R. Shimon b. Menassia sagt: Was ist (ein Beispiel für) "Die Krummen können nicht begradigt werden"? Mit einer der illegalen Verwandten leben und einen Mamzer durch sie zeugen [P'sulin (ungeeignete) nach Israel bringen, die ihm eine "Erinnerung" sind]—im Gegensatz zu Raub und Diebstahl, wo eine Rückerstattung erfolgen kann [dh er kann das, was gestohlen wurde, an die Eigentümer zurückgeben und von seiner Sünde "korrigiert" werden.] R. Shimon b. Yochai sagt: Man wird nur dann "krumm" genannt, wenn er gerade war und krumm wurde. Sowie? Ein Tora-Gelehrter, der sich von der Tora trennte.
Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
והוליד ממנה ממזר – that he brought those ineligible into the Jewish people and they [remain] for him as a memory, therefore, his sin is not erased through [acts of] repentance.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Introduction
The end of yesterday’s mishnah brought a quote from Ecclesiastes 1:15 about a wrong that cannot be corrected. Our mishnah continues to discuss this verse.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chagigah
יכול הוא שיחזיר – the monies of his theft and robbery to the owners and it will be repaired from his the sin.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Who is “a twisted thing that cannot be made straight?” He who has intercourse with a forbidden relation and bears by her a mamzer. Should you say that it applies to a thief or robber, he is able to restore [the stolen object] and make straight. Most transgressions can be “made straight,” that is to say they can be fixed. The damage is not irreparable. However, when a man has intercourse with a woman forbidden to him and they have a child, that child is a mamzer for life, there is nothing he can do to get out of this status. He/she will forever be a mamzer, restricted in marriage. Other sins such as stealing can be repaired by returning the stolen object.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chagigah
Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: They only call something “twisted” if it was straight at first and then became twisted. And who is this? A disciple of the sages who forsakes the Torah. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai reads the verse slightly differently. The verse does not relate simply to a wrong that cannot be corrected. Something is only considered to be twisted if it was originally straight. A mamzer was born “twisted” and hence is not referred to in the verse. Rather the verse refers to a Torah scholar who rejects his Torah learning. He was straight when he was dedicated to a life of Torah and became twisted when he separated from that life. The Talmud on this mishnah contains many of the legends about the famous Elisha ben Abuyah, the great Torah sage who later rejected his learning, professing, “there is no law and no judge.” For a very interesting read, one which illuminates the mishnaic period better than any book I know, check out Milton Steinberg’s “As A Driven Leaf.”
