Avodah Zarah 29a — the Talmud in English

And cold water

for cracks,

for the cracks on a person's face.

And the reverse,

exchanging these remedies for one another —

dangerous!

Vinegar

vinegar, is beneficial

for bloodletting,

to heal after bloodletting.

And small fish,

eating small fish, is beneficial

for fasting,

for strengthening after the fast.

And the reverse,

exchanging these remedies —

dangerous!

Shakhalim and bloodletting,

eating the shakhala plant and bloodletting afterward —

dangerous!

Fever

the fever illness, and afterward the illness,

bloodletting,

bloodletting from the shoulders —

dangerous!

When the eye hurts,

eye pain

and

after it

bloodletting,

bloodletting from the shoulders —

dangerous!

The second after fish,

on the second day, that is, the day after eating fish, it is possible to let

blood.

And likewise, on the

second after blood,

after bloodletting,

it is possible to eat

fish.

And the eating does not cause harm.

But to let blood on the

third after it,

after eating fish, and likewise to eat fish on the third day after bloodletting —

dangerous!

The Sages taught: One who lets blood should not eat grasshopper-b, [

initial letters as follows]:

neither milk, nor cheese, nor onions, nor shakhallim.

If he ate

one of them, what should he do?

Abaye said: Let him bring

let him bring

a quarter-log of vinegar

a quarter-log of vinegar

and a quarter-log of wine,

a quarter-log of wine,

and let him mix them together,

let him mix them together —

and let him drink

and he should drink.

And when he needs to relieve himself,

when he becomes free to attend to his needs,

he should relieve himself only to the east of the city,

because the eastern wind is not strong and will not carry the smell of the excrement into the city.

And why all this?

Because the smell is harsh,

the smell of the excrement after drinking the mixture of vinegar and wine is harsh and strong.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: One may cure unkali on Shabbat.

And the Gemara clarifies:

What

what is

unkali?

Rabbi Abba said: Istumka of the heart.

Something like cartilage found opposite the heart, which sometimes bends inward and obstructs breathing.

What is the remedy

what is the remedy for this?

Bring

let him take and bring these types of plants:

cumin,

cumin in the amount of

a fistful,

the fullness of a clenched hand.

and mint [

mint],

and wormwood,

wormwood,

and savory,

the plant called savory,

and hyssop,

hyssop.

If a remedy is needed

for the heart,

for the istumka of the heart, he should drink all these

with wine,

in wine.

And your sign

the sign for this is from the verse: [Psalms 104:15]

“And wine gladdens the heart of man!”

And if he needs to heal

the spirit,

the illness of tuberculosis brought on because of the wind, he should drink these —

with water,

in water.

And your sign

the sign for this is [Genesis 1:2]

“And the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters.”

And

for likhuda,

for the illness that attacks a woman giving birth, who sometimes becomes chilled while sitting on the birthing stool, these should be soaked

in beer

in beer, and she should drink them.

And your sign

the sign for this is [Genesis 24:15]

“And her pitcher was upon her shoulder.”

And the sign is as follows: kada — kuda, shikhma — shikhra.

Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, would grind all of them,

he would grind all these types of plants,

together

together,

and he would take it,

and he would take them,

the fullness of his five fingers,

with all the fingers of his hand,

and drink it

he drank them.

Rav Ashi would grind each and every one separately,

he would grind each one of them by itself,

and he would take

and take from them

the fullness of his large finger,

the fullness of his thumb,

and the fullness of his small finger,

and the fullness of his little finger. That is, he took what he could hold between these two fingers.

Rav Pappa said: I did all these,

I performed all these remedies,

and I was not healed,

and I was not cured,

until that Arab said to me

until that Ishmaelite said to me:

Bring

bring

a new jug and fill it with water,

a small new jug and fill it with water,

and put into it

put into it

a spoonful of honey,

the fullness of a spoon of honey,

which you should hang beneath the stars,

for it was hung in the courtyard of the house at night, beneath the stars,

and tomorrow —

drink it

drink it.

I did so,

I did this,

and I was cured

and I was healed!

The Sages taught: Six things heal the sick person from his illness, and their healing is a true healing.

And these are they:

a.

Cabbage,

b.

and beet greens,

c.

and dried mint water.

A dried mint plant, which he should soak in water and drink it.

d.

and the stomach

the stomach of an animal.

e.

and the womb,

the womb of an animal.

f.

and the liver's diaphragm,

which separates between the lung and the liver.

And some say: also small fish.

Moreover, small fish cause the entire body

of a person to flourish and multiply!

Ten things return the sick person to his illness, and his illness is more severe

than it was before he became ill.

And

these are they:

one who eats

ox meat,

and likewise one who eats

fat,

and one who eats

roasted meat,

and meat of

birds, and

one who eats

a roasted egg, and

one who eats

shakhallim, and

likewise one who performs

a haircut himself, and

likewise the

bathhouse

also returns the sick person to his illness,

and

eating

cheese and liver.

And some say: also nuts

are included in this.

And some say: also cucumbers.

The tanney of the school

from the beit-midrash

of Rabbi Ishmael: Why were they called

these vegetables

“cucumbers”?

Because they are as harsh for a person's entire body as swords!

And for this reason they were called “cucumbers.”

We learned in our Mishna:

And one may not have his hair cut by them,

by gentiles —

everywhere!

