Eruvin 65 - 71
“Night was created only for Torah study”.
This is a teaching of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish (“Reish Lakish”) on our Daf and is codified in Jewish Law in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 238:1 and Yoreh De’ah 246:23.
Although the word that appears in the text of the gemara is the Aramaic word for “moon” and not the word for “night”, Tosefot Rabbenu Peretz explains that intent of the statement is for the night, which is the time of the dominion the moon. The Mahasha, however, translates the statement more literally, and states that the gemara is referring to the “light of the moon.”
- Eruvin 65a
“Rabbi I’lai said, ‘A person’s character is discerned in three ways: his ‘cup’, his ‘wallet’ and his anger’.”
Aside from the wise message taught by this Sage, he also worded this teaching in a quite clever and “poetic” manner in his Hebrew statement. He called the “three ways” as follows: “b’Koso, b’Kiso u’v’Ka’aso”.
Rashi explains that these are three ways to determine if a person is proper, and he elaborates on each of these traits. According to Rashi the first way – Koso, his cup — is a reference to the way he deports himself when drinking wine; whether his thinking is still focused. Kiso, his wallet — is a check to see if his financial dealings with others are fair and honest. The third way — Ka’aso, his anger — is discerning that he is not excessively strict towards his fellow person.
- Eruvin 65b
