Avodah Zara 28: Ancient Remedies, Healing on Shabbat, Healers

The rabbis debate which symptoms would be so distressing that one could treat them and break the halachot of Shabbat.  Some of the discussion includes:

• burning fever
• internal injury
• gums/teeth/lips are similar to internal organs
• painful gums/teeth rather than being concerned about gums/teeth

We learn that Rabbi Yochanan did not keep his word.  A matron gave him a remedy for tzafdina for Thursday and Friday.  He asked what to do on Shabbat and she said that he would not need the remedy at that time.  But what if I do, he asked.  She had him swear that he would not reveal the remedy and then told him the ingredients.  The next day he shared them.  Not with G-d, he argued, but with the Jewish people. 

Tzafdina refers to gums that bleed with pressure.  The rabbis say that it is caused by eating very cold wheat foods and very hot barley foods, and fried fish remains.  The remedy might be be water with leaven steeped in it plus olive oil and salt.  It might have been a cream for the gums made of goose fat with a goose feather.  Abaye says that he learned the true remedy from an Arab.  It was olive seeds that are less that one-third ripe tuned in a fire on top of a new hoe.  These seed should be stuck along the row of gums.  

We learn about rabbis licking each other's legs to remove poison.  We also learn that many of these healers were women, and they were called 'expert physicians'.   The Gemara lists a number of ingredients for different remedies.  Some remedies are for sword wounds and others are for abscesses.  Others are for hemorrhoids.  Hemorrhoids are treated with special care - three different remedies are recommended.  We are given medical tips - when to lance; how to recognize healing.   

Earaches are given much attention as well.  We learn that the eyes and the heart are linked by tendons, and that blue eye shadow should be used with caution.  The rabbis also consider remedies for eye infections, hornet stings, scorpion bites, and stuck thorns.  These are fascinating, time-consuming (possibly impossible) and might have provided people with optimism and something to do while one was still ill.