Shabbat 157: Timing of Nullifying a Woman's Vows, Enhancing Mitzvot on Shabbat

Our final Mishna in Massechet Shabbat teaches that a father or husband may nullify his daughter or wife's vows on Shabbat or request that a Sage dissolve vows regarding Shabbat.  We may seal a window on Shabbat to dissolve vows that allow for more joy on Shabbat.  We may measure a rag to figure out whether or not it is large enough to contract ritual impurity and we may measure a ritual bath to determine if it contains enough water for immersion.  

We learn that Rabbi Tzadok's father and Abba Shaul ben Botnit sealed a window using an earthenware vessel and tied and earthenware shard with a long reed-grass with a temporary knot to determine whether or not the roof had an opening the size of a handbreadth.  From their statements and actions we learn that we may seal windows, measure and tie knots on Shabbat.

The Gemarra tells us that Zutei, a student of Rav Pappa, tells us that we may nullify vows on Shabbat for the purpose of bettering Shabbat only.  Rav Ashi looks at the timing of a woman's vow and we are reminded that a father or husband has twenty four hours after learning of this woman's vow to annul it.  The rabbis walk us through examples of the other halachot regarding sealing windows and measuring roofing.  At the end of our daf, we are reminded about measuring only to enhance a mitzvah - Rabba bar Rav Huna was acting "unawares" when he was sitting in a tub without measuring it.  Thus his actions were not prohibited.  

Shabbat 156: Constellations, Astrology, Hours of the Day

The rabbis discuss how we can do things in unusual ways on Shabbat.  

Some interesting notes:

• one born on a Monday will be short tempered because this is the day that the upper and lower waters were divided during creation on that second day
• one born on the third day of the week will be rich and promiscuous because that was the day vegetation was created mixing boundaries between the grass and the plants
• one born on the fourth day will be wise and enlightened because this was the day the lights from heaven were hung in the sky and wisdom is a type of light
• one born on the fifth day of the week will be one who performs acts of kindness because this day fish and fowl were created and they are sustained only by G-d's kindness
• One born on the sixth day of the week will be a seeker and Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said that this means one will seek out mitzvot like how Friday prepares for Shabbat
• one born on Shabbat will die on Shabbat because Shabbat was desecrated on his behalf; Rava bar Rav Sheila says that he will be called a person of great sanctity

• one born born under the influence of the Sun will be radiant, self sufficient, and his secrets will be exposed; stealing will be seen by everyone
• one born under the influence of Venus will be rich and promiscuous because fire was born at that our, like the evil inclination
• one born under the influence of mercury will be enlightened and an expert because Mercury scribes for the sun; this person will destroy and build, build and destroy; others will have to support him and his secrets will be hidden, if he steals he will succeed and he is like the mood who changes form
• one born under the influence of Saturn will waste his thoughts and all of his efforts will be for nothing
• one born under the influence of Jupiter (tzedek) will be a just person (tzadkan)
• one born under the influence of mars will be one who spills blood either medicinally or though thievery or slaughtering or a circumciser; Rabba argued this point based on his own behaviour and Abaye notes that he does kill and punish as a judge

The rabbis argue about whether or not the Jewish people are influenced by constellations.  As an outsider, it is difficult to understand how this could be understood as anything but a form of idolatry.

A new Mishna tells us that we may cut pumpkins before an animal on Shabbat as long as they were picked before Shabbat.  We may cut an animal carcass before the dogs on Shabbat.  Rabbi Yehuda says that if it was not already a carcass before Shabbat, we cannot cut off or even move it on Shabbat because it was not prepared for use on Shabbat.

Shabbat 152: Tears, Old Age, Dying and the Soul After Death

Rabbi Yochanan says in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Ketzarta that tears from smoke, sorrowful crying, and from the bathroom are bad for the eyes.  Tears from medicine, laughter and sharp vegetables are good for the eyes.  The rabbis go on to discuss some of the advantages of youth.  They also speak of the Eunich, who does not have the advantages of a beautiful beard, a loving wife, nor the gift of children from G-d.

 

The rabbis focus in on getting older and losing their vitality, whether that is their stomachs not working properly, generally not sleeping well, not enjoying the voices of men and women in song, not having a sex drive which can motivate one to make peace at home.  We learn that promiscuity results in the symptoms of old age taking hold before their time. 

 

We learn about sitting shiva in the house of the deceased.  After seven days, the deceased appeared to Rav Yehuda in his dream and said “Put your mind to rest, for you have put my mind to rest”.   Rabbi Abbahu says that a deceased person can hear what we say in front of him or her until the tomb is sealed with the top-stone.   Other rabbis disagree, but only about the timing, not about the deceased hearing what we say.  Proof texts are provided.  We are told that we return to G-d in purity, as we came.  There are ways to protect our souls, we learn, including keeping our bodies pure and rested. 

