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Click on title of any pericope numbered in red to access the original language text.
| 137. | An Unclean Cup |
| 6 | When the outside of a vessel is
contaminated by an (unclean) liquid, its exterior [lit: "bottom"] is unclean; ...but its interior and its rim and its hanger or its handle are (still considered) clean... |
| 8 | When one is drinking from a cup
with an unclean exterior, one (need) not worry about the liquid in one's mouth --- that it will be contaminated by the outside of the cup and in turn will contaminate (the inside of) the cup. |
| --- Mishna, Kelim 25.6, 8 |
| 138. | What Defiles? |
| 2 | Anything that makes a man
unclean makes an earthen vessel unclean; and anything that does not make a man unclean does not make an earthen vessel unclean --- except for liquids. |
| --- Tosefta, Kelim Baba Qamma 6.2 |
| 139. | Whose House is Dirty? |
| 1 | Rabbi
Simeon (ben Yochai)
said: --"(If) one handed a (house) key to a worldly person [am ha aretz], one's house is (considered) unclean...(but when) one enters without permission, even if he stands beside things that are clean, they are (still considered) clean. |
| 2 | (If) a comrade [chaber]
sleeps within the house of a worldly person and his (own) clothes are folded and laid under his head and his sandals and flask are facing him, then these are (considered still) clean. |
| --- Tosefta, Toharoth 8.1-2 |
| 140. | Tax Collectors Visit |
| 6 | When (tax) collectors enter into a house, the house (is considered) unclean. |
| --- Tosefta, Toharoth 7.6 |
| 141. | A Leper's Visit |
| 11 | When a leper enters into the
house all the possessions there become unclean up to the rafters. |
| --- Mishna, Neg'aim 13.11 |
| 142. | Passing Lepers |
| 3 | Rabbi
Johanan (bar Nappacha)
said: --"One is forbidden to walk forty cubits [= 60 feet] to the east of a leper!" Rabbi Simeon (ben Lakish) said: --"Even a hundred cubits [= 150 feet]!" |
| --- Midrash, Wayyiqra Rabba 16.3 |
| 143. | Sin causes Sickness |
| 7 | (A leper) comes near the priest
and the priest says to him: --"Go examine yourself and repent!" Plagues do not come except for an evil tongue; and leprosy does not come except for a haughty spirit. And God [Maqom = lit: "the Place"] does not judge man except with mercy. |
| --- Tosefta, Neg'aim 6.7 |
| 144. | Gentiles & Heretics |
| 20 | Meat found in the possession of
a gentile [goy] one is free to enjoy; (but that) in the possession of a heretic [min], one is forbidden to enjoy. What comes from a house of foreign worship [beth abodah zarah]: note, this is (considered) meat from the sacrifices of the dead. For they have said: --"The sacrifice of a heretic is foreign worship" [Mishna, cHullin 2.7]. (Heretics') bread (is like) the bread of Samaritans and their wine (is like) the wine of (pagan) libations; their produce is untithed and their books are the books of sorcerers and their children are illegitimate [mamzerim]." |
| --- Tosefta, Shechitat cHullin 2.20 |
| 145. | Who profanes? |
| Rabbi
Eleazar of Modi'im
said: --"One who profanes holy things and spurns the appointed times, one who exposes his colleague in public, one who voids the covenant of our father Abraham, one who discovers aspects of the Torah contradicting custom [halakah] has no share in the world to come --- even if he has good deeds and a grasp of Torah. |
|
| --- Mishna, Aboth 3.12 |
| 146. | Other Interpretations of Torah |
| It is said of one who has read
and repeated [qere ushanah]*
but who did not attend the disciples of the sages: Rabbi Eleazar (ben Pedath) said: --"Here is a peasant (am ha aretz)!" Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani said: --"Look, here is a boor!" Rabbi Jannai (ben Ishmael) said: --"Look, here is a Samaritan!" Rabbi Acha bar Jacob said: --"Look, here is a sorcerer!" |
|
| --- Babylonian Talmud, Sota 22a | |
| * | qere ushanah: technical reference to the study of scripture and oral tradition. |
| 147. | Disciples of Abraham and Balaam |
| 19 | A good eye and a humble spirit
and a searching soul are (the marks) of disciples of our father Abraham. An evil eye and a haughty spirit and a reaching soul are (the marks) of the disciples of the wicked Balaam.* What separates the disciples of our father Abraham from the disciples of the wicked Balaam? The disciples of our father Abraham enjoy this world and inherit the world to come, as it is said: --"That I may make those who love me inherit substance and their treasuries I shall fill" (Prov 8:21). The disciples of the wicked Balaam inherit Hell [Gehinnom] and go down to the Pit, as it is said: --"You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit, men who murder and deceive shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you" (Ps 55:23). |
| ---- Mishna, Aboth 5.19 | |
| * | Balaam: a Moabite prophet who was charged with cursing Israel (Num 22-24). In rabbinic lore he became the archetype of the false prophet. In some later texts this name was used as a circumlocution for Jesus of Nazareth (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 106a). |
| 148. | Who is Hostile? |
| The hostility that worldly
people [am ha aretz]
hold for a disciple of the sages is greater than the hostility that star-worshippers [= pagans] hold for Israel. And (the hostility) of their women is more than theirs. It is taught: --"(The hostility) of one who has studied and deserted [shanah upeyresh]* is greater than all of these. |
|
| --- Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 49b | |
| * | shanah upeyresh = lit.: "repeated and separated," i.e., a former rabbinical student. |
| 149. | Against Trusting Secular Types |
| Our rabbis taught: Six things are to be said about worldly people [am ha aretz]: (1) Do not offer testimony to them! (2) Do not accept testimony from them! (3) Do not disclose a secret to them! (4) Do not appoint them as guardians for orphans! (5) Do not appoint them as guardians of the alms-fund! (6) Do not join a group of them on the way! |
|
| --- Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 49b |
| 150. | Kosher Marriage |
| Our rabbis taught: A man should always sell all that he has and marry the daughter of a disciple of a sage and marry his daughter to a disciple of a sage. This is like [mashal] fruit of the vine mixed with fruit of the vine: a fit an acceptable thing. But he should not marry the daughter of a worldly person [am ha aretz]. This is like fruit of the vine (mixed) with fruit of the thorn: a foul and unacceptable thing. |
|
| --- Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 49ab |
| 151. | A Woman with Child |
| 5 | A man should not marry a woman
made pregnant by his colleague [chaber]
or one who nurses his colleague's child, as it is said: --"Do not take away an ancient landmark and do not go into the field of orphans" (Prov 23:10). |
| --- Tosefta, Niddah 2.5 |
| 152. | Reason for Divorce |
| 10 | The school of Shammai
says: --"A man should not divorce his wife, except where he has found in her a case for scandal, as it is said: --'...because he has found in her a scandalous thing' (Deut 24:1). But the school of Hillel says: --"(He may divorce his wife), even if she has burned his supper, as it is said: --'...because he has found in her a scandalous thing' (Deut 24:1). Rabbi Aqiba says: --"(He may divorce his wife), even if he has found another more becoming than she, as it is said: --"and if she does not find favor in your eyes" (Deut 24:1). |
| --- Mishna, Gittin 9.10 |
| 153. | Letter of Divorce |
| 3 | The body of a letter (of
divorce) is: --"Behold, you are free (to be married) to any man!" Rabbi Judah (ben El'ai) says: --"(It should read:) Let this be to you from me a writ of divorce, a letter of release and a decree of dismissal, to permit you to be married to any man you desire." |
| --- Mishna, Gittin 9.3 |
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