Sanhedrin 65b — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Zeira raised an objection,

for we learned in Torat Kohanim, in the section of the sin-offering, from what is written, “And he shall perform”

the conspiring witnesses are excluded,

for even if they erred regarding the prohibition of conspiring witnesses, they are exempt from a sin-offering, because

there is no deed in them.

And why

is the distortion of their lips not considered a deed, and why are they not like one who blasphemes, since

they are not [liable] for it through the heart!

For they are not liable in intention for death because of the thought of their heart, but because of their deeds; and if so, why should they not be liable for an offering if they erred regarding the prohibition against giving false testimony!?

And the Gemara answers:

Rava said: Conspiring witnesses are different, since their [liability] exists through sound.

For their principal liability is not for the distortion of their lips, but for the sound of the testimony that they produce in court, and producing sound does not involve a deed.

But the Gemara rejects this:

A

s for producing

sound, according to Rabbi Yohanan, is it not a deed?

And it was stated:

One who works with his animal in threshing grain—the Torah said, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing”—and he transgressed this, and

muzzled it through sound,

the animal with which he was working, by raising his voice at it and frightening it away from eating,

and drove it through sound,

or one who drove an ox and a donkey together by means of his voice,

Rabbi Yohanan said: He is liable, and Reish Lakish said: He is exempt.

And the Gemara explains:

Rabbi Yohanan said: He is liable; the movement of his mouth is considered a deed.

Reish Lakish said: He is exempt; the movement of his mouth is not considered

a deed.

Rather, Rava said: Conspiring witnesses are different,

for they are exempt from an offering

since their [liability] exists through seeing .

The Sages taught: “A ba'al ov”

—this is one who speaks between the joints,

who produces the voice of the dead, as though the dead person were speaking from between the joints of his fingers or hands,

and from between his elbows.

“A yidoni”

—this is one who places a bone

of a living creature that is called

“known” in his mouth, and it speaks on its own.

The meitivi

from that which is written in Isaiah [chapter 29],

“And your voice shall be like that of an ov from the earth.”

What, is it not that he speaks,

that the dead person speaks

in his usual manner,

in the manner in which he lies in the grave, and not from between the joints!?

And the Gemara answers:

No,

the prophet intended this, rather:

that he rises and sits,

as though the dead person rises from the grave and sits

between the joints, and speaks,

and from there he speaks.

Come and hear

from that which is written in the book of Samuel I, chapter 28:

“And the woman said

who possessed the ov

to Saul, ‘I saw gods rising from the earth.’”

What, is it not that he speaks in his usual manner,

that he was speaking while being in his usual state, lying in the grave, and therefore his voice was muffled?

And the Gemara answers:

No, he sits between the joints and speaks.

But his voice is low, because it is the voice of the dead, which has no vitality.

The Sages taught: A ba'al ov, whether one who raises

the dead person and seats him

in

the place of

his memory,

and from there he speaks,

or one who is questioned through a skull

of a dead person lying on the ground and speaking because of the sorcery of the ba'al ov.

What is the difference between this one and that one?

The one who

raises through his memory—

the dead person does not rise

in his

usual manner,

but rises as though his feet were above and his head below,

and he does not rise on Shabbat.

The one questioned through a skull—

he rises in his usual manner,

while lying,

and he rises on Shabbat.

And the Gemara is astonished at what the beraita said regarding the skull, that it “rises in its usual manner”:

It rises!? Where does it rise to? It is lying before him!

For the skull does not rise from the grave; rather, it is lying before him!

And the Gemara answers:

Rather, say: It answers in its usual manner, and it answers on Shabbat.

And this question too was asked by Turnus Rufus the wicked of Rabbi Akiva. He said to him: And what [makes] the day

of Shabbat different and causes it to be considered

from the other days,

from every other day?

He said to him: And what [makes] a man [different] from other men?

Why are you considered worthy of being a minister more than others!?

