Yoma 38b (לח:) — the Talmud in English

And

the money that they give you is not a gift from their own money, but

from yours.

From the money designated for you in Heaven—

they will give you.

For

no person touches what has been prepared for his fellow, and no kingdom

whose time to fall has arrived

touches

the kingdom designated for

its fellow even by the breadth of a hair

[the smallest measure].

We learned in the Mishna:

Hogras ben Levi

knew a section of song but did not wish to teach it.

It was taught in a baraita: When he would produce his voice melodiously,

he would

insert his thumb

[his thumb]

into his mouth, and place his finger between the vocal cords

[the vocal cords ]

until his fellow priests would leap back

—recoil

in a single movement

[suddenly. Meiri]

behind themselves. We learned in the Mishna: Ben Kamtzar did not wish to teach the art of writing. The Gemara cites a baraita explaining what the art of writing was.

We learned in the Mishna: Ben Kamtzar did not want to teach the art of writing. The Gemara brings a beraita explaining what this art of writing was.

The Sages taught:

Ben Kamtzar did not wish to teach the art of writing.

[And what was the art of writing?]

It was said about him that he would take four quills

in the spaces

between the fingers

of one hand,

and if there was

before him

a word of four letters, he would write it all at once

[and thereby he could write the four letters of the Divine Name all at once ].

The Sages said to him: What did you see that made you not teach

this craft to others?

All of them

—all the people enumerated in our Mishna—

found an answer to their words

[they feared that unworthy people might learn their craft and use it in honor of idolatry], whereas

Ben Kamtzar did not find an answer

to explain

his words

—why he refused to teach his craft to others.

And the baraita concludes:

Concerning the earlier ones

mentioned in the preceding Mishna [Ben Gamla, Ben Katin, Monbaz, and Helena],

it is stated

[in Proverbs 10]:

“The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing.”

And concerning Ben Kamtzar and his companions

[the House of Garmu, the House of Avtinas, and Hogras ben Levi],

it is stated

[there]:

“But the name of the wicked shall rot.”

For although they gave the Sages an answer, the Sages did not accept their answer. [According to Maimonides in his Commentary on the Mishna ].

And we explain:

What

is the meaning of the verse:

“But the name of the wicked shall rot”?

Rabbi Elazar said: Rust

—the corrosion that forms on an iron vessel that is not used—

will arise in their names,

for just as a vessel containing rust indicates that it is not used, so too the names of the wicked—

we do not name people after them.

People will not name their sons after the wicked.

Ravina raised an objection

—a contradiction to Rabbi Elazar’s statement:

It was taught in a baraita:

There was an incident involving Doeg ben Yosef, whose father left him

an orphan while he was

a young child, to his mother.

Every day his mother measured him by handbreadths

to check how much he had grown since the previous day, and she estimated the weight of the increase,

and gave

an amount equivalent to

his weight in gold to the Temple. And when the

enemy

grew strong

and there was a famine in Jerusalem,

she slaughtered him and ate him.

And Jeremiah lamented over her

[Lamentations 2:20]: “

O

should

[it be fitting that]

women eat their fruit, their tender children”?

And later in the verse

the Divine Spirit responds and says: “

O

should

[it be fitting that]

a priest and prophet be killed in the Sanctuary of the Lord

[for you killed Zechariah ben Jehoiada the priest, who was also a prophet]?” And because you killed a priest and prophet in the Sanctuary of the Lord, you were punished so that women ate their fruit, their tender children.

And the baraita states that there was an infant named Doeg ben Yosef, after Doeg the Edomite, who was wicked. This contradicts Rabbi Elazar’s statement that a child is not named after a wicked person!

And we answer:

See

—see

what became of him

—what happened to that child, who was ultimately slaughtered .

The Gemara cites a statement of Rabbi Elazar concerning the verse brought above: “The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing, but the name of the wicked shall rot.”

Rabbi Elazar said: A righteous person

is remembered favorably

because of

the good deeds he performed by

himself, whereas a wicked person

is remembered negatively even

because of

the deeds of

his fellow

the wicked person,

And from where do we learn this?

A righteous person

is remembered favorably

because of

the deeds of

himself: As it is written: “The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing,”

[in the singular].

