The discussion begins on page 108b of the Talmud, five lines from the bottom. Rabkhanah Bar-Livayeh said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, the servant of Avraham Avinu, that when Abraham went to fight the kings of the east and west, he was greatly outnumbered. Yet, the Holy One, Blessed be He, stood by Abraham's right side. Miraculously, dirt that Abraham threw turned into swords, and straw turned into arrows and spears, enabling him to defeat his enemies. This is alluded to in the verse, "A Psalm of David. The word of the Lord to my master, Abraham our Father, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Abraham, 'Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'" This divine assistance encouraged Abraham to leave his birthplace in the east and travel west, to publicize God's righteousness. God promised that the nations would fall before him, a promise fulfilled through the miraculous transformation of dirt into weapons.
The Gemara recounts a famous story illustrating this miraculous power of Abraham's dirt, involving Nahum Ish Gamzu. Nahum was known for his unwavering faith, always declaring, "This too is for the best," no matter what befell him. One day, the Jewish people needed to send a gift to the Caesars to gain favor. They entrusted Nahum with a large chest of jewels. He stopped at an inn for the night, where robbers emptied his chest of jewels and filled it with dirt. Upon arrival in Rome, Nahum presented the chest to the Caesar. When it was opened, only dirt was found, leading the Caesar to believe the Jews were mocking him. He ordered Nahum to be executed. However, Eliyahu HaNavi appeared, disguised as a Roman, and suggested that this dirt might be the special dirt of Abraham, which miraculously turned into weapons. The Romans, intrigued, tested the dirt against an unconquered region, and indeed, it transformed into swords and arrows, securing them a victory. The Caesar, impressed, rewarded Nahum handsomely with gold. When Nahum returned to the inn, the innkeepers, seeing his newfound wealth, asked what he had given the Caesar. He replied that he had given the dirt they had filled his chest with. The innkeepers, greedy, filled their own carts with dirt and brought it to the Caesar, hoping for the same reward. However, their dirt had no miraculous properties, and they were executed for their deception.
The Gemara then turns to the generation of the Dispersion, who built the Tower of Babel. This generation lost their share in the World to Come. The governor inquired why. They explained they feared another flood and sought to build a tower to reach the sky, intending to break the firmament where the waters were held, thus preventing another deluge. The Gemara, however, finds this explanation laughable, noting that if their goal was to reach heaven, they should have built it on a mountain, not in a valley. Rav Avir offers an alternative explanation: their intention was not merely to reach the firmament. There were three distinct groups among them. One group sought refuge, intending to sit atop the tower to be protected from any future flood. The second group intended to build the tower as a site for idol worship. The third group intended to wage war against God.
The fates of these groups differed according to their intentions. The group that merely sought refuge was scattered by God, but not killed. The group that intended to wage war against God was transformed into monkeys, spirits, demons, and night-demons. Demons, it is taught, have human-like forms, eating and drinking like human beings, while night-demons also have wings, guard shoes, and stand for idol worship. The group that intended to worship idols was punished by having their languages confused, preventing them from uniting to carry out their plan. It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Natan said all of them ultimately intended for idol worship, as the verse states, "Let us make a name for ourselves," and the word "name" is often associated with idol worship. In the end, one-third of the tower was burnt, one-third sank into the ground, and one-third remains standing today. The Ma'alal explains that the portion that remained was associated with the group that merely wanted to make a name for themselves, as their intention was not entirely evil. The portion that was swallowed into the ground was for those who intended to wage war, and the portion that was burnt was for those who intended to worship idols.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, declared that anyone standing in the vicinity of the Tower of Babel, even just seeing its airspace, would forget their learning. This is why the people forgot their language. Yosef said that Babel and Bursif, two cities in Babel, were devoid of Torah because their proximity to the tower caused people to forget their studies. The city of Bursif is so named because it is like a "well that empties" (Bor Shafi), meaning anyone who learns Torah there finds their knowledge emptying away.
The Gemara then discusses the people of Sodom, who also lost their share in the World to Come. Their sins are described as "evil and sinners against the Lord, very intentionally." "Evil" refers to promiscuity, as implied by Yosef's words regarding his temptation. "Sinners" refers to monetary sins, as indicated by the verse concerning the Sabbatical year: "And there will be sin in you" if one refrains from lending money. "Against the Lord, very intentionally" refers to their blasphemy and intentional rebellion against the Creator. The people of Sodom were blessed with tremendous abundance, bounty, and blessing. Their land produced bread and its dust was gold, yet this prosperity led to arrogance. They rebelled against God, as described in the verse from Job: "From the earth comes forth bread, and beneath it is overturned as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphire, and it has dust of gold."
Due to their prosperity, the people of Sodom decided to abolish hospitality, reasoning, "Since from our land comes forth bread and its dust is gold, why do we need wayfarers? They only come to diminish our wealth. Let us abolish the custom of hospitality." As a result of their cruelty, the Holy One, Blessed be He, brought a river of fire and brimstone from the heavens, destroying Sodom, who had "forgotten wayfarers." They were uprooted from mankind. The Gemara details their wicked practices. They would identify wealthy visitors, lead them to a wall about to fall, push the wall onto them, and then take their money. They would also dig tunnels at night to steal, using balsam oil to mark the location of valuables. They would apply this fragrant oil near a rich person's money, then return at night, sniffing like dogs to locate the scent and dig up the hidden wealth.
The people of Sodom also stole the clothes of the poor, leaving them to sleep naked in the cold. They stole donkeys from orphans and oxen from widows, claiming they were collateral for unpaid debts. They moved boundary markers to seize their neighbors' property and let their animals graze in others' fields. If a guest died in their town due to their cruelty, they would quickly bury him in a mound, ensuring no one would know he had been there. Rabbi Yosef once taught a lesson in Sippori about the Sodomites' trick of using balsam oil to find money. That night, 300 robberies occurred in Sippori. The rich people complained to the rabbi, "What have you done to us? You've given thieves a path!" He replied, "Do I know that thieves come to the discourse? Usually, righteous people come to the discourse." When the righteous Yosef died in Sippori, the city's pipes dripped blood, a sign of immense mourning for him.
The Gemara then describes some of Sodom's perverted laws. If a person owned one ox, he was obligated to graze all the city's oxen for one day. If a person owned no oxen, he was obligated for two days. The logic was that since he had no ox of his own, he had more free time. An orphan, son of a widow, who owned no oxen, was given all the city's oxen to graze. In his anger, he killed them all. The Sodomites then decreed that anyone who owned an ox would receive one hide, while the orphan, who owned no ox, would receive two hides. This mirrored their other absurd laws, such as charging four zuz to cross a bridge by boat, but eight zuz to walk across. A launderer once came to Sodom and was told to pay four zuz for crossing. He protested that he had walked. They then demanded eight zuz. When he refused, they beat him, causing him to bleed. He was then told he had to pay even more for the "favor" of being bled, as bloodletting was considered healthy. Rabbi Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, once came to Sodom and was beaten, causing him to bleed. When he went to court, the judge told him he had to pay the man who hit him for the favor of bloodletting. Rabbi Eliezer then hit the judge, causing him to bleed, and told the judge, "Now you owe me, for I have done you a favor. Pay the man who hit me with the money you owe me." With this clever maneuver, he left the court.
The Sodomites also had a special bed for guests. If a guest was too long for the bed, they would cut off his legs to make him fit. If he was too short, they would stretch him. Rabbi Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, avoided this fate by claiming he had vowed never to sleep on a bed since his mother's passing. Another cruel custom was to give a poor person a coin, but first write their name on it. No one was allowed to give the poor person food. When the person died of starvation, everyone would reclaim their coin, pretending they had given charity. They also had a pact that anyone who invited an outsider to a wedding would have their jacket confiscated. At one such wedding, a guest sat down uninvited. When asked who invited him, he pointed to a man next to him. Fearing his jacket would be taken, the man removed it and fled. The guest continued this trick, pointing to each person next to him, until everyone fled, leaving him to eat the entire feast alone.
The Gemara relates the famous story of the girl who secretly brought bread to the poor. When she went to draw water, her act became known. To punish her, they poured honey all over her body and placed her on the city roof. Bees came and ate her. Her cries reached God, leading to the destruction of Sodom. The verse states, "And the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great." This "outcry" is interpreted as the cry of that girl.
The Gemara then discusses other groups who lost their share in the World to Come. The Spies, who brought an evil report about the land, have no share in the World to Come. As it is stated, "And the men who brought up an evil report about the land died by a plague before the Lord." "They died in this world" refers to their physical death, and "by the plague" refers to their loss of the World to Come. The congregation of Korach also has no share in the World to Come. As it is stated, "And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households." This refers to their destruction in this world. "And they perished from among the assembly" refers to their loss of the World to Come. However, Rabbi Eliezer says that God will be with them; He put them in the ground, and when Mashiach comes, He will lift them out. Rabbi Yehuda ben Betera offers a similar view, stating that the people of Korach are like a lost object that is sought after. Just as an owner eventually finds a lost object, so too will the congregation of Korach eventually be found. This is supported by the verse, "I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments." Since they did not forget the commandments and fulfilled them, as it says, "for the entire congregation, all of them are holy," God will find them and bring them to the World to Come, even though they strayed like a lost object.
The Gemara then discusses Korach himself. He made a bad business deal by fighting against Moshe. He used his money to bribe people to join him, a truly bad business venture. As a result of Korach, a great portion of Israel perished. His lineage is given as Korach ben Yitzhar, ben Kehat, ben Levi. He is called "the son that angered the whole world," causing anger like the midday sun. He brought shame upon his parents. He is also called "Ben Levi, who caused a great escort to Gehennam." The lineage continues to "Ben Yaakov," meaning he caused himself to go to Gehennam. Yaakov, foreseeing that Korach would descend from him, prayed that his name not be mentioned in Korach's lineage. This prayer was accepted, as the verse states Korach's lineage as "Ben Yitzhar, Ben Kehat, Ben Levi," omitting "Ben Yaakov," because Korach fought against Moshe and God.