| 18b. ומי יימר דהכי איכא [א"ל השתא חזית] הוו הנהו כלבי דהוו קא אכלי אינשי שקל קלא שדא בהו הוו קאתו למיכליה אמר אלהא דמאיר ענני שבקוה ויהבה ליה,לסוף אשתמע מילתא בי מלכא אתיוה אסקוה לזקיפה אמר אלהא דמאיר ענני אחתוה אמרו ליה מאי האי אמר להו הכי הוה מעשה,אתו חקקו לדמותיה דר' מאיר אפיתחא דרומי אמרי כל דחזי לפרצופא הדין לייתיה יומא חדא חזיוהי רהט אבתריה רהט מקמייהו על לבי זונות איכא דאמרי בשולי עובדי כוכבים חזא טמש בהא ומתק בהא איכא דאמרי אתא אליהו אדמי להו כזונה כרכתיה אמרי חס ושלום אי ר' מאיר הוה לא הוה עביד הכי,קם ערק אתא לבבל איכא דאמרי מהאי מעשה ואיכא דאמרי ממעשה דברוריא:,תנו רבנן ההולך לאיצטדינין ולכרקום וראה שם את הנחשים ואת החברין בוקיון ומוקיון ומוליון ולוליון בלורין סלגורין הרי זה מושב לצים ועליהם הכתוב אומר (תהלים א, א) אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך וגו' כי אם בתורת ה' חפצו הא למדת. שדברים הללו מביאין את האדם לידי ביטול תורה,ורמינהי [הולכין] לאיצטדינין מותר מפני שצווח ומציל ולכרקום מותר מפני ישוב מדינה ובלבד שלא יתחשב עמהם ואם נתחשב עמהם אסור קשיא איצטדינין אאיצטדינין קשיא כרקום אכרקום,בשלמא כרקום אכרקום ל"ק כאן במתחשב עמהן כאן בשאין מתחשב עמהן אלא איצטדינין אאיצטדינין קשיא,תנאי היא דתניא אין הולכין לאיצטדינין מפני מושב לצים ור' נתן מתיר מפני שני דברים אחד מפני שצווח ומציל ואחד מפני שמעיד עדות אשה להשיאה,תנו רבנן אין הולכין לטרטיאות ולקרקסיאות מפני שמזבלין שם זיבול לעבודת כוכבים דברי ר' מאיר וחכמים אומרים מקום שמזבלין אסור מפני חשד עבודת כוכבים ומקום שאין מזבלין שם אסור מפני מושב לצים,מאי בינייהו אמר ר' חנינא מסורא נשא ונתן איכא בינייהו,דרש ר' שמעון בן פזי מאי דכתיב אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך בעצת רשעים ובדרך חטאים לא עמד ובמושב לצים לא ישב וכי מאחר שלא הלך היכן עמד ומאחר שלא עמד היכן ישב ומאחר שלא ישב היכן לץ,אלא לומר לך שאם הלך סופו לעמוד ואם עמד סופו לישב ואם ישב סופו ללוץ ואם לץ עליו הכתוב אומר (משלי ט, יב) אם חכמת חכמת לך ואם לצת לבדך תשא,א"ר אליעזר כל המתלוצץ יסורין באין עליו שנאמר (ישעיהו כח, כב) ועתה אל תתלוצצו פן יחזקו מוסריכם אמר להו רבא לרבנן במטותא בעינא מינייכו דלא תתלוצצו דלא ליתו עלייכו יסורין,אמר רב קטינא כל המתלוצץ מזונותיו מתמעטין שנאמר (הושע ז, ה) משך ידו את לוצצים אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש כל המתלוצץ נופל בגיהנם שנאמר (משלי כא, כד) זד יהיר לץ שמו עושה בעברת זדון ואין עברה אלא גיהנם שנאמר (צפניה א, טו) יום עברה היום ההוא,אמר ר' אושעיא כל המתייהר נופל בגיהנם שנאמר זד יהיר לץ שמו עושה בעברת זדון ואין עברה אלא גיהנם שנאמר יום עברה היום ההוא אמר רבי חנילאי בר חנילאי כל המתלוצץ גורם כלייה לעולם שנאמר ועתה אל תתלוצצו פן יחזקו מוסריכם כי כלה ונחרצה שמעתי,אמר רבי אליעזר קשה היא שתחילת' יסורין וסופו כלייה דרש ר' שמעון בן פזי אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך לטרטיאות ולקרקסיאות של עובדי כוכבים ובדרך חטאים לא עמד זה שלא עמד בקנגיון ובמושב לצים לא ישב שלא ישב בתחבולות,שמא יאמר אדם הואיל ולא הלכתי לטרטיאות ולקרקסיאות ולא עמדתי בקנגיון אלך ואתגרה בשינה ת"ל ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה,אמר רב שמואל בר נחמני א"ר יונתן אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך בעצת רשעים זה | 18b. bAnd who can say that this isthe case, that I will be saved by this utterance? Rabbi Meir bsaid to him: You will now see. There were thesecarnivorous bdogs that would devour people;Rabbi Meir btook a clodof earth, bthrewit bat them,and when bthey came to devour him, he said: God of Meir answer me!The dogs then bleft himalone, bandafter seeing this the guard bgavethe daughter of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon btoRabbi Meir., bUltimately the matter was heardin bthe king’s court,and the guard, who bwas brought and taken to be hanged, said: God of Meir answer me!They then blowered him down,as they were unable to hang him. bThey said to him: What is this? He said to them: This was the incidentthat occurred, and he proceeded to relate the entire story to them., bTheythen bwentand bengraved the image of Rabbi Meir at the entrance of Romewhere it would be seen by everyone, and they bsaid: Anyone who seesa man with bthis face should bring himhere. bOne day,Romans bsawRabbi Meir and bran after him,and bhe ran away from themand bentered a brothelto hide. bSome sayhe then escaped capture because