Shabbat 33a (לג.) — the Talmud in English

What does “cows of Bashan” mean? Rava said: This is referring to such women as those of Meḥoza,

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who eat,

who are accustomed to eating and drinking,

but do not work

to support themselves; and they rob their husbands, and also cause their husbands to rob.

And it is written

in the prophecy of Amos there:

“I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees, the locust devoured,”

these

“the gazam shall devour.”

And

in the prophecy of Joel

it is written: “What

remains after

the gazam, the locust devoured; what remains of the locust, the yelek devoured; and what remains of the yelek, the ḥasil devoured.” This indicates that the gazam is only the beginning of the calamity.

This indicates that the cutting locust is only the beginning of the calamity.

And because of the proliferation of the various species of locust, famine is caused.

And it is written

in Isaiah:

“He cuts down on the right, and there is hunger; he eats on the left, but is not satisfied; each man eats the flesh of his own arm.” Do not read “the flesh of his arm,” but rather “the flesh of his offspring.”

For the sin of delaying judgment,

that even after the judgment has become clear to the judges, they delay it for reasons that are not for the sake of Heaven,

and

for the sin of

perverting judgment,

meaning that one deliberately renders a judgment that is not true,

and

for the sin of

corrupting judgment,

when the judgment becomes corrupt because it was not properly examined.

And

for the sin of

neglecting Torah study—

war and great plunder

[increase].

Pestilence and famine come. People eat but are not satisfied, and they eat

their bread by weight. As it is written: “I will bring upon you a sword avenging the vengeance of the covenant.”

And covenant means nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “Were it not for

My covenant, day and night.”

And it is written: “When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread.”

And it is written

at the end of the portion of the curses, that all these things are punishments because of

“because and because you rejected My judgments,”

and this is the perversion and corruption of judgment.

For the sin of an oath taken in vain,

when one swears about something known not to be so, such as swearing that a man is a woman,

and a false oath, and the profanation of the Name,

when a prominent person is not careful in his conduct and, through him, the Name of Heaven is profaned,

and the profanation of Shabbat—

the punishment for this is:

predatory animals increase, livestock perish, people diminish, and the roads become desolate

with no one passing through them.

As it is stated: “And if despite these you will not be chastised by Me.”

Do not read: “despite these”

[with a ḥireq]

but: “with these”

[with a kamatz, which is an expression of an oath].

And it is written: “I will send wild beasts among you.”

And with regard to a false oath it is written: “You shall not swear falsely by My Name, profaning the Name of your God.”

And with regard to the profanation of the Name it is written: “You shall not profane My holy Name.”

And with regard to the profanation of Shabbat it is written: “Those who profane it shall surely be put to death.”

All of these are written using the expression “profanation,”

and he derives

by means of a verbal analogy

“profanation” from “profanation” from a false oath,

that the punishments stated with regard to a false oath and an oath taken in vain apply to these as well.

For the sin of bloodshed, the Temple is destroyed and the Divine Presence withdraws from Israel. As it is stated: “And you shall not corrupt

the land in which you are, for the blood corrupts the land.”

“And you shall not defile the land in which you dwell, in which I dwell among you.”

And by inference:

If you defile it—

you will not dwell in it, and I will not dwell among you.

For the sin of forbidden sexual relations, idolatry, and

the failure to

let the Sabbatical and Jubilee years go free—

exile comes upon the world, and

the enemies

exile them, and others come,

these enemies,

and dwell in their place.

As it is stated

in the portion concerning forbidden sexual relations:

“For all these abominations were committed by the people of the land

that were before you.”

And it is written: “And the land became defiled—

and I visited its iniquity upon it.”

And it is written

after it:

“So that the land will not vomit you out when you defile it.”

From here it follows that exile comes upon the world for the sin of forbidden sexual relations.

And with regard to idolatry it is written

[in the portion of Beḥukkotai]:

“I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols.” And it is written: “I will make your Sanctuaries desolate.”

