Shabbat 109b (קט:) — the Talmud in English

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak challenged this:

Perhaps they disagree

Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehuda only

with regard to ritual impurity and purity,

as each of them derives his position from a different verse; but

with regard to Shabbat,

where the matter depends on whether it is evident that he is bathing for medicinal purposes—

have you heard them say this?

Rather, Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: This is not difficult: That

which teaches that it is prohibited to bathe in the Great Sea is referring to a case

where he lingers,

remaining in the water for a long time, as it is evident that he intends to bathe for medicinal purposes.

That

which permits bathing in the Great Sea is referring to a case

where he does not linger,

but bathes and immediately leaves, as it appears that he wishes to cool himself.

And we raise an objection:

How did you establish the latter beraita,

the second beraita, which permits bathing in the Great Sea, as referring to

a case where he does not linger?

If it is a case where he does not linger,

even

bathing

in soaking water as well

is permitted; yet that same beraita teaches that it is prohibited to bathe in soaking water.

As it was taught in a beraita: One may bathe in the waters of Tiberias, in soaking water, and in the Sea of Sodom, even though he has scabs

wounds

on his head.

When does this statement apply? When he does not linger; but if he lingers, it is prohibited.

Thus, when he does not linger, it is permitted even in soaking water. Consequently, the second beraita, which prohibits bathing in soaking water, must be referring to a case where he lingers, and nevertheless permits bathing in the Great Sea. This poses a difficulty to the first beraita.

And we answer:

Rather, with regard to the Great Sea, the issue of the Great Sea is not difficult: That

which is permitted is

in its pleasant waters,

in which it is customary to bathe;

that

which is prohibited is

in its poor-quality waters, as it is evident that he intends to bathe for medicinal purposes. And both beraitot are referring to a case where he lingers.

With regard to soaking water as well, the matter of soaking water is not difficult.

In both of the beraitot cited above it teaches that it is prohibited, whereas the latter beraita teaches that it is permitted, for

that

which is prohibited is

where he lingers, and

that

which is permitted is

where he does not linger.

Mishna:

One may not eat ezoviyon

a type of hyssop used as a medicine

on Shabbat, because it is not food for healthy people,

and it is evident that he eats it for medicinal purposes; and the Sages prohibited all medical treatment on Shabbat [for one who is not ill], as a decree lest he grind medicinal herbs.

But he may eat yu'azer and drink avuvru'a,

types of medicine [as explained in the Gemara], since healthy people also customarily eat them.

A person may eat all foods

on Shabbat, even if he intends

to use them for medicinal purposes; and he may drink all beverages, except for palm water and kos ikarin,

a beverage made from the roots of vegetables and spices,

because they are for jaundice,

as the root beverage is a treatment for jaundice [icterus, Tiferet Yisrael], and is not food for healthy people [and palm water likewise serves only as a medicine].

But he may drink palm water to quench his thirst

if he is not ill and intends only to quench his thirst.

And he may anoint himself with

root oil,

oil perfumed with the roots of spices and vegetables,

not for medicinal purposes

if he is not doing so for medical treatment.

Gemara:

Rav Yosef said: The hyssop

mentioned in the Torah with regard to sprinkling is called

avarta bar hamag. Ezoviyon,

mentioned in the Mishna, is called

avarta bar hing.

[Rashi cites those who explain that “bar hamag” grows among reeds, whereas “bar hing” grows among thorns.]

Ulla said:

The hyssop mentioned in the Torah is

marva ḥivara.

Ulla happened to come to the house of Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda. They brought marva ḥivara before him. He said: This is the hyssop written about in the Torah!

Rav Pappi said:

Hyssop is

shumshok.

Rabbi Yirmeya of Difti said: Rav Pappi’s opinion is more plausible, as we learned:

in tractate Para:

The mitzva of hyssop

used for the red heifer is that one take

three stalks

of hyssop, since we require “a bundle of hyssop,” and a bundle contains no fewer than three,

and on them three stems,

with three thin branches on each stalk; and he dips them in the water of purification and sprinkles it on the impure person.

And this is found only in shumshok,

as only in shumshok is it common for there to be three stems on each stalk. Therefore, hyssop is shumshok.

And we explain:

What is it eaten for?

For intestinal worms,

as it kills the worms in the intestines.

With what is it eaten?

With seven black dates,

black ones.

From what does it result,

this illness?

From barley flour

barley flour

that has remained

that has passed

forty days.

We learned in the Mishna:

But he may eat yu'azer.

And we explain:

What is yu'azer?

Potenak.

What is it eaten for?

For liver worms,

worms found in the liver.

With what is it eaten?