But a wicked person

is remembered negatively even

because of

the deeds of

his fellow: As it is written: “But the name of the wicked shall rot,”

and it does not say, “The name of a wicked person shall rot.” This teaches you that even through his wicked companions, the wicked person is remembered negatively.

Ravina said to one of the Sages

[to that student]

who was arranging aggadic teachings before him

[who was arranging the teachings of the Sages before him]:

From where is this matter that the Sages said

[from where is this matter that the Sages said]

“The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing”?

He said to him,

his student:

For

—since

it is written

in Proverbs:

“The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing”!

Ravina replied to him: This is what I intended to ask:

From the Torah—

from where do we know it,

where is this matter hinted at in the Torah? [For there is nothing that Moses did not hint at in the Torah. Tosafot Yeshanim].

His student answered him:

As it is written

[Genesis 18:17]:

“And the Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing”

[to Sodom]?

And

once He mentioned Abraham, He blessed him, as

it is written

later [verse 18]:

“And Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation.”

Ravina asked his student another question:

From where is this matter that the Sages said

[from where is this matter that the Sages said]:

“But the name of the wicked shall rot”?

He said to him,

his student:

For

—since

it is written

in Proverbs:

“But the name of the wicked shall rot.”

Ravina replied to him: This is what I intended to ask:

From the Torah, from where do we know it,

where is this matter hinted at in the Torah?

His student answered him:

As it is written

[Genesis 18:12], concerning Lot:

“And he pitched his tent

[he spread his tents]

toward Sodom,” and

once Sodom was mentioned, its wickedness was mentioned, as

it is written

later [verse 13]:

“And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.”

The Gemara previously analyzed the change in wording in the verse: “The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing, but the name of the wicked shall rot.” The righteous is stated in the singular, while the wicked are stated in the plural. Here the Gemara brings an additional allusion hinted at in this verse. Based on Maharsha .

Rabbi Elazar said:

We find a

righteous person

who

dwelt between two wicked people and did not learn from their deeds

—the deeds of the wicked [and the verse alludes to him: It mentions the “righteous” for a blessing because he dwelt among the “wicked” [and did not learn from them. Maharsha]. And likewise we find a

wicked person

who

dwelt between two righteous people and did not learn from their deeds

—their good deeds.

And Rabbi Elazar explains his statement:

A righteous person

who

dwelt between two wicked people and did not learn from their deeds,

this is

Obadiah,

the prophet, who lived between Ahab and Jezebel and did not abandon his righteousness [I Kings 18].

A wicked person

who

dwelt between two righteous people and did not learn from their deeds, this is Esau,

who lived between Isaac and Rebecca and did not learn from their good deeds [Rav Hai Gaon].

Since we have learned here several aggadic statements of Rabbi Elazar, the Gemara cites additional aggadic statements of Rabbi Elazar [most of them concerning the righteous and the wicked discussed above].

And Rabbi Elazar said: From

the place where we learn in Scripture

the blessing of

the

righteous,

in that same place

you learn

that the Holy One, blessed be He, pronounced

a curse upon the wicked.

And

likewise,

from

the place where we learn in Scripture

the curse of the wicked,

in that same place

you learn

that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed

a blessing upon the righteous.

And Rabbi Elazar explains his statement: What I said—

from the blessing of the righteous you learn

in that same place

a curse upon the wicked—

where do we find this?

As it is written

[Genesis 18:19] concerning Abraham:

“For I have known him, to the end that he may command

his children ... and they shall keep the way of the Lord ... so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He has spoken of him.” This is a blessing for the righteous [for Abraham].

And it is written immediately afterward

[in verse 20]:

“And the Lord said: Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great

and their sin is exceedingly grievous.”

And what I [Rabbi Elazar] said above:

And from the curse of the wicked you learn

in that same place

a blessing for the wicked—

where do we find this?

As it is written

[Genesis 13:13]:

“And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.”

This is the curse of the wicked.

And later [verses 14–15] it is stated:

“And the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him

‘Raise your eyes ... for all the land that you see, to you I will give it, and to your offspring forever.’” This is a blessing for the righteous [for Abraham].

