Avodah Zarah, Daf Kaf, Part 2
Introduction
This section continues to expand on the baraita we read yesterday do not give them grace. Here we shall see what that means.
ד"א לא תחנם לא תתן להם חן: מסייע ליה לרב דאמר רב אסור לאדם שיאמר כמה נאה עובדת כוכבים זו.
[It has been stated above.] Another interpretation: lo tehannem: Do not give them grace. This supports the view of Rav. For Rav said: One is forbidden to say, How beautiful is that gentile woman!
According to Rav, one cannot give them grace by saying how beautiful a gentile woman is.
מיתיבי מעשה ברשב"ג שהיה על גבי מעלה בהר הבית וראה עובדת כוכבים אחת נאה ביותר. אמר (תהלים קד, כד) "מה רבו מעשיך ה’". ואף ר"ע ראה אשת טורנוסרופוס הרשע רק שחק ובכה רק שהיתה באה מטיפה סרוחה שחק דעתידה דמגיירא ונסיב לה בכה דהאי שופרא בלי עפרא.
They objected: It happened that R. Shimon b. Gamaliel was standing on a step on the Temple Mount and he saw a gentile woman who was particularly beautiful. He exclaimed: How great are Your works, O Lord (Psalms 104:24).
So too R. Akiva saw the wife of the wicked Turnus Rufus, he spat, then laughed, and then wept. He spat because of her originating only from a putrefying drop. He laughed because he foresaw that she would convert and be married to him; Wept, that such beauty should [ultimately] decay in the dust.
The objection comes from the action of R. Shimon b. Gamaliel who indeed praised God for creating such a beautiful gentile woman. R. Akiva does not really offer such praise for Turnus Rufus s wife. The story is here because he does recognize her beauty. Turnus Rufus is the evil Roman emperor who decrees that R. Akiva should be tortured to death. I am not sure if the idea that he would marry his wife appears elsewhere.
ורב? אודויי הוא דקא מודה, דאמר מר הרואה בריות טובות אומר ברוך שככה ברא בעולמו
But what about Rav? They were merely offering thanksgiving, for the Master said: He who sees beautiful creatures should say, Blessed be He who has created such in His universe.
Rav says that these rabbis were not praising these beautiful gentile women. They were praising God for creating such beings in His world. This is not only permitted, it is mandated.
ולאסתכולי מי שרי? מיתיבי (דברים כג, י) "ונשמרת מכל דבר רע" שלא יסתכל אדם באשה נאה ואפילו פנויה באשת איש ואפי’ מכוערת ולא בבגדי צבע [של] אשה ולא בחמור ולא בחמורה ולא בחזיר ולא בחזירה ולא בעופות בזמן שנזקקין זה לזה ואפילו מלא עינים כמלאך המות
But is even looking permitted? They objected: You shall guard yourself from every evil thing [implies] that one should not look at a beautiful woman, even if she be unmarried, or at a married woman even if she is ugly, nor at a woman’s colored garments, nor at male and female donkeys, or a pig and a sow or at fowls when they are mating; even if one be all eyes like the Angel of Death!
This baraita seems to say that one cannot look at anything that might be sexually enticing. This includes any woman and even at animals (and even ugly ones) when they are mating. One should guard oneself constantly against stirring up desire. This would obviously be a very hard rule to observe in the modern age. The angel of death evidently has eyes everywhere. Even if a human had this many eyes and could not help seeing everything, he still should make sure he does not look at anything improper.
אמרו עליו על מלאך המות שכולו מלא עינים. בשעת פטירתו של חולה עומד מעל מראשותיו וחרבו שלופה בידו וטיפה של מרה תלויה בו. כיון שחולה רואה אותו מזדעזע ופותח פיו וזורקה לתוך פיו ממנה מת ממנה מסריח ממנה פניו מוריקות
It is said of the Angel of Death that he is all full of eyes. When a sick person is about to depart, he stands above his head with his sword drawn out in his hand and a drop of gall hanging on it. As the sick person beholds it, he trembles and opens his mouth [in fright]; he then drops it into his mouth. It is from this that he dies, from this that [the corpse] deteriorates, from this that his face becomes greenish.
This is a side description of how the Angel of Death kills people.
[In that case] the woman turned round a corner.
This is a resolution of the difficulty the R. Shimon b. Gamaliel did not intentionally look at the beautiful woman. She rounded the corner and popped into view.