Sotah 38b — the Talmud in English

As it is stated: "

Say to them,"

and we expound: “‘to them’” means “that which is theirs,” to teach:

the saying

is a warning to the kohanim to raise their hands -

from their own [

from the kohanim’ own]

shall it be!

And the halakha is in accordance with Abaye

who says that one does not call “koen” for one person.

And the halakha is not in accordance with Rav Hisda;

who says that the koen recites the words for them.

A mnemonic

for the following statements of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: a.

desires; b.

b.

for blessing; c.

c.

platform; d.

d.

in the service; e.

e.

cup; f.

f.

recognizes; g.

g.

benefits; h.

h.

in the wagon.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

a. Desires:

from where is it derived that the Holy One, blessed is He, desires the priestly blessing -

As it is stated: "

And they shall place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I shall bless them,"

for behold, Scripture made the matter dependent upon the Children of Israel, so that the priestly blessing is the placing of His Name upon the Children of Israel, and it did not make it a need of Israel, but rather a need of the Omnipresent.

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

b. For blessing:

every koen who blesses

is

blessed, and a

koen

who does not bless is not blessed -

As it is stated: "

And I shall bless those who bless you."

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

c. The platform:

c. Platform:

every koen who does not go up to the platform

to bless, transgresses three positive commandments: "

So shall you bless

the Children of Israel." "

Say to them." "

And they shall place My Name

upon the Children of Israel."

Rav said: We are concerned that perhaps he is the son of a divorced woman or a woman released by halitza [

that he is a halal, and his kehunah is not upon him].

And they do not disagree,

for Rabbi Joshua ben Levi too holds that one must be concerned that perhaps he is a halal. And this is how they disagree:

This is when he goes up occasionally,

as the koen sometimes goes up to the platform on festivals and appointed times.

This is when he does not go up

the koen even

occasionally,

for then we are concerned that perhaps he is a halal.

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

d. In the service:

every koen who does not go up during the service [

does not go up to the platform before the prayer leader finishes “Retzei”],

does not go up afterward -

As it is stated: "

And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he descended

afterward

from performing the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings."

Just as there

Aaron blessed Israel

at the

time of

the service,

for afterward he completed the service,

so here

he must go up

during the service.

And we raise an objection:

Is it so [

but the matter is not so], for:

But Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi went up [

they went up] to the platform after “Retzei?!

And we answer:

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi, at first

before they had finished “Retzei,”

were uprooting their feet [

they were uprooting their feet toward the platform], and only

they did not arrive there

until after “Retzei.”

And as Rabbi Oshaya taught

a beraita:

They taught this only when he did not uproot his feet

during the service,

but if he uprooted his feet

during the service, he

goes up.

And we also learned

a Mishna in tractate Berakhot: “

The one who passes before the ark, if there is no koen there except him, shall not raise his hands,” lest he be unable to return to his prayer, to know how to begin “Sim Shalom,” because his mind is confused from fear of the congregation; “and

if his assurance [

if he is confident]

is that he will raise his hands and return to his prayer,”

because he is confident that his mind will not be confused from fear of the congregation,

he is permitted”

to raise his hands.

And we were occupied with it [

and they raised an objection to this in the beit-midrash]:

But he did not go up during the service

to the platform!?

Rather, he uprooted a little [

he uprooted his feet slightly during the service],

here too [

also here]

he uprooted a little.

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

e. Cup:

they give the cup of blessing [

the blessing of the invitation]

to bless only to one of generous eye,

one who hates dishonest gain and performs kindness with his money.

As it is stated: "

He of generous eye shall be blessed, for he has given of his bread to the poor."

Do not read "

he shall be blessed"

but "

he shall bless."

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

f. Recognizes:

from where is it derived that even birds recognize those of stingy eye,

and do not eat from what belongs to them?

As it is stated: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us hide for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like the netherworld, and the whole like those who descend into the pit. Every precious wealth we shall find; we shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast your lot among us; one purse shall be for us all,’” for Scripture speaks of those of stingy eye who love dishonest gain.

And Scripture says: "

And the verse says: “

For in vain is the net spread [

the way of hunters is to scatter wheat and barley in their net so that the birds will come to eat]

before the eyes of every winged creature,"

that is to say: those of stingy eye lose for no purpose what they place upon the net, because even winged creatures recognize them, and they do not benefit from those foods.

