years of R. Eleazer b. Harsum—and compute, you will see that not even one high-priest completed his year.
R. Johanan b. Turtha said: Why had Shiloh fallen? Two sins were committed there: adultery and sacrilege. Adultery, as it is written [1 Sam. ii. 22]: "Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons were in the habit of doing unto all Israel; and how they would lie with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." And sacrilege, as it is written [ibid. 17]: "And the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord; for the men despised the offering of the Lord."
Why has the first Temple fallen? Because there were three things: idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed. Idolatry, as it is written [Isa. xxviii. 20]: "For the bed shall be too short for a man to stretch himself out on it; and the covering too narrow to wrap himself in," And R. Johanan said: The bed is too narrow that there should be two, God and the idols. [Said R. Samuel b. Nahmoni: When R. Jonathan used to come to this verse, he used to cry, saying: That the Lord, of whom it is said [Ps. xxxiii. 7], "He gathereth together like heaps the waters of the sea," should feel too little space because of an idol.] Adultery, as it is written [Is. iii. 16]: "Forasmuch as the daughters of Zion are fraud, and walk with stretched forth necks and casting about their eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet." R. Itz'hak said to this: What is meant by tinkling? They used to fill the shoes with spices, and when a young man was by, they pressed the spices with the feet, to attract his attention.
Bloodshed, as it is written [2 Kings xxi. 16]: "And also innocent blood did Manasseh shed in very great abundance."
But the second Temple, where the occupations were study of the Law, religious duties, and charity—why fell it? Because there was groundless enmity.[1] From this we can infer that unfounded hatred is equal to all the three sins together: idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed. In the time of the first Temple, although they were wicked, yet because they put their trust in the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written [Micah iii. 11]: "Her heads judge for bribes, her priests teach for reward, and her prophets divine for money: and yet they will lean upon the
- ↑ In the Palestinian Talmud it is said: Because they loved money, and hated each other without grounds.
