Shabbat 119a (קיט.) — the Talmud in English

And Abaye said: May my reward be that, when I see a Torah scholar—

when I see a Torah scholar—

who has completed his tractate,

who has finished studying a tractate,

I would make a festival for the Sages,

I would prepare a festival meal for the students, since he was the head of a yeshiva.

Rava said: May my reward be,

may I receive reward for being so fond of Torah scholars .

For when a Torah scholar came before me for judgment,

when a Torah scholar came before me for judgment,

I would not place my head upon a pillow

I would not rest my head on my pillow when I went to sleep at night,

as long

as

as I had not searched for grounds in his favor,

as long as I had not searched for grounds in his favor.

Mar bar Rav Ashi said: I disqualify myself

myself

from judging a Torah scholar

to judge him

in a case.

What is the reason?

Because

he is as dear to me as my own body,

as my own body,

and a person does not see liability in himself .

The Gemara now brings many examples of the conduct of the tannaim and amoraim in welcoming Shabbat and preparing for it.

Rabbi Hanina would wrap himself

in fine garments

and stand

and rise

toward evening on the eve of Shabbat.

As Shabbat began. And

he would say: Come, let us go out to greet the Shabbat Queen.

Rabbi Yannai would put on his garments

his Shabbat garments

before

the eve of

Shabbat, and he would say,

then, out of his affection for Shabbat:

Come, O bride; come, O bride .

Rabba bar Rav Huna happened to come to the house of Rabba bar Rav Naḥman

on Shabbat.

They brought before him three se’a of taḥei,

three se’a of flatbreads spread with tail fat or oil.

He said to them: Did you know that I was coming,

how did you know that I would come, that you took the trouble to prepare such fine bread for me?

They said to him:

We prepared this bread in honor of Shabbat, which is as important in our eyes as the arrival of an important guest.

Are you more important to us

are you more important

than it,

than Shabbat, in whose honor we prepared these foods ?

Rabbi Abba would purchase

he would customarily purchase in honor of Shabbat

for thirteen

for thirteen coins called

“istirei peshitei”—

meat.

And he would purchase the thirteen pieces of meat

from thirteen butchers,

slaughterers, so that on Shabbat he would have the finest meat.

And he would complete their payment,

he would pay them even before they came to him with the meat,

at the door of the house.

He would bring them the payment money to the entrance of their homes.

And he would say to them: Hurry, hurry!

Strengthen yourselves quickly in your trade, hastening to return and sell again, and to engage in preparing the needs of Shabbat. [And see Rashi, who cites another explanation.]

Rabbi Abbahu

was wealthy, and on the eve of Shabbat

he would sit upon an ivory stool,

on a seat made of elephant ivory,

and kindle a fire,

and he would blow on the fire in honor of Shabbat.

Rav Anan would wear

on the eve of Shabbat

a gunda,

a black garment, to demonstrate that one should not conduct oneself with special dignity on the eve of Shabbat, and should not wear a garment about which one is particular not to soil, thereby avoiding involvement with preparing Shabbat dishes .

For it was taught in the school of Rabbi Ishmael: The garments in which one cooked a pot for his master—

he should not pour a cup for his master while wearing them.

From here we learn that engaging in cooking soils one’s garments.

Rav Safra would scorch the head,

he would personally singe the head of an animal in honor of Shabbat .

Rava would salt the shibuta,

a fish.

Rav Huna would light the lamps,

candles .

Rav Pappa would twist the wicks,

he would twist wicks.

Rav Hisda would chop vegetables,

he would cut spinach.

Rabba and Rav Yosef would split wood,

they would chop wood.

Rabbi Zeira would kindle kindling,

he would light the fire with thin pieces of wood.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak

would

carry loads in and out, carry loads in and out,

entering and leaving repeatedly while carrying the needs of Shabbat on his shoulders, in order to demonstrate the importance of Shabbat.

He said: If Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi were to happen to visit me—

would I not carry things before them?

And some say: Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would carry loads in and out, carry loads in and out.

They said: If Rabbi Yoḥanan were to happen to visit us, would we not carry things before him?

Yosef—

who honored

honored

Shabbat

Shabbat. He was called by this name because he was known for honoring the Shabbatot, as stated below.

There was a certain gentile in his neighborhood,

in his vicinity,

who possessed an enormous amount of property,

who was extremely wealthy.

