If one says: "May the good (i.e., the righteous) bless You," this is the way of heresy. [For Israel must include the sinners among them in the assembly of their fasts. For though galbanum (chelbenah) has a foul odor, Scripture included it among the spices of the incense.] If one says: "To a nest of birds, let Your mercies extend," [i.e., as Your mercies extended to birds and You decreed (Deuteronomy 22:6): "You shall not take the mother-bird together with the young," so be compassionate and merciful to us], he is to be silenced. [For he makes the mitzvoth of the Holy One Blessed be He functions of mercy, whereas they are nothing else but decrees (of the King to His subjects)]. Or (if he says:) "For (Your) good let Your name be remembered," [the implication being: We shall acknowledge You for good (but not for evil)], he is to be silenced. [For we must bless for the evil as well as for the good.] Or (if he says:) "We thank you," We thank you," [the impression being given that two deities are being acknowledged and accepted], he is to be silenced. If one expounds [the section on] illicit relations figuratively, [e.g., If he interprets the interdict against living with one's father and mother as an exhortation against revealing their shame in public], he is to be silenced. If one interprets (Leviticus 18:21): "And from your seed you shall not give to pass (through fire) to Moloch" as: "Do not give of your seed for impregnation to Aramatism" [i.e., Do not live with a gentile woman and beget a son for idolatry], he is to be silenced with a sharp rebuke. [For he uproots the verse from its (true) meaning and makes one who lives with a gentile woman liable for kareth (cutting-off) if he does so wilfully, and for a sin-offering if he does so unwittingly.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
יברכוך טובים הרי זו דרך מימות – the Jewish people must combine with them Jewish sinners in union of their fasts, for the galbanum’s smell is evil and the Bible counts it among one of the ingredients of the frankincense (so are the wicked with the righteous combined in prayer – see Talmud Keritot 6a and the Shabbat Siddur after the prayer Ein Kelohenu).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
Introduction
This mishnah continues to identify heretical behavior. In yesterday’s mishnah we saw heretical behavior involving what a person wears, be it clothing, footwear or tefillin. In today’s mishnah we see heretical behavior involving things a person says while leading the prayers or translating the Torah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
על קן צפור יגיעו רחמיך – (see also Mishnah Berakhot, 5:3) just as your mercies reach the nest of the bird, and you decreed (Deuteronomy 22:6): “do not take the mother with her young,” so too, you should have consideration and compassion upon us. We silence him for he performs the commandments of the LORD as [acts of] compassion but they are not other than decrees.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
If one says “May the good bless you,” this is the way of heresy. The heresy here seems to be one of dualism. Saying “May the good bless you” sounds as if there are two gods, one that governs the good and one that governs the bad. This was a common theology at the time of the Mishnah, especially among groups dubbed “Gnostics” by modern scholars. The rabbis were insistent that one God was responsible for both evil and good.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
ועל הטוב יזכר שמך – On Your goodness, we will give thanks to You – we silence him, for we are required to praise God for the evil [that befalls us] (see Mishnah Berakhot, 9:5), just as we praise God for the good [that occurs to us].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
[If one says], “May Your mercy reach the nest of a bird,” “May Your name be mentioned for the good,” “We give thanks, we give thanks,” they silence him. There are three “heretical” saying in this mishnah. I’ll try to explain them one at a time. The mishnah says that for each “they silence him.” This implies that the mishnah is describing one who “passes before the ark,” meaning one who leads the Amidah prayer. If he tries to enter in one of these prayers they remove him as prayer leader. ““May Your mercy reach the nest of a bird:” This line is explained in the Talmud in several different ways. One is that he is complaining to God saying, “Your mercy is on the nest of this bird” but not on me. God commanded shooing away the mother bird before taking the young, an act of mercy for the mother (Deuteronomy 22:6). The person praying complains that God has not shown similar mercy to him. A different explanation is that this saying understands God’s commandments as being only about mercy, when really they are decrees which we are to obey without questioning their reasoning. Another explanation is that he says “Your mercy reaches only to this nest” but cannot extend any further. In such a way he limits God’s power. “May Your name be mentioned for the good:” This implies that God’s name should not be connected with the bad or the evil. As in the first section, this might imply some sort of dualism we thank God for the good and don’t mention the evil because its source is a different god. “We give thanks, we give thanks:” Again the problem seems to be one of dualism giving thanks twice sounds like it is being given to two different gods. However, in this section the dualism may not be of a good god and a bad god, but simply two gods. There were ancient sects of Jews (including Christians) who while professing monotheism, gave divine roles to other characters, such as God’s word (the Logos), God’s spirit or Jesus.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
מודים מודים – for it appears as two Powers (see Mishnah Berakhot, 5:3), that he gives thanks and accepts upon himself two deities.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
One who uses euphemisms in the portion dealing with forbidden marriages, he is silenced. Leviticus 18:7 says, “you shall not uncover the nakedness of your father.” If a person translates this as “you shall not uncover the nakedness of his father,” in an attempt to use a more innocuous third person, he is silenced. The translation of the Torah is to be literal, and even in the section concerning forbidden relations.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
המכנה בעריות – for he expounds upon the portion of illicit sexual relationships (i.e., Leviticus chapter 18) in the language of substituted words/attributes. For he says that the Written [Torah] did not speak about illicit sexual relationships specifically, but rather that he should not reveal the prostitution/disgrace of his father and his mother in public.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
If he says, [instead of] “And you shall not give any of your seed to be passed to Moloch,” (Leviticus 18:21) “You shall not give [your seed] to pass to a Gentile woman,” he silenced with a rebuke. The Torah prohibits “passing one’s child to Moloch.” Some ancient translators understood this as a prohibition against impregnating or having sexual relations with a Gentile (Aramean) woman or perhaps against giving one’s child to a Gentile to raise. Since passing one’s child to Moloch is a capital crime, this might imply that having sexual relations with is a capital crime. Therefore the rabbis insisted upon a literal translation of the verse.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
ומזרעך לא תתן לאעברא לארמיותא – do not come upon a non-Jewish woman sexually so that she would give birth to a child for idolatry.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
משתקין אותו בנזיפה – for the Biblical verse from its implied meaning, and gives [the punishment] of extirpation for someone engaged in sexual relations with a non-Jewish woman, and obligating him for a sin offering in the case of inadvertent transgression.