 

At the end of our daf the rabbis discuss the souls of the righteous being stored beneath the Throne of Glory.  However the oracle woman raised Shmuel up through necromancy.  Thus we learn that within twelve months of his death, a person’s deceased body remains while the soul ascends and descend.  After twelve months, the body does not exist and the soul ascends for good. 

 

This is an explanation of our putting headstones on graves after eleven months; all souls would ascend by that point in time.

Shabbat 151: Bathing After Shabbat, Preparing a Corpse, Compassion for the Poor and “karma”

The rabbis continue to discus Abba Shaul’s principle: Regarding anything that I may discuss on Shabbat, I am permitted to wait for nightfall for its sake.

 

A new Mishna adds to our last Mishna: We may wait for nightfall at the Shabbat boundary to attend to the needs of a bride and the needs of a corpse, like bringing a coffin or shrouds.  If a Gentile brings flutes on Shabbat to play during the eulogy and procession, a Jew may not eulogize with the m unless they are from from within the eiruv.  If Gentiles make a coffin and dig him a grave on Shabbat and then they decide to give them to someone else, a Jew may be buried there.  But if it was initially intended for a Jew, a Jew may never be buried there. 

 

Shmuel teaches that this suggests that uncertainty in whether or not the Gentile’s actions were for a Jew permits a burial.  Similarly, if it is uncertain where the flutes came from for a funeral, we are permitted to have them.  Our notes teach that we wait the amount of time that it would take to deliver the flutes from a certain area to determine whether or not the flutes actually came from that place. 

 

We also learn that Jews must wait the amount of time it would take for bathhouse water to heat up after Shabbat so that we are not benefitting from the water that was heated on Shabbat.  This is only when there is a majority of Jews in a city.  If there are a majority of Gentiles, Jews may bathe immediately after Shabbat. If there is a fifty/fifty split, one waits as long as it would take to heat the water.   If there is a small bath and a ruling power in the city who has others heat the water immediately after Shabbat, a Jew may use that bath right away as well.

 

A second new Mishna teaches that we may perform all of the needs of the dead on Shabbat including smearing the body with oil and rinsing it with water.  We may not move its limbs because of the prohibition against moving set-aside objects.  We may remove a pillow from beneath a corpse and put it cold sand to delay decomposition. We may tie an opening jaw without closing it completely but by stopping it from opening further.  We are permitted to support a broken roof beam with long poles from a bed or with a bench but only to stop it from falling further.

 

There are some bizarre mentions of what one might do to help a corpse from swelling, like sealing up orifices and putting cold and metal vessels on the stomach.  King Solomon is said to speak about a silver cord, a golden bowl, a pitcher broken and a wheel felled (Ecclesiastes 12:6).  This is interpreted by the Gemara as what happens to a corpse.  Another disgusting interpretation of Malachai 2:3 is shared as well. 

 

We look at our third new Mishna.  We are not to shut the eyes of the dead on Shabbat because the body is set aside.  We may not shut the eyes on a weekday because the soul is departing.  If we shut the eyes while the soul departs we are actually murdering someone as we are hastening a person’s death.

The Gemara is clear that people who are alive, even babies at one day old, have the potential to do mitzvot and thus we may desecrate Shabbat for them.  For the deceased, even King David, we do not desecrate Shabbat because once we die, we are “idle from mitzvot”.

 

The rabbis discuss the relationships between live and dead animals people.  After this conversation Rabbi Chanina says that it is prohibited to sleep alone in a house.  Anyone who does this will be seized by the evil spirit Lilith. 

 

The Gemara discusses Rabbi Chiyya and his wife.  He advised her to give a poor person bread immediately so that they will do the same for her (and his children).  Are. You cursing our children, she asks.   He quotes Deuteronomy 13:18 about the cyclical nature of compassion. 

 

We are also told that Rabbi Chanina did not cry when his daughter died.  His wife asked if he had just let a chicken out of the house that he showed no signs of sorrow.  He said that if he cries he will suffer twice, from bereavement and from blindness.

Shabbat 150: The Eiruv and Discussion of Boudaries/Permitted Acts on Shabbat

A new Mishan teaches us that a person may not hire workers on Shabbat to work after Shabbat.  We cannot tell agents to do this for us.  We cannot wait for sunset at the edge of the Shabbat boundary to do this or to bring produce in from the field.  Abba Shaul stated a general principle: regarding anything that I am permitted to discuss on Shabbat, I am permitted to wait for nightfall at the edge of the Shabbat boundary for its sake. 

 

The Gemara describes specific ways of asking things that might not transgress Shabbat prohibitions. The rabbis specify that we cannot say the Shema in front of a naked Gentile.  We know that we cannot do this in front of a naked Jew; why ask again?  In case we look to Ezikiel’s comparison of a Gentile’s skin to that of a donkey and on thinks that means that we can exempt Gentiles from this requirement.  The rabbis mention that Noah nakedness was not seen by his sons, and Noah was a Gentile. 

 

We are permitted to make calculations regarding a mitzva on Shabbat.  We may count out charity for the poor and attend to requirements – saving a life, communal needs, community affairs – on Shabbat.  We may go to theatres, circus performances and courthouses to attend to these affairs on Shabbat.  We can make a shittach, arranged marriage, on Shabbat; we may find teachers for our children.  In other words, we are told that we are permitted to speak about the “business of Heaven” on Shabbat.

 

The rabbis address waiting at the edge of the Shabbat boundary.  They note that if there are small guardhouses, we are permitted to walk to another city over Shabbat.  This is because an entire area can be included in one eiruv if these guardhouses mark the way from one town to another.  Even without the guardhouses, it is permitted to speak about such a journey simply because the journey would be permitted if the guardhouses were there.

 

In further discussion about distinguishing between the sacred and the profane at the end of Shabbat, Abba Shaul’s states a general principle: regarding anything that I am permitted to discuss on Shabbat, I am permitted to fair for nightfall at the edge of the eiruv for its sake.

 

Shabbat 149: Drawing Lots in the Family, Nebuchanezzer and Sin

We just learned a new Mishna.  In daf 149, the Gemara explains that we cannot read our guests or appetizers from a written list in case we made a change or in case we read from a business document accidentally.  The rabbis also want to ensure that we cannot erase writing from up high or low down.  They consider different types of writing.

 

The Gemara speaks of other tanna’im who argues about the same principle: one may not look in a mirror on Shabbat in case one sees a hair hanging and plucks it.  Rabbi Meir permits looking into a mirror on Shabbat if it is fixed on the wall because while going to get scissors to cut the hair, one will remember that it is Shabbat. 

 

We learned in the Mishna that one may draw lots with one’s children to decide on who gets which portion of food.  Why is this restricted to family members?   The rabbis say that other groups might be less familiar with each other and the action could become a business transaction.  And why do we allow drawing lots with our children and families?  Perhaps it is the same reason that we permit people to charge their families members interest on loans: to teach them how difficult it is to repay a loan taken with interest.  Further, there is no violation of halacha because the person lending actually owns the money of those family members, too.

 

The rabbis tell a story about the evil Nebuchadnezzar who would get other kings drunk and rape them.  He erased laughter and song.  People were afraid – not only of him, but of the places he had been, as if demonic spirits would dance there.  When he was with the righteous Zedekiah, something changed.  Nebuchadnezzar’s foreskin “was stretched three hundred cubits and it surrounded the entire feast”.    The people in Gehenna were afraid that he had come to rule over them there, but a Divine Voice said, “Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised” (Ezekiel 32:19). 

 

The connection between evil and homosexual behaviour is very obvious in today’s daf.  Clearly it is evil to rape, it is evil for a man to be with another man, it is evil for one to destroy laughter and happiness.  Further, having a foreskin is a vulnerability that can (and might!) be used to punish you for your evil deeds.

Shabbat 148: Managing Borrowing and Casting Lots on Shabbat

Our last Mishna shared information about smearing and rubbing oil on one's body during Shabbat in addition to other things that might be done on Shabbat but in unusual ways.  Today the rabbis their discussion of that Mishna by teaching about different types of healing that may or may not be done on Shabbat, including setting a broken bone.

A new Mishna teaches that people may borrow jugs of wine and jugs of oil from another on Shabbat as long as these aren't loans.  The same applies to loaves of bread.  A cloak may be left as colateral.  On erev Pesach one may leave a cloak with another while securing a Paschal lamb and then pay him after the Festival.  

The Gemara suggests that we should not be put in a situation where we might write down information about a loan.  The rabbis speak about other atypical situations that may or may not protect people from transgressions on Shabbat.  Rava bar Rav Chanan tells Abaye that we may not clap hands, clap a hand against our bodies, or dance on a Festival, but we do not stop other s from this.  The  principle is that Jews should not be warned, for they would complete their actions anyway and then be liable as intentional sinners.  One example is women who only fast from nightfall on Yom Kippur when we are told to begin the fast while it is still daytime.  

Much of the rabbis' conversations have to do with how to manage loans or other monetary details around repaying debts.  They even consider the Sabbatical Year.  

Our daf ends with a new Mishna: we may count our guests and our appetizers by memory but not with a written list.  We may draw lots with our children and family members at the table to determine who will eat which portion of food as long as all portions are similar sizes.  We may cast lots among the priests for sanctified foods on Festivals but not for specific portions of food.

Shabbat 146: Eve's Contamination of Humans, Barrels, Exceptions to Stringencies

A brief look at today's daf:

Did Eve contaminate all humans when she ate from the Tree of Knowledge? Was she infected with moral contamination?  Was this a sexual act?  At Mount Sinai, did Jews become uncontaminated?  Just some questions to begin today's daf.

A new Mishna speaks of whether or not it is permitted to break a barrel so that one can eat dried figs from it. The rabbis are careful about what is permitted and what is not to ensure that extra holes are not created in barrels that hold food or drink.  For example, if one applies wax to a newly broken plug in a barrel, one could come to smooth the wax.  Smoothing is muktza.  

The Gemara speaks about the packaging of figs for a good period of time.  The rabbis also speak of how to open a barrel.  And how can a hole be repaired?  What if a chicken enclosure has a hole in it and predators might get in?  

A second new Mishna speaks of a cooked dish placed into an empty pit on Shabbat to protect the heat.  Are we permitted to change water temperature inside a pot by surrounding it with a different water temperature outside of the pot?  Further, one whose garments fell into the water while walking is permitted to replace them and continue walking until there is a place leave them to dry.  There is no fear of wringing or washing.  However, a person is not to do this if there are lots of people around, because they might suspect this person of laundering on Shabbat.

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.

Shabbat 144: Volition, Liquids, Squeezing, Creating Ritual Impurity in Food

Some notes from today's daf:

• blood from the wound of an animal is ritually pure and does not render food susceptible to ritual impurity
• Akiva: more stringent re: milk than blood because if one mils an animal for medicine, the milk will make food open to ritual impurity
• if one lets blood for medical reasons, the blood is not a "liquid" status and is ritually pure (does not render food susceptible to ritual impurity)
• Akiva told the case of baskets of olives/grapes proves that volition counts
• a liquid that seeps from olives/grapes volitionally renders food open to ritual impurity
• liquid that seeps from them unvolitionally is ritually pure - no ritual impurity is feared
• thus liquid renders food susceptible to ritual impurity only if it emerged of its own volition
• does 'volitionally' refer to situations where one is happy about liquids?
• mulberries and pomegranates are not typically designated for squeezing
• volitionally refers to a situation where one's preference is not determined
• unvolitionally refers to a situation where one explicitly says and means that they are not pleased if liquid leaks
• liquid from olives and grapes stands to be lost and it is renounced from the outset
• Rabbi Yehuda gave in and agreed that olives and grapes' seepage on Shabbat is prohibited whether it is volitional or not volitional
• we may squeeze plums, quinces and crab apples but not pomegranates because that is typical use of pomegranates
• What about squeezing?
• If they are not designated for squeezing, fruit may be squeezed on Shabbat
• how do we determine what is typical? Do we base this on one important family's practice?
• If even one person ascribes significance to a liquid, it assumes the status of liquid for that person and thus it is forbidden on Shabbat
• any liquid added to a ritual bath that changes the appearance of that mikva creates ritual impurity 
• We may squeeze grapes into a cooking pot or squeeze milk from a goat into a pot of food on Shabbat because these are atypical actions
• Rav Chisda says that Shmuel says that we cannot squeeze these things into an empty bowl because liquid that comes into food is considered to be food as well rather than liquid
• If a zav milks a goat, is the milk ritually impure?
• The halacha is that food cannot become ritually impure unless it is rendered susceptible to ritual impurity through contact with a liquid
• perhaps it is the first drop, which is rubbed on the tip of the animal's teat, which is considered a liquid 

Shabbat 143: Table Scraps, Sponges, Loaves, Pits, Chamber Pots, Squeezing and Liquids

A new Mishna teaches that Beit Shammai say one may clear bones and shells left from the shabbat meal from the table with one's hand, and Beit Hillel say that one may remove the entire board and shake the bones and shells from it but not with one's hand because they are set-aside and cannot be moved.  We may clear crumbs even if they are less than an olive bulk or pea/lentil pod.  These are fit for animal consumption and so they can be moved.  If a sponge has a leather handle, we may wipe the table with it but we must be careful not to come to squeeze liquid from it.  A dry sponge with a handle may be moved on Shabbat without becoming ritually impure - a sponge cannot become ritually impure by Torah nor by rabbinic law.

The rabbis discuss many ways that things might be moved or not moved on Shabbat.  It is said that some rabbis would use a loaf of bread to move almost anything, "A man may perform all his needs with bread" as long as the bread is not ruined.  This is where the rabbis turn to the scatological.  Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, would put bread into a chamber pot with excrement.  The Sages allowed moving repulsive vessels.  Date pits could be put there as well.  Whatever was in the chamber pot could be moved, as it became repulsive.  Rabbis also discuss the unusual ways that they would dispose of date pits, including with their tongues and behind the divan.

Amud (b) begins with a new Mishna, as well.  We learn that if a barrel of wine or oil breaks on Shabbat, we may take food enough for three meals from it.  We are also permitted to tell others to come and take food for themselves.  This cannot be done by soaking up the liquid because that might lead to squeezing.  We are not allowed to squeeze fruits on Shabbat but we my eat the liquid that seeps from fruit intended for eating on Shabbat.  If the fruits were designated for liquids, what seeps from them on Shabbat are prohibited.  Honeycombs crushed on erev Shabbat and honey/wax that has seeped from them on their on are not permitted but Rabbi Eliezer permits using them.

The rabbis consider different fruits, like olives and grapes or mulberries and pomegranates, and their aptness for juicing.  They also tell us about a Mishna teaching that a woman's milk is considered a liquid rendering food susceptible to ritual impurity whether or not the milk was expressed purposefully.  Milk of an animal only renders food susceptible to ritual impurity if it was milked volitionally but not if it dripped on its own.  Human blood from one with a ritual impurity is considered to be a liquid and thus if it touches food that food will become ritually impure.  Animal blood is different, but it also renders food susceptible to ritual impurity.

Shabbat 142: Carrying a Stone, Moving a Stone, Cushion, Loaves and Babies

A child may be carried by their father on Shabbat, but might this cause problems other than inadvertent carrying?  The rabbis consider a child carrying (and dropping) a dinar, carrying versus wearing sandals and rings, clothing, carrying a basket with a hole in it, fruit held in a basket, and other items.  The Gemara considers the possible consequences regarding changing the status of teruma and breaking the laws of Shabbat in other ways.  One conversation concerns dropping one se'a of teruma into one hundred se'a of non-sacred produce, the entire batch is prohibited unless a second piece falls as well and both are retrieved immediately.  The rabbis consider whether one might eat from a different side of the container of produce.

A new Mishna teaches us about a set-aside stone.  It is not to be moved.  If it is placed on the mouth of a barrel and the barrel is tilted to one side, the stone will fall.  If the barrel is with other barrels and they might break if the stone falls on them, one lifts the barrel to distance it from the other barrels; it tilts on one side and the stone will fall.  Further, when coins are on a cushion and one shakes it, the coins will fall.  If there was bird dung on the cushion, one wipes it with a rag but does not wash it with water because we are not permitted to launder on Shabbat.  If the cushion was made of leather and laundering is not an issue, one puts water on it until the bird dung is gone.

The Gemara discusses how one might move the stone if one wanted wine and then return the stone to the top of the barrel.  The rabbis note the difference between intending to move the cushion for its place and moving the cushion for comfort (because the coins were on top of the cushion).  We are advised that moving the cushion just for comfort is not permitted. 

We are told that Rabbi Oshaya says if we forget a purse of money in the courtyard on erev Shabbat, we can bring it into our home on Shabbat by placing a loaf or a baby on it.  Rav Yitzchak says that if we forget a brick in the courtyard, we place a loaf or a baby on it and move it.  Rabbi Yehuda bar Sheila says that Rabbi Asi says that once one forgot a diskaya, saddlebag, full of coins in a main street, Rabbi Yochanan answered that it may be moved if they put a loaf or a baby on top of it.  Mar Zutra says that the halacha is in accordance with all of these statements.  But this is only when one forgets.  If one pretends to forget but actually is "employing artifice", further consequences are in line. 

At the very end of our daf, the rabbis consider whether or not we can move animals that were intended for human consumption but are actually used as food for animals.

Shabbat 141: Beds, Straw, Shoes, Babies Holding Stones

Today's daf includes two Mishnayot.  The first teaches us that straw placed on a bed must be moved aside only with our own bodies rather than with our hands, which would be too much like moving set aside kindling on Shabbat. If the straw was designated for animal use, or if it was placed on the bed unobtrusively, we are permitted to move it with our hands.  We also learn that a homeowner's laundry press must take it apart so that one will not press with it on Shabbat.  A press belonging to a launderer may be taken apart completely on Shabbat if it was only partially dismantled for Shabbat.

The Gemara focuses on atypical actions, including wiping mud from one's foot on a wall, on the ground, and/or on the ground in different scenarios.  The rabbis also focus on inadvertent actions, including dropping things like shoes. We cannot pick them up and carry them once they are lost in the public domain.  In fact, we cannot pick them up in a karmelit.  

The second MIshna notes that one may take his son in his hands on Shabbat even thought there may be a stone in the child's hand at the time on Shabbat.  We may bring a basket with a stone in it, and may may lift a measure of teruma as long as it is pure.  

The Gemara turns to the question of carrying a living baby into the public domain on Shabbat.  If that baby had a purse hanging over its neck.  The parent of the child is liable in this case.  But if we carry a child who has died, carrying them with the purse around their neck is liable for carrying out both the purse and the baby.  Rabbi Natan says that any living being carries itself.  But is the object secondary to the person?  When a bed is relative to a human being, the person negates it.  We can also see the purse in this way.  

We are taught by the Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai about why a father can pick up a child with a stone in the child's hand.  He says that the wrenching the stone could cause illness in the baby, who was pining for his father, would be like causing illness to this child.  The child would be left crying, injured by this brutality.

Shabbat 140: Mustard, Rav Chisda's Advice for Poor Students & His Daughters, Moving Hay

The rabbis continue their discussions regarding food preparation.  They turn to the making of mustard, where mustard seed must be kneaded and the mixed with water or wine using a vessel or one's hand, in the case of feeding donkeys.  Some rabbis are more strict than others when it comes to consumption of this food if it is made on Shabbat.  We also learn about rabbis' preferences in mustard preparation: it could be mixed with garlic or honey.

The rabbis move on to a drink called anumlin, which combines wine, honey and pepper.  Some find it too strong to bear and others have become accustomed to it.

A new Mishna teaches that we may not soak asafoetida, chiltit, or giant fennel in lukewarm water to create medicine but we may place it into vinegar like other spices on Shabbat.  We cannot soak vetches unless we allow their chaff to be washed off in a sieve.  We are not to sift straw in a sieve and we cannot put it on a high place so that the chaff blows away in the wind. At the same time, we may take the straw in a sieve and put it into the trough of an animal even if the chaff is removed in the process.

The rabbis consider intentionality, soaking asafoetida in cold water or hot water, its significant healing properties, and its dangers.  The rabbis turn to stories that feature Rav Acha and laundering.  They logically determine whether Rav Acha wishes to whiten a shirt or to soften a shirt.  The latter is permitted. 

Moving on again, the rabbis discuss moving different vessels or hooks on Shabbat.  Rav Chisda notes that poor scholars who cannot earn a sustainable livelihood:

• should buy long vegetables.  Each bundle has a standard thickness and price, but "the length comes on its own for free".  
• He speaks to the difficulty with eating vegetables when bread is not available, for it whets the appetite.  
• He also says that poor Torah students should not break it for guests, for he will not do so generously.  
• Rav Chisda says that we should drink wine and not beer; eat barley and not wheat because we should treat our bodies to the best food possible.  
• He advises students who cannot oil themselves to wash themselves with ditch water because the scum there is as useful as oil.  
• Poor students should buy necks because there are three types of meat in that one part of an animal
• Don't sit on a new mat for the dampness will ruin his clothing
• Don not give clothing to one's host to wash because they might see evidence of a seminal emission which will cause them to look down on him

To his daughters, Rav Chisda says:

• be modest before your husbands
• don not eat bread before your husbands who might look down on you for this action
• do not eat vegetables at night for they cause bad breath
• do not eat dates at night or drink beer at night for they loosen the bowels
• do not relieve yourselves where your husbands do because they might become revolted by you
• when answering the door, use the feminine form of "Who is it?" to demonstrate that you do not deal with other men
• he showed them a pearl in one hand and left the other closed until they were upset by curiosity to teach them that a mystery object is more attractive than one on display

This advice from Rav Chisda seems to indicate what he might find unattractive or even repulsive in women: eating without modesty, having bad breath, having to defecate at night, having to relieve oneself at all, and conversing with men other than himself.  Pretty high standards, and ones that might indicate difficulties in his own marriage.  But I digress.

A second new Mishna is introduced.  It teaches that we may sweep hay from an an animal that is being fattened and we may move hay to the sides for an animal that grazes on its own in the field.  The rabbis challenge this statement, saying that one may take the had from an animal and put it in front of that animal on Shabbat. 

The Gemara asks about the two parts to this Mishna.  Rav Chisda suggests that the dispute regards a trought formed in the ground but that if the trough is a vessel, all would agree that it is permitted.  The rabbis challenge this and Rav Chisda changes his position to accommodate their critique.  Abaye wonders whether we might be considering taking hay from a donkey and give it to an ox but not the other way around, because a donkey's mouth is "fine" (without spittle) and an ox's mouth is "foul" (with spittle).

Shabbat 137: Circumcision on Days 8-12, Invalid Circumcision and Correction

There are several Mishnayot on today's page.  The first teaches us that if there are two babies to circumcise, one on Shabbat and one the next day, and the babies are circumcised on the wrong days, what is done?  We are liable to bring a sin offering after Shabbat for creating a wound while performing a mitzva when there is no need to wound the infant.  If the same thing happens but on Erev Shabbat and Shabbat, Rabbi Eliezer says that a sin offering is required and Rabbi Yehoshua says that he is exempt.

The next Mishna teaches us that though a child is usually circumcised at eight days, it might be circumcised at nine, ten, eleven or twelve days but no earlier or later.  Why?

• born at twilight, circumcised at nine days
• born at twilight on Shabbat, circumcised on the Sunday for uncertainty = ten days
• born when Festival follows Shabbat, circumcised at eleven days
• Born when Shabbat follows two days of Rosh HaShana, circumcised at twelve days
• sick child not circumcised until he is healthy, seven healthy days after a fever; day of healing is more important than the day he was born

Our next Mishna teaches that there are shreds of flesh that will invalidate the circumcision if they are not removed.  The essential part of the brit is removing the the flesh that covers most of the corona.  If a child is not circumcised in this way, he is restricted from eating teruma.  If he was fleshy after a proper circumcision and so he looks uncircumcised, the mohel should correct this by cutting more than is required so that he will appear circumcised.  If he is circumcised by did not uncover the flesh at the area of the circumcision by folding back the thin membrane beneath the foreskin, he is not truly circumcised.   The Gemara teaches that any corrections take place after the site is healed completely.  The Gemara also shares specific prayers to be recited by converts who may be ordinary citizens or Canaanite slaves.

