Shkiyas Hachamah: Transgressive stories from Elisha ben Abuyah to Larry David

How is this shiur different? Usually, we talk about the giving of the law, the joys of following Torah, and manifestations of the law and Torah morality in our daily lives. Tonight we are going to explore the opposite - the undercurrent of trangression - breaking the law - through some pretty crazy stories, from the Talmud to Larry David, in his hit show Curb Your Enthusiasm. The more I dive into this, the more I realize how subversive the Talmud and it's characters can be, and, surprisingly, how traditionally Jewish Larry turns out to be, when viewed through this lens.

So this will be a shiur in five acts, each one a story of transgression. Let's get started with Curb

Act 1: Larry David, the Pragmatist

So to set the scene, Larry David is hosting an Orthodox man and his daughter in a ski. lodge, in a hare brained attempt to move his friend Richard Lewis (olov hashalom) up the list to receive a kidney transplant by ingratiating himself with the head of the kidney donation program, who happens to be frum....

Larry is on a ski lift with the daughter of the man, an Orthodox woman, it's cold, the sun is setting, and the lift gets stuck. In true Larry David fashion, he has an "unorthodox" snack in his pocket...

Shkiyas HaChamah (Curb 5:8)

Larry: Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.

Woman: What's going on?

Larry: Don't worry. It happens all the time. Should only be a few minutes.

Woman: It's been 15 minutes already.

Larry: What's going on?

Woman: Shkiyas hachama. That's what's going on here.

Larry: What?

Woman: Shkiyas hachama. Sundown. I can't be here alone with you after sundown.

Larry: Why not?

Woman: Because you're a man and I'm a single woman.

L: So?

W: So it's not allowed.

L: Who says so?

W: The law, the Torah says so. Hashem says so.

L: Hashem?

W: Do you know anything?

L: No, Hashem, I know. Anyway, it's okay. There's extenuating circumstances here.

W: No such thing as extenuating circumstances.

L: Well, you got another half hour.

W: 5:41. Shkiyas hachama is at 5:41.

L: All right well, that's a half hour. Fine. They'll fix it. Freezing! I'm hungry too. You hungry?

W: Yes, I'm very hungry.

L: What the heck is this? Hey! Edible underwear! I must... the private investigator... when I went... Unreal! They're not bad. How much time do we have left... Want some?

W: No, thank you.

L: Take a bite.

W: I'm fine please.

L: Take a bite.

W: Move that away from me. Just tell me how much time we have left.

L: Well, I think you got about two minutes.

W: Oh. Somebody's gonna have to jump.

L: Oh, stop.

W: Stop what? I can't be here with you after sundown! There's no other way. Somebody's gonna have to jump! You're gonna have to jump! Are you gonna jump?

L: What, are you fսck¡ng nuts? What? What are you doing? No, no!

W: Hold my phone.

L: Are you crazy? Are you insane?

So, a few questions to start the discussion:

1. What is the transgression?

2. Who is the transgressor?

3. Who, or what, are they transgressing against?

4. What injustice or hypocrisy is the transgressor exposing?

5. What additional layers of understanding does the context add?

5. Why is this a Jewish moment?

Act 2: Rami Bar Tamrei, the Contrarian

Eating udders is problematic halachically, because they are meat, but may also contain milk (and besides, who really wants to eat an udder - just the thoiught provokes udder disgust...). Our next transgressor / hero, Rami bar Tamrei happen upon a pile of udders disposed from preparations for the pre Yom Kippur feast in Sura, where they don't eat udders. He sees this as his big chance to really shake things up, and drop some Pumbedita wisdom....

For some context, Sura and Pumbedita were rival academies in the period of the creation of the Talmud. Sura, one of the largest cities in Babylon was known to be more cosmopolitan, and it's inhabitants were known for chicanery and sharp business dealings. Pumbedita, modern day Fallujah, was better known for highly intellectual debate, and hair splitting logic.

