Wine, Wordplay, and Wedding Tensions: Bar Kappara’s Queries Regarding Biblical Denunciations and R' Yehuda HaNasi’s Unwilling Dance (Nedarim 51a)
Bar Kappara’s Riddles: Exploring Biblical Language Through Playful Provocation
Outline
Intro: Bar Kappara’s Playful Banter to R’ Yehuda HaNasi’s Daughter Before a Family Wedding
“To’eva” (abomination) - Bar Kappara's Etymology
“Tevel” (perversion)
“Zimma” (lewdness)
Conclusion: Ben-Elasa and His Wife Depart the Wedding in Response to Bar Kappara’s Apparent Humiliation of R’ Yehuda HaNasi
Intro
Bar-Kappara (בר קפרא) engaged in a playful but provocative exchange with R' Yehuda HaNasi at a wedding hosted by the latter, querying him to explain terms from Leviticus regarding prohibited sexual relations.
Bar Kappara repeatedly challenged R' Yehuda HaNasi to interpret biblical words; specifically: to’eva (תועבה - abomination), tevel (perversion), and zimma (lewdness).
Each time, he refuted R' Yehuda HaNasi's interpretations and demanded menial acts—having R' Yehuda HaNasi's wife serve him wine and R' Yehuda HaNasi himself to dance—before revealing his own explanations, which were wordplays on the Hebrew terms.
Bar Kappara’s interpretations:
To’eva means "You are straying after it" (to’e ata bah).
Tevel referrs to the lack of any unique appeal (tevalin or spices) in the forbidden act.
Zimma translates to "What is she?" (zo ma hi), reflecting the confusion in relationships resulting from incestuous unions.
This all upset his son-in-law, Ben-Elasa,1 who left the wedding with his wife in protest.
The Passage
Intro: Bar Kappara’s Playful Banter to R’ Yehuda HaNasi’s Daughter Before a Family Wedding
Bar Kappara playfully told R' Yehuda HaNasi’s daughter that he would enjoy wine at her father's celebratory dancing (ריקודא) and her mother's singing (קירקני). This occurred in the context of a wedding hosted by R' Yehuda HaNasi for his son, R' Shimon (רבי שמעון ברבי), to which the wealthy son-in-law Ben Elasa was invited.
אמר לה בר קפרא לברתיה דרבי:
למחר,
שתינא חמרא בריקודא דאבוך,
ובקירקני דאמך.
בן אלעשה חתניה דרבי הוה, ועשיר גדול הוה.
אזמניה לבי הילולא דרבי שמעון ברבי.
The Gemara relates another story.
Bar Kappara said to the daughter of R' Yehuda HaNasi, whose husband’s name was ben Elasa:
Tomorrow
I will drink wine at your father’s dancing
and your mother’s singing [kirekanei].
Ben Elasa was the son-in-law of R' Yehuda HaNasi and was a very wealthy man.
R' Yehuda HaNasi invited him to the wedding of R' Shimon, son of R' Yehuda HaNasi.
“To’eva” (abomination) - Bar Kappara's Etymology, and Making R' Yehuda HaNasi dance
At the wedding, Bar Kappara asked R' Yehuda HaNasi to explain the meaning of the Torah's term to’eva (תועבה - “abomination”) regarding homosexual sex.
R' Yehuda HaNasi offered interpretations, but Bar Kappara refuted them.
When R' Yehuda HaNasi asked him to explain, Bar Kappara made playful demands: asking R' Yehuda HaNasi’s wife (דביתכי) to pour him a goblet (נטלא) of wine and R' Yehuda HaNasi to dance.
He then explained that to’eva means "you are straying after it" (to’e ata bah), referring to pursuing an atypical mate.
אמר ליה בר קפרא לרבי: מאי ״תועבה״?
כל דאמר ליה רבי דהכין הוא ״תועבה״, פרכה בר קפרא.
אמר ליה: פרשיה את.
אמר ליה: תיתי דביתכי תירמי לי נטלא.
אתת רמיא ליה.