We begin Perek XX in the middle of today's daf with our next Mishna.  Rabbi Eliezer says that we may stretch a strainer to filter wine's sediment on a Festival but we may not hold up the strainer on Shabbat.  The rabbis say that this cannot be done on a Festival, either, but we may pour wine through a suspended strainer on a Festival.

The Gemara considers rules regarding food preparation on Shabbat and on Festivals.  It also speaks to intentionality.

Shabbat 136: The Line Between Life and Death Regarding Circumcision and Chalitza

One may circumcise a son whether or not that infant will live.  Cutting flesh of a corpse or one with the legal status of a corpse is not a prohibited labour.  He can be circumcised whether he was born after seven months or eight months in utero, even though eight months might suggest that he is more vulnerable.  

Abaye notes that the question of a child's status when younger than thirty days is similar to the question of an animal's status.  In Leviticus (11:39) we about that touching the carcass of an animal that will die.  The conversation is interpreted as referring to animals up to eight months when domesticated animals usually give birth after nine months.  Slaughter of such animals may or may not purify them so that they can be eaten.  Is the animal considered to be alive or dead?  The rabbis consider borderline cases like where an animal may take one breath and then die.

The rabbis discuss the implication of a baby born still to a woman who may be a yevama.  This is compared with a child falling off of a roof or being eaten by a lion - those children were certainly alive.  If a baby dies within thirty days, is a woman obligated in levirate marriage?  If she is married to an Israelite, she performs chalitza due to uncertainty of the child's status.  If she is the wife of a priest, she does not perform chalitza because that would prohibit her to her husband, another priest.  We are told that some rabbis consider the baby to be alive from the moment of its birth - according to that opinion, she is exempt from performing chalitza after the fact.  

Rav Sherevya says in the name of Rava that both women would perform chalitza because the bonds of levirate marriage are stringent.   Ravina replies that in the evening Rava does say this, but in the morning it was taken back.  We then are reminded that Rabbi Yehuda permits circumcision of an androgynos on Shabbat.  Rav Sheizvi says that Rav Chisda says that Rabbi Yehuda does not see an androgynos as a male; in fact it was only regarding circumcision that he referred to an adrogynos as male.  We are also reminded that tumtumim and androgynos are not valuated as are all other groups of people (Leviticus 27:3-4).

Shabbat 135: Circumcision and Timing of Birth, Stillborn Babies

At the start of our daf, we are reassured that we do not circumcise an infant when Shabbat is the eighth day if that infant is androgynos or if it was born circumcised.  A person already circumcised before converting to Judaism is made to drip at least a drop of blood from the process.  The rabbis consider a baby born at seven months to be healthy, and thus they are circumcised at eight days even if that desecrates Shabbat.  If the baby is born at eight months, it is considered to be at a higher risk of danger, and it should not be moved.  However, the mother ma lean over her baby no nurse it, and circumcision can wait.

The rabbis consider instances where concealed foreskins and other medical cases or cases of doubt lead to further discussion about how and when to circumcise.  It is noted that mothers are made to be impure following the seven days after birth.  That one day is the day of circumcision.  Is this the same day that a slave might be purchased in a monetary transaction.  A maidservant might become pregnant; her baby is circumcised at 8 days.  If a home-born child was circumcised at one day, she can immerse for the purpose of becoming a maidservant as well.  A fetus is bought along with its mother if the mother is pregnant when bought as a slave. Arrangements can be made for another person to buy her fetus - in that case, the fetus is circumcised at one day. 

According to halacha, a baby who dies within its first 30 days is considered to be born still.  We know that The Gemara then asks the unspoken question: how can we circumcise a stillborn and still keep Shabbat?  We cannot know whether or not the child will die weeks later. Clearly it was dangerous to assume that pregnancies would result in children.  I wonder if people tried to to attach themselves to their babies until they had lived through their first weeks.

Shabbat 134: Cures for Newborns Problems, Treatment of Circumcision Wound, Androgynos Circumcision?

Going back to our last Mishna, we learn more about what can be done to sooth a baby following circumcision when it falls on a Shabbat or a Festival.  Chewing cumin and placing it on the place of circumcision is permitted as it is used to spice a pot in cooking.  The rabbis consider other preparation of food that might be permitted on Shabbat.

The rabbis mention Abaye's mother, was was said to describe a pouch used as a bandage over the the site of circumcision.  It was critical to keep threads away so that they did not stick and sever the urethra.  If there was no pouch, Abaye said that worn-out garments with a hem should be used by wrapping the hem under and folding the garment over.  In this was the would would not be affected by threads.

