Gittin 57

במאי דפסיק אנפשיה כל יומא מכנשי ליה לקיטמיה ודייני ליה וקלו ליה ומבדרו אשב ימי

That which he decreed against himself, as he undergoes the following: Every day his ashes are gathered, and they judge him, and they burn him, and they scatter him over the seven seas.

אזל אסקיה לבלעם בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא אמר ליה ישראל מהו לאידבוקי בהו אמר ליה לא תדרוש שלומם וטובתם כל הימים אמר ליה דיניה דההוא גברא במאי אמר ליה בשכבת זרע רותחת

Onkelos then went and raised Balaam from the grave through necromancy. He said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Balaam said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them here in this world? Balaam said to him: You shall not seek their peace or their welfare all the days (see Deuteronomy 23:7). Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Balaam himself, in the next world? Balaam said to him: He is cooked in boiling semen, as he caused Israel to engage in licentious behavior with the daughters of Moab.

אזל אסקיה בנגידא לישו הנוצרי אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא אמר ליה ישראל מהו לאדבוקי בהו אמר ליה טובתם דרוש רעתם לא תדרוש כל הנוגע בהן כאילו נוגע בבבת עינו

Onkelos then went and raised Jesus the Nazarene from the grave through necromancy. Onkelos said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Jesus said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them in this world? Jesus said to him: Their welfare you shall seek, their misfortune you shall not seek, for anyone who touches them is regarded as if he were touching the apple of his eye (see Zechariah 2:12).

אמר ליה דיניה דההוא גברא במאי אמר ליה בצואה רותחת דאמר מר כל המלעיג על דברי חכמים נידון בצואה רותחת תא חזי מה בין פושעי ישראל לנביאי אומות העולם

Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Jesus himself, in the next world? Jesus said to him: He is punished with boiling excrement. As the Master said: Anyone who mocks the words of the Sages will be sentenced to boiling excrement. And this was his sin, as he mocked the words of the Sages. The Gemara comments: Come and see the difference between the sinners of Israel and the prophets of the nations of the world. As Balaam, who was a prophet, wished Israel harm, whereas Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Jewish sinner, sought their well-being.

תניא אמר רבי אלעזר בא וראה כמה גדולה כחה של בושה שהרי סייע הקדוש ברוך הוא את בר קמצא והחריב את ביתו ושרף את היכלו

To conclude the story of Kamtza and bar Kamtza and the destruction of Jerusalem, the Gemara cites a baraita. It is taught: Rabbi Elazar says: Come and see how great is the power of shame, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, assisted bar Kamtza, who had been humiliated, and due to this humiliation and shame He destroyed His Temple and burned His Sanctuary.

אתרנגולא ואתרנגולתא חריב טור מלכא דהוו נהיגי כי הוו מפקי חתנא וכלתא מפקי קמייהו תרנגולא ותרנגולתא כלומר פרו ורבו כתרנגולים

§ It was previously mentioned (55b) that the place known as the King’s Mountain [Tur Malka] was destroyed on account of a rooster and a hen. The details of what happened are as follows: It was customary in that place that when they would lead a bride and groom to their wedding, they would take out a rooster and a hen before them, as if to say in the manner of a good omen: Be fruitful and multiply like chickens.

יומא חד הוה קא חליף גונדא דרומאי שקלינהו מינייהו נפלו עלייהו מחונהו אתו אמרו ליה לקיסר מרדו בך יהודאי אתא עלייהו הוה בהו ההוא בר דרומא דהוה קפיץ מילא וקטיל בהו שקליה קיסר לתאגיה ואותביה אארעא אמר ריבוניה דעלמא כוליה אי ניחא לך לא תמסריה לההוא גברא לדידיה ולמלכותיה בידיה דחד גברא

One day a troop [gunda] of Roman soldiers passed by there while a wedding was taking place and took the rooster and hen from them. The residents of the city fell upon them and beat them. The soldiers came and said to the emperor: The Jews have rebelled against you. The emperor then came against them in war. Among the residents of the King’s Mountain there was a certain man named bar Deroma who could jump the distance of a mil, and he killed many of the Romans, who were powerless to stand up against him. The emperor then took his crown and set it on the ground as a sign of mourning. He said: Master of the Universe, if it is pleasing to You, do not give over that man, a euphemism for himself, and his kingdom into the hands of only one man.

אכשליה פומיה לבר דרומא ואמר הלא אתה אלהים זנחתנו ולא תצא אלהים בצבאותינו דוד נמי אמר הכי דוד אתמוהי קא מתמה

In the end it was the words issuing from his own mouth that caused bar Deroma to stumble, as he uttered this verse in complaint against God: “Have You not rejected us, O God, so that You go not forth, O God, with our hosts?” (Psalms 60:12). The Gemara asks: But did not David also say this? The Gemara answers: David uttered these words as a question, wondering whether they were true, whereas bar Deroma pronounced them as a statement of fact.

על לבית הכסא אתא דרקונא שמטיה לכרכשיה ונח נפשיה אמר הואיל ואיתרחיש לי ניסא הא זימנא אישבקינהו שבקינהו ואזל איזדקור ואכלו ושתו ואדליקו שרגי עד דאיתחזי בליונא דגושפנקא ברחוק מילא אמר מיחדא קא חדו בי יהודאי הדר אתא עלייהו

The Gemara recounts what happened to bar Deroma: He entered an outhouse, a snake came and eviscerated him, and he died. The emperor said: Since a miracle was performed for me, as I had no part in bar Deroma’s death, I will let the rest of the people be this time and take no further action against them. He let them be and went on his way. They leapt about, ate, drank, and lit so many candles in celebration that the image [bilyona] imprinted on a seal [gushpanka] was visible from a distance of a mil. The emperor then said: The Jews are rejoicing over me. So he went back and came against them.

אמר רבי אסי תלת מאה אלפי שליפי סייפא עיילו לטור מלכא וקטלו בה תלתא יומי ותלתא לילוותא ובהך גיסא הלולי וחנגי ולא הוו ידעי הני בהני

Rav Asi says: Three hundred thousand men with drawn swords entered the King’s Mountain and massacred its inhabitants for three days and three nights. And at the same time on the other side of the mountain, weddings and other festivities continued to be celebrated, and they did not know about each other, owing to the enormous size of the place.

בלע ה׳ ולא חמל את כל נאות יעקב כי אתא רבין אמר רבי יוחנן אלו ששים רבוא עיירות שהיו לו לינאי המלך בהר המלך דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב אסי ששים רבוא עיירות היו לו לינאי המלך בהר המלך וכל אחת ואחת היו בה כיוצאי מצרים חוץ משלש שהיו בהן כפלים כיוצאי מצרים

§ Concerning the verse: “The Lord has swallowed up without pity all the habitations of Jacob” (Lamentations 2:2), it is related that when Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This is referring to the six hundred thousand cities that King Yannai had in the King’s Mountain. As Rav Yehuda says that Rav Asi says: King Yannai had six hundred thousand cities in the King’s Mountain, and each of them had a population as great as the number of those who left Egypt, except for three of those cities, the population of which was double the number of those who left Egypt.

אלו הן כפר ביש כפר שיחליים כפר דכריא כפר ביש דלא יהבי ביתא לאושפיזא כפר שיחליים שהיתה פרנסתן מן שחליים כפר דכריא אמר רבי יוחנן שהיו נשותיהן יולדות זכרים תחלה ויולדות נקבה באחרונה ופוסקות

These are those three cities: Kefar Bish, Kefar Shiḥalayim, and Kefar Dikhrayya. The Gemara explains the meaning of these place-names. Kefar Bish, Evil Town, was called by that name because its inhabitants would not open their houses to guests. Kefar Shiḥalayim was referred to by that name because their livelihood was derived from the cultivation of cress [shaḥalayim]. As for Kefar Dikhrayya, Town of Males, Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Their women would first give birth to boys, and afterward give birth to girls, and then they would stop having children.

אמר עולא לדידי חזי לי ההוא אתרא ואפילו שיתין ריבוותא קני לא מחזיק אמר ליה ההוא מינא לרבי חנינא שקורי משקריתו אמר ליה ארץ צבי כתיב בה מה צבי זה אין עורו מחזיק את בשרו אף ארץ ישראל בזמן שיושבין עליה רווחא ובזמן שאין יושבין עליה גמדא

Ulla said: I myself saw that place, and it could not hold even six hundred thousand reeds, all the more so that number of people. A certain heretic said to Rabbi Ḥanina: You lie with your exorbitant exaggerations. Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: With regard to Eretz Yisrael it is written: Land of the deer (see Jeremiah 3:19). Just as the skin of a deer cannot hold its flesh, for after the animal is skinned, its hide shrinks, so too, with regard to Eretz Yisrael, when it is settled, it expands, but when it is not settled, it contracts. This explains how a place that is so small today could have been so highly populated prior to the Temple’s destruction.

