Does the snake still lust after the daughters of Eve? TB Shabbat 110

Today’s daf TB Shabbat continues to discuss different cures for constipation, jaundice, and a woman (זָבָה) who is suffering from a discharge well beyond her period. These cures are pretty outlandish from our modern point of view. Rabbi Akiva Eiger (1761-1838) in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch basically says that these cures don’t work and now we are forbidden to use them. In other words, if you check them out at https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.110a?lang=bi, don’t try them at home!

The daf begins with a series of snake problems like what you should do if a snake wraps itself around your legs. I hope I never have to find out whether these strategies work are not because I have my doubts. This sugiyah ends with a very strange case of a snake violating a woman. “A woman whom a snake has entered, let them spread her legs and place her on two barrels, and let them bring fatty meat and throw it onto coals. And let them bring her a bowl of cress and fragrant wine and place them there and mix them together. And she should take tongs in her hand, as when the snake smells the fragrance it emerges. And then one should take the snake and burn it in the fire, as if it is not burned, it will come back onto her.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Could the background of this case harken back to the snake, Eve, and Adam in the minds of the rabbis? According to the midrash the snake lusted after Eve and was jealous of her relationship with Adam. “In the midrashic expansion, the serpent, ‘who was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts’ (Gen. 3:1), cast his eyes on what was not fit for him. The serpent saw Adam and Eve naked, engaging in intercourse in plain sight, and he lusted after Eve. He wanted to kill Adam and then marry Eve. When he was punished, God told him: I intended that you would reign over all cattle and beasts, but now ‘more cursed shall you be than all cattle and all the wild beasts’ (Gen. 3:14); you desired to kill Adam and marry Eve, now “I will put enmity between you and the woman” (Gen. 3:15). What the serpent wanted was not given him, and what he had was taken from him (T Sotah [ed. Lieberman] 4:17–18; Gen. Rabbah 18:6). According to another tradition, the serpent did indeed engage in intercourse with Eve, who became pregnant and gave birth to Cain (see below, ‘Now the Man Knew His Wife Eve’).” https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/eve-midrash-and-aggadah

To say the least our rabbis had a vivid imagination.

For some interesting insights that I didn't know when I wrote this reflection see: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbat-110/