With seven white dates,

white ones.

From what does it result,

this illness?

From meat

from eating meat roasted over coals

and water, on an empty stomach,

before eating. Or

from fatty meat on an empty stomach.

Or

from ox meat on an empty stomach.

Or

from nuts

nuts

on an empty stomach.

Or

from clover leaves

clover leaves

on an empty stomach, and drinking water afterward

one who eats one of these foods before eating and drinks water afterward develops this illness.

And if not,

if he has no yu'azer, or if he ate it and it did not help him,

he should swallow white ḥaltei,

white ḥaltei [a type of pungent vegetable].

And if not,

if he likewise has none of this, or it did not help him,

he should fast,

eating nothing else, but

he should bring fatty meat and place it on glowing coals

he should place it on the coals

and suck the bone,

he should suck a bone from that meat,

and swallow vinegar,

he should drink vinegar.

And some say: No vinegar, because it is harmful to the liver.

And if not, he should bring a shaving from a thornbush

a shaving scraped from the thornbush

that was scraped from above downward, and not from below upward,

so that it is scraped from top to bottom and not from bottom to top,

lest they emerge through his mouth

lest the worms emerge through his mouth, just as he scraped from bottom to top [this is a mystical rather than a natural process]

and boil it in beer at twilight,

at twilight [another explanation: he should cook it at the neighbor’s house so that he will not smell the odor, which could harm him],

and tomorrow he should close his nostrils,

he should block his nostrils so that he will not smell his own body’s odor]

and drink. And when he defecates,

when he relieves himself, he should do so beside

the split in a palm tree,

where a branch has been torn away from the palm.

We learned in the Mishna:

And he may drink avuvru'a.

And we explain:

What is avuvru'a?

Ḥumterya.

What is ḥumterya?

A solitary branch,

a tree that grows alone, without branches.

What is it used for?

For exposure,

for one who was harmed by drinking water that had been left uncovered.

And if not, he should bring five lilies

roses

and five cups of beer

cups of beer

and boil them together

he should cook them together

until it is reduced to an anpaka,

so that the water evaporates until only a quarter-log remains,

and drink it.

The mother of Rav Aḥadvoi bar Ami prepared for a certain man one lily and one cup of beer. She boiled it and gave it to him to drink, and she heated an oven

she stoked the oven

and raked it,

she raked the coals out of it so that it would cool somewhat,

and placed a brick inside it,

she put a brick into the oven so that he could sit on it and not be burned,

and he emerged like a green leaf,

he vomited the poison he had swallowed, in the form of the green leaf of a lulav.

Rav Avya said:

The cure for one who drank uncovered water is to drink

a quarter-log of milk

a quarter-log of milk

from a white goat,

a white one.

Rav Huna bar Yehuda said:

The cure is

to bring a sweet citron

sweet

and hollow it out and fill it with honey,

hollow it out and put honey inside,

and place it among glowing embers

place it on glowing coals so that the citron will cook in the honey,

and eat it.

Rabbi Ḥanina said: Urine that is forty days old,

that has stood for forty days [another explanation: that of an infant forty days old],

a small measure for a wasp,

one who was stung by a wasp should drink a very small cup of it called barzina.

A quarter-log for a scorpion,

one bitten by a scorpion should drink a quarter-log.

Half a quarter-log for exposure,

it cures one harmed by uncovered water.

A quarter

a full log [which is a quarter of a kav]

is effective even for witchcraft.

It is beneficial.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Anigron,

water in which spinach was cooked,

and avnagar,

or water in which a type of grass called

avnagar was cooked, and teriaka,

an effective antidote

are effective both for exposure and for witchcraft.

One who swallowed a snake

a snake

should feed him hops with salt and make him run

he should run

three mil.

Rav Shimi bar Ashi saw a certain man who had swallowed a snake. He appeared to him as a horse-riding policeman

he presented himself to him as a mounted policeman and frightened him;

he fed him

he gave him to eat

hops with salt and made him run before him

he made him run

three mil,

as the fear, the hops, and the running weaken a person and heat him, thereby killing the snake inside him,

and it emerged from him in pieces.

The snake emerged from him piece by piece.

Some say: Rav Shimi bar Ashi swallowed a snake. Elijah came and appeared to him as a horse-riding policeman; he fed him hops with salt and made him run before him three mil, and it emerged from him in pieces.

One whom a snake has bitten

has bitten him

should bring the fetus of a white female donkey

a fetus found in the womb of a white she-donkey

and tear it open

he should tear open the mother and remove the fetus

and place it over the bite,

over the place of the bite.

And this applies only when a tereifa was not found,

when the mother was found not to be a tereifa.