רב מניומי בר חלקיה ורב חלקיה בר טוביה ורב הונא בר חייא הוו יתבי גבי הדדי אמרי אי איכא דשמיע ליה מילתא מכפר סכניא של מצרים לימא

§ The Gemara relates that Rav Minyumi bar Ḥilkiya, Rav Ḥilkiya bar Toviya, and Rav Huna bar Ḥiyya were once sitting together. They said: If there is someone who has heard anything about Kefar Sekhanya of Egypt, which was in that region, let him relate it.

פתח חד מינייהו ואמר מעשה בארוס וארוסתו שנשבו לבין הגוים והשיאום זה לזה אמרה לו בבקשה ממך אל תגע בי שאין לי כתובה ממך ולא נגע בה עד יום מותו

One of them began the discussion and said: There was an incident involving a betrothed man and woman from there who were taken captive by gentiles and the latter married them off to each other. The woman said to the man: Please do not touch me, as I do not have a marriage contract from you, and it is prohibited for us to live together without one. And until the day of his death the man did not touch the woman.

וכשמת אמרה להן סיפדו לזה שפטפט ביצרו יותר מיוסף דאילו ביוסף לא הוה אלא חדא שעתא והאי כל יומא ויומא ואילו יוסף לאו בחדא מטה והאי בחדא מטה ואילו יוסף לאו אשתו והא אשתו

And when he died without having touched her, the woman said to the Sages: Eulogize this man who conquered [shepitpet] his passion [beyitzro] more than Joseph. As in the case of Joseph it was only for a short time that he had to overpower his inclination and resist Potiphar’s wife (see Genesis, chapter 39), whereas this man struggled with his passion each and every day. Furthermore, Joseph was not in one bed with Potiphar’s wife, whereas this man was in one bed with his wife. In addition, with Joseph the woman was not his wife, whereas with this man she was his wife, as she was already betrothed to him.

פתח אידך ואמר מעשה ועמדו ארבעים מודיות בדינר נחסר השער מודיא אחת ובדקו ומצאו אב ובנו שבאו על נערה מאורסה ביום הכפורים והביאום לבית דין וסקלום וחזר השער למקומו

Another Sage began his remarks and said: It once happened that the market price of forty se’a of grain stood at one dinar. And then the rate went down one se’a [modeya], so that only thirty-nine se’a were sold for a dinar. And they checked to see what sin had caused this, and they found a father and son who had engaged in sexual intercourse with a betrothed young woman on Yom Kippur. They brought the offenders to court and stoned them, and the rate returned to its former level.

פתח אידך ואמר מעשה באדם אחד שנתן עיניו באשתו לגרשה והיתה כתובתה מרובה מה עשה הלך וזימן את שושביניו והאכילן והשקן שיכרן והשכיבן על מיטה אחת והביא לובן ביצה והטיל ביניהן והעמיד להן עדים ובא לבית דין

Yet another Sage began his remarks and said: There was an incident there involving a man who set his eyes upon his wife to divorce her, but her marriage contract was large and he wished to avoid having to pay it. What did he do? He went and invited his friends, gave them food and drink, made them drunk, and lay his friends and his wife in one bed. He then brought the white of an egg, which has the appearance of semen, and placed it on the sheet between them. He then stood witnesses over them so that they could offer testimony, and went to court claiming that his wife had committed adultery.

היה שם זקן אחד מתלמידי שמאי הזקן ובבא בן בוטא שמו אמר להן כך מקובלני משמאי הזקן לובן ביצה סולד מן האור ושכבת זרע דוחה מן האור בדקו ומצאו כדבריו והביאוהו לבית דין והלקוהו והגבוהו כתובתה ממנו

A certain Elder of the disciples of Shammai the Elder was there, and Bava ben Buta was his name. He said to them: This is the tradition that I received from Shammai the Elder: Egg white on a bedsheet contracts and hardens when heated by fire, whereas semen is absorbed into the sheet by the fire. They checked the matter and found in accordance with his statement that the substance on the sheet was not semen but egg white. They then brought the husband to court, administered lashes to him, and made him pay his wife’s marriage contract in full.

