Talmud zu Schemot 15:28

MISHNAH: All of Israel¹Even those executed for a capital crime. In contrast to Christian (Pauline) teaching that everybody is damned unless he be saved by his particular faith, it is asserted that everybody is saved except when he denies himself salvation. have a part in the World to Come. But the following have no part in the World to Come: One who says that the resurrection of the dead is not biblical³Since he denies the existence of the World to Come, it cannot exist for him., or that the Torah is not from Heaven, or the Epicurean⁴Who holds that the world is an assembly of atoms subject to random effects.. Rebbi Aqiba says, also one who reads outside books⁵Sectarian religious literature., or who whispers over a wound⁶Or any sick person. It is blasphemous to use biblical verses to heal through miracles. and says, any sickness that I put on Egypt I shall not put on you, for I am the Eternal, your Healer. Abba Shaul said, also one who pronounces the Name⁷YHWH, whose vocalization does not follow grammatical rules. In cabbalistic invocations of the Name, therefore, one never mentions the letters of the Name in straight sequence but says: YH in WH. by its letters.

Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi in the name of Rebbi: May one read this and not be ashamed³⁰In B: afraid. In the biblical narrative, all good actions are ascribed to individuals, the bad to the entire people.? In a good sense, every one of goodwill³¹Ex. 35:5.; in a bad sense, all the people took off the gold rings in their ears³²Ex. 32:3.. In a good sense, Moses led the people out³³Ex. 19:1.; in a bad sense, all of you ganged up against me³⁴Deut. 1:22.. In a good sense, then Moses and the Children of Israel sang³⁵Ex. 15:1.; in a bad sense, the entire congregation started wailing³⁶Num. 14:1.. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said, indeed they got up early to destroy³⁷Zeph. 3:7.. Any destructive action they made early in the morning. Rebbi Abba bar Aḥa said, one cannot understand the character of this people; they are asked for the {golden} calf and are giving, for the Sanctuary and are giving. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina stated this baraita:³⁸To answer R. Ḥiyya bar Abba’s question. You shall make a cover of pure gold³⁹Ex. 25:17., may the gold of the cover come and atone for the gold of the calf.

Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: Adam was sitting in the Garden of Eden, and the angels who serve God stood there in the Garden attending to him. They grilled meat for him, and chilled wine for him. The snake came and saw all this, and took it as an affront to his own honor, and he became jealous.
How was Adam created? In the first hour, his dirt was gathered together. In the second hour, his form was formed. In the third hour, a torso was made. In the fourth hour, his limbs were attached. In the fifth hour, his orifices were opened. In the sixth hour, he was given breath. In the seventh hour, he stood up on his legs. In the eighth hour, he was paired with Eve. In the ninth hour, he was brought into the Garden of Eden. In the tenth hour, he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]. In the eleventh hour, he disgraced himself. In the twelfth hour, he was driven out and left, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
What is recited on the first day? “The earth is the Eternal’s, in all its fullness; the world and those who dwell upon it” (Psalms 24). For He became Master of the World and will judge it. What is recited on the second day? “The Eternal is great, and praised tremendously in the city of our God” (Psalms 48). For He sets up all His works and becomes everything over His world. What is recited on the third day? “God stands in the divine congregation; amidst the powers He judges” (Psalms 82). For He created the sea and the land, and the land was folded into its place, and a space was cleared for His congregation. What is recited on the fourth day? “God of Vengeance, Lord! God of Vengeance, appear!” (Psalms 94). For He created the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations, and they illuminate the world, and will one day be paid for their work. What is recited on the fifth day? “Sing joyously to the Eternal, our strength, shout out to the God of Jacob!” (Psalms 81). For He created birds and fish, and sea creatures, who all sing joyously in the world. What is recited on the sixth day? “The Eternal is king, He is dressed in dignity; the Eternal has dressed, and wrapped Himself in strength. The world is set in place; it will not fall” (Psalms 93). He finished all of His works, and then rose above them and sat up in the heights of the world. What is recited on the seventh day? “A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day” (Psalms 92). For on it, there is no eating or drinking, no buying or selling. The righteous just sit, with crowns on their heads, and bask in the radiance of the Divine Presence, as it says (Exodus 24:11), “And they beheld God, and they ate and drank,” like the angels who serve God.
(And why [was he created] so close [to the Sabbath]? So that he could enter into the Sabbath meal immediately.)
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: I will give you a parable. What was Adam like? Like a man who married a convert, and would sit with her and give her orders. He said to her: Girl, do not eat bread while your hands are impure. And do not eat fruit that has not been tithed. And do not desecrate the Sabbath. And do not break your vows. And do not go around with other men. Now, if you break any one of these rules, you will die. (Then what did that man do?) He ate bread in front of her while his hands were impure, and he ate fruit that had not been tithed, and he desecrated the Sabbath, and he broke his vows. [And then he cast her out.] What did this convert say to herself? All the rules that my husband ordered me to follow are lies! She immediately went and broke them all.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: I will give you a parable. What was the situation with Adam like? Like a man who had a woman in his house. What did he do? He went and brought a jar and put figs and nuts in it. Then he caught a scorpion, and put it near the mouth of the jar. And then he sealed the jar with a string and placed it in a corner. He said to her: Girl, everything I have in this house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all. What did the woman do? When her husband went out to the marketplace, she went and opened the jar, and stuck her hand inside, and the scorpion bit her. She went and fell on the bed. When her husband came back from the marketplace, he said to her: What happened? She said to him: I stuck my hand in the jar, and a scorpion bit me, and now I am dying! He said to her: Didn’t I tell you before? Everything I have in my house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all! He became very angry at her and cast her out. So it was with Adam. When the Holy Blessed One said to him (Genesis 2:16–17), “From every tree of the garden you may absolutely eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, do not eat. For on the day you eat from it, you will surely die.” Then when he ate from it, he was driven out, which fulfills the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor. He is just like the beasts.”
(On that same day he was formed;) On that same day he was created; on that same day his form was formed; on that same day a torso was made; on that same day his limbs were attached and his orifices were opened; on that same day breath was given to him. On that same day he stood up on his legs; on that same day he was paired with Eve; on that same day he called [all the animals] names; on that same day he was brought into the Garden of Eden; on that same day he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]; on that same day he disgraced himself; on that same day he was driven out, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as four. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as six.¹This is according to the tradition that each son was born with a twin girl who would become his wife. On that same day Adam was given three new decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:17–18), “And to Adam [God] said: Because you heeded the voice of your wife…the ground will be cursed because of you. You will eat from it in distress…and it will sprout thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the grasses of the field.” When Adam heard that the Holy Blessed One said to him, “You will eat the grasses of the field,” immediately his limbs began to shake. He said before God: Master of the World! Will I and my animal eat from the same trough? The Holy Blessed One said: Since your limbs began to shake (nizdazu), therefore “by the sweat (zeiah) of your brow you will [be able to] eat bread” (Genesis 3:19). And just as Adam was given these three decrees, so, too, Eve was given three decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:16), “To the woman [God] said: I will increase and increase your pangs in childbearing; you will give birth to children in pain.” So when a woman has her menstrual bleeding, the beginning of her cycle is the most difficult for her. (“I will increase and increase”:) When a woman first has sexual relations, at the beginning intercourse is difficult for her. “Your pangs”: And when a woman becomes pregnant, her face becomes ugly and greenish for the first three months.
When evening began to descend, Adam looked toward the darkening horizon and said: Woe is me! Because I disgraced myself, the Holy Blessed one is bringing darkness upon my world. He did not know that this was simply the way of the world. In the morning, when he saw that the world began to brighten from the east, he felt an overwhelming sense of joy. So he went and built altars, and brought a bull whose horns had grown in before his hooves,²Unusual for a bull, but because the first bull grew up out of the ground, its top was formed before its legs. See Rashi, Hullin 60a. and he offered it up as a sacrifice, as it says (Tehillim 69:32), “It will be better to the Eternal than a bull with horns and hooves.”
The bull that Adam offered up on the altar, as well as the bull that Noah offered up, and the ram that Abraham our forefather offered up in place of his son, (all had horns that had grown in before their hooves), as it says (Genesis 22:13), “Abraham raised his eyes, and behold, a ram was caught [in the brambles by its horns].”
At that same hour, three groups of angels who serve God came down, and in their hands were lyres and harps and all kinds of instruments, and they sang with him, as it says (Psalms 92:1–2), “A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to thank the Eternal…and to speak of Your kindness in the morning, and Your faith through the night.” “To speak of your kindness in the morning” – that is the World to Come, which is compared to morning, as it says (Lamentations 3:23), “They are renewed in the morning; great is Your faith.” “And Your faith through the night” – that is this world, which is compared to night, as it says (Isaiah 21:11), “The burden of Dumah. Someone calls to me from Seir: Watchman, what will happen in the night? Watchman, what will happen in the night?”
At that same hour, the Holy Blessed One said: If I do not punish the snake, I will be found to have caused the destruction of the whole world! They will say, that one, whom I have crowned, and made king over the whole world, how can it be that he has ruined himself and eaten the fruits of that tree? Immediately, He turned to the snake and cursed it, as it says (Genesis 3:14), “Then the Eternal God said to the snake….” Thus, Rabbi Yosei said: If this verse had not (not) concluded with its curse, the whole world would have been destroyed.
When the Holy Blessed One created the first human being, He formed it facing both frontward and backward, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You formed me after and before, and You placed Your hand upon me.” And the angels who serve God came down (to serve Him) [in order to destroy the first human being]. So the Holy Blessed One took it and placed it under His wings, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You hedge me before and behind, and You placed Your hands upon me.”
Another interpretation of “And You placed Your hands upon me”: (When [Adam] disgraced himself, the Holy Blessed One took one of [His hands] away). From here we see that both the human being and the Sanctuary, when they were created, were created by God’s two hands. From where do we learn that the human being was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Psalms 119:73), “Your hands made me and fashioned me.” From where do we learn that the Sanctuary was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Exodus 15:17), “In the Sanctuary, God, which Your hands have established.” (And it says [Psalms 78:54]), “He brought them to the border of His Sanctuary, the mountain which His right hand had acquired.”
And it says (Exodus 15:19), “The Eternal will reign forever and ever.”

Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: Adam was sitting in the Garden of Eden, and the angels who serve God stood there in the Garden attending to him. They grilled meat for him, and chilled wine for him. The snake came and saw all this, and took it as an affront to his own honor, and he became jealous.
How was Adam created? In the first hour, his dirt was gathered together. In the second hour, his form was formed. In the third hour, a torso was made. In the fourth hour, his limbs were attached. In the fifth hour, his orifices were opened. In the sixth hour, he was given breath. In the seventh hour, he stood up on his legs. In the eighth hour, he was paired with Eve. In the ninth hour, he was brought into the Garden of Eden. In the tenth hour, he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]. In the eleventh hour, he disgraced himself. In the twelfth hour, he was driven out and left, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
What is recited on the first day? “The earth is the Eternal’s, in all its fullness; the world and those who dwell upon it” (Psalms 24). For He became Master of the World and will judge it. What is recited on the second day? “The Eternal is great, and praised tremendously in the city of our God” (Psalms 48). For He sets up all His works and becomes everything over His world. What is recited on the third day? “God stands in the divine congregation; amidst the powers He judges” (Psalms 82). For He created the sea and the land, and the land was folded into its place, and a space was cleared for His congregation. What is recited on the fourth day? “God of Vengeance, Lord! God of Vengeance, appear!” (Psalms 94). For He created the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations, and they illuminate the world, and will one day be paid for their work. What is recited on the fifth day? “Sing joyously to the Eternal, our strength, shout out to the God of Jacob!” (Psalms 81). For He created birds and fish, and sea creatures, who all sing joyously in the world. What is recited on the sixth day? “The Eternal is king, He is dressed in dignity; the Eternal has dressed, and wrapped Himself in strength. The world is set in place; it will not fall” (Psalms 93). He finished all of His works, and then rose above them and sat up in the heights of the world. What is recited on the seventh day? “A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day” (Psalms 92). For on it, there is no eating or drinking, no buying or selling. The righteous just sit, with crowns on their heads, and bask in the radiance of the Divine Presence, as it says (Exodus 24:11), “And they beheld God, and they ate and drank,” like the angels who serve God.
(And why [was he created] so close [to the Sabbath]? So that he could enter into the Sabbath meal immediately.)
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: I will give you a parable. What was Adam like? Like a man who married a convert, and would sit with her and give her orders. He said to her: Girl, do not eat bread while your hands are impure. And do not eat fruit that has not been tithed. And do not desecrate the Sabbath. And do not break your vows. And do not go around with other men. Now, if you break any one of these rules, you will die. (Then what did that man do?) He ate bread in front of her while his hands were impure, and he ate fruit that had not been tithed, and he desecrated the Sabbath, and he broke his vows. [And then he cast her out.] What did this convert say to herself? All the rules that my husband ordered me to follow are lies! She immediately went and broke them all.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: I will give you a parable. What was the situation with Adam like? Like a man who had a woman in his house. What did he do? He went and brought a jar and put figs and nuts in it. Then he caught a scorpion, and put it near the mouth of the jar. And then he sealed the jar with a string and placed it in a corner. He said to her: Girl, everything I have in this house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all. What did the woman do? When her husband went out to the marketplace, she went and opened the jar, and stuck her hand inside, and the scorpion bit her. She went and fell on the bed. When her husband came back from the marketplace, he said to her: What happened? She said to him: I stuck my hand in the jar, and a scorpion bit me, and now I am dying! He said to her: Didn’t I tell you before? Everything I have in my house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all! He became very angry at her and cast her out. So it was with Adam. When the Holy Blessed One said to him (Genesis 2:16–17), “From every tree of the garden you may absolutely eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, do not eat. For on the day you eat from it, you will surely die.” Then when he ate from it, he was driven out, which fulfills the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor. He is just like the beasts.”
(On that same day he was formed;) On that same day he was created; on that same day his form was formed; on that same day a torso was made; on that same day his limbs were attached and his orifices were opened; on that same day breath was given to him. On that same day he stood up on his legs; on that same day he was paired with Eve; on that same day he called [all the animals] names; on that same day he was brought into the Garden of Eden; on that same day he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]; on that same day he disgraced himself; on that same day he was driven out, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as four. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as six.¹This is according to the tradition that each son was born with a twin girl who would become his wife. On that same day Adam was given three new decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:17–18), “And to Adam [God] said: Because you heeded the voice of your wife…the ground will be cursed because of you. You will eat from it in distress…and it will sprout thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the grasses of the field.” When Adam heard that the Holy Blessed One said to him, “You will eat the grasses of the field,” immediately his limbs began to shake. He said before God: Master of the World! Will I and my animal eat from the same trough? The Holy Blessed One said: Since your limbs began to shake (nizdazu), therefore “by the sweat (zeiah) of your brow you will [be able to] eat bread” (Genesis 3:19). And just as Adam was given these three decrees, so, too, Eve was given three decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:16), “To the woman [God] said: I will increase and increase your pangs in childbearing; you will give birth to children in pain.” So when a woman has her menstrual bleeding, the beginning of her cycle is the most difficult for her. (“I will increase and increase”:) When a woman first has sexual relations, at the beginning intercourse is difficult for her. “Your pangs”: And when a woman becomes pregnant, her face becomes ugly and greenish for the first three months.
When evening began to descend, Adam looked toward the darkening horizon and said: Woe is me! Because I disgraced myself, the Holy Blessed one is bringing darkness upon my world. He did not know that this was simply the way of the world. In the morning, when he saw that the world began to brighten from the east, he felt an overwhelming sense of joy. So he went and built altars, and brought a bull whose horns had grown in before his hooves,²Unusual for a bull, but because the first bull grew up out of the ground, its top was formed before its legs. See Rashi, Hullin 60a. and he offered it up as a sacrifice, as it says (Tehillim 69:32), “It will be better to the Eternal than a bull with horns and hooves.”
The bull that Adam offered up on the altar, as well as the bull that Noah offered up, and the ram that Abraham our forefather offered up in place of his son, (all had horns that had grown in before their hooves), as it says (Genesis 22:13), “Abraham raised his eyes, and behold, a ram was caught [in the brambles by its horns].”
At that same hour, three groups of angels who serve God came down, and in their hands were lyres and harps and all kinds of instruments, and they sang with him, as it says (Psalms 92:1–2), “A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to thank the Eternal…and to speak of Your kindness in the morning, and Your faith through the night.” “To speak of your kindness in the morning” – that is the World to Come, which is compared to morning, as it says (Lamentations 3:23), “They are renewed in the morning; great is Your faith.” “And Your faith through the night” – that is this world, which is compared to night, as it says (Isaiah 21:11), “The burden of Dumah. Someone calls to me from Seir: Watchman, what will happen in the night? Watchman, what will happen in the night?”
At that same hour, the Holy Blessed One said: If I do not punish the snake, I will be found to have caused the destruction of the whole world! They will say, that one, whom I have crowned, and made king over the whole world, how can it be that he has ruined himself and eaten the fruits of that tree? Immediately, He turned to the snake and cursed it, as it says (Genesis 3:14), “Then the Eternal God said to the snake….” Thus, Rabbi Yosei said: If this verse had not (not) concluded with its curse, the whole world would have been destroyed.
When the Holy Blessed One created the first human being, He formed it facing both frontward and backward, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You formed me after and before, and You placed Your hand upon me.” And the angels who serve God came down (to serve Him) [in order to destroy the first human being]. So the Holy Blessed One took it and placed it under His wings, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You hedge me before and behind, and You placed Your hands upon me.”
Another interpretation of “And You placed Your hands upon me”: (When [Adam] disgraced himself, the Holy Blessed One took one of [His hands] away). From here we see that both the human being and the Sanctuary, when they were created, were created by God’s two hands. From where do we learn that the human being was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Psalms 119:73), “Your hands made me and fashioned me.” From where do we learn that the Sanctuary was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Exodus 15:17), “In the Sanctuary, God, which Your hands have established.” (And it says [Psalms 78:54]), “He brought them to the border of His Sanctuary, the mountain which His right hand had acquired.”
And it says (Exodus 15:19), “The Eternal will reign forever and ever.”

Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: Adam was sitting in the Garden of Eden, and the angels who serve God stood there in the Garden attending to him. They grilled meat for him, and chilled wine for him. The snake came and saw all this, and took it as an affront to his own honor, and he became jealous.
How was Adam created? In the first hour, his dirt was gathered together. In the second hour, his form was formed. In the third hour, a torso was made. In the fourth hour, his limbs were attached. In the fifth hour, his orifices were opened. In the sixth hour, he was given breath. In the seventh hour, he stood up on his legs. In the eighth hour, he was paired with Eve. In the ninth hour, he was brought into the Garden of Eden. In the tenth hour, he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]. In the eleventh hour, he disgraced himself. In the twelfth hour, he was driven out and left, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
What is recited on the first day? “The earth is the Eternal’s, in all its fullness; the world and those who dwell upon it” (Psalms 24). For He became Master of the World and will judge it. What is recited on the second day? “The Eternal is great, and praised tremendously in the city of our God” (Psalms 48). For He sets up all His works and becomes everything over His world. What is recited on the third day? “God stands in the divine congregation; amidst the powers He judges” (Psalms 82). For He created the sea and the land, and the land was folded into its place, and a space was cleared for His congregation. What is recited on the fourth day? “God of Vengeance, Lord! God of Vengeance, appear!” (Psalms 94). For He created the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations, and they illuminate the world, and will one day be paid for their work. What is recited on the fifth day? “Sing joyously to the Eternal, our strength, shout out to the God of Jacob!” (Psalms 81). For He created birds and fish, and sea creatures, who all sing joyously in the world. What is recited on the sixth day? “The Eternal is king, He is dressed in dignity; the Eternal has dressed, and wrapped Himself in strength. The world is set in place; it will not fall” (Psalms 93). He finished all of His works, and then rose above them and sat up in the heights of the world. What is recited on the seventh day? “A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day” (Psalms 92). For on it, there is no eating or drinking, no buying or selling. The righteous just sit, with crowns on their heads, and bask in the radiance of the Divine Presence, as it says (Exodus 24:11), “And they beheld God, and they ate and drank,” like the angels who serve God.
(And why [was he created] so close [to the Sabbath]? So that he could enter into the Sabbath meal immediately.)
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: I will give you a parable. What was Adam like? Like a man who married a convert, and would sit with her and give her orders. He said to her: Girl, do not eat bread while your hands are impure. And do not eat fruit that has not been tithed. And do not desecrate the Sabbath. And do not break your vows. And do not go around with other men. Now, if you break any one of these rules, you will die. (Then what did that man do?) He ate bread in front of her while his hands were impure, and he ate fruit that had not been tithed, and he desecrated the Sabbath, and he broke his vows. [And then he cast her out.] What did this convert say to herself? All the rules that my husband ordered me to follow are lies! She immediately went and broke them all.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: I will give you a parable. What was the situation with Adam like? Like a man who had a woman in his house. What did he do? He went and brought a jar and put figs and nuts in it. Then he caught a scorpion, and put it near the mouth of the jar. And then he sealed the jar with a string and placed it in a corner. He said to her: Girl, everything I have in this house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all. What did the woman do? When her husband went out to the marketplace, she went and opened the jar, and stuck her hand inside, and the scorpion bit her. She went and fell on the bed. When her husband came back from the marketplace, he said to her: What happened? She said to him: I stuck my hand in the jar, and a scorpion bit me, and now I am dying! He said to her: Didn’t I tell you before? Everything I have in my house is for you to use, except for that jar, which you must not touch at all! He became very angry at her and cast her out. So it was with Adam. When the Holy Blessed One said to him (Genesis 2:16–17), “From every tree of the garden you may absolutely eat. But from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, do not eat. For on the day you eat from it, you will surely die.” Then when he ate from it, he was driven out, which fulfills the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor. He is just like the beasts.”
(On that same day he was formed;) On that same day he was created; on that same day his form was formed; on that same day a torso was made; on that same day his limbs were attached and his orifices were opened; on that same day breath was given to him. On that same day he stood up on his legs; on that same day he was paired with Eve; on that same day he called [all the animals] names; on that same day he was brought into the Garden of Eden; on that same day he was commanded [not to eat from the tree]; on that same day he disgraced himself; on that same day he was driven out, which fulfills the words of the verse (Psalms 49:13), “Man does not spend even one night in honor.”
On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as four. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: On that same day they went up into their bed as two and came down as six.¹This is according to the tradition that each son was born with a twin girl who would become his wife. On that same day Adam was given three new decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:17–18), “And to Adam [God] said: Because you heeded the voice of your wife…the ground will be cursed because of you. You will eat from it in distress…and it will sprout thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the grasses of the field.” When Adam heard that the Holy Blessed One said to him, “You will eat the grasses of the field,” immediately his limbs began to shake. He said before God: Master of the World! Will I and my animal eat from the same trough? The Holy Blessed One said: Since your limbs began to shake (nizdazu), therefore “by the sweat (zeiah) of your brow you will [be able to] eat bread” (Genesis 3:19). And just as Adam was given these three decrees, so, too, Eve was given three decrees, as it says (Genesis 3:16), “To the woman [God] said: I will increase and increase your pangs in childbearing; you will give birth to children in pain.” So when a woman has her menstrual bleeding, the beginning of her cycle is the most difficult for her. (“I will increase and increase”:) When a woman first has sexual relations, at the beginning intercourse is difficult for her. “Your pangs”: And when a woman becomes pregnant, her face becomes ugly and greenish for the first three months.
When evening began to descend, Adam looked toward the darkening horizon and said: Woe is me! Because I disgraced myself, the Holy Blessed one is bringing darkness upon my world. He did not know that this was simply the way of the world. In the morning, when he saw that the world began to brighten from the east, he felt an overwhelming sense of joy. So he went and built altars, and brought a bull whose horns had grown in before his hooves,²Unusual for a bull, but because the first bull grew up out of the ground, its top was formed before its legs. See Rashi, Hullin 60a. and he offered it up as a sacrifice, as it says (Tehillim 69:32), “It will be better to the Eternal than a bull with horns and hooves.”
The bull that Adam offered up on the altar, as well as the bull that Noah offered up, and the ram that Abraham our forefather offered up in place of his son, (all had horns that had grown in before their hooves), as it says (Genesis 22:13), “Abraham raised his eyes, and behold, a ram was caught [in the brambles by its horns].”
At that same hour, three groups of angels who serve God came down, and in their hands were lyres and harps and all kinds of instruments, and they sang with him, as it says (Psalms 92:1–2), “A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to thank the Eternal…and to speak of Your kindness in the morning, and Your faith through the night.” “To speak of your kindness in the morning” – that is the World to Come, which is compared to morning, as it says (Lamentations 3:23), “They are renewed in the morning; great is Your faith.” “And Your faith through the night” – that is this world, which is compared to night, as it says (Isaiah 21:11), “The burden of Dumah. Someone calls to me from Seir: Watchman, what will happen in the night? Watchman, what will happen in the night?”
At that same hour, the Holy Blessed One said: If I do not punish the snake, I will be found to have caused the destruction of the whole world! They will say, that one, whom I have crowned, and made king over the whole world, how can it be that he has ruined himself and eaten the fruits of that tree? Immediately, He turned to the snake and cursed it, as it says (Genesis 3:14), “Then the Eternal God said to the snake….” Thus, Rabbi Yosei said: If this verse had not (not) concluded with its curse, the whole world would have been destroyed.
When the Holy Blessed One created the first human being, He formed it facing both frontward and backward, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You formed me after and before, and You placed Your hand upon me.” And the angels who serve God came down (to serve Him) [in order to destroy the first human being]. So the Holy Blessed One took it and placed it under His wings, as it says (Psalms 139:5), “You hedge me before and behind, and You placed Your hands upon me.”
Another interpretation of “And You placed Your hands upon me”: (When [Adam] disgraced himself, the Holy Blessed One took one of [His hands] away). From here we see that both the human being and the Sanctuary, when they were created, were created by God’s two hands. From where do we learn that the human being was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Psalms 119:73), “Your hands made me and fashioned me.” From where do we learn that the Sanctuary was created with God’s two hands? As it says (Exodus 15:17), “In the Sanctuary, God, which Your hands have established.” (And it says [Psalms 78:54]), “He brought them to the border of His Sanctuary, the mountain which His right hand had acquired.”
And it says (Exodus 15:19), “The Eternal will reign forever and ever.”

All the Torah is in Hebrew but it contains some Aramaic words.⁴¹lit. ‘translation’ (Targum). What is in Hebrew may not be written in Aramaic and the Aramaic words may not be altered; for example, Jegar-sahadutha and Galeed.⁴²Gen. 31, 47, ‘the heap of witness’ in Aramaic and Hebrew. Others hold that the rule applies only to Jegar-sahadutha and Galeed because they are two specifically Aramaic and Hebrew expressions respectively.⁴³In the case of the other parts, however, although one language should not be changed for another, the scroll is not disqualified if a change was made (cf. N.Y. ad loc.). If Hebrew words were written in Aramaic or Aramaic words in Hebrew, the scroll may not be used for the lection. The Aramaic [and Hebrew] words referred to are Jegar-sahadutha, Galeed and the like.
If ha’azinu hashshamayim⁴⁴Give ear ye heavens, the opening words of Deut. 32, 1-43, which is arranged in the scroll as follows:
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_________________ was arranged like the Song of Moses⁴⁵Ex. 15, 1-18 written as:
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or, according to others:
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_________________ or if the Song of Moses was arranged like ha’azinu; if continuous lines were written in broken ones or vice versa; [35b] or if the breaking up was not done according to the rule, the scroll may not be used for the lection.

