Sotah 21b (כא:) — the Talmud in English

Ben Azzai says: A person is obligated to teach his

daughter Torah.

Rabbi Eliezer says: Anyone who teaches his daughter Torah—

teaches her frivolity!

And the Gemara wonders: Is it conceivable that teaching Torah to one’s daughter is a form of

“frivolity”

could enter your mind—

that one would call it that!?

Rather, say this: It is

as though he

had taught her frivolity.

That is, since there are many matters in the Torah that deal with the cunning of the wicked, their strategies, and their deceptions—all in order that the judge should know in what ways people are capable of deceiving others, and how one must arrive at the investigation of the truth—there is concern that if a woman studies Torah, she will come to behave cunningly and commit corrupt acts in secret, since women are readily influenced and are easily enticed to commit transgressions.

Rabbi Abbahu said: What is the reason for Rabbi Eliezer’s view?

As it is written

Proverbs 8]: “

I, wisdom, dwell with cunning.”

Once the wisdom

of Torah

enters a person—

cunning enters with him!

And we raised an objection:

But the Rabbis

Ben Azzai, who obligates a person to teach his daughter Torah]—

this verse, “

I, wisdom” —

what do they do with it?

What do they do with this verse? That is, why are they not concerned by the statement of the verse that Torah study leads to recognition of cunning, and therefore why were they not concerned lest cunning enter a woman and cause her to sin in secret?

And we answered:

They need it;

they require this verse

to

expound it

in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina.

For Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: The words of Torah endure only in one who makes himself bare

of every occupation

for their sake.

As it is stated: “

I, wisdom

[Torah]—

dwell

[in one who is]

cunning.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The words of Torah endure only in one who presents himself as though he does not

exist.

As it is stated: “

And wisdom—

from

[one who presents himself as]

nonexistent, you will find.”

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Yehoshua says: A woman prefers

a kav and frivolity.

And we raised an objection:

What is Rabbi Yehoshua saying?

And we answered:

This is what Rabbi Yehoshua

is saying: It is not good for a woman to study Torah, because

she prefers

to have

a kav

of food, which is only a small amount,

and

provided that she has

frivolity with it—

that her husband should always be with her—

rather than

having

nine kav

of abundant food

and

a life of

separation

from her husband, as is the way of Torah scholars!

And since this is a woman’s disposition, it is not good for her to study Torah.

We learned further in the Mishna:

He would say: A foolish pious person,

and

so

on.

And the Gemara explains:

What are the circumstances—

who is

a foolish pious person?

For example, when a woman is drowning in a river,

and he sees a woman drowning in a river,

and

the foolish pious person says:

It is not proper conduct

—it is not the way of propriety—

to look

[at her]

and to rescue her,

[that is, since he must look at her while rescuing her, he refrains from rescuing her].

The Gemara further explains Rabbi Yehoshua’s statement in the Mishna:

What are the circumstances of

a cunning wicked person?

And the Gemara cites several opinions of the amoraim concerning what constitutes “a cunning wicked person.”

a.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This is one who presents his arguments to the judge before his fellow litigant arrives.

For if the judge hears the arguments of one party in the absence of the opposing party, the first person’s words become fixed in his heart, and he does not properly receive the second person’s arguments. Therefore, one who does this is called “cunning,” because he acts deceptively, and he is called wicked because he has violated: “You shall not bear a false report.”

b.

Rabbi Abbahu says: “A cunning wicked person”

is

one who gives a poor person a dinar to bring his assets to two hundred zuz.

As we learned: One who possesses two hundred zuz

is not considered poor, and

may not take gleanings, forgotten sheaves, the corner of the field, or the poor man’s tithe,

as these are gifts for the poor.

If he possesses two hundred zuz less one dinar,

he is considered poor and may support himself from charity. Therefore,

even

if

a thousand

dinars

are given to him

as charity

at once, he may take them!

Therefore, a person who gives one dinar to a poor man who comes to gather the gifts of the poor in his field, intending thereby to bring the poor man’s assets to two hundred zuz and thus prevent him from taking the gleanings from his field—and doing so because he wants his own poor relatives to take the gleanings—is wicked. His intention is not to give charity to his fellow; rather, it is only to deprive him of the possibility of supporting himself from charity.

c.

Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: “A cunning wicked person”

is

one who gives advice

to orphans

to sell the

few assets.

And he said this in accordance with his own position—

For Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: If orphans acted first and sold the few assets, what they sold, they sold!

That is, when a man dies and leaves sons and daughters, the sons inherit the assets, while the daughters are supported from the assets inherited by the sons.

And if he left behind few assets, insufficient even for the sustenance of the sons and daughters, the Sages instituted that the daughters have the right to consume the assets, while the sons must go begging from door to door.

However, if, before the daughters came to the court to demand that the sons place the few assets under their control so that they could support themselves from them by virtue of the Sages’ enactment, the sons acted first and sold the assets, the daughters cannot make a claim against the orphans.

Therefore, one who advises orphans to circumvent the Sages’ enactment and sell the assets immediately, in order to prevent the daughters from supporting themselves from them, is “wicked,” for he teaches others to circumvent the words of the Sages; and he is therefore also called “cunning.”

d.

Abaye said: This is one who gives advice to sell assets, in accordance with Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

As it is taught in a beraita:

One who says to his fellow,

“My assets

are given

to you

as a gift”—but this is not a complete gift, for I am giving it only to you, and not to your heirs—

and

therefore,

after you,

when you die, these assets shall be given

to so-and-so.

And

if

the first recipient took possession and sold

the assets

and consumed

and depleted the assets—if the first recipient dies,

the second,

the one to whom the assets were given after the death of the first, goes and

takes out

the assets that were sold

from the purchasers; this is the statement of Rabbi.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: The second recipient has only what the first left over

with him, and not what he sold.

According to his view, he is wicked, for he prevents the fulfillment of the giver’s words, acting deceptively.

e.

Rav Yosef bar Ḥama said in the name of Rav Sheshet: This is

a wicked and corrupt person who acts deceptively and pretends to be righteous,

who

“influences”

others by his ways,

showing them to conduct themselves as he does, as though he were righteous, while his sole aim is to conceal his own corruption.

f.

Rabbi Zerika said in the name of Rav Huna: This is one who is lenient with himself and stringent with others.

He is wicked in that he is lenient with himself, and cunning in that he is stringent with others and pretends to be righteous.