אמר ליה אביי לרב יוסף ומאחר דהוו צדיקים כולי האי מאי טעמא איענוש אמר ליה משום דלא איאבול על ירושלים דכתיב שמחו את ירושלם וגילו בה כל אוהביה שישו אתה משוש כל המתאבלים עליה

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: But since those in the city were so righteous, what is the reason that they were punished and destroyed? Rav Yosef said to him: It is because they did not mourn for Jerusalem, as it is written: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her, rejoice with joy with her, all you that did mourn for her” (Isaiah 66:10). The verse teaches that one who mourns for Jerusalem will rejoice in its rebuilding, and one who fails to mourn for Jerusalem is destroyed.

אשקא דריספק חריב ביתר דהוו נהיגי כי הוה מתיליד ינוקא שתלי ארזא ינוקתא שתלי תורניתא וכי הוו מינסבי קייצי להו ועבדו גננא יומא חד הוה קא חלפא ברתיה דקיסר אתבר שקא דריספק קצו ארזא ועיילו לה אתו נפול עלייהו מחונהו אתו אמרו ליה לקיסר מרדו בך יהודאי אתא עלייהו

§ It was stated earlier that the city of Beitar was destroyed on account of a shaft from a carriage. The Gemara explains that it was customary in Beitar that when a boy was born they would plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born they would plant a cypress [tornita]. And when they would later marry each other they would cut down these trees and construct a wedding canopy for them with their branches. One day the emperor’s daughter passed by there and the shaft of the carriage in which she was riding broke. Her attendants chopped down a cedar from among those trees and brought it to her. Owing to the importance that they attached to their custom, the residents of Beitar came and fell upon them and beat them. The attendants came and said to the emperor: The Jews have rebelled against you. The emperor then came against them in war.

גדע בחרי אף כל קרן ישראל אמר רבי זירא אמר רבי אבהו אמר רבי יוחנן אלו שמונים [אלף] קרני מלחמה שנכנסו לכרך ביתר בשעה שלכדוה והרגו בה אנשים ונשים וטף עד שהלך דמן ונפל לים הגדול שמא תאמר קרובה היתה רחוקה היתה מיל

It was in connection with the war that ensued that the Sages expounded the following verse: “He has cut off in His fierce anger all the horn of Israel” (Lamentations 2:3). Rabbi Zeira says that Rabbi Abbahu says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: These are the eighty thousand officers bearing battle trumpets in their hands, who entered the city of Beitar when the enemy took it and killed men, women, and children until their blood flowed into the Great Sea. Lest you say that the city was close to the sea, know that it was a mil away.

תניא רבי אליעזר הגדול אומר שני נחלים יש בבקעת ידים אחד מושך אילך ואחד מושך אילך ושיערו חכמים שני חלקים מים ואחד דם במתניתא תנא שבע שנים בצרו גוים את כרמיהן מדמן של ישראל בלא זבל

It is similarly taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: There are two rivers in the Yadayim Valley in that region, one flowing one way and one flowing the other way. And the Sages estimated that in the aftermath of this war these rivers were filled with two parts water to one part blood. Likewise, it was taught in a baraita: For seven years the gentiles harvested their vineyards that had been soaked with the blood of Israel without requiring any additional fertilizer.

אמר רבי חייא בר אבין אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה סח לי זקן אחד מאנשי ירושלים בבקעה זו הרג נבוזראדן רב טבחים מאתים ואחת עשרה רבוא ובירושלים הרג תשעים וארבע רבוא על אבן אחת עד שהלך דמן ונגע בדמו של זכריה לקיים מה שנאמר ודמים בדמים נגעו

§ With regard to the Babylonian exile following the destruction of the First Temple, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin says that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa says: An old man from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem related to me: In this valley that lies before you, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, killed 211,000 people. And in Jerusalem itself he killed 94,000 people on one stone, until the blood of his victims flowed and touched the blood of Zechariah to fulfill what is stated: “And blood touches blood” (Hosea 4:2).

