Shabbat 145: Hot Water, Babylonia vs. HaAretz

Briefly:
The rabbis continue their discussion about liquid taking on the status of food, and then not forcing the food to impart ritual impurity, when it is added to a larger item of food on Shabbat.  We learn about squeezing vegetables including pickles and boiled vegetables.  The rabbis also consider the consequences - bringing sin offerings, etc. - that might be the result of such actions on Shabbat.

We move on to a side topic of witnesses.  Who must witness such discretions?  Is one witness's testimony valid?  Is a woman's testimony valid in these cases?  We learn that hearsay testimony is only valid when a woman is wanting to remarry and regarding the status of a firstborn animal. 

A new Mishna teaches us that any salted food already cooked in hot water before Shabbat may be soaked in water water on Shabbat.   Anything not placed in hot water before Shabbat may be rinsed in hot water on Shabbat but may not be soaked.  The exceptions are old salted fish, small salted fist and the kolyas ha'ispanim fish, where rinsing with hot water is a completing a prohibited labour of cooking.

We learn about foods that the rabbis find disgusting.  Rav Safra hated Rabbi Abba's chicken baked medicinally) so much that it fell apart.  Rabbi Yochanan would spit just from thinking about Babylonian kutach.  Rav Gaza shares how many people love the drink.  Following this conversation, some rabbis discussed other things in Babylonia that were less than those in HaAretz.  The rabbis spoke of Babylonians and their lesser degrees of rigour in learning.  Rabbi Yochanan awakens and tells them that they must be more careful before making such serious accusations.  In fact, there were other reasonable answers as to why Babylonian conditions were different from those in HaAretz.