Sotah 49a — the Talmud in English

Rava said

that those referred to in this verse are

the young children of the wicked people of Israel,

young children who died [exact location on the page] before their fathers, who were wicked people of Israel,

thereby lightening their fathers’ future judgment,

because by dying they tear up their fathers’ verdict in the future World, as they come and

say before Him: Master of the Universe, since You are destined to punish them

our wicked fathers,

why did You blunt their teeth through us,

why did You cause them distress by having us die before them? In this way, You exacted their punishment from them during their lifetimes.

Rabbi Ilaa ben Yivarchiya said: Had it not been for David’s prayer,

which is brought below,

all Israel would have been

desperately poor, and their only occupation would have been

selling grease,

meaning all the greasy and repulsive substances that stick to the clothing of itinerant merchants and make them repulsive. David prayed about this, as

it is stated: “For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall perish forever.” Rather, “Place, O Lord, a teacher for them,”

give the poor people of Israel wealth, so that the gentiles will honor them, and so that “the gentiles may know that they are but human”—that the gentiles are not like gods, whose entire honor and greatness belong to them alone; rather, Israel too can be wealthy and honored.

And Rabbi Ilaa bar Yivarchiya said: Had it not been for Habakkuk’s prayer, two Torah scholars would have covered themselves with a single prayer shawl

because of their extreme poverty,

and engaged

in Torah.

Habakkuk prayed about this, as

it is stated: “O Lord, I have heard Your report; I feared, O Lord, Your work; in the midst of the years revive it,”

and we interpret the verse:

Do not read “in the midst of the years,” but “in the closeness of the two,”

and we explain that the activity for which they needed to draw close to one another under a single prayer shawl—namely, Torah study—should be revived, meaning healed: improve their situation and give them enough to live in comfort.

And Rabbi Ilaa bar Yivarchiya said: Two Torah scholars who are traveling on the road and have no words of Torah between them deserve to be burned by fire,

as it is stated: “And it came to pass, while they

Elijah and his disciple Elisha

were going along and speaking”

about words of Torah,

“and behold, a chariot of fire, and so on.”

And we infer:

The reason

that there was speech

between them is that otherwise they deserve to be burned

by the chariot that came to burn them.

And Rabbi Ilaa bar Yivarchiya said: Two Torah scholars who live in the same city but are not at ease with one another in matters of halakha,

one dies

because the other unintentionally kills him,

and the other is exiled

to a city of refuge because he killed unintentionally,

as it is stated: “That the manslayer may flee there, who kills his fellow without knowledge,”

meaning that they lacked the understanding to teach one another and learn from one another,

and

we apply the verse to words of Torah, since

“knowledge” means only Torah, as it is stated: “My people are silenced for lack of knowledge,”

and the continuation of the verse is: “because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest.”

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Chiya, said: Any Torah scholar who engages in Torah under pressure,

as it is stated: “For the people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem,”

these are those who sit in the houses of study, and concerning them the end of the verse states:

“You shall weep no more; He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you,” and it is written afterward:

“And the Lord shall give you scant bread and limited water,”

indicating that this refers to one whose livelihood is difficult, yet nevertheless sits and engages in Torah; to such a person, God answers the sound of his cry.

Rabbi Abbahu says

that a Torah scholar who engages in Torah under pressure

is satiated by the radiance of the Divine Presence, as it is stated

there,

“And your eyes shall see your teacher,”

meaning the Divine Presence.

Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina says: Even the curtain

the partition that, as it were, stands before the Holy One, blessed be He

is not locked before him, as it is stated

there,

“He shall not hide,”

He will not conceal Himself from you behind the corner of His garment or behind His partition,

“your teacher.”

We learned in the Mishna:

“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: From the day the Temple was destroyed, there is no day that does not contain a curse.”

day that does not contain a curse.”

Rava said: Each and every day

since the destruction of the Temple

its curse is greater than that of the preceding day, as it is stated: “In the morning you shall say: Would that it were evening! And in the evening you shall say: Would that it were morning!”

And he proved from this verse that each coming day is worse than the previous one. For when one says in the evening, “Would that it were morning,” one must understand:

“Which morning?”

he longs for it at night.

If you say it means the morning of tomorrow, who knows what will happen?

What basis is there for assuming that tomorrow will be better than today?

Rather,

it necessarily means that he wants tomorrow’s morning to be like the morning

that has passed,

which proves that each day’s curse is greater than that of the preceding day, and therefore he wishes for it to be like yesterday.

And we raise the following difficulty: Since the curse continually increases each day,

then on what does the world continue to exist?

On whose merit does the world endure? And we explain:

On the sanctification recited after the סדר of study

which they instituted to be said after the prayer service: verses of sanctification together with their Aramaic translation, so that all the people of Israel—Torah scholars and ordinary people—will engage in a small amount of Torah every day. Their recitation of the verses of sanctification and their translation is considered engagement in Torah, because the translation explains the biblical text, and it is beloved before God that this study contains both Torah study and sanctification of God.

and on “Amen, may His great name be blessed” over an aggadic teaching,

which the congregation answers every Shabbat after the rabbi’s public sermon. Since it is not a workday, all the people gather to listen, and this too contains Torah study and sanctification of God.

The source for the teaching that the world endures through this is

as it is stated: “A land of darkness, like deep gloom, with no order,”

which implies:

“But there are orders,”

namely, orders of study in which the sections of the Torah are learned;

“You will bring light out of darkness.”

We learned in the Mishna:

“And the dew did not fall as a blessing, and the taste of the fruits was removed, and so on. It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says:”

Because

purity

ceased from Israel,

taste and fragrance ceased

from the fruits. When they were pure and conducted themselves in purity, they merited that the Holy One, blessed be He, purified their fruits from foul smells and unpleasant tastes.

