Nazir 23B

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Text Excerpt

ומדינים כבריח ארמון״? ״אח נפשע מקרית עז״⁠ — זה לוט, שפירש מאברהם. ״ומדינים כבריח ארמון״⁠ — שהטיל מדינים כבריחין וארמון, ״לא יבא עמוני ומואבי בקהל ה׳״.

and their contentions are like the bars of a castle” (Proverbs 18:19)? “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,” this is Lot, called Abraham’s brother (see Genesis 14:14), who separated from Abraham. “And their contentions are like the bars of a castle,” this is because Lot brought contention between the Jewish people and his own descendants like bars, which lock the gates of a castle. Just as no one can enter a locked castle, so too Lot’s descendants, Ammon and Moab, were prevented from joining the Jewish people, as it states: “An Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of YHWH” (Deuteronomy 23:4).

דרש רבא ואיתימא רבי יצחק: מאי דכתיב ״לתאוה יבקש נפרד ובכל תושיה יתגלע״? ״לתאוה יבקש נפרד״⁠ — זה לוט, ״ובכל תושיה יתגלע״⁠ — שנתגלה קלונו בבתי כנסיות ובבתי מדרשות. דתנן: עמוני ומואבי אסורין, ואיסורן איסור עולם.

On the same issue, Rava expounded a verse homiletically, and some say it was R' Yitzḥak: What is the meaning of that which is written: “He who separates himself seeks his own desire, and snarls against all sound wisdom” (Proverbs 18:1)? “He who separates himself seeks his own desire,” this is Lot, who separated from Abraham. “And snarls [yitgala] against all sound wisdom,” this too describes Lot, as his shame was eventually revealed [nitgala] in the synagogues, when his actions recorded in the Torah are read in public, and in the study halls, where the halakhot of his descendants are taught. As we learned in a Mishnah: An Ammonite and a Moabite are prohibited from entering the congregation by marrying a Jewish woman, and their prohibition is permanent.

אמר עולא: תמר זינתה, זמרי זינה.

§ In relation to the preceding discussion with regard to the daughters of Lot, who acted in a wanton manner for the sake of a mitzva, the Talmud cites that which Ulla said: Tamar engaged in licentious sex with her father-in-law, Judah (see Genesis, chapter 38), and Zimri ben Salu also engaged in licentious sex with a Midianite woman (see Numbers, chapter 25).

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.