The astrologers said to him,

the stargazers said to this gentile:

All your property—

Yosef, who honors Shabbat, will consume it.

All your property will come to Yosef, who honors Shabbat .

He went,

he went,

and sold it

that gentile sold

all his property,

all his possessions.

He purchased a pearl with it,

and bought with it a precious and valuable gemstone,

and set it

embedded it

in his hat,

in order to protect his property from falling into the hands of Yosef, who honored Shabbat.

While he was crossing from one side of the river,

as he crossed a bridge,

the wind blew it away,

the wind blew away his hat,

and cast it into the water,

and threw it into the water.

A fish swallowed it.

A fish swallowed the hat together with the precious stone inside it.

They brought it up,

the fishermen caught the fish and

brought it

brought it in order to sell it

toward evening on the eve of Shabbat.

On Friday, close to the onset of Shabbat.

They said,

the fishermen asked:

Who will buy it now?

Who will buy fish now, so close to the onset of Shabbat?

They said to them

the townspeople:

Go and bring it

go and bring the fish

to Yosef, who honors Shabbat, for he regularly buys fish.

They brought it to him, and he bought it. He tore it open and found in it

found in it the

pearl.

He sold it for thirteen

he sold it for thirteen

measures of golden dinars,

of gold.

A certain old man encountered him and said: One who borrows for Shabbat—

one who lends for the honor of Shabbat,

Shabbat repays him .

Rabbi asked Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei: The wealthy people of Eretz Yisrael—

by what merit do they

attain their wealth?

He said to him: It is because they tithe,

as it is stated

[Deuteronomy 14]:

“You shall surely tithe”—

tithe so that you may become wealthy.

The wealthy

of Babylonia—

by what merit do they attain wealth?

He said to him: It is because they honor the Torah.

And those in the other lands—

by what merit do they attain wealth?

He said to him: It is because they honor Shabbat.

For Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: Once I was a guest in the home of a householder in Lodkia, and they brought before him a golden table,

its weight

was such that it required sixteen men to carry it. And sixteen silver chains were

fixed to it, and bowls, cups, jugs, and flasks were fixed to it, and upon it were every kind of food

and every kind of delicacy and spices. And when they placed it down, they would say

[Psalms 24]:

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it.”

And when they removed it, they would say

[Psalms 115]:

“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He gave to human beings.”

I said to him: My son, by what merit have you attained this?

He said to me: I was a butcher.

And concerning every fine animal I would say:

:

This shall be for Shabbat.

I said to him: “Fortunate are you that you merited this, and blessed is the Omnipresent who granted you the merit of this.”

The Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: “Why is the aroma of the Shabbat dish

so

fragrant?”

He said to him: “We have one spice, and its name is Shabbat, which we put into it—

and its aroma becomes fragrant.”

He said to him: “Give us some of it!”

He said to him: “Whoever observes Shabbat—

it benefits him,

but one who does not observe Shabbat—

it does not benefit him.

The Exilarch said to Rav Hamnuna: “What is the meaning of that which is written

in the words of the prophet Isaiah [58

: ‘And you shall honor the holy one of the Lord’?”

which is stated after, “And you shall call Shabbat a delight,” implying that it is not referring to Shabbat.

He said to him: “This is Yom Kippur, on which there is neither eating nor drinking. The Torah said: Honor it with clean clothing.”

And the Gemara explains the entire verse with regard to Shabbat:

“And you shall honor it”—

Rav said: Bring forward

the time of the Shabbat meal, making it earlier than the time at which one normally eats on weekdays.

And Shmuel said: Delay

the meal, thereby eating it with a greater appetite.

The sons of Rav Pappa bar Abba said to Rav Pappa: “In our case, since meat and wine are readily available to us every day, how should we make a change in it

for our Shabbat eating?”

He said to them: “If you are accustomed to bringing it forward—

delay it; if you are accustomed to delaying it—

bring it forward.”

Rav Sheshet, in the summer,

in summer,

would seat

would seat

the Sages

who studied Torah on Shabbat—

where the sun reached,

in the place where the sun was shining and it was hot. But

in the winter,

in winter,

he would seat the Sages where the shade reached

the shade.

So that they would get up quickly

to eat the Shabbat meal after their study.