Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the liability of someone who has a pit dug on his property, even if he did not do or ask for it to be done:
Since this owner of the courtyard should have filled the pit with earth and he did not fill it, he is considered like someone who actually dug the pit.
The idea that one is considered to be an active damager simply by neglecting to repair a hazard has metaphysical implications as well. Shem Mishmuel (5672, Devarim 29) uses this idea to explain a comment of Rashi on a verse in Devarim (29:18):
וְהָיָ֡ה בְּשָׁמְעוֹ֩ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֨י הָֽאָלָ֜ה הַזֹּ֗את וְהִתְבָּרֵ֨ךְ בִּלְבָב֤וֹ לֵאמֹר֙ שָׁל֣וֹם יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֔י כִּ֛י בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת לִבִּ֖י אֵלֵ֑ךְ לְמַ֛עַן סְפ֥וֹת הָרָוָ֖ה אֶת־הַצְּמֵאָֽה׃
When he hears the statements of this oath-curse, he will imagine self-blessings, saying, ‘‘Peace will be my lot when I shall follow what my thoughts envision,’’ so that the unintentional may be added to the sinful.
Rashi and Onkelos (ibid) state, this verse teaches us that if one committed a sin at first unintentionally, but morally deteriorated and began sinning intentionally, then he is held liable for the unintentional sin as well.
Shem Mishmuel says this is logical. A sin committed out of lack of knowledge is still negligent in some way, and after all, the sinful act was done. Yet, it is possible to forgive the person if his actions and thoughts demonstrate that he did not want to sin, if he repents promptly. If he continues to sin and even embraces sin, then he cannot excuse himself because he did the action of the sin, and even his intentions do not show regret. This is akin to passively not covering the hole. Even though he did not dig the hole, his neglect is an affirmation of the hole, and he is liable.
The Gemara (Gittin 56b) tells an unusual fate that befell the despotic Roman general Titus, who led the successful campaign to conquer Jerusalem:
God decrease, “Wicked one, son of a wicked one, grandson of Esau the wicked, for you are among his descendants and act just like him, I have a lowly creature in My world and it is called a gnat.
The Gemara interjects: Why is it called a lowly creature? It is called this because it has an entrance for taking in food, but it does not have an exit for excretion.
The Gemara resumes its story about Titus. A gnat came, entered his nostril, and picked at his brain for seven years. Titus suffered greatly from this until one day he passed by the gate of a blacksmith’s shop. The gnat heard the sound of a hammer and was silent and still. Titus said: I see that there is a remedy for my pain. Every day they would bring a blacksmith who hammered before him. He did this for thirty days and it was effective until then. From that point forward, since the gnat became accustomed to the hammering, it became accustomed to it, and once again it began to pick away at Titus’s brain.
It is taught in a baraisa that Rabbi Pineḥas ben Arova said: I was at that time among the noblemen of Rome, and when Titus died they split open his head and found that the gnat had grown to the size of a sparrow weighing two sela.
There are a number of points in this story that hint at greater meaning:
- The gnat picking at Titus’ brain
- The ability to silence the gnat temporarily and its eventual recurrence
- The aspect of the gnat, that “it does not excrete”
- The growth of the gnat into a much larger creature
Let us analyze this story, noting the above story element numbers and corresponding human mental process. The story can be seen as a description of human stubbornness and refusal to take stock and correct. An initial small sin that is ignored will continue to rot and pick at your brain (#1). The sin seems small and insignificant but the more we push them away, though at first we may succeed, (#2) they can come back stronger and with a vengeance (#4). In dream symbolism, excretion often stands for passing and letting go of feelings, thoughts or memories. The gnat cannot excrete (#3), in the archetype, the human process that represses instead of experiencing and respecting the emotion, the result is psychological constipation. This leads to an inability to metabolize, move forward, derive energy and grow.
A similar Midrashic representation of this can be found in regard to the rabbinic interpretation of the scriptural description of the plague of Frogs. The verse (Shemos 8:2) refers to the plague in singular, “The Frog”. While in peshat it is grammatically correct to refer to an entire group of animals in the singular, the Midrash (Rashi ibid. based on Tanna Debei Eliyahu Rabbah 7:1) takes it literally:
“AND THE FROGS (lit. frog) CAME UP — Really there was only one frog, but when they struck at it, it was split into many swarms.
Meaning, the Egyptians chose to deny the reality of God and the plague by hitting the frog. But each time they hit it, the more it multiplied. Similarly, when one tries to repress a thought or emotion, it just bounces back at you twice as strong. Ignore your moral lapses, and they will grow and grow.
What holes do we need to patch up today so we, or others, do not fall into them tomorrow?
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