(a) (Mishnah): If a husband has any of the following Mumim or occupations, we force him to divorce his wife: leprosy, Pulipus, a Mekametz, a Metzaref of copper (these will be explained), or a tanner, whether these preceded the marriage or came during the marriage;

1. R. Meir says, regarding all of them, even if he stipulated with her she can say 'I thought that I could bear it, but now I see that I cannot.'
2. Chachamim say that she must bear it, except for a leper, for this harms her.

(b) A case occurred in Tzidon and a tanner's wife fell to Yibum to a tanner. Chachamim said that she can claim 'I could bear your brother, but not you.'
(c) (Gemara) Question: What is Pulipus?
(d) Answer #1 (Shmuel): It is a smell that comes from the nose.
(e) Answer #2 (Beraisa): It is a smell that comes from the mouth.

1. Rav Asi switched the opinions, and gave a Siman to remember who said which: 'Shmuel's mouth has not ceased in this entire Perek.'

(f) Question: What is a Mekametz?
(g) Answer (Rav Yehudah): It is one who gathers dung of dogs.
(h) Question (Beraisa): A Mekametz is a tanner.

1. Counter-question: The Mishnah lists both a Mekametz and a Borsi (a tanner)!
2. Answer: A Mekametz is one who tans few hides. A Borsi is a large-scale tanner!
3. The question from the Beraisa remains difficult for Rav Yehudah.

(i) Answer: Tana'im argue about the meaning of a Mekametz.

1. (Beraisa): A Mekametz is a tanner;
2. Some say that it is one who gathers dung of dogs.

(j) Question: What is a Metzaref of copper?
(k) Answer #1 (Rav Ashi): It is one who smelts it and makes pots.
(l) Answer #2 (Rabah bar bar Chanah): It is one who quarries it from its source.
(m) Support (Beraisa): A Metzaref is one who quarries copper from its source.

(a) (Rav): If one says 'I will not feed or support my wife', we force him to divorce her and pay her Kesuvah.
(b) R. Elazar said this in front of Shmuel.
(c) Shmuel: Feed to Elazar barley (like an animal)! Rather than forcing the husband to divorce her, force him to feed her!

1. Rav holds that a person cannot live with a snake in one basket. (We do not force her to live with an antagonizing husband.)

(d) R. Binyamin bar Yefet said in the name of R. Yochanan like Rav.
(e) R. Zeira: R. Elazar was fed barley for teaching thusly!
(f) (Rav Yehudah, citing Rav Asi): We force a husband to divorce his wife only if she is forbidden to him.
(g) (Rav Yehudah citing Shmuel): This applies in cases such as a widow married to a Kohen Gadol, a divorcee or Chalutzah to a regular Kohen, a Mamzeres or Nesinah to a Yisrael, or a Bas Yisrael to a Nasin or Mamzer. We do not force a man who has been married for 10 years without children.
(h) (Rav Tachlifa citing Shmuel): We force even a man who has been married for 10 years without children.
(i) (Mishnah): If a husband has any of the following Mumim, we force him to divorce his wife: leprosy, Pulipus...
(j) This is not difficult for Rav Asi. He can say that the Mishnah lists only cases when mid'Rabanan we force him to divorce her, not when mid'Oraisa he must divorce her.
(k) Question: According to Rav Tachlifa, the Mishnah should have listed a man who has been married for 10 years without children!
(l) Answer #1 (Rav Nachman): The Mishnah discusses cases when we force with lashes. If a man has been married for 10 years without children, we force only with words.
(m) Objection (R. Aba): "A slave will not fix his ways due to words!"
(n) Answer #2 (R. Aba): In both cases we force with lashes. In our Mishnah, we do not force if she wants to stay with him. We force a childless man in any case.

(o) Objection: The Mishnah lists a leper, even though we do not allow her to stay with him!

1. (Mishnah - Chachamim): (She must bear him,) except for a leper, since this harms her.

(p) Answer: Regarding a leper, if she wants to remain with him with witnesses (who will ensure that they do not have Bi'ah), we allow her. We do not allow a childless man to keep his wife even with witnesses.

(a) (Beraisa - R. Yosi): There are 24 types of leprosy. For all of them, Bi'ah is harmful. The worst is Ba'alei Ra'asan (there is a Sheretz in the brain).
(b) Question: What causes it?
(c) Answer (Beraisa): If one has Bi'ah after bloodletting, the children will be weak. If they have Bi'ah after both let blood, the children will be Ba'alei Ra'asan.