The Sages taught: An Israelite who has his hair cut by an idolater

must

look in a mirror

to see whether the gentile is cutting it properly.

And a gentile who has his hair cut by an Israelite, once he reaches

the Israelite barber reaches the gentile's balorit,

he withdraws his hand,

and does not arrange it, because the gentile grows it for the sake of idolatry.

And the Gemara discusses this:

The Master said

in the beraita —

An Israelite who has his hair cut by an idolater looks in a mirror.

What are the circumstances?

How is this stated?

If

he is having his hair cut by the gentile

in the public domain, why does he need a mirror,

for since they are in the public domain, the gentile will automatically fear killing him?

And if

and if

in a private domain

they are,

when he looks,

even if the Israelite looks in a mirror,

what does it accomplish?

After all, since no others see them, the gentile will kill him.

The Gemara resolves:

Actually

indeed, he is having his hair cut

in a private domain. And since there is

there is a

mirror

and the Israelite looks into it and examines the haircut,

he appears

to the gentile

as an important person

who is particular about his appearance, and he fears killing him even in a private domain.

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna was

was

having his hair cut by a gentile on the roads of Nehardea,

on the roads outside the city.

He said to him

the gentile barber:

“Ḥana, Ḥana! Your neck is beautiful for the razor” —

beautiful is your neck for cutting with a razor!

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said:

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna:

“It is coming to me”

this matter is deserved by me,

for I transgressed

because I transgressed

against Rabbi Meir

in our Mishna, who said: One may not have his hair cut by them anywhere.

The Gemara asks:

And

why,

did he not transgress against the Rabbis?

Did Rav Ḥana bar Bizna not transgress against the Rabbis? For the Sages said in the Mishna that it is permitted to have one's hair cut only in the public domain, but not privately, between him and the gentile.

I would say that the Rabbis said this regarding the public domain;

it is permitted to have one's hair cut there. But

regarding a private domain, who said so,

did they say that it is permitted?

And the Gemara explains:

And he

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna

thought that the roads of Nehardea,

where he had his hair cut,

since there are

there

many people,

are

considered like the public domain.

And because of this, they too were included in the permission that the Sages granted; therefore, when Rav Ḥana bar Bizna confessed, he confessed only that he had transgressed Rabbi Meir's statement.

We learned in the beraita above:

And a gentile who has his hair cut by an Israelite, once he reaches his balorit, he withdraws his hand.

The Gemara asks:

And how much

must he distance himself from the place of the balorit and withdraw his hand?

Rav Malkiya said, and Rav Adda bar Ahava said: Three fingerbreadths in every direction

he should distance himself from the balorit and not attend to that place.

And since we were occupied with the words of Rav Malkiya, the Gemara brings halakhot that were stated in the name of Rav Malkio, whose name is similar, and likewise halakhot brought in the name of Rav Malkiya himself.

Rav Ḥanina, son of Rav Ika, said —

these halakhot:

a.

A spit

on which meat was roasted on a festival may not be moved immediately after the roast has been cooked, because it is repulsive and muktze, and the need for the festival has already been fulfilled through it. Rather, he removes it from before him and drags it, and moves it indirectly, until he transfers it to a corner.

b.

Handmaids,

we learned in the Mishna [Ketubot 59b] the tasks that a woman performs for her husband. Rabbi Eliezer said that even if the woman brought him one hundred handmaids, he may compel her to perform work with wool, because idleness leads to licentiousness. And Rav Malkio said: The halakha follows Rabbi Eliezer.

c.

And dimples [

Nidda 52a]: If two hair-bearing dimples are found in a girl, even though there is currently no hair there, she is an adult; and if she falls before a levir, she does not wait but performs halitza.

These halakhot —

Rav Malkio

taught them.

But the following halakhot:

a.

A balorit,

the measure of its law, which we learned here; b.

ashes of burning [

Makkot 21a], Rav Malkiya said: It is forbidden for a person to place ashes of burning upon his wound, because it appears like a tattoo. [Which is forbidden, as explained in the Mishna there].

c.

And cheese,

below, 29b, it is explained that cheese of gentiles is forbidden. And as to the reason, Rav Malkiya explained in the name of Rav Adda bar Ahava [below, 35b]: because they smooth the surface of the cheese with pig fat!

These halakhot —

Rav Malkiya

taught them.

Rav Pappa said:

The Mishna and the beraita

— halakhot stated concerning the words of the Mishna and in beraitot [balorit, handmaids, and cheese] — Rav Malkiya taught them.

The independent teachings

— halakhot and teachings stated independently [spit, ashes of burning, and dimples] —

Rav Malkio

taught them.

And the sign

the sign for this is:

the beraita —

the queen [

Mishna — from the expression “queen”]. That is, the halakhot taught concerning the Mishna and the beraita are from Rav Malkiya. [For the name “Malkiya” resembles “his queen”].

And Rav Malkio taught the remaining halakhot.

The Gemara asks:

What is the difference between them,

what is the difference between the signs of Rav Ḥanina, son of Rav Ika, and the signs of Rav Pappa? —

There is a difference between them: handmaids!

The law concerning a woman who brought many handmaids to her husband relates to the words of the Mishna. Therefore, according to Rav Pappa, it was stated by Rav Malkiya. But according to Rav Ḥanina, son of Rav Ika, it was stated by Rav Malkio.