They came back and asked him: What is that which is written (Jos. 24:19): “For He is a holy God.” He answered them, it is not written: “they”, but “He,” “He is a jealous God.” His students told him: Teacher, these you pushed away with a stick, what can you answer us? Rebbi Isaac said, He is holy in all kinds of holiness, as Rebbi Yudan said in the name of Rebbi Aḥa: The Holy One, praise to Him, is holy in all kinds of holiness. His speech is in holiness, His throning is in holiness, the baring of His arm is in holiness, God is awesome and majestic in holiness. His way is in holiness, (Ps. 77:14) “God, Your way is in holiness.” His walking is in holiness, (Ps. 68:25) “the course of my God, my King, in holiness.” His throning is in holiness, (Ps. 47:9) “God throned on His holy throne.” His speech is in holiness, (Ps. 60:8) “God spoke [in His holiness].” The baring of His arm is in holiness, (Is. 52:10) “The Eternal bared His holy arm.” He is awesome and glorious in holiness, (Ex. 15:11) “Who is like You, glorious in holiness!”

⁹¹The Amora. Who needs this? Rebbi Yose! Which [statement of] Rebbi Yose? What we had stated there: “He who did read the Shema‘ and did not make his ear hear did fulfill his obligation.” For whom do we need that? For Rebbi Yose! For which statement of Rebbi Yose? For that which we have stated: “He who recites the Shema‘ and does not make his ear hear has fulfilled his obligation, Rebbi Yose says that he has not fulfilled his obligation.” Rav Mattanah said: That formulation is Rebbi Yose’s. Rebbi Yose⁹¹The Amora. said: We could be of the opinion that the rabbis and Rebbi Yose disagree only about Shema‘ since there it is written: “hear!”, but not about any other obligations. Since Rav Mattanah said “that formulation is Rebbi Yose’s”, it is the same for all commandments of the Torah. What is the reason of Rebbi Yose? (Ex. 15:26) “Bend your ear to His commandments and keep all His basic laws”; your ears should hear what your mouth says.

A Torah scroll may not be placed on a bed and [certainly]²⁰Cf. N.Y. on Sof. III, 13. The insertion of ‘certainly’ avoids an anticlimax. not at its foot or under it; nor may one sit²¹lit. ‘that one may sit’. on a bed while a [Torah] scroll rests on it. It is related that R. Eliezer²²In Sof. III, 13, ‘R. Eleazar’. once sat [unknowingly] on a bed on which a [Torah] scroll lay, and [when he realized it] he jumped up as if a snake had bitten him. [Such respect is shown for the Torah] because Scripture declares, Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary²³Lev. 19, 30.—it is not the Sabbaths that one reverences but Him Who commanded [to observe them], for Scripture declares, This is my God, and I will glorify Him²⁴Ex. 15, 2. [which means,]²⁵Connecting we’anwehu (I will glorify Him) homiletically with na’eh (beautiful) and understanding it as ‘I will serve Him in a beautiful manner’. I will perform the commandment in a beautiful way to His glory.²⁶lit. ‘before Him’. Such is the interpretation of R. Ishmael. R. ‘Aḳiba expounds it: I will expatiate on His excellencies.²⁷Heb. na’oth, lit. ‘beauties’, excellent attributes. Abba Saul explains it: I will be like Him,²⁸He explains we’anwehu as the equivalent of ’ani wahu (I and He). i.e. as He is gracious and merciful so be thou gracious and merciful.

A scroll of the Torah may not be placed on a bed and [certainly]⁴²Cf. N.Y. The addition of ‘certainly’ avoids an anticlimax. not at its foot or under it; nor may one sit on a bed on which a [Torah] scroll [happens to] rest. It is related that R. Eleazar once sat [unwittingly] on a bed on which lay a [Torah] scroll and [when he realized it] he jumped up as if a snake had bitten him. [Respect is shown for the Torah] because Scripture states, Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary⁴³Lev. 19, 30.—it is not the sabbaths that one reverences but Him who commanded [to keep them], nor is one to reverence the sanctuary but Him who commanded [to make] it.
It is obligatory to make beautiful ẓiẓith, beautiful mezuzoth, to write a beautiful scroll of the Torah with choice ink, with a fine reed-pen [written] by an expert penman⁴⁴[Reading with Bacher, Ag. d. Tannaiten, I, p. 254n לבלר אומן for לבלרין נאים (fine pen-men).] on well-finished parchments, on deer skins,⁴⁵So GRA. V and H, ‘dyed skins’. and to wrap it in precious silks; for Scripture states, This is my God, and I will glorify Him,⁴⁶Ex. 15, 2, I will glorify Him (ואנוהו) is connected homiletically with נאה, ‘beautiful’, and understood as ‘I will serve Him in a beautiful manner’. which means, perform the commandments in a beautiful manner to His glory.⁴⁷lit. ‘before Him’. Such is the interpretation of R. Ishmael. R. ‘Aḳiba expounds the text as meaning that one should expatiate on His excellencies. Abba Saul explains: Be like Him;⁴⁸He explains ואנוהו as the equivalent of אני והוא, ‘I and He’. as He is merciful and gracious so be thou merciful and gracious.

MISHNAH: On the same day³³According to the Babli (Berakhot 28a), any Mishnah which starts “on the same day” was formulated on the day Rabban Gamliel was deposed. There is no proof that this ever was a Galilean tradition., Rebbi Aqiba explained: “¹²⁶Ex. 15:1. Then would Moses and the Children of Israel sing the following song to the Eternal to tell.” The verse should not have said “to tell”; why does the verse say “to tell”? It was that Israel were repeating after Moses every word, as one reads the Hallel¹²⁷Ps. 113–118, the holiday songs. The way of recital is described in the Tosephta/Halakhah.: “I shall sing to the Eternal for He is very highly high;” therefore “saying” was said. Rebbi Neḥemiah said, they were reciting it as one recites the Šema‘¹²⁸The entire recital which starts with “Hear, o Israel,” cf. Berakhot Chapter 1, Note 1., not as one reads the Hallel.

HALAKHAH: “On the same day, Rebbi Aqiba explained: “Then would Moses sing,” etc. ¹²⁹Tosephta Soṭah 6:2–4; Babli 30b/31a. A small part of the text is in Mekhilta dR. Ismael, Shirah, Parashah1 (Mekhilta dR. Simeon bar Ioḥai, p. 72, cf. Note 137). Like a minor who recites the Hallel in school and all repeat every word after him¹³⁰The entire class, until they know Hallel by heart.. Moses said, “I shall sing¹³¹Ex. 15:1.”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “Strength”, and they say: “Strength¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Eliezer the son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean said, like an adult who recites the Hallel in the synagogue, and they repeat the first word¹³³This is prescribed by the Babli, Sukkah 38b, and retained in the Yemenite balādī rite, where the congregation answer hallelujah (the first word of Ps. 113) at each caesura and end of sentence. The Galilean Amoraic way was for several people to recite the Hallel, with each of them saying half a verse (Berakhot 8:9 fol. 12c, Megillah 1:11 fol. 72a).. Moses said, “I shall sing”, and they repeat: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “My strength”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Rebbi Yose the Galilean says, when our forefathers were in the sea, the toddler was resting on his mother’s knees and the baby was suckling from his mother’s breast; but when they saw the Divine Glory, the toddler lifted his head from his mother’s knees and the baby took away his mouth from his mother’s breast; they opened their mouths in song and praise and said, “that is my God and I shall declare Him Beautiful¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Meïr said, even the fetuses were saying a song from their mothers’ wombs, as it is said: “¹³⁴Ps. 68:27. In Mishnaic Hebrew, מָקוֹר means the female womb; cf. Lev. 20:18. In choirs praise God, the Eternal from the source of Israel.” Rebbi Nehemiah said, when our forefathers rose from the sea they saw the corpses of the sinners who had subjected them to hard, forced labor, all of them dead corpses thrown on the sea shore. They wanted to sing and the holy spirit rested upon them. Even the most insignificant in Israel sang the song just as Moses did. That is what is written: “¹³⁵Is. 63:11. The verse ends: “Where is He Who put His Holy Spirit in their midst.” He remembered the days of old, Moses, his people; where is He Who raised them from the sea?” It is not written “the sheeps’ shepherd” but “His sheeps’ shepherd”; this teaches that He turned all of them into shepherds¹³⁶Since the first half of the verse equates Moses and His people, the singular of the second clause is taken as collective..

HALAKHAH: “On the same day, Rebbi Aqiba explained: “Then would Moses sing,” etc. ¹²⁹Tosephta Soṭah 6:2–4; Babli 30b/31a. A small part of the text is in Mekhilta dR. Ismael, Shirah, Parashah1 (Mekhilta dR. Simeon bar Ioḥai, p. 72, cf. Note 137). Like a minor who recites the Hallel in school and all repeat every word after him¹³⁰The entire class, until they know Hallel by heart.. Moses said, “I shall sing¹³¹Ex. 15:1.”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “Strength”, and they say: “Strength¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Eliezer the son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean said, like an adult who recites the Hallel in the synagogue, and they repeat the first word¹³³This is prescribed by the Babli, Sukkah 38b, and retained in the Yemenite balādī rite, where the congregation answer hallelujah (the first word of Ps. 113) at each caesura and end of sentence. The Galilean Amoraic way was for several people to recite the Hallel, with each of them saying half a verse (Berakhot 8:9 fol. 12c, Megillah 1:11 fol. 72a).. Moses said, “I shall sing”, and they repeat: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “My strength”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Rebbi Yose the Galilean says, when our forefathers were in the sea, the toddler was resting on his mother’s knees and the baby was suckling from his mother’s breast; but when they saw the Divine Glory, the toddler lifted his head from his mother’s knees and the baby took away his mouth from his mother’s breast; they opened their mouths in song and praise and said, “that is my God and I shall declare Him Beautiful¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Meïr said, even the fetuses were saying a song from their mothers’ wombs, as it is said: “¹³⁴Ps. 68:27. In Mishnaic Hebrew, מָקוֹר means the female womb; cf. Lev. 20:18. In choirs praise God, the Eternal from the source of Israel.” Rebbi Nehemiah said, when our forefathers rose from the sea they saw the corpses of the sinners who had subjected them to hard, forced labor, all of them dead corpses thrown on the sea shore. They wanted to sing and the holy spirit rested upon them. Even the most insignificant in Israel sang the song just as Moses did. That is what is written: “¹³⁵Is. 63:11. The verse ends: “Where is He Who put His Holy Spirit in their midst.” He remembered the days of old, Moses, his people; where is He Who raised them from the sea?” It is not written “the sheeps’ shepherd” but “His sheeps’ shepherd”; this teaches that He turned all of them into shepherds¹³⁶Since the first half of the verse equates Moses and His people, the singular of the second clause is taken as collective..

Why does the verse say, “to tell”? To tell to [future] generations. Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Ḥanina, the entire verse. Moses said, “I shall sing”, and they recite after his lead: “I shall sing to the Eternal for He is very highly high; horse and rider He cast into the sea¹³¹Ex. 15:1..” Moses said: “strength and growth”, and they recite after his lead: “strength and growth is Yah¹³²Ex. 15:2.”.¹³⁷In the Mekhiltot, this is attributed to R. Eleazar ben Thaddai, a Tanna whose time is difficult to determine and who is never quoted in Yerushalmi sources. Cf. B.-Z. Wacholder, The Date of Mekilta deRabbi Ishmael, HUCA 39 (1968), 117–144. It is written: ¹³⁸Jud. 5:2. In rabbinic Hebrew, פרע means “to pay one’s debt”.“When retribution is retributed for Israel, when the people volunteers;” the heads of the people volunteered. When the Holy One, praise to Him, does wonders for Israel, they should sing a song. They objected: There is the redemption from Egypt! That is something else since it was the beginning of their redemption¹³⁹Meaning that the Song of the Sea also covers the Exodus, since the latter was confirmed only at the Sea. In the Babli and midrashic literature, Ps. 113 is the song of the Israelites during Passover night [Pesaḥim 117a; cf. Cant. rabba 1(37), Mekhilta deR. Ismael, Shirah 1; deR. Simeon bar Ioḥai p. 71]. Cf. the author’s The Scholar’s Haggadah, pp. 314–319.. They objected. There is redemption of Mardocai and Esther¹⁴⁰Who instituted a “day of feasting and joy” but not the recitation of Hallel, Esth. 9:22.! That is something else since they were outside the Land¹⁴¹Babli, Megillah 14a.; some want to say that Mardocai and Esther were freed of their enemies, they were not freed from [Gentile] government¹⁴¹Babli, Megillah 14a..

Why does the verse say, “to tell”? To tell to [future] generations. Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Ḥanina, the entire verse. Moses said, “I shall sing”, and they recite after his lead: “I shall sing to the Eternal for He is very highly high; horse and rider He cast into the sea¹³¹Ex. 15:1..” Moses said: “strength and growth”, and they recite after his lead: “strength and growth is Yah¹³²Ex. 15:2.”.¹³⁷In the Mekhiltot, this is attributed to R. Eleazar ben Thaddai, a Tanna whose time is difficult to determine and who is never quoted in Yerushalmi sources. Cf. B.-Z. Wacholder, The Date of Mekilta deRabbi Ishmael, HUCA 39 (1968), 117–144. It is written: ¹³⁸Jud. 5:2. In rabbinic Hebrew, פרע means “to pay one’s debt”.“When retribution is retributed for Israel, when the people volunteers;” the heads of the people volunteered. When the Holy One, praise to Him, does wonders for Israel, they should sing a song. They objected: There is the redemption from Egypt! That is something else since it was the beginning of their redemption¹³⁹Meaning that the Song of the Sea also covers the Exodus, since the latter was confirmed only at the Sea. In the Babli and midrashic literature, Ps. 113 is the song of the Israelites during Passover night [Pesaḥim 117a; cf. Cant. rabba 1(37), Mekhilta deR. Ismael, Shirah 1; deR. Simeon bar Ioḥai p. 71]. Cf. the author’s The Scholar’s Haggadah, pp. 314–319.. They objected. There is redemption of Mardocai and Esther¹⁴⁰Who instituted a “day of feasting and joy” but not the recitation of Hallel, Esth. 9:22.! That is something else since they were outside the Land¹⁴¹Babli, Megillah 14a.; some want to say that Mardocai and Esther were freed of their enemies, they were not freed from [Gentile] government¹⁴¹Babli, Megillah 14a..

It was stated: “He who did pray¹⁵⁹The thrice daily Amidah prayer. and did not make his ear hear did fulfill his obligation.” For whom do we need that? For Rebbi Yose! For which statement of Rebbi Yose? For that which we have stated: “He who recites the Shema‘ and did not make his ear hear has fulfilled his obligation, Rebbi Yose says that he has not fulfilled his obligation.” Rav Mattanah¹⁶⁰This paragraph and the following do not really belong here, they refer to the Mishnah Megillah 2:4: “The insane, the deaf and dumb, and minors cannot read the Megillah (for others)”. Rav Mattanah notes that, obviously, one does not mean a deaf and dumb person who cannot talk, but a deaf person who cannot hear. Since the Mishnah is anonymous, it must be the consensus of the Sages that one cannot fulfill the obligation of reading the Megillah if one does not hear what he himself is saying. Hence, the general consensus in Megillah is identical with the opinion of Rebbi Yose in Berakhot. The practice, therefore, should follow Rebbi Yose for stringency, in contrast to Rav’s statement in the preceding paragraph. said: That formulation is Rebbi Yose’s. Rebbi Yose¹⁶¹The Amora, one of the compilers of the Jerusalem Talmud. said: We could be of the opinion that the rabbis and Rebbi Yose disagree only about Shema‘ since there it is written: “hear!”, but not about any other obligations. Since Rav Mattanah said “that formulation is Rebbi Yose’s”, it is the same for all obligations. What is the reason of Rebbi Yose? (Ex. 15:26) “Bend your ear to His commandments”, your ears should hear what your mouth says.

HALAKHAH: “Everybody is qualified to read the Scroll except the deaf-and-dumb, the insane, and the underage.” ⁸³This paragraph appears also in Berakhot 2:4 (Notes 160–166,ב) and Terumot 1:2 (Notes 90–93,ת). The Mishnah in Berakhot states that in reading the Shema` one must hear what one says. The majority holds that this is a desideratum but not an absolute necessity. R. Yose the Tanna disagrees and therefore a person who is deaf but able to speak still cannot read the Shema`. Heave is the part of the harvest which is given to the Cohen as sanctum to be eaten in purity. The dedication must be a conscious act; therefore in Mishnah Terumot 1:1 the deaf-and-dumb person is excluded from those who may dedicate heave. Rav Mattanah said: That formulation is Rebbi Yose’s. Rebbi Yose said: We could be of the opinion that the rabbis and Rebbi Yose disagree only about Shema` since there it is written: hear!, but not about any other obligations. Since Rav Mattanah said “that formulation is Rebbi Yose’s”, it is the same for all obligations. What is the reason of Rebbi Yose? Bend your ear to His commandments⁸⁴Ex. 15:26., your ears should hear what your mouth says. Rav Ḥisda said: The deaf and dumb person is not mentioned, it is a formula⁸⁵In all legal matters depending on a conscious act, “insane, deaf-and-dumb, and underage” are excluded. The formula should have been modified here but, since the Mishnah was transmitted orally and could not be written down, was not modified, to ease memorization.. Rebbi Yose said: It is reasonable to think that Rav Ḥisda concedes that the statement from Terumot is from Rebbi Yose. Rabbi Ḥanania came in the name of Rav Ḥisda, this one is by Rebbi Yose. Rebbi Yose bar Rebbi Abun said: It must be said that that one is Rebbi Yose’s since we have stated the first five cases⁸⁶Mishnah Terumot 1:1: Five categories of people cannot consecrate heave and if they did it anyhow, their actions are null and void: the deaf-and-dumb, the insane, minors, one who is not the owner, and a non-Jew.” The sixth Mishnah then reads: Five categories of people should not consecrate heave (since a priori it requires the recitation of a benediction) but if they did it anyhow their actions are valid: the speechless, the drunk, the naked, the blind, those impure by emission of semen.” In between it is explained that חֵרֵשׁ means a deaf-and-dumb person who is not legally capable of acting but that the deaf who can talk belongs to the same category as the second group of five. and did not include it, because their heave is no heave. Then we have stated the five later ones and did not include it. So in the end you must say, that one is by Rebbi Yose⁸⁷Therefore, Mishnah Terumot 1:2, explaining that the deaf person who is able to speak can give heave, has to be formulated separately and could not be included in Terumot 1:6 since the first and sixths Mishnayot are Rebbi Yose’s who will object to the inclusion of the deaf person in the second group but not to that of the speechless..

“And if not he should focus his intent towards the Holiest of Holies.²³⁸This is a shortened quote from the Mishnah, about the person who cannot stand and pray in the direction of the Temple.” Toward which Holiest of Holies? The Great Rebbi Ḥiyya: towards the Heavenly Holiest of Holies. Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalaphta said, towards the earthly Holiest of Holies. Rebbi Phineas said, they do not disagree, the earthly Holiest of Holies corresponds to the Heavenly Holiest of Holies. (Ex. 15:16) “A base for Your throne”, corresponding to Your throne²³⁹Rebbi Phineas takes מכון to be derived not from the Biblical Hebrew root כון “to be based, solid”, but from Aramaic/Rabbinic Hebrew כון “to direct”..

HALAKHAH: “One does not interrupt curses.” Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Gamda said, do not be repelled by his reproach¹²⁸Prov. 3:11. Babli 31b. The entire paragraph is more or less reproduced in Soferim 12:1–6., do not split it into many thorns¹²⁹An untranslatable pun, identifying the roots קוּץ “to be repelled” (Accadic קצצ “to be enraged”) and קוֹץ “thorn” (without obvious cognate).. Rebbi Levi said, the Holy One, praise to Him, said that it is not logical that My children be cursed and I praised. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, not because of that reason¹³⁰He rejects the homiletic reason given by preachers (accepted in the Babli 31b) and points to a simple technicality which makes stopping during the reading of the curses impossible. but because one who stands up to read in the Torah needs to start with something good and conclude with something good. Levi bar Paṭi asked Rav Ḥuna: these curses¹³¹The curse formulas Deut. 27:15–26. which we read as one, should one recite a benediction before and after? He said to him, nothing needs a benediction before and after except the curses in Leviticus and the curses in Deuteronomy¹²⁵Either Lev. 26:3–46 or Deut. Chapter 28.. Rebbi Jonathan the scribe of Gufta came down here¹³²To Tiberias.; he saw Bar Abuna reading the Song of the Well¹³³Num. 21:17–20. and recite a benediction before and after. He said to him, does one do this? He answered him, you still are about this? All songs need a benediction before and after. Rebbi Simon was asked. Rebbi Simon told them in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi, only the Song on the Sea¹³⁴Ex. 15:1–19., and the Ten Commandments, and the curses [in Leviticus and the curses]¹³⁵The addition by the corrector is questionable since the Babli requires benedictions only for the text of Lev. and excludes that of Deut. in Deuteronomy need a benediction before and after. Rebbi Abbahu said, I did not hear¹³⁶The topic never came up in his studies.. It seems reasonable for the Ten Commandments¹³⁷The special treatment accorded here to the Song on the Sea and the Ten Commandments may be the reason for the Ashkenazic custom to stand during the recitation of these texts; a custom otherwise unexplained.. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun: the eight verses in Deuteronomy¹³⁸The last 8 verses, Deut. 34:5–12, about Moses’s death and its aftermath, which are ascribed either to Joshua or to Moses who wrote them by Divine command without separation of words. Babli Bava batra 15a. need a benediction before and after. Without this do not the one who starts and the one who finishes recite the benediction before and after¹³⁹The original Palestinian usage was that a benediction was recited before the start of the Torah reading (“Who choose us from all peoples and gave us His Torah”) and after the end (“Who gave us His Torah”) recited, respectively, by the first reader before and the last reader after his reading. Separate benedictions for every reader, which make all the preceding discussion unnecessary, are Babylonian usage. It follows that the benedictions mentioned here for the Song on the Sea, the Ten Commandments, and Blessings and Curses, must be different from the beginning and ending benedictions.? But it is needed for a New Moon which falls on a Sabbath¹⁴⁰Since the reading has only 5 verses (Note 123) it cannot be split; the text has to be recited seven times. Since starting and finishing readers read the same text, it remains questionable why they should differ in their benedictions..

MISHNAH: One seah of heave which fell into the opening of a storage bin and congealed¹⁰²The upper part of the grain compressed by the impact of the seah that fell in and now clearly separated from the loose grain below. In this case, R. Eliezer will not consider the loose grain below to be of help for the compacted grain above., Rebbi Eliezer says if the congealed part contains 100 seah it may be lifted by 101; Rebbi Joshua says, it should not be lifted [but] a seah of heave which fell into the opening of a storage bin one should compress¹⁰³One should press the heave together; if it can be taken out as a block, no dema‘ was created. In the Tosephta (5:13), the reading is: יקלפנה “he should skim it off”. The interpretation of R. Assi in the Halakhah seems to be based on that interpretation.. If this is so, why did they say, heave may be lifted in 101? If one does not know whether it was mixed in¹⁰⁴If the boundary between the new and the old is not visible. or where it fell.
Two boxes, two storage bins, into one of which a seah of heave fell but it is not known into which one it fell, help to lift one another. Rebbi Simeon says, even if they are in two villages they help to lift one another.
Rebbi Yose said: There came a case before Rebbi Aqiba about 50 bundles of vegetables into which one [bundle] fell half of which was heave, and I said before him that it should be lifted, not that heave might be lifted in 51 but that there were 102 halves.

Five acquisitions has the Holy One, blessed be He, made His very own⁵⁴i.e. especially dear to Him. in this world, viz.: Torah, heaven and earth, Abraham, Israel and the Temple. Whence do we know this of the Torah? As it is stated, The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.⁵⁵Prov. 8, 22. Whence do we know this of heaven and earth? As it is stated, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.⁵⁶Isa. 66, 1. Whence do we know this of Abraham? As it is stated, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.⁵⁷Gen. 14, 19. Whence do we know this of Israel? As it is stated, Till Thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over that Thou hast gotten;⁵⁸Ex. 15, 16. and it states, As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight.⁵⁹Ps. 16, 3. And whence do we know this of the Temple? As it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established;⁶⁰Ex. 15, 17. and it states, And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain which His right hand had gotten.⁶¹Ps. 78, 54. All of them the Holy One, blessed be He, created only for His honour, as it is stated, Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him;⁶²Isa. 43, 7. and it states, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.⁶³Ex. 15, 18.

Five acquisitions has the Holy One, blessed be He, made His very own⁵⁴i.e. especially dear to Him. in this world, viz.: Torah, heaven and earth, Abraham, Israel and the Temple. Whence do we know this of the Torah? As it is stated, The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.⁵⁵Prov. 8, 22. Whence do we know this of heaven and earth? As it is stated, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.⁵⁶Isa. 66, 1. Whence do we know this of Abraham? As it is stated, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.⁵⁷Gen. 14, 19. Whence do we know this of Israel? As it is stated, Till Thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over that Thou hast gotten;⁵⁸Ex. 15, 16. and it states, As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight.⁵⁹Ps. 16, 3. And whence do we know this of the Temple? As it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established;⁶⁰Ex. 15, 17. and it states, And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain which His right hand had gotten.⁶¹Ps. 78, 54. All of them the Holy One, blessed be He, created only for His honour, as it is stated, Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him;⁶²Isa. 43, 7. and it states, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.⁶³Ex. 15, 18.

Five acquisitions has the Holy One, blessed be He, made His very own⁵⁴i.e. especially dear to Him. in this world, viz.: Torah, heaven and earth, Abraham, Israel and the Temple. Whence do we know this of the Torah? As it is stated, The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.⁵⁵Prov. 8, 22. Whence do we know this of heaven and earth? As it is stated, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.⁵⁶Isa. 66, 1. Whence do we know this of Abraham? As it is stated, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.⁵⁷Gen. 14, 19. Whence do we know this of Israel? As it is stated, Till Thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over that Thou hast gotten;⁵⁸Ex. 15, 16. and it states, As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight.⁵⁹Ps. 16, 3. And whence do we know this of the Temple? As it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established;⁶⁰Ex. 15, 17. and it states, And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain which His right hand had gotten.⁶¹Ps. 78, 54. All of them the Holy One, blessed be He, created only for His honour, as it is stated, Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him;⁶²Isa. 43, 7. and it states, The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.⁶³Ex. 15, 18.

Further [R. ‘Aḳiba] sat on the bench [and taught]: Good things are brought about through the agency of good men.⁶⁷Cf. Shab. 32a (Sonc. ed., p. 146). Even if Moses and Aaron had not arisen, Israel would still have been worthy to be redeemed from Egypt,⁶⁸Because of the promise God made to Abraham. as it is stated, And afterward shall they come out with great substance.⁶⁹Gen. 15, 14. Had not Moses and Aaron and the Generation of the Wilderness arisen, Israel would still have been worthy to receive the Torah, as it is stated, He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright.⁷⁰Prov. 2, 7, sound wisdom being a synonym for the Torah and the upright for Israel. The section of ‘the judges’⁷¹Ex. 18, 21-23. would have been worthy to be promulgated even if Jethro had not arisen. The section of ‘the smaller Passover’⁷²Num. 9, 1-14, also known as the ‘second Passover’. would have been worthy to be promulgated even if the ‘unclean’ had not arisen, as it is stated, We are unclean by the dead body of a man; wherefore are we to be kept back, so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed season among the children of Israel?⁷³ibid. 7. The section of ‘inheritance’⁷⁴ibid.XXVII, 6-11. would have been worthy to be promulgated even if the daughters of Zelophehad⁷⁵ibid. 1-5. had not arisen. The Temple would have been worthy to be built even if David and Solomon had not arisen, as it is stated, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.⁷⁶Ex. 15, 17. Israel would have been worthy to be redeemed in the days of Haman even it Mordecai and Esther had not arisen, as it is stated, And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly,⁷⁷Lev. 26, 44. etc.
Israel were destined to be enslaved even if Pharaoh had not arisen in Egypt, as it is stated, And [they] shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.⁷⁸Gen. 15, 13. Israel were destined to serve idols even if Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had not arisen, as it is stated, And this people will rise up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land.⁷⁹Deut. 31, 16. The section of ‘the blasphemer’⁸⁰Lev. 24, 10ff. and of ‘the gatherer of sticks’⁸¹Num. 15 32-36. would have been worthy to be promulgated even if the son of the Israelitish woman and the gatherer of sticks had not arisen. Israel would have been destined to be destroyed by the sword even if so and so⁸²i.e. nations hostile to Israel. They were so many that they are not specified. had not arisen, as it is stated, All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword;⁸³Amos.Cf. IX, 10. and it declares, By sword and famine shall they be consumed.⁸⁴Jer. 14, 15. Israel would have deserved to be destroyed even if Nebuchadnezzar and his companions had not arisen, as it is stated, Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.⁸⁵Micah 3, 12.

Our ancestors tested the Holy Blessed One ten different times, but they were punished only for the sin of slander ([which was one of them]). These are the ten: Once at the sea, once when the manna was first given, once when the manna stopped coming down, once at the first appearance of quails, once at the latter appearance of quails, once at Marah, once at Refidim, once at Horev, once [at the Calf, and once] with the spies. And the sin of the spies was the worst of them all, as it says (Numbers 14:22), “They have tested Me these ten times, and have not heeded My voice.” And also (Numbers 14:37), “The men died before God by plague, for spreading bad reports about the Land [of Israel].” And from this we can reason that if the Holy Blessed One punished the spies for insulting the land, which has no mouth to speak, no reaction, and no shame, then all the more so would the Holy Blessed One punish someone who speaks ill of his friend and shames him.
Rabbi Shimon would say: Afflictions come upon those who speak slander. For so we find with Aaron and Miriam, who spoke slanderously about Moses, and punishments came upon them – as it says (Numbers 12:1), “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses.” And why does the verse place Miriam before Aaron? [This teaches us that Tziporah (the wife of Moses)] went and talked to Miriam, and then Miriam went and told everything to Aaron, and then the two of them began to speak against this righteous man. And because these two spoke against a righteous man, punishments came upon them, as it says (Numbers 12:9), “And the Eternal became angry with them, and departed.” What do we learn from “and departed”? This teaches us that God departed from Aaron and attached to Miriam, because Aaron was not as engaged as Miriam in spreading slanderous words around, so she was (immediately) punished more. Miriam said: Prophecy has come to me even though I have not separated from my husband. And Aaron said: Prophecy has come to me even though I have not separated from my wife. And even our earliest ancestors received prophecy even though they did not separate from their wives. But Moses, because he is so arrogant, separated from his wife. They did not take this up with [Moses] directly, nor did they know for certain that it was true. It was not at all clear that he was being arrogant. We can reason from this that if Miriam, who spoke against her brother only secretly, was still punished, then if one speaks against his friend publicly, and shames him, all the more so will he be punished.
At that time, Aaron said to Moses: Moses, my brother, you think that this skin disease affects only Miriam, but it is also upon the flesh of our father Amram. I will give you a parable to tell you what this is like: Like someone who has a hot coal placed in his hand. Even if he tosses it around from place to place, his flesh is still burned.”¹The idea here is that Amram and Miriam, father and daughter, are of one flesh, and therefore, if one of them is affected, so is the other. This is why it says (Numbers 12:12), “Please, do not let her be like one who is dead [when she emerges from her mother’s womb, with half of her flesh eaten away].” Meanwhile, Aaron attempted to pacify Moses by saying: Moses, my brother, have we ever done harm to anyone in the world? He replied: No. Aaron continued: So if we have done no harm to anyone in the world, would we have wished to harm you, who are our brother? Now what can I do? Will this mistake come between the covenant between us? (For he had established a covenant with Aaron and his sons,) as it says (Amos 1:9), “They did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.” At that moment, Moses drew a small circle on the ground and stood inside it, and asked for mercy for Miriam. He said: I will not leave this spot until my sister Miriam is healed, as it says (Numbers 12:13), “Please, God, heal her.” Then the Holy Blessed One said to Moses: If a king had reprimanded her, or if her father had reprimanded her, it would have been appropriate for her to sit in shame for seven days. And since it is I, the King of all kings, all the more so is it just for her to sit in shame for fourteen days! However, for your sake, I will forgive her, as it says (Numbers 12:14), “The Eternal said to Moses: If her father spat in her face [would she not sit in shame for seven days?]”
“Now Moses was a very humble man” (Numbers 12:3). Could it be that he was meek and not beautiful and praiseworthy? But we learn from the verse (Exodus 40:19), “He spread the tent over the Tabernacle”: That just as the Tabernacle was ten cubits high, so was Moses also ten cubits high. Could it be that he was as humble as the angels, who serve God? But we learn from that [same] verse [that Moses was humble] “more than any other person”; more than other people, that is, but not more than the angels who serve God. Could it be that he was humbler than those in previous generations? But we learn from that [same] verse, “on the face of the earth”; in his own generation, that is, and not previous generations. There are three types of skin-afflicted people in the world: moist, dry, and polypous, and Moses made himself lowlier than them all.

When Jonathan, a children’s teacher from Gufta,¹⁶In Galilee. V incorrectly ‘Gufthera’. came down here,¹⁷Tiberias where R. Abuna re-sided. The city is a on lower level, hence the verb ‘came down’. he saw a children’s teacher, R. Abuna, reading the Song of the Well¹⁸Num. 21, 17-20. and reciting the benedictions before and after it. ‘Is it proper,’ he asked him, ‘to act in this manner?’¹⁹The rule is that the benedictions are recited only at the beginning and end of the entire section to be read. The Song of the Well, appearing in the middle of a section, should consequently require no benedictions before and after its reading. ‘Do you,’ the other retorted, ‘still require [a ruling] on this subject? All poems²⁰Such as the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15, 1-19), the Song of the Well and probably also Deut. 32, 1-43. must be preceded and followed by benedictions.’

R. Ze‘ira, quoting R. Jeremiah, in the name of Rab, said; The Song at the Sea¹²⁹Ex. 15, 1-18. and the Song of Deborah¹³⁰Judg. 5, 1-31. are written in the form of a half-brick over a whole brick,¹³¹Or ‘blank space’; the Heb. לבינה may bear both meanings. and a whole brick over a half-brick.¹³²Cf. above. p. 215, n. 45.

The Song at the Sea consists of thirty lines [beginning with the words:] ’az,¹³³Then (Ex. 15, 1). le’mor,¹³⁴Saying (ibid.). werokebo,¹³⁵And his rider (ibid.). lishu‘ah,¹³⁶Salvation (2). ’abi,¹³⁷My father’s (ibid.). shemo,¹³⁸His name (3). shalishaw,¹³⁹His … captains (4). ’aben,¹⁴⁰A stone (5). the Tetragrammaton,¹⁴¹O Lord (6, the second occurrence). kameka,¹⁴²Them that rise up against Thee (7). ’appeka,¹⁴³Thy nostrils (8). nozelim,¹⁴⁴The floods (ibid.). ’oyeb,¹⁴⁵The enemy (9). nafshi,¹⁴⁶My lust (ibid.). beruṭaka,¹⁴⁷With Thy wind (10). ’addirim,¹⁴⁸Mighty (ibid.). kamokah,¹⁴⁹Like unto Thee (11). pele’,¹⁵⁰Wonders (ibid.). beḥasdeka,¹⁵¹In Thy love (13). kodsheka,¹⁵²Thy holy (ibid.). ’aḥaz,¹⁵³Have taken hold (14). ’Edom,¹⁵⁴Edom (15). kol,¹⁵⁵All (ibid.). wafaḥad,¹⁵⁶And dread (16). ya‘abor,¹⁵⁷Pass over (ibid., the first occurrence). ḳanitha,¹⁵⁸Thou hast gotten (ibid.). leshibteka,¹⁵⁹For Thee to dwell in (17). yadeka,¹⁶⁰Thy hands (ibid.). ba’,¹⁶¹Went in (19). më.¹⁶²The waters of (ibid.). Others read הים (the sea) which follows מי; while GRA, quoting Maimonides, reads את (the sign of the defined accusative) which precedes מי.

The mafṭir recites also the parts of the Shema‘.¹⁸This is explained below. The recitation of the Shema‘ is deemed to be a great honour which compensates for the lesser dignity conferred by the reading of the hafṭarah. Of what Shema‘ has this been said?¹⁹The Shema‘ is recited several times during the service. Of the one [recited when] the scroll of the Torah [is taken from the ark].²⁰Cf. the next Rule. How does one begin?²¹The collection of Biblical verses recited when the Torah scroll is taken from the ark. Happy are they that dwell in Thy house.²²Ps. 84, 5. Then the mafṭir stands and recites, There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord; and there are no works like Thine.²³ibid. LXXXVI, 8. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the mighty? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?²⁴Ex. 15, 11. Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.²⁵Ps. 145, 13. The Lord is King, the Lord hath reigned, the Lord shall reign for ever and ever.²⁶Compounded from Ps. 10, 16, XCIII, 1 (E.V. reigneth) and Ex. 15, 18. The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to make the teaching great and glorious.²⁷Isa. 42, 21. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.²⁸Ps. 29, 11. Thou art the Lord, even Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is in them and Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth Thee.²⁹Neh. 9, 6.

The mafṭir recites also the parts of the Shema‘.¹⁸This is explained below. The recitation of the Shema‘ is deemed to be a great honour which compensates for the lesser dignity conferred by the reading of the hafṭarah. Of what Shema‘ has this been said?¹⁹The Shema‘ is recited several times during the service. Of the one [recited when] the scroll of the Torah [is taken from the ark].²⁰Cf. the next Rule. How does one begin?²¹The collection of Biblical verses recited when the Torah scroll is taken from the ark. Happy are they that dwell in Thy house.²²Ps. 84, 5. Then the mafṭir stands and recites, There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord; and there are no works like Thine.²³ibid. LXXXVI, 8. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the mighty? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?²⁴Ex. 15, 11. Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.²⁵Ps. 145, 13. The Lord is King, the Lord hath reigned, the Lord shall reign for ever and ever.²⁶Compounded from Ps. 10, 16, XCIII, 1 (E.V. reigneth) and Ex. 15, 18. The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to make the teaching great and glorious.²⁷Isa. 42, 21. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.²⁸Ps. 29, 11. Thou art the Lord, even Thou alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is in them and Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth Thee.²⁹Neh. 9, 6.

Abraham our forefather was tested with ten trials before the Holy Blessed One, and he emerged from each one complete.
They are as follows: Two when God said to him, “Go forth!” Two with his two sons. Two with his two wives. One with the war of the kings. One at the Covenant of the Parts. One in Ur Kasdim. One with circumcision. (The Covenant of the Parts.) And why so many? So that when Abraham our forefather comes to take his reward, the angels will say: More than us, more than anyone, Abraham deserves his reward, as it says (Ecclesiastes 9:7), “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart.”
Because Abraham was tested with ten trials, and emerged from each one complete, the Holy Blessed One performed ten miracles for his children in Egypt, and brought ten plagues, and performed ten more miracles at the sea, and brought ten more plagues upon the Egyptians at the sea.
The Egyptians roared at the top of their lungs, and so the Holy Blessed One thundered back across the sea, as it says (Job 37:5), “God thunders marvelously with His voice.” The Egyptians came to the sea with bows and arrows, and so the Holy Blessed One appeared before them with a bow and arrow, as it says (Habakkuk 3:9), “Bared and ready is Your bow,” and (Psalms 18:15), “He sent forth His arrows and scattered them….” The Egyptians came to the sea with swords, so the Holy Blessed One came upon them with swords (and mercy), as it says (ibid.), “He sent forth His arrows and scattered them; He discharged lightning and routed them.” And lighting always means a sword, as it says (Ezekiel 21:14–15), “The sword, the sword has been sharpened and polished, sharpened in order to slaughter, so that it sparkles like lightning.” The Egyptians came proudly with shield and armor, and so the Holy Blessed One did the same, as it says (Psalms 35:2), “Grab shield and armor and rise to my defense.” The Egyptians came with spears, and so did the Holy Blessed One, as it says (Habakkuk 3:11), “Your flashing spear in brilliance.” The Egyptians came with rocks and slings, and the Holy Blessed One outdid them with hailstones, as it says (Psalms 18:13), “(Out of the brilliance before Him,) hail and fiery coals pierced His clouds.”
When our ancestors stood at the sea, Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said to him: We will not cross until the sea begins to split open. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, and it began to split open, as it says (Habakkuk 3:14), “You will split open the heads of his warriors with your staff.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said to him: We will not cross until the sea becomes like a valley before us. So Moses struck the sea and it became like a valley before them, as it says (Psalms 78:13), “He split the sea and passed them through,” and (Isaiah 63:14), “Like a beast going down into the valley.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it is divided into sections, as it says (Psalms 136:13), “Who divided the Sea of Reeds into sections.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross!. They said: We will not cross until it becomes solid matter. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, and it became mud, as it says (Habakkuk 3:15), “You led Your horse into the sea, onto solid waters.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it becomes a desert. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (Psalms 106:9), “He led them through the depths as if it were the desert.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it becomes all smashed up into particles. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (Psalms 74:13), “You smashed the sea with Your might.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it becomes a bed of rocks. He took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (there), “You broke the heads of crocodiles on the water.” And they could not be broken like this except on rocks. Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it becomes dry land. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (Psalms 66:6), “He turned the sea into dry land,” and (Exodus 14:29), “And the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until it becomes walls. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (Exodus 14:22), “And the water became a wall for them, on their right and on their left.” Moses said to them: Arise and cross! They said: We will not cross until goatskins (nodot) [to drink from] appear before us. So Moses took his staff and struck the sea, as it says (Exodus 15:8), “[The walls] stood like a stack (ned) of flowing water.” (And where do we learn that between the sections, fire came down and, as it says [Isaiah 64:1], “Like fire kindles brushwood, and fire boils water to announce Your name to Your antagonists”?) And so the goatskins would draw oil and honey into the mouths of the babies, who would nurse from them, as it says (Deuteronomy 32:13), “He nursed him with honey from the rock.” And some say that fresh water flowed from the sea, and they would drink it between the sections of the sea, since seawater is usually salty, for it says, “flowing,” which always means sweet, as it says (Song of Songs 4:15), “A well of fresh water, flowing from the Lebanon.” And the Clouds of Glory were above them, so that the sun would not oppress them. And this is how the Israelites crossed the water, in order that they would feel no pain.
Rabbi Eliezer would say: The sea depths were arched over them from above, and the Israelites crossed through, so that they would feel no pain. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon would say: The upper waters and the lower waters tossed the Egyptians, as it says (Exodus 14:27), “The Eternal tossed the Egyptians into the sea.”

Three kings and four commoners have no share in the World to Come. The three kings are: Jeroboam, Ahab, and Menashe. The four commoners are: Bil’am, Doeg, Ahitophel, and Gehazi. Rabbi Yehudah would say: Menashe already repented, as it says (II Chronicles 33:13), “And he prayed to God, and God granted his prayer….” They replied: If that verse had [continued] only with, “…and returned him to Jerusalem,” and stopped, we would have [said] exactly what you said. But because it continues and says, “…and to his kingship,” that means he was returned to his kingdom and not returned to the World to Come.
Rabbi Meir would say: Absalom has no share in the World to Come. Rabbi Yohanan ben Guri said: Even one who pronounces God’s name as it is written has no share in the World to Come. He would also say: One who sings Song of Songs with a vibrato has no share in the World to Come. (One who whispers incantations over a wound,) one who spits into a wound, or chants over a wound, “I will no longer afflict you with all the diseases that I put upon you in Egypt,” does not have a share in the World to Come.
The sages would say: Any Torah scholar who stops learning has no share in the World to Come, as it says (Numbers 15:31), “Because he has spurned the word of the Eternal.” And it also says (Jeremiah 2:5), “What wrong did your ancestors find in Me that caused them to distance themselves from Me?
Rabbi Meir would say: Anyone who has a study hall in his city and never goes there has no share in the World to Come. Rabbi Akiva would say: Even someone who does not serve the scholars has no share in the World to Come.

Everything that the Holy Blessed One created in the world was created only for His glory, as it says (Isaiah 43:7), “All that has been called by My name, whom I have created, formed, and made for My glory.” And it also says (Exodus 15:18), “The Eternal will reign forever and ever.”