אשכחיה לדמיה דזכריה דהוה קא מרתח וסליק אמר מאי האי אמרו ליה דם זבחים דאשתפוך אייתי דמי ולא אידמו

The Gemara clarifies the details of what happened: Nebuzaradan found the blood of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and saw that it was bubbling up from the ground, and he said: What is this? Those in the Temple said to him: It is sacrificial blood that had been poured there. He brought animal blood, compared it to the blood bubbling up from the ground, and saw that it was not similar to it.

אמר להו אי אמריתו לי מוטב ואי לאו מסריקנא לבשרייכו במסרקי דפרזלי אמרי ליה מאי נימא לך נבייא הוה בן דהוה קא מוכח לן במילי דשמיא קמינן עילויה וקטלינן ליה והא כמה שנין דלא קא נייח דמיה

Nebuzaradan said to them: If you tell me whose blood this is, it will be well for you. But if not, I will comb your flesh with iron combs. They said to him: What shall we say to you? He was a prophet among us, who used to rebuke us about heavenly matters, and we rose up against him, and killed him (II Chronicles 24:20–22), and for many years now his blood has not settled.

אמר להו אנא מפייסנא ליה אייתי סנהדרי גדולה וסנהדרי קטנה קטל עילויה ולא נח בחורים ובתולות קטל עילויה ולא נח אייתי תינוקות של בית רבן קטל עילויה ולא נח אמר ליה זכריה זכריה טובים שבהן איבדתים ניחא לך דאבדינהו לכולהו כדאמר ליה הכי נח

Nebuzaradan said to them: I will appease Zechariah. He brought the members of the Great Sanhedrin and of a lesser Sanhedrin and killed them alongside the bubbling blood, but it still did not settle. He then brought young men and virgins and killed them alongside it, but it still did not settle. He then brought schoolchildren and killed them alongside it, but it still did not settle. Finally Nebuzaradan said to him: Zechariah, Zechariah, I have killed the best of them. Would it please you if I destroyed them all? When he said this, the blood at last settled.

בההיא שעתא הרהר תשובה בדעתיה אמר ומה אם על נפש אחת כך ההוא גברא דקטל כל הני נשמתא על אחת כמה וכמה ערק אזל שדר שטר פרטתא בביתיה ואגייר

At that moment Nebuzaradan contemplated the idea of repentance and said to himself: If, for the death of one soul, that of Zechariah, God punishes the Jewish people in this manner, then that man, that is to say, I, who has killed all of those souls, all the more so will be I be subject to great punishment from God. He fled, sent to his house a document detailing what was to be done with his property, and converted to Judaism.

תנא נעמן גר תושב היה נבוזראדן גר צדק היה

A Sage taught a baraita relating to this matter: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram (see II Kings, chapter 5), was not a convert, as he did not accept all of the mitzvot, but rather he was a ger toshav, a gentile who resides in Eretz Israel and observes the seven Noahide mitzvot. Nebuzaradan, by contrast, was a convert, as explained previously.

מבני בניו של המן למדו תורה בבני ברק מבני בניו של סיסרא למדו תינוקות בירושלים מבני בניו של סנחריב למדו תורה ברבים מאן אינון שמעיה ואבטליון

The Gemara adds that some of Haman’s descendants studied Torah in Bnei Brak, and some of Sisera’s descendants taught children Torah in Jerusalem, and some of Sennacherib’s descendants taught Torah in public. Who are they? They are Shemaya and Avtalyon, the teachers of Hillel the Elder.

היינו דכתיב נתתי את דמה על צחיח סלע לבלתי הכסות

As for the incident involving the blood of Zechariah, this is alluded to by that which is written: “I have set her blood upon the bare rock that it should not be covered” (Ezekiel 24:8).

הקול קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו הקול זה אדריינוס קיסר שהרג באלכסנדריא של מצרים ששים רבוא על ששים רבוא כפלים כיוצאי מצרים קול יעקב זה אספסיינוס קיסר שהרג בכרך ביתר ארבע מאות רבוא ואמרי לה ארבעת אלפים רבוא והידים ידי עשו זו מלכות הרשעה שהחריבה את בתינו ושרפה את היכלנו והגליתנו מארצנו

§ Apropos its discussion of the destruction of the Temple and the calamities that befell Israel, the Gemara cites the verse: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22), which the Sages expounded as follows: “The voice”; this is the cry stirred up by the emperor Hadrian, who caused the Jewish people to cry out when he killed six hundred thousand on six hundred thousand in Alexandria of Egypt, twice the number of men who left Egypt. “The voice of Jacob”; this is the cry aroused by the emperor Vespasian, who killed four million people in the city of Beitar. And some say: He killed forty million people. “And the hands are the hands of Esau”; this is the wicked kingdom of Rome that destroyed our Temple, burned our Sanctuary, and exiled us from our land.

