are they:

a.

Converts.

b.

And slaves.

c.

And ravens.

Four are not tolerated by the mind.

For they themselves regret their actions after a time, and they are contemptible in their own eyes.

These are they:

a.

A poor man who is arrogant.

b.

And a rich man who denies

the money that was deposited with him.

c.

And an old man who commits adultery.

d.

And a communal leader who arrogantly rules over the public for no reason.

He exercises authority over them, and at the time of their distress he does not stand to assist them.

And some say: One who divorces his wife the first and second time and takes her back.

And the first tanna,

who did not include one who divorces his wife, because

sometimes his marriage settlement is large,

sometimes he undertook in her marriage settlement to give her a great deal of money if he divorces her.

Alternatively: He has sons from her, and he cannot divorce her.

He cannot bear the divorce because of these reasons; therefore, he takes her back and marries her again and again [the first part of Maharsha].

Five things Canaan commanded his sons:

that is, the Canaanites conduct themselves in this manner as though their father had commanded them [and the practical implication of knowing this is to be cautious of them, Rashbam].

a.

Love one another.

b.

And love robbery.

c.

And love sexual immorality.

d.

And hate your masters.

e.

And do not speak truth.

Six things are said concerning a horse.

a.

It loves sexual immorality.

b.

And it loves war.

c.

And its spirit is haughty.

d.

And it despises sleep.

e.

And it eats much.

f.

And it excretes little.

And some say: It also seeks to kill

its

master in war.

Seven are ostracized by Heaven; these are they:

a.

A Jew who has no wife.

b.

And one who has a wife but has no sons.

And this is, for example, when he has no sons through his own negligence, because he does not engage in procreation.

c.

And one who has sons but does not raise them for Torah study.

d.

And one who has no tefillin on his head and tefillin on his arm.

e.

And tzitzit on his garment.

f.

And a mezuzah on his doorway.

g.

And one who withholds shoes from his feet.

And some say: Also one who does not recline in a company of a mitzva,

such as a meal for a circumcision or the marriage of the daughter of a kohen to a kohen.

Rabba bar bar Hana said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Marta, who said in the name of Rav in the name of Rabbi Yosei of Hutzal

three matters:

The first:

From where [do we know] that one does not consult the kaldai,

the practitioners of necromancy [another explanation: astrologers], in order to know the future?

As it is stated

“You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God.”

Its meaning is to trust in Him concerning everything that is destined to happen and come upon you, and you do not need to investigate and inquire about the future.

And the second:

And from where [do we know] that one who knows concerning his fellow that he is greater than him, even in one matter, is obligated to conduct himself toward him with honor?

For it is stated concerning Daniel, who merited being victorious over and prevailing over all the ministers,

“For this reason

all this, because

an excellent spirit was in him.

There was one virtue in him above them.

And the king intended [considered]

him

to appoint him [to appoint him]

to set him

over the entire kingdom.”

And the third:

And one who sits upon pure blood.

A woman who has given birth, whose days of purity have ended [thirty-three days for one who gives birth to a male, and sixty-six days for one who gives birth to a female, during which, even if she sees blood, she is pure and permitted to her husband], and the night of the forty-first day from the birth of the male has arrived [that is, after the seven days of impurity and thirty-three days of purity have passed for her], or the night of the eighty-first day for the female [that is, after fourteen days of impurity and another sixty-six days of purity], and she is not now seeing blood; nevertheless

she is forbidden to engage in intercourse

on that night. For there is concern that perhaps, if she now sees blood and becomes impure according to the law of a menstruating woman, she will nevertheless engage in intercourse. Since she has until now been accustomed to engage in intercourse even when she sees blood, she may err and engage in intercourse now as well, despite the fact that from now on she is impure through seeing blood.

And

to what extent

is she forbidden?

Rav said: One ona,

she must wait one night.

The tanna [who said these three matters] was Yosef of Hutzal [

who said the three matters];

he was Yosef the Babylonian, he was Isi ben Gur Aryeh, he was Isi ben Yehuda, he was Isi ben Gamliel, he was Isi ben Mahalalel.

And what was his name?

His name was Isi ben Akavya.

And likewise we find another tanna who was called by several names:

he was Rabbi Yitzhak ben Tavla, he was Rabbi Yitzhak ben Hakla, he was Rabbi Yitzhak ben Ela.