1. (Rav Papa): This applies only if they did not eat in between. If they ate in between, there is no problem.

(d) The signs of Ba'alei Ra'asan are: his eyes tear, his nose drips, saliva comes from his mouth, and flies hover about him.
(e) Question: What is the cure?
(f) Answer (Abaye): Take mint, alum, bark of a nut tree, shearings of leather, lily, and red date-shells, and cook them together. Bring the sick one into a marble house, or whose walls are seven half bricks thick. Pour 300 cups of the potion on his head, until his skull softens. Cut the skull; put a myrtle leaf under each leg of the Sheretz, and remove it with tongs; burn the insect.

1. If you do not burn it, it will return to him.

(g) R. Yochanan warned people to beware of the flies from Ba'alei Ra'asan. R. Zeira would not sit downwind from them. R. Elazar would not enter the same tent as them. R. Ami and R. Asi would not eat eggs from an alley with Ba'alei Ra'asan.
(h) R. Yehoshua ben Levi would cling to them and engage in Torah.

1. "And it (Torah) gives grace (to those who learn it)" - all the more so, it protects them!

(a) When R. Yehoshua ben Levi was about to die, the Satan (angel of death) was told to accede to his desires. The Satan appeared to him.
(b) R. Yehoshua ben Levi asked to see where his place will be (in Gan Eden). The Satan consented.
(c) R. Yehoshua ben Levi asked for the Satan's knife, lest it scare him on the way; he gave it to him.
(d) When they got there, the Satan lifted him up and showed him. R. Yehoshua ben Levi jumped to the other side, held onto his garment and swore that he will not leave.

1. Hash-m: If he ever annulled an oath, he will go back; if not, not. (He had not.)

(e) The Satan asked him to return his knife. R. Yehoshua ben Levi refused.

1. A voice from Heaven: Return it, for it is needed for the world. (R. Yehoshua ben Levi returned it.)

(f) Eliyahu: Make room for the son of Levi! Make room for the son of Levi!
(g) R. Yehoshua ben Levi found R. Shimon bar Yochai sitting on 13 gold chairs.

1. R. Shimon bar Yochai: Are you the son of Levi?
2. R. Yehoshua ben Levi: Yes.
3. R. Shimon bar Yochai: Was a rainbow seen in your day?
4. R. Yehoshua ben Levi: Yes.
5. R. Shimon bar Yochai: If so, you are not worthy of this proclamation. (The rainbow is Hashem's sign not to destroy the world. Your merit did not suffice to protect the world!)

i. Really, the rainbow was not seen in his day. R. Yehoshua ben Levi did not want to take credit for this.

(h) R. Chanina bar Papa was the Satan's close friend. When he was about to die, the Satan was told to accede to his desires; he appeared to him.

1. R. Chanina bar Papa: Give me 30 days to review my learning. The angel of death agreed.

i. Happy is the one who comes to the world to come and remembers his learning.

(i) The Satan returned after 30 days.
(j) R. Chanina bar Papa asked to see where his place will be. The Satan consented.
(k) R. Chanina bar Papa asked for the Satan's knife, lest it scare him on the way

1. The Satan: Do you want to do to me as your friend did?!
2. R. Chanina bar Papa: Bring a Sefer Torah, and see if there is anything in it I didn't fulfill.
3. The Satan: Did you cling to Ba'alei Ra'asan and engage in Torah?
4. Even though he had not, when he died, a pillar of fire separated him from everyone else. This happens for only one or two in a generation.

(l) R. Alexandri came close and asked (that the fire cease) for the honor of Chachamim. The fire continued. He asked 'for the honor of your father'; the fire continued. He asked 'for your own honor'; the fire abated.
(m) Abaye: The fire was to keep away anyone who did not fulfill everything in the Torah.
(n) Rav Ada bar Masnah: This includes yourself! You do not have a railing on your roof!

1. Really, Abaye had a railing. The wind had blown it down.

(o) R. Chanina: There are no Ba'alei Ra'asan in Bavel, because they eat beets and drink beer made from hops that grow between prickly shrubs.
(p) R. Yochanan: There are no lepers in Bavel, because they eat beets, drink beer and bathe in the Pras River.