Yoma 75a (עה.) — the Talmud in English

One said: Anyone who gives

his eye to his cup,

who loves drunkenness—

all forbidden sexual relations appear to him as a level road,

without obstacles, like something straightforward to do.

And one said: Anyone who gives his eye to his cup—

the money of

the entire world appears to him as a level road,

as he believes he is permitted to take it.

Proverbs 12:

“Anxiety in a person’s heart—

there is

i

chana.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi: One said: He should remove it

from his mind

by diverting his attention from it.

And one said: He should discuss it with others,

perhaps they will give him advice for resolving it.

Isaiah 65:

“And the serpent—

its bread is dust.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi:

One said: Even if the serpent eats

the

delicacies of the entire world, it tastes the flavor of dust in them.

And one said: Even if it eats all the delicacies of the entire world, its mind is not settled until it eats dust.

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yosei said: Come and see how the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, is unlike the attribute of flesh and blood.

The attribute of flesh and blood:

A person

provokes his fellow—

he brings him down

the one who was provoked

to ruin.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so.

He cursed the serpent,

and nevertheless, when

it ascends

the serpent

to the roof, its food is with it,

for it finds dust there to eat.

And when

the serpent descends

the serpent

below—

its food is with it.

He cursed Canaan

that he would be a slave—

the slave eats

what his master eats, and

drinks what his master drinks.

He cursed the woman—

everyone runs after her.

He cursed the earth—

everyone is sustained by it.

Numbers 11:

“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt freely.”

Rav and Shmuel.

One said:

We remember the

fish,

literally.

And one said:

We remember the

forbidden sexual relations,

which had been permitted to us in Egypt, but are now forbidden to us. And fish is used as an expression for sexual relations, as it is stated: “And they shall be fruitful and multiply.”

The Gemara explains:

The one who said: Fish—

because

it is written: “that we ate.”

.

And the one who said: Forbidden sexual relations—

because

it is written: “freely,”

for only sexual relations are free, but not fish.

The Gemara objects:

And according to the one who said: Forbidden sexual relations—

isn’t “we ate” written?

And it answers:

He employed an elevated expression,

a refined and clean expression,

as it is stated

in

the verse [Proverbs 30] concerning a promiscuous woman:

“

She ate, wiped her mouth, and said: I have done no wrong.” “Wiped her mouth” means that she wipes her lower mouth after having intercourse. This proves that “she ate,” stated in the verse, refers to intercourse.

.

The Gemara objects:

And according to the one who said: Fish—

what is the meaning of “freely”?

And it answers:

They would bring them from ownerless property,

as they would fish them from ownerless waters.

As the Master said: When the Israelites would draw water, the Holy One, blessed be He, would provide them with small fish inside their jugs.

The Gemara objects:

Granted, according to the one who said

that they complained about

fish,

they complained—

but they were not promiscuous regarding forbidden sexual relations

while they were in Egypt;

this is why Solomon wrote

the following in praise of the Jewish people [Song of Songs 4]:

“A locked garden is my sister, bride,”

praising them for their modesty.

But according to the one who said: Forbidden sexual relations,

that they had been promiscuous regarding them in Egypt—

what

is the praise of

“a sealed spring”?

And it answers:

From those

forbidden sexual relations

that

were

forbidden

to them, as to all descendants of Noah [as will be explained below]—

they were not promiscuous regarding them.

And it is concerning this that the verse praises them.

They cried only over the forbidden sexual relations that became forbidden to them when the Torah was given.

The Gemara further objects:

Granted, according to the one who said

that they were crying over

forbidden sexual relations, this is why it is written

Numbers 11]:

“Moses heard the people crying by their families,”

as we expounded:

over matters concerning their families, because they were forbidden to lie with them.

But according to the one who said: Fish—

what is the meaning of “crying by their families”?

And it answers:

Both occurred;

they cried over both the fish and the forbidden sexual relations.

Numbers 11:

“The cucumbers and the melons.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi:

One said: They tasted the flavor of all types of food in the manna, but they did not taste the flavor of these five types in it,

because they are harmful to pregnant and nursing women. Therefore, they complained about their absence.

And one said: They tasted the flavor of all types of food

in them, both

their flavor and

their

substance.

But these—

they tasted only

their flavor, but not their substance.

Exodus 16:

“And it was like coriander seed, white.”

Rabbi Asi said: It was round like a coriander seed, and white like a pearl.

The Sages taught: It is stated concerning the manna that it was like

a seed of

seed

because

it

was

similar to flaxseed on its stalks,

which is also round.

Others say: “Gad”—

because it is similar to “haggada,”

which draws a person’s heart like water.

Another baraita was taught: “Gad”—

because it informs

reveals

to Israel

whether a child born to a woman

was

born

after nine

months and is attributed

to

her

first husband,

or whether he was born

after seven

months and is attributed

to

her

last husband.

For they would gather the manna, and an omer for each person would be found in every household, whether they gathered much or little. Therefore, if the child was the first husband’s son, the omer designated for him would be found in the first husband’s house; and if he was the second husband’s, his omer would be found in the second house.

“White”—

because it whitens the sins of Israel.

For since they worried that the manna might not descend on the following day, they directed their hearts toward the Omnipresent [Rashi’s wording].

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yosei says: Just as the prophet would inform Israel of what was in the hidden places and the crevices, so the manna would inform Israel of what was in the hidden places and the crevices.

How so?

Two people came before Moses for judgment. One said: You stole my slave, and the other said: You sold him to me.

Moses said to them: T

omorrow in the

morning

there will be a

judgment. The next day, if his omer was found in the house of his first master,

it is known that this

second man

stole him.

If his omer was found in the house of his second master—

it is known that this one sold him to him.

And likewise, a man and a woman who came before Moses for judgment. He said: She has acted immorally against me,

and I am therefore divorcing her without her ketuba,

and she said: He has acted immorally against me,

and he must divorce me and give me my ketuba.

Moses said to them: The judgment will be in the morning.

The next day, if her omer was found in her husband’s house—

it is known that she acted immorally against him.

If her omer was found in her father’s house—

it is known that he acted immorally against her.

The Gemara now explains where the dew descended:

It is written [

Numbers 11]:

“When the dew descended upon the camp at night, the manna descended upon it.”

This indicates that the manna descended within the camp itself.

And it is written [

Exodus 16]:

“The people went out and gathered.”

This indicates that the dew descended outside the camp, and they had to go out and gather it.

And it is written [

Numbers 11]:

“The people spread out and gathered,”

indicating that they had to go far from the camp in order to obtain it.

How can these verses be reconciled?

For

the righteous it descended

to them, the manna,

at the entrance to their houses; the intermediate ones—

they went out and gathered; the wicked spread out and gathered.

The Gemara continues concerning the manna, explaining its form.

It is written: “Bread,”

indicating that they found it baked, and did not have to do anything to it.

And it is written “And they made it

into cakes,”

indicating that they had to prepare it, meaning that it descended to them before baking.

And it is written: “And they ground it,”

indicating that they found it at such an early stage that they even had to grind it.

How can these verses be reconciled?

The righteous—

they found it already baked in the form of

bread.

The intermediate ones—they found it in a state in which they had to make it into

found it in a state in which they had to make it into

cakes.

The wicked—

they ground it in mills.

“Or pounded it in a mortar.”

Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rav, and some say Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina: This teaches that women’s adornments descended for Israel along with the manna,

perfumes, which are

something pounded in a mortar,

and they adorned themselves with them.

“And they cooked it in a pot.”

But there was no need to cook it [Maharsha]!

Rabbi Hama said: This teaches that spice mixtures descended for Israel along with the manna,

spices of

a pot,

and they cooked the spices in the cooked food that descended for them.

[Exodus 36] It is stated concerning the donations for the Tabernacle:

“And they brought him an additional donation in the morning, in the morning.”

What is the meaning of “in the morning, in the morning”?

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan:

They brought him a donation

from something that descended for them morning by morning

as in the verse concerning the manna: “They gathered it morning by morning.”

This teaches that precious stones and pearls descended for Israel along with the manna,

and they brought them for the donations to the Tabernacle. And as

it is stated [

Exodus 35]:

“And the princes brought the onyx stones.”

It was taught: “Princes”

were clouds,

literally,

and they brought the onyx stones, not the princes of Israel.

And likewise it says,

that “princes” means clouds [Proverbs 25]:

“Clouds and wind—

but no rain.”

Numbers 11:

“And its taste was like the taste of oil-cake.”

Rabbi Abbahu said: Just as with a breast, an infant tastes several flavors in it

from what the mother eats—

so too, with the manna, as long as Israel ate it, they found several flavors in it.

Some say:

The manna was similar

to an actual breast.

Just as a breast changes into several forms—

so too, the manna changed into several flavors.

Exodus 16:

“And Moses said: When the Lord gives you meat in the evening to eat, and bread in the morning to be satisfied.”

It was taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa: The meat that they requested,

they sought,

inappropriately,

for they had an abundance of animal meat, and nevertheless complained about the lack of meat—

was given to them inappropriately,

for the quail descended at night, and they did not have time to prepare it for the evening meal, which is the appropriate time for eating meat.