בסורא לא אכלי כחלי בפומבדיתא אכלי כחלי רמי בר תמרי דהוא רמי בר דיקולי מפומבדיתא איקלע לסורא במעלי יומא דכפורי אפקינהו כולי עלמא לכחלינהו שדינהו אזל איהו נקטינהו אכלינהו
The Gemara relates: In Sura they would not eat udders at all, even torn and roasted. But in Pumbedita they would eat udders. Rami bar Tamrei, who is also called Rami bar Dikulei, from Pumbedita, arrived in Sura on the eve of Yom Kippur. Since it is a mitzva to eat and drink then, large quantities of meat were cooked, and everyone brought out their udders from the animals they had slaughtered and threw them away. Rami bar Tamrei went and gathered the udders, roasted them, and ate them, in accordance with his custom.
אייתוה לקמיה דרב חסדא אמר ליה אמאי תעביד הכי אמר ליה מאתרא דרב יהודה אנא דאכיל אמר ליה ולית לך נותנין עליו חומרי המקום שיצא משם וחומרי המקום שהלך לשם אמר ליה חוץ לתחום אכלתינהו
The residents of Sura brought Rami bar Tamrei before Rav Ḥisda, who said to him: Why did you do this? Rami bar Tamrei said to Rav Ḥisda: I am from the place of Rav Yehuda, who eats udders, and this is the accepted custom in Pumbedita. Rav Ḥisda said to him: And do you not hold by the principle that the Sages impose upon a traveler the stringencies of the place that he left and also the stringencies of the place to which he went? You should have accepted the stringency of Sura and not eaten the udders. Rami bar Tamrei said to Rav Ḥisda: That principle applies only to one who remains in the place he is visiting, but I ate the udders outside the boundaries of Sura.
ובמה טויתינהו אמר ליה בפורצני ודלמא מיין נסך הויא אמר ליה לאחר שנים עשר חדש הוו
Rav Ḥisda further asked Rami bar Tamrei: And with what did you roast the udders? Rami bar Tamrei said to him: I roasted them with grape seeds [purtzenei] I found in the vines there. Rav Ḥisda objected: But how could you roast the udders with grape seeds, as perhaps they were from wine used for a libation to idolatry, from which it is prohibited to derive benefit. Rami bar Tamrei said to him: These were old seeds that still lay there after twelve months had passed since the grapes were used, and any prohibition had expired, as by that point they are assumed to have lost any prohibited liquid that previously remained inside (see Avoda Zara 34a).
ודלמא דגזל הוה אמר ליה יאוש בעלים הוה דקדחו בהו חילפי
Rav Ḥisda further objected: But perhaps these seeds were from stolen property, i.e., they belonged to someone and it was prohibited for you to take them. Rami bar Tamrei said to him: Even so, in this case there was certainly despair of the owners of recovering them, as grass was growing among them. Since the owners had allowed them to lie there for so long, they had clearly given up all hope of retrieving them.
חזייה דלא הוה מנח תפילין אמר ליה מאי טעמא לא מנחת תפילין אמר ליה חולי מעיין הוא ואמר רב יהודה חולי מעיין פטור מן התפילין
Rav Ḥisda saw that Rami bar Tamrei had not donned phylacteries, and said to him: What is the reason that you have not donned phylacteries? Rami bar Tamrei said to him: He, i.e., I, am suffering from intestinal illness, and Rav Yehuda said that one who has intestinal illness is exempt from the mitzva of phylacteries, which require a clean body, because he would have to remove them constantly to defecate.
חזייה דלא הוה קא רמי חוטי אמר ליה מאי טעמא לית לך חוטי אמר ליה טלית שאולה היא ואמר רב יהודה
Rav Ḥisda further saw that Rami bar Tamrei had not placed the threads of ritual fringes on his garment and said to him: What is the reason that you do not have the threads of ritual fringes? Rami bar Tamrei said to him: It is a borrowed robe, and Rav Yehuda said:
טלית שאולה כל שלשים יום פטורה מן הציצית
With regard to a borrowed robe, during all of the first thirty days that one borrows it, one is exempt from performing the mitzva of ritual fringes with it.
אדהכי אייתוה לההוא גברא דלא הוה מוקר אבוה ואמיה כפתוהו
Meanwhile, as Rav Ḥisda and Rami bar Tamrei were talking, the attendants brought in a certain man to Rav Ḥisda’s court who would not honor his father and mother, and they tied him to a pillar in order to flog him.
אמר להו שבקוהו דתניא כל מצות עשה שמתן שכרה בצדה אין בית דין שלמטה מוזהרין עליה אמר ליה חזינא לך דחריפת טובא אמר ליה אי הוית באתריה דרב יהודה אחוינא לך חורפאי
Rami bar Tamrei said to them: Leave him alone, as it is taught in a baraita: With regard to any positive mitzva whose reward is stated alongside it in the Torah, the earthly court below is not warned to enforce it through punishments such as flogging. And it is stated after the mitzva of honoring one’s father and mother: “That your days may be long, and that it go well with you” (Deuteronomy 5:16). Rav Ḥisda said to Rami bar Tamrei: I see that you are very sharp. Rami bar Tamrei said to Rav Ḥisda: If you were in the place where Rav Yehuda resides, I would be able to show you my sharpness of mind far better than here.

