Yevamot 63a (סג.) — the Talmud in English

Regarding him, the verse says: "

Is this not the breaking of your bread for the hungry, and bringing the poor who are cast out into your house? When you see the naked, you cover him, and you do not hide yourself from your own flesh. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.

Then you shall call, and the Lord

will answer; you shall cry out, and He will say: Here I am!" "

Is this not the breaking of your bread for the hungry, when you see the poor and cover him?" This refers to one who sees the poor person's distress and lends him money at the time of his distress. "

And you do not hide yourself from your own flesh" refers to one who loves his neighbors, who are like his relatives, and draws his relatives close and marries his sister's daughter.

The Gemara now gives mnemonic signs for the following seven statements of Rabbi Elazar: a.

Woman

b.

And land

c.

Help

d.

This

e.

Two blessings [the reish with a tzeirei] and

f.

Merchants

g.

Inferior.

a. Woman:

Rabbi Elazar said: Any man who does not have a wife—

is not a man!

As it is stated: "Male and female He created them, and He called their name

man."

b. And land:

And Rabbi Elazar said: Any man who does not have land —

is not a man!

As it is stated: "The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth

He gave to human beings."

c. Help:

And Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written

in the account of the creation of Eve,

"I will make for him a help corresponding to him,"

It teaches you that if

a man merits, his wife

is

his help.

But if

he does not merit—she is

is

against him: his wife disagrees with him and contradicts his words.

his wife disagrees with him and contradicts his words.

Some say: Rabbi Elazar raised a contradiction

between the written form of this verse and its reading:

It is written, "kenegdo,"

without the letter yod, and it is read with a patah beneath the nun, meaning that the woman was given to him in order to anger him and oppose him ["negida" is a term for lashes].

But

if we were to

read it "kenigdo,"

with a segol beneath the nun, its meaning would be that the woman stands before him to serve him [Meiri; see also Rashi].

It teaches you that if

he merits,

his wife is

corresponding to him.

But if

he does not merit,

his wife

opposes him.

Rabbi Yosei encountered Elijah [

Rabbi Yosei met Elijah the Prophet],

and said to him,

Rabbi Yosei said to Elijah:

It is written: "I will make for him a help,"

and

in what way does a woman help a man?

He said to him,

Elijah said to Rabbi Yosei: A

man brings wheat

to his home. Does he

eat the wheat

as it is,

chewing

it with his mouth?! Surely his wife must make bread from it. And when a man brings

flax to his home, does he

does he

wear flax

as it is,

as clothing?!

And does

the woman not illuminate

the

eyes

of

her husband

and

set him on his feet?!

d. This:

And Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written

"And the Lord God built the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

And the man said [when he came upon her]:

This time—

bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."

The wording implies that the man had already engaged in relations with other animals, but was not satisfied with them:

The verse teaches

that

the man had relations

previously

with every beast and animal.

And he was not satisfied until he had relations with Eve.

e. Two blessings:

And Rabbi Elazar said:

It is written concerning Abraham in the portion of Lech Lecha: "And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth from your land. And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves through you.

And it is further written in the portion of Vayera: "And Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves through him."

What is the meaning of that which is written, "And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves through you"?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: I have two good blessings with which to bless through you.

I will join and mix into the stock of your descendants two blessings from two branches of two good trees from other nations—

Ruth the Moabite and Naamah the Ammonite.

And what is the meaning of that which is written, "And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves

through you"?

It teaches you that

even the families that dwell on the earth are blessed only on account of Israel.

And what is the meaning of that which is written, "And all

the nations of the earth shall bless themselves through him"?

The word "all" comes to include, teaching that

even ships that come from Gallia to Hispania

[these are names of places], which remain on land only briefly,

are blessed only on account of Israel, although they remain on land only briefly [these are names of places].

vi. Merchants:

And Rabbi Elazar said: In the future, all craftsmen

will stand upon the ground,

abandoning their crafts and engaging in plowing and harvesting.

As it is stated: "And all who handle the oar, sailors, all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships and stand upon the land."

They will come down from their ships, by which they earn their livelihood, and stand upon the land and engage in working the soil.

vii. Inferior:

And Rabbi Elazar said: You have no occupation more inferior than

working

the land.

As it is stated: "And they shall come down

[coming down is an expression of poverty] from their ships, all who handle the oar, sailors, all the pilots of the sea; they shall stand upon the land."

Since Rabbi Elazar said that working the land is an inferior occupation, the Gemara brings additional statements that he said concerning working the land:

Rabbi Elazar saw a certain plot of land in which someone was planting cabbage across the width of the furrow

[he saw land in which someone was planting cabbage across the width of the furrow ].

[Another version: He was plowing across the width, since "karva" means plowing, Rashi]. He said to him,

Rabbi Elazar said to that man: Even

if you were to plant it lengthwise

[even if you were also to plant it lengthwise],

trading

would still be better than you [it is a better occupation than this one].

The Gemara relates an incident that occurred with Rav:

Once,

Rav entered among the rows of grain

[he entered between the rows of grain],

and

saw them waving [he saw them swaying in the wind that caused them to brush against one another].

He said to them: If you want to wave, wave,

as much as you like; nevertheless,

trading—

is better than you.

