Shabbat 32a (לב.) — the Talmud in English

“First” I called you:

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

Concerning

the dough offering that is

“first,”

as it is stated: “The first of your kneading”;

I warned you.

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

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

concerning the matter of the lamp I warned you.

If you fulfill them—

good.

But if not—

I shall take your souls,

and the fourth of your blood will be lost, your lamp will be extinguished, and the name of your firstness will be nullified.

These three mitzvot were entrusted to women, as they said in Bereshit Rabba: She [Hava] destroyed the dough offering of the world, for because of her Adam, who had been set aside like a dough offering, was banished; she extinguished the lamp of the world; and she spilled his blood—that is, she caused his death. Therefore these mitzvot were entrusted to her. Furthermore, since the needs of the household depend upon her—Rashi.

And we inquire about this:

What is different,

why are they punished specifically

at the time of their childbirth?

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 difficult to throw it to the ground again.

Similarly, when a woman is in labor, since it is a time of danger, her punishment is poised to come upon her then.

Abaye said

another analogy:

“Seize the rebellious maidservant;”

when the maidservant multiplies transgression and defiance, her punishment is—

“let it be with a single rod!”

That is, she is paid for everything with a single flogging.

Rav Hisda said: “Leave him”—

leave

the drunkard,

the one sated with wine, whom you need not knock down,

for of his own accord

he

will fall.

This is an analogy for a woman about to give birth, who must ask the Holy One, blessed be He, to have mercy on her and open her womb. For if He refrains from having mercy on her, she will die of her own accord.

Mar Ukva said:

When

the shepherd

is

lame,

crippled,

while the goats run swiftly,

so that they are too quick for him to catch and flog them, when a goat that has strayed and not behaved properly arrives

at the entrance of the fence,

at the gate of the sheepfold,

words

are spoken there: The shepherd speaks with it and rebukes it for its transgressions.

And

similarly, when they arrive

at the entrance of the fold,

to the sheepfold, he makes them

give an accounting.

Similarly, when a woman 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 recalled and she is judged as to whether she is deserving of a miracle to save her or not.

Rav Pappa said: At the entrance of the shops,

at the entrance of the shop where food is sold,

there are many brothers and friends,

brothers and beloved friends, for since wealth is found there, everyone becomes a friend there.

But at the entrance of the place of loss,

at a place of loss and poverty,

there are neither brothers nor friends;

there are not many friends there.

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

And we inquire about this:

And men,

and where are

the place

where their deeds

are examined?

Reish Lakish said: When they cross a bridge,

where danger is prevalent.

And we challenge this: Is it only on

a bridge, and nowhere else?

And we explain:

Say

the matter this way: Every place of danger is

like a bridge

—like a leaning wall, or when one sets out on a journey.

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

Rav did not cross on a ferry

that was a boat

in which there was a gentile.

He said: Perhaps

that gentile

has been assigned a judgment against him;

he is deserving of punishment,

and I will be joined

and punished

along with him.

Shmuel,

his practice was the opposite, and he

would cross only on a ferry in which there was a gentile.

For

he said: The Satan

—the Satan

does not rule over two nations

acting together;

he has no dominion.

Rabbi Yannai

would

inspect

the boat to ensure that it had no hole,

and then cross.

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

A person should never place himself in a place of danger

and think

that a miracle will be performed for him,

because

perhaps no miracle will be performed for him.

And

even

if a miracle is performed for him,

they deduct

they reduce

his merits

as payment for his rescue.

Rabbi Hanin said: What is the verse?

As it is written:

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

that You have performed for Your servant.” That is, my merits have been reduced and diminished on account of the kindnesses that You have performed with me.

Rabbi Zeira

would conduct himself so that

on a day of strong southern wind,

a day on which a powerful south wind was blowing, he

would not go out among the palm trees,

out of concern that a palm tree might fall upon him.

Rabbi Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, said: A person should always pray for mercy

so that

he

might

not become ill.

Because

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

and

only through that

will you be released.

Mar Ukva said: What is the verse?

It is written concerning the commandment to make a parapet:

“For the fallen one will fall from it.”

“From it,”

once he is falling, it is incumbent upon him

to bring proof;

he must find a merit for himself through which he can be saved.

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

this

person

was deserving of falling

already

from the six days of Creation.

And the Gemara explains from where he derives this:

For

when the Torah was given, he had still

not fallen, yet the verse calls him “fallen”

—in the present tense.

Rather,

the verse comes to say

that merit is brought about through

a person who is

worthy, and

obligation is brought about

through one who is liable,

namely, the homeowner who did not fulfill the commandment to make a parapet.

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

those standing beside him

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

by a court

confess

before they go out to be executed, for anyone 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 it is therefore a place of danger,

should consider it in his eyes

as though he

had been handed over to a police officer

to lead him before the judge.

A person who

feels pain in his head

—even a slight ache, according to Rashi—

should consider it in his eyes

as though he had already

been placed in the stocks

in prison.

And if he became so ill that, as a result, he

took to his bed and fell,

then

he should consider it in his eyes

as though he had

been brought up to the gallows to be judged,

and in order to be saved he requires great advocates.

For

so it is:

Everyone brought up to the gallows to be judged

is

saved only if he has great advocates

who will argue merit on his behalf;

if not, he is not saved ...

And these are a person’s advocates,

which plead for him in the heavenly court:

repentance and good deeds.

And even

if

nine hundred ninety-nine

angels

argue against him, and

one angel

argues in his favor,

he is

saved.

As it is stated: “If there is an angel beside him, an advocate, one among a thousand, to tell a person what is right for him and to be gracious to him, and he says: Redeem him from going down to the pit;

I have found a ransom!”

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

if

nine hundred ninety-nine of the arguments of that one angel

are

against him, and

that angel, regarding

one

argument,

argues in his favor,

he

is saved.

As it is stated: “An advocate, one among a thousand,”

which indicates one favorable argument out of a thousand arguments presented by that angel.

The Sages taught: For three transgressions

that the tanna enumerated in our Mishna,

women die

when they

give birth.

Rabbi Elazar says:

For those three transgressions

women die young,

in their youth, and not necessarily at the time of childbirth.

Rabbi Aḥa says:

The reason that young women die is

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

—which is included in the labor of “laundering.”

And there are those who say:

It is because

they

call

the Torah ark

in the synagogue

“arna,”

rather than calling it “the Torah ark.”

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar says: On account of two things, ignorant people die.

A.

Because they call the Torah ark—

“arna.”

B.

And because they call the synagogue—

“the people’s house,”

which is an expression of denigration, as though it were merely a place where people gather.

It was taught: Rabbi Yosei says: Three

things are

“examinations of death,”

which

were created within a woman,

and through which she is examined in a time of danger.

And

some

say it

in another formulation:

Three

things are

“adhesives of death,”

which cling to and bring about her death before its appointed time.

And they are:

niddah, the dough offering, and kindling the lamp.

And we explain: These are two tannaim who disagree as to whether the expression is “examinations of death” or “adhesives of death.”

One

who teaches “adhesives,” meaning that death clings to them before their appointed time,

follows Rabbi Elazar,

who taught above that women die young.

And one

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

follows 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 essence of Torah.