Sanhedrin 100b — the Talmud in English

This means to say: the measure of goodness is greater than the measure of punishment!

For

concerning the measure of goodness it is written: “And He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven, and rained down upon them manna to eat”; whereas concerning the measure of punishment it says: “And the windows of heaven were opened.”

It is demonstrated that the measure of goodness is greater, for a door is larger than a window!

And we found

concerning the measure of punishment

that

it is written: “And they shall go forth and see the carcasses of the men who transgressed against Me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

This will be the punishment of the transgressors: that the fire which burns them will never be extinguished.

And it is difficult:

But a person merely extends his finger into fire in this world

and immediately it is burned!

And how will the wicked be able to endure an everlasting fire that burns them?

Rather,

the Holy One, blessed be He, will give the wicked the strength to receive the punishment.

And

just as the Holy One, blessed be He, gives the wicked the strength to receive their punishment, so the Holy One, blessed be He, gives the righteous the strength to receive their goodness,

and thus they will be able to receive the full measure of the goodness of the Holy One, blessed be He.

We learned in our Mishna:

Rabbi Akiva says: Even one who reads external books, etc.

A tanna taught:

“External books”—this means

the books of the Sadducees ,

who deny the living God .

Rav Yosef said: It is also forbidden to read the book of Ben Sira,

even though it does not contain matters that bring to heresy. And the reason is that it contains words of nonsense, and one who reads it comes to neglect of Torah study .

Abaye said to him: What is the reason

that it is forbidden to read the book of Ben Sira? What words of nonsense are written in it?

If you say it is because it is written in it: “Do not strip a fish from its ear, lest its skin go to waste; rather roast it with its skin in the fire, and eat with it two

loaves.”

That is to say: Do not remove the skin of a fish [whose name is gildana] even from above its ear , because you waste the skin . Rather, roast the fish with its skin, and you will be able to eat two loaves with it, for the skin will be a relish for two loaves.

If [you mean] its plain meaning [if you say that the plain meaning of this statement is words of nonsense], and what is its plain meaning? Not to destroy a thing, even the skin of a fish—

why are these words of nonsense? But

why are my words nonsense? For

in the Torah too it is written

this matter:

“You shall not destroy its tree.”

If [you mean] by exposition,

that the intention is not to act with a thing contrary to its usual manner [and this is what Ben Sira stated, “Do not strip a fish from its ear”—

why are these words of nonsense? For

common practice

[proper conduct]

teaches us that one should not have intercourse

with a woman

in an unnatural manner!

Rather, is it because it is written

in the book of Ben Sira:

“A daughter to her father

is a treasure

of falsehood; because of fear of her he will not sleep

[he is unable to sleep]

at night.”

And what is the fear of the father of the daughter?

When she is a minor

he is concerned

lest she be seduced.

When she is a maiden,

when she has already grown more and there is no concern that she will be seduced—he is concerned

lest she commit adultery

of her own will.

When she has matured,

when she is now fit for marriage—he is concerned

lest she not marry.

When she has married

he is concerned

lest she have no children .

When she grows old

he is concerned

lest she practice witchcraft.”

But the Rabbis also said it

[they said this matter]: However,

it is impossible for the world to exist without males, and

it is likewise impossible for the world

without females,

for without the two sexes procreation cannot exist.

But,

fortunate is one whose

children are

males; woe to one whose children are females!

Rather, is it because it is written: “Do not bring sorrow into your heart, for sorrow kills mighty men”

[do not bring worry into your heart, for worry kills mighty men],

and Solomon said: “There is worry in a man’s heart; he should drive it away.”

And they disagreed about the explanation of his words,

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi:

One

[one of them]

said:

If a person has worry, the advice is that he should

divert it

[divert the worry]

from his mind.

And one said:

The advice is that he should

divert it

[tell his worry]

to others .

It follows that Solomon already said that one who has worry in his heart must in some manner remove it from his heart.

Rather, is it because it is written: “Keep many away from within your house, and do not bring everyone into your house,”

and this is the meaning of the words: “Keep many away from within your house”—those with whom you have no dealings, keep them away from within your house . “

And do not bring everyone into your house”—even those with whom you conduct business, do not bring them constantly into your house; rather, speak with them outside .

But Rabbi also said it!

As it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi says: A person should never increase friends within his house, as it is stated: “A man of many friends comes to ruin.”

That is, “a man of many friends”—one who has many friends—“comes to ruin.” In the end, those friends harm him, for he quarrels with them .

Rather, is it because it is written

in the book of Ben Sira:

“Thin-bearded”

[one whose beard is thin and scanty ]— know that he is

a korteman

[exceedingly wise and sharp] .

“Thick-bearded”

[one whose beard is thick]—know that

he is a saksen

[a fool].

