Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Shabbath

Folio 134a

What is his remedy? Let him wash it well in beet juice.¹

IF ONE DID NOT CRUSH [IT] ON THE EVE OF THE SABBATH. Our Rabbis taught: The things which may not be done for circumcision on the Sabbath may be done on Festivals: cummin may be crushed, and wine and oil may be beaten up together on its account. Abaye asked R. Joseph: Wherein does [the powdering of] cummin on Festivals differ? [presumably] because it can be used in a dish?²  then wine and oil too are fit for an invalid on the Sabbath? For it was taught: One may not beat up wine and oil for an invalid on the Sabbath. R. Simeon b. Eleazar said in R. Meir's name: One may indeed beat up wine and oil. R. Simeon b. Eleazar related, R. Meir was once suffering internally,³  and we wished to beat up wine and oil for him, but he would not permit us. Said we to him, Your words shall be made void in your own lifetime! Though I rule thus, he replied, yet my colleagues rule otherwise, [and] have never⁴  presumed to disregard the words of my colleagues. Now he was stringent in respect to himself, but for all others it is permitted? — There it need not be well beaten, whereas here it needs to be well beaten. Then let us do likewise here too and not mix it well? — That is what he teaches, EACH MUST BE PLACED SEPARATELY.⁵

Our Rabbis taught: One may not strain mustard grain through its own strainer,⁶  nor sweeten it with a glowing coal.⁷  Abaye asked R. Joseph: Wherein does it differ from what we learnt: An egg may be passed through a mustard strainer?⁸  There it does not look like selecting,⁹  whereas here it looks like selecting,¹⁰  he replied. 'Nor sweeten it with a glowing coal'. But surely it was taught, One may sweeten it with a glowing coal? — There is no difficulty: one refers to a metal coal, the other to a wood coal.¹¹  Abaye asked R. Joseph: Wherein does it differ from [roasting] meat on coals?¹²  — There it is impossible,¹³  whereas here it is possible.¹⁴  Abaye asked R. Joseph: What about cheese-making?¹⁵  — It is forbidden, answered he. Wherein does it differ from kneading [dough]? — There it is impossible, here it is possible, replied he.¹⁶  But the people of Nehardea say: Freshly-made¹⁷  cheese is palatable? — They mean this: even freshly-made cheese is palatable.¹⁸

ONE MAY NOT MAKE A HALUK FOR IT, etc. Abaye said, Mother told me: The side-selvedge of an infant's haluk should be uppermost,¹⁹  lest a thread thereof stick and he [the infant] may become privily mutilated.²⁰  Abaye's mother used to make a lining²¹  for half [the haluk].²²

Abaye said: If there is no haluk for an infant, a hemmed rag should be brought, and the hem tied round at the bottom²³  and doubled over at the top.²⁴

Abaye also said: Mother told me, An infant whose anus is not visible should be rubbed with oil and stood in the sun, and where it shows transparent it should be torn crosswise with a barley grain, but not with a metal instrument, because that causes inflammation.

Abaye also said: Mother told me, If an infant cannot suck, his lips are cold. What is the remedy? A vessel of burning coals should be brought and held near his nostrils, so as to heat it; then he will suck.

Abaye also said: Mother told me, If an infant does not breathe,²⁵  he should be fanned with a fan, and he will breathe.

Abaye also said: Mother told me, If an infant cannot breathe easily,²⁶  his mother's after-birth should be brought and rubbed over him, [and] he will breathe easily.

Abaye also said: Mother told me, If an infant is too thin, his mother's after-birth should be brought and rubbed over him from its narrow end to its wide end;²⁷  if he is too fat, [it should be rubbed] from the wide to the narrow end.

Abaye also said: Mother told me, If an infant is too red, so that the blood is not yet absorbed in him,²⁸  we must wait until his blood is absorbed and then circumcise him. If he is green, so that he is deficient in blood,²⁹  we must wait until he is full-blooded and then circumcise him. For it was taught, R. Nathan said: I once visited the Sea-towns,³⁰  and a woman came before me who had circumcised her first son and he had died and her second son and he had died; the third she brought before me. Seeing that he was [too] red I said to her, Wait until his blood is absorbed. So she waited until his blood was absorbed and [then] circumcised hini and he lived; and they called him Nathan the Babylonian after my name. On another occasion I visited the Province of Cappadocia,³¹  and a woman came before me who had circumcised her first son and he had died and her second son and he had died; the third she brought before me. Seeing that he was green, I examined hini and saw no covenant blood³²  in him. I said to her, Wait until he is full-blooded; she waited and [then] circumcised him and he lived, and they called him Nathan the Babylonian, after my name.