אמר ליה לרבי: קום רקוד לי, דאימר לך
הכי אמר רחמנא: ״תועבה״ — תועה אתה בה.
Bar Kappara said to R' Yehuda HaNasi at the wedding: What is the meaning of the word to’eva, abomination, used by the Torah to describe homosexual intercourse (see Leviticus 18:22)?
Whatever it was that R' Yehuda HaNasi said to bar Kappara in explanation, claiming that this is the meaning of to’eva, bar Kappara refuted it by proving otherwise.
R' Yehuda HaNasi said to him: You explain it.
Bar Kappara said to him: Let your wife come and pour me a goblet of wine.
She came and poured him wine.
Bar Kappara then said to R' Yehuda HaNasi: Arise and dance for me, so that I will tell you the meaning of the word
This is what the Merciful One is saying in the Torah in the word to’eva: You are straying after it [to’e ata bah], i.e., after an atypical mate.
“Tevel” (perversion)
After drinking another cup of wine, Bar Kappara questions R' Yehuda HaNasi about the meaning of the word tevel (תבל - "perversion") from Leviticus 18:23, relating to prohibited sexual relations with animals.
Once again, R' Yehuda HaNasi offers several interpretations, but Bar Kappara refutes each one.
Finally, after Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi consents to repeat his earlier actions (dancing for him), Bar Kappara reveals his explanation:
The term tevel is a rhetorical question, meaning, "Does it have any flavor?!" "Is this kind of sexual act (i.e., with an animal) any different from other forms of sex?!"
(In other words, such an act lacks any distinctive allure or justification.)
לכסא אחרינא,
אמר ליה: מאי ״תבל״?
אמר ליה כי עניינא קדמאה.
אמר ליה: עיביד לי דאומר לך.
עבד.
אמר ליה:
״תבל הוא״ — תבלין יש בה?!
מי שניא הדא ביאה מן כולהון ביאות?!
When they came to drink another cup,
bar Kappara said to him: What is the meaning of the word tevel, perversion, as in the verse: “Neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto; it is perversion [tevel]” (Leviticus 18:23)?
R' Yehuda HaNasi said various explanations to him, as he did the previous time, which were all refuted again by bar Kappara.
Bar Kappara then said to him: Perform for me as you did before, so that I will tell you.
R' Yehuda HaNasi did so.
Bar Kappara then said to him that the phrase: “It is tevel” means: Does it have any spice [tevalin yesh bah]?
Is this act of sexual intercourse with an animal different than all other acts of sexual intercourse, which would cause one to engage in such a repulsive action?
“Zimma” (lewdness)
R' Yehuda HaNasi asked Bar Kappara to explain the term zimma (זימה - “lewdness”) as used in Leviticus 18:17, concerning a man who has sex with a woman and her daughter.
Bar Kappara asked R' Yehuda to repeat the earlier gesture (dancing), which he did.
Bar Kappara then explained that zimma is to be understood as "zo ma hi" ("what is she?"; emphasizing the confusion such sex creates, regarding the status of the resulting offspring and the complications they pose for incest prohibitions).2
אמר ליה: ומאי ״זימה״?
אמר ליה: עיביד כי עניינא קדמאה.
עבד
ואמר ליה: זו מה היא.
R' Yehuda HaNasi said to bar Kappara: And what is the meaning of the word zimma, lewdness, as in the verse: “They are near kinswomen; it is lewdness [zimma]” (Leviticus 18:17), stated with regard to a man who engages in sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter?
He said to him: Perform for me as you did the previous time.
R' Yehuda HaNasi did so,
and bar Kappara said to him that zimma means: What is she [zo ma hi]? This man would be confused about how to refer to his wives; his wife is also his other wife’s mother or daughter.
Conclusion: Ben-Elasa and His Wife Depart the Wedding in Response to Bar Kappara’s Apparent Humiliation of R’ Yehuda HaNasi
Witnessing R' Yehuda HaNasi’s perceived humiliation in this exchange, his son-in-law Ben-Elasa (mentioned in the intro) and his wife (R' Yehuda HaNasi’s daughter) left the event, unable to bear the scene.
לא יכיל בן אלעשה למיסבל,
קם ונפק הוא ואינתתיה מתמן.
Ben Elasa could not tolerate R' Yehuda HaNasi’s humiliation,
so he and his wife arose and left the wedding.
בן אלעשה - the name El’asa is a biblical one, appearing six times in the Bible; once in Jeremiah, and the rest in late biblical books, see search results here, and see Wikipedia, “List of minor Hebrew Bible figures, A–K“ > “Elasah“.
For example, see Jeremiah.29.3:
ביד אלעשה בן שפן
וגמריה בן חלקיה
אשר שלח צדקיה מלך־יהודה אל־נבוכדנאצר מלך בבל בבלה לאמר
[The letter was sent] through El’asah (אלעשה) son of Shaphan
and Gemariah son of Hilkiah,
whom King Zedekiah of Judah had dispatched to Babylon, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
It is also a toponym, see Wikipedia, “Battle of Elasa“ (קרב אלעשה).
See Yevamot.37b.3-7:
דתניא,
רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר:
הרי שבא על נשים הרבה
ואין יודע על איזו מהן בא,
וכן היא שבאו עליה אנשים הרבה,
ואינה יודעת מאיזה מהן קבלה —
נמצא אב נושא את בתו,
ואח נושא את אחותו,
ונתמלא כל העולם כולו ממזרין.
ועל זה נאמר: ״ומלאה הארץ זמה״.
As it is taught in a baraita that
Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says:
With regard to one who engaged in intercourse with and impregnated many women,
but he does not know with which women he had intercourse,
and similarly, with regard to a woman, if many men had intercourse with her and she became pregnant,
but she does not know from which man she received the seed that caused her to become pregnant, since the identities of the parents of those children are not known,
it could emerge that a father marries his daughter,
and a brother marries his sister.
And in this way, the entire world could become filled with mamzerim.
And concerning this, it is stated: “And lest the land become full of lewdness” (Leviticus 19:29).
[…]
הכי קאמר: ״זו מה היא״.
This is what the verse is saying: The word “lewdness [zima]” can be understood as an acronym of the words: Zo ma hi, meaning: What is this. It is plausible to say that Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov’s citation of this verse indicates that he regards their status to be uncertain.
יתר על כן,
אמר רבי אליעזר בן יעקב:
לא ישא אדם אשה במדינה זו,
וילך וישא אשה במדינה אחרת,
שמא יזדווגו זה לזה,
ונמצא אח נושא את אחותו.
The Gemara cites the continuation of the baraita: Furthermore,
Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov said that even in marriage, one should be careful not to create a situation that could lead to the birth of mamzerim.
Therefore, a man should not marry a woman in this country
and then go and marry another woman in a different country,
lest a son from one marriage and a daughter from the other, unaware that they are both children of the same father, unite with one another,
and it could emerge that a brother marries his sister, the children of whom would be mamzerim.
איני?
והא רב כי איקלע לדרדשיר,
מכריז ואמר: מאן הויא ליומא.
ורב נחמן כי איקלע לשכנציב,
מכריז ואמר: מאן הויא ליומא!
The Gemara asks: Is that so; is there really such a prohibition?
But didn’t Rav, when he happened to come to Dardeshir,
make a public announcement saying: Which woman will be my wife for the day, i.e., for the duration of his visit? Since his wife did not accompany him to Dardeshir, he wished to be married to another woman while he was there, in order to avoid a situation that could lead him to having forbidden thoughts.
And also Rav Naḥman, when he happened to come to Shakhnetziv,
made a public announcement saying: Which woman will be my wife for the day? It would appear, from the fact that both Sages married wives in two different places, that there is no prohibition in doing so.
שאני רבנן, דפקיע שמייהו.
The Gemara rejects the proof: Sages are different, as their names are renowned, and therefore their children are always identified by their connection to their father. Therefore, Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov’s concern does not apply to them.