And it is written afterward:

“And I will scatter you among the nations,”

from here it follows that exile comes for the sin of idolatry.

With regard to the Sabbatical and Jubilee years it is written: “Then the land will make up for its Sabbatical years all the days of its desolation, while you are in the land of your enemies

, then the land shall rest and make up for its Sabbatical years.”

And it is written: “All the days of its desolation it shall rest.”

For the sin of obscene speech, many troubles and harsh decrees are renewed, and the young men, the enemies of Israel

[an expression of euphemism, literally: “the beloved of Israel”]

die, while orphans and widows cry out and are not answered.

As it is stated: “Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over his young men, nor have compassion on his orphans and widows,”

and this is because of

“for everyone is a flatterer and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks obscenity”; despite all this His anger has not turned back, and His hand is still outstretched.

What is the meaning of “and His hand is still outstretched”

that he says?

Rav Ḥanan bar Rava said: “Everyone knows why a bride enters the wedding canopy,

and there is no need to explain it.

Rather, anyone who makes his speech obscene

in this regard,

even if a favorable verdict for seventy years has been sealed for him,

because he made his speech obscene,

they reverse it for him

his verdict

for the worse.

And this is the explanation of “and His hand is still outstretched,” using the expression “until”; that is, throughout all a person’s years, which are seventy years, the hand of judgment remains outstretched against him to annul his merits because of the sin of obscene speech.

Rabba bar Sheila said that Rav Ḥisda said: Anyone who makes his speech obscene,

his punishment is that

they deepen Gehinnom for him, as it is stated: “A deep pit”

prepared for

“the mouth of a strange woman,”

the mouth that speaks obscenity.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Even

one who

hears and remains silent

is also punished.

As it is stated: “Those whom the Lord has cursed will fall there,”

one who sits there and remains silent is cursed by the Lord.

Rav Oshaya said: Anyone who makes himself available

by setting aside his other affairs

for a transgression, boils and wounds emerge on him—

on his body.

As it is stated: “The wounds of a blow are a remedy for evil”

for one who makes himself available for evil.

And furthermore, he is afflicted with

the illness of

hidrukhan.

As it is stated

at the continuation of the verse:

“And blows in the chambers of the belly.”

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: A sign of a transgression

is that through the transgression

hidrukhan

[a type of illness] comes.

The Sages taught: There are three types of hidrukhan:

That which is

caused by a transgression

is

thick,

meaning that his flesh hardens, thickens, and swells outward.

And

that which is

caused by famine,

it is

swollen; it contains pus.

and contains pus.

And that which is caused by

witchcraft is thin,

his flesh is thin and emaciated.

Shmuel HaKatan suffered from it—

from hidrukhan.

He said: “Master of the universe! Who can establish the distinction?”

Who can cast a lot to distinguish and make known that this hidrukhan is not caused by a transgression?

He was healed,

recovering from his illness.

Rava said: I know concerning

Abaye, who was called

Naḥmani

[because he was raised in the house of Rabba bar Naḥmani], that the hidrukhan came upon him because of

his gathering himself together,

that is, because of famine.

Rava suffered from it

from hidrukhan.

And we raise a difficulty: Why did he suffer from it?

But it was Rava who said: Those killed by withholding bodily functions are more numerous than those who die of hunger,

many are killed because of delaying the evacuation of bodily waste,

than those who die of hunger,

those who die because of famine. For since Rava held that delaying bodily functions causes this, he certainly would not himself have delayed them. And from Rava’s statement, “I know concerning Naḥmani,” it is clear that he did not starve himself, indicating that he considered this behavior wrong; if so, why did he become ill with hidrukhan?

And we answer:

Rava is different, as the Sages constrained him in his time,

those who were before him caused him to delay his bodily functions when he needed to attend to them,

against his will.

The Sages taught: There are four signs.

A sign of a transgression—

hidrukhan.

A sign of baseless hatred—

yerakon.

A sign of arrogance—

poverty.

A sign of slanderous speech—

askara,

an illness that begins in the intestines and ends in the throat.