Pesachim

not all fingers1 are alike). Enjoying the produce without interest2 is a good deed and profitable investment.3 A religious deed which leaves the body pure is marrying a woman when one [already] has children. Four things did our holy Teacher4 command his children: Do not dwell in Shekanzib,5 because [its inhabitants] are scoffers and will corrupt you to disbelief. And do not sit upon the bed of a Syrian woman. Some say, [that means: ] do not lie down to sleep without reading the shema’; while others explain: do not marry a proselyte. But others explain ‘Syrian’ literally, [the reason being] on account of what happened to R. Papa.6 And do not seek to evade toll tax, lest they discover you and deprive you of a that you possess. And do not stand in front of an ox when he comes up from the meadow, because Satan dances between his horns.7 Said R. Samuel: this refers to a black ox and in the month of Nisan.8 R. Oshaia recited: One must remove a distance of fifty cubits from an ox that is a tam9 [and] as far as the eye can see from an ox that is a mu'ad. A Tanna taught in R. Meir's name: [Even] when the ox's head is in the feeding-bag, climb up to the roof and throw away the ladder from under you. Rab said: The cry for an ox10 is ‘hen, hen’; for a lion, ‘zeh zeh’; for a camel, ‘da da’; a ship's cry is ‘helani hayya hela we-hiluk hulia.’11 Abaye said: Skin, a fish, a cup, hot water, eggs, and the vermin in linen are all injurious to ‘something else’.12 Skin: [that means] he who sleeps on a tanner's hide.13 A fish: [viz.,] shibuta14 during Nisan. A cup: the residue of fish hash. Hot water: pouring extremely hot water over oneself.15 Eggs: [i.e.,] he who treads on [their] shells. Vermin in linen: if one launders his garment and does not wait eight days before putting it on, the vermin16 are produced and harmful for ‘something else’. R. Papa said: A man should not enter a house in which there is a cat, without shoes. What is the reason? Because the cat may kill a snake and eat it; now the snake has little bones, and if a bone sticks into his foot it will not come out, and will endanger him. Others say: A man should not enter a house where there is no cat, in the dark.17 What is the reason? Lest a snake wind itself about him without his knowing, and he come to danger. Three things did R. Ishmael son of R. Jose charge Rabbi: (Mnemonic: Makash).18 Do not inflict a blemish upon yourself. (What does that mean? Do not engage in a lawsuit with three, for one will be your opponent and the other two witnesses [against you] .) And do not feign interest in19 a purchase when you have no money.20 When your wife as performed tebillah, do not be intimate with her the first night. Said Rab: That refers to a niddah by Scriptural law,21 [for] since there is the presumption of an open well,22 she may continue with gonorrhoeic discharge.23 Three things did R. Jose son of R. Judah charge Rabbi. Do not go out alone at night, and do not stand naked in front of a lamp, and do not enter a new bath-house, lest it [the floor] split.24 How long [is it regarded as new]? — Said R. Joshua b. Levi: For twelve months. ‘And do not stand naked in front of a lamp,’ for it was taught: He who stands naked in front of a lamp will be a epileptic, and he who cohabits by the light of a lamp will have epileptic children. Our Rabbis taught: If one cohabits in a bed where an infant is sleeping, that infant [will be] an epileptic. Now that was said only if he is less than one year old; but if he is a year old, it does not matter. Again, this was said only if he is sleeping at [their] feet; but if he is sleeping at [their] head, it does not matter. Again, this was said only if he does not lay his hand upon him; but if he lays his hand upon him, it does not matter. ‘And do not go out alone at night’, for it was taught: One should not go out alone at night, i.e., on the nights of neither Wednesday nor Sabbaths, because Igrath the daughter of Mahalath,25 she and one hundred eighty thousand destroying angels go forth, and each has permission to wreak destruction independently. Originally they were about a day. On one occasion she met R. Hanina b. Dosa [and] said to him, ‘Had they not made an announcement concerning you in Heaven, "Take heed of Hanina and his learning," I would have put you in danger.’ ‘If I am of account in Heaven,’ replied he, ‘I order you never to pass through settled regions.’ ‘I beg you,’ she pleaded, ‘leave me a little room.’ So he left her the nights of Sabbaths and the nights of Wednesdays. On another occasion she met Abaye. Said she to him, ‘Had they not made an announcement about you in Heaven, "Take heed of Nahmani26 and his learning," I would have put you in danger.’ ‘If I am of account in Heaven,’ replied he, ‘I order you never to pass through settled regions.’ But we see that she does pass through? — I will tell you: Those are refer to lending money on a field and receiving some of its produce in part repayment. But as its value is probably calculated at less than market price, this is a profitable investment, yet at the same time there is no actual interest. Such a transaction is permitted (B.M. 67b). ‘Ar. and MS.M. read: uku , and Jast. accordingly translates: An act of charity and at the same time a good investment is the act of him who helps to produce fruits, while he has the reward (e.g. , one who loans money to a husbandman on security, allowing payment in small instalments). pointed out, however, that R. Judah, a Palestinian, would have had no occasion to warn his children against living in a town in Babylonia, nor could he have known the character of its inhabitants well enough to justify this warning; hence it is conjectured that ‘Raba’ should be read here instead. the seven days. Subsequently, however, it was enacted that she must wait seven days from the end of menstruation. Rab observes that R. Ishmael's charge held good only when the more lenient Scriptural law was practised.