Kiddushin

say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister;1 and it is also said, Bind them upon thy fingers; write them upon the table of thine heart;2 and it is also said: As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of thy youth;3 and it is also said, sharp arrows of the mighty;4 and it is also said: Thine arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under thee;5 and it is also said: Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate.6 What is meant by ‘with their enemies in the gate’? — Said R. Hiyya b. Abba, Even father and son, master and disciple, who study Torah at the same gate7 become enemies of each other; yet they do not stir from there until they come to love each other, for it is written, [Wherefore it is said it, the book of the wars of the Lord,] love8 is be-sufah;9 read not ‘be-sufah’ but ‘be-sofah’.10 Our Rabbis taught: We-samtem11 [reads] sam tam [a perfect remedy]. This may be compared to a man who struck his son a strong blow, and then put a plaster on his wound, saying to him, ‘My son! As long as this plaster is on your wound you can eat and drink at will, and bathe in hot or cold water, without fear. But if you remove it, it will break out into sores.’ Even so did the Holy One, blessed be He, speak unto Israel: ‘My children! I created the Evil Desire,12 but I [also] created the Torah, as its antidote; if you occupy yourselves with the Torah, you will not be delivered into his hand, for it is said: If thou doest well,13 shalt thou not be exalted?14 But if ye do not occupy yourselves with the Torah, ye shall be delivered into his hand, for it is written, sin coucheth at the door.15 Moreover, he is altogether preoccupied with thee [to make thee sin], for it is said, and unto thee shall be his desire.16 Yet if thou wilt, thou canst rule over him, for it is said, and thou shalt rule over him. 16 Our Rabbis taught: The Evil Desire is hard [to bear], since even his Creator called him evil, as it is written, for that the desire of man's heart is evil from his youth.17 R. Isaac said: Man's Evil Desire renews itself daily against him, as it is said, [every imagination of the thoughts of his heart] was only evil every day.18 And R. Simeon b. Levi19 said: Man's Evil Desire gathers strength against him daily and seeks to slay him, for it is said: The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him;20 and were not the Holy One, blessed be He, to help him [man], he would not be able to prevail against him, for it is said: The Lord will not leave him in his hand.21 The School of R. Ishmael taught: My son, if this repulsive [wretch]22 assail thee, lead him to the schoolhouse: if he is of stone, he will dissolve; if iron, he will shiver [into fragments], for it is said: Is not my word like as fire? saith the Lord,’ and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?23 If he is of stone, he will dissolve, for it is written: Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;24 and it is said: The waters wear the stones.25 ‘To take a wife for him.’ How do we know it? — Because it is written: Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands.26 As for [marrying] his son, it is well, for it rests with him;27 but with respect to his daughter, does it then rest with him?28 — This is his meaning: Let her be dowered, clothed and adorned, that men should eagerly desire her.29 ‘To teach him a craft.’ Whence do we know it? — Said Hezekiah: Scripture saith, See to a livelihood with the wife whom thou lovest.30 If ‘wife’ is literal, [this teaches,] just as he [the father] is bound to take a wife for him, so is he bound to teach him a craft [for a livelihood]; if it is [a metaphor for] Torah, then just as he is bound to teach him Torah, so is he bound to teach him a craft. ‘And some say, [He must teach him] to swim in water too. What is the reason? — His life may depend on it. ‘R. Judah said: He who does not teach him a craft teaches him brigandage. "Brigandage"! can you think so? — But it is like teaching him brigandage’. Wherein do they differ? — They differ where he teaches him business.31 BUT ALL OBLIGATIONS OF THE FATHER UPON THE SON etc., What is meant by ‘ALL OBLIGATIONS OF THE FATHER UPON THE SON? Shall we say, all precepts which the father is bound to perform for his son — are then women bound thereby? But it was taught: ‘The father is obliged in respect of his son, to circumcise and redeem him’: only the father, but not the mother? — Said Rab Judah, This is its meaning: All precepts concerning a father, which are incumbent upon a son to perform for his father, both men and women are bound thereby. We have [thus] learnt here what our Rabbis taught: [Ye shall fear every man his father, and his mother]:32 ‘man,’I know it only of man; how do I know it of woman?33 When it is said: ‘Ye shall fear,’ two are mentioned. If so, why state man? A man possesses the means to fulfil this, but a woman has no means of fulfilling this, because she is under the authority of others.34 R. Idi b. Abin said in Rab's name: If she is divorced, both are equal.35 Our Rabbis taught: It is said: Honour thy father and thy mother;36 and it is also said: Honour the Lord with thy substance:37 thus the Writ assimilates the honour due to parents to that of the Omnipresent. It is said: ‘Ye shall fear every man his father, and his mother’; and it is also said: The Lord thy God thou shalt fear, and him thou shalt serve;38 thus the Writ assimilates the fear of parents to the fear of God. It is said: And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death;39 and it is also said: Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin:40 thus the Writ assimilates the blessing41 of parents to that of the Omnipresent. But in respect of striking, it is certainly impossible.42 And that is but logical,43 since the three44 are partners in him [the son]. Our Rabbis taught: There are three partners in man, the Holy One, blessed be He, the father, and the mother. When a man honours his father and his mother, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: ‘I ascribe [merit] to them as though I had dwelt among them and they had honoured Me.’ It was taught: Rabbi said: It is revealed and known to Him Who decreed, and the world came into existence,45 that a son honours his mother more than his father, Or possibly the deduction is from the second half of the verse: and call understanding thy familiar friend — i.e., be fully versed and familiar therein. leads to love. (Tan., Bereshit, 25, ed. Buber, p. 10). It is generally understood as man's evil impulses. Occasionally it is personified, as here, and identified with Satan (B.B. 16a); on the other hand, in Ber. 16b it is clearly distinguished as a separate entity. one lies lost — i.e., becomes its slave. husbands? Judah's emphasis on a craft shews that he does not consider business sufficient. — In a country living by agriculture and industry R. Judah thought commerce too precarious. V. Krauss, T.A. 250-252 on trade. He makes the interesting point (p. 252) that whilst reference is frequently made to a po'el batel kyc kgup , an unemployed landworker, one never hears of an unemployed artisan.