| 56a. בכל יום דנין את העדים בכינוי יכה יוסי את יוסי,נגמר הדין לא הורגין בכינוי אלא מוציאין כל אדם לחוץ שואלין את הגדול שביניהן ואומר לו אמור מה ששמעת בפירוש והוא אומר והדיינין עומדין על רגליהן וקורעין ולא מאחין,והשני אומר אף אני כמוהו והשלישי אומר אף אני כמוהו:, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big תנא עד שיברך שם בשם,מנהני מילי אמר שמואל דאמר קרא (ויקרא כד, טז) ונוקב שם וגו' בנקבו שם יומת,ממאי דהאי נוקב לישנא דברוכי הוא דכתיב (במדבר כג, ח) מה אקב לא קבה אל ואזהרתיה מהכא (שמות כב, כז) אלהים לא תקלל,ואימא מיברז הוא דכתיב (מלכים ב יב, י) ויקב חור בדלתו ואזהרתיה מהכא (דברים יב, ג) ואבדתם את שמם לא תעשון כן לה' אלהיכם,בעינא שם בשם וליכא,ואימא דמנח שני שמות אהדדי ובזע להו ההוא נוקב וחוזר ונוקב הוא ואימא דחייק שם אפומא דסכינא ובזע בה ההוא חורפא דסכינא הוא דקא בזע,אימא פרושי שמיה הוא דכתיב (במדבר א, יז) ויקח משה ואהרן את האנשים האלה אשר נקבו בשמות ואזהרתיה מהכא (דברים ו, יג) את ה' אלהיך תירא,חדא דבעינא שם בשם וליכא ועוד הויא ליה אזהרת עשה ואזהרת עשה לא שמה אזהרה,ואיבעית אימא אמר קרא (ויקרא כד, יא) ויקב ויקלל למימרא דנוקב קללה הוא,ודילמא עד דעבד תרוייהו לא סלקא דעתך דכתיב (ויקרא כד, יד) הוצא את המקלל ולא כתיב הוצא את הנוקב והמקלל שמע מינה חדא היא,תנו רבנן איש מה ת"ל איש איש לרבות את העובדי כוכבים שמוזהרין על ברכת השם כישראל ואינן נהרגין אלא בסייף שכל מיתה האמורה בבני נח אינה אלא בסייף,והא מהכא נפקא מהתם נפקא ה' זו ברכת השם,אמר ר' יצחק נפחא לא נצרכא אלא לרבותא הכינויין ואליבא דרבי מאיר,דתניא (ויקרא כד, טו) איש איש כי יקלל אלהיו ונשא חטאו מה תלמוד לומר והלא כבר נאמר (ויקרא כד, טז) ונוקב שם ה' מות יומת לפי שנאמר ונוקב שם מות יומת יכול לא יהא חייב אלא על שם המיוחד בלבד מניין לרבות כל הכינויין תלמוד לומר איש כי יקלל אלהיו מכל מקום דברי רבי מאיר,וחכמים אומרים על שם המיוחד במיתה ועל הכינויין באזהרה,ופליגא דרבי מיישא דאמר רבי מיישא בן נח שבירך את השם בכינויים לרבנן חייב,מאי טעמא דאמר קרא (ויקרא כד, טז) כגר כאזרח גר ואזרח הוא דבעינן בנקבו שם אבל עובד כוכבים אפילו בכינוי,ורבי מאיר האי כגר כאזרח מאי עביד ליה גר ואזרח בסקילה אבל עובד כוכבים בסייף סלקא דעתך אמינא הואיל ואיתרבו איתרבו קמ"ל,ורבי יצחק נפחא אליבא דרבנן האי כגר כאזרח מאי עביד ליה גר ואזרח הוא דבעינן שם בשם אבל עובד כוכבים לא בעינן שם בשם,איש איש למה לי דיברה תורה כלשון בני אדם,תנו רבנן שבע מצות נצטוו בני נח דינין וברכת השם ע"ז גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים וגזל ואבר מן החי | 56a. bOn every dayof a blasphemer’s trial, when the judges bjudge the witnesses,i.e., interrogate the witnesses, they ask the witnesses to use ban appellationfor the name of God, so that they do not utter a curse of God’s name. Specifically, the witnesses would say: bLet Yosei smite Yosei,as the name Yosei has four letters in Hebrew, as does the Tetragrammaton.,When bthe judgment is over,and the court votes to deem the defendant guilty, bthey do not sentencehim bto death based onthe testimony of the witnesses in which they used ban appellationfor the name of God, without having ever heard the exact wording of the curse. bRather, they remove allthe bpeoplewho are not required to be there from the court, so that the curse is not heard publicly, and the judges binterrogate the eldest ofthe witnesses, band say to him: Say what you heard explicitly. And he saysexactly what he heard. bAnd the judges stand on their feet and make a tearin their garments, as an act of mourning for the desecration of the honor of God. bAnd they do notever fully bstitchit back together again., bAnd the secondwitness bsays: I tooheard bas hedid, but he does not repeat the curse explicitly. bAnd the thirdwitness, in the event that there is one, bsays: I tooheard bas hedid. In this manner, the repetition of the invective sentence is limited to what is absolutely necessary., strongGEMARA: /strong The Sage btaughtin a ibaraita /i: A blasphemer is not liable bunless he blesses,a euphemism for curses, the bnameof God bwiththe bnameof God, e.g., by saying: Let such and such a name strike such and such a name.,The Gemara asks: bFrom where is this matterderived? bShmuel says:It is derived from that bwhich the verse states: “And he who blasphemes [ ivenokev /i] the nameof the Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the convert as well as the homeborn, bwhen he blasphemes [ ibenokvo /i] the name, he shall be put to death”(Leviticus 24:16). It is derived from the repetition of the phrase “blasphemes the name” that the reference is to cursing the name of God with the name of God.,The Gemara asks: bFrom whereis it derived bthat thisword inokevis a term for blessing,i.e., cursing? The Gemara answers that it is derived from the statement of Balaam, who was sent by Balak to curse the Jewish people: b“How shall I curse [ iekkov /i] whom God has not cursed?”