Sanhedrin 92a (צב.) — the Talmud in English

As it is stated: “Let the son kiss,”

“lest He become angry with the nation.” And “nation” —

means none other than the unborn, as it is stated

regarding Jacob and Esau when they were in their mother’s womb:

“And one nation shall be stronger than the other.” And “kiss” —

means none other than a curse, as it is stated

that Balaam said:

“How can I curse whom God has not cursed?” And “son” —

means none other than Torah, as it is stated: “Kiss the son, lest He become angry.”

Ulla bar Yishmael says:

One who withholds a halakha from a student

is pierced as a sieve.

And from where do we derive this?

It is written here: “Let the nation curse him,” and it is written there,

in the Book of Kings:

“And he bored a hole in his door.”

This proves that piercing is an expression denoting the making of a hole.

And Abaye said:

They pierce him

like

like

a launderer’s vessel

a vessel used by launderers, which is perforated, and through which they sprinkle water on clothing .

And if he taught him

if he taught the student,

what is his reward ?

Rava said that Rav Sheshet said: He merits blessings like Joseph, as it is stated: “And blessing shall be upon the head of the one who provides.” And “the one who provides”

means none other than Joseph, as it is stated: “And Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the provider for all the people of the land.”

Rav Sheshet said: Whoever teaches Torah in this world —

merits and teaches it

also

in the World-to-Come,

as it is stated: “And he who waters will himself be watered.”

That is, one who waters his student with a matter of halakha will himself teach in the World-to-Come .

Rava said: From where is the resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah? As it is stated: “Let Reuben live, and let him not die.”

And this is how we expound the verse:

“Let Reuben live” —

in this world; “and let him not die” —

in the World-to-Come.

Ravina said: From here,

we learn this from a prophecy of Daniel:

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awaken, these to eternal life and these to disgrace and eternal abhorrence.”

Rav Ashi said: From here,

as the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Daniel:

“But you, go on to the end and rest, and you will arise to your allotted portion at the end of days.”

“Go on to the end” means: You will depart to your eternal home. “And you will arise to your allotted portion” means: You will arise at the resurrection of the dead to receive your portion together with the righteous . “At the end of days” means: At the end when the Holy One, blessed be He, will restore His right hand before Him . For previously, during the exile, He had turned His right hand backward, as it is written in the Scroll of Lamentations: “He has turned His right hand backward before the enemy.”

Rabbi Elazar said: Any leader who guides the community gently

in this world

merits and guides them

also

in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “For He will lead them with mercy, and guide them to springs of water.”

That is, one who treats them mercifully in this world will guide them in the World-to-Come .

And Rabbi Elazar said: Great is knowledge

it is important,

which was given

which was written

between two

Letters .

That is, between two Names of the Holy One, blessed be He .

As it is stated: “For God is a God of knowledge, the Lord.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Great is the Temple, which

also

was placed between two Letters, as it is stated: “The sanctuary, Lord, which Your hands established.”

Rav Adda Karhినאה challenged this: If so,

according to this principle, shall we also say that

great is vengeance, which

after all

was placed between two Letters, as it is written: “God of vengeance, Lord, God of vengeance, appear”?!

He said to him: With regard to its matter,

so too

with regard to vengeance, where it is necessary—indeed, it is great.

And

in accordance

with the words

of Ulla.

For Ulla said:

It is written: “God of vengeance, Lord, God of vengeance, appear.” Thus, this verse contains two mentions of vengeance, while at the end of the verse there is one mention of appearance; it is therefore as though an appearance is stated with regard to each and every vengeance. Now,

these two appearances —

why

were they stated?

One appearance,

one of them,

was for a positive purpose,

for the benefit of Israel: The Holy One, blessed be He, removed His Divine Presence from the nations and brought it to Israel. Scripture calls this appearance “vengeance” because it was a good recompense: Israel merited that the Divine Presence should rest upon them because they said, “We will do and we will hear.” And vengeance means recompense, whether for good or for evil.

And

one appearance

was —

for

punishment

of the gentiles, when He will exact payment from them on the Day of Judgment. As the Gemara says in tractate Avoda Zara [4a]: “‘The Lord is vengeful and full of wrath’—with regard to the gentiles, for He Himself, in His own glory, will exact payment from them.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who possesses knowledge is as though the Temple were built in his days. For

after all,

this,

knowledge,

was placed between two Letters, and

likewise

this,

the Temple,

was placed between two Letters,

as the Gemara stated above.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who possesses knowledge —

will ultimately become wealthy, as it is stated: “And by knowledge the chambers are filled with every precious and pleasant wealth.”

That is, because of knowledge, the chambers are filled with wealth .

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who does not possess knowledge —

it is forbidden to have mercy on him, as it is stated: “For he is a people without understanding; therefore He who made him will not have mercy on him, and He who formed him will not favor him.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who gives his bread to one who does not possess knowledge —

suffering will come upon him,

as it is stated: “They shall place your bread beneath you as a bandage; there is no understanding in him.” And “a bandage”

means none other than suffering, as it is stated: “Ephraim saw his illness, and Judah his wound.”

