אֵין הַשָּׂטָן מְקַטְרֵג אֶלָּא בִּשְׁעַת סַכָּנָה

ביטוי (אנגלית)

Satan denounces only at a time of danger

הגדרה (אנגלית)

Satan speaks words of accusation against a person who is in danger. By extension: the likelihood of being punished for a wrongdoing increases when one is in a perilous situation.

("Rabbi Ba bar Bina said: a plank stretched from roof to roof, even if it is wide, it is forbidden to walk on it—why? From here: Satan denounces only at a time of danger. Rav said: one who sits in a dilapidated house makes the Angel of Death his companion"—Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 2:6; and: "One must be careful, when a person is in trouble, to argue in his favor and not to mention his sins... for it is known that Satan denounces only at a time of danger, and it may be that Heaven will reveal his sin"—Pele Yoetz, Sinagoria; and: "I said to myself: Who knows? A strange city... and Satan denounces at a time of danger..."—Sholem Aleichem, From the Army Exam, 191; and: "One must not be negligent! Any negligence... for Satan denounces precisely at a time of danger"—Bialik, The Short Sixth Day, I, 153; and: "But the danger is great, and Satan denounces only at a time of danger, and when the rabbi and his students, whose strength is only in their mouths, stood in prayer and shook the worlds, Satan was aroused, and the enemies of Israel prevailed"—Mordechai ben Yehezkel, The Stories, Part Four, The Decree Was Canceled, 147)