“One who blows into his cup”

[one who blows away the foam that is in his cup]—it is known that

he is not thirsty

[he is not thirsty]. For if he were thirsty, he would drink the cup as it is.

And if

a person says:

“

With what shall I eat bread?”

[with what relish shall I eat this bread]—

“Take the bread from him,”

[take the bread from him],

for it is known that he is not hungry. For if he were hungry, he would eat the bread immediately and would not seek something with which to eat it.

One who has a passage in his beard

[who has an opening in his beard—that is, his beard is divided and split]—

the whole world cannot prevail against him

[the whole world cannot defeat him] through his cunning. For, having devised cunning all his days, he put his hand into his beard and pulled until it became bald and divided .

And all these matters are words of vanity, in which there is no benefit . Therefore one does not read in the book of Ben Sira.

Rav Yosef said: Excellent matters

[fine and good matters]

that are in it

[that are in it, in the book of Ben Sira], such as the matters that follow—

we expound them publicly

[we proclaim them to the public]:

A good woman

is a good gift; she is given into the bosom of one who fears God.

A bad woman

is leprosy for her husband .

What is his remedy?

He should divorce her from his house, and he will be healed of his leprosy.

A beautiful woman

fortunate is her husband;

the number of his days is doubled 541

[because of his pleasure, his days are considered as double] .

Turn your eyes away from a beautiful woman, lest you be caught in her snare.

Do not incline toward her husband’s [house] to drink wine and strong drink with him, for through the appearance of a beautiful woman many have been destroyed, and mighty are all her slain.

Many are the wounds of the peddler who accustoms [people] to matters of sexual immorality

[adultery],

like a spark

that

ignites a coal.

That is to say, many blows are received by a peddler who goes around the city selling women’s ornaments. Since his business is with women, sometimes the husband finds him secluded with his wife, and strikes and wounds him .

As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit .

Keep many away from within your house, and do not bring everyone into your house.

Many should be those who seek your welfare,

so that you befriend everyone. And nevertheless, although they are all your friends,

reveal your secret

only

to one out of a thousand.

From the one who lies in your bosom, guard the opening of your mouth.

Do not distress yourself with tomorrow’s distress

[do not worry about things that are supposed to occur tomorrow],

for you do not know what a day will give birth to

[what will happen today].

Perhaps tomorrow does not exist

[perhaps the one who worries will already die today],

and he will be found suffering over a world that is not his,

for the trouble will no longer concern him.

It is written in the book of Proverbs:

“All the days of the poor are bad.” Ben

Sira says: Even

the

nights

of the poor are bad.

And what is the reason?

Because he is poor and does not have money to make his roof high, therefore

his roof is among the low roofs. And

because he does not have money to purchase land in a good place, therefore

his vineyard is on the heights of mountains.

And therefore, since his roof is lower than the other roofs, there descends and drips

the rain

of the other

roofs onto his roof,

and he has no rest even at night.

And

since his vineyard is higher than the other lands, therefore

the earth

and manure

of his vineyard

descends

to the vineyards

of others, which are lower than it, and the poor person suffers a loss. And constantly, by day and by night, he worries about his loss .

Mnemonic: Zera, Rava; Marshesha, Hanina, Tuvia; Yanai, Yafeh, Yohanan, Racham; Yehoshua, Maktsar.

Rabbi Zeira said that Rav said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “All the days of the poor are bad”?

These are the masters of Talmud,

for the study of the Talmud is difficult because of the many questions and discussions that it contains.

“And the good of heart has a continual feast”

These are the masters of Mishna ,

for it is easy to study.

Rava said the opposite.

“All the days of the poor are bad”—these are the masters of Mishna. “And the good of heart has a continual feast”

—these are the masters of Gemara. And as will be explained below.

And this is what Rav Mesharsheya said in the name of Rava: What is the meaning of that which is written: “He who moves stones is distressed by them”?

These are the masters of Mishna.

For one who studies Mishna repeats it, but does not know what he is saying, for one does not issue a halakhic ruling from the Mishna.

“And he who splits wood is warmed by it”

[he becomes warm through them]—

these are the masters of Talmud,

who benefit from their toil, for through this they know how to rule concerning what is forbidden and what is permitted.

Rabbi Hanina says: “All the days of the poor are bad”

—this is one who has a bad wife.

“And the good of heart has a continual feast”

—this is one who has a good wife.

Rabbi Yanai says: “All the days of the poor are bad”

—this is an istenis

[a refined and pampered person] .

“And the good of heart has a continual feast”

—this is one whose disposition is broad

[in the language of sagi nahor, the opposite of an istenis].

Rabbi Yohanan says: “All the days of the poor are bad”

—this is a compassionate person.

“And the good of heart has a continual feast”

—this is a cruel person.