Rava said: If one invests one hundred zuz in trading

[if you invest one hundred zuz in merchandise], he will have

meat every day

and wine

[meat and wine]. But if he invests

one hundred zuz in land

[if he invests one hundred zuz in land in order to earn his livelihood from it], he will have only

salt and immature grain

[salt and grain that has not reached one-third of its growth]. There is no great profit in working the land, and it provides only enough to eat vegetables and salt.

Moreover,

if a person invests his money in purchasing land in order to work it and earn his livelihood from its produce, it

causes him to lie upon the ground.

[The land he purchased is as though it lays him down upon the ground, since he must sleep in the field to guard its produce all night],

and

thereby it

causes him to quarrel

[causes him to quarrel within his household].

Rav Pappa said:

a.

Sow

grain for your household to eat,

and do not buy

[do not purchase grain from the market].

And

even though the prices are the same

these,

those grain crops that you grew yourself on your own land—are

blessed!

[Blessing is found in something that you do not purchase with money and that is not quickly consumed].

b.

Sell

[sell your household utensils] in order to use the proceeds for merchandise,

and do not become poor

[become impoverished]; that is, do this before you come to poverty.

And

this applies to household utensils

[household vessels], which a person should sell in order to trade with the proceeds.

But a garment

[his clothing] he should not sell, lest

he not find a replacement

and perhaps not find clothing as suitable as it.

c.

Seal

[close]

and do not renovate

[improve]. If you have a small hole in a dilapidated wall, seal it immediately rather than enlarging it and renovating it beautifully in order to beautify it.

d.

Renovate

[improve]

and do not rebuild,

if you nevertheless wish to beautify your house, it is preferable to enlarge the hole and renovate it beautifully rather than demolishing the wall and rebuilding it, since

anyone engaged in construction becomes impoverished

[it brings him to poverty].

[it brings him to poverty]. e.

Buy quickly

[Rashash]

land.

Be quick when purchasing land. But

take your time when taking a wife;

wait when marrying a woman, in order to examine her conduct so that she will not be wicked and quarrelsome.

f.

Descend a level

[go down a level] and

take a wife

[marry a woman]. Do not take a woman of greater stature than yourself, lest she not accept your authority .

But

ascend a level

[go up a level] and

choose

for yourself

a companion;

a good friend. Choose an important person to attach yourself to.

Rabbi Elazar bar Avina said: Calamity comes to the world only on account of Israel,

in order to make them fear and return in repentance.

As it is stated

in the Book of Zephaniah [chapter 3]:

"I have cut off nations; their corner towers are desolate"

[Behold, I have cut off the nations, and their towers have become desolate],

I have laid waste their streets

without a passerby [I made their streets desolate, without anyone passing through]. Their cities were destroyed, without a person, with no one dwelling there."

And it is written

immediately afterward:

"I said: Surely you will fear Me; you will accept rebuke"

[I thought that through the destruction of the nations you would now truly fear Me, and from the punishment that came upon them you would accept rebuke].

When Rav was taking leave of Rabbi Hiyya

[when he parted from Rabbi Hiyya],

he said to him,

Rabbi Hiyya said to Rav:

May the Merciful One protect you from something more difficult than death

[may the Lord protect you from something that is more difficult than death].

Rav thought to himself:

Is there anything more difficult

than death

[is there really something more difficult than death]?!

Rav went out,

Rav,

examined the matter and found,

he investigated and found

"And I find woman more bitter than death,

whose heart is snares and nets.

Etc."

bitter."

Rav's wife used to distress him

[Rav's wife would cause him distress],

when he would say to her, "Make me lentils,"

[when he would say to her: Make me a lentil stew],

she would make him chickpeas

[she would make him ḥimtz'i, a type of legume]; and when he would ask her to make him

chickpeas, she would make him lentils

[she would make him a lentil stew].

When Hiyya, his son, grew up

[when Hiyya, Rav's son, grew up],

he would reverse it for her

[he would reverse his father's request to his mother]. When Rav asked her to make him a lentil stew, Hiyya would tell her: Father asked you to make him chickpeas.

When Rav saw that his wife was fulfilling his request, unaware that his son Hiyya had reversed the request,

he said to him,

Rav said to his son:

Your mother has improved

[your mother has become better]!

Hiyya said to him,

Hiyya said to his father: She is not fulfilling your request because she has improved; rather,

I am the one who reverses it for her

[I am the one who reverses your request to her].

Rav said to him,

Rav said to his son Hiyya:

This is what people say

[this is what is commonly said]:

One who comes from you—

teaches you wisdom!

[Your son, who comes from you, makes you wiser.] I myself should have done this.

However,

you—

should not do this again

[do not do this again], because

it is stated: "They have taught their tongues to speak falsehood; they weary themselves

with iniquity."

Rabbi Hiyya's wife used to distress him

[the wife of Rabbi Hiyya, Rav's uncle, would cause him distress].

When Rabbi Hiyya would find

something,

he would

he would

wrap it

in his scarf and bring it to her

[when Rabbi Hiyya found something, he would wrap it in his scarf and bring it to her as a gift].

Rav said

to Rabbi Hiyya:

But she causes the Master distress

[she causes you distress]!?

Rabbi Hiyya said to him,

Rabbi Hiyya said to Rav:

It is enough for us

with this

that

our wives

raise our children and save us

from sin,

from sinful thoughts.