Sanhedrin 92a — the Talmud in English

As it is stated: “Let the nations curse him”![](pamud.bmp "

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“Let the nation curse him.” And “nation” —

means only those who have passed through, as it is stated

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

“And one nation shall strengthen itself from the other.” And “curse” —

means only a curse, as it is stated

that Balaam said:

“How can I curse? I cannot curse what God has not cursed.” And “bar” —

means only Torah, as it is stated: “Kiss bar, lest He become angry”.

Ulla bar Yishmael says:

one who withholds a halakha from a student —

they pierce him like a sieve.

And from where do we know this matter?

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.”

It is proven that “piercing” is an expression of making a hole.

And Abaye said:

They pierce him

like

as in

the washing-men’s vessel

[a vessel of launderers, which is perforated, and through which they sprinkle water on the clothes].

And if he taught

[if he taught the student],

what is his reward?

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

means only 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 shall also himself be watered.”

That is, whoever waters his student with a matter of halakha, he too shall 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 not die.”

And this is how we expound the verse:

“Let Reuben live” —

in this world; “and not die” —

in the World to Come.

Ravina said: From here,

we learn this matter from the prophecy of Daniel:

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awaken, these to everlasting life, and these to shame and everlasting contempt.”

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 shall arise to your lot at the end of days.”

“Go on to the end” means—you will depart to your eternal world. “And you shall arise to your lot”—that you will stand at the resurrection of the dead to receive your portion together with the righteous. “At the end of days”—at the end when the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to return His right hand before Him. For earlier, during the exile, He turned His right hand backward [as it is written in the Scroll of Lamentations: “He turned His right hand backward before the enemy”].

Rabbi Elazar said: Every 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 by springs of water.”

That is, the one who has mercy on them in this world will guide them in the World to Come.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Great is knowledge

[knowledge 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 the Lord is a God of knowledge.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Great is the Temple, which

it too

was placed between two Letters. As it is stated: “You have wrought, O Lord, the Temple, O Lord, which Your hands have established.”

Rav Adda Karkhina’a 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, O Lord, God of vengeance, appear”?!

He said to him: For its matter —

so indeed

[with regard to the matter of vengeance, where it is needed—indeed it is great].

And

this is like

the words

of Ulla.

For Ulla said:

It is written: “God of vengeance, O Lord, God of vengeance, appear.” Thus this verse contains two instances of vengeance, while at the end of the verse there is one instance of “appear”; it is therefore as though “appear” were stated regarding each and every vengeance. Now,

these two appearances —

why

were they stated?

One appearance

of them —

teaches a favorable matter,

for the benefit of Israel: The Holy One, blessed be He, removed His Shekhina from the nations of the world and came upon Israel. Scripture calls this appearance “vengeance” because it is a favorable recompense: Israel merited the dwelling of the Shekhina because they said, “We shall do and we shall hear.” And vengeance means recompense, whether for good or for evil.

And

one appearance

is one —

for

punishment

of the gentiles, from whom He will exact payment on the Day of Judgment. And as the Gemara says in Tractate Avoda Zara [4a]: “‘The Lord is vengeful and possessed of wrath’—against the gentiles, for He Himself, in His own glory, exacts payment from them.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever possesses knowledge, it 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 brought above.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever possesses knowledge —

ultimately becomes wealthy. As it is stated: “And by knowledge the chambers shall be filled with every precious and pleasant wealth.”

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

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever does not possess knowledge —

it is forbidden to have mercy on him. As it is stated: “For it is not a people of understanding; therefore its Maker will not have mercy on it, and its Creator will not favor it.”

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

sufferings come upon him.

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

means only sufferings, 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, sufferings—beneath you.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever does not possess knowledge —

ultimately goes into exile. As it is stated: “Therefore My people are exiled without knowledge.” And Rabbi Elazar said: Every 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 upon shall consume him

and shall harm the remnant in his tent.” And

“remnant” —

means only a Torah scholar, as it is stated: “And among the remnants whom the Lord has called.”

