Shabbat 32a — the Talmud in English

“At the beginning” I called you

, as it is stated: “Israel is holy to the Lord, the first of His produce”; that is, Israel, in relation to the nations of the world, is the choicest of His produce.

Concerning

challa, which is

“the first portion,”

as it is stated: “The first portion of your kneading-bowls” —

I warned you.

The soul that I placed within you is called a lamp,

as it is stated: “The lamp of the Lord is the soul of man” —

concerning the matter of the lamp I warned you.

If you fulfill them —

it is better.

And if not —

I shall take your souls,

and your fourth measure of blood will be lost, your lamp will be extinguished, and the name of your first portion will be annulled.

And these three mitzvot were entrusted to women, as they said in Bereshit Rabba: She [Havva] caused the challa of the world to be lost, for through her the first man, who had been taken as challa, was driven out; she extinguished the lamp of the world and spilled his blood. That is, she caused his death. Therefore these mitzvot were entrusted to her. And furthermore, because the needs of the household depend upon her — Rashi.

And we inquire about it:

And what is different,

why are they punished specifically

at the time of their giving birth?

And we explain:

Rava said:

As people say:

“The ox has fallen,”

when the ox falls to the ground and is then ready for slaughter —

“sharpen the knife!”

Sharpen the knife before it rises and it becomes troublesome to throw it to the ground again.

And likewise, when a woman crouches to give birth, since it is a time of danger, her punishment is then ready to come.

Abaye said

another parable:

“Seize the insolent maidservant,

when the maidservant increases in transgression and defiance, her punishment is —

with one rod let it be!”

That is, everything is paid to her with one beating.

Rav Hisda said: Leave him

— leave

the drunkard,

when he is saturated with wine, for you do not need to make him fall,

for of himself

by himself

he will fall.

And it is a parable for a woman standing at the point of giving birth, who needs to ask the Holy One, blessed be He, to have mercy upon her and open her womb. For if He refrains from having mercy upon her, she dies by herself.

Mar Ukva said:

When

the shepherd

—

is lame,

a cripple,

and the goats run,

for the goats are swift-footed and he cannot catch them in order to beat them, then when the goat that has gone astray and has not behaved properly comes

to the gate of the rod,

at the entrance to the sheepfolds,

words

— there the shepherd speaks with her and chastises her for her transgressions.

And

likewise, when they arrive

at the entrance of the sheepfold,

he makes for them

an accounting.

And similarly, a woman, when she is in a state of health, even if she is deserving of punishment, at times her merits protect her so that she is not punished, and the Satan has no power to prosecute. But when she reaches a state of danger, her deeds are remembered and she is judged, whether she is deserving of a miracle to be saved or not.

Rav Pappa said: At the entrance of the shops,

at the entrance of the shop where food is sold —

brothers and beloved ones are numerous,

brothers and beloved ones. Since wealth is found there, everyone becomes beloved there.

But at the entrance of the places of disgrace,

in a place of loss and poverty —

there are neither brothers nor beloved ones,

there are not many friends there.

So too, when a woman is in danger, her fortune worsens and her advocates cease.

And we inquire about it:

And men,

and the men —

where

where are their deeds

examined?

Reish Lakish said: When they cross the bridge,

where danger is present.

And we object: Is it only on a

bridge, and no further?

And we explain:

Say

this instead: every place of danger is

like a bridge

[like a leaning wall, and one who sets out on a journey].

The Gemara brings the practices of the amoraim, who were concerned when passing through a place of danger:

Rav did not cross in a ferry

, a boat,

in which there was an idolater.

He said: Perhaps

that gentile

has judgment assigned to him,

he is deserving of punishment,

and I will be joined

and punished

with him.

Shmuel,

his practice was the opposite, and he

crossed only in a ferry in which there was an idolater.

For

he said: The Satan

, the Satan,

over two nations

, over two nations together,

does not rule.

Rabbi Yannai

would

examine

the boat, that it had no hole,

and cross.

And Rabbi Yannai followed his own reasoning, for he said:

A person should never stand in a place of danger

and think

that a miracle will be performed for him,

for

perhaps a miracle will not be performed for him.

And

even

if a miracle is performed for him —

they deduct

, they reduce

from his merits

as payment for saving him.

Rabbi Hanin said: What is the verse?

As it is written:

“I have become small from all the kindnesses and from all the truth

that You have done with Your servant.” That is, my merits were reduced and diminished because of the kindnesses that You performed with me.

Rabbi Zeira

used to conduct himself such that

on a day of the south wind,

a day on which a strong southern wind blows,

he did not go out among the palm trees,

out of fear that a palm tree would fall upon him.

Rabbi Yitzhak, son of Rav Yehuda, said: A person should always ask for mercy

so that

he

might

will not become ill.

Because

if he becomes ill, they say to him: Bring a merit,

and

only through that

be released.

Mar Ukva said: What is the verse?

As it is written concerning the mitzva of a parapet:

“For the fallen will fall from it.”

“From it,”

since he is falling, it is incumbent upon him

to bring proof,

he must find a merit for himself, in order to be saved through it.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: “For the fallen will fall from it” —

this

person is

fit to fall

already

from the six days of Creation.

And the Gemara explains from where he derives it:

For

when the Torah was given, he had still

not fallen, yet the verse called him “falling”

[the present tense].

Rather,

the verse comes to say

that merit is brought about through

a person who is

deserving, and

obligation is brought about

through one who is liable,

namely, the homeowner who did not fulfill the mitzva of a parapet.

The Sages taught: One who became ill and inclined toward death,

those standing beside him

say to him: Confess, for all those put to death

by the court

confess

before they go out to be killed. For everyone who confesses has a share in the World to Come.

A person

who

goes out to the marketplace,

where quarrels between Jews and gentiles are common, and therefore it is a place of danger —

let it appear in his eyes

that he is

like one handed over to a serdyot,

to a policeman, to lead him before the judge.

A person who

feels pain in his head

[even a slight pain. Rashi] —

let it appear in his eyes

that he is already

like one placed in the collar

in prison.

And if he became so ill that because of it he

rose to his bed and fell,

then

let it appear in his eyes

that he is

as one brought up to the gallows to be judged,

and in order to be saved he needs great advocates.

For

so,

everyone brought up to the gallows to be judged —

only

if he has great advocates

who will recommend merit for him,

is saved. And if not, he is not saved ...

And these are a person's advocates,

who plead for him in the heavenly court:

repentance and good deeds.

And even

if

nine hundred and ninety-nine

angels

teach liability against him, and

one angel

teaches merit for him,

he is

saved.

As it is stated: “If there is for him one advocating angel, one out of a thousand, to declare to a man his uprightness and be gracious to him, and say: Redeem him from descending into the pit,

I have found a ransom!”

Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosei the Galilean, says: Even

if

nine hundred and ninety-nine of that angel

are

for liability, and

that same angel, with regard to

one

matter, teaches for him

merit —

he is

saved.

As it is stated: “One advocating angel out of a thousand,”

which implies one advocacy out of a thousand advocacies that that angel advocates.

The Sages taught: For three transgressions

that the tan[n]ay listed in our Mishna,

women die

at the time when they

give birth.

Rabbi Elazar says:

For those three transgressions

women die young,

in their youth, and even not at the time of giving birth.

Rabbi Aha says:

The reason that the young women die is

because of the sin of washing their children's excrement on Shabbat

[and this is included in the labor of “laundering”].

And some say:

because

they

call

call the Holy Ark

in the synagogue

“arna,”

and do not call it “the Holy Ark.”

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar says: Because of two things, the ignorant die.

a.

Because they call the Holy Ark —

arna.

b.

And because they call the synagogue —

the people's house,

which is an expression of contempt, as though it were merely a place of gathering people.

It was taught: Rabbi Yosei says: Three

things are

“examinations of death,”

which

were created in a woman,

and she is examined through them at a time of danger.

And

there are those who

say it

in another language:

three

things are

adhesives of death,

which attach themselves to and bring about her death before its time.

And they are:

niddah, challa, and kindling the lamp.

And we explain: These two tannaim dispute whether they said “examinations of death” or “adhesives of death.”

One

, the one who taught “adhesives,” meaning that death attaches itself to them before their time —

in accordance with Rabbi Elazar,

who taught above that young women die.

And one

, the one who taught “examinations,” meaning that these transgressions examine them at the time of danger,

in accordance with the Sages,

who said above that women die while giving birth.

It was taught: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: The laws of consecrated property

and the laws of

terumot and tithes are themselves the fundamental bodies of Torah.