Sanhedrin 111a — the Talmud in English

What is the meaning of “Amen”?

What is the meaning of the word “Amen,” which is answered after every blessing?

Rabbi Ḥanina said: “Amen”—

is an acronym for

the words: “God, faithful King.”

For by answering Amen, the respondent accepts the Holy One, blessed be He, and believes in Him.

“Therefore Sheol enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without measure.” Reish Lakish said:

This verse is expounded as follows: Sheol, Gehenna, opens its mouth and receives

one who leaves even one statute

of the Torah unobserved.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: “Their Master is not pleased that you say this to them” [

The Master, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not pleased that you expound the verse in this manner, since you are judging Israel excessively to the side of guilt].

Rather,

the verse is expounded as follows: Sheol opens its mouth “without measure”—for one who has not studied even one statute. It follows that

even if he studied only one statute,

he is no longer judged in Gehenna.

“And it shall be throughout the land, declares the Lord, two parts in it shall be cut off and die, but the third shall remain in it.”

That is, two-thirds will die, while one-third will remain.

Reish Lakish said:

That one-third that will remain is

the third of Shem,

the son of Noah. For two parts of the entire world will be cut off, while one part will remain. One must clarify which third will remain. It is reasonable to say that whenever something can be divided into thirds, we divide it into thirds. Thus, the entire world descended from Noah, who had three sons. The third of his sons was Shem. And the third son of Shem was Arpachshad, as it is stated: “The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.” Presumably, a remnant will be found among the descendants of Arpachshad, since Israel descends from him. The third of Arpachshad, which is the third of Shem, which is the third of Noah, will remain, while the entire world will be cut off.

According to Reish Lakish, Israel would consequently be greatly diminished. For Israel descended from Arpachshad, as it is written in the portion of Noah: “Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber, and Eber fathered Peleg,” and so on until Abraham. When you divide the descendants of Arpachshad into three parts—for example, the descendants of Israel and Ishmael, who were the sons of Abraham; the descendants of Lot and the sons of Haran; and the other nations that descended from him—perhaps Israel will be numerous and close to being equal to all the others. Then all the descendants of Arpachshad would not constitute two-thirds unless Israel completed the majority or half of them; consequently, Israel would be diminished within those two-thirds [since they would have to complete part of those two sections].

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: “Their Master is not pleased,

the Holy One, blessed be He,

that you say this to them.”

For if so, you are diminishing Israel excessively!

Rather: even the third of Noah.

That is, one-third of all the descendants of Noah; one-third of the entire world will remain. Presumably, the one-third in which Israel is found will be the remnant. If Israel is not sufficiently numerous to constitute one-third of the world, converts and the righteous among the nations will complete the third. And if Israel is numerous and constitutes more than one-third of the world, they will be diminished somewhat. In any event, according to Rabbi Yoḥanan, Israel will not be diminished to the same extent as according to the words of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish.

“For I have become master over you, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family.” Reish Lakish said:

The

words

stated in this verse are

to be understood literally [

as they are written, according to their simple meaning]. Indeed, only one from a city and two from a family will escape.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: “Their Master is not pleased that you say this to them” [

The Holy One, blessed be He, is not pleased that you say this about Israel].

Rather,

this is the meaning of the verse: One righteous man

from a city—

merits

из

the entire city,

for the Holy One, blessed be He, will take him and draw him close to Himself [and this is the meaning of “I will take you, one from a city, and so on”].

And two

righteous men

from a family—

merit the entire family.

Rav Kahana was sitting before Rav [

Rav Kahana was sitting before Rav],

and he sat and said: “The words are to be understood literally.” Rav said to him: “Their Master is not pleased that you say this to them. Rather: One from a city—

merits the entire city, and two from a family—

merit the entire family.”

He saw that he was washing his head [

Rav saw that Rav Kahana was washing his hair and indulging himself], at a time when he should have been studying Torah,

and

afterward

he went up and sat before Rav [

he went up and sat before Rav].

He said to him: “But you shall not be found in the land of the living.”

Rav Kahana understood that Rav was cursing him, saying that he would not merit the life of the World to Come.

Therefore he was astonished and

said to him: “Are you cursing me” [

Are you cursing me]?

He said to him:

No. Rather, I was only

quoting a verse [

I quoted a verse]. And this verse teaches that

Torah is not found in one who sustains himself through it,

but rather in one who afflicts himself for its sake and does not concern himself with his own comforts.

