What's in a Name?

(25) Please, my lord, pay no attention to that wretched fellow Nabal. For he is just what his name says: His name means ‘boor’ and he is a boor. “Your handmaid did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

(7) Meanwhile Jacob’s sons, having heard the news, came in from the field. The men were distressed and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing not to be done.

Due to the sin of vulgar speech, troubles abound, and harsh decrees are renewed, and the youth among the enemies of Israel, a euphemistic reference to Israel, die, and orphans and widows cry out for help and are not answered, as it is stated: “Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall He have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is ungodly and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks wantonness. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still” (Isaiah 9:16).

(4) He should not be excessively lightheaded with her and he should not make his mouth vulgar with meaningless words - and even between him and her [alone]. Behold, it is stated in the words of tradition (Amos 4:13), "and He tells a man his conversation." The sages said (Chagigah 5b), "Even for a light conversation between a man and his wife will he have to account in the future." And the two of them should not be drunk and not listless and not agitated - and not [even] one of them. And she should not be asleep, and he should not force her when she does not want, but rather it should be the wish of both of them and in their joy. He should speak and laugh with her a little, in order to calm her soul, and [then] he should have sexual relations with embarrassment - and not with brazenness - and he should separate immediately.

The Gemara relates that Rabbi Ila was ascending the stairs in the house of Rabba bar Sheila, a children’s teacher. He heard a child who was reading a verse out loud: “For, lo, He Who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his speech” (Amos 4:13). Rabbi Ila said: With regard to a servant whose master declares to him what is his proper speech, is there a remedy for him? The Gemara asks. What is the meaning of the phrase: “What is his speech”? Rav said: Even frivolous speech that is between a man and his wife before engaging in relations is declared to a person at the time of death, and he will have to account for it.

To all the congregation of the Children of Israel: Our rabbis already said (Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1) that this section was stated in assembly, since the majority of the corpus of the Torah depends on it - and this is the reason [it states,] "to all the congregation of the Children of Israel." However, it is mentioned here in Torat Kohanim (Leviticus), because it will mention the peace offerings in [this section] and because it will mention the judgement that it will command [about] what to do to those that do the abominations that are mentioned in it. And the sexual transgressions and the abominations are mentioned in this book because of the reason that we wrote at the beginning of the book. You shall be holy: "One should be separate from sexual transgressions and from sin, for any place that one finds a fence [before] sexual transgressions, one [also] finds holiness (kedusha)" - this is the language of Rashi. But in Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1, Chapter 2, I saw only, "You shall be holy." And [so,] they learned there (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12:3), "'And you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, since holy am I' (Leviticus 11:44) - Just like I am holy, you should be holy; just like I am separate, you should be separate." But according to my opinion, this separation is not to separate from sexual transgressions, like the words of the rabbi (Rashi). But [rather], the separation is the one mentioned in every place in the Talmud where its [practitioners] are called those that have separated themselves (perushim). And the matter is [that] the Torah prohibited sexual transgressions and forbidden foods, and permitted sexual relations between husband and wife and the eating of meat and [the drinking of] wine. If so, a desirous person will find a place to be lecherous with his wife or his many wives, or to be among the guzzlers of wine and the gluttons of meat. He will speak as he pleases about all the vulgarities, the prohibition of which is not mentioned in the Torah. And behold, he would be a scoundrel with the permission of the Torah. Therefore, Scripture came, after it specified the prohibitions that it completely forbade, and commanded a more general [rule] - that we should be separated from [indulgence of] those things that are permissible: He should minimize sexual relations, like the matter that they stated (Berakhot 22a), "That Torah scholars should not be found with their wives [constantly] like chickens." And he should only have relations according to the need for his execution of the commandment. And he should sanctify himself from wine by minimizing it - just as Scripture calls the Nazarite, holy (Numbers 6:5); and mentions the evil that comes from it in the Torah with Noach (Genesis 9:21) and with Lot (Genesis 19:33). And so [too], he should separate himself from impurity - even though we are not prohibited from it in the Torah - as they mentioned (Chagigah 18b), "The clothing of ignorant people are [considered] midras (a type of impurity) for perushim." And just as the Nazarite is also called holy for his guarding [himself] from the impurity of the dead. And he should also guard his mouth and his tongue from becoming defiled from the multitude of coarse food and from disgusting speech, as mentioned by Scripture (Isaiah 9:16), "and every mouth speaks a vulgarity." And he should sanctify himself with this, until he comes to separation (perishut) - as they said about Rabbi Chiya, that he never spoke idle conversation in his life. For these [things] and similar to them comes this general commandment - after it listed all of the sins that are completely forbidden - until he includes in this general rule the command of cleanliness of his hands and his body. As they stated (Berakhot 53b), "'And you shall sanctify yourselves' - these are the first waters (to wash hands before the meal), 'and be holy' - these are the last waters (to wash hands after the meal), 'since holy' - this is fragrant oil (to ward off bad odors)." As even though these commandments are rabbinic, the essence of Scripture prohibits things like these; that we should be clean and pure and separate ourselves from the masses of people, who dirty themselves with those things that are permissible and with those things that are ugly. And this is the way of the Torah to state the particulars and [then] the general rules. And similar to this is when after the prohibition of the specific laws of trade among men - do not steal, do not burglarize, do not deceive, and all of the other prohibitions - it states the general principle, "And you shall do the straight and the good" (Deuteronomy 6:18), so that it places into a positive commandment, uprightness, compromise and going beyond the letter of the law towards the will of his friend - as I will explain (there), when I get to its place, with the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. And so [too] with the matter of the Shabbat, it forbade the types of work with a negative commandment and the exertions with a general positive commandment, as it states, "rest"; and I will explain this more (Ramban on Leviticus 23:24), with the will of God. And the explanation of the verse saying, "since Holy am I the Lord, your God," is to say that we merit to cling to Him by our being holy. And this is like the matter of the first statement in the ten statements (Ten Commandments - Exodus 20:3). And it commanded (Leviticus 19:3), "A man, his mother and father must fear" [here], since there (in the Ten Commandments), it commanded about honor, and here it will command about fear. And it said [here] "and guard my Shabbats," since there it commanded on the remembering [of the Shabbat] and here on the guarding and we have already explained the matter of both of them (Ramban on Exodus 20:8).

(7) He was foster father to Hadassah—that is, Esther—his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was shapely and beautiful; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter.

(12) Just like this myrtle, which has smell and has no taste, so too Israel has among them those that have good deeds but do not have Torah.

(14) Rabbi Mani opened, "'All of my bones shall say, "Lord, who is like you"' (Psalms 35:10). This verse was only stated for the sake of the lulav (the four species). The spine of the palm branch is similar to the spine of man. And the myrtle is similar to the eye. And the willow is similar to the mouth. And the etrog (citron), is similar to the heart. David said, 'In all of the limbs, there are no greater ones than these, as they are compared to the entire body.' This is [what is meant] by 'All of my bones shall say.'"

GEMARA: The Sages taught: It is written: “Boughs of a dense-leaved tree” (Leviticus 23:40); this is referring to a tree whose leaves obscure its tree. And which tree is that? You must say it is the myrtle tree.