Sanhedrin 103a (קג.) — the Talmud in English

And he says,

the Rabbis

hold:

because of Manasseh—

as he did not repent,

and he led the entire people after him to sin.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Anyone who says

that

Manasseh has no share in the World-to-Come weakens

the

resolve of penitents.

For they reason that just as Manasseh’s sins were not forgiven even though he repented, so too their repentance will not avail them.

For a tanna taught before Rabbi Yohanan: Manasseh repented for thirty-three years.

And from where do we know this?

As it is written: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem, and he made an Asherah, etc., as Ahab king of Israel had done.”

This indicates that Manasseh served idolatry and made an Asherah for the same number of years that Ahab king of Israel had done so. And Ahab served idolatry throughout all the years of his reign.

How long did Ahab reign?—

Twenty-two years. How long did Manasseh reign?—

Fifty-five. Subtract from them

the amount to be subtracted from them,

twenty-two years,

during which he served idolatry, as Ahab had done;

there remain

for them

thirty-three years

during which he did not serve idolatry, but rather repented.

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: What is the meaning of that which is written

concerning Manasseh:

“And he prayed to Him

to the Lord

and He heeded him and tunneled

for him

and He heard his supplication and restored him to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, etc.”? Why does the verse say, “and He tunneled for him”; surely

it should have said: “and He accepted his prayer”!

Rather,

this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, made a kind of tunnel in the firmament in order to accept him in repentance, because of the Attribute of Justice,

which was preventing Him from accepting him in repentance. Through the tunnel, the Holy One, blessed be He, extended His hand and accepted Manasseh without the knowledge of the Attribute of Justice.

And Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: What is the meaning of that which is written: “At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,” and it is written: “At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,”

why does the verse use specifically with regard to these kings the expression “at the beginning”?

Were there no kings until then

were there no kings until that time?

Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to return the entire world to chaos and void,

as it had been in the days of Creation,

because of

because of

Jehoiakim,

who was wicked.

He looked

the Holy One, blessed be He,

at his generation

Jehoiakim’s generation, in which there were righteous people, as the craftsmen and smiths had not yet been entirely depleted—and

His mind was calmed.

And likewise,

the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to return the entire world to chaos and void

as in the days of Creation—and this is why, with regard to these two kings, the verse used “at the beginning of the reign” and “at the beginning of the reign”—

because of the generation of Zedekiah,

who were wicked.

He looked

the Holy One, blessed be He,

at Zedekiah

himself—and

His mind was calmed.

And we raise an objection: But

with regard to Zedekiah too it is written: “And he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord”!

How, then, was the mind of the Holy One, blessed be He, calmed when He looked at him?

And we say: In truth, he was righteous; however,

he had the power to protest

against his generation so that they would not do evil—

but he did not protest,

and therefore it was written concerning him: “And he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

And Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: What is the meaning of that which is written: “A wise man judges an insolent man, and he becomes angry and laughs, and there is no rest”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I became angry with

the king

Ahaz, and I gave him into the hands of the kings of Aram—

he slaughtered sacrifices and burned incense to their gods. As it is stated: “And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus who struck him, and he said: Since the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I will sacrifice to them, and they will help me. But they became

a cause of his stumbling and of all Israel.”

And conversely,

I laughed with

the king

Amaziah, and I gave the kings of Edom into his hand; he brought their gods and prostrated himself before them. As it is stated: “And it came to pass, after Amaziah returned from striking the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and appointed them as gods for himself, and before them he prostrated himself, and to them he burned incense.”

This is the meaning of the verse cited above: “A man”—this is the Holy One, blessed be He, [who is called “the Lord is a man of war”]. “An insolent man”—these are the kings Ahaz and Amaziah. “And he becomes angry and laughs, and there is no rest”: Whether the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry with them or laughs with them, they are neither awed nor fearful before Him so as to repent and mend their ways.

Rav Pappa said: This is what people say: Woe to the one who does not know, whether he should weep or laugh; woe to the one who does not know the difference between good and bad.

