Shabbat 113b (קיג:) — the Talmud in English

“And a matter” -

that your speech on Shabbat should not be like your speech during the week,

such as matters concerning buying and selling and weekday accounts.

Speech

is that which

is forbidden,

but

thought,

such as concerning financial expenditures,

is permitted.

And we raised a difficulty concerning it:

Granted, all the others -

well.

It is understandable what they are.

But “your walking on Shabbat should not be like your walking during the week” -

what does this refer to?

And we answer:

It is like that which Rav Huna said in the name of Rav—and some say that Rabbi Abba said in the name of Rav Huna: If one was walking on Shabbat and encountered a stream, if he can place his

palm

of his foot

the

first

on the other side of the stream

before he lifts

his

second

foot from the first side,

it is permitted

even to jump and skip over it, as this is considered walking at ease.

But if not -

it is forbidden

to skip, as this is not walking at ease.

Rava raised an objection: What should he do?

If

he goes around

the stream—that is a strain in his walking, since

he increases

his

walking.

If he crosses

through the stream itself without jumping over it -

sometimes his garments become soaked

and his clothes will become wet in the

water, and he will come to squeezing them.

Rather,

you must necessarily say that

in this case,

where he must jump over the stream,

since it is impossible

to proceed in another manner without violating Shabbat -

it is entirely proper.

Rather,

Rava explains that the distinctive walking of Shabbat is

like

the matter

concerning which Rabbi asked Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei: What is the ruling regarding taking a long stride on Shabbat?

He said to him: Is it permitted even during the week?

For I say: A long stride removes one five-hundredth of a person’s eyesight. And it is restored to him

and a person restores to himself the light of his eyes that was diminished when he took a long stride

by

drinking the wine of

the Kiddusha deBei Shimshi

at the onset of Shabbat.

Another

matter concerning which Rabbi asked Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei: What is the ruling regarding eating earth

red clay

on Shabbat?

He said to him: Is it permitted even during the week?

For I say: It is forbidden even during the week, because it is harmful.

It brings the one who eats it to illness.

Rabbi Ami said: Anyone who eats of the earth of Babylonia -

it is as though he eats the flesh of his forefathers,

who are buried in its earth.

And some say: It is as though he eats creeping creatures and crawling creatures.

As it is written [Genesis 7]

“And He blotted out every living thing.”

Reish Lakish said: Why was it called “Shinar”?

Because

all the dead of the Flood were shaken out there.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Why was it called “the deep”?

Because

all the dead of the Flood decomposed there.

And some say: It is as though he eats creeping creatures and crawling creatures.

And we raised a difficulty concerning it:

But surely they have completely decomposed,

the creeping and crawling creatures from the generation of the Flood, and they no longer exist!?

And we answer:

They say: Since it is harmful,

as it causes illness to the one who eats it,

the Sages decreed concerning it

that it may not be eaten, on account of eating creeping and crawling creatures.

For there was that man who ate clay,

clean clay earth,

and ate

also

garden cress,

a type of plant; the cress took root in the earth within his intestines and grew there,

and it pierced him

the

cress pierced his heart,

as the cress reached his heart and bored a hole in it,

and he died.

It is written [Ruth 3]

“And you shall bathe and anoint yourself, and place your garments on yourself.”

But is it not obvious that she was to dress herself in garments?

Rabbi Elazar said: These were garments

that were distinctive,

for Shabbat.

It is written [Proverbs 9]

“Give to the wise man,

and he will become wiser still.”

Rabbi Elazar said: This refers to Ruth the Moabite and Samuel of Ramah.

Ruth -

for if Naomi had said to her, “And you shall bathe and anoint yourself, and place your garments on yourself,

and afterward -

“you shall go down to the threshing floor.”

But concerning her herself,

with regard to Ruth,

it is written: “And she went down to the threshing floor,”

and afterward,

only there did she dress herself, so that they would not notice her distinctive garments -

“and she did all that her mother-in-law had commanded.”

Samuel

who heard a voice from the Sanctuary calling him but did not know who was calling. He asked Eli what he should do.

For if Eli had said to him [I Samuel 3]

“Lie down, and if he calls you,

the

and say: Speak, for Your servant hears!”

But concerning him,

with regard to Samuel,

it is written: “And the Lord came and stood, and called as at the other times: Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said: Speak, for Your servant hears,”

and he did not say

Samuel:

“Speak, Lord!”

because he was concerned that it might not be the voice of the Lord.

