Sotah 22a (כב.) — the Talmud in English

7.

Ulla said: This is

a person

who read,

who studied the Written Torah,

and repeated

the mishnayot,

but

he

did not serve Torah scholars,

as he did not study the words of the Gemara, and therefore he does not know the distinctions between the laws that emerge from the study of the statements of the tannaim in the Gemara.

And since he is not proficient in the reasons underlying the mishnayot, he is called “wicked,” because his Torah is not clarified, and he causes the students who learn Torah from him to stumble.

And he is also called “cunning,” because he deceives people into honoring him as they honor a Torah scholar. For when they see him repeating mishnayot, they are certain that he also studies the words of the Gemara, and they regard him as a Torah scholar who knows the reasons underlying the mishnayot as explained in the Gemara.

It was stated:

A person who

read,

studied the Written Torah,

and repeated

the Mishna,

but did not serve Torah scholars

by studying the words of the Gemara—

Rabbi Elazar says: He is an ignoramus!

He is suspect with regard to tithes and ritual purity.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: He is

considered

an empty pit,

as he is worse than an ignoramus, since he contains nothing, like an empty pit, whereas an ignoramus possesses something.

Rabbi Yannai says: He is

considered like

a Samaritan!

That is, it is prohibited to eat his bread or drink his wine, just as the Sages decreed with regard to the bread and wine of the Samaritans!

Because, since he is not particular to know the words of the Sages thoroughly, and therefore refrains from studying the words of the Gemara, it turns out that all his study is not in order to know the Torah in truth, but only to mislead people so that they will honor him as a Torah scholar. Therefore, they decreed that he be considered according to the law of a Samaritan.

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov says: He is

a magus

[like a sorcerer, who deceives people’s eyes and steals their hearts]!

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It stands to reason

that he is considered

as

he said,

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov,

that he is like a sorcerer.

Because

people say: “The magus chants incantations”,

the sorcerer whispers his incantations,

“but he does not know what he said,”

as the sorcerer does not know the meaning of his incantations!

And this person is likewise:

he teaches a baraita,

he repeats the mishnayot,

but he does not know what he said,

without understanding their meaning.

The Sages taught: Who is an ignoramus? —

Anyone who does not read

[who does not even know how to read]

the morning and evening recitation of Shema with its blessings, the words of Rabbi Meir.

But one who knows how to read Shema and recites it with its blessings is not considered an ignoramus.

And the Sages say: Anyone who does not don phylacteries.

Ben Azzai says: Anyone who has no ritual fringes on his garment.

Rabbi Yonatan ben Yosef said: Anyone who has children but does not raise them to study Torah.

Others

say: Even one who reads and repeats, but did not serve Torah scholars—

this is an ignoramus!

One who read but did not repeat—

he is an empty pit!

One who neither read nor repeated—

concerning him the verse

[Jeremiah 31]

says: “

And I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.”

For he is like the seed of an animal, which knows nothing.

The Gemara brings the statement of Rabbi Yitzḥak in his exposition of the verse in Proverbs 24, concerning those who do not study Talmud but only mishnayot— “

Fear the Lord, my son, and the king.

And with those who repeat—

do not associate.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak said:

The verse means to say: Do not associate with

those

who did not serve Torah scholars,

who repeat halakhot

of the mishnayot alone and were not particular to ascertain the reasons underlying the mishnayot!

And the Gemara raises the obvious question:

It is obvious

that this is what the verse intended, for what other explanation is there of “Do not associate with those who repeat”?

And we answer: Rabbi Yitzḥak comes to teach us

what might you have said—

perhaps you would say that the verse refers to those who are

repeatedly sinning,

and in accordance with the statement of Rav Huna—

As Rav Huna said: Once a person commits a transgression and repeats it—

it becomes permitted to him,

it is considered permitted for him!

He comes to teach us

that Rabbi Yitzḥak means those who repeat halakhot, not those who repeatedly sin.

The tanna taught: The tannaim,

people who repeat mishnayot alone,

destroyers of the world

they are! For they bring destruction upon the world.

And the Gemara asks: Could

destroyers of the world

enter your mind—could it have occurred to you to call those who repeat mishnayot by this name? What harm do they cause to other people?

that one should call those who study Mishnayot by this name? What harm do they cause to other people?

He said—

he answered—

Ravina:

The harm is that

they

instruct

the people

the halakha

in practice

from their Mishna, and since they are not proficient in its reasons, they issue mistaken rulings.

and since they are not familiar with the reasons underlying them, they issue erroneous rulings.

It was taught likewise in a baraita: Rabbi Yehoshua said: Are

people who repeat mishnayot alone

destroyers of the world

?

Are they not those who establish the world,

as

it is stated: “

His are the ways of the world”? For one who repeats halakhot, the world is his, as it is sustained by his merit!

Rather,

they are considered destroyers of the world because they do not merely occupy themselves with studying the mishnayot, but

they

they

issue halakhic rulings from their Mishna,

and their halakhic rulings are mistaken.

We learned in the Mishna:

A woman who withdraws from worldly affairs

this one is included among the destroyers of the world.

The Sages taught: A virgin who prays,

who prays constantly,

and a neighborly widow,

who makes a practice of frequently visiting her neighbors,

and a minor whose months have not been completed

[this will be explained below]—

these are destroyers of the world.

For their intentions are not for the sake of Heaven; rather, they are adulteresses and witches who pretend to be righteous women so that their deeds will not be investigated.

And we ask:

Is that so!

Can it really be said this way?

But Rabbi Yoḥanan said: We learn fear of sin—

from a virgin,

as will be explained.

And

likewise, we learn that a person should exert himself greatly for

receiving reward

to a greater degree—

from a widow,

as will be explained.

And the Gemara explains his statements:

We learn

fear of sin from a virgin—

For Rabbi Yoḥanan heard a certain virgin who fell on her face and said: “Master of the universe! You created the Garden of Eden

to give the righteous their reward,

and You created Gehinnom

to punish the wicked.

You created the righteous, and You created the wicked.

May it be Your will that people not stumble because of me!”

so that they would not lose their share in the Garden of Eden and would not be punished in Gehinnom.

We learn to exert oneself for

receiving reward

to a greater degree

from a widow—

for there was a certain widow whose synagogue was in her neighborhood,

as the synagogue was near her.

But she did not pray in the synagogue that was in her neighborhood. Rather,

every day she would come,

she would come every day,

and pray

in

Rabbi Yoḥanan’s study hall.

He said to her,

Rabbi Yoḥanan:

My daughter,

is

there not a synagogue in your neighborhood!?

There is a synagogue near your home; why do you come to pray in my study hall, which is far from your place?

She said to him: Rabbi! And

is

there not the reward for footsteps that I receive,

for walking from far away in order to pray?

If so, the question arises: Why did the baraita say that one must be concerned that any distinctive conduct of piety practiced by a woman is merely a pretense, and that she is included among the destroyers of the world?

And we answer:

When

the tanna said that she is included among the destroyers of the world, it was

for example

the witch-widow called

Yoḥani bat Retivi,

who would use her sorcery to stop the womb of a woman in labor. Only after the laboring woman had suffered would she tell those present that she was going to pray on her behalf. At that time she would go home and undo the effect of her sorcery on the woman in labor, and the child would emerge. Everyone thought that the child had been born through the merit of her prayers, until it was discovered that she was a witch.

The Gemara now discusses:

What is meant by “

a minor whose

months have not been completed,”

which the tanna said is among the destroyers of the world?

Here they explained,

here, in Babylonia:

This is a Torah scholar who kicks his teachers,

and therefore he is called “a minor whose months have not been completed,” as a metaphor indicating that his days will be shortened.

Rabbi Abba,

in Eretz Yisrael,

said: This is a student who has not reached the level of issuing rulings, but

nevertheless

issues rulings.

For Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rav Huna, who said in the name of Rav:

What is the meaning of that which is written

[Proverbs 7] concerning the strange woman who causes people to stumble in transgression, which serves as a metaphor for a student who does not conduct himself properly— “

For she has cast down many wounded, and all her slain are mighty.” “

For she has cast down many wounded,”

from the expression referring to a stillborn child, one born before its time—

this is a Torah scholar who has not reached the level of issuing rulings, but

already

issues rulings. “

And all her slain are mighty”—

this is a Torah scholar who has reached the level of issuing rulings but does not issue rulings!