So Rami bar Tamrei strikes me as the Talmud's Larry David. He argues for the sake of argument. He questions not so much authority, as convention. Rami was very intentional in his choice of which mitzvot to transgress. He clearly had a point to prove about the supremacy of Pumbedita, and his unwillingness to conform with local tradition. But was he rebelling against something more personal? Was he saying to Hisda - stop judging me. Was he trying to expose the hypocrisy of those who would flog a man for disrespecting elders? Was he disrespecting elders? Or was he a prototypical secular Talmud scholar, struggling to live with a dissonance between his love for Torah study and his lack of personal observance? Is he making a point how scholarship can trump observance? And is that a good thing?

Act 3: Elisha ben Abuyah, the Other

Elisha was the original heretic. He entered the PARDES with three other sages, to observe the deepest secrets of the creation. Of the four, Ben Azzai "peeked and died". Ben Zoma lost his mind. Elisha ben Abuyah "cut down the saplings", - i.e. became a heretic, and only Rabbi Akiva came out in peace. So what did Elisha see, and what did it do to his spiritual world? And did he want to repent?

For context, Elisha be Abuyah lived in a time of great upheaval and tragedy for the Jewish people. His contemporary, R. Akiva, went on to support the Bar Kochba revolt. Elisha himself , according to some sources, was complicit in the Roman persecution of the Jews.