And this is what they mean: When a wise man wishes to judge and argue with people in order to bring them to mend their ways, whether he is angry with them or laughs with them, they are not awed before him and do not mend their ways.

It is written after Nebuchadnezzar and his army breached the walls of Jerusalem:

“And all the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat at the Middle Gate.”

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai: The “Middle Gate” was

“the gate of the interior”—

the place where

they

would cut and decide halakhot—[“interior” has the sense of cutting, as the letters he and het interchange], meaning the Temple Mount and the Temple Courtyard, where the Sanhedrin sat,

and now that place had been transformed into a gathering place for the frivolous kings of Babylon.

Rav Pappa said: This is what people say: In the place where the master hangs his weapons,

in the place where the master hangs his weapons—

there the contemptible shepherd hangs his jug

there the contemptible shepherd hangs his jug.

Mnemonic: “Upon the field, houses, it shall not befall.”

Rav Ḥisda said that Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “I passed by the field of a lazy man, and by the vineyard of a man lacking understanding; and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, nettles covered its surface, and its stone wall was broken down”?

“I passed by the field of a lazy man”—

this is Ahaz.

He is called lazy because he sealed the Torah and abolished the Temple service, as stated below.

“And by the vineyard of a man lacking understanding”—

this is Manasseh.

For he erased the Names of God from the Torah scroll and destroyed the altar.

“And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns”—

this is Amon,

who brought a spider onto the altar, as stated below.

“Nettles covered its surface”—

this is Jehoiakim,

who covered his face from the light of the Holy One, blessed be He, as will be explained below.

“And its stone wall was broken down”—

this is Zedekiah, who

was righteous, and

the Temple was destroyed in his days.

And

another matter

Rav Ḥisda said that Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said: There are four groups that do not receive the Divine Presence:

And these are they:

a.

the group of scoffers,

b.

the group of liars,

c.

the group of flatterers,

d.

the group of slanderers.

And from where do we know this?

The group of scoffers

does not receive the Divine Presence,

as it is written: “He withdraws His hand from scoffers.”

That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, withdraws His hand from scoffers and does not draw near to them.

The group of liars—

as it is written: “He who speaks lies shall not be established before My eyes.”

The group of flatterers—

as it is written: “For no flatterer

shall come before Him.”

The group of slanderers, as it is written: “For You are not a God who desires wickedness; evil shall not dwell with You. You are righteous, and evil shall not be in Your dwelling.”

This refers to slanderers, as is written later in the chapter: “You shall destroy those who speak falsehood,” etc. And it is further written later: “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction, their throat is an open grave, they make their tongue smooth.” The verse states that these people will not be in the dwelling of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And Rav Ḥisda said that Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “No evil shall befall you, and no plague shall come near your tent”?

“No evil shall befall you”—

that the evil inclination should not rule over you.

“And no plague shall come near your tent”—

“Your tent” refers to your wife, for a man’s wife is called his tent. That is,

you should not find

your

wife

in a state of

uncertain menstruation when you return from the road

and desire her.

A person is more distressed by a wife of uncertain menstruation than by one who is certainly menstruating, because his inclination overcomes him, and he says in his heart: She is pure, and I am withholding myself from her for no reason.

Alternatively: “No evil shall befall you”—

that evil dreams and evil thoughts should not terrify you.

“And no plague shall come near your tent”—

that you should not have a son or student who spoils his dish

in public.

Up to here his father blessed him

David blessed his son Solomon. For these are the kinds of blessings a father gives his son: that he should not encounter a wife of uncertain menstruation, the evil inclination, or evil thoughts, and that his sons and students should not spoil their dish.

But a mother does not focus her attention on these matters; rather, she focuses on matters that she fears may happen and harm her son: that he should be saved from stumbling blocks, demons, and spirits. Therefore, it stands to reason that the blessings

from this point onward—

are his mother’s blessing

Solomon’s blessing

“For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways; upon their palms they will carry you, etc.,

lest you strike your foot against a stone;

upon the lion and the viper you shall tread, etc.”

Up to here was his mother’s blessing.

From this point onward—

the blessing of Heaven: