Talmud zu Jechezkiel 23:37

¹⁷³Terumot8:5 Notes 96–101; the text is somewhat reformulated. Rebbi Yose ben Shaul understands it from the following occurrence. It happened that a woman loved to do good deeds but her husband hated good deeds. There came a poor man and she gave him to eat. While he was eating she noticed her husband; she made him climb and hid him in the upper floor. She returned to her husband who ate and fell asleep. There came a snake and ate from what was before him; her husband awoke from his sleep and wanted to eat. The one in the upper floor started to talk¹⁷⁴To warn the husband not to eat from the leftovers.. That means if he was sleeping it is permitted¹⁷⁵Without warning the husband would have eaten the poisoned food. This proves both that the rule is that one may eat food left while a person is sleeping nearby and that the rule is questionable, at least if there is a house snake familiar with the happenings there.. It was used to it. But is it not forbidden because of being alone? For they committed adultery, blood is on their hands¹⁷⁶Ez. 23:37.. Since he is not suspected of one he is not suspected of the other¹⁷⁷Since the guest saved the husband from danger to his life he is not suspected of wanting him to die; this also clears him of any suspicion of adultery (Babli Nedarim81b)..

Rebbi Yose ben Shaul understands it from this occurrence: A woman loved very much doing good deeds⁹⁶“Good deeds” without specific identification are deeds of charity.. One time, a poor man came to her and she served him food. While he was eating, she noticed that her husband was coming. She put him [the poor] on the upper floor⁹⁷Not to be seen alone with another man. In a parallel story in Babli Nedarim 91b it was not a poor man but the woman’s lover.. She put food before her husband who ate, took a nap, and slept. A snake came and ate from what was before him; he [the poor] saw it. When he awoke and got up he wanted to continue eating what was before him. The one on the upper floor started to talk to him. That means, if he was sleeping, it is permitted⁹⁸Since without the warning, the husband would have eaten the contaminated food.. It was familiar with it⁹⁹The snake was used to the dwellers in the house, otherwise it would not have ventured near a sleeping person. Therefore, food near a sleeping person is permitted except for houses with a house snake. (The text in the Rome ms., the Leyden text Avodah Zarah, and the quote in Arukh read כריך “used to” instead of בריר.). Is she not forbidden for being alone [with another man?]¹⁰⁰Since a married Jewish woman is not supposed to be alone in a house with another man, could the husband not divorce her for suspicion of adultery without paying her the ketubah sum? The rules for this are detailed in the last chapter of Qiddušin. Since he is not suspected in one thing, he is not suspected in the other, (Ez. 23:37) “For they committed adultery, blood is on their hands.”¹⁰¹An adulterer would gladly have let the husband die. Since the person upstairs did not let the husband die, he was not an adulterer and the wife is cleared. The Babli concurs (Note 97).