Abaye shares further advice given by his nurse and mother:

• baby without anus: oil the area, hold to sunlight, use barley seed to cut length and widthwise
• baby not nursing: place cup of coals near its cold mouth
• baby not urinating: place in a sieve and shake it
• baby not breathing: place placenta on baby
• baby too small: rub the placental on the baby from the narrow end to the wide end
• baby is strong (too large), rub the placenta from the narrow end to the wide end
• baby is red: wait for blood to be absorbed before circumcision
• baby is pale: wait until blood enters the system before circumcision

Rabbi Natan spoke of a woman whose first two sons were circumcised and both died.  The third child was red.  He told her to wait until his blood was fully absorbed and then circumcised him and he lived. Another time, he went to Cappadocia where the same thing had happened but the third chid was  pale.  He said to wait until the blood entered him, and he lived.

Amud (b) begins with a new Mishna.  It teaches that we may wash the baby on shabbat before and after circumcision.  We may sprinkle hot water on him by hand but not with a vessel - an atypical manner of using water.  Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said we may wash the baby on the third day after Shabbat even if that day is Shabbat.  We know that would be a painful day based on Genesis (34:25) where the men of Shchem were circumcised and immobilized with pain on the third day.

If the baby is androgynos, with both male and female genitals, we do not break Shabbat to circumcise because circumcision might not be required at all.  Rabbi permits circumcision of an androgynos baby.  

First the Gemara considers whether babies might heal more quickly than adults who are circumcised.  Rav Dimi came to Babylonia from Yerushalayim and discussed whether it is just the site of circumcision or the whole baby that can be washed.  Because being stringent and avoiding washing a baby could pose a danger to the infant, the halacha permits leniency including washing and placing hot water and oil on a wound on Shabbat.  The rabbis are concerned that one might squeeze the soft garment used to heal the circumcision wound.  They consider which cloths might be used.  

Finally, the rabbis turn to our Mishna's words regarding whether or not we should circumcise an androgynos on Shabbat, as it is uncertain whether or not circumcision is necessary.  Though Leviticus (12:3) says that "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised", the rabbis suggest that only halachically certain foreskin should override Shabbat.  

Shabbat 132: How Circumcision Overrides Shabbat

The Gemara says that thirteen covenants were established over the mitzvah of circumcision.The rabbis agree that circumcision is a halacha transmitted to Moses from Mount Sinai.  Circumcision saves our limbs, which is not as important as saving a life - which we know overrides Shabbat.  

The word "sign" is used as a gezera shava, a verbal analogy.  In Genesis (17:11) we learn that circumcision is a sign of the covenant between G-d and the Israelites.  Keeping the Shabbat is also a sign between G-d and Jews throughout our generations (Exodus 31:13).  What about proper times?

The Gemara asks about ritual fringes, which also may override Shabbat over generations.  Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak notes that it is not the word "sign" that pulls these concepts together; rather, it is the three words: sign, covenant, and generations.  With each of these ideas one of the words is written but not all three words are written together.  

We know for certain that circumcision is performed on Shabbat because it is done eight days after birth rather than seven days later.  Further, "One the eight day..." supports this as well.  The rabbis get into the details of circumcision through a comparison with verses about leprosy.  In Leviticus (12:3) we learn that "... on the eighth day his foreskin shall be circumcised".  In its context, this teaches that we circumcise even if there is a leprous spot there.  

We are reminded that a positive mitzvah overrides a negative mitzvah when there is a negative mitzvah alone.  The mitzvah of circumcision overrides the prohibitions laws regarding leprosy.  At the end of today's daf, the rabbis discuss what should happen if the negative mitzvah has been "uprooted" but the positive mitzvah is not yet completed.  Until it is done, the positive mitzvah does not actually override the negative mitzvah.

Shabbat 131: Denouncing Ownership, Mitzvot that Override Shabbat, Fixed Time

The rabbis consider unusual ways of denouncing ownership of homes and courtyards to permit carrying from the private to the public space on Shabbat.  Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Yochanan says that actions that help us to perform mitzvot override the laws pertaining to Shabbat.  Perhaps Rabbi Eliezer used the examples of dwelling in a Sukkah, eating matza on Pesach, and blowing the Shofar on Rosh HaShana.  Rav Adda bar Ahava said that attaching ritual fringes and setting a mezuzah on a doorpost do not override Shabbat.  The rabbis consider the factor of "fixed time": if a mitzvah can be done on a day other than Shabbat, it should be done at that time.

We learn that the Master said in a baraita that the mitzva of lulav overrides Shabbat (R. Eliezer).  The rabbis argue about whether we are supposed to perform this mitzvah any time, during the day, and/or during the night.

They continue to debate what is unique about the mitzvot of lulav, matzah, and shofar.  Perhaps it is that these laws apply to women and men equally.  Perhaps these actions are skills and not labours, just like removing the two loaves of bread are skilled actions rather than labour.  

We end our daf with a discussion of the mitzvah of circumcision.  It also overrides Shabbat, as decreed by Rabbi Eliezer.  He puts it together with these other mitzvot, and nots that each of them embodies something significant.  Circumcision need not be completed on the eighth day; it can occur later than that for several reasons.  Tomorrow's daf will continue this conversation.