There was a
particular woman who was fond of listening to Rabbi Meir teach his students.
Once, when the rabbi’s lesson lasted a long time, she was late in
returning to her home. Angrily her husband asked, “Where have you
been?” When she told him she had been listening to Rabbi Meir’s lesson,
he refused to believe her, saying: “I will not allow you into this house
until you have spit in Rabbi Meir’s face!”
Friends of the couple, who learned what had happened, suggested they go with
her for counsel to Rabbi Meir.
When Rabbi Meir heard what happened, he said to the wife, “I have a favor
to ask. Since the time you left my lesson, I have developed a
serious eye infection that can be cured only with the spittle of your
mouth. Therefore, please spit in my eye seven times.”
After the woman had done as Rabbi Meir requested, he told her, “Now
go and be reconciled with your husband. Say to him, “I have spit in
Rabbi Meir’s eye.”
After the woman left, Rabbi Meir said to his students, “Great is peace.
You may suffer shame to make peace between friends, between a wife and a
husband.” (Leviticus Rabbah 9:9) - trans. Rabbi
Harvey Field
Comments