Talmud - Sotah 49a סוטה מ״ט א׳

who plunder, i.e., destroy, their fathers’ future judgment. When God sits in judgment of their parents, these children say before Him: Master of the Universe, because You were destined to exact punishment from our fathers in the World-to-Come for their wickedness, why did You blunt their teeth with the death of their children in their lifetimes? In this way, the death of their children atones for the fathers.

§ Rabbi Ile’a bar Yeverekhya says: If it were not for the prayer of David for Israel to have sustenance, all Israel would be sellers of fat [revav], i.e., involved in debased occupations, as it is stated: “Place for them mastery, O Lord” (Psalms 9:21), that is, may God grant them dignity. And Rabbi Ile’a bar Yeverekhya also says: If it were not for the prayer of Habakkuk, two Torah scholars would have to cover themselves with a single cloak due to poverty and engage in Torah study dressed that way, as it is stated: “Lord, I heard Your report and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years” (Habakkuk 3:2). Do not read: “In the midst [bekerev] of the years [shanim],” but in the closeness [bikrov] of two [shenayim]. In other words, Habakkuk prayed that God would nullify His decree of two Torah scholars having to share a single cloak.

And Rabbi Ile’a bar Yeverekhya says: In the case of two Torah scholars who are walking along the way and there are no words of Torah between them, but they are conversing about other matters, they are deserving of being burned in fire. As it is stated with regard to Elijah and his disciple Elisha: “And it was as they walked along, talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, which parted them both asunder” (II Kings 2:11). The reason they were not burned by the chariot of fire is that there was speech exchanged between them, which presumably was words of Torah, but if there had been no speech, they would have been deserving of being burned by the chariot.

And Rabbi Ile’a bar Yeverekhya says: If there are two Torah scholars who reside in the same city and they are not pleasant to each other with regard to halakha, but are constantly fighting, one of them will die and the other one will be exiled. As it is stated: “That the manslayer might flee there, who slays his neighbor without knowledge” (Deuteronomy 4:42), and “knowledge” means nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Ḥiyya, says: With regard to any Torah scholar who engages in Torah study while experiencing the pressure of poverty, his prayer is listened to, as it is stated: “For, O people that dwells in Zion at Jerusalem, you shall weep no more; He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When He shall hear, He will answer you” (Isaiah 30:19), and after it is written: “And the Lord shall give you sparse bread and scant water” (Isaiah 30:20). This verse indicates that those who sit and study Torah, that is, the people who dwell in Zion, and eat bread sparingly, will have their prayers answered by God.

Rabbi Abbahu says: A Torah scholar who engages in Torah study despite economic pressures is satiated with the glory of the Divine Presence, as it is stated in the same verse, above: “And your eyes shall behold your Teacher.” Rabbi Aḥa, son of Ḥanina, said: Even the concealing partition [pargod] before the Divine Presence is not locked before him, as it is stated: “And your Teacher shall not hide Himself anymore” (Isaiah 30:20).

§ The mishna states that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, there is no day that does not include some form of curse. Rava says: Each and every day is more cursed than the previous one, as it is stated in the chapter detailing the curses in the book of Deuteronomy: “In the morning you will say, would that it were evening, and in the evening you will say, would that it were morning” (Deuteronomy 28:67). It is unclear which morning the verse means. If we say that in the evening he will wish it would be the following morning, does he know what will be the outcome of the next morning, which would cause him to yearn for its arrival? Rather, it must mean the morning that has passed; that is, in the evening they will pine for the previous morning, because their situation is continuously worsening.

The Gemara poses a question: But if everything is deteriorating, why does the world continue to exist? The Gemara answers: By the sanctification that is said in the order of prayers, after the passage that begins: And a redeemer shall come to Israel, which includes the recitation and translation of the sanctification said by the angels, and by the response: Let His great name be blessed, etc., which is recited after the study of aggada. As it is stated: “A land of thick darkness, as darkness itself; a land of the shadow of death, without any order” (Job 10:22). Therefore, it can be inferred from this verse that if there are orders of prayer and study, the land shall appear from amidst the darkness.

§ The mishna taught that since the destruction of the Temple, dew has not descended for a blessing, and the taste has been removed from fruit. It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: The lost purity has removed the taste and the aroma; the tithes that were not separated have removed the fat of grain.

The Gemara relates that Rav Huna found a fragrant date. He took it and wrapped it in his shawl. Rabba, his son, came and said to him: I smell the aroma of a fragrant date. Rav Huna said to him: My son, there is clearly purity in you, as you were able to notice the fragrance. He gave it to him. Meanwhile, Abba, Rabba’s son, arrived. Rabba took the date and gave it to him. Rav Huna said to Rabba: My son, you have made my heart rejoice with your purity, and you have blunted my teeth, by showing your preference for your own son. The Gemara comments: This explains the folk saying that people say: The love of a father is for the sons; the love of the sons is for their own sons, more than for their father.

The Gemara relates another incident: Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov took care of Rav Ya’akov, the son of his daughter, who was an orphan. When the grandchild grew up, his grandfather once said to him: Give me water to drink. He said to him: I am not your son, and I am not obligated in your honor as a son must honor his father. The Gemara again comments: And this explains the folk saying that people say: Raise, raise your grandchild, but in the end he will retort: I am the son of your daughter, and I do not have to take care of you.

MISHNA: In the war [pulemus] of Vespasian the Sages decreed upon the crowns of bridegrooms, i.e., that bridegrooms may no longer wear crowns, and upon the drums, meaning they also banned the playing of drums.

In the war of Titus they also decreed upon the crowns of brides, and they decreed that a person should not teach his son Greek.

In the last war, meaning the bar Kokheva revolt, they decreed that a bride may not go out in a palanquin inside the city, but our Sages permitted a bride to go out in a palanquin inside the city, as this helps the bride maintain her modesty.

The mishna lists more things that ceased: From the time when Rabbi Meir died, those who relate parables ceased; from the time when ben Azzai died, the diligent ceased; from the time when ben Zoma died, the exegetists ceased; from the time when Rabbi Akiva died, the honor of the Torah ceased; from the time when Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa died, the men of wondrous action ceased; from the time when Rabbi Yosei the Small died, the pious were no more. And why was he called the Small? Because he was the smallest of the pious, meaning he was one of the least important of the pious men.

From the time when Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai died, the glory of wisdom ceased; from the time when Rabban Gamliel the Elder died, the honor of the Torah ceased, and purity and asceticism died. From the time when Rabbi Yishmael ben Pavi died, the glory of the priesthood ceased; from the time when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died, humility and fear of sin ceased.

GEMARA: The Sages taught: Rabbi Pineḥas ben Ya’ir says: From the time when the Second Temple was destroyed, the ḥaverim and free men of noble lineage were ashamed, and their heads were covered in shame, and men of action dwindled, and violent and smooth-talking men gained the upper hand, and none seek, and none ask, and none inquire of the fear of Heaven.

Upon whom is there for us to rely? Only upon our Father in Heaven.

Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: From the day the Second Temple was destroyed, the generations have deteriorated: Scholars have begun to become like scribes that teach children, and scribes have become like beadles, and beadles have become like ignoramuses, and ignoramuses

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

Sotah 49a explores how children's deaths can atone for parents' sins, plus teachings on prayers that spared Israel from poverty and scholars from destitution.