Pt1 Rabbinic Advice: Practical Guidance from the Talmud (Pesachim 112a-114a)
R' Akiva's advice to R' Yehoshua (his son); R' Akiva's advice to R' Shimon ben Yoḥai; R' Yehuda HaNasi's advice to His sons; The Dangers of Oxen; Calls used by Workers
This is the first part of a three-part series. The outline is below.
In the rabbinic corpus, practical and ethical teachings represent an intriguing blend of folk wisdom, moral guidance, and situational prudence. But the Talmud does not exist in isolation; its advice emerges from and responds to a broader Greco-Roman context, where philosophical schools, medical traditions, and popular aphorisms also sought to distill practical wisdom for daily living.
The rabbinic teachings in this extended sugya, attributed to major figures like R’ Akiva, R’ Yehuda HaNasi, Rav, and their disciples, cover a wide array of practical topics—from dietary habits and financial dealings to personal safety and marital conduct.
These instructions reflect an awareness of both immediate physical realities (e.g., avoiding dangerous animals or improper food) and broader socio-political dynamics (e.g., evading tax conflicts or living in a city with good leadership).
Outline
R' Akiva's advice to R' Yehoshua (his son): Don’t study in a city’s high point; don’t live in a city governed by Torah scholars; knock before entering your home/others’; never go barefoot; eat early in summer/winter; treat Shabbat like a weekday to avoid reliance; work with the fortunate
R' Akiva's advice to R' Shimon ben Yoḥai: Attribute teachings to reputable authorities; teach from accurate texts; don’t marry a divorcee or widow, to avoid negative sexual comparisons; lend money with land collateral; marry and have children for purity and mitzva fulfillment
Pt1
Pt2
R' Yehuda HaNasi's advice to His sons: Avoid Shekhantziv due to mockers; don’t sit on Aramean women’s beds; don’t evade taxes; avoid oxen exiting marshes
The Dangers of Oxen: Black oxen in Nisan are especially dangerous; stay 50 cubits from innocuous oxen and farther from goring oxen
A List of Four calls used to goad animals (ox, lion, camel) or chanted by boatmen
Abaye's advice: Avoid causes of leprosy: tanner’s hide, eating spring fish, fried fish leftovers, very hot water, eggshells, freshly washed garments
R' Yishmael son of R' Yosei's advice to R' Yehuda HaNasi: Avoid blemishes (legal entanglements); avoid fraudulent offers; delay sex after nida purification until the second night
R' Yosei son of R' Yehuda's advice to R' Yehuda HaNasi: Don’t go out alone at night; don’t stand naked before a candle; don’t enter a new bathhouse until it’s proven safe
Candles, Sex, and Sleeping Arrangements That Cause Epilepsy
Agrat bat Maḥalat and Successive Sages’ Banishment of Demons to the Outskirts of Towns
Rav's advice to Rav Asi: Live where animals provide security; avoid cities with doctor-mayors; avoid marriage to two women (polygamy) or marry a third
Rav's advice to Rav Kahana: Keep promises; work even menial labor; carry food even on short trips; respect even cheap food
Rav's advice to Ḥiyya (his son): Avoid habitual medication; don’t jump ditches; don’t provoke snakes or non-Jews; avoid tooth pulling
Baraita's advice: Don’t provoke small non-Jews, small snakes, or small Torah scholars
Rav's advice to Ayvu (his son): Sell merchandise quickly; never regret selling wine; secure payment before delivery; prioritize small local profits over risky large ones; sell dates quickly to brewers
The Brewer’s Blessing: Wealth and Kindness Through Beer
Men of Jerusalem's advice to R' Yoḥanan: Enter battle last to be able to retreat safely; treat Shabbat as weekday to avoid reliance on others; associate with fortunate individuals
Men of Jerusalem's advice to R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Avoid public disgrace; ensure marriageable daughters are matched even by freeing slaves; be cautious of wife’s fondness for first son-in-law
Divine Praise for Sexual Restraint
Rabba bar bar Ḥana (via R' Yoḥanan)'s advice to R' Yehuda son of R' Elai: Live modestly (e.g., eat onions); avoid luxury foods; prioritize housing expenses over food
Ulla's advice: Luxurious eaters may face creditors; vegetable eaters live humbly but securely
Appendix - Table Summarizing: Person Giving Advice; Person Giving Advice To; Advice
The Passage
R' Akiva's advice to R' Yehoshua (his son): Don’t study in a city’s high point; don’t live in a city governed by Torah scholars; knock before entering your home/others’; never go barefoot; eat early in summer/winter; treat Shabbat like a weekday to avoid reliance; work with the fortunate
A baraita recounts R' Akiva’s advice to his son, R' Yehoshua, on seven matters:1
Don't study at the high point of a city (where passersby may interrupt you).