And because of the sin of discontinuing

the tithe, the richness of grain was removed,

which existed by virtue of the tithe, which is called “fat,” meaning richness.

Rav Huna found a hinunita date,

a special kind of date that is rich and has a pleasant fragrance.

He took it, wrapped it in his scarf, and Rabbah

his son came and said to him,

his father,

“I smell the fragrance of a hinunita date.” He said to him: “My son, purity”

is within you,

as you are able to smell the fragrance of the fruit, and the fragrance of the fruit has not been lost to you because you conduct yourself in purity. Therefore,

he gave it to him.

Meanwhile, Abba, his son, arrived

the son of Rabbah bar Rav Huna.

He took it,

Rabbah

gave it to him, and Rav Huna said to him,

Rav Huna said to his son Rabbah:

“My son, you gladdened my heart”

through your purity,

“and you blunted my teeth,”

for you proved that you love your son more than me: you took the date from me after I had given it to you, and gave it to your son.

This is what people say: “A father’s love”

for his son

is for his son’s sons, while a son’s love is for his own sons.”

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov cared for Rav Yaakov, his daughter’s son. When he grew older,

his grandson

Rav Aḥa said to him:

Rav Aḥa

said to him: “Give me water.” He said to him,

the grandson said:

“I am not your son”

and I am not obligated to serve you,

and this is what people say: “Rabbi, Rabbi,”

the grandson asks his grandfather, “Raise me, raise me,” and in the end says to his grandfather:

“I am your daughter’s son,”

and I am not obligated to honor you as a son honors his father.

Mishna:

At

the time when

the army

besieged

of Vespasian

Jerusalem,

the Sages decreed

of that generation

concerning the crowns of grooms and the irus

the Gemara explains what these were.

During the siege of Titus

which Hyrcanus brought against his brother Onkelos, fifty-two years after Vespasian’s siege, at that time

they decreed concerning the crowns of brides,

as the Gemara explains,

and that a person should not teach his son

the wisdom of

Greek.

During the final siege,

when Titus and his army besieged Jerusalem and then destroyed the Temple,

they decreed that a bride should not go out in a palanquin

made in her honor from gilded cloaks and prayer shawls

within the city,

when she went from her father’s house to her husband’s house.

But our Sages,

namely Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi,

permitted a bride to go out in a palanquin within the city,

for reasons of modesty, since a virgin goes out with her hair uncovered, and a bride is also embarrassed when everyone looks at her.

When Rabbi Meir died, those who composed parables ceased

because he knew how to compose parables that gave their listeners insight, enabling them to delve into a matter and understand it properly; when he died, no one was found who could compose parables like him.

When ben Azzai died, the diligent ones ceased,

because he was constantly present at the doors of the house of study day and night, as we find [Yevamot 63b] that he said: “What can I do? My soul yearns for Torah.”

When ben Zoma died, the expounders ceased

because he was expert in the meanings of the biblical verses and knew how to expound them, as we find [Berakhot 12b] that Rabbi Eliezer said: “I did not merit having the Exodus from Egypt recited at night until ben Zoma expounded it.”

When Rabbi Akiva died, the honor of Torah ceased,

because he knew how to expound every extra word and letter in the Torah. He devoted himself to expounding countless laws from every crown on every letter, thereby bringing great honor to the Torah, showing that nothing in it is superfluous.

When Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa died, the people of deeds ceased,

because he performed wondrous deeds. He said to his daughter, who had lit the lamp with vinegar instead of oil: “He who told oil to burn will tell vinegar to burn,” and that is what happened. He also brought goats with bears on their horns as proof to his neighbors that they were not harmful, and more.

When Rabbi Yosei Ketanta died, the pious ones ceased. And why was he called Ketanta? Because he was

the

smallest of the pious ones,

for they gradually diminished, and he was the last and least among them.

When Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai died, the splendor of wisdom ceased

because he was expert in all the sciences, as they said [Sukkah 28a] that he knew the calculations of the seasons, numerical values, and the conversations of palm trees, thereby giving Torah beauty and majesty in the eyes of everyone.

When Rabban Gamliel the Elder died, the honor of Torah ceased,

as they said [Megilla 21a] that until his time they studied only while standing. When he died, weakness and decline came into the world, and people began studying while seated.

And

also

purity and abstinence died,

because no one remained who upheld purity and abstinence as he had. Nevertheless, purity still existed in the world until it ceased with the destruction of the Temple, as stated above.

When Rabbi Ishmael ben Pavi died, the splendor of the priesthood ceased,

for he was wise and wealthy, and many priests ate at his table.

When Rabbi died, humility and fear of sin ceased.

From here onward, according to the Rambam, this is not a Mishna but a beraita, whereas Rashi’s version is as a Mishna].

Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair says: From the time the Temple was destroyed, the haverim were ashamed,

for the common people mocked their practice of abstinence and purity, and their precision concerning the tithes,

and

likewise were ashamed

the freeborn,

those of pedigree, for slaves who had no pedigree began to demean them, and the honor of pedigree was humbled.

And they covered their heads

those of pedigree, because of the shame that the mamzerim became wealthy and demeaned the poor who had pedigree,

and the men of deeds dwindled,

for they did not value those who performed acts of kindness, while at that time also

the men of the fist and the men of the evil tongue grew strong

and flattery increased, and they flattered the powerful men, and it was considered as though they were responsible for every good deed,

and there is no one who seeks

for Israel,

and there is no one who requests

mercy for them,

and there is no

one who asks

and they have no advocate before God. And since this is so,

upon whom do we have to rely? Upon our Father in Heaven.

Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: From the day the Temple was destroyed, the sages began

to begin

to become like scribes,

descending in their rank to become like teachers of young children.

And the scribes

descended from their status to become

like synagogue attendants,