And this is how we expound the verse: Because you gave your bread to one who has no understanding, they shall place a bandage—that is, suffering—beneath you.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who does not possess knowledge —

will ultimately be exiled, as it is stated: “Therefore My people are exiled without knowledge.” And Rabbi Elazar said: Any house in which words of Torah are not heard at night —

fire consumes it,

as it is stated: “Every darkness is hidden for his treasures; a fire not blown shall consume him

in his tent, and it shall fare ill with the survivor in his tent.” And

“the survivor” —

means none other than a Torah scholar, as it is stated: “And among the survivors whom the Lord has called.”

And this is how the verse is expounded: Every night that is hidden and concealed from the innermost matters of Torah—that is, when words of Torah are not heard at night—shall be consumed by a fire that requires no blowing, namely, the fire of Gehenna. This will happen to one who

“causes the survivor to fare ill in his tent,”

who is displeased that there is a survivor, namely a Torah scholar, in his tent.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who does not benefit Torah scholars from his property will never see a sign of blessing,

as it is stated: “There is no survivor to eat it; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.”

And

“there is no survivor” —

means none other than Torah scholars, as it is stated: “And among the survivors whom the Lord has called.”

And this is how the verse is expounded: Since he does not feed a survivor, namely a Torah scholar, therefore goodness will not endure upon him.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who does not leave bread on his table —

will never see a sign of blessing,

as it is stated: “There is no survivor to eat it; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.”

That is, one who leaves no remnant of his food will not have goodness endure upon him.

And we raise an objection:

But Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who leaves pieces of bread on his table —

is as though he worships idolatry, as it is stated

regarding idolaters:

“They prepare a table for Gad and fill mixed wine for Meni.”

For this is what idolaters do for the deity they call Gad: They set before it a table arranged with food and drink. And idolaters whose deity is called Meni fill cups of blended beverages before it!

And we answer:

It is not difficult. This

—the statement of Rabbi Elazar that it is prohibited to leave bread over—refers to a case

where there is a whole loaf together with it,

where, after he has finished eating, he brings a whole loaf and places it on the table together with the pieces he left. In that case, it appears that he is doing so for the sake of idolatry.

Whereas

this

—the statement of Rabbi Elazar that one who does not leave bread over will not see a sign of blessing—refers to a case

where there is no whole loaf together with it,

in which case he does well by leaving pieces, so that they will be available for the poor.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who alters his account in speech

changes his words so that it will not be apparent that he is not speaking the truth —

is as though he worships idolatry .

And we learn this from

what is written here,

with regard to the episode of Jacob and Esau, when Rebecca told her son Jacob to pretend that he was Esau, so that he would receive the blessings, and Jacob said to Rebecca:

“I shall appear to him as a deceiver.”

This proves that with regard to deception and pretence, the expression “deceiver” is used.

And it is written there,

concerning idolatry:

“They are futile, the work of deceivers.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who gazes at nakedness -

his bow is shaken.

That is, the potency of his organ is shaken, so that he cannot father children,

as it is stated: “You will shake your bow in nakedness” .

And this is how they expound the verse: The nakedness at which you gaze in actual nakedness—it will shake your bow .

And Rabbi Elazar said: Always be obscure [

dark, meaning: present yourself as obscure, lowly, and humble] -

and you will endure

and through this you will live .

Rabbi Zeira said: We too have learned this

concerning the afflictions of houses, and from there we can derive an analogy to our matter:

It is written that the homeowner in whose house the affliction appears comes and says to the priest: “Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house.” This indicates that the affliction appears on its own, without any additional means. And since it is written, “to me,” this indicates specifically that the affliction is visible to me, but not to my light [that is, not when it can be seen only with the aid of a light]. From this verse we learn that

a dark house,

in which the affliction cannot be seen because of the darkness,

does not have windows opened

in order

to see

its

affliction.

It follows that darkness and humility are his salvation. For as long as the priest does not see him, he does not become impure through afflictions.

Infer from this

that a person who humbles himself and presents himself as though he were in darkness, so that people will not see him, brings life upon himself.

Rabbi Tavi said that Rabbi Yoshiyya said: What is the meaning of that which is written:

“Three things are never satisfied, etc.,

the grave, the barren womb, and a land that is not satisfied with water”? What connection is there between the grave

[the burial place]

and the womb,

what does one have to do with the other?

Rather, this serves to tell you: Just as the womb takes in

the semen

and expels

the fetus,

so too, the grave takes in

a person when he dies

and expels him

at the resurrection of the dead.

And is this not a kal va-chomer: If, with regard to the womb, into which they introduce

the semen

in secret, they bring forth from it

the fetus

with loud cries,

then with regard to the grave, into which they place

the dead

with sounds

of weeping and lamentation,

is it not all the more so that they will bring him forth with loud cries?!

And this is what is stated concerning the time of the messianic era and the resurrection of the dead: “And it shall come to pass on that day that a great shofar shall be sounded, etc.”

From here there is an answer to those who say that the resurrection of the dead is not מן התורה.

The tannai of the school of Elijah taught: The righteous whom the Almighty is destined to revive

in the messianic era

will not return to their dust

between the messianic era and the World to Come , but their flesh will remain upon them until they return and live again in the future .

As it is stated: “And it shall come to pass that he who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem shall be called holy, everyone who is written for life in Jerusalem.” Just as the Holy One

[the Almighty] -

endures forever, so too, they -

—

will endure forever.