Shabbat 32b — the Talmud in English

And

they were

delivered to amei ha-aretz—

for we rely upon amei ha-aretz regarding the separation of challa and terumot and maasrot, for by Torah law [before the decree concerning demai] they are trustworthy regarding their separation.

And with regard to consecrated property, we do not fear their purchases, lest they have consecrated objects belonging to them. [And Rashi brought another explanation].

It was taught: Rabbi Natan says: Because of the sin of vows, a person's wife dies. As it is stated: “If you have nothing with which to pay

what you vowed [sacrifices or consecrated property]—

why

should you vow at all, and thereby cause that the Lord

will take away your bed—

your wife—

“from beneath you.”

Rabbi says: Because of

non-fulfillment of

vows—

children die while they are young.

As it is stated: “Do not allow your mouth

to make a vow, and thereby

to cause your flesh to sin,

to make your children liable to death.

And do not say before the angel,

that is, the treasurer of consecrated property,

“It was an error,”

my vow, and I will not fulfill it. For

“why should God be angry at your voice,”

that which you vowed? And as punishment for this—

“and destroy the work of your hands.”

What are a person's works of his hands?

You must say:

These are

a person's sons and daughters.

The Sages taught: Because of the sin of vows, children die; these are the words of Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi Judah the Prince says: Because of the sin of neglecting Torah study

they die.

And we raised an objection:

Granted, according to the one who says

that they die

because of the sin of vows,

that is

as we said

above from the verses.

But according to the one who says

that they die

because of the sin of neglecting Torah study—

what is the verse?

From where does he derive it?

And we bring it:

For it is written:

And is it that

“I struck your children for nothing”?

It is only because

the discipline,

that is, the Torah,

“they did not take.”

They did not study [and study is expressed by the term “taking”].

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

Even

according to the one

who says that they die

because of the sin of vows, he too derives it from here;

he derives it.

And this is how he expounds it:

“I struck your children for nothing”—because of

matters of falsehood,

for they lie in their vows, [and it resembles a false oath].

And we challenge this:

Since [indeed]

the

Rabbi Judah the Prince is Rabbi,

and

here

Rabbi “because of the sin of vows

children die”

said

in the first beraita, whereas here he says that they die because of the sin of neglecting Torah study?

And we answer: At first Rabbi said that it is because of the sin of neglecting Torah study, but

after he heard it from Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi

Shimon,

who had heard it from Rabbi Shimon his father [who was Rabbi's teacher], that the punishment is because of the sin of vows, he too said like him.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Yose disputed this.

One said:

Children die

because of the sin of mezuzah.

And one said: Because of the sin of neglecting Torah study .

And over what do they dispute?

According to the one who says that it is because of the sin of mezuzah,

he holds:

The verse

in which it is stated, “So that your days and the days of your children may be increased,”

is expounded with regard to what precedes it

—that is, “And you shall write them upon the mezuzot of your house.”

And not

is it expounded with regard to the verse that is

before what precedes it,

that is, with regard to what is stated, “And you shall teach them to your children.”

And according to the one who says that it is because of the sin of neglecting Torah study,

he holds:

The verse “

that your days may be increased,”

is expounded with regard to what precedes it, and

is also expounded

before what precedes it,

for it applies not only to mezuzah, but also to the sin of neglecting Torah study.

Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah disputed this.

One said: Because of the sin of mezuzah

children die.

And one said: Because of the sin of tzitzit .

And we raised an objection:

Granted, according to the one who says that it is because of the sin of mezuzah,

that is because

it is written, “And you shall write them upon the mezuzot of your house,” and it is written afterward,

near it,

“So that your days and the days of your children may be increased.”

But according to the one who says that it is because of the sin of tzitzit—

what is his reason?

And we explain:

Rav Kahana said, and some say Shila Mari

said it:

For it is written: “Also upon your wings was found the blood of the souls of innocent poor ones.”

And the explanation of the verse is: “Also upon your wings”—because of the mitzva of tzitzit that is on the corner—“was found” upon you the liability for “the blood of innocent poor ones,” and these are the young children who did not sin.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: According to the one who says that it is because of the sin of mezuzah, he too derives it from here,

from the end of this verse he derives it.

For it is written: “I did not find them in a tunnel,” for they made

their

openings

like a

tunnel

in which there is no mezuzah. And concerning this the verse concludes: “For because of all these things I struck your children.”

Reish Lakish said: Whoever is careful with the

mitzva of

tzitzit, merits that in

the future

two thousand eight hundred servants will serve him.

As it is stated: “So said the Lord of Hosts: In those days it shall be that ten men from all the languages of the nations shall take hold, and they shall take hold of the corner of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you

for we have heard that God is with you.’”

And the calculation is as follows: At each of the four corners, ten men from each language of the seventy nations of the world will take hold; that is seven hundred men at each corner, and for four corners, two thousand eight hundred.

Mnemonic: hated challa, stolen terumah, judgment, oath, reversal, exposure, and abominations.

It was taught: Rabbi Neḥemiah says: Because of the sin of baseless hatred,

when he hates a person even though there was no matter of transgression in him, the punishment is—

great strife within a person's house, his wife miscarries, and his sons

and daughters die while they are young.

And this is measure for measure: Corresponding to the fact that he hated his fellow, he has strife in his house, his young children die, and his love is taken from him [Rashi].

Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Judah says: Because of the sin

that they do not separate

challa, there is no blessing

that rests

in what is gathered—

in storehouses of wine and oil.

And

as a result,

a curse is sent forth against the prices,

for the prices are high and they sell expensively.

And they sow seeds, and others eat

them, what grows from them.

As it is stated: “I too shall do this to you, and I shall appoint upon you panic: consumption and fever,

consuming the eyes and causing the soul to languish. And you shall sow your seed for nothing,

and your enemies shall eat it.”

And this is how he expounds it:

Do not read “behala,” but “with challa,”

because of the sin of challa.

And if they give

challa,

the storehouses of

wine and oil are blessed.

As it is stated: “And the first of your kneading-troughs you shall give to the priest

—to place a blessing within your house.”

Because of the sin of neglecting

the separation of

terumot and maasrot, the heavens are held back from bringing down dew and rain. And

as a result of there being no rain,

the prices rise, the wages are lost, and people run after their livelihood but do not reach it

there.

As it is stated: “Dryness as well as heat shall seize the waters of snow; Sheol is their sin.”

What does this imply?

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: “Drought,” from a word expressing command,

taught: “Dryness,” from the language of command,

because of the things that I commanded you

to do

in the summer,

that is, the separation of terumot and maasrot,

and you did not do

them,

the waters of snow will be seized from you in the rainy season.

And if

you

give

terumot and maasrot, you

will be blessed, as it is stated: “Bring all the tithe to the storehouse, and test Me now with this, said the Lord of Hosts: If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing without limit.”

What

does he

say by “without limit”?

Rami bar Ḥama said: Until

your lips become worn out,

from saying, “Enough,”

because of the abundance of goodness.

Because of the sin of robbery, the govai,

a species of locust,

rises,

and

as a result

there is famine, and people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters.

As it is stated: “Hear this word, cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy.”

What is meant by “cows of Bashan”?