Megillah, Daf Kaf Heh, Part 6

 

Introduction

The last section of this page and chapter discusses the use of euphemisms in reading the Bible.

 

תנו רבנן: כל המקראות הכתובין בתורה לגנאי קורין אותן לשבח, כגון +דברים כ"ח+ ישגלנה ישכבנה, +דברים כ"ח+ בעפולים בטחורים, +מלכים ב’ ו’+ חריונים דביונים, +מלכים ב’ י"ח+ לאכל את חוריהם ולשתות את מימי שיניהם לאכול את צואתם ולשתות את מימי רגליהם, +מלכים ב’ י’+ למחראות למוצאות.

רבי יהושע בן קרחה אומר: למחראות כשמן, מפני שהוא גנאי לעבודה זרה.

 

Our Rabbis taught: Wherever a disgraceful expression is written in the text, we read it in a more polite way. [Thus for] yishgalenah [we read] yishkavenah (Deuteronomy 28:30); [for] ba’afolim [we read] batehorim (Deut 28:27); [for] hiryonim [we read] divyonim (II Kings 6:25); [for] le’ekhol et horehem velishtot et meme shinehem [we read] le’ekhol et zo’atham velishtot et meme raglehem (II Kings 18:27); [for] lamahara’ot [we read] lemoza’ot (II Kings 10:27).

R. Joshua b. Korha says that the actual word lamahara’ot [is read] because it is a term of disgrace for idolatry.

 

There are a few places in the Bible where euphemisms have been introduced into the text. The word "yishagelnah" is a coarse way of saying "have sex." It is replaced with "lie with her." "Ba’afolim" is a coarse word for hemorrhoids. "Hiryonim" means dung, but "divyonim" is a word for something that comes from doves. In II Kings 18:27 more delicate words for feces and urine are used. "Lemoza’ot" is a gentler word for latrines.

R. Joshua b. Korha says that we read the actual word "lamahara’ot" because it is in description of idolatry and we can use coarse words when referring to idolatry.

אמר רב נחמן: כל ליצנותא אסירא בר מליצנותא דעבודה זרה דשריא, דכתיב +ישעיהו מ"ו+ כרע בל קרס נבו, וכתיב +ישעיהו מ"ו+ קרסו כרעו יחדיו לא יכלו מלט משא וגו’.

רבי ינאי אמר מהכא: +הושע י’+ לעגלות בית און יגורו שכן שמרון כי אבל עליו עמו וכמריו עליו יגילו על כבודו כי גלה ממנו, אל תקרי כבודו אלא כבידו.

 

R. Nahman said: All mocking is forbidden except mocking idolatry, which is permitted, as it is written, "Bel is bowed, Nebo is cowering" and the text goes on, "They cowered, they bowed as well, they could not rescue the burden" (Isaiah 46:1-2).

R. Jannai learns from here: "The inhabitants of Samaria fear for the calf of Bet Aven, Indeed, its people and priestlings, whose joy it once was. Mourn over it for the glory that is departed from it" (Hosea 10:5). Do not read "for the glory" [kevodo], but "for the burden".

 

There are "bathroom" jokes hidden in each of these verses, at least according to Rashi’s understanding. Both refer to a "burden" (the second only by changing the vocalization). According to Rashi the "burden" referred to is the burden of carrying the excrement of the idolatrous calves. This is a way of mocking idolatry they mourn over the loss of the calf whose excrement they joyfully carried.

 

אמר רב הונא בר מנוח משמיה דרב אחא בריה דרב איקא: שרי ליה לבר ישראל למימר ליה לעובד כוכבים שקליה לעבודה זרה ואנחיה בשין תיו שלו.

אמר רב אשי: האי מאן דסנאי שומעניה שרי ליה לבזוייה בגימ"ל ושי"ן. האי מאן דשפיר שומעניה שרי לשבוחיה, ומאן דשבחיה ינוחו לו ברכות על ראשו.

R. Huna b. Manoah said in the name of R. Aha the son of R. Ika: It is permitted to an Israelite to say to a non-Jew, "Take your idol and put it in your shin tof."

R. Ashi said: It is permissible to disgrace a person with the term gimel shin who has terrible reports about him. It is permissible to praise a person who has good reports about him and if one does praise him, "blessings shall rest upon his head."

 

"Shin tof" is a reference to the word "shet" in Isaiah 20:4. It means, "bared buttocks." Basically a Jew can tell an idolater to take his idol and put it where the sun don’t shine.

R. Ashi uses a different acronym "gimmel shin." Rashi translates this as "son of a prostitute" which remains a curse in modern Hebrew. One is allowed to use a disgraceful term in reference to a person who has "bad reports" about them, meaning there is substantial reason to suspect that the person has been guilty of bad behavior. The chapter does not end with this ill remark. Rather, it notes the opposite just as one is allowed to say something bad about a person of ill-report, so too a person is allowed, and is even rewarded for saying something good about a person of good report.

 

הדרן עלך הקורא את המגילה עומד.

 

May we return to you "One who reads the megillah while standing."

 

Congrats, you’ve finished another chapter. Only one more to go, and we’ll have finished the tractate!