Kiddushin, Daf Peh Aleph, Part 4

 

Introduction

Another set of fascinating stories.

 

פלימו הוה רגיל למימר כל יומא גירא בעיניה דשטן

יומא חד מעלי יומא דכיפורי הוה אידמי ליה כעניא

אתא קרא אבבא

אפיקו ליה ריפתא

אמר ליה יומא כי האידנא כולי עלמא גואי ואנא אבראי

עייליה וקריבו ליה ריפתא

אמר ליה יומא כי האידנא כולי עלמא אתכא ואנא לחודאי

אתיוהו אותבוהו אתכא

הוה יתיב מלא נפשיה שיחנא וכיבי עליה והוה קעביד ביה מילי דמאיס

א"ל תיב שפיר

אמר ליה הבו לי כסא

יהבו ליה כסא אכמר שדא ביה כיחו נחרו ביה שקא ומית

שמעו דהוו קאמרי פלימו קטל גברא פלימו קטל גברא

ערק וטשא נפשיה בבית הכסא אזיל בתריה נפל קמיה כי דחזייה דהוה מצטער גלי ליה נפשיה

אמר ליה מאי טעמא אמרת הכי

ואלא היכי אימא

אמר ליה לימא מר רחמנא נגער ביה בשטן

 

Pelimo used to say every day, An arrow in Satan s eyes!

One day it was erev Yom Kippur he disguised himself as a poor man and went and called out at his door. He [Pelimo] took bread out to him. He [Satan] pleaded, On such a day when everyone is inside, shall I be outside? He brought him in and offered him bread. He again pleaded, On a day like this when everyone sits at table, shall I sit alone!

He brought him in and sat him down at the table.

As he sat, his body was covered with boils and pus, and he was behaving repulsively.

Sit properly, he [Pelimo] rebuked him.

He said Give me a glass [of wine], and he gave him one. He coughed and spat his phlegm into it. They scolded him, and he swooned and died. Then they [the household] heard people crying out, Pelimo has killed a man, Pelimo has killed a man! He [Pelimo] fled and hid in an outhouse. [Satan] followed him, and he [Pelimo] fell before him.

Seeing how he (Pelimo) was suffering, he revealed his identity and said to him, why did you speak this way? Then how should I speak? You should say: May the Merciful rebuke Satan.

 

Again, we have a story of a rabbi claiming to be impervious to the temptations of Satan. Here the temptation is not sexual, but the temptation to treat the poor callously. Notice the rabbis have a very high standard for treating the poor. Not only must they be brought into one s home and fed properly, but Pelimo should not have rebuked the pauper for behaving in such a disgusting manner. I must admit that I m not so sure why May the Merciful rebuke Satan is better than what Pelimo actually said, sit properly. Also, I admit that asking a guest to behave properly at one s table does not seem to be particularly sinful. Perhaps what the story is illustrating is that when it comes to the poor one must be completely forgiving of their physical situation and flaws, which were probably brought on them through no fault of their own.

 

רבי חייא בר אשי הוה רגיל כל עידן דהוה נפל לאפיה הוה אמר הרחמן יצילנו מיצר הרע

יומא חד שמעתינהו דביתהו אמרה מכדי הא כמה שני דפריש ליה מינאי מאי טעמא קאמר הכי

יומא חדא הוה קא גריס בגינתיה

קשטה נפשה חלפה ותנייה קמיה

אמר לה מאן את אמרה אנא חרותא דהדרי מיומא

תבעה

אמרה ליה אייתי ניהליה להך רומנא דריש צוציתא

שוור אזל אתייה ניהלה

כי אתא לביתיה הוה קא שגרא דביתהו תנורא סליק וקא יתיב בגויה

אמרה ליה מאי האי אמר לה הכי והכי הוה מעשה

אמרה ליה אנא הואי לא אשגח בה עד דיהבה ליה סימני

אמר לה אנא מיהא לאיסורא איכווני

 

Every time R. Hiyya b. Abba fell upon his face he used to say, The Merciful save us from the Evil Urge. One day his wife heard him. She said, It has been so many years that he has kept away from me: why then should he pray thus?

One day, while he was studying in his garden, she adorned herself and repeatedly walked up and down before him. Who are you? he demanded.

She replied, I am Haruta, and I have returned today.

He requested her [to have sex with him].

She said to him, Bring me that pomegranate from the uppermost bough.

He jumped up, went, and brought it to her.

When he came home, his wife was lighting the oven, and he went and sat in it.

What is the meaning of this? she asked. He told her what had happened.

It was I, she assured him; but he paid no attention to her until she gave him proof. Nevertheless, said he, my intention was evil.

 

R. Hiyya b. Abba has not been sleeping with his wife, yet he prays constantly that God should protect him from his Evil Urge. What urge, his wife wonders this guy has not been interested in me for a long time? So she dresses up as a famous prostitute named Haruta (which means freedom in Aramaic) and successfully seduces him. When he returns, he is riddled with guilt and the fact that he did not actually sin does not console him. To punish himself, he goes and sits in the oven, an act we encounter elsewhere in the Bavli.

 

כל ימיו של אותו צדיק היה מתענה עד שמת באותה מיתה

דתניא (במדבר ל, יג) אישה הפרם וה’ יסלח לה במה הכתוב מדבר באשה שנדרה בנזיר ושמע בעלה והפר לה והיא לא ידעה שהפר לה בעלה והיתה שותה יין ומטמאה למתים

 

For all his days, that righteous man [R. Hiyya b. Ashi] fasted, until he died such a death. As it was taught: Her husband has annulled them, and the Lord shall forgive her (Numbers 30:13): of whom does the verse speak? Of a woman who made a nazirite vow and her husband heard it and annulled it; but though she was unaware that her husband had annulled it, she drank wine and defiled herself through the dead.

 

If R. Hiyya b. Ashi did not actually sin, why was he punished? The answer is found through a midrash. The verse is puzzling why does God need to forgive her if her husband annulled the vow? The answer is that the verse refers to a situation where the vow was annulled but the woman did not know and then broke the vow anyways. She intended to sin, even though she was not sinning.

 

רבי עקיבא כי הוה מטי להאי פסוקא הוה בכי אמר ומה מי שנתכוין לאכול בשר חזיר ועלה בידו בשר טלה אמרה תורה צריכה כפרה וסליחה מי שנתכוין לאכול בשר חזיר ועלה בידו בשר חזיר על אחת כמה וכמה

 

When R. Akiva came to this verse, he wept. If of one who intended to eat pig s flesh but the flesh of a lamb ended up in his hand, yet the Torah said that he requires atonement; how much more so of one who intended to eat pig s flesh and actually ate pig s flesh!

 

If people who only intended to sin but did not end up sinning require atonement, all the more so those who intend to sin and actually sin. This is enough to cause R. Akiva to weep.

 

כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר (ויקרא ה, יז) ולא ידע ואשם ונשא עונו כשהיה רבי עקיבא מגיע לפסוק זה היה בוכה ומה מי שנתכוין לאכול שומן ועלה בידו חלב אמרה תורה ולא ידע ואשם ונשא עונו מי שנתכוין לאכול חלב ועלה בידו חלב על אחת כמה וכמה

איסי בן יהודה אומר ולא ידע ואשם ונשא עונו על דבר זה ידוו כל הדווים

Similarly, you say: Though he knew it not, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity (Leviticus 5:17). When R. Akiva came to this verse, he wept. If of one who intended to eat permitted fat but chanced upon forbidden fat, yet the Torah said: though he knew it not, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity : how much more so of one who intended to eat forbidden fat and actually ate forbidden fat!

Issi b. Yehudah said: Though he knew it not, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity for this thing all grief-stricken must grieve.

 

Again, the rabbis are distressed by the notion that a person is punished for intending to sin even if through luck he does not end up sinning.