Don't live in a city governed by Torah scholars.2
Always knock before entering your own home, and especially someone else’s.
Never go barefoot (as it is undignified).3
Eat early in summer to avoid heat and early in winter to build strength against the cold.
Treat Shabbat like a weekday if necessary, to avoid reliance on others.
Work (משתדל) with individuals who are currently lucky4
תנו רבנן:
שבעה דברים צוה רבי עקיבא את רבי יהושע בנו:
בני!
אל תשב בגובהה של עיר ותשנה,
ואל תדור בעיר שראשיה תלמידי חכמים.
ואל תכנס לביתך פתאום, כל שכן לבית חבירך.
ואל תמנע מנעלים מרגליך.
השכם ואכול, בקיץ מפני החמה, ובחורף מפני הצינה.
ועשה שבתך חול, ואל תצטרך לבריות.
והוי משתדל עם אדם שהשעה משחקת לו.
[...]
The Gemara cites the full source of Rabbi’s Akiva statement with regard to Shabbat preparations.
The Sages taught:
R' Akiva commanded R' Yehoshua, his son, about seven matters:
My son,
Don't sit at the high point of a city, where many people pass, and study there, as the passersby will interrupt you.
And Don't live in a city whose leaders are Torah scholars, as they are too busy studying to govern properly.
R' Akiva continued: And Don't enter your house suddenly, without knocking first; all the more so Don't enter the house of another, as he might not be ready to receive you.
And Don't withhold shoes from your feet, as it is disgraceful to go barefoot.
Wake up and eat, in the summer due to the heat, as it is best to eat before it grows hot, and in the winter due to the strength you will need to tolerate the cold.
And make your Shabbat like a weekday and Don't be beholden to other beings.
And exert yourself to join together with a person upon whom the hour smiles, i.e., a successful person.
[...]
R' Akiva's advice to R' Shimon ben Yoḥai: Attribute teachings to reputable authorities; teach from accurate texts; don’t marry a divorcee or widow, to avoid negative sexual comparisons; lend money with land collateral; marry and have children for purity and mitzva fulfillment
Pt1
The Talmud recounts advice R' Akiva gave R' Shimon ben Yoḥai while imprisoned. Initially, R' Shimon requested to be taught Torah, but R' Akiva declined, citing the danger involved.
R' Shimon (jokingly?) said he would report R' Akiva to the authorities,5 prompting R' Akiva to respond with a proverb: "More than the calf wishes to suck, the cow wants to suckle," emphasizing his reluctance was due to danger, not unwillingness.
חמשה דברים צוה רבי עקיבא את רבי שמעון בן יוחי, כשהיה חבוש בבית האסורין.
אמר לו: רבי! למדני תורה,
אמר: איני מלמדך.
אמר לו: אם אין אתה מלמדני, אני אומר ליוחי אבא, ומוסרך למלכות.
אמר לו: בני, יותר ממה שהעגל רוצה לינק פרה רוצה להניק.
אמר לו: ומי בסכנה? והלא עגל בסכנה.
The Gemara continues to cite similar advice dispensed by R' Akiva.
R' Akiva commanded R' Shimon ben Yoḥai to do five matters when R' Akiva was imprisoned.
Beforehand, R' Shimon said to him: Rabbi, teach me Torah.
R' Akiva said to him: I will not teach you, as it is dangerous to do so at the present time.
R' Shimon said to him in jest: If you will not teach me, I will tell Yoḥai my father, and he will turn you over to the government. In other words, I have no means of persuading you; you are already in prison.
R' Akiva said: My son, know that more than the calf wishes to suck, the cow wants to suckle, but I am afraid of the danger.
R' Shimon said to him: And who is in danger? Isn’t the calf in danger, as you are in jail and I am the one at risk?
Pt2
R' Akiva eventually shared five pieces of advice:
“If you wish to strangle yourself, hang yourself on a tall tree” (meaning, one should attribute teachings to reputable authorities for credibility).6
Teach from accurate (מוגה) texts. The Talmud explains that errors in learning are difficult to correct, so one should use reliable materials.
