Study Yevamot folio 62A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
משאי אפשר. ובית הלל נמי, לילפו ממשה! אמרי לך: משה מדעתיה הוא דעבד. דתניא: שלשה דברים עשה משה מדעתו, והסכימה דעתו לדעת המקום: פירש מן האשה, ושיבר הלוחות, והוסיף יום אחד.
from one that is not possible. Mankind was initially created with a male and female because otherwise reproduction would not have been possible. However, this fact cannot serve as a source that the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply is fulfilled only once one has a son and a daughter. The Talmud asks: And Beit Hillel, let them also learn from Moses. Beit Hillel could say to you: Moses acted based on his own perception when he separated from his wife, but this does not mean that a man is permitted to neglect the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply after fathering two males, as it is taught in a baraita: Moses did 3 things based on his own perception, and his perception agreed with the perception of God: He separated from his wife, he broke the tablets, and he added one day to the days of separation before the revelation at Sinai.
פירש מן האשה, מאי דרש? אמר: ומה ישראל, שלא דברה עמהם שכינה אלא לפי שעה, וקבע להם זמן, אמרה תורה: ״אל תגשו אל אשה״ — אני, שמיוחד לדבור בכל שעה ושעה, ולא קבע לי זמן — על אחת כמה וכמה. והסכימה דעתו לדעת המקום, שנאמר: ״לך אמור להם שובו לכם לאהליכם. ואתה פה עמוד עמדי״.
The Talmud clarifies: When Moses separated from his wife after the revelation at Sinai, what did he interpret that led him to do so? He said: If in the case of Israel, with whom the Shekhina spoke only temporarily and for whom God set a specific time for revelation, the Torah stated: “Do not approach a woman” (Exodus 19:15), I, Moses, who am set aside for divine speech all the time and for whom God did not set a specific time, all the more so I must separate from my wife. And his perception agreed with the perception of God, as it is stated after the revelation at Sinai: “Go say to them: Return to your tents; and you, stand here with Me” (Deuteronomy 5:26–27). This indicates that whereas others could return to their homes and normal married life after the revelation at Sinai, Moses was to stay with God and not return to his wife.