## Avot DeRabbi Natan Chapter 19

###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:1
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/19:1)

עקביא בן מהללאל אומר כל הנותן ארבעה דברים אל לבו שוב אינו חוטא מאין הוא בא ולאן הוא הולך ומה עתיד להיות ומי הוא דיינו [מאין הוא בא ממקום חושך ולאן הולך למקום חושך ואפילה ומה עתיד להיות עפר רמה ותולעה ומי הוא דיינו] מלך מלכי המלכים הקב׳׳ה:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
‘Aḳabya b. Mahalalel said: Whosoever takes four things to heart¹, pp. 159f, where the maxim of ‘Aḳabya is described as ‘this unequivocal denial of personal immortality’. See also DER III, 1 (below, p. 543) where the saying is quoted as in the present text in the name of Ben ‘Azzai. will never sin: whence he came, whither he is going, what he is destined to become, and who is his Judge. ‘Whence he came’—from a place of darkness; ‘whither he is going’—to a place of thick darkness; ‘what he is destined to become’—dust, worms and maggots; ‘and who is his Judge’—the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

footnotes:
¹ Cf. Aboth 3:1 (Sonc. ed., p. 26) where the more popular version reads: ‘Consider three things’, etc., omitting the third item, ‘what he is destined to become—dust, worms and maggots’ as being heterodox in outlook; cf. Finkelstein, Akiba: Scholar, Saint and Martyr


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:2
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/19:2)

רבי שמעון אומר בא ממקום חושך וחוזר למקום חושך בא מטיפה סרוחה ממקום שאין העין יכולה לראות ומה עתיד להיות עפר רמה ותולעה שנא׳ (איוב כ״ה:ו׳) אף כי אנוש רמה [ובן אדם תולעה רבי אלעזר בן יעקב אומר רמה] בחייו ובן אדם תולעה במותו איזה רמה בחייו [זה כינים] ובן אדם תולעה במותו זה שמרחיש במותו:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
R. Simeon said: Man came from a place of darkness and returns to a place of darkness. He came from a fetid drop, from a place which no eye can behold. And what is he destined to become? Dust, worms and maggots, as it is stated, *How much less man, that is a worm! and the son of man, that is a maggot!*² R. Eleazar b. Jacob said: *Man that is a worm* when alive, *and the son of man that is a maggot* when dead. In what sense is he a worm when alive? By reason of the lice [which infest him]. And a maggot when dead? By reason of the creeping things which he generates when dead.

footnotes:
² Job 25, 6.


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:3
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/19:3)

ר״ש בן אלעזר אומר אמשול לך משל למה הדבר דומה למלך שבנה פלטרין גדולים וישב בכולם וביב של בורסקי עוברת בתוכה ונופל על פתחה כל עובר ושב אומר כמה נאה ומשובח פלטין זו אלמלא ביב של בורסקי לא היתה עוברת בתוכה. אף כך אדם דומה ומה אם עכשיו שמוציאין ממעיו מעין סרוח כך מתגאה על הבריות אם היה מוציא מעין של שמן טוב אפרסמון ופלייטין על אחת כמה וכמה שיתגאה על הבריות:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
R. Simeon b. Eleazar said: I will illustrate it to you by a parable. To what can the matter be compared? To a king who built a large palace in which he resided,³ but the waste-pipe of a tannery ran through it and emptied itself at the entrance. Every passer-by exclaimed, ‘How beautiful and magnificent would that palace be if the waste-pipe of the tannery did not run through it!’ Just so is it with man; and if in his present state, when from his entrails issue fetid streams,⁴ he lords it over all creatures, how much more would he lord it over all creatures if there were to issue from him streams of fine oil, balsam and spikenard!

footnotes:
³ According to a variant reading: ‘which he elaborately adorned’. GRA reads ‘magnificent in every detail’. V has ‘large palaces’.
⁴ The natural secretions.


###### Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:4
[Avot DeRabbi Natan 19:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Avot%20DeRabbi%20Natan/r/19:4)

כשחלה ר״א נכנסו תלמידיו לבקרו וישבו לפניו אמרו לו רבינו למדנו דבר אחד ממה שלמדתנו אמר להם (מה אלמד אתכם) צאו והזהרו איש בכבוד חברו ובשעה שאתם מתפללין דעו לפני מי אתם עומדים להתפלל שמתוך דבר זה תזכו לחיי העוה״ב אמר רבי אלעזר בן עזריה חמשה דברים למדנו מרבי אליעזר ושמחנו בהן יותר ממה ששמחנו בהן בחיינו אלו הן [כסת] עגולה והכדור והאימום והקמיע והתפלה שנקרעה שאמרת לנו מה הן אמר להם טמאים הם והזהרו בהן והטבילו אותן כמה שהן שהלכות קבועות שנאמרו לו למשה בסיני:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
When R. Eliezer fell ill, his disciples came to visit him. They sat before him and said, ‘Master, tell us in one word what you have taught us’.⁵ He replied, ‘What shall I tell you? Go forth and be mindful of the honour of your fellow-man, and when you pray know before Whom you are standing and praying. Then will you merit the life of the world to come’.
R. Eleazar said: Five things did we learn from R. Eliezer [on that day], and they afforded us greater pleasure than all that we had enjoyed from him in his lifetime, and they are as follows: If a round cushion, a ball, a shoemaker’s last, an amulet or a phylactery, about which you spoke to us, were torn, what would be the law?⁶ filled, the Sage held the view that they are not considered to be vessels with receptacles and consequently cannot be ritually defiled. R. Eliezer, however, was of the opinion that since the filling was removable, they were to be considered vessels with receptacles and could contract defilement. Furthermore, if any one of the enumerated articles were torn the opinion was unanimous that it could contract defilement, because some of the filling must have fallen out and in consequence a receptacle was formed. If, in the circumstances stated, the article became unclean, there was a further argument between R. Eliezer and the Sages whether it was necessary to remove *all* the filling before immersion took place. The Sages held the view that this must be done otherwise the immersion would be invalid, since the filling interposed between the vessel and the water. R. Eliezer, on the other hand, ruled that it could be immersed as it was without the removal of the filling. R. Eliezer here put forward his views as ancient traditional rulings. Cf. Kel. XXIII, 1 (Sonc. ed., p. 110). The answer he gave was: They can contract uncleanness so be careful with them; and [if unclean] they may be immersed as they are. These laws are well established, for they were communicated to Moses on Mount Sinai.⁷

footnotes:
⁵ lit. ‘teach us one word of what you have taught us’. In the master’s last hours the disciples enquire of him the epitome of his wisdom and experience. In the parallel passage, Ber. 28b (Sonc. ed., p. 173), the text reads: ‘Teach us the ways of life’.
⁶ The five articles enumerated have in common that they are made of leather and are permanently filled with stuffing. It is established law that an article of leather can contract defilement only if it is a receptacle, i.e. it has a cavity in which it can hold things. Since the articles here listed are permanently
⁷ For textual variants of this passage, cf. below XXV 2 (p. 171), Sanh. 68a (Sonc. ed., pp. 462f) and DER III, end (below p. 544).