“Don’t cook in a pot in which your friend cooked". The Talmud interprets this as a warning against marrying a divorcee or a widow,7 for reasons related to comparing sex with their new partner with sex with their previous partner:
Divorcee: A divorced man marrying a divorced woman leads to "four minds in the bed" (meaning, that during sex, each will inevitably compare the experience to their previous experiences with their previous partners).8
Widow: “not all fingers are equal”. (“Finger” is a euphemism for penis; meaning, she’ll compare his penis to her deceased husband’s, and potentially find it to be inferior.)
“A mitzva and a ‘great body’ (גוף גדול): eating fruits without payment” (Meaning: Eating fruits without payment refers to lending money with land as collateral, benefiting both lender and borrower).
“A mitzva and a pure body: marrying a woman, and he has children”
אמר לו:
אם בקשת ליחנק — היתלה באילן גדול.
וכשאתה מלמד את בנך — למדהו בספר מוגה.
מאי היא?
אמר רבא, ואיתימא רב משרשיא: בחדתא, שבשתא כיון דעל — על.
לא תבשל בקדירה שבישל בה חבירך.
מאי ניהו — גרושה בחיי בעלה, דאמר מר: גרוש שנשא גרושה — ארבע דעות במטה.
ואי בעית אימא: אפילו באלמנה, לפי שאין כל אצבעות שוות.
מצוה וגוף גדול — אוכל פירות ולא שכר.
מצוה וגוף טהור — נושא אשה ולו בנים.
R' Akiva said to him: If so, I will tell you a few matters.
First of all, if you wish to strangle yourself, hang yourself on a tall tree. This proverb means that if one wants others to accept what he has to say, he should attribute his statement to a great man.
And when you teach your son, teach him from a corrected text.
The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of that statement?
Rava said, and some say Rav Mesharshiya said: R' Akiva was referring to learning a new topic, for once a mistake enters one’s mind, it has entered there and is difficult to put right.
R' Akiva further told R' Shimon ben Yoḥai: Don't cook in a pot in which your colleague cooked his food.
The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of this statement?
The Gemara explains: R' Akiva is referring to marrying a divorced woman in the lifetime of her former husband. As the Master said: If a divorced man marries a divorced woman, there are four minds in the bed during intimacy. Each person thinks about his current and former spouse, which verges on illegitimacy.
And if you wish, say instead that this advice holds true even with regard to marrying a widow, as not all fingers are equal. It is possible that intimate relations with her second husband might not be as pleasing as with the first, leading her to disparage and even hate him.
R' Akiva continued to offer instruction: It is a mitzva and a great material benefit to one’s body to eat fruits without payment. That is, when one lends money and takes land as collateral, deducting from the loan the value of the fruit he eats, both the borrower and the lender benefit from this practice.
One who both performs a mitzva and retains a pure body is one who marries a woman, as his thoughts will remain pure and he will merit to have children.
R' Yehuda HaNasi's advice to His sons: Avoid Shekhantziv due to mockers; don’t sit on Aramean women’s beds; don’t evade taxes; avoid oxen exiting marshes
The Talmud recounts four instructions R' Yehuda HaNasi gave to his sons:
Don’t live in Shekhantziv (שכנציב), Babylonia, as its residents are mockers (ליצני).
Don't sit on an Aramean woman's bed: This directive is given three possible interpretations by the Talmud:
“don’t go to sleep without reciting Shema”
“don’t marry a convert”
Literally avoid sitting on a non-Jewish woman's bed, due to “Rav Pappa's incident” (traditional explanation: the story is that he was falsely accused of infanticide after sitting on a non-Jewish woman's bed).
Don’t evade taxes (תבריח עצמך מן המכס), “lest they find you and confiscate everything you own”
Don’t stand in front of an ox exiting a marsh (אגם), “because Satan dances between its horns” (i.e., an ox is especially dangerous at that time)
ארבעה דברים צוה רבינו הקדוש את בניו:
אל תדור בשכנציב משום דליצני הוו, ומשכו לך בליצנותא.
ואל תשב על מטת ארמית.
איכא דאמרי: דלא תיגני בלא קרית שמע.
ואיכא דאמרי: דלא תינסב גיורתא.
ואיכא דאמרי: ארמאית ממש, ומשום מעשה דרב פפא.
ואל תבריח עצמך מן המכס, דילמא משכחו לך ושקלי מנך כל דאית לך.
