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Sela‘ ha-maḥloket, Preface

Mid-12th Century

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Zeraḥiah wrote this Hebrew poem as the introduction to his work The Rock of Contention (Sela‘ ha-maḥloket), about the laws of niddah, that is, the prohibition of sexual relations between a married couple during the time during and just after the wife’s menstruation. The language of the poem is difficult and admits various interpretations; the translator has followed the interpretations suggested by the scholar Isaac Maizeles.

Support the poor man’s wisdom to understand the just words [of the Torah],

[O God], who established the heavens with His handsbreadth and measure.

[God] gave a fixed time to cry or to laugh,

to embrace or stay far¹—to each man, the lot is cast.

He set times to guard [men from women], who are potioned with myrrh oils,

and he set a time to say, “Get me the girl!”

He exhorted [a man] not to approach the wife of his youth,

and the one with the bow not to shoot it ahead.²

When she is seated in shame, and has not yet sanctified herself,³

do not let the net of desire entrap your feet.

When she is still in [menstrual] anguish, fenced in with lilies,⁴

give her chariot cars for pleasure.⁵

And walk in a circuitous route around the flowerpot,⁶

lest you touch her with your little finger, intentionally or not.

But⁷ when you head on a journey, do not make her afraid;

take her, with blessing, and there will be well-being when you visit her.

Sit alone,⁸ remain still, stay cold, not in heat,

and know that anything red [blood] will not gladden your heart.

But let your home be in wellbeing when [a secretion] is green; it is redeemable.⁹

Regarding this, there was disaster on the day the sage was banned.

But a black [secretion] comes to battle, like a lion in ambush;

the house is destroyed, the home is entrapped.

At the [expected] time of the period, which is well established,

place a sharp sword on the pillow or blanket.

Be concerned lest you reach blood, O you who walk in uprightness,

so search all stains upon all clothes.

If [a blood stain] is the size of a mustard seed, let the house’s glory be impoverished;

it casts down the tower and unties the bundle.

But sit not alone and refrain not from erecting,

when the stain is not as large as a bean, a small dot.

A stain causes no trouble if it is on crimson,

but only on a pauper’s garment, white or pale.¹⁰

If a person or the sun can see, demolish the bed;¹¹

but heal the demolition,¹² and all your life you will not fear.

Do not think to destroy your seed, like the levirate husband of Tamar;

may you flourish like a palm tree [tamar], and do not ride a mule.¹³

Avoid lust, which haunts you, and makes your mind wander,

for it will entrap the glorious, dignified soul.

May constancy and righteousness guide you until death.

One who transgresses will die from the impurity of niddah.

And one that serves a foreign deity¹⁴ will meet their ruin through all sorts of pains,

woe to him, for he is sold, and has not been redeemed.

When he returns to his Creator, He will make forgiveness for him,

when he repents of his sin and confesses it.

Here, beautiful words are inscribed in the book,

like a bundle of henna, or calamus with cassia.

Let the bed be short, and your footsteps be narrow,

let your desire not push you to violate niddah.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[When a woman is menstruating, she must “stay far” from her husband; when she is not menstruating, they may “embrace.”—Trans.]

[The “one with the bow” is the man, whose penis shoots arrows, i.e., semen; he is not to “shoot it” when his wife is menstruating.—Trans.]

[I.e., purified herself in a ritual bath after waiting the requisite seven days after.—Trans.]

[The metaphor of a fence of lilies, from Song of Songs 7:3, is used in b. Sanhedrin 37a to describe the laws of niddah: because nobody is policing the couple in bed, there is no strong wall keeping them from sexual relations during the menstrual period; rather, the beauty of the Torah, like a flimsy but beautiful fence of lilies, moderates their behavior.—Trans.]

[That is, keep your wife happy with nonsexual delights.—Trans.]

[That is, stay far away from your wife.—Trans.]

[This line refers to the time period when a woman is not menstruating; if a man goes on a journey alone during this time, he is obligated to have sexual relations with his wife the night before he heads out; see b. Yevamot 62b, which derives this from Job 5:24: “And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin” and is alluded to in the next line.—Trans.]

[This line returns to discussing the time when one’s wife is menstruating.—Trans.]

[A green secretion is considered pure. However, according to the Mishnah, R. Akavya ben Mahalalel declared it to count as a menstrual secretion, and his colleagues placed him under a ban for this reason; the poet alludes to this story in the next line.—Trans.]

[The poet uses “a pauper’s garment” as a synonym for white (“pale,” see Genesis 31:10), under the assumption that the poor cannot afford dyed clothing.—Trans.]

[Sexual relations are forbidden in sunlight or in the sight of other people.—Trans.]

[This may refer to the rule that one may block out the sunlight with one’s cloak, and then have relations in the artificial darkness.—Trans.]

[That is, do not marry a woman who has a condition that prevents her from undergoing puberty, who is thus infertile, like a mule.—Trans.]

[This verse is understood homiletically (in b. Shabbat 105b) as referring to one who gives in to their own improper desires.—Trans.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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