In the ancient world, entering a bath house — where one might spend several hours in dark, enclosed spaces, completely nude and otherwise defenseless — came with obvious risks. For that reason, the rabbis recommend that one should offer the following prayer for protection (Berakhot 60a) before entering:
May it be Your will, O Lord my God, that you save me from this and similar matters, and do not let ruin or iniquity befall me, and if ruin or iniquity does befall me, let my death be atonement for all of my transgressions.
While agreeing that a prayer for protection is in order, Abaye suggests dropping the final two phrases because:
One should not open their mouth to Satan.
In other words: Don’t invite disaster upon yourself by articulating something that devastating. This anxiety is also found on today’s daf:
The mishnah states: One who curses himself or another employing any of these names or appellations of God violates a prohibition. If one says “The Lord God shall strike you,” and likewise if one says: “God shall strike you if you do not come to testify,” that is a curse that is written in the Torah.
Rav Kahana sat before Rav Yehuda, and he sat and stated the mishnah verbatim as we learned it. Rav Yehuda said to him: Employ a euphemism.
The mishnah provides examples of biblical language that one might use to curse another and cajole them into testifying. This behavior is prohibited, as one is not allowed to invoke the name of God as part of a curse. Even hearing this mishnah spoken aloud in the house of study makes Rav Yehuda uncomfortable. He instructs Rav Kahana to adjust the text by using a euphemism. The Gemara goes on to explain that Rav Yehuda suggests employing the third person (“God shall strike him”) instead of the second (“God shall strike you”), so as not to invite disaster on one’s teacher or colleagues who could be the “you” about whom the text is referring.
The Gemara relates that Rav Kahana, on some later date, passed on this advice, this time with respect to a verse in Torah:
A certain one of the sages sat before Rav Kahana, and he sat and said the verse: “God will likewise break you forever; He will take you up and pluck you from the tent, and uproot you from the land of the living.” (Psalms 52:7) Rav Kahana said to him: Employ a euphemism.
In the first example Rav Kahana is studying a mishnah, a rabbinic text, and in the second the unnamed student is studying the Bible. Not only do the rabbis suggest amending a rabbinic text, they are even inclined to adjust a word of a biblical verse to avoid inviting disaster to befall others. This is remarkable given their fidelity to the precise text of the Hebrew Scriptures.
A theme of Tractate Shevuot, and arguably many other talmudic tractates, is that words truly matter and that they hold enormous power. When we formulate an oath, we are bound by our words — by God and by our fellow humans. On today’s daf, we are reminded that the mere recitation of a mishnah or biblical verse can be dangerous to others. In such cases, not only is there license but even the explicit suggestion to use a euphemism instead.
A modern reader might be tempted to dismiss these texts for their superstitiousness. Yet, the taboo against speaking terrible things aloud is alive and well in our day too. Just as we can be prone to imagine the worst possible outcomes, we also tend to shy away from vocalizing them. Following this practice might not actually make us safer, yet it seems to be in our nature to feel that way nonetheless.
Read all of Shevuot 36 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 6, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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