bhe sawfood bcooked by gentilesand bdipped [ itemash /i] thisfinger binthe food band tastedit bwith thatother finger, and thereby fooled them into thinking that he was eating their food, which they knew Rabbi Meir would not do. And bsome saythat he escaped detection because bElijah came, appeared to them as a prostituteand bembracedRabbi Meir. The Romans who were chasing him bsaid: Heaven forbid, if this were Rabbi Meir, he would not actin bthatmanner.,Rabbi Meir barose, fled,and barrived in Babylonia.The Gemara notes: bThere arethose bwho saythat he fled because bof this incident, and there arethose bwho saythat he fled due to embarrassment bfrom the incident involvinghis wife bBerurya. /b,§ bThe Sages taught:With regard to bone who goes to stadiums [ ile’itztadinin /i]where people are killed in contests with gladiators or beasts, bor to a camp of besiegers [ iulkharkom /i]where different forms of entertainment are provided for the besieging army, bandhe bsees therethe acts of bthe diviners and those who cast spells,or the acts of the clowns known as ibukiyon /i, or imukiyon /i, or imuliyon /i, or iluliyon /i,or ibelurin /i,or isalgurin /i, this iscategorized as b“the seat of the scornful”; and with regard tosuch places bthe verse states: “Happy is the man that has not walkedin the council of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. bBut his delight is in the Torah of the Lord”(Psalms 1:1–2). bYou learnfrom here bthat these matters bring a person to derelictionof the study bof Torah,since had he not sat in “the seat of the scornful,” he would delight in the study of Torah., bAndthe Gemara braises a contradictionfrom another ibaraita /i: bOne is permittedto bgo to stadiums, because he can scream and savethe life of a Jew who would otherwise be killed there; band it is permittedto go bto a camp of besiegers, becauseat times one can provide for the public bwelfareby petitioning the besiegers and saving the residents of the btown, provided that he is not countedas one bof them; but if he is countedas one bof them, it is prohibited.This is bdifficult,as there is a contradiction between the statement about attending bstadiumsin the first ibaraitaand the statement baboutattending bstadiumsin the second ibaraita /i, and is similarly bdifficultas there is a contradiction between the statement about ba camp of besiegersin the first ibaraitaand the statement babout a camp of besiegersin the second ibaraita /i.,The Gemara continues: bGranted,the apparent contradiction between one statement about ba camp of besiegersand the other statement babout a camp of besiegersis bnot difficult,as bhere,the first ibaraitais referring to a case bwhere he is countedas one bof them,and bthere,the second ibaraitais referring to a case bwhere he is not countedas one bof them. Butwith regard to the contradiction between the ruling about attending bstadiumsin the first ibaraitaand the ruling baboutattending bstadiumsin the second ibaraita /i, it is bdifficult. /b,The Gemara answers: This issue bisa dispute between itanna’im /i, as it is taughtin a ibaraita /i: bOne may not go to stadiums, becausethey are considered b“the seat of the scornful.” And Rabbi Natan permitsattending stadiums bdue to tworeasons; boneis bbecause he can scream and savethe life of someone who would otherwise be killed, bandthe other boneis bbecauseeven if he cannot save the man’s life, bhe can provide testimonythat ba woman’shusband died, which will enable her bto marryagain., bThe Sages taught: One may not go to theaters [ iletarteiot /i] or circuses [ iulkirkaseiot /i] because they sacrifice offerings there toobjects of bidol worship;this is bthe statement of Rabbi Meir. And the Rabbis say: It is prohibitedto go to ba place where they sacrificeofferings, bdue to a suspicion of idol worship, and it isalso bprohibitedto go to ba place where they do not sacrificeofferings, bdue toit being considered b“the seat of the scornful.” /b,The Gemara asks: bWhat isthe practical difference bbetweenthe opinion of the Rabbis and that of Rabbi Meir? After all, according to both opinions it