Shabbat 11a — the Talmud in English

And

it continued

the tranquility

of Sodom

twenty-six

years until it was destroyed, as

it is written: “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and thirteen years they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year

Chedorlaomer came

etc.”

And those twelve years during which they were subjugated to Chedorlaomer, and the thirteen years of their rebellion, and the twenty-sixth year in which they fought against the four kings, were not tranquil. Then Chedorlaomer died, and from then onward it was tranquil for the twenty-six years that remained of its fifty-two years. [See Tosafot, s.v. “and of Sodom”].

And Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar Gurya, who said in the name of Rav: Every city whose roofs are higher than its synagogue will ultimately be destroyed! For it is stated: “To exalt the House of our God and to establish its ruins,

and to give us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.” For because we exalted the Temple above all the houses of the city, we merited that a fence be given to us in Judah. For it implies that had this not occurred, Judah would have been destroyed. And included in this as well are synagogues, which are a miniature sanctuary.

And this statement

that the roofs may not be raised above the synagogue

applies

to the roofs of

houses. But with

the roofs of

pavilions and towers

[bastions and towers]

we have no concern!

There is no prohibition against raising them above the synagogue.

Rav Ashi said: I made Mata Meḥasya

[which was his city, and he was its head of the yeshiva]

not be destroyed!

By virtue of preventing its inhabitants from raising their houses higher than the synagogue.

And we raise an objection:

But

ultimately

it was destroyed,

Mata Meḥasya.

And we answer:

It was not destroyed because of that sin.

And Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar Gurya, who said in the name of Rav:

It is preferable to be

under

a

Ishmaelite

and serve him,

rather than under an alien

of the descendants of Edom, for they are more wicked.

It is preferable to serve

under an alien, and not under a Ḥabbar

[a nation among the Persians]! For they are exceedingly wicked.

It is preferable to serve

under a Ḥabbar, and not under a Torah scholar!

For if he angers the Torah scholar, he will be punished.

It is preferable to serve

under a Torah scholar, and not under an orphan or a widow!

For if he causes them distress, his punishment is severe, because their tears are readily shed.

And Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar

Gurya, who said in the name of Rav:

It is preferable,

every illness

[a prolonged illness that debilitates and exhausts one’s strength],

and

provided that there

not

be

an intestinal illness,

for it is the most severe.

It is preferable,

every pain

[an illness that comes and goes, like toothache and the pain of a blow],

and

provided that it

not be

a

heartache.

It is preferable,

every discomfort

[a slight pain that is merely a concern],

and not a headache.

Preferable is

every evil, and

provided that it

not

be

an evil woman.

And Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar Gurya, who said in the name of Rav: If all the seas were ink, and all

the reeds of

the lakes were pens, and

all the

heavens were scrolls, and all human beings scribes, they would not suffice to write the depth

[the depth of its heart]

of the authority.

For the authority must give its attention on a single day to the collection of the fixed tax in several countries, to several wars, and to several judgments.

And we inquire about it:

What is the verse?

From where did Rav derive this?

Rav Mesharsheya said:

For

it is written: “The heavens for height and the earth for depth, but the hearts of kings are unsearchable”!

And Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar Gurya, who said in the name of Rav: A fast is effective

to improve a

dream

that is bad,

just

as fire is effective for

flax tow

to burn it.

Rav Ḥisda said: And

as for the fact that the fast is effective, it is only

on the very day

on which he dreamed!

And Rav Yosef said: And

a dream-fast is permitted

even on Shabbat!

Although it is prohibited to fast on Shabbat because he nullifies the mitzva of delighting in Shabbat, a dream-fast is different, since through it he removes his distress. [Rashi, Ta’anit 12b; and the Tur added in section 288 that the fast is a delight for him, since through it he removes his distress].

Rabbi Yehoshua, son of Rav Idi, happened to come to the house of Rav Ashi. They prepared for him a third-born calf

[a calf born third to its mother, and it is the choicest, since the first and second offspring are not healthy because the mother is still young and lacks strength]

They said to him: Let the Master taste something!

He said to them: I am sitting in a fast.

They said to him: Does the Master not accept the statement of Rav Yehuda?

For Rav Yehuda said: A person may borrow his fast and repay it!

If he accepted a fast upon himself and wishes to interrupt it, he may eat and repay his fast-debt on another day.

