Sanhedrin 39A

״אבות יאכלו בסר ושני בנים תקהינה״, ״מאזני צדק אבני צדק״, ״צדיק מצרה נחלץ ויבא רשע תחתיו״.

And they are the parables concerning the following verses: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Ezekiel 18:2); “Just balances, just weights…should you have” (Leviticus 19:36); and “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead” (Proverbs 11:8).

אמר ליה קיסר לרבן גמליאל: אלהיכם גנב הוא, דכתיב: ״ויפל ה׳ אלהים תרדמה על האדם ויישן״. אמרה ליה ברתיה: שבקיה, דאנא מהדרנא ליה. אמרה ליה: תנו לי דוכוס אחד. אמר לה: למה ליך? ליסטין באו עלינו הלילה ונטלו ממנו קיתון של כסף והניחו לנו קיתון של זהב. אמר לה: ולוואי שיבאו עלינו בכל יום. ולא יפה היה לו לאדם הראשון, שנטלו ממנו צלע אחת ונתנו לו שפחה לשמשו?

§ The Roman emperor said to Rabban Gamliel: Your God is a thief, as it is written: “And YHWH God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept; and He took one of his sides, and closed up the place with flesh instead” (Genesis 2:21). The daughter of the emperor said to Rabban Gamliel: Leave him, as I will respond to him. She said to her father: Provide one commander [dukhus] for me to avenge someone’s wrongdoing. The emperor said to her: Why do you need him? She said to him: Armed bandits came to us this past night, and took a silver jug [kiton] from us, and left a golden jug for us. The emperor said to her: If so, would it be that armed bandits such as these would come to us every day. She said to him: And was it not similarly good for Adam the first man that God took a side from him and gave him a female slave to serve him?

אמר לה: הכי קאמינא, אלא לשקליה בהדיא? אמרה ליה: אייתו לי אומצא דבישרא. אייתו לה. אותבה תותי בחשא, אפיקתה. אמרה ליה: אכול (מהאי). אמר לה: מאיסא לי. אמרה ליה: ואדם הראשון נמי, אי הות שקילה בהדיא, הוה מאיסא ליה.

The emperor said to her: This is what I was saying: But if it is good for Adam, let God take his side from him in the open, not during the time of his deep sleep, like a thief. She said to him: Bring me a slice of raw meat. They brought it to her. She placed it under the embers, and removed it after it was roasted. She said to him: Eat from this meat. The emperor said to her: It is repulsive to me. Although he knew that this is how meat is prepared, seeing the raw meat made it repulsive to him. She said to him: With regard to Adam the first man as well, had God taken her from him in the open, she would have been repulsive to him. Therefore God acted while Adam was asleep.