ואל תעמוד בפני השור בשעה שעולה מן האגם, מפני שהשטן מרקד בין קרניו.
The Gemara cites more instructions issued by a Sage to his heirs.
Our holy rabbi, R' Yehuda HaNasi, commanded his sons to do four matters:
Don't live in Shekhantziv in Babylonia, because they are mockers. And they will draw you in to their mockery and lead you to abandon your Torah studies.
R' Yehuda HaNasi further commanded his sons: Don't sit on the bed of an Aramean woman. This advice is explained in different ways.
Some say it means that you should not go to sleep without reciting Shema, as a Jew who does this acts like a gentile.
And some say it means that you should not marry a convert, i.e., a Jewish woman who was once an Aramean.
And some say that R' Yehuda HaNasi meant the actual bed of an Aramean woman, and this is due to the concern for a similar outcome to the later incident involving Rav Pappa. The incident in question was as follows: Rav Pappa entered the house of a gentile woman to collect a debt. The woman asked him to sit on her bed until she brought the money. As it turned out, she had placed her dead baby under the bed. Rav Pappa was subsequently accused of killing the baby and was forced to flee the district.
R' Yehuda HaNasi continued: And Don't avoid paying taxes, lest they find you and confiscate everything you own.
And Don't stand before an ox when it emerges from the marsh because Satan dances between its horns, i.e., an ox is particularly menacing at that time.
The Dangers of Oxen: Black oxen in Nisan are especially dangerous; stay 50 cubits from innocuous oxen and farther from goring oxen
The Talmud discusses the dangers of (horned) oxen and provides teachings on maintaining safety around them:
R’ Shmuel qualifies R' Yehuda HaNasi’s final warning in the previous section (#4), on the danger of a horned ox, as specifically referring to a black ox during the days of Nisan (spring) (which is considered especially dangerous).
Rav Oshaya advises staying fifty cubits away from an innocuous ox (שור תם - i.e. which has little to no history of goring) and keep beyond eyeshot from a forewarned ox (שור מועד - i.e. which has a history of goring).
R' Meir advises (hyperbolically) fleeing to a roof and removing the ladder to escape even (a seemingly harmless) ox eating from its basket (דיקולא).
אמר רבי שמואל: בשור שחור, וביומי ניסן.
תני רב אושעיא: מרחיקין משור תם — חמשים אמה, משור מועד — כמלא עיניו.
תנא משמיה דרבי מאיר: ריש תורא בדיקולא — סק לאיגרא ושדי דרגא מתותך.
R' Shmuel said: This is referring to a black ox, and specifically during the days of Nisan, when the ox is most dangerous.
Rav Oshaya teaches with regard to the same issue: One distances himself fifty cubits from an innocuous ox [shor tam], an ox with no consistent history of causing damage with the intent to injure. From a forewarned ox [shor muad], an ox whose owner was forewarned because his ox already gored a person three times, one distances himself until it is beyond eyeshot.
A Sage taught, citing the name of R' Meir, in an exaggerated vein: Even if the head of the ox is in its food basket, go up to the roof and kick the ladder out from underneath you to escape from it.
A List of Four calls used to goad animals (ox, lion, camel) or chanted by boatmen
Rav notes specific calls (ניזהא) used to goad specific animals, or chanted by boatmen:
Ox: "hen hen!"
Lion: "zeh zeh!"
Camel: "da da!"
Boat (ארבא - i.e. boatmen): A series of chants: "heleni, hayya, hela; hilook, hulya!"9
אמר רב:
ניזהא דתורא — ״הן הן״.
ניזהא דאריה — ״זה זה״.
ניזהא דגמלא — ״דא דא״.
ניזהא דארבא — ״הילני הייא הילא, והילוק הוליא״.
Rav said:
The cry that one says to lead an ox is hen hen.
The cry to lead a lion is zeh zeh.
The cry to lead a camel is da da.
The cry to laborers using ropes to pull a ship along a river is heleni, hayya, hela, vehilook, hulya.
The explanations in parentheses are those given by Steinsaltz, based on traditional commentaries.
Steinsatlz explains: as they may neglect governance due to their studies.
In contrast, consider Plato's well-known concept of the philosopher-king as the ideal ruler. See Wikipedia, “Philosopher king“:
The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's Republic, written around 375 BC.
Plato argued that the ideal state – one which ensured the maximum possible happiness for all its citizens – could only be brought into being by a ruler possessed of absolute knowledge, obtained through philosophical study.
