Rabbi Yochanan said that if Yom Kippur occurs on a weekday we may crack nuts and remove pomegranate seeds from the late afternoon and onward because there is no actual labour involved. Instead, we will be anxious if we do not know that there is food enough for the end of the fast. Rav Yehuda's family would trim cabbage at that time, and Rabba's family would scrub gourds.
A new Mishna teaches that regarding all sacred writings, one may rescue them from the fire on shabbat. These are words read in public - Torah or Prophets scrolls, in any language. We don't read the Writings on Shabbat due to suspension of Torah study in the study hall on Shabbat.
The Gemara discusses sacred writings that are written in languages other than Hebrew. Should thees be rescued from the fire on Shabbat? They are buried when no longer in use. Rabbi Yosei says that there was an incident where his father went to Rabban Gamliel of Yavne in Tiberias where he was reading a translation of the book of Job. Rabbi Gamliel asked that the book be buried with mortar under some bricks. Some questions that follow: where did the mortar come from? Can we destroy sacred writings that are not read with our hands? Should we leave them in a neglected place where they will decompose quickly?
Some rabbis do not even want us to read books in other languages. We learn about the blessings written in amulets. These too would not be rescued from fire even though they contain the name of G-d in them. The rabbis note that writers of blessings were like burners of Torah scrolls, as they would likely be destroyed in fire. One who was writing blessings heard that Rabbi Yishmael was ascending a ladder to confront him. In haste he doused the blessings in water to cover up his actions. Rabbi Yishmael said to him that the punishment for destroying the blessings is greater than punishment for creating them.
The Exilarch spoke of resucing certain inks from fire. Does it matter if the script will endure, regardless of the language that is written? There is a difference between the books of the Bible and the Megilla of Esther: the Megilla is only valid if it is written in Assyrian script, on a parchment scroll, in ink. Other sacred books do not need to be written in ink. We know that the Ark and even a Torah scroll needs every letter to be intact.
We learn that halacha: a book that holds eighty-five letters in complete words or that has the name of G-d written in it must be rescued from a fire on Shabbat. Rav Huna stated this, overruling Rav Chisda. In modern days we recover any version or translation of sacred books.
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