(Numbers 23:8). bAndthe bprohibitionagainst cursing God is derived bfrom here: “You shall not curse God”(Exodus 22:27).,The Gemara asks: bBut saythat perhaps the meaning of inokev bisnot cursing, but rather bmaking a hole, as it is written: “And made a hole [ ivayyikkov /i] in its lid”(II Kings 12:10). According to this, the word inokevis referring to one who makes a hole and damages the written name of God. bAndthe bprohibitionagainst doing so is derived bfrom here: “And you shall destroy their nameout of that place. bYou shall not do so to the Lord your God”(Deuteronomy 12:3–4).,The Gemara answers: It is derived from the repetition of inokevthat for one to be liable, it is bnecessarythat his transgression involve the bnameof God bwiththe bnameof God, bandsuch a transgression is bnotpossible if the reference is to making a hole.,The Gemara challenges: bBut say thatsuch a transgression is possible, as one can bplace twowritten bnamesof God, bone on top of the other, and tearthrough bthemat once. The Gemara explains: bThatwould be defined as bmaking a hole and again making a hole,not making a hole in one name by means of another name. The Gemara asks: bBut say thatone can betchthe bnameof God bon the point of a knife and cutthrough another name bwith it.The Gemara answers: In bthatcase, bit is the point of the knife that is cutting,not the name of God.,The Gemara asks: bSaythat inokevmeans the butterance of theineffable bname ofGod. bAs it is written: “And Moses and Aaron took these men that are pointed out [ inikkevu /i] by name”(Numbers 1:17). bAndthe bprohibitionto do so is derived bfrom here: “You shall fear the Lord, your God”(Deuteronomy 6:13).,The Gemara answers: bOneanswer is bthatfor one to be liable, it is bnecessarythat his transgression involve the bnameof God bwiththe bnameof God, bandsuch a transgression is bnotpossible if the reference is to uttering the ineffable name of God. bFurthermore,the prohibition derived from the verse “You shall fear the Lord, your God” bis a prohibitionstated as ba positive mitzva, and a prohibitionstated as ba positive mitzva is not considered a prohibition. /b,The Gemara presents an alternative proof that inokevis referring to cursing: bAnd if you wish, sayinstead that bthe verse states: “Andthe son of the Israelite woman bblasphemed [ ivayyikkov /i]the name band cursed”(Leviticus 24:11). bThat is to say thatthe meaning of inokevisto bcurse. /b,The Gemara asks: bBut perhapsthis verse does not prove that the meaning of inokevis to curse; rather, it indicates that one is not liable to be executed bunless he does both,i.e., both inokevand cursing God? The Gemara answers: This shall bnot enter your mind, as it is written: “Bring forth the one who cursed… /band stone him” (Leviticus 24:14), band it is not written: Bring forth the inokevand one who cursed. Conclude from itthat bit is oneact and not two.,§ bThe Sages taughtin a ibaraitawith regard to the verse: “Anyone who curses his God shall bear his sin” (Leviticus 24:15), that the verse could have stated: bOne [ iish /i]who curses his God. bWhymust bthe verse state: “Anyone [ iish ish /i]”?It is bto include the gentiles, who are prohibited from blessing,i.e., cursing, bthe nameof God, just blike Jewsare. bAnd they are executedfor this transgression bby the sword alone, as all deathpenalties bstated with regard to the descendants of Noah are by the sword alone. /b,The Gemara asks: bBut is this ihalakha bderived from here?Rather, bit is derived from there:“And the Lord God commanded the man” (Genesis 2:16), as is stated in a ibaraitathat will soon be quoted at length: b“The Lord,” thisis referring to bthe blessing,i.e., cursing, bof