Nedarim 49b (מט:) — the Talmud in English

As Rava said:

In accordance with whose opinion do we pray for the sick and the weak

[In accordance with whose opinion do we hold that we pray every day, and not only on Rosh HaShana, for the sick (in the blessing of “Heal us”), who are the ketzirei, and for the Sages (“and for the remnant of their scribes”), who are the meriei]?

In accordance with whose opinion? In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei

who holds in tractate Rosh HaShana (16a) that a person is judged every day.

But according to the Rabbis, there is no reason to pray every day for the sick and for the Sages, since they hold that a person is judged on Rosh HaShana, and once their judgment has already been concluded, prayer is of no avail to them.

And

from the fact that

Rava said,

“the sick and the weak,”

and called the Sages meriei, which is the Aramaic translation of “sick” .

Conclude from it

that Rava holds that the Sages are called sick.

The sick —

this refers to the sick who are confined to their beds. They are called ketzirei because they are

literally sick,

as their breath is short on account of their illnesses.

The weak —

this refers to

the Sages

who are weak and faint, whose eating and sleeping are limited, while their exertion is great.

We learned in the Mishna: “A vow-offering, a cooked dish, etc.”

And he is permitted to eat a thick dish:

And the Gemara explains:

The Mishna,

our Mishna, which permits one who vows to abstain from a cooked dish to eat a thick cooked dish, follows the custom that people did not eat bread together with it, and

not like

the custom of the

Babylonians.

As Rabbi Zeira said: “Babylonians, they are fools,”

because

“they eat bread with bread.”

They eat a thick cooked dish, which is like bread, together with bread.

Accordingly, a Babylonian who vows to abstain from a cooked dish is prohibited from eating a thick cooked dish, since it was the practice of the Babylonians to eat it with bread; it is therefore called a cooked dish.

Rav Hisda was one of the Babylonians who ate bread with porridge.

Therefore

Rav Hisda said: “Let us ask”

[it is necessary to ask]

them, those meticulous people of Hutzal

[those people from Hutzal who are particular in their eating]:

“This porridge”

[this food made of cooked wheat],

“how is it preferable to eat it”

[how is it best to eat it]?

Is it preferable to eat

wheat porridge with

together with

wheat bread, and

barley porridge

with barley bread?

Or perhaps

conversely, it is preferable to eat

wheat porridge with

together with bread

of barley, and

barley porridge

with

together with bread

of wheat.

Rava would eat it

[he would eat] his bread

with

together with

hasisi

[flour made from parched grain—hulled barley that had not yet reached one-third of its growth and was dried in an oven].

Rabba bar Rav Huna found Rav Huna

[Rabba bar Rav Huna found Rav Huna]

eating porridge with his fingers

[he was eating porridge with his fingers].

He said to him: “Why is the Master eating with his hands”

[why is the Master eating with his hands and not with a utensil]?

He said to him: “Rav said this: Porridge tastes better when eaten with one’s finger”

[porridge is more delectable when eaten with one’s finger].

“And all the more so with two, and all the more so with three”

[it is even more delectable when eaten with two or three fingers].

Rav said to his son Hiyya

[his son],

and similarly Rav Huna said to his son Rabba

[his son]:

If

they invite you

[you]

to eat porridge,

go

as far as one parasang

in order to eat it.

And if they invite you

to eat ox meat

[beef], go

as far as three parasangs

[three parasangs] in order to eat it .

Rav said to his son Hiyya, and similarly Rav Huna said to his son Rabba: “Whatever”

[anything that you have put into your mouth]

“do not spit it out in the presence of your teacher”

[do not spit it out before your teacher], out of respect for him, since one who spits in the presence of his teacher is liable to death.

Except for

[apart from]

gourd

[pumpkins]

and porridge, which are

difficult for the body, and

resemble a lead wick

[a lump of lead], which is not digested in the body, and they pose a danger to life.

Therefore, they should be spit out, even in the presence of one’s teacher,

and even in the presence of

[before]

Shavor Malka ,

they should

be spit out

from the mouth because of the danger.

Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Yehuda

ate porridge together from one bowl;

one ate the porridge with his fingers, and the other ate it with a splinter

[a piece of tree bark].

He said to him,

the one

who was eating

[who was eating]

with the splinter, to

the one

who was eating

[who was eating]

with his fingers: “How long will you continue feeding me your excrement”

that is beneath your fingernails!?