is prohibited to attend theaters or circuses. bRabbi Ḥanina of Sura said:The difference bbetween themarises in the case of one who bengaged in businessthere. According to Rabbi Meir, the profits are forbidden as the proceeds of idol worship, as Rabbi Meir maintains that the gentiles certainly worship idols at theaters or circuses. Conversely, according to the Rabbis, the profits are forbidden only if it is established that they worshipped idols there.,§ Apropos the earlier discussion of the evils of scornfulness, the Gemara cites several statements that criticize such behavior. bRabbi Shimon ben Pazi taught: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful”(Psalms 1:1)? bSince he did not walkin the counsel of the wicked, bhowcould bhe standwith them? bAnd since he did not stand, howcould bhe sitwith them? bAnd since he did not sitwith them, bhowcould bhehave bscorned?Since he never joined the company of the wicked, he would have no reason to be involved with them in any manner., bRather,the verse serves bto say to you that if he walkedwith the wicked, bhe will ultimately standwith them. bAnd if he stoodwith them, bhe will ultimately sitin their company, band if he sat, he will ultimately scornalong with them. bAnd if he scorned, the verse says about him: “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; and if you scorn, you alone shall bear it”(Proverbs 9:12)., bRabbi Eliezer says:Concerning banyone who scoffs, suffering will befall him, as it is stated: “Now therefore do not be scoffers, lest your suffering be made strong”(Isaiah 28:22). Similarly, bRava said to the Sageswho were sitting before him: bPlease, I ask of you that you not scoff, so that suffering will not befall you. /b, bRav Ketina says:Concerning banyone who scoffs, his sustece is lessened, as it is stated: “He stretches out his hand with scorners”(Hosea 7:5), meaning that God withdraws His providence from scoffers and does not provide for them. bRabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: Anyone who scoffs falls into Gehenna, as it is stated: “A proud and haughty man, scorner is his name, he acts in arrogant wrath”(Proverbs 21:24). bAnd wrathmeans bnothing other than Gehenna, as it is statedwith regard to the Day of Judgment: b“That day is a day of wrath”(Zephaniah 1:15)., bRabbi Oshaya says,based on the same verse: bAnyone who is haughty falls into Gehenna, as it is stated: “A proud and haughty man, scorner is his name, he acts in arrogant wrath”(Proverbs 21:24). bAnd wrath means nothing other than Gehenna, as it is stated: “That day is a day of wrath”(Zephaniah 1:15). bRabbi Ḥanilai bar Ḥanilai says: Anyone who scoffs causes exterminationto be wrought bupon the world, as it is stated: “Now therefore do not be scoffers, lest your suffering be made strong; for an extermination wholly determined have I heardfrom the Lord, the God of hosts, upon the whole land” (Isaiah 28:22)., bRabbi Eliezer says:Scoffing bis a severesin, bas at firstone is punished with bsuffering, and ultimatelyone is punished with bextermination. Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi taught: “Happy is the man that has not walkedin the counsel of the wicked,” this is referring btothe btheaters and circuses of gentiles; “nor stood in the way of sinners,” thisis referring to bone who has not stoodas an observer bat bestial contests [ ibekinigiyyon /i]; “nor sat in the seat of the scornful,”this is referring to bone who has not sat in the bad companyof people who engage in scoffing and jeering., bLest a person say: Since I did not go to theaters and circuses, and did not stand in bestial contests, I will go and indulge in sleep, the verse states: “And he meditates in His law day and night”(Psalms 1:2). This demonstrates that it is not sufficient simply to avoid transgressions; rather, it is necessary to engage actively in Torah study.,§ The Gemara relates an alternative homiletic interpretation of the verse discussed above. bRav Shmuel bar Naḥmani saysthat bRabbi Yonatan says: “Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked”(Psalms 1:1); bthis /b |