He said to them: It is a dream-fast for me,

and I do not wish to lose its effect! For

Rava bar Meḥasya said in the name of Rav Ḥama bar Gurya, who said in the name of Rav: A fast is effective for a dream as fire is for flax tow; and Rav Ḥisda said: Only on that very day

alone

! And Rav Yosef said: Even on Shabbat!

Therefore I cannot postpone it to another day, for it is effective only on that day itself.

We learned in the Mishna:

And if they began

[all the activities taught at the beginning]

they do not interrupt

even close to the afternoon prayer.

They interrupt for the recitation of the Shema

but they do not interrupt for prayer.

And we inquire: Why did the tannei repeat and say, “They do not interrupt for prayer,”

but

already

did he teach it at the beginning: “

If they began, they do not interrupt”?

And we answer:

The final clause,

which teaches, “They do not interrupt for prayer,” does not refer to the first clause at all; rather,

we come to

interrupting in the middle of

words of Torah

for the sake of the recitation of the Shema and prayer.

And

as it is taught:

Colleagues who were engaged in Torah

interrupt for the recitation of the Shema!

Since the mitzva of reciting it at its proper time is by Torah law, as it is written, “When you lie down and when you rise.” But

they do not interrupt

for prayer!

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They taught

that they do not interrupt

only

with regard to “colleagues,”

such as Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and his companions, whose Torah is their occupation,

and they have no other occupation.

But such as us,

whose Torah is not our occupation, and we interrupt our Torah for the sake of our occupation, all the more so

we interrupt

our Torah

for

the sake of

the recitation of the Shema and prayer!

And we raise an objection:

And is it not taught: Just as they do not interrupt

the colleagues from words of Torah

for prayer, so they do not interrupt for the recitation of the Shema.

But in our Mishna it teaches that they do interrupt for the recitation of the Shema.

And we answer:

That

baraita is speaking of a court that discusses

the intercalation of the year,

whether it is fit to intercalate [according to the factors dependent on the spring, the fruit of the trees, and the season, as explained in Sanhedrin]. And it postpones the recitation of the Shema, since the fixing of the festivals depends on intercalation. If they do not intercalate properly, the festivals will be disrupted. [Tosafot.] But ordinary Torah study does not override the recitation of the Shema.

And as Rav Adda bar Ahava said, and likewise the elders of Hagrונya taught, Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok said: When we were engaged in intercalating the year in Yavne, we did not interrupt either for the recitation of the Shema or for prayer!

Mishna:

All the laws of our Mishna are a protective measure, in order to distance a person from transgression.

a.

The tailor may not go out with his needle

on the eve of Shabbat

close to nightfall

lest he forget

to put it away until Shabbat, and eventually, when he remembers the needle, he will forget that it is now Shabbat [Tosafot],

and go out

with it from one domain to another and violate the prohibition of the labor of carrying.

And

likewise

he may not

go out for this reason,

the scribe with his pen

on the eve of Shabbat close to nightfall.

b.

And he may not search

[remove] a person

his garments

[clothing] for lice on Shabbat, lest he inadvertently violate the prohibition of Shabbat. And the Gemara explains the reason.

c.

And he may not read

on Shabbat

by candlelight,

lest he forget and tilt the lamp to bring the oil closer to the wick so that it will burn well, and become liable for kindling.

In truth they said —

the attendant

[the one who reads the Torah to the public in the synagogue

sees

by candlelight

where the children

of the school

read

on Friday night, in order to know what the weekly portion is. For this they did not decree. But

he himself may not read

by candlelight.

d.

Similarly,

they decreed a distancing from transgression, and said:

A man with a discharge may not eat with a menstruating woman,

because of habituation to transgression.

For because they are secluded together, he may come to have intercourse with her, and they will transgress a prohibition punishable by excision.

Gemara:

We learned there: A person may not stand in the private domain

and extend his mouth and head and hold the vessel

and drink in the public domain.

And likewise he may not stand

in the public domain and drink in the private domain.

Although there is no Torah prohibition of carrying in this, since he is not carrying anything from one domain to another, we decree lest he carry the vessel into the domain in which he is standing, and he will thereby become liable for a sin-offering.

But if he inserts his head and most of his body into the place where he is drinking, it is permitted.

For here there is no concern lest he bring the vessel into the domain in which his feet are standing.