daf bit: Niddah 17

[cellio]

The rabbis are discussing bad traits and dangerous activities. R. Shimon b. Yochai said: the following things cause a man who does them to forfeit his life and his blood is upon his own head: eating peeled garlic, onions, or eggs or drinking diluted liquids, if any of them were kept overnight; spending a night in a graveyard; cutting his nails and throwing them away in a public thoroughfare (and some others). For the garlic etc, this is because an evil spirit might descend upon them, but it's ok if they're stored with their peels. The graveyard: because he might be exposed to danger. And the nails: because a pregnant woman passing over them would miscarry, but this applies only if he used scissors. (17a)

My edition doesn't further explain any of these. All cultures have superstitions; I guess these are some of the ones of this time.

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

Are any of these still observed by modern groups, or is this pure history?

[richardf8]

Well, not letting peeled garlic, onions or eggs sit overnight prior to eating is pretty elementary food safety. So I think we follow it today. Our concerns are more about microbiology than demonology, but then, it has always seemed to me that demonology is the talmudic era's disease theory.

[fauxklore]

I am not sure if it is related, but I recall my great aunt (and most likely my grandmother) having a horrible superstition about clipped nails. If I recall correctly, she burned her nail clippings so nobody could get them to use against her.

[cellio]

When I posted this I thought the latter, but today I learned that some people today are careful with fingernail clippings because of this.

[cellio]

The g'mara on this same page says: Three things have been said about the disposal of nails: He who burns them is a pious man, he who buries them is a righteous man, and he who throws them away is a wicked man. (It follows the miscarriage thing but does not explicitly cite it.)

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

Looking at it again, the one that really makes me scratch my head is that spending a night in a graveyard would expose him to danger, so his life is forfeit.

I suspect the danger is to more than just his life?

One possibility that came to mind is that a Jew caught spending the night in a graveyard would be likely to be accused of some variant of blood libel, thus endangering the community as well as himself. But that explanation wouldn't fit with the theme, here.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

So did my father-in-law. Well, I don't know what reason he had for it. He was born in a shtetl in Poland and came over after WWII.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

I suspect a misleading or confusing translation. You and I both read "his life is forfeit" as implying that he is subject to the death penalty, but I think what's meant is that he has put his own life at risk, and if he dies it's nobody's fault but his own. As cellio put it just afterwards, "his blood is upon his own head".

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

See my reply (http://cellio.livejournal.com/927789.html?thread=6864173#t6864173) to fauxklore below.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I have at least one friend who does not drink from a glass of water left uncovered overnight (interestingly, not a member of a right-wing religious group either). When asked, he cited something in the Gemara about avoiding the possibility of a snake having poisoned it.

[cellio]

I agree with this interpretation. I don't think we're talking about penalties but about consequences.