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Week 91 - Friday - 24 August 2001

KIDDUSHIN: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 13

An unmarried man may not be a teacher, and a woman may not be a teacher. Rabbi Eliezer says, A person who does not have a wife may also not be a teacher.

Kehati

This mishnah and the one following also deal with the prohibition of being alone with women, and teach that a man should not work at professions which might cause him to be alone with women. Incidental to this, the following mishnah, which concludes this tractate, quotes Aggadic statements concerning professions.

An unmarried man - a bachelor, i.e., a man who has never been married, may not train to be a teacher - may not train to be a teacher of small children. The Gemara explains the reason for this: because the mothers bring their children to the school, and we fear that he may not be able to resist temptation, and a woman may not be a teacher - similarly, a woman may not train to be a teacher of small children, because their fathers and older brothers bring them, and they might come to be alone with her.

Rabbi Eliezer says, A person who does not have a wife may also not be a teacher - Rabbi Eliezer adds to that which was taught by the First Tanna: not only may a bachelor not train to be a teacher of small children, but even someone who was married and whose wife died or was divorced or who has a wife but she does not live with him may not teach small children, for the reason explained above.

KIDDUSHIN: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 14

Rabbi Yehudah says, A bachelor may not herd cattle, and two bachelors may not sleep in one cloak; but the Sages permit. Anyone who deals with women may not be alone with the women. And a man may not teach his son a craft among women. Rabbi Meir says, A man should always teach his son a clean and easy craft and he should pray to the One to Whom riches and possessions belong; for there is no craft in which there is not poverty and wealth, for poverty does not come from the craft, and wealth does not come from the craft, but everything is according to his merit. Rabbi Shimon ben Eliezer says, Have you ever seen a beast or bird engage in a craft? And they sustain themselves without trouble, and were they not created only to serve me? And I was created to serve my Creator - does it not follow that I should sustain myself without trouble? But I have behaved badly in my deeds, and I have forfeited my sustenance.

Abba Gurion of Sidon says in the name of Abba Guria, A person should not teach his son to be an ass-driver, a camel-driver, a hairdresser, a sailor, a shepherd, or a shopkeeper, For their craft is the craft of robbers. Rabbi Yehudah says in his name, Most of the ass-drivers are evil men, and most of the camel-drivers are straightforward; most of the sailors are pious; the best of the physicians to gehinnom, and the most straightforward of the butchers is the partner of Amalek. Rabbi Nehorai says, I put aside all the crafts in the world and I teach my son only Torah, for a person eats of its reward in this world, and the principal remains for the World to Come. But all the other crafts are not so. When a person comes to illness, or to old age, or to troubles, and he cannot engage in his craft, then he dies of hunger, but Torah is not so, for it protects him from all evil in his youth and provides him with a future and hope in his old age. Regarding his youth, what does it say? "But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isa. 40:31). Regarding his old age, what does it say? "They shall still bring forth fruit in their old age" (Ps. 92:15). And similarly it says regarding Abraham our father, peace be unto him, "And Abraham was old…and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Gen. 24:1). We find that Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given, as it is written, "Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Gen. 26:5).

Kehati

Rabbi Yehudah says, A bachelor may not herd cattle - lest he engage in bestiality, and two bachelors may not sleep in one cloak - covering themselves with one garment, lest they engage in sodomy; but the Sages permit - for they do not fear that an Israelite will engage in bestiality or in sodomy. The law is in accordance with the Sages.

Anyone who deals with women - who engages in work for women, such as a tailor of women's clothing, or a jeweler making women's jewelry, may not be alone with the women - even for the needs of his profession, and even with many women, for he is overly-familiar with them, and they all seek to find favor with him. And a man may not teach his son a craft among women - a craft in which he will have to be in the presence of women and deal with them.

