Sotah 22b — the Talmud in English

And how long

must he wait before issuing a legal ruling?

Until

he reaches the age of

forty years.

The

Gemara is surprised: Is that so?!

But Rabba—

who died young, at the age of forty—

surely

issued legal rulings!?

And it answers: One may issue rulings even before that age,

when they are equal—

if he and the leading scholar of the city are equal in wisdom, or when there is no older person in the city capable of issuing rulings.

We learned in the

Mishna: “And the blows of the ascetics, and so on,”

».

The Sages taught: There are seven types of ascetics—

the Shechem ascetic, the stumbling ascetic, the wall-bloodletting ascetic, the pestle ascetic, the ascetic who asks, ‘What is my obligation, and I will fulfill it?’, the ascetic out of love, and the ascetic out of fear.

The Gemara explains what these seven types of ascetics are:

1.

The Shechem ascetic—

this is one who acts like the people of Shechem:

just as the people of Shechem circumcised themselves for an ulterior motive and not for the sake of Heaven, so too this person’s ascetic conduct is solely for his own benefit, so that people will honor him.

2.

The stumbling ascetic—

this is one who makes his feet stumble:

he walks in such a way that he does not lift his feet, but drags them, heel after toe, and his toes strike the stones in the road.

3.

The wall-bloodletting ascetic—

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This is one who lets blood from the walls.

He pretends to close his eyes so as not to look at women, and as a result his head strikes the walls and he is wounded and bleeds.

4.

The pestle ascetic—

Rabba bar Sheila said: He walks bent over like a pestle.

He walks bent and slanted, like a bent pestle made in the shape of a hammer.

5.

An ascetic

who constantly announces and asks,

“What is my obligation, and I will fulfill it?”

The Gemara raises a question about this:

This—

this kind of asceticism—is

an excellent

—

is it not?

After all, he is asking to learn what he still does not know!?

And we answer:

Rather, the reference is to an ascetic

who

says: “What further obligation do I have, and I will fulfill it!”

He presents himself as someone who has already fulfilled everything, and announces: “What else am I required to do!?”

And the ascetic out of love

is one whose service of God is motivated by love of the reward for the commandments, rather than by love of fulfilling God’s commandments.

7.

The ascetic out of fear

of punishment.

The commandments must be fulfilled for the sake of fulfilling the commandments that the Almighty commanded us, and not in order to receive a reward [which will ultimately come], or because of fear of punishment. [ [A0060]]Meiri wrote: The general principle is this: Anyone who separates himself from the ways of the world because of his attachment to worldly aims, and not for the sake of Heaven, is fleeing from the world, but in practice he is pursuing it! ]

[And Meiri wrote: The general principle is: Anyone who separates himself from the ways of the world because of his attachment to the ways of the world, and not for the sake of Heaven, is like one who flees from the world, while in practice he pursues it!]

Abaye and Rava said to the tanna: Do not teach “an ascetic out of love” or “an ascetic out of fear”!

Because

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: A person should always engage in Torah study and the commandments, even when his motivation is not for their own sake, because through acting not for their own sake he will come to act for their own sake.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: What is hidden is hidden,

what is hidden from people is hidden only from them,

and what is revealed is revealed,

and what is revealed to them is revealed.

But

in the great court,

before the Almighty’s great court, everything is revealed,

so that He may punish those who wrap themselves in cloaks,

those who cover themselves outwardly but do not behave properly in secret.

King Yannai said to his household,

to his wife, before his death:

“Do not fear the ascetics,”

the sages against whom I fought, because they will not take revenge on you and your sons on my account; rather, they will leave the royal throne to you and your sons.

And do not fear those who are not ascetics,

the Sadducees, who are fond of [having Yannai become a Sadducee].

Rather,

fear

the hypocrites, who resemble ascetics: their deeds are like the deed of Zimri, but they seek a reward like Phinehas.

Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon says: Merit does not suspend the effect of the bitter waters!

And if

you were to say:

If you say

that merit suspends the effect of the bitter waters,

it would follow—

a.

You weaken the power of the water before the women who drink it,

so that they will not fear it and confess that they are impure, and the sacred Name will be erased in the water.

b.

And you give the pure women who drank it a bad reputation,

because

people say

about them:

“They are impure, but

the water did not test them because

merit suspended its effect for them!”

Rabbi says: Merit suspends the effect of the bitter waters, but she neither gives birth nor becomes more attractive.

Rather, she

gradually deteriorates

[she gradually weakens].

Ultimately,

when

she dies the same death

of her abdomen swelling and her thigh collapsing.

If

the woman suspected of infidelity’s meal-offering becomes impure,

its law differs:

If it became impure

before it was sanctified with “sanctity of the offering”

in the

in the

service vessel,

it is like all meal-offerings

that became impure before they were sanctified in a vessel,

and it is redeemed

and another offering is brought with the money received for it. This is because only a service vessel confers sanctity of the offering upon it, whereas verbal sanctification of meal-offerings confers only “sanctity of value.”

And if

her meal-offering became impure

after it had been sanctified with

sanctity of the offering

in a

service vessel,

it is like all meal-offerings

that became impure after they were sanctified in a vessel,

and it is burned,

because it received sanctity of the offering and can no longer leave the sacred category through redemption.

And these are sotahs

whose meal-offerings

are burned: