Yoma 75a — the Talmud in English

One said: Whoever gives ![](pamud.bmp "

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his eye to his cup,

who loves drunkenness—

all forbidden sexual relations appear to him as a level road

without an obstacle, like something straight to do.

And one said: Whoever gives his eye to his cup—

the money of

the entire world appears to him as a level road,

for he thinks that he is permitted to take it.

[Proverbs 12]

“Anxiety in a man’s heart—

there is

i

hane.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi; one said: He should suppress it

[he should divert it]

from his mind.

And one said: He should speak of it to others,

perhaps they will give him advice for resolving it.

[Isaiah 65]

“And the serpent—

dust is its bread.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi.

One said: Even if the serpent eats

the

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

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 beraita: Rabbi Yosei said: Come and see that the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the attribute of flesh and blood.

The attribute of flesh and blood:

a man

provokes his fellow—

he descends with him

the one who was provoked

to his life.

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

He cursed the serpent,

and nevertheless, when

it goes up

the serpent

to the roof, its sustenance is with it,

for it finds there dust to eat.

And when

the serpent descends

the serpent

below—

its sustenance is with it.

He cursed Canaan,

that he should 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 from it.

[Numbers 11]

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

Rav and Shmuel.

One said:

We remember the

fish,

according to its plain meaning.

And one said:

We remember the

forbidden sexual relations,

which had been permitted to us in Egypt, and now were forbidden to us. And tashmish is used in the language of forbidden sexual relations, as it is stated: “And they shall swarm like fish.”

And the Gemara explains:

The one who says fish—

because

it is written, “that we ate.”

.

And the one who says forbidden sexual relations—

because

it is written, “for free,”

and only marital relations are free, but not fish.

And we challenge this:

But according to the one who says forbidden sexual relations—

is it not written, “that we ate”!

And we answer:

He used an elevated expression,

an elevated and clean expression,

he chose.

As

it is written [Proverbs 30], concerning a promiscuous woman:

“

She ate, wiped her mouth, and said: I have committed no wrongdoing.”

“And she wiped her mouth” means that she wipes her lower mouth after she had marital relations. And from here there is proof that “she ate,” which is stated in the verse, refers to marital relations.

And we challenge this:

But according to the one who says fish—

what is “for free”?

And we answer:

They would bring them from ownerless property,

for they would fish them from ownerless property.

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

And we challenge this:

Granted, according to the one who says

that it was about

fish

that they complained,

but they were not promiscuous with forbidden sexual relations

when they were in Egypt—it is well;

this is what

King Solomon wrote [Song of Songs 4], in praise of Israel:

“A locked garden is my sister, bride,”

for he praised them for their modesty.

But according to the one who says forbidden sexual relations,

that they were promiscuous with them in Egypt—

what

is the praise of

“a sealed spring”?

And we answer:

From those

forbidden sexual relations

that

were

forbidden

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

they were not promiscuous with them.

And concerning this the verse praises them.

And they were crying only over the forbidden sexual relations that became forbidden to them upon the giving of the Torah.

And we challenge further:

Granted, according to the one who says

that they were crying over

forbidden sexual relations, this is what is written [Numbers 11]:

Numbers 11:

“And Moses heard the people crying according to their families,”

and as we expound it:

over the matters of their families, for it had become forbidden to them to lie with them.

But according to the one who says fish—

what is “crying according to their families”?

And we answer:

Both were present,

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

[Numbers 11]

“The cucumbers and the melons.”

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi:

One said: They tasted the taste of all the species in the manna; the taste of these five species they did not taste in it,

because they are harmful to pregnant and nursing women. And therefore they complained about their absence.

And one said: They tasted the taste of all the species

in them,

their taste and

their

substance.

But these—

they tasted in them only

their taste, and not their substance.

[Exodus 16]

“And it was like coriander seed, white.”

Rabbi Asi said: Round like a coriander seed, and white like a pearl.

The Sages taught: It was said of the manna that it was like

a seed of

gad

because

it

was

similar to flaxseed on its stalks,

which is also round.

Others say: “Gad”—

that it is similar to “aggadah,”

which draws a person’s heart like water.

Another beraita was taught: “Gad”—

that it tells

to

Israel

about a baby born to a woman, and there is doubt for us

whether

he was born

after nine

months, and he is attributed

to

her

first husband, or whether

he was born

after seven

months, and he is attributed

to

her

last husband.

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

White—

for it whitens the iniquities of Israel.

For since they were anxious lest the manna not descend on the following day, they directed their hearts toward the Omnipresent [the language of Rashi].

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yosei says: Just as the prophet would tell Israel what was in the hidden places and what was in the cracks, so the manna would tell Israel what was in the hidden places and what was in the cracks.

How so?

Two who came before Moses for judgment. This one said: You stole my slave, and this one said: You sold him to me.

Moses said to them: In the

morning,

morning

there will be the

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

it is known that this one,

the second,

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. This one said: She acted corruptly against me,

and I am therefore divorcing her without a marriage settlement,

and she said: He acted corruptly against me,

and he must divorce me and give me my marriage settlement.

Moses said to them: By morning, judgment.

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

it is known that she acted corruptly against him.

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

it is known that he acted corruptly against her.

And now the Gemara explains the place where the dew descended:

It is written [Numbers 11]:

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

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

And it implies that the manna descended inside the camp itself.

And it is written [Exodus 16]:

“And the people went out and gathered.”

“The people went out and gathered it.”

And from here it implies that the dew descended outside the camp, and they had to go out and gather it.

And it is written [Numbers 11]:

“The people wandered about and gathered,”

and it implies that they had to move far from the camp in order to obtain it.

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

How so?

For

the righteous, it descended

to them, the manna,

at the entrance of their houses; the intermediate—

they went out and gathered; the wicked wandered about and gathered.

And the Gemara continues concerning the manna, to explain its form.

It is written, “bread,”

and it implies that they found it when it was baked, and they did not need to do anything.

And it is written “

cakes,”

and its implication is that they had to prepare it, meaning that it descended to them before baking.

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

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

How so?

The righteous—

they found it baked in the form of

bread.

The intermediate—

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

cakes from it.

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 ornaments descended to Israel together with the manna,

spices, which are

a thing pounded in a mortar,

and they adorned themselves with them.

“And cooked it in a pot.”

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

Rabbi Hama said: This teaches that together with the manna, cooking spices descended to Israel,

spices of

a pot,

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

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

“And they brought to him further contributions in the morning, in the morning.”

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

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

They brought him contributions

from something that descended to them in the morning, in the morning [and in the language of the verse concerning the manna: “And they gathered it in the morning, in the morning.”]

[as the verse says concerning the manna: “They gathered it in the morning, in the morning”].

This teaches that precious stones and pearls descended to Israel together with the manna,

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

it is stated [Exodus 35]:

Exodus 35:

“And the princes brought the onyx stones.”

A tanna taught: “Princes”

clouds

literally

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

And so it says, that “princes” are clouds [Proverbs 25]:

that “princes” means clouds, in Proverbs 25:

“Clouds and wind—

but no rain.”

[Numbers 11]

“And its taste was like the taste of rich cream.”

Rabbi Abbahu said: Just as with this breast, a baby tastes in it many tastes

from what the mother eats—

so too the manna: as long as Israel ate it, they found in it many tastes.

Some say:

The manna was similar

to an actual breast.

Just as this breast changes into many colors—

so too the manna changes into many tastes.

[Exodus 16]

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

A tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha: Meat, which they requested

they sought

in an improper manner,

for they had much meat from livestock, and nevertheless they complained about the lack of meat,

was given to them in an improper manner,

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