אמר רב יהודה אמר רב מאי דכתיב (מיכה ב, ב) ועשקו גבר וביתו ואיש ונחלתו מעשה באדם אחד שנתן עיניו באשת רבו ושוליא דנגרי הוה
that a brigand abused her a whole night. In the morning he put seven wraps round her and took her out to sell her. A certain man who was exceptionally ugly came and said: Show me her beauty. He said: Fool, if you want to buy her buy, for [I tell you that] there is no other so beautiful in all the world. He said to him: All the same [show her to me]. He took seven wraps off her, and she herself tore off the seventh and rolled in the dust, saying, Sovereign of the universe, if Thou hast not pity on us why hast thou not pity on the sanctity of Thy Name? For her Jeremiah utters lamentation, saying, O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning as for an only son, for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Jer. VI, 26.
');"><sup>15</sup></span>
Tosefta Horayot
A man takes precedence over a woman [in regards to saving] a life and the return of lost property. A woman takes precedence over a man [in regards] to being clothed and to saving from captivity. In a situation that both of them are subjected to degradation, the man takes precedence. It so happened that Rabbi Yehoshua went to Rome. They told him, "There is here a certain child from Jerusalem, with beautiful eyes, and good-looking, who is about to be degraded." Rabbi Yehoshua went to check on him. When he arrived at the entrance [of where the captive was being held], he called out this passage (Is. 42:24): "Who was it who gave Jacob over to despoilment and Israel to plunderers?" (JPS Tr.). The child answered him, and said (ibid.), "Surely, it is God, against whom we sinned." At that very moment, Rabbi Yehoshua said, "I call upon Heaven and earth to stand as witnesses before me, that I will not move from this place until I have redeemed him, no matter how much money it takes." [And indeed] he redeemed him with a great amount of money, and he went to live in the Land of Israel. And about him it is said (Lam. 4:2), "Children of Zion, O precious ones, whose value is as pure gold." [Note: Per Git. 58a:10, this child grew to become Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha.]
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