the nameof God. This verse concerns Adam, the first man, and is therefore binding on all of humanity., bRav Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says:The verse “anyone who curses his God” bis necessary only to includegentiles who curse God using bthe appellationsfor the name of God, rather than mentioning the ineffable name, bandthis is bin accordance withthe opinion bof Rabbi Meir. /b, bAs it is taughtin a ibaraita /i: bWhymust bthe verse state: “Anyone who curses his God shall bear his sin”? But isn’t it already stated: “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death”(Leviticus 24:16)? Rather, bsince it is stated: “And he who blasphemes the nameof the Lord bshall be put to death,”one bmighthave thought that one bwill be liable only forcursing bthe ineffable nameof God. bFrom whereis it derived that the verse bincludesone who curses bany of the appellationsas well? bThe verse states: “Anyone who curses his God,”to indicate that one is liable to be executed bin any case.This is bthe statement of Rabbi Meir. /b, bAnd the Rabbis say: Forcursing bthe ineffable nameof God, one is punished bby death, and forcursing bthe appellations,one is liable to receive lashes bforviolating ba prohibition. /b,The Gemara comments: bAndRav Yitzḥak Nappaḥa, who holds that according to the Rabbis, gentiles are not liable for cursing appellations for the name of God, bdisagrees withthe opinion of bRav Meyasha. As Rav Meyasha says: A descendant of Noah who blessed God byone of the bappellations is liableto be executed even baccording tothe opinion of bthe Rabbis. /b, bWhat is the reason?It is bbecause the verse states: “The convert as well as the homeborn,when he blasphemes the name, he shall be put to death” (Leviticus 24:16), from which it is derived that bit isonly in the case of ba convert or a homebornJew bthat we requirethe condition: b“When he blasphemes the name,”i.e., he is liable to be executed only if he curses the ineffable name. bBut a gentileis liable to be executed beven due tomerely cursing ban appellation. /b,The Gemara asks: bAnd what does Rabbi Meir do with thispart of the verse: b“The convert as well as the homeborn”?What does he derive from it? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Meir derives that ba convert or a homebornJew is liable to be executed bby stoningfor this transgression, bbut a gentileis executed bby the sword.This exclusion is necessary as otherwise it might benter your mind to saythat bsincegentiles bare includedin the ihalakhotof this verse, bthey are includedin all the ihalakhotof blasphemy. Therefore the verse bteaches usthat they are not stoned.,The Gemara asks: bAnd what does Rav Yitzḥak Nappaḥa do with thispart of the verse: b“The convert as well as the homeborn,” according tothe opinion bof the Rabbis,since Rav Yitzḥak Nappaḥa holds that the Rabbis do not deem either a Jew or a gentile liable for cursing an appellation of God’s name? The Gemara answers: He derives that bit isspecifically with regard to ba convert and a homebornJew bthat we requirethe condition that he curse ba nameof God bby a nameof God; bbutwith regard to ba gentile, we do not requirethat he curse ba nameof God bby a nameof God in order for him to be liable.,The Gemara asks: bWhy do Ineed the inclusive term b“anyonewho curses his God,” according to the opinions that do not derive from it that a gentile is liable for cursing an appellation of God’s name? The Gemara answers: No ihalakhais derived from it; it is not a superfluous term, as bthe Torah spoke in the language of people. /b,§ Since the ihalakhotof the descendants of Noah have been mentioned, a full discussion of the Noahide mitzvot is presented. bThe Sages taughtin a ibaraita /i: bThe descendants of Noah,i.e., all of humanity, bwere commandedto observe bseven mitzvot:The mitzva of establishing courts of bjudgment; andthe prohibition against bblessing,i.e., cursing, bthe nameof God; and the prohibition of bidol worship;and the prohibition against bforbidden sexual relations; andthe prohibition of bbloodshed; andthe prohibition of brobbery; andthe prohibition against eating ba limb from a livinganimal. |