אַחֵר קִיצֵּץ בִּנְטִיעוֹת, עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר: ״אַל תִּתֵּן אֶת פִּיךָ לַחֲטִיא אֶת בְּשָׂרֶךָ״. מַאי הִיא? חֲזָא מֶיטַטְרוֹן דְּאִתְיְהִבָא לֵיהּ רְשׁוּתָא לְמֵיתַב לְמִיכְתַּב זַכְווֹתָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲמַר: גְּמִירִי דִּלְמַעְלָה לָא הָוֵי לֹא יְשִׁיבָה וְלֹא תַּחֲרוּת, וְלֹא עוֹרֶף וְלֹא עִיפּוּי. שֶׁמָּא, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, שְׁתֵּי רְשׁוּיוֹת הֵן.
§ The Gemara stated earlier that Aḥer chopped down the saplings, becoming a heretic. With regard to him, the verse states: “Do not let your mouth bring your flesh into guilt” (Ecclesiastes 5:5). The Gemara poses a question: What was it that led him to heresy? He saw the angel Mitatron, who was granted permission to sit and write the merits of Israel. He said: There is a tradition that in the world above there is no sitting; no competition; no turning one’s back before Him, i.e., all face the Divine Presence; and no lethargy. Seeing that someone other than God was seated above, he said: Perhaps, the Gemara here interjects, Heaven forbid, there are two authorities, and there is another source of power in control of the world in addition to God. Such thoughts led Aḥer to heresy.
אַפְּקוּהּ לְמֶיטַטְרוֹן ומַחְיוּהּ שִׁיתִּין פּוּלְסֵי דְנוּרָא. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ: מַאי טַעְמָא כִּי חֲזִיתֵיהּ לָא קַמְתְּ מִקַּמֵּיהּ? אִיתְיְהִיבָא לֵיהּ רְשׁוּתָא לְמִימְחַק זַכְווֹתָא דְאַחֵר. יָצְתָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה: ״שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים״ — חוּץ מֵאַחֵר.
The Gemara relates: They removed Mitatron from his place in heaven and smote him with sixty rods [pulsei] of fire, so that others would not make the mistake that Aḥer made. They said to the angel: What is the reason that when you saw Elisha ben Avuya you did not stand before him? Despite this conduct, since Mitatron was personally involved, he was granted permission to erase the merits of Aḥer and cause him to stumble in any manner. A Divine Voice went forth saying: “Return, rebellious children” (Jeremiah 3:22), apart from Aḥer.
אֲמַר: הוֹאִיל וְאִיטְּרִיד הָהוּא גַּבְרָא מֵהָהוּא עָלְמָא, לִיפּוֹק לִיתְהֲנֵי בְּהַאי עָלְמָא. נְפַק אַחֵר לְתַרְבּוּת רָעָה. נְפַק, אַשְׁכַּח זוֹנָה תַּבְעַהּ, אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: וְלָאו אֱלִישָׁע בֶּן אֲבוּיָה אַתְּ? עֲקַר פּוּגְלָא מִמֵּישְׁרָא בְּשַׁבָּת וִיהַב לַהּ, אָמְרָה: אַחֵר הוּא.
Upon hearing this, Elisha ben Avuya said: Since that man, meaning himself, has been banished from that world, let him go out and enjoy this world. Aḥer went astray. He went and found a prostitute and solicited her for intercourse. She said to him: And are you not Elisha ben Avuya? Shall a person of your stature perform such an act? He uprooted a radish from a patch of radishes on Shabbat and gave it to her, to demonstrate that he no longer observed the Torah. The prostitute said: He is other than he was. He is not the same Elisha ben Avuya, he is Aḥer, other.
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּאַחֵר שֶׁהָיָה רוֹכֵב עַל הַסּוּס בְּשַׁבָּת, וְהָיָה רַבִּי מֵאִיר מְהַלֵּךְ אַחֲרָיו לִלְמוֹד תּוֹרָה מִפִּיו, אָמַר לוֹ: מֵאִיר, חֲזוֹר לְאַחֲרֶיךָ, שֶׁכְּבָר שִׁיעַרְתִּי בְּעִקְבֵי סוּסִי עַד כָּאן תְּחוּם שַׁבָּת. אָמַר לוֹ: אַף אַתָּה חֲזוֹר בָּךְ. אָמַר לוֹ: וְלֹא כְּבָר אָמַרְתִּי לְךָ כְּבָר שָׁמַעְתִּי מֵאֲחוֹרֵי הַפַּרְגּוֹד: ״שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים״ — חוּץ מֵאַחֵר.
The Gemara cites a related story: The Sages taught: There was once an incident involving Aḥer, who was riding on a horse on Shabbat, and Rabbi Meir was walking behind him to learn Torah from him. After a while, Aḥer said to him: Meir, turn back, for I have already estimated and measured according to the steps of my horse that the Shabbat boundary ends here, and you may therefore venture no further. Rabbi Meir said to him: You, too, return to the correct path. He said to him: But have I not already told you that I have already heard behind the dividing curtain: “Return, rebellious children,” apart from Aḥer?

Notice the poignant interaction between Elisha and the prostitute. Two transgressors, two "others". Does Elisha really "enjoy" the material world the way he intended to? What system was he critiquing? Did he have an alternate vision? Why did he tell R. Meir to turn back? What could have made Elisha's heresy so profound that all others could repent except for him? Are some transgressions unforgivable?

Act 4: Larry David, Tradition!