He said to him,

the one

who was eating with his fingers, to

the one

who was eating with the splinter: “How long will you continue feeding me your spittle!?”

For it was not customary to wipe the splinter clean of saliva before returning it to the bowl.

[Unlike the finger, which he would wipe clean of saliva before returning it to the bowl.]

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon brought before them

[they brought before them]

belusfain

[a type of fig that is difficult to digest].

Rabbi Yehuda ate; Rabbi Shimon did not eat.

Rabbi Yehuda said

to Rabbi Shimon:

“Why does the Master not eat?”

Rabbi Shimon said to him,

these figs

“do not leave the intestines at all.”

Rabbi Yehuda said to him,

if so,

“all the more so, let us eat them and”

consume them and

“rely on them”

so that we will not need to eat another food

“tomorrow,”

since, because they are not digested, they remain in the intestines, and as long as they remain there, they nourish the body .

Rabbi Yehuda was sitting

[he was sitting]

before

[before]

Rabbi Tarfon.

Rabbi Tarfon said to him: “Today your face is yellow,”

as he appeared well nourished.

He said to him

Rabbi Yehuda: The reason that my face is yellow today is that

“yesterday”

[the previous day]

“your servants went out to the field, brought us spinach, and we ate it without salt. Had we eaten it with salt, all the more so would our faces have been yellow.”

That noblewoman

[an important Roman woman]

said to Rabbi Yehuda: “You are a teacher of halakha, and you are drunk?”

[Since his face was yellow, she assumed that he was intoxicated.]

He said to her

Rabbi Yehuda:

“My faith is in the hands of that woman”

[I give you my word],

“if I taste”

[I do not taste wine throughout the year]

“except”

only at

Kiddush and Havdala,

“and the four cups of Passover”

[and the four cups of the Seder night].

“And I bind my temples”

[I tie my forehead at the temples]

“from Passover until Shavuot”

because of the headache I suffer from the wine I drink on the night of the Seder.

Rather,

the reason that my face is yellow is

“for a person’s wisdom illuminates his face.”

(Ecclesiastes 8).

A certain Sadducee said to Rabbi Yehuda: “Your face”

is yellow;

“is it like”

[or]

“that of an interest lender, or”

[or]

“that of pig breeders,”

since their faces are yellow from earning great profits?

Rabbi Yehuda said

to him: My face is not yellow on account of this, since

“among the Jews”

[for Jews]

“both”

[both raising pigs and lending at interest]

“are forbidden.”

Rather,

the reason that my face is yellow is that

“there are twenty-four lavatories”

[there are]

“for me, from my house to the study hall, and every hour I enter each and every one of them.”

When Rabbi Yehuda would go to the study hall

[when he would go to the study hall],

he would carry a jug on his shoulder

[he would carry a jug on his shoulder], so that he would have something to sit on in the study hall.

He said: “Great is work, for it honors its practitioner.”

Because of this work of carrying the jug to the study hall, he could sit on it and did not have to sit on the ground.

Rabbi Shimon would carry a basket

[he took a jar]

on his shoulder

to the study hall.

He said: “Great is work, for it honors its practitioner,”

so that he would not have to sit on the ground in the study hall.

The wife

[his wife]

of Rabbi Yehuda went out and brought wool

[she left her home and brought wool],

and made a fine cloak

[she made an important cloak from the wool].

When she went out to the market

[when she would go out to the market],

she covered herself with it

[she would wear it].

And when

[when]

Rabbi Yehuda went out to pray

[to pray],

he would wear it and pray

[he would put it on and pray].

And when he would wear it

[when Rabbi Yehuda would put it on],

he would recite the blessing, “Blessed is He Who has clothed me with a cloak,”

because the cloak was precious to him ,

like a silk garment called a cloak, on account of its superiority over other garments .

One time

[once]

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel decreed a fast

[a communal fast].

It was their practice to gather at the Nasi’s residence on every fast.

Rabbi Yehuda did not come

[he did not come]

to the place of the fast.

They said to him

[they told Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel that the reason Rabbi Yehuda had not come was that he

had no covering

[he had no garment with which to cover himself ].

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel sent him

[he sent him]

a cloak

so that he would have something to wear,

but he did not accept it.