Sotah 33b — the Talmud in English

And

we challenge

Rabbi Yehuda,

who learns that chalitza is in the Holy Tongue from “so,”: if so,

this “and she shall answer and say”

from which the Sages learned the gezerah shavah, “answering, answering,”

what does he do with it

[what does he expound from it]? That is to say: why was the gezerah shavah, “answering, answering,” given? And we explain:

he requires it

Rabbi Yehuda requires the gezerah shavah of “answering, answering,” in order

to teach

the blessings and curses of

the Levites, which

are

in the Holy Tongue; that is to say: this gezerah shavah was not given in order to learn from the Levites to chalitza, but, conversely, in order to learn from chalitza to the Levites that they are to say them in the Holy Tongue, as he proceeds to explain.

And we challenge: Why does Rabbi Yehuda need to learn that the Levites are to say them in the Holy Tongue from chalitza,

when

let

Rabbi Yehuda learn the Levites

from Moses

by the gezerah shavah of “voice, voice,” as the Sages learned it?!

And we answer: Behold, no person derives a gezerah shavah on his own unless he received it from his teachers; and Rabbi Yehuda

“answering, answering”

received

from his teachers, whereas “

voice, voice”

he did not receive

from his teachers.

It was taught likewise

that according to Rabbi Yehuda the blessings and curses of the Levites are learned to be in the Holy Tongue from what is said concerning them, “answering” [“and they shall answer and say”], and not as the Sages learn this from “with a loud voice”:

For it was taught:

Rabbi Yehuda says:

Every place where it is said,

concerning a matter dependent on speech,

“so,”

“thus,”

“answering and saying,”

is only in the Holy Tongue.

And Rabbi Yehuda explains it:

“So”

is what is said concerning the raising of the hands:

“So shall you bless

the children of Israel; say to them,” and from here we learn concerning the raising of the hands that it is in the Holy Tongue.

“Thus”

is concerning chalitza.

“Answering and saying”

is concerning the Levites.

We learned in the Mishna:

“The blessings and curses”—how [were they performed]? Once Israel had crossed the Jordan

and had come to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in Samaria, on the side of Shechem that is near the terebinths of Moreh, as it is said: “Are they not across the Jordan, beyond the way of the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the terebinths of Moreh”; and below it says: “And Abram passed through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth of Moreh.” Just as “the terebinth of Moreh” stated below is Shechem, so “the terebinths of Moreh” stated here are Shechem; six tribes, etc.

The Sages taught

to explain the verse [mentioned in the Mishna] that teaches the children of Israel—who were east of the Jordan, on their way to cross to the western side of the Jordan—where Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are: “

Are they not across the Jordan”:

that is,

beyond the Jordan and onward

[far from it],

the words of Rabbi Yehuda,

as it is written: “

Beyond the way of the setting of the sun”:

and “the setting of the sun” is

the place where the sun rises,

that is, in the east; and every place where “beyond” is said indicates distance. It follows that the verse says that these mountains were distant from the east in which the children of Israel were standing. “

In the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the Arabah”:

these are Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, in which there dwell

today

the Cutheans,

for Sennacherib, king of Assyria, exiled the ten tribes and settled these people there. “

Opposite Gilgal”:

that is,

near Gilgal. “

Near the terebinths of Moreh”:

that is,

Shechem;

and from where is it that it is Shechem? For:

Here it says “the terebinths of Moreh,”

and below it says:

“And Abram passed through the land, as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth of Moreh,”

and we learned by a gezerah shavah:

Just as

“the terebinth of Moreh”

stated below

is

Shechem; so

“the terebinths of Moreh” stated

here

is

Shechem.

Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Yosei said:

“With this matter I exposed the forgery

[that is, I demonstrated the forgery of]

the books of the Cutheans,

who believe in the Written Torah but do not believe in the Oral Torah, and say: Since it is stated on Mount Gerizim, “You shall sacrifice peace-offerings and eat there,” it is certainly the place that the Lord chose to serve Him, unlike the tradition of the Sages that this choice is through a prophet, namely, in Jerusalem.

For

I said to them: ‘You have forged your Torah, and you have accomplished nothing!’

For from where do you know that the Mount Gerizim at which you worship is indeed the Mount Gerizim stated in the Torah? It is because

you say:

“the terebinths of Moreh”

that is

Shechem; and if so, the Mount Gerizim stated in the Torah, which is near the terebinths of Moreh, is the mountain near Shechem.

And indeed,

we too admit that

“

the terebinths of Moreh”

is

Shechem,

but

we learned it by a gezerah shavah, whereas

you—by what did you learn it!?

That is to say: if you do not rely upon the Oral Torah, you have no source for the place sanctified to you; and it follows that you rely upon it while denying it at one and the same time.”

Rabbi Eleazar said

[he explained the verse] not according to the words of Rabbi Yehuda: “

Are they not across the Jordan”:

near the Jordan, as it is written:

“And it shall be when you cross the Jordan

that you shall erect these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal.” And the meaning is: on the very day that you cross the Jordan you shall erect them on Mount Ebal; therefore Mount Ebal was near the Jordan.

And concerning what the verse said: “

Beyond the way of the setting of the sun”:

that is,

the place where the sun sets,

which is in the west; and “beyond” indicates distance. It follows that the verse says: These mountains are distant from the west and near the east, and that is, near the Jordan, which is east of the mountains. “

In the land of the Canaanite”:

it is the land of the Hivite,

for Shechem son of Hamor, the prince of Shechem, was a Hivite, as it is said: “And Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her.”

And necessarily, the statement of the verse, “who dwells in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal,” did not come to provide an identifying sign for these mountains, for:

How can you call the Hivite people

“

who dwells in the Arabah,”

which is a level land”!?

But they dwell among mountains and hills!?

And how can you call them

“

opposite Gilgal,”

which implies near Gilgal!?

But the Hivite people did not see

Gilgal!?

That is to say: they are far from it.

Rather,

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says, that is to say: for this reason it says “who dwells in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal,” in accordance with Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, who said:

The verse came only to show them

to Israel

a way on the second occasion,

that is to say: the Holy One, blessed be He, directed Israel on their second journey, after crossing the Jordan, when they would come to conquer the land, and showed them by which route they would conquer it;

and

in the way in which He showed them

Israel the way

on the first occasion,

that is to say: when they went out of Egypt, when the cloud directed them in the wilderness.

And thus the verse directs them: “

Way

[‘the setting of the sun’],” to direct them:

Go on the road, and not through fields and vineyards. “

Who dwells”:

Go through inhabited places, and not through deserts. “

In the Arabah”:

In the Arabah

[a level land]

go, and not in mountains and hills.

The Sages taught:

It is written in the Book of Joshua [3:10 and onward]: “Joshua said [before they crossed the Jordan]: ‘By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will surely dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord of all the land, is crossing before you in the Jordan. And now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man, one man from each tribe [to erect stones in the Jordan and to carry stones from the Jordan to erect them on Mount Ebal]. And it shall be, when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the land, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off—the waters descending from above—and they shall stand as one mound [meaning: the waters flowing from above downward, as is the way of all rivers, when they reach the place where the Jordan is split, shall not continue to flow downward, but shall rise and stand like a mound]. And it was, when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And when the bearers of the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the Ark were dipped at the edge of the water—and the Jordan was full over all its banks all the days of harvest—the waters descending from above stood [and] rose as one mound.’”

How did Israel cross the Jordan?

Every day,

until they reached the Jordan, the

Ark was

traveling after two standards,

but on that day it traveled first

[before all the standards].

As it is said:

“Behold, the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord of all the land, is crossing before you.”

Every day, the Levites,

the sons of Kohath,

would carry the Ark,

as it is said [Numbers 3:29]: “The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the side of the Tabernacle toward the south. And their charge shall be the Ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, and the sacred vessels with which they minister”—

But

if

on that day,

when they crossed the Jordan,

the priests carried it.

As it is said:

“And it shall be when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Lord rest.”

It was taught:

Rabbi Yosei says:

In three places the priests carried the Ark:

a.

When they crossed the Jordan.

b.

And when they circled Jericho,

as it is said [Joshua 6:2]: “The Lord said to Joshua: ‘See, I have given Jericho and its king, mighty warriors, into your hand. You shall circle the city, all the men of war, going around the city once. So shall you do for six days.’” [Verse 6]: “Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them: ‘Carry the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven priests carry seven ram-horns before the Ark of the Lord.’” [Verse 11]: “The Ark of the Lord circled the city, going around once; and they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.”

c.

And when they returned it to its place

in the Holy of Holies, in the House that Solomon built, as it is said [I Kings 8:1]: “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the children of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, in the festival, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the Ark.” [Verse 6]: “And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place, to the Sanctuary of the House, to the Holy of Holies, beneath the wings of the cherubim.”