In the next source, Larry David is walking out of the optometrist, and can't see well because he had his pupils dilated for the exam. He inadvertantly bumps into a white supremacist carrying a coffee, and causes the coffee to spill on the Klansman's white robe....

Klansman: Son of a... Geez! ...b¡tch!

Larry David: Oh, my gosh.

K: Dude, what are you doing man?

LD: Sorry. I'm so sorry. So sorry.

K: Look at this. Come on, dude.

LD: I'm so sorry. I just came from the eye doctor. They dilated my pupils. And everything's kinda-- I didn't see you.

K: Well, look at that. This is totally ruined. I can't believe this is happening. I'm screwed for today. What am I supposed to do?

LD: You can't wear that anymore!

K: Would you go to an event like this?

LD: Oh, yeah. You got the rally.

K: Yeah. I got the rally today.

LD: You can't wear that to a rally.

K: No, I can't. Are you kidding? No. No way.

LD: Can't you just get a sheet?

K: No, I don't wanna wear a fսck¡ng sheet. It's not a sheet anyway. This is a robe. Feel it.

I can't afford to go get another one of these.

LD: But what about just temporarily? Put a sheet on just for today.

K: No, I'm not gonna wear a sheet!

LD: It's like a spare tire, you know.

K: No, I can't do that. That's total amateur, man.

LD: Yeah. Yeah. You gotta get that cleaned. It's really a shame. Yeah. I'll tell you what I could do. Take it to the dry cleaners, they can get that out.

K: But I've got a rally in Tucson and one in Santa Fe coming up. And those things are the real deal. They're the big ones.

LD: Okay. So when do you need it by?

K: Two days.

LD: How about this, you know? For the rally today, you know, you go robe-less, it's not the end of the world. And then, um, you'll have that robe spanking clean in two days.

K: You promise?

LD: I don't know, why do they make these white anyway? They stain so easily, you guys, you're out all the time in the fields, with the burning, and the ashes, you must spend a lot of money at the cleaners for this thing.

K: Well, it's tradition. You know tradition?

LD: Of course. "Who, day and night, must scramble for a living, feed the wife and children, say his daily prayers?"

K: Yes.

LD: "Who has the right, as master of the house, to have the final word at home? The papa! Tradition."

K: Tradition. Yeah, exactly.

LD: If I was starting your organization, I would've opted for a black robe.

K: You can't see black in the middle of the night.

LD: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right. You wanna see the white. Got you. I'll give you my phone, you write your number in here.

K: Okay.

LD: Just put it in there.

Rally Attendee: Hurrah! Hurrah!

K: Stay strong! Stay strong, brother.

K: White is right!

LD: You should call me—

K: Great. Thank you so much.

LD: Okay. Sure. Yeah. Let's get this, uh, taken care of. Again, I-- My apologies. And you have my word, on my honor. You will have this robe for your hate rallies in Tucson and Santa Fe.

K: All right. Hey, thanks. I really appreciate it.

LD: Yeah. Sure.

K: I really appreciate it.

LD: Yeah.

K: And hey, uh, no starch, no crease, please.

LD: No starch in the robe?

K: Right.

So here Larry turns the Klansman into the ultimate straight man. He is clearly. messing with his head, and the Klansman is too sincere, too Not - Jewish to pick up on the fact that Larry is making fun of him. But does Larry actually try to find common ground? Is he doing "hafuch al hafuch", as they say in Hebrew, and sending up our fealty to tradition? What vision of Jewishness is Larry poking holes in? Is he possibly pointing to an alternative?

A much more disturbing reading - is he trying to contain the Klansman's racist towards black people, and trying to assimilate into whiteness? Or is he pointing out that tendency?