דבר אחר הקול קול יעקב אין לך תפלה שמועלת שאין בה מזרעו של יעקב והידים ידי עשו אין לך מלחמה שנוצחת שאין בה מזרעו של עשו

Alternatively, “the voice is the voice of Jacob” means that no prayer is effective in the world unless some member of the seed of Jacob has a part in it. The second clause in the verse, “and the hands are the hands of Esau,” means that no war grants victory unless some member of the seed of Esau has a part in it.

והיינו דאמר רבי אלעזר בשוט לשון תחבא בחירחורי לשון תחבא אמר רב יהודה אמר רב מאי דכתיב על נהרות בבל שם ישבנו גם בכינו בזכרנו את ציון מלמד שהראהו הקדוש ברוך הוא לדוד חורבן בית ראשון וחורבן בית שני חורבן בית ראשון שנאמר על נהרות בבל שם ישבנו גם בכינו בית שני דכתיב זכור ה׳ לבני אדום את יום ירושלים האומרים ערו ערו עד היסוד בה

And this is what Rabbi Elazar says: The verse that says: “You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue” (Job 5:21), means: You shall need to hide on account of quarrels provoked by the tongue. Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “By the rivers of Babylonia, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” (Psalms 137:1)? This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, showed David the destruction of the First Temple and the destruction of the Second Temple. He saw the destruction of the First Temple, as it is stated: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept.” He saw the destruction of the Second Temple, as it is written later in that same psalm: “Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem, when they said: Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation” (Psalms 137:7), as the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, “the children of Edom.”

אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל ואיתימא רבי אמי ואמרי לה במתניתא תנא מעשה בארבע מאות ילדים וילדות שנשבו לקלון הרגישו בעצמן למה הן מתבקשים אמרו אם אנו טובעין בים אנו באין לחיי העולם הבא דרש להן הגדול שבהן אמר ה׳ מבשן אשיב אשיב ממצולות ים מבשן אשיב מבין שיני אריה אשיב ממצולות ים אלו שטובעין בים

Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says, and some say that it was Rabbi Ami who says this, and some say that it was taught in a baraita: There was an incident involving four hundred boys and girls who were taken as captives for the purpose of prostitution. These children sensed on their own what they were expected to do, and they said: If we commit suicide and drown in the sea, will we come to eternal life in the World-to-Come? The oldest child among them expounded the verse: “The Lord said, I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea” (Psalms 68:23). “I will bring back from Bashan,” i.e., from between the teeth [bein shen] of the lion, and “I will bring them back from the depths of the sea” is referring to those who drown in the sea for the sake of Heaven.

כיון ששמעו ילדות כך קפצו כולן ונפלו לתוך הים נשאו ילדים קל וחומר בעצמן ואמרו מה הללו שדרכן לכך כך אנו שאין דרכנו לכך על אחת כמה וכמה אף הם קפצו לתוך הים ועליהם הכתוב אומר כי עליך הרגנו כל היום נחשבנו כצאן טבחה

When the girls heard this, they all leapt and fell into the sea. The boys then drew an a fortiori inference with regard to themselves and said: If these girls, for whom sexual intercourse with men is their natural way, act in such a manner, then we, for whom sexual intercourse with men is not our natural way, should all the more so conduct ourselves likewise. They too leapt into the sea. Concerning them and others like them the verse states: “As For Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter” (Psalms 44:23).

ורב יהודה אמר זו אשה ושבעה בניה אתיוהו קמא לקמיה דקיסר אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה אנכי ה׳ אלהיך אפקוהו וקטלוהו

And Rav Yehuda said: This verse applies to the woman and her seven sons who died as martyrs for the sake of the sanctification of God’s name. The incident occurred as follows: They brought in the first of the woman’s sons before the emperor and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2). They immediately took him out and killed him.