He said to him: Because my master desires [it],

because this is what my master commanded me.

Rabbi Akiva said to him:

Shabbat too, because our Master desires [it],

our Master commanded us regarding it.

He said to him: This is what I am saying to you: Who says that today is Shabbat?

What is the proof that Shabbat is on the seventh day and not on another day?

He said to him: The Sambatyon River will prove it,

for it rests from casting out its stones on Shabbat.

The ba'al ov will prove it,

for the dead person does not rise on Shabbat.

The grave of his father

of Turnus Rufus, who was wicked,

will prove it, for it does not produce smoke on Shabbat.

For Gehinnom rests on Shabbat.

He said to him: You have insulted him,

my father,

you have shamed him and cursed him,

you have reviled him.

And the Gemara discusses: Apparently,

one who consults an ov—this is “one who inquires of the dead,”

and if so, why did Scripture mention both of them in one place?

And the Gemara explains: “

One who inquires of the dead”

does not question through an ov; rather, he is

as it was taught: [

Deuteronomy 18 ]

“And one who inquires of the dead”—

this is one who starves himself and goes and spends the night in a cemetery so that a spirit of impurity should rest upon him,

so that a demon of the cemetery will befriend him and assist him with his sorcery.

And when Rabbi Akiva would reach this verse, he would weep,

and say:

And if one who starves himself so that a spirit of impurity should rest upon him—

a spirit of impurity rests upon him; one who starves himself

through fasting and supplication

in order

that a spirit of purity should rest upon him—

all the more so,

that a spirit of purity ought to have rested upon us.

But what can I do, for our sins caused us

that despite our fasting and supplication, a spirit of purity does not rest upon us,

as it is stated [

Isaiah 59 ]

“For your sins have separated between you and your God.”

Rava said: If the righteous wished

to be free of every sin,

they could create a world,

they would be able to create a world,

as it is stated, ‘For your sins have separated [you],’ and so forth.

This implies that if the sins had not separated them, there would have been no separation between them and the Holy One, blessed be He.

Rava created a man

through the Sefer Yetzira.

He sent him

and sent him

before Rabbi Zeira.

He was speaking with him,

speaking to him,

but he was not answering him,

and he was not answering him, because he did not have the power of speech.

He said to him

Rabbi Zeira:

You are from the companions,

you are one of those created by the “companions”;

return to your dust!

Return to your dust.

Rav Hanina and Rav Oshaya would sit every Friday eve,

they would sit every Friday eve,

and engage in the Sefer Yetzira, and create for themselves a third-grown calf,

and they would create a “third-grown calf,”

and they would eat it.

The Sages taught:

What is

“an me'onen”

whom the Torah prohibited?—

Rabbi Shimon says: This is one who passes seven types of memory,

seminal fluid taken from seven creatures,

over the eye.

And by this he performs sorcery.

And the Sages say: This is one who deceives the eyes.

Who deceives the eyes of people, as though he were performing astonishing actions, but in truth he does nothing.

Rabbi Akiva says: This is one who calculates times and hours

that are suitable or unsuitable for success, and he is called this from the expression “seasons,”

and says: Today is good for going out

on a journey, whereas

tomorrow is good for buying

merchandise in the market and making a profit from it. Or he says:

“My learning,”

is accustomed to be

on the eves of Sabbatical years—

good wheat.

Or he says:

“Uprooting legumes prevents them from becoming bad.”

If one uproots the legumes and does not harvest them in a manner that makes them fit to be harvested again, then they do not become worm-eaten and do not rot.

The Sages taught: “One who practices divination”

which the Torah prohibited,

this is one who says:

If

his bread fell from his mouth,

he must worry throughout that entire day about harm; and likewise, one must worry about harm throughout the entire day if his

staff fell from his hand,

or if

his son called to him from behind.

Or if

a raven called to him,

or if

a deer blocked him on the road,

or

a snake was on his right and a fox on his left;

all these are a bad sign for him.