Rabbi Meir says, A man should always teach his son a clean and easy craft - such as the work of a tailor, or the work of an embroiderer, (Hameiri); according to HeAruch, "clean" - from theft, "and easy" - without poverty; and do not say that these crafts do not enrich their practitioners, rather and he should pray to the One to Whom riches and possessions belong - to the Master of the Universe, that He bless all his efforts with success; for there is no craft in which there is not poverty and wealth - many people engage in these crafts, some succeed, while others do not, for poverty does not come from - is not a consequence of the craft, and wealth does not come from the craft - for there are poor people and rich people in every craft, but everything is according to his - a person's, merit - (see Tosefot Yom Tov, Tiferet Yisrael).

Rabbi Shimon ben Eliezer says, Have you ever seen a beast or bird engage in a craft? And they sustain themselves without trouble - even though they do not have a craft, they nevertheless sustain themselves without any trouble. The Gemara quotes a baraita: "I have never seen a deer gather figs, or a lion a porter, or a fox a storekeeper, and they sustain themselves without trouble," and were they not created only to serve me? - animals were created only to serve man, And I was created to serve my Creator - does it not follow that I should - be able to - sustain myself without trouble? But I have behaved badly in my deeds - because I have performed bad deeds, and I have forfeited my sustenance - I myself have been the cause of my losing my sustenance, i.e., man's sins cause him to sustain himself with many problems and cares.

Abba Gurion of Sidon says in the name of Abba Guria, A person should not teach his son to be an ass-driver, a camel-driver, a hairdresser - the version of the mishnah which appears in the Gemara does not read "sapar," hairdresser, but rather "kadar", a potter, who takes his wares from place to place to sell them, or "karar," a wagon-driver, a sailor, a shepherd, or a shopkeeper, for their craft - the craft of all these, is the craft of robbers - for the ass-driver, the camel-driver, and all those who are on the roads usually take trees and produce from the fields and gardens of others, a shepherd occasionally grazes his flock in the fields of others, and a shopkeeper engages in fraud, e.g., by diluting wine with water or by putting stones in wheat, and he is also suspected of not keeping accurate weights.

Rabbi Yehudah says in his - Abba Guria's, name, Most of the ass-drivers are evil men - since while going on their way they take from that of others, as was explained above, and unlike camel-drivers they do not undertake long journeys, and have no cause to fear for their safety and to improve their deeds, and most of the camel-drivers are straightforward - since they travel through deserts, where there are wild animals and bands of robbers, they fear for their safety, and their hearts are open to the Lord in prayer and repentance (Rashi), most of the sailors are pious - for they sail the sea, which is a place of many dangers and they are continually in a state of fear, greater than that of the camel-drivers, and as a result their hearts are submissive to the Lord; the best of the physicians to Gehinnom - since he does not exert himself properly in his work as a physician, or at times he does not know the cause of an illness and the manner in which to treat it, while he claims expertise, and causes the death of the patient (Hameiri), and the most straightforward of the butchers - the most straightforward of the slaughterers of animals, has an evil nature, and is the partner of Amalek - is cruel like Amalek (see Tosefot Yom Tov).

Rabbi Nehorai says, I put aside all the crafts in the world, and I teach my son only Torah, for a person eats of its reward in this world, and the principal remains for the World to Come. But all the other crafts are not so - for their reward is only temporal. When a person comes to illness, or to old age, or to troubles - mental troubles, such as worry and anger, and he cannot engage in his craft - because of illness, old age, or troubles, then he dies of hunger - since he has no means of sustenance, but Torah is not so, for it protects him from all evil in his youth, and provides him with a future and hope in his old age - even when he comes to old age or troubles, and cannot engage in Torah, he is nevertheless sustained as a reward for engaging in it during his youth.

Regarding his youth, what does it - Scripture, say? "But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength." Regarding his old age, what does it say? "They shall still bring forth fruit in their old age - they shall be full of sap and richness." Rashi comments, "They shall produce growth. Their reward will be set aside for their old age, when they will be full of sap and freshness." And similarly it says regarding Abraham our father, peace be unto him, "And Abraham was old... and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" - even in his old age God blessed him because of the merit of his Torah, for - We find that Abraham fulfilled the entire Torah before it was given - to Israel, as it is written, "Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" - and the Lord therefore blessed him in his old age.

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