תלמוד על במדבר 23:23
Avot D'Rabbi Natan
Rabbi Dosa ben Hyrcanus would say: Sleeping through the morning, drinking wine in the afternoon, [the chatter of little children, and sitting around in the gathering houses with the common folk; these things drive a person from the world.]
Sleeping through the morning. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to sleep so late that the time for reciting the Shema will pass. As, if he does sleep that late, he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Proverbs 26:13), (“The door turns on its hinges, but the lazy one is still in his bed.) The lazy one says: There is a leopard in my path. A lion roams the streets.”
Drinking wine in the afternoon. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to drink in the afternoon, because whenever he does, he ends up wasting all the time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Ecclesiastes 10:16), “Woe is the land whose king is a child, and whose ministers eat late in the morning.” And then, “Happy is the land whose king is a free man [and whose ministers eat at the right time; with restraint, not guzzling].” And what is the right time? One might say it is in some future yet to come, as its says (Isaiah 60:22), “I, the Eternal, will bring it about at the right time.” Or (Numbers 23:23), “At the right time Jacob will tell Israel [what God has planned].” The Holy Blessed One said to Bil’am, “At the right time,” not: In the right time; that is, not in the time you live, but at some future time when I redeem Israel.
The chatter of little children. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan, when he is studying in his house, to chat with his wife and his sons and daughters. For when a person is studying in his house, and becomes distracted with his children and the people in his house, he ends up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Joshua 1:8), “Do not let this book of Torah depart from your mouth; reflect on it day and night.”
Sitting around in the gathering houses with the common folk. How so? This teaches that a person should not sit with those who sit around in the marketplace, or he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Psalms 1:1–2), “Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked […for only the Torah of the Eternal does he desire].” Rabbi Meir said: What does it mean [in the continuation of the verse] by “sitting with those who mock”? (Not to sit in) the theaters of mockers (in which they sentence people to death), as it says (Psalms 26:5), “I hated the gathering of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” (And the evildoers are the wicked, as it says [Psalms 37:9], “For the evildoers will be cut off.” Where is their punishment? In the World to Come, as it says) (Malachi 3:19), “For behold, the day is coming that blazes like an oven, and all the sinister and all those who do wickedness will be like straw.” These “sinister” ones are the mockers, as it says (Proverbs 21:24), “The sinister, arrogant one is called a mocker.”
Sleeping through the morning. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to sleep so late that the time for reciting the Shema will pass. As, if he does sleep that late, he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Proverbs 26:13), (“The door turns on its hinges, but the lazy one is still in his bed.) The lazy one says: There is a leopard in my path. A lion roams the streets.”
Drinking wine in the afternoon. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan to drink in the afternoon, because whenever he does, he ends up wasting all the time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Ecclesiastes 10:16), “Woe is the land whose king is a child, and whose ministers eat late in the morning.” And then, “Happy is the land whose king is a free man [and whose ministers eat at the right time; with restraint, not guzzling].” And what is the right time? One might say it is in some future yet to come, as its says (Isaiah 60:22), “I, the Eternal, will bring it about at the right time.” Or (Numbers 23:23), “At the right time Jacob will tell Israel [what God has planned].” The Holy Blessed One said to Bil’am, “At the right time,” not: In the right time; that is, not in the time you live, but at some future time when I redeem Israel.
The chatter of little children. How so? This teaches that a person should not plan, when he is studying in his house, to chat with his wife and his sons and daughters. For when a person is studying in his house, and becomes distracted with his children and the people in his house, he ends up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Joshua 1:8), “Do not let this book of Torah depart from your mouth; reflect on it day and night.”
Sitting around in the gathering houses with the common folk. How so? This teaches that a person should not sit with those who sit around in the marketplace, or he will end up wasting time he could have spent studying Torah, as it says (Psalms 1:1–2), “Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked […for only the Torah of the Eternal does he desire].” Rabbi Meir said: What does it mean [in the continuation of the verse] by “sitting with those who mock”? (Not to sit in) the theaters of mockers (in which they sentence people to death), as it says (Psalms 26:5), “I hated the gathering of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” (And the evildoers are the wicked, as it says [Psalms 37:9], “For the evildoers will be cut off.” Where is their punishment? In the World to Come, as it says) (Malachi 3:19), “For behold, the day is coming that blazes like an oven, and all the sinister and all those who do wickedness will be like straw.” These “sinister” ones are the mockers, as it says (Proverbs 21:24), “The sinister, arrogant one is called a mocker.”
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