Talmud - Nedarim 38a נדרים ל״ח א׳

The same is true for “this” that is in the verse “and this is the mitzva” (Deuteronomy 6:1); and for “bend” that is in the verse “let the archer bend his bow” (Jeremiah 51:3); and for “five” that is in the verse “and the south side four thousand and five hundred” (Ezekiel 48:16); and for “if” that is in the verse “that if I am a near kinsman” (Ruth 3:12). All these are written but not read.

Rav Aḥa bar Adda said: In the West, Eretz Yisrael, they divide this verse into three verses: “And the Lord said to Moses, behold I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear as I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever; and Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord” (Exodus 19:9).

§ Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Moses became wealthy only from the waste remaining from hewing the Tablets of the Covenant, as it is stated: “Hew for you two tablets of stone like the first” (Exodus 34:1). “Hew for you” means that their waste shall be yours. As the tablets were crafted from valuable gems, their remnants were similarly valuable.

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: The Torah was given initially only to Moses and his descendants, as it is stated: “Write for you” (Exodus 34:27), and it is also stated: “Hew for you” (Exodus 34:1), meaning: Just as their waste is yours, so too their writing is yours. However, Moses treated the Torah with generosity and gave it to the Jewish people. And about him, the verse says: “He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed, as he gives of his bread to the poor” (Proverbs 22:9).

Rav Ḥisda raised an objection from the verse that states: “And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and laws” (Deuteronomy 4:14). This indicates that Moses was commanded to teach Torah to the Jewish people from the outset. The Gemara answers: The verse means: And the Lord commanded the Torah to me, Moses, and I, on my own initiative, decided to teach you its statutes and laws. The Gemara cites an additional verse proving that God commanded to teach the Jewish people from the outset: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and laws, as the Lord my God commanded me” (Deuteronomy 4:5). The Gemara answers: The Lord commanded the Torah to me, Moses, and I decided to teach you statutes and laws.

The Gemara cites an additional verse: “Now therefore write this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19). Apparently, Moses was commanded to teach the Torah to the Jewish people. The Gemara answers: The verse is referring to the song of Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 31) alone and not to the rest of the Torah. The Gemara asks: But the continuation of that cited verse: “That this song may be a witness for Me among the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19), indicates that the reference is to the entire Torah, in which the mitzvot are written. Rather, the Torah was given from the outset to all of the Jewish people, and when Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said that the Torah was given exclusively to Moses, he was referring merely to the profound analysis of the Torah. Moses opted to teach it to the people on his own initiative.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, rests His Divine Presence only upon one who is mighty, and wealthy, and wise, and humble. And all of these qualities are derived from Moses. He was mighty, as it is written: “And he spread the tent over the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:19), and the Master said: Moses, our teacher, spread it himself. And it is written: “Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board” (Exodus 26:16). Moses was tall and strong enough to spread the tent over the boards alone. The Gemara asks: Say that he was tall and thin, and the fact that he was mighty cannot be derived.

Rather, the fact that Moses was mighty is derived from this verse, as it is written: “And I took hold of the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes” (Deuteronomy 9:17), and it is taught in a baraita: The tablets, their length was six handbreadths, and their width was six handbreadths, and their thickness was three handbreadths. If Moses was capable of lifting and casting a burden that heavy, apparently he was mighty.

Moses was wealthy, as it is written: “Hew for you” (Exodus 34:1), from which it was derived: The waste of the Tablets of the Covenant shall be yours, and that waste consisted of precious stones. That Moses was wise is derived from the statement of Rav and Shmuel, who both say: Fifty measures of understanding were created in the world, and all were given to Moses except one, as it is stated: “Yet you have deprived him of little, of God” (Psalms 8:6). He lacked only complete knowledge of God. Moses was humble, as it is written: “Now the man Moses was very humble” (Numbers 12:3).

§ Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All the prophets were wealthy. From where do we derive this? It is derived from Moses, and from Samuel, and from Amos, and from Jonah, who were all wealthy.

Moses was wealthy, as it is written: “I have not taken one donkey from them” (Numbers 16:15). The Gemara analyzes the statement of Moses. If he said that he did not take a donkey without payment, was his intent to exclude himself from the category of one who takes items that belong to others without paying? That is obvious, as one who does so is a thief. Rather, he said that even with payment he did not take a donkey. Apparently, he was wealthy and did not need to purchase anything. The Gemara rejects this proof. Perhaps, on the contrary, he did not purchase a donkey because he was poor and could not afford it. Rather, it is derived from the verse written with regard to the Tablets of the Covenant: “Hew for you” (Exodus 34:1), which indicates that their waste shall be yours.

Samuel was wealthy, as it is written: “Here I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken?” (I Samuel 12:3). If he is saying that he did not take an ox or a donkey for free, was his intent to exclude himself from the category of one who takes items that belong to others for free? Rather, he is saying that even with payment he did not take a donkey or an ox. Apparently, he was wealthy. The Gemara rejects this proof. Perhaps, on the contrary, the reason he did not purchase the donkeys is due to the fact that he was poor. Rather, the fact that Samuel was wealthy is derived from here, as it is written: “And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house” (I Samuel 7:17). And Rava said: Everywhere he went, his home was with him. He was so wealthy that he could afford to hire servants and pack animals to take all his belongings from place to place.

Rava said: That which is stated with regard to Samuel is greater than that which is stated with regard to Moses, as with regard to Moses our teacher it is written: “I have not taken one donkey from them” (Numbers 16:15), meaning that he did not take an item from another against his will even with payment. Whereas with regard to Samuel, even with the consent of the owner, he would not rent an item from him, as it is written: “And they said: You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us [ratzotanu], neither have you taken anything from any man’s hand” (I Samuel 12:4), even with his consent [ratzon].

Amos was wealthy, as it is written: “Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah: I am neither a prophet, nor son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore-trees” (Amos 7:14). Amos is saying, as Rav Yosef translates: Because I am the owner of flocks and I have sycamores in the lowland, and I do not come to prophesy for financial gain. Apparently, Amos was wealthy.

Jonah was wealthy, as it is written: “And he went down to Jaffa, and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid its cost and went down into it” (Jonah 1:3), and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He paid the cost of the entire ship. Rabbi Romanus said: The cost for the entire ship was four thousand gold dinars.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Initially, Moses would study Torah and forget it, until it was given to him as a gift, as it is stated: “And He gave it to Moses when he concluded speaking with him” (Exodus 31:18). Once the Torah was given him as a gift, it became his and he was able to remember it.

MISHNA: And with regard to one for whom benefit from another is forbidden by vow, that other person may feed his wife and children, although the one who is bound by the vow is obligated in their support and benefits when another supports them. And he may not feed his animal, whether it is a kosher animal or whether it is a non-kosher animal. Rabbi Eliezer says: He may feed the non-kosher animal, and he may not feed the kosher animal. The Rabbis said to him: What is the difference between kosher and non-kosher animals in this respect? Rabbi Eliezer said to them: The kosher animal’s being belongs to Heaven, and the animal’s body is the property of its owner, as he can eat it. Therefore, the owner benefits directly when another feeds his animal. And a non-kosher animal,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Nedarim 38a explores how Moses grew wealthy from carving the Tablets and debates whether Moses initially received the Torah solely for himself.