1. Or, water in which vegetables were thoroughly boiled.
2. Hence since it is permitted for this purpose, it is permitted for circumcision too.
3. Lit., 'in his bowels'.
4. Lit., 'throughout my days'.
5. Which means that they may be poured together but not mixed well.
6. On Festivals.
7. The meat made the mustard more palatable.
8. To render the egg clear.
9. Because all of it passes through.
10. Because some of the inferior grains remain on top. — Nevertheless it is not actual selecting, because even they are fit for use (Tosaf.).
11. The latter is forbidden, as it is extinguished in the process, which is prohibited on Festivals.
12. Though this puts them out.
13. That the meat should be roasted before the Festival and be just as tasty.
14. The mustard grains could have been sweetened the previous day.
15. On Festivals.
16. V.p. 673, nn. 12, 13.
17. Lit., 'of the (same) day'.
18. But It is still more so when it is made the previous day.
19. I.e., not facing the flesh.
20. When the haluk is pulled away.
21. Lit., 'covering'.
22. I.e., she left the seam or selvedge on the inner side, but lined it half way down, so that it should not touch the membrum.
23. Of the membrum, so as not to touch the wound.
24. Thus the edge is on the outside.
25. I.e., gives no signs of life (Rashi and Jast.). 'Ar.: does not urinate.
26. Rashi. Jast.: cry.
27. Starting with the former and continuing until the latter. — This is symbolical: even so should the infant progress (Rashi).
28. Into his limbs, but it is still so the under-surface of the skin. This makes circumcision dangerous.
29. Lit., the blood has not yet fallen into him'.
30. Tyre, etc.
31. A district of Asia Minor.
32. The blood which circumcision causes to flow is so designated. Thus circumcision would be physically dangerous, and furthermore even if performed it would be inadequate, as covenant blood is required.

MISHNAH. WE MAY BATHE THE INFANT BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE CIRCUMCISION, AND SPRINKLE [WARM WATER] OVER HIM BY HAND BUT NOT WITH A VESSEL. R. ELEAZAR B. 'AZARIAH SAID: WE MAY BATHE AN INFANT ON THE THIRD DAY [OF CIRCUMCISION] WHICH FALLS ON THE SABBATH, BECAUSE IT IS SAID, AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY, WHEN THEY WERE SORE.¹  AS FOR ONE WHO IS DOUBTFUL,²  AND AN HERMAPHRODITE, WE MAY NOT DESECRATE THE SABBATH ON THEIR ACCOUNT; BUT R. JUDAH PERMITS [IT] IN THE CASE OF AN HERMAPHRODITE.

GEMARA. But you say in the first clause, WE MAY BATHE?³  — Rab Judah and Rabbah b. Abbuha both said: He [the Tanna] teaches how [it is to be done]. [Thus:] WE MAY BATHE THE INFANT BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE CIRCUMCISION. How? WE SPRINKLE [WARM WATER] OVER HIM BY HAND, BUT NOT WITH A VESSEL. Raba objected: But he states, WE MAY BATHE?⁴  Rather said Raba, He teaches thus: WE MAY BATHE THE INFANT BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER CIRCUMCISION on the first day in the normal manner; but on the third day which falls on the Sabbath, WE SPRINKLE [WARM WATER] OVER HIM BY HAND BUT NOT WITH A VESSEL. R. ELEAZAR B. AZARIAH SAID: WE MAY BATHE AN INFANT ON THE THIRD DAY WHICH FALLS ON THE SABBATH, BECAUSE IT IS SAID, AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY, WHEN THEY WERE SORE. It was taught in accordance with Raba: We may bathe the infant before and after the circumcision on the first day in the normal manner, but on the third day which falls on the Sabbath we besprinkle him by hand. R. Eleazar b. 'Azariah said: We may bathe an infant on the third day which falls on the Sabbath, and though there is no proof, there is an allusion thereto, for it is said, 'And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore'. And when they sprinkle, they sprinkle neither with a glass nor with a dish nor with a vessel, but only by hand — this agrees with the first Tanna. Why [does he say,] though there is no proof, there is an allusion thereto?⁵  Because an adult's flesh does not heal quickly, whereas an infant's does.⁶

A certain [person] came before Raba, [and] he gave him a ruling in accordance with his view.⁷  [Then] Raba fell ill. Said he: What business did I have with the interpretation of the older scholars?⁸  [Thereupon] the Rabbis said to Raba: But it was taught in accordance with the Master? Our Mishnah supports them, he replied. How so? Since it states, R. ELEAZAR B. 'AZARIAH SAID: WE MAY BATHE THE INFANT ON THE THIRD DAY WHICH FALLS ON THE SABBATH. It is well if you assume that the first Tanna means [that] we may [merely] sprinkle: hence R. Eleazar b. 'Azariah says to him, We may bathe. But if you explain that the first Tanna means, We may bathe on the first day and sprinkle on the third day, then [instead of] this [statement], R. ELEAZAR B. AZARIAH SAID: WE MAY SPRINKLE, 'WE MAY ALSO SPRINKLE [ON THE THIRD DAY]' is required.

When R. Dimi came,⁹  he said in R. Eleazar's name: The halachah is as R. Eleazar b. 'Azariah. In the West [Palestine] they pondered thereon: is the bathing of the whole body [permitted], or [only] the bathing of the membrum? Said one of the Rabbis, named R. Jacob, it is logical [that it means] the bathing of the whole body. For should you think, the bathing of the membrum, is this worse [less important] than hot water on a wound? For Rab said, One does not withhold hot water and oil from a wound on the Sabbath.¹⁰  R. Joseph demurred: And do you not admit a distinction between hot water heated on the Sabbath and hot water heated on the eve of the Sabbath?¹¹  To this R. Dimi demurred: And whence [does it follow] that they differ here in respect of hot water heated on the Sabbath? Perhaps they differ in respect of hot water heated on the eve of the Sabbath? — Said Abaye, I wanted to answer him, but R. Joseph anticipated [me] and answered him: Because it is a danger for him.¹²  It was stated likewise: When Rabin came,¹³  he said in R. Abbahu's name in R. Eleazar's name — others state, R. Abbahu said in R. Johanan's name: The halachah is as R. Eleazar b. 'Azariah in respect of both hot water heated on the Sabbath and hot water heated on the eve of the Sabbath, whether for the bathing of the whole body or for the bathing of the membrum, because it is dangerous for him.

[To turn to] the main text: 'Rab said: One does not withhold hot water and oil from a wound on the Sabbath. But Samuel said: One must place it outside the wound, and it flows down on to the wound'. An objection is raised: One may not put oil and hot water on a rag to apply it to a wound on the Sabbath? — There it is on account of wringing out.¹⁴  Come and hear: One may not pour hot water and oil on a rag which is on a wound on the Sabbath? — There too it is because of wringing out. It was taught in accordance with Samuel: One may not apply hot water and oil to a wound on the Sabbath, but one may put it outside the wound, and it flows down on to the wound.

Our Rabbis taught: One may apply dry wadding or a dry sponge to a wound¹⁵  but not a dry reed or dry rags [of cloth]. [The rulings on] rags are contradictory?¹⁶  There is no difficulty: the one treats of new [rags];¹⁷  the other of old.¹⁸  Abaye observed: This proves that rags heal.

ONE WHO IS DOUBTFUL, AND AN HERMAPHRODITE, etc. Our Rabbis taught, [And in the eighth day the flesh of] his foreskin [shall be circumcised]:¹⁹  'his foreskin', [the foreskin of] one who is certain²⁰  supersedes the Sabbath,

1. Gen. XXXIV, 25. This shows that the third day is a dangerous period, and therefore the infant may be bathed even on the Sabbath.
2. One who is born prematurely, and he may be an eight months' child. The Rabbis held that such could not possibly live, and therefore the Sabbath might not be violated for his circumcision.
3. Which implies in the normal manner, sc. in a bath.
4. Sprinkling is not bathing.
5. Surely this is a proof that the third day is dangerous.
6. The verse quoted, q.v., treats of the former.
7. Permitting the infant to be bathed on the first day, which was a Sabbath, in the usual way.
8. Sc. Rab Judah and Rabbah b. Abbuha. I.e., 'why did I interfere and disregard it?' He regarded his illness as a punishment.
9. V.p. 12, n. 9.
10. Whereas according to the present interpretation the first Tanna permits even sprinkling on the first day only, but not on the third.
11. Rab refers to the latter, while R. Joseph assumed that the Mishnah refers to the former.
12. Hence the Mishnah must certainly refer to water heated on the Sabbath.
13. V.p. 12, n. 9.
14. One may pour too much on the rag and then wring it out, which is forbidden.
15. These are not intended for healing but merely as a protection.
16. A dry rag too is a fragment, and it is permitted.
17. These heal and are forbidden.
18. Which do not heal (Rashi). 11. Han. reverses it.
19. Lev. XII, 3; 'day' includes the Sabbath, supra 132a.
20. I.e., who is certainly subject to the obligation.