Shabbat 88b (פח:) — the Talmud in English

He said to him

Rava:

We

who proceeded with wholehearted trust,

that we followed the Holy One, blessed be He, wholeheartedly, and relied on Him not to impose upon us anything that we would be unable to withstand,

it is written concerning

His children:

“The integrity of the upright guides them.”

But

those other people, who proceed with cunning,

who act deceitfully against us,

it is written concerning them: “And the perversity of the faithless will destroy them,”

destroy them.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Song of Songs:

“You have captivated me

[You have drawn me near]

my sister, my bride; you have captivated me with one

of your eyes”?

The Divine Spirit said to the Congregation of Israel:

At first,

when you accepted the Torah upon yourselves, you captivated me

with one of your eyes.

But

when you will perform,

when you fulfill it—you will captivate me

with both your eyes.

For acceptance and performance are mentioned here, and they are two.

Ulla said: Disgraceful

she is,

that bride

who

commits adultery within her bridal canopy.

So too were Israel, who made the Golden Calf while they were still at Sinai.

Rav Mari, son of the daughter of Shmuel, said: What is the verse?

“While the king was at his banquet,

[at his bridal canopy]

my nard

[my fragrant oil]

gave forth its fragrance.”

It abandoned its good fragrance to others.

Rav said: And nevertheless, they are still beloved by us.

For although the verse speaks disparagingly of us, it nevertheless used an expression of affection.

For it is written, “gave forth”

its fragrance

and it did not write, “became foul.”

The Sages taught:

The

insulted, but do not insult others.

Others act toward them insolently, but they do not act insolently toward others.

The

hear their disgrace but do not respond.

They

act out of love

of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and rejoice in suffering

caused by the insults directed at them.

Concerning them the verse says: “And those who love Him

are like the sun when it rises in its might.”

Like the light of the sun in the future, when it will shine seven times as brightly as the light of the seven days [Rashi, Judges 5:31].

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Psalms:

“The Lord gives the word; those who proclaim it are a great host,”

meaning, to all the nations—

each utterance that came forth from the mouth of the Almighty was divided into seventy languages.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught:

It is written: “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord,

and like a hammer that shatters a rock”—

just as this hammer is divided

by the rock it strikes

into many sparks, so too every utterance that came forth from the mouth of

the Holy One, blessed be He, was divided into seventy languages.

Rabbi Ḥananel bar Pappa said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Proverbs:

“Hear, for I will speak of noble things”—

why are words of Torah compared to a noble,

a minister?

To tell you: Just as this noble has the power to kill and to give life, so too words of Torah have the power to kill and to give life.

This is what Rava said: To those who use it with their right hand,

the Torah, engaging in it with all their strength for its own sake and making it primary, like a person who uses his right hand, which is primary—

it is a drug of life;

the Torah is a life-giving drug. But

to those who use it with their left hand,

who seek honor and wealth through it, and whose intention in accepting its reward is the reward for fulfilling it, it is

a drug of death,

a deadly drug. [See Ramban’s commentary on Leviticus 18:4, cited above, 63a].

Alternatively: “Noble ones”—

for each utterance that came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, two crowns were tied to it,

like those worn by ministers. For the utterance had tangible form and was visible, as it is written: “And they saw the voices.”

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Song of Songs:

“A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, lying between my breasts”?

The Congregation of Israel said

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

Master of the Universe! Although my beloved is bitter and grieved

[an expression of bitterness, Rashash]

to me

after the Golden Calf, when He told them to remove their ornaments—

he lies between my breasts.

For He immediately commanded that a Tabernacle be made for Him, so that He would cause His Presence to dwell there between the staves of the Ark, which appeared like two protruding breasts through the curtain.

It is written there:

“A cluster of henna

is my beloved to me, in the vineyards of En-gedi”—

He whose everything is His atones for me for the sin of the kid,

the calf, which is a type of animal like a kid [another interpretation: “kid” refers to idolatry, as it is written: “Those who prepare a table for Fortune”], that I cultivated

that I gathered

for

myself,

for I desired many gods, as it is written: “This is your god, O Israel.”

And we raised a question concerning it:

From where is it inferred that this word “my vineyards” is an expression denoting gathering

an expression of gathering?

Mar Zutra, son of Rav Naḥman, said: As we learned

in tractate Kelim:

A launderer’s chair on which they gather

collect

the garments

the clothes. It is a long board perforated with many holes, and incense [spices placed on coals] is set beneath it; the clothes absorb the fragrance of the spices through the holes. That chair is not susceptible to impurity of a seat.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written

there:

“His cheeks are like beds of spices”?

Each utterance that came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, filled the entire world with spices.

And once the first utterance had filled

the world,

where did the second utterance go,

enter?

The Holy One, blessed be He, brought forth wind from His treasuries, and it carried away each one in turn

the fragrance to the Garden of Eden. As it is stated:

“His lips are roses, dripping flowing myrrh”—

do not read shoshanim [roses], but sheshonim [repeatedly taught],

that is, the Torah, which drips myrrh [spices], flowing, as the Holy One, blessed be He, carried away each one in turn.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: With each utterance that came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, the souls of Israel departed, as it is stated: “My soul went forth when he spoke.”

And since their souls departed with the first utterance, how did they receive the second utterance?

He brought down the dew with which the dead will be resurrected, and revived them.

As it is stated

in Psalms:

“You, God, sent abundant rain; You sustained Your inheritance when it was weary.”

This verse speaks of the giving of the Torah.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: With each utterance

that came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, Israel retreated twelve mil

which was the measure of the Israelite camp; those standing at the front of the camp and closest to the utterance retreated from fear of the sound to the far end of the camp.

And the ministering angels measured them back,

assisting them in retreating little by little, because they had weakened from fear, like a woman guiding her small child at the beginning of his walking.

As it is stated: “The angels of the hosts retreat, they retreat”—

do not read yidodun

which implies that they themselves retreat,

but yadedun

that they guide others back.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on High, the ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe! What is a human being doing among us?

He said to them: He has come to receive the Torah!

They said before Him: Do You seek to give to flesh and blood that precious hidden treasure, which was concealed with You for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created

?

But is it not written:

“What is man, that You should remember him, and the son of man, that You should attend to him? O Lord, our Master, how majestic is Your name throughout

the entire earth, for You have set Your glory above the heavens”?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Give them an answer! Moses said

before Him:

I am afraid that they will burn me with the breath of their mouths.

He said to him,

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Take hold of the Throne of Glory and give them an answer! As it is stated: “He grasped the face of the throne and spread His cloud over it”; and Rabbi Naḥum said: This teaches that the Almighty spread some of the radiance of His Presence

[an acrostic interpretation of the word]

and His cloud over him.

Moses said

before Him:

Master of the Universe! What is written in the Torah that You are giving me?

“I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

He said to them,

the angels: Is it possible that

you descended to Egypt?

Were you enslaved to Pharaoh?

And if so,

the Torah—

why should it be yours?

Again, what is written in it? “You shall have no other gods”

Is it possible that

you dwell among peoples who worship

idolatry?