Ketubot 5a (ה.) — the Talmud in English

Because of calculations.

So that he will not calculate during Shabbat the expenses of the feast that he is planning to hold at the conclusion of Shabbat, when he brings her beneath the wedding canopy.

Abaye said to him: But calculations pertaining to a mitzva—

are they forbidden

to calculate on Shabbat?

But Rav Hisda and Rav Hamnuna both said: Calculations pertaining to a mitzva—

it is permitted to calculate them on Shabbat!

And

likewise

Rabbi Elazar said: The collectors

of the charity fund

allocate charity to the poor on Shabbat!

And calculating the amount of charity that is due from the charity fund to each and every poor person entails calculation, and it is permitted to perform this calculation on Shabbat.

And

likewise,

Rabbi Yaakov said that Rabbi Yohanan said: One may go to synagogues and batei midrash

in order

to inspect

—to examine and discuss—

the communal affairs on Shabbat!

And Rabbi Yaakov bar Idi said that Rabbi Yohanan said: One may investigate,

examine and discuss matters of

“saving a life

,” on Shabbat!

And Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: One may go to the palaces,

which are the palaces of the kings and rulers,

and to the playing fields,

which are their places of amusement, where one can meet them in order

to inspect the communal affairs on Shabbat!

And the tanna of the school of Menashya taught: One may arrange matches for young girls

in order

to betroth

them—

on Shabbat.

And

likewise, “one may arrange a match”

for a young boy

to find him a teacher

to teach him Scripture, and

in order

to teach him a craft,

since learning a craft that provides a livelihood is also a mitzva incumbent upon the father, to train his son in it so that he will be able to earn a living from it.

And since all these proofs demonstrate that there is no prohibition against engaging in matters of mitzva on Shabbat, the Gemara retracts the reason that one should not marry a woman at the conclusion of Shabbat because of calculating the expenses of the feast.

Rather, Rabbi Zeira said:

Therefore, a person should not marry a woman at the conclusion of Shabbat,

lest

because of the preoccupation of his thoughts with preparing the feast for his wedding, he forget that today is Shabbat, and there is concern that

he might slaughter a young fowl

on Shabbat, as it is easy to slaughter, for the feast at the conclusion of Shabbat.

Abaye said to him: If so,

according to Rabbi Zeira, who is concerned that a person might forget the very day of Shabbat because of the preoccupation of his thoughts with preparing the feast, and might come to slaughter on it—

when Yom Kippur occurs on Monday,

and one prepares a feast on the eve of Yom Kippur, on Sunday, we should likewise be concerned that he might err and accidentally slaughter a young fowl on Shabbat, because of his preoccupation with preparing the feast that he must make on the day after Shabbat—

And if so,

Yom Kippur should be postponed

from Monday to Tuesday!

And they should do this so that the eve of Yom Kippur would not occur on Sunday,

lest he slaughter a young fowl

on Shabbat!

The Gemara answers:

There,

on the eve of Yom Kippur,

for himself,

a person prepares the feast for himself—

he is not preoccupied

in his thoughts, since he is not so particular about it.

But

here,

in the case of a wedding feast,

for others

he is preparing it—

he is preoccupied

in his thoughts that it should be properly prepared, and he may forget about Shabbat and come to slaughter a young fowl on it for the feast.

Alternatively,

there is another distinction between a wedding feast at the conclusion of Shabbat and the feast on the eve of Yom Kippur on Sunday.

For

there,

on the eve of Yom Kippur that occurs on Sunday,

he has time available,

as he has time to slaughter on the conclusion of Shabbat, since the feast on the eve of Yom Kippur is only on the following day.

Whereas

here,

when he prepares the wedding feast at the conclusion of Shabbat,

he has no time available,

as he has no time to prepare the feast, since it is held at the conclusion of Shabbat, immediately after Shabbat ends. Therefore, it is only in this case that they were concerned that he might err and forget about Shabbat.

The Gemara adds and says:

Now,

from this point onward,

since you have arrived at this,

that we have come to say that there is concern that he might forget about Shabbat and come to slaughter on it, and therefore a person should not marry a woman at the conclusion of Shabbat—

the eve of Shabbat as well,

a person should not marry a woman,

lest he slaughter a young fowl

on Shabbat if something is lacking for his feast.