The Gemara cites another aggadic statement of Rabbi Elazar:

And Rabbi Elazar said: The world was created even for the sake of one righteous person.

the

The world was created.

As it is stated [Genesis 1]:

“And God saw the light, that it was good.” And

it is not called

“good” except for the righteous,

as it is stated

[Isaiah 3:10]:

“Say

its praise

to the righteous, for it is good.”

Accordingly, the verse should be explained as follows: “And God saw [that it was fitting to preserve] the light, because [for the sake of the righteous, who is called] good.”

The Gemara cites another aggadic statement of Rabbi Elazar:

And Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who forgets a matter from his learning

[through his laziness and despair. Meiri],

causes exile for his children.

As it is stated

[Hosea 4]:

“Since you have forgotten the Torah of your God

—therefore

I too will forget your children.”

Rabbi Abbahu said:

One who forgets a matter from his learning

is demoted from his position of greatness.

As it is stated

[there, in Hosea]:

“Since you

[the]

knowledge have rejected,

I will reject you from serving Me.”

The Gemara cites another aggadic statement, concerning the righteous:

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said: No righteous person departs from the world until a righteous person like him has been created.

As it is stated

[Ecclesiastes 1]:

“And the sun rises and the sun sets”

[the sun here is an appellation for the righteous].

And likewise we find that

before Eli’s sun had set, Samuel’s sun had risen.

And

further,

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi

Yohanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the righteous were few; He arose and planted them in every generation.

As it is stated

[I Samuel 2]:

“For to the Lord belong the pillars of the earth

[the righteous],

and He set

[established and upheld]

the world upon them.”

This teaches that the world exists by virtue of the righteous; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, dispersed them throughout all the generations to sustain the world.

And he further

said: Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yohanan said: The world endures even for the sake of one righteous person.

As it is stated

[Proverbs 10]:

“And the righteous

[one]

is the foundation of the world.”

Rabbi Hiyya

bar Abba,

on his own

—by himself—

said:

What Rabbi Yohanan said, that the world endures even for the sake of one righteous person, can be learned

from here

[from this]:

As it is stated

[I Samuel 2]:

“He guards the feet of His pious ones.”

And the meaning of the verse is: For the sake of His pious ones ,

He guards—the Lord guards—the world.

We raise an objection: But

“His pious ones”

strongly

indicates

many

, and not merely one righteous person!

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: “It is written in the singular form”

[It is written in the singular, “His pious one,” but read in the plural, “His pious ones.” And they expound the written form, “His pious one,” which is singular].

And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said

another exposition of the verse cited above:

Once

the majority of the years of

a

person’s life have passed and he has not sinned, henceforth

[from that point onward]

he will not sin.

As it is stated: “He guards the feet of His pious ones.”

And this is the meaning of the verse: “The feet of His pious ones”—the end of the lives of His pious ones—“He guards,” from sinning [the end is called here a “foot,” as the foot is the end of the body].

Those of the school of Rav Shila say

another exposition of this verse:

Once

a person

encounters a transgression for the first and second time and does not sin, henceforth

[from that point onward]

he will not sin.

As it is stated: “He guards the feet of His pious ones.”

And this is the meaning of the verse: “The feet of His pious ones”—when a person has acted piously twice [and “foot” means an occurrence, as it is stated in Numbers 22, “three times,” meaning three occurrences]—He will guard him from sin.

And in a similar vein to the statement of those of the school of Rav Shila [that the Almighty guards His pious ones from sinning], Reish Lakish also said:

Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written

what is the meaning of the verse [Proverbs 3]:

“If one joins the scorners, He will scorn him, but to the humble He grants favor”?

One who

comes to defile himself

[to follow the path of impurity] is not assisted from Heaven to become defiled. Rather,

they open for him

the possibility of doing as he wishes.

But one who

comes to purify himself

[to follow the pure path]—

they assist

help

him

from Heaven.

And this is the meaning of the verse: If a person comes to join the scorners, “He” himself will scorn him, and he will not be assisted from Heaven.

But as for the humble—“He grants favor”: He who has the power to grant favor, namely, the Almighty.

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Yishmael

gave a parable illustrating the statement of Reish Lakish.

It is comparable to a person who was selling naphtha

which has a foul odor,