He who pays money to a woman, counting from his hand into her hand in order to gaze at her, even if he be like Moses our teacher who received the Torah from Mount Sinai, will not be exempt from the penalty of Gehinnom; as it is stated, Hand to hand, the evil man shall not be unpunished. Prov. 11, 21, My hand upon it! Behold Scripture declares, And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet-rings, ear-rings, and girdles, to make atonement for our souls before the Lord. Num. 31, 50. ‘Eẓadah (armlets) means a garter; ẓamid (bracelets) silk cloaks; ‘agil (ear-rings) a cast of the female breasts; kumaz (girdles) a cast of the womb. To make atonement for our souls: Moses said to Israel, ‘Perhaps you have returned to your former sinful lapse’. Their association with the women of Midian; cf. Shab. 64a. They replied to him, ‘There lacketh not one man of us’. ‘If so,’ he retorted, ‘why this atonement?’ They replied, ‘We may have escaped sin, but we have not escaped sinful thoughts’. Why [did they offer] signet-rings? Because whoever gazes intentionally at a woman is as though he had intercourse with her.⁠a Hence the Rabbis declared: Whoever touches a woman’s little finger is as though he touched ‘that place’. He who gazes at a woman’s heel will have deformed children. [Why are children born] lame, blind, dumb or deaf? R. Eliezer said: Because [the husband] claimed marital rights but she refused. R. Joshua said: Because she declared at the time of cohabitation, ‘I have been forced’.24To cohabitate while she was impure and nevertheless submitted. R. ‘Aḳiba said: Because she says, ‘I am unclean’ when she is clean.25To annoy him. R. Nehemiah said: Because of the sin of causeless hatred a man’s wife suffers miscarriage, contention is rife in his house, and his sons and daughters die young.26Cf. Shab. 32b (Sonc. ed., p. 149). R. Nehorai said: Whoever puts his neighbour to shame will in the end himself be put to shame; furthermore, the Angels of Destruction thrust and drive him out of the world and expose his shame before all mankind. But whoever is shamefaced will not speedily yield to sin; as it is stated, And that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.27Ex. 20, 17. As regards anyone who is not shamefaced, it is certain that his forefathers did not stand at the foot of Mount Sinai. R. Joḥanan said:28Cf. Ned. 20a (Sonc. ed., p. 57). The Ministering Angels told me four things and they are related to the lame, the blind, the dumb and the deaf. Why [are children born] lame? Because [their parents] overturned their table29A euphemism for unnatural intercourse. and behaved like animals. Why [are children born] blind? Because [their parents] gaze at ‘that place’. Why [are children born] deaf? Because [their parents] converse30i.e. they conduct themselves with levity while performing a religious command. during cohabitation. Why [are children born] dumb? Because [their parents] kiss ‘that place’. The Sages say that the halakah is not in agreement with R. Joḥanan, but a man may do with his wife as he desires;31At the time of cohabitation. because the matter can be best compared to a man who purchased meat from the butcher: if he wishes he eats it raw, if he wishes he eats it boiled, if he wishes he eats it roasted over coals. Imma Shalom,32Cf. Ned. loc. cit. the wife of R. Eliezer and sister of Rabban Gamaliel was asked, ‘Why are your children beautiful? And during intercourse how does [your husband] conduct himself towards you?’ She replied, ‘He does not converse33A euphemism for cohabitation. with me during the first or last watch, but only during the middle watch;34The night was divided into three equal periods called ‘watches’. [and when he cohabits] he uncovers a handbreadth and covers a handbreadth, and it is as though he was urged on by a demon. And when I questioned him, “What is the reason for all this?”35For selecting the middle watch. he replied, “So that another woman should not come to my mind36During the first and last watches of the night women are to be found in the streets. and my children consequently come within the category of bastards” ’. Hence [the Sages] declared: Ten37[GRA reads ‘nine’. On the wording of the passage, cf. Bacher, Ag. d. pal. Amoräer, II, p. 310, n. 3.] categories of people are like bastards but are not [legally] such, and they are: the children [born] of fear,38Reading with Ned. 20b (Sonc. ed., p. 59) אימה (fear) for אמה (handmaid). The husband terrorizes his wife into cohabitation. the children of a maidservant, the children of a hated wife, (the children of a niddah),39Inserted by V in brackets. the children of one who is under a ban of excommunication, the children of a woman thought to be another,40lit. ‘children of exchange’, i.e. when a man has two wives and cohabits with one under the impression that she is the other. the children of [a marriage characterized by] strife, the children of a drunken woman, the children of a wife divorced in the heart,41i.e. in the heart of her husband; he has the intention of divorcing her while yet cohabiting with her. the children of promiscuity, and some add, the children of a sleeping woman.42During the intercourse One who has intercourse with his betrothed in her father-in-law’s house without the kethubah having been drawn up43Without ḳiddushin having taken place, the drawing up of the kethubah forming part of the ceremony. Cf. the opening words of this tractate, ‘A bride is forbidden’, etc. N.Y. has another explanation based on ’Eben Ha‘ezer LXVI, 3, viz. a man must not live with his wife without a kethubah. In the context this interpretation is wide of the mark. will have sickly children. Weak children are the issue of those who cohabit with women who are niddah; ugly children [are born] of women in a doubtful state of ritual purity. If a man, on leaving a privy, [immediately afterwards] has intercourse, he will have epileptic children, because the demon of the privy accompanies him.44Cf. Giṭ. 70a (Sonc. ed., p. 333). How long should he wait before having intercourse? Long enough to walk half a mil. If a man has undergone blood-letting and [immediately afterwards] has intercourse, his children will be weaklings. If both45Husband and wife. have undergone blood-letting and [immediately afterwards] have intercourse, their children will be liable to have lupus.46Tuberculosis of the skin. When does this apply? Only if they had nothing to eat,47Between blood-letting and the act of cohabitation. but if they partook of some food there is no [harm] in it.