The Gemara now brings several additional homilies that Rabbi Elazar expounded on verses from the Book of Ruth.

“And she went, and she came, and she gleaned in the field.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

This teaches

that she went and came, went and came, until she found suitable people

among the reapers, in order

to go with them. “And Boaz said to his servant who stood over the reapers: Whose maiden is this?”

Was it Boaz’s way to inquire about a maiden?

Did he look at them?

Rabbi Elazar said:

Because he

saw a matter of wisdom in her.

If she saw

two ears of grain

falling,

she gathered them,

but if she saw

three ears of grain

lying together on the ground,

she did not gather them.

And that is the law of gleanings.

It was taught in a baraita: He saw a matter of modesty in her.

If she saw a sheaf of grain

standing,

she gathered it while her body was

standing,

and if she saw a sheaf of grain

fallen,

she did not bend over it, because of the norms of modesty, but gathered it while her body was

seated.

“And you shall cleave to my maidens.”

Was it Boaz’s way to associate with women?

Rabbi Elazar said: Once he saw [Ruth 1]

“Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth cleaved to her,” he said: It is permitted to cleave to her.

“And Boaz said to her at mealtime: Draw near here.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

The Divine Spirit was cast upon him, and

he hinted to her: The kingdom of the House of David is destined to emerge from you, as it is written concerning him,

David the king,

“Here.”

As it is stated [II Samuel 7]

“And King David came and sat before the Lord.

And he said: Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far?”

“And dip your morsel in vinegar.”

Rabbi Elazar said: From here it may be inferred that vinegar is beneficial in hot weather.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: He hinted to her -

a son is destined to emerge from you whose deeds will be as harsh as vinegar—and who is he? -

Manasseh.

“And she sat beside the reapers.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

He seated her

beside the reapers, and not among the reapers.

The reapers separated him from her. Since the Divine Spirit was cast upon him,

he hinted to her

by this

that the kingdom of the House of David is destined to be divided.

“And he placed roasted grain before her, and she ate

and was satisfied.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

This is an expression of wealth.

“And she ate” -

in the days of David; “and she was satisfied” -

in the days of Solomon; “and she had leftovers” -

in the days of Hezekiah.

And some say: “And she ate” -

in the days of David and in the days of Solomon; “and she was satisfied” -

in the days of Hezekiah; “and she had leftovers” -

in the days of Rabbi.

As the Master said: Rabbi’s chief of grooms,

the official appointed over the horses and mules,

of Rabbi -

was wealthier

than

Shapur, the king.

It was taught in a baraita: “And she ate” -

in this world; “and she was satisfied” -

in the days of the Messiah; “and she had leftovers” -

in the World to Come.

We find that these amoraim disagreed in their interpretation of other verses as well.

It is written [Isaiah 10], in the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet concerning the army of Sennacherib:

“And beneath his glory, it shall burn with burning -

like the burning of fire.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: “And beneath his glory,”

as at the bottom of the glory of Sennacherib’s army, a burning fire will burn—that is, beneath their garments—

and not

beneath

his glory

itself

literally.

The Gemara explains that

Rabbi Yohanan

expounded this

according to his own reasoning.

For Rabbi Yohanan called his garments

his clothing

“my honor.”

The meaning of the verse is therefore: At the bottom of the garments [which are his glory] of Sennacherib’s army, a burning fire will burn, and their bodies will be burned, but their garments will not be burned.

Rabbi Elazar says: “And beneath his glory” -

beneath his glory itself.

That is, their bodies will be burned, and in place of [“beneath”] his glory, [i.e., Sennacherib’s army itself], only ash and burning will remain.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said:

Their bodies will not be burned. Rather,

“beneath his glory”

will be

like the burning of the sons of Aaron.

Just as there -

the soul was burned while the body remained intact, so here -

the soul will be burned while the body remains intact.

He interpreted the word “beneath” in accordance with Rabbi Yohanan, as meaning “at the bottom,” while he interpreted the word “his glory” in accordance with Rabbi Elazar, as referring to Sennacherib’s army itself.

And this is what the verse is saying: At the bottom of Sennacherib’s army, a burning fire will burn, but they themselves will not be burned by it; only their glory will burn—that is, their souls will burn while their bodies remain whole.

Rabbi Aḥa bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: