Commentary for Gittin 139:26

תנא כשם שקשה למטה כפלים כך יפה למעלה כפלים אמר רב פפא

Abaye said: <font>One who is not conversant with the way of the world</font><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A euphemism for marital intercourse. ');">¹⁹</span> should take three <i>kefizi</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A small measure. ');">²⁰</span> of safflower and grind it and boil it in wine and drink it. R. Johanan said: <font>This is just what restored me to my youthful vigour.</font> Three things weaken a man's strength, namely, anxiety, travelling and sin. Anxiety, as it is written, <i>My heart fluttereth, my strength faileth me</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. XXXVIII, 11. ');">²¹</span> Travelling, as it is written, <i>He weakened my strength in the way</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. CII, 24. ');">²²</span> Sin, as it is written, <i>My strength faileth because of mine iniquity</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XXXI, 11. ');">²³</span> <font>Three things enfeeble a man's body, namely, to eat standing,</font> to drink standing, and to <font>have marital intercourse standing.</font> Five are nearer to death than to life, namely, one who eats and rises immediately, or who drinks and rises immediately, or who lets blood and rises immediately, or <font>who rises immediately</font> on waking or <font>after marital intercourse.</font> If one does the following six things [together], <font>he will die immediately</font>: if he comes weary from a journey, lets blood and has a bath and drinks himself drunk and lies down to sleep on the floor and <font>has marital intercourse</font>. R. Johanan said: That is, if he does them in this order; Abaye said: If he does them in this order he will die; <font>if not in this order he will fall ill.</font> Is that so? Did not [a certain] Me'orath do three of these things to her slave and he died? — He was a weakling. There are eight things which in large quantities are harmful but in small quantities are beneficial, namely, travelling, the 'way of the world', wealth, work, wine, sleep, hot baths, and blood-letting. Eight things cause a diminution of seed, namely, salt, hunger, scalls, weeping, sleeping on the ground, lotus, cucumbers out of season, and bloodletting below, which is as bad as any two. A Tanna taught: As it is as bad as any two below, so it is as good as any two above. R. Papa said:

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