Act 5: R' Hiya Bar Ashi in a Case of Mistaken Identity

רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אָשֵׁי הֲוָה רְגִיל כׇּל עִידָּן דַּהֲוָה נָפֵל לְאַפֵּיהּ הֲוָה אָמַר: ״הָרַחֲמָן יַצִּילֵנוּ מִיֵּצֶר הָרָע״. יוֹמָא חַד (שְׁמַעְתִּינְהוּ) [שְׁמַעְתֵּיהּ] דְּבֵיתְהוּ, אֲמַרָה: מִכְּדֵי הָא כַּמָּה שְׁנֵי דְּפָרֵישׁ לֵיהּ מִינַּאי, מַאי טַעְמָא קָאָמַר הָכִי?
The Gemara relates: Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ashi was accustomed to say, whenever he would fall on his face in prayer: May the Merciful One save us from the evil inclination. One day his wife heard him saying this prayer. She said: After all, it has been several years since he has withdrawn from engaging in intercourse with me due to his advanced years. What is the reason that he says this prayer, as there is no concern that he will engage in sinful sexual behavior?
יוֹמָא חֲדָא הֲוָה קָא גָרֵיס בְּגִינְּתֵיהּ. קַשִּׁטָה נַפְשַׁהּ, חָלְפָה וְתָנְיָיה קַמֵּיהּ. אֲמַר לַהּ: מַאן אַתְּ? אֲמַרָה: אֲנָא חָרוּתָא דַּהֲדַרִי מִיּוֹמָא. תַּבְעַהּ. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: אַיְיתִי נִיהֲלַי לְהָךְ רוּמָּנָא דְּרֵישׁ צוּצִיתָא. שְׁוַור, אֲזַל אַתְיֵיהּ נִיהֲלַהּ.
One day, while he was studying in his garden, she adorned herself and repeatedly walked past him. He said: Who are you? She said: I am Ḥaruta, a well-known prostitute, returning from my day at work. He propositioned her. She said to him: Give me that pomegranate from the top of the tree as payment. He leapt up, went, and brought it to her, and they engaged in intercourse.
כִּי אֲתָא לְבֵיתֵיהּ הֲוָה קָא שָׁגְרָא דְּבֵיתְהוּ תַּנּוּרָא, סָלֵיק וְקָא יָתֵיב בְּגַוֵּיהּ. אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ: מַאי הַאי? אֲמַר לַהּ: הָכִי וְהָכִי הֲוָה מַעֲשֶׂה. אָמְרָה לֵיהּ: אֲנָא הֲוַאי. לָא אַשְׁגַּח בַּהּ, עַד דִּיהַבָה לֵיהּ סִימָנֵי. אָמַר לַהּ: אֲנָא מִיהָא לְאִיסּוּרָא אִיכַּוַּונִי. כׇּל יָמָיו שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ צַדִּיק הָיָה מִתְעַנֶּה עַד שֶׁמֵּת בְּאוֹתָהּ מִיתָה.
When he came home, his wife was lighting a fire in the oven. He went and sat inside it. She said to him: What is this? He said to her: Such and such an incident occurred; he told her that he engaged in intercourse with a prostitute. She said to him: It was I. He paid no attention to her, thinking she was merely trying to comfort him, until she gave him signs that it was indeed she. He said to her: I, in any event, intended to transgress. The Gemara relates: All the days of that righteous man he would fast for the transgression he intended to commit, until he died by that death in his misery.

There are two parallel stories here - Hiyya is fighting this spiritual battle with his Yetzer, his religious framework, and his God. His wife, on the other hand, feels ignored. She just wants her Hiyya, who has been ignoring her for years. Is a transgression the only way to shake up both their worlds? Why is there no repentance? Did Hiyya really transgress? Or was he such a nebech that he was consumed with guilt for a sin that was fake?

Summary

I don't want anyone to leave this shiur thinking that it's a good idea to go out and transgress. However - sometimes there really isn't a better way to probe the deeper levels of why we do what we do, and why we believe what we believe. When that voice inside of you wants to transgress - give it some space.Listen to it. What is your inner Larry David, Rami bar Tamrei, Elisha ben Abuyah or Haruta trying to tell you?

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site. Click OK to continue using Sefaria. Learn More.OKאנחנו משתמשים ב"עוגיות" כדי לתת למשתמשים את חוויית השימוש הטובה ביותר.קראו עוד בנושאלחצו כאן לאישור