And this is how the verse is expounded: Every night that is hidden and concealed from the hidden things of Torah—that is, when words of Torah are not heard at night—fire that requires no blowing shall consume it, that is, the fire of Gehinnom. And this will happen to one who

“harms the remnant in his tent,”

who is displeased that there is a remnant—that is, a Torah scholar—in his tent.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever does not benefit Torah scholars from his property never sees a sign of blessing forever.

As it is stated: “There is no remnant to eat; therefore his good shall not endure.”

And

“remnant” —

means only Torah scholars, as it is stated: “And among the remnants whom the Lord has called.”

And this is how the verse is expounded: Since he does not feed a remnant—that is, a Torah scholar—therefore good will not rest upon him.

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

never sees a sign of blessing forever

. As it is stated: “There is no remnant to eat; therefore his good shall not endure.”

That is, one who does not leave a remnant of his food, good will not rest upon him.

And we challenge this:

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

it is as though he worships idolatry, as it is stated

concerning idolaters:

“Those who set a table for Gad and fill mixed wine for Meni.”

For this is what idolaters do for the one 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 poured drinks before it!

And we resolve it:

It is not difficult. This

—what Rabbi Elazar said, that it is forbidden to leave anything over—refers to a case

where there is a whole loaf with him

[that after he finishes his meal, he brings a whole loaf and places it on the table together with the pieces he left], in which case it appears that he is doing so for the sake of idolatry.

Whereas

this

—what Rabbi Elazar said, that if he does not leave anything over he never sees a sign of blessing—refers to a case

where there is no whole loaf with him,

in which case he does well when he leaves some, so that the pieces will be ready for the poor.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Whoever alters his words

[changes his wording, so that it will not be apparent that he is not speaking the truth] —

it is as though he worships idolatry.

And we learn this matter from

what is written here,

regarding the incident of Jacob and Esau, when Rebecca said to her son Jacob to pretend as though he were Esau, and then he would receive the blessings, and Jacob said to Rebecca:

“I shall be in his eyes as a deceiver.”

It is proven that regarding deception and pretending, the expression “deceiver” applies.

And it is written there,

concerning idolatry:

“They are vanity, the work of deceivers.”

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who gazes at forbidden nakedness—

his bow is shaken.

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

as it is stated: “Your nakedness will rouse your bow.”

And this is how they expound the verse: The nakedness at which you gaze, actually looking at it in its naked state, will rouse your bow.

And Rabbi Elazar said: Always remain in the shadows

[be obscure, meaning that you should make yourself obscure, lowly, and humble]—

and you will endure

[and through this you will live].

Rabbi Zeira said: We too have learned a teaching

concerning lesions afflicting houses, and from there we can draw an inference for our subject:

It is written that the owner of a house in which there is a lesion comes to a cohen—a member of the priestly family who serves in the Temple—and says to him: “It appears to me that there is a lesion in the house.” This indicates that the lesion is visible on its own, without any additional means. Likewise, since it says “to me,” it indicates specifically that the lesion is visible to me, and not by means of my light [not when it can be seen only with the aid of light]. We learn from this verse that a

dark house,

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

is not provided with windows

in order

to see

the

lesion.

It follows that darkness and humility are his salvation: as long as the cohen does not see him, he does not become impure through lesions.

We learn from this

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

Rabbi Tavi said in the name of Rabbi Yoshaya: What is the meaning of that which is written:

“There are three things that are never satisfied, and so on,

[the burial place]

and the womb,

what connection is there between them?

Rather, this comes to teach you: Just as a womb takes in

the seed

and brings out

the child,

so too, the grave takes in

a person when he dies

and brings him out

at the resurrection of the dead.

Is this not an a-fortiori inference? If a womb, into which

[the seed]

is placed quietly, brings out from it

the child

with loud cries,

then the grave, into which

the dead person

is placed with sounds

of weeping and lamentation,

should certainly bring him out with loud cries?!

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

From here there is an answer to those who say that the resurrection of the dead is not taught in the Torah.

A teaching from the school of Elijah states: The righteous whom the Almighty is destined to revive

in the days of the Messiah,

will not return to their dust

between the days of the Messiah and the World to Come, but their flesh will remain intact until they again live in the future.

As it is stated: “And it shall come to pass that whoever remains in Zion and whoever 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 -

—

exists forever, so too they— will exist forever.