It was taught in a baraita: Rav Simai says: It is stated: “And I will take you to Me as a people,” and it is stated: “And I will bring you.” The exodus from Egypt is juxtaposed—

to their entry into the Land.

Just as

in

their entry into the Land—

only

two of

those

six hundred thousand

who left Egypt entered the Land, for only Joshua and Caleb entered the Land [while all the rest of those who left Egypt died in the wilderness],

so too

in

the exodus from Egypt,

they left in the same proportion—

two of

all

six hundred thousand

who were in Egypt. For initially there were thirty times as many people in Egypt as those who left, but they died during the three days of darkness, so that the Egyptians would not see the downfall of Israel.

Rava said: And likewise in the days of the Messiah,

only one out of six hundred thousand will remain.

As it is stated: “And she shall respond there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.”

Israel will be poor and lowly, as they were in the days of their exodus from Egypt.

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yosei said: Once I entered Alexandria of Egypt. I found an old man, who said to me: Come and I will show you

what my ancestors

the Egyptians

did to your ancestors

when they were in Egypt:

Some

of them—

my ancestors drowned

утопили

in the sea,

some

of them—

they killed with the sword,

and some

of them—

they crushed in the building [

for they used them in place of bricks].

When Moses saw these things being done to Israel, he began to protest and question the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and for this Moses our teacher was punished.

As it is stated—

Moses said to the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “Pity those who are lost and are no longer found” [

Pity those who died and were already lost, and no one like them can now be found]! You are not like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who did not question My attributes.

Many times I revealed Myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai [

as it is stated: “I am El Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply, and so on,” and “I am El Shaddai; walk before Me and be wholehearted” ],

yet they did not question My attributes, nor did they say to Me: “What is Your name?”

I said to Abraham: “Rise, walk through the Land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

Yet in the end, despite Abraham’s having been promised that he would receive the entire Land,

he requested a place to bury Sarah—

and could not find one until he purchased

the Cave of Machpelah

for four hundred shekels of silver, and

nevertheless

he did not question My attributes,

although I had told him that I would give him the entire Land, and now he had to pay so much for a small plot of land.

I said to Isaac: “Dwell in this Land, and I will be with you and bless you.”

Yet in the end, despite the Holy One, blessed be He, having promised him that the Land would be his,

his servants requested water to drink—

and could not find any,

for each time they dug and found water, the shepherds of Gerar said that the water belonged to them,

until they engaged

with them

in a dispute. As it is stated: “And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, saying: The water is ours.” And

nevertheless

he did not question My attributes.

I said to Jacob: “The Land upon which you lie, to you I will give it.”

Yet in the end, when he came to Shechem and

requested a place to plant

his tent—

and could not find one until he purchased it

from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem,

for one hundred kesita, and

nevertheless

he did not question My attributes.

Although they had grounds to question My attributes,

they did not say to Me: “What is Your name?”

But you asked Me what My name was

at the beginning, and now you

question My attributes and

say to Me: “You have not rescued Your people at all!”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses:

“Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh.”

What is the meaning of the word “now”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: This time,

in the war against Pharaoh—

you will see.

But

you will not see the war against the thirty-one kings,

whom Israel will conquer when they enter the Land, because you will not cross the Jordan and will not enter the Land.

It is written that when Moses ascended Mount Sinai with the second Tablets: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth; preserving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, but He will not completely absolve, and so on.”

Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are mentioned in this verse.

And it is written afterward:

“Moses hastened, bowed his head toward the earth, and prostrated himself.”

What did Moses see,

which attribute among the Thirteen Attributes did he see that caused him to prostrate himself?

Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamla said:

He saw the attribute of

slow to anger.

And the Rabbis say:

He saw the attribute of

truth.

Moses was concerned that if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to judge Israel according to the truth, they would be liable to destruction, Heaven forbid. Therefore, he hastened to pray for them, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should not judge them according to their deeds.

It was taught in accordance with the one who says

that he saw the attribute of

slow to anger.

As it was taught: When Moses ascended on high, he found the Holy One, blessed be He, sitting and writing: “Slow to anger.”

He said before Him: “Master of the Universe, slow to anger

only

toward the righteous?”

He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

“Even toward the wicked

I will be slow to anger.”

Moses said to Him:

“Let the wicked perish,

and do not be slow to anger toward them,”

and do not exercise patience toward them!

He said to him: “Now you will see what you will require.” [

Now you will see that you will need this—that I will be slow to anger even toward the wicked].

When Israel sinned, He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Did you not

say this to Me: “Slow to anger”

only

toward the righteous,

while the wicked should perish?