From the Middle Ages onwards, Islamic and Jewish authors expanded on the theory, adapting it to suit their own conceptions of the perfect ruler […]
The translation into Hebrew of the works of Al-Farabi and Averroes saw the concept of the philosopher king enter into Jewish political thought. Biblical figures such as Moses, Abraham and Solomon were held up as examples of ideal rulers, with Plato's theory undergoing further distortions in order to meet the needs of Jewish philosophers.
The popularity of the idea finally declined during the seventeenth century, as influential authors such as Baruch Spinoza began to formulate more secular political philosophies modelled on the works of Machiavelli.
Alternative interpretation: It’s dangerous. See later in the sugya, on the danger of walking in a house barefoot, as snake bones might pierce the foot (I quote this passage in a footnote in my recent piece, here):
אמר רב פפא:
ביתא דאית ביה שונרא
לא ניעול בה איניש בלא מסני.
מאי טעמא —
משום דשונרא קטיל לחיויא ואכיל ליה,
ואית ביה בחיויא גרמי קטיני,
ואי יתיב לה גרמא דחיויא אכרעיה —
לא נפיק, ואסתכן ליה.
Rav Pappa said:
With regard to a house in which there is a cat,
a person should not enter there barefoot.
What is the reason?
Because the cat might kill a snake and eat it,
and the snake has small bones (גרמי),
and if a small bone gets into one’s foot
it cannot be removed, and he will be in danger.
שהשעה משחקת לו - literally: “those upon whom the hour smiles”.
Compare the extended talmudic sugya about R’ Shimon’s son, who collaborated with the Roman authorities to apprehend individuals wanted by them. This may indicate that the (joking? half-joking?) threat to inform on Rabbi Akiva to the Roman authorities had some basis in reality. See Wikipedia, “Eleazar ben Simeon“, section “Biography“ (primarily based on the aggadic sugya in Bava_Metzia.83b.5-13):
Though wanted in his youth by the Roman government, later on Eleazar worked on behalf of the Roman government as a security and public order commissioner.
This made him very unpopular, and one of the rabbis remonstrated with him, saying, "Vinegar product of wine [= "Degenerate son of a distinguished father"], how long will you continue to deliver the people of God to the hangman?"
Eleazar, however, continued in office, justifying himself by saying, "I only weed out thistles [i.e. evil men] from the vineyard."
His mentor answered that the weeding ought to be left to the proprietor of the vineyard—that is, that God Himself would visit punishment on the idlers and evildoers.
Later in life he regretted the part he had taken under the hated government, and is said to have imposed on himself the most painful penance.
His wife even divorced him because the financial cost of caring for his ailments was draining her family wealth, though after this Eleazar was able to support himself due to the timely arrival of sixty sailors bearing gifts for him.
See my piece at my Academia page on the interpretations of this line, some of which were historically used to justify deceit and forgery: ““Ha’Rotzeh Lichanek, Hitaleh B’Ilan Gadol”: Notes on some Literary forgeries of Jewish works in the Late Modern Period (1756-1965)“, pp. 1-2.
On the metaphor of “cook” for sex, see my piece here on the common talmudic metaphor of sex as food.
Compare my previous piece quoting the Talmud advising against thinking of another woman while having sex: “Pt2 Talmudic Perspectives on Marital Sex: Behaviors, Consequences, and Ethics (Nedarim 20a-b)“, section “Don’t have sex with one woman while thinking about another woman“:
״ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם״,
מכאן אמר רבי: אל ישתה אדם בכוס זה ויתן עיניו בכוס אחר.
The verse states: “And that you not go about after your own heart” (Numbers 15:39).
R' Yehuda HaNasi said that it is derived from here that a man should not drink from this cup while setting his eyes on another cup, i.e., one should not engage in sexual intercourse with one woman while thinking about another woman.
Notably, the metaphor of sex as food (“drinking from cup”) is used there as well.
Compare Work song - Wikipedia:
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either one sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) [...]
And ibid., section “Sea shanties“:
Work songs sung by sailors between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries are known as sea shanties. These songs were typically performed while adjusting the rigging, raising anchor, and other tasks where men would need to pull in rhythm.
These songs usually have a very punctuated rhythm precisely for this reason, along with a call-and-answer format.
Well before the nineteenth century, sea songs were common on rowing vessels. Such songs were also very rhythmic in order to keep the rowers together.