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

g. Benefits:

g. Benefits:

anyone who benefits from those of stingy eye transgresses a negative commandment.

As it is stated: "

Do not eat the bread of one of begrudging eye

and do not desire his delicacies.

For as he calculates [

shin with a kamatz and ayin with an open vowel]

within his soul, so is he [ he makes the eater bitter and hairy within the soul of the stingy one; for]

‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you [

the stingy one], but his heart is not with you.”

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: He transgresses two negative commandments:

a. "

Do not eat

the bread of one of begrudging eye."

b. "

And do not desire

his delicacies."

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

h. Regarding the heifer:

And Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said:

h. In the wagon:

the beheaded heifer comes only on account of those of stingy eye.

As it is stated: “And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer beheaded in the valley.

And they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood’

and our eyes did not see.”

Would it enter our hearts that the elders of the court [“

the elders of the city”]

are murderers,

so that they need to say that they are not such!?

Rather, “Our hands did not shed this blood,” that is:

he did not come into our hands and we dismissed him. “

And our eyes did not see,” that is:

we did not see him and leave him.

And the Gemara explains:

not

was he killed by our hand, when

he came into our hands and we dismissed him without provisions,

and he was forced to rob people, and was killed by one who came to rob him of his provisions; and this is the stinginess on account of which the beheaded heifer comes.

We did not see him and leave him without escort,

without a group to go along with him.

Ada said in the name of Rabbi Simlai: A synagogue that is entirely kohanim, all of them go up to the platform.

And

for whom do they bless?

Rabbi Zeira said:

They bless

their brothers in the fields.

And we raise an objection:

Is it so [

but this is not so], for:

But Abba, son of Rav Minyamin bar Hiyya, taught: The people who are behind the kohanim

who do not stand face to face

are not included in the blessing,

as explained above, 38a; but the people in the fields do not stand face to face, so how are they blessed!? And we answer:

It is not difficult:

This

that Rabbi Zeira said that they bless their brothers in the fields is specifically in this manner,

that

they are

forced [

they are compelled].

This

that we say concerning the people who are behind the kohanim, that they are not included in the blessing, is because

they are not compelled [

they are not compelled] to come opposite the kohanim to be blessed by them face to face; rather, the blessing is not important enough to them for them to trouble themselves for this purpose.

We raise another objection:

But Rav Shimi of Bireta of Shihorei [

a place-name] taught:

A synagogue that is entirely kohanim, some of them

of the kohanim

go up

to the platform,

and some of them answer Amen;

thus, not all of them go up to the platform.

And we answer:

There is no difficulty:

And we answer:

It is not difficult:

This -

when some go up and some answer Amen - is in a case where

ten remain in the synagogue,

kohanim besides those who go up to the platform, for then the ten are considered fit to be blessed by themselves.

This

when all go up is in a case where

ten do not remain in the synagogue, if some of them go up to the platform; and since they are not considered fit to be blessed by themselves, therefore all bless the people in the fields.

The body of the matter: Abaye, son of Rav Minyamin bar Hiyya, taught: The people who are behind the kohanim are not included in the blessing.

And the Gemara explains that this

is obvious,

the following law being simple and without doubt:

The tall ones before the short ones do not create an interruption [

a tall person is not an interruption between the kohanim and a short Israelite behind him], for if so, there would be no end to the matter.

And it is likewise obvious that the

ark [

the platform upon which they place a Torah scroll]

does not create an interruption [

it does not interrupt], even if it is higher than a person’s height, wide, and has partitions, because it is an object used for the synagogue.

And what remains in doubt is:

what is the law of a partition

to create an interruption between Israel and the kohanim? ta shma: for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

Even a partition of iron does not separate between Israel and their Father in Heaven.

It was asked of them:

Israelites standing from the

sides

of the kohanim,

what is it

that they be included in the blessing?

Abba Mar son of Rav Ashi said: ta shma

from this

as we learned

in tractate Parah:

If

he intended—

the one purifying the person or the vessels that are impure through contact with a corpse—

to sprinkle

from the water of the red heifer

before him,