## Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta Chapter 8

###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:1
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:1)

הוי רך כקנה שהרוח נושבת בו לכל רוח שתרצה שאין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שרוחו נמוכה עליו למה נמשלה תורה למים לומר לך מה דרכו של מים אינן הולכין למקום גבוה אלא למקום נמוך כך אין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שרוחו נמוכה עליו:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Be pliable like the reed upon which the wind can blow from every direction it chooses;¹ for the Torah can only endure with him who is humble in spirit.
Why is the Torah likened to water?². It is to teach you that as water does not flow [from a lower] to a higher level but [from a higher level] to a lower, so the Torah endures only with him who is humble in spirit.³

footnotes:
¹ Cf. DER IV, p. 545.
² Cf. Isa. 55, 1, Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye for water
³ It flows away from him who is haughty; cf. Ta‘an. 7a (Sonc. ed., p. 27).


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:2
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:2)

הרחק מן הכיעור ומן הדומה לו וקרב לדבר המתקבל ולכל הדומה לו והוי זהיר מהיועצך לפי דרכו

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Keep aloof from anything hideous and from whatever resembles it,⁴ and draw near to what [59*a*] is becoming and all that resembles it. Beware of one who counsels you in his own interest.⁵

footnotes:
⁴ Cf. Ḥul. 44b (Sonc. ed., p. 239) and ARN II, 2, p. 18.
⁵ lit. ‘in his own way’; cf. Sanh. 76b (Sonc. ed., p. 517).


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:3
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:3)

וכל המעביר על מדותיו מעבירין לו על כל פשעיו שנאמר (מיכה ז׳:י״ח) מי אל כמוך נושא עון ועובר על פשע למי נושא עון למי שעובר על פשע:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Who waives his right to retribution⁶ is forgiven all his sins, as it is stated, *Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression*,⁷ [which means,] who is forgiven iniquity? He who passed by transgression [against himself].⁸

footnotes:
⁶ lit. ‘passes by his measures’, i.e. forgoes his right to exact punishment.
⁷ Micah 7, 18.
⁸ Cf. R.H. 17a (Sonc. ed., p. 67).


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:4
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:4)

כל המתנבל בדברי תורה סופו להתנשא בה שנאמר (משלי ל׳:ל״ב) אם נבלת בהתנשא. אם נבלת בדברי תורה בהתנשא

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Whoever abases [*mithnabbel*] himself in connection with words of Torah⁹ will in the end be exalted on its account, as it is stated *If thou hast done foolishly* [*nabalta*] *in lifting up thyself*,¹⁰ [which means,] if you have abased yourself for words of the Torah, in the end you will be exalted.

footnotes:
⁹ i.e. is not ashamed to ask questions which may at first sound foolish; cf. Ber. 63b (Sonc. ed., p. 402).
¹⁰ Prov. 30, 32.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:5
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:5)

שכל המתנבל על ד״ת מוסיפין לו חכמה על חכמתו שנאמר (שם ט) תן לחכם ויחכם עוד.

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
He who seeks [knowledge of] the Torah, added wisdom will be given to him,¹¹ as it is stated, *Give to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser*.¹² IX, 9.

footnotes:
¹¹ Following the emended text of GRA.
¹² ibid.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:6
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:6)

כל זמן שאדם חוטא מורא הבריות עליו וכל זמן שאינו חוטא מוראו על הבריות.

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
So long as a person is a sinner he has fear of his fellow-creatures; but so long as he is not a sinner his fellow-creatures have fear of him.¹³

footnotes:
¹³ They are afraid of his knowing about their guilt.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:7
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:7)

וכל המזלזל בדבר אחד בד״ת חייב כרת שנ׳ (במדבר טו) כי דבר ה׳ בזה.

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Whoever makes light of a single point of the Torah is liable to *kareth*, as it is stated, *Because he hath despised the word of the Lord … that soul shall utterly be cut off*.¹⁴ And he who makes light of the [precept of] washing the hands will be uprooted from the world.¹⁵

footnotes:
¹⁴ Num. 15, 31.
¹⁵ Added by GRA. Cf. Soṭah 4b (Sonc. ed., p. 16).


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:8
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:8)

כל שאין לו בושת פנים במהרה [הוא] חוטא. שנא׳ (ישעיהו ג׳:ט׳) הכרת פניהם ענתה בם. וכל שיש לו בושת פנים לא במהרה [הוא] חוטא שנאמר (שמות כ׳:י״ז) ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם לבלתי תחטאו:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
Whoever is not shamefaced will readily sin, as it is stated, *The show of their countenance doth witness against them;*¹⁶ but he who experiences shame¹⁷ will not readily sin, as it is stated, [*And Moses said unto the people: ‘Fear not; for God is come to prove you*] *and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not*.¹⁸

footnotes:
¹⁶ Isa. 3, 9.
¹⁷ i.e. who is not callous, but is self-conscious when he is doing wrong.
¹⁸ Ex. 20, 17; cf. Ned. 20a (Sonc. ed., p. 57).