ואתיוהו לאידך לקמיה דקיסר אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני אפקוהו וקטלוהו אתיוהו לאידך אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה זובח לאלהים יחרם אפקוהו וקטלוהו

And they then brought in another son before the emperor, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “You shall have no other gods beside Me” (Exodus 20:3). And so they took him out and killed him. They then brought in yet another son before the emperor, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “He that sacrifices to any god, save to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19). And so they took him out and killed him.

אתיוהו לאידך אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה לא תשתחוה לאל אחר אפקוהו וקטלוהו אתיוהו לאידך אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה שמע ישראל ה׳ אלהינו ה׳ אחד אפקוהו וקטלוהו

They then brought in another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “You shall not bow down to any other god” (Exodus 34:14). And so they took him out and killed him. They then brought in yet another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And so they took him out and killed him.

אתיוהו לאידך אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי ה׳ הוא האלהים בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת אין עוד אפקוהו וקטלוהו

They then brought in another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “Know therefore this today, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39). And so they took him out and killed him.

אתיוהו לאידך אמרו ליה פלח לעבודה זרה אמר להו כתוב בתורה את ה׳ האמרת וגו׳ וה׳ האמירך היום כבר נשבענו להקדוש ברוך הוא שאין אנו מעבירין אותו באל אחר ואף הוא נשבע לנו שאין מעביר אותנו באומה אחרת

They then brought in yet another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “You have avouched the Lord this day to be your God…and the Lord has avouched you this day to be a people for His own possession” (Deuteronomy 26:17–18). We already took an oath to the Holy One, Blessed be He, that we will not exchange Him for a different god, and He too has taken an oath to us that He will not exchange us for another nation.

אמר ליה קיסר אישדי לך גושפנקא וגחין ושקליה כי היכי דלימרו קביל עליה הרמנא דמלכא אמר ליה חבל עלך קיסר חבל עלך קיסר על כבוד עצמך כך על כבוד הקדוש ברוך הוא על אחת כמה וכמה

It was the youngest brother who had said this, and the emperor pitied him. Seeking a way to spare the boy’s life, the emperor said to him: I will throw down my seal before you; bend over and pick it up, so that people will say that he has accepted the king’s authority [harmana]. The boy said to him: Woe [ḥaval] to you, Caesar, woe to you, Caesar. If you think that for the sake of your honor I should fulfill your command and do this, then for the sake of the honor of the Holy One, Blessed be He, all the more so should I fulfill His command.

אפקוהו למיקטליה אמרה להו אימיה יהבוהו ניהלי ואינשקיה פורתא אמרה לו בניי לכו ואמרו לאברהם אביכם אתה עקדת מזבח אחד ואני עקדתי שבעה מזבחות אף היא עלתה לגג ונפלה ומתה יצתה בת קול ואמרה אם הבנים שמחה

As they were taking him out to be killed, his mother said to them: Give him to me so that I may give him a small kiss. She said to him: My son, go and say to your father Abraham, You bound one son to the altar, but I bound seven altars. She too in the end went up to the roof, fell, and died. A Divine Voice emerged and said: “A joyful mother of children” (Psalms 113:9), as she raised her children to be devoted in their service of God.

רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר זו מילה שניתנה בשמיני רבי שמעון בן לקיש אמר אלו תלמידי חכמים שמראין הלכות שחיטה בעצמן דאמר רבא כל מילי ליחזי איניש בנפשיה בר משחיטה ודבר אחר

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says concerning the verse: “For Your sake we are killed all the day long” (Psalms 44:23), that this is referring to circumcision, which was given for the eighth day, as the blood of our newborn sons is spilled for the sake of the covenant with God. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: This verse was stated in reference to Torah scholars who demonstrate the halakhot of slaughter on themselves, meaning that they demonstrate on their own bodies how ritual slaughter should be performed and occasionally injure themselves in the process. This is as Rava says: A person may demonstrate anything using himself to illustrate the act except for slaughter and another matter, a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר אלו תלמידי חכמים שממיתין עצמן על דברי תורה כדרבי שמעון בן לקיש דאמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש אין דברי תורה מתקיימין אלא במי שממית עצמו עליהם שנאמר זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל וגו׳ אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן ארבעים סאה

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: These people in the verse are Torah scholars who kill themselves over the words of Torah, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish. As Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: The words of the Torah endure only for one who kills himself over them, as it is stated: “This is the Torah, when a man dies in a tent” (Numbers 19:14). Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Forty se’a