They raised a dilemma:

When is the time for consummating the marriage of a virgin?

Is it the case that

a virgin is married on Wednesday and has intercourse

even

on Wednesday

[during the day, in a dark room],

and we are not concerned that his resolve will cool

until Thursday morning, when he can present his claim in court?

Or perhaps a virgin is married on Wednesday and has intercourse

specifically

on

the eve of

Thursday, because we are concerned that his resolve will cool

if he consummates the marriage earlier, on Wednesday.

Come and hear:

For bar Kappara taught: A virgin is married on Wednesday and has intercourse on Thursday, since a blessing was pronounced on that day

for procreation

for the fish.

A widow is married on Thursday and has intercourse on Friday, since a blessing was pronounced on that day

for procreation

for man.

And the Gemara infers:

The reason

that a virgin has intercourse on the eve of Thursday is

because of the blessing. But

because of the cooling of his resolve—

we are not concerned.

And it follows that one who is not particular about the blessing may have intercourse even on Wednesday.

We raise a difficulty:

If so,

if the reason that a virgin has intercourse on the eve of Thursday [and not on Wednesday, when she is married] is because of the blessing for the fish that was pronounced on Thursday—

a widow should also have intercourse on Thursday, since a blessing was pronounced on that day

for procreation

for the fish!

And we answer:

The blessing

for procreation that was pronounced on Friday with regard to

man—

is preferable to him.

Alternatively,

a widow has intercourse on Friday and not on Thursday

because of

the ordinance of

“they were diligent”,

as the following beraita will explain—

As it was taught: Why did they say that a widow is married on Thursday and has intercourse on Friday?

For if you say that she should have intercourse on Thursday, on the following day,

on Friday, he would

rise early for his work and leave.

Therefore,

the Sages were diligent concerning the ordinance for the daughters of Israel,

the widows,

that he should rejoice with her for three days: Thursday, the eve of Shabbat, and Shabbat.

And the Gemara explains:

What difference is there between “blessing” and “they were diligent”?

The difference between them is an idle person.

Alternatively, when a Festival occurs on the eve of Shabbat,,

when people do not work.

And since the Gemara brought the words of bar Kappara in aggadic teaching, it attached to them his words in exposition of a biblical verse—

Bar Kappara expounded: The deeds of the righteous are greater than the work of Heaven and earth.

For whereas with regard to the work of Heaven and earth—

it is written

[Isaiah 48]

“Indeed, My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens.”

And it follows that the Holy One, blessed be He, made them with His one “hand.”

Whereas with regard to the work of the hands of the righteous—

it is written

[Exodus 15]

“The place for Your dwelling, You have wrought, O Lord;

the Sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.”

That is, the Sanctuary, which is the work of the hands of the righteous, was established by the [two] “hands” of the Holy One, blessed be He.

A Babylonian

asked,

and his name was Rabbi Hiyya:

It is stated in the book of Psalms [chapter 95]

“And the dry land—

His hands formed”!

And it follows that even the work of Creation was performed by the two hands of the Holy One, blessed be He!?

And we answer: Indeed, the verse is read “His hands,” but

“His hand”

in the singular

is written,

indicating one hand.

And

we challenge this:

“He formed”

is also written later in the verse,

“they formed”,

which is a plural expression!?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

With His one hand—

His fingers formed it!

As it is written

[Psalms 8]

“When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars that You established.”

Meytivi

from the verse itself, as it is stated in the book of Psalms [chapter 19]

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament recounts the work of His hands.”

And it is proven that the creation of the firmament, which is part of the work of Creation, was performed by the two hands!?

And we answer:

This is what the verse says

this verse:

the work of the hands of the righteous,

which are called the work of the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He—

who declares it?—

The firmament

declares

! And what is it?

The work of the hands of the righteous—

rain.

For the righteous ask the Holy One, blessed be He, to bring down rain, and the firmament testifies to the creatures that the righteous pray for rain; therefore, the rain descends.

Another

exposition by bar Kappara:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

[Deuteronomy 23]

“And a peg

[with which to dig]

you shall have on your weapon

[your weaponry]”?

Do not read “on your weapon,” but “upon your ear.”

And this is an analogy:

If a person hears something improper—