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:9
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:9)

(כל ת״ח המזלזל בנט״י ה״ז מגונה. מגונה ממנו) האוכל לפני האורח . מגונה ממנו אורח מכניס אורח. מגונה ממנו האוכל לפני ת״ח. אורח המטריח אורח מגונה משלשתן. ר״מ אומר הנוטל מלפניו ונותן לבן בעל הבית. מעשה היה והרג בעל הבית את בנו.

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
It is unbecoming for a host to eat in the presence of his guest [without inviting him to join him]; it is more unbecoming for one guest to bring in another guest;¹⁹ it is still more unbecoming when one eats in the presence of a scholar. More unbecoming than these three is for a guest to cause trouble to another guest.²⁰ R. Meir said: [Most unbecoming of all is] he who takes [food] set before him and gives it to the host’s child; for it once happened that [through such an action] a host killed his child.²¹

footnotes:
¹⁹ Cf. B.B. 98b (Sonc. ed., p. 410), a saying attributed to Ben Sira.
²⁰ GRA reads ‘his host’.
²¹ Cf. DER IX, 3, p. 559.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:10
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:10)

כל המשפיל את עצמו מכוין את שמועתו וכל העובר על דברי חכמים חייב כרת וכל הפוסל פסול. אר״ע כך היה תחילת תשמישי לפני חכמים פעם אחת הייתי מהלך בדרך ומצאתי מת מצוה ונטפלתי בו בארבע׳ מילין עד שהבאתיו למקום בית הקברות וקברתיו וכשבאתי והרציתי דברים לפני ר״א ור' יהושע אמרו לי כל פסיעה ופסיעה שפסעת מעלה עליך כאילו היית שופך דמים אמרו להם למה בשעה שנתכוונתי לזכות נתחייבתי כרשע בשעה שלא נתכוונתי על אחת כמה וכמה באותה שעה לא זזתי מלשמש לחכמים הוא היה אומר דלא שימש לחכמים קטלא חייב:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
He who humbles himself will understand his instruction and whoever transgresses the words of the Sages deserves *kareth*.²² Whoever [continually] declares [others] unfit is [himself] unfit.²³
R. ‘Aḳiba said: The beginning of my attendance upon the Sages²⁴ was this. I was once on a journey when I came across a *meth miẓwah* which I carried about four *mil* until I brought it to a cemetery and buried it there. When I appeared before R. Eliezer and R. Joshua and told them what had happened, they said to me, ‘Every step you took is reckoned against you as if you had shed blood’.²⁵ I said to them, ‘If, in a case where I intended to perform a meritorious act I have made myself liable like a wicked person, how much more [will I deserve punishment] when I have no [meritorious] intention! From that moment I did not let an opportunity pass to minister to the Sages’.²⁶ He used to say: One who does not minister to the Sages deserves death.

footnotes:
²² GRA reads: ‘He who attends upon scholars comprehends his instruction, and whoever does not comprehend his instruction deserves death’.
²³ Cf. DER I, 12, p. 535.
²⁴ Cf. Semaḥoth IV, 16, above p. 342.
²⁵ He should have buried the corpse where he found it.
²⁶ He learned by associating with scholars.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:11
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:11)

הכניסן למרחץ בתחילה מעביר מסוהב ואח״כ מעביר את המנעלים ואח״כ מעביר את המכנסיים ואח״כ מפשיט את החלוק:

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
He who enters a bath-house should first remove his cloak, then the shoes, then the trousers and then the shirt.²⁷

footnotes:
²⁷ This rendering is in accordance with GRA and H. V reads: ‘If [the pupil] brought [the Sages] into a bath-house, he should first remove the cloak’, etc., referring to the duty to minister to the learned.


###### Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:12
[Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta 8:12](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tractate%20Derekh%20Eretz%20Zuta/r/8:12)

הנכנס למרחץ נותן כבוד ליוצא. והיוצא מן בית הכסא נותן כבוד לנכנס: 
 עד כאן מן המחזור וויטרי

**The Minor Tractates of the Talmud, trans. A. Cohen, London: Soncino Press, 1965:**
He who is about to enter a bath-house should respect²⁸ the one who is about to leave,²⁹ and the one who is about to leave a privy must respect the one who is about to enter.³⁰

footnotes:
²⁸ By giving way.
²⁹ By not hurrying him unduly
³⁰ He must hurry so as not to keep the other waiting; cf. DER X, 2, p. 561.