Shabbat 11a (יא.) — the Talmud in English

And

the

tranquility

of Sodom

twenty-six

years until it was destroyed, as

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

Chedorlaomer came

and so on.”

Those twelve years during which they were subjugated to Chedorlaomer, their thirteen years of rebellion, and the twenty-sixth year, in which they waged war against the four kings, were not tranquil. Then Chedorlaomer died, and from that point onward they were tranquil for the remaining twenty-six years of their fifty-two-year existence. [See Tosafot, s.v. “and that of Sodom”].

And Rava bar Meḥasya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: Any 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 restore its ruins,

and to give us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.” Because we exalted the Temple above all the houses of the city, we merited being given a fence in Judah. This implies that had this not been done, Judah would have been destroyed. This also includes synagogues, which are a minor sanctuary.

And this statement applies

that one may not raise roofs above the synagogue

to

the roofs of

houses. But with regard to

the roofs of

turrets and towers

[bastions and towers],

we have no concern!

There is no prohibition against making them higher than the synagogue.

Rav Ashi said: I made an effort on behalf of Mata Meḥasya

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

so that it was not destroyed!

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

And we raise an objection:

But

in the end

it was destroyed

Mata Meḥasya.

And we answer:

It was not destroyed because of that sin.

And Rava bar Meḥasya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said:

It is preferable to be

under

a son of

Ishmael

and serve him,

rather than under a gentile

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

It is preferable to serve

under a gentile rather than under a Ḥaber

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

It is preferable to serve

under a Ḥaber rather than under a Torah scholar!

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

It is preferable to serve

under a Torah scholar rather than 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 that Rav Ḥama bar

Gurya said that Rav said:

It is preferable to suffer

any illness

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

provided

that it

not

be

an intestinal illness,

which is the most difficult.

It is preferable to suffer

any pain

[an illness that comes and goes, such as toothache or the pain of a blow]

provided

that it

not be

heart

heartache.

It is preferable to suffer

any minor ailment

[a slight pain that is merely a concern]

rather than a headache.

It is preferable to suffer

any misfortune

provided that it

not

be

a wicked wife.

And Rava bar Meḥasya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: Even if all the seas were ink, and all

the reeds of

the lakes were quills, and

all the

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

[the depth of her heart]

of the government.

For the government must consider in a single day the collection of the fixed tax in several countries, as well as numerous wars and many lawsuits.

And we inquire about it:

What is the verse

from which Rav derived this?

Rav Mesharsheya said:

As

it is written: “The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, but the heart of kings is unfathomable”!

And Rava bar Meḥasya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: Fasting is effective for improving a

bad

dream

,

just

as

fire is effective for burning flax tow,

which is flax fiber.

Rav Ḥisda said: And

the efficacy of the fast applies only

on the very day

that he dreamed it!

And Rav Yosef said: And

a dream fast is permitted

even on Shabbat!

Although fasting on Shabbat is prohibited because it 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 itself is a delight for him, since through it he removes his distress].

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

[a calf born third to its mother, which is the finest, because the first and second offspring are not healthy, since 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 following 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 debt of fasting on another day.

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

and I do not wish to forfeit its effect! For

Rava bar Meḥasya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: A fast is effective for a dream as fire is for flax tow; and Rav Ḥisda said: On that very day

only

! And Rav Yosef said: Even on Shabbat!

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

We learned in our Mishna:

And if they began

[any of the activities taught at the beginning]

they need not interrupt

even when it is close to the afternoon prayer.

They interrupt for the recitation of Shema

but do not interrupt for prayer.

And we inquire: Why did the tanna repeat the statement “they do not interrupt for prayer,”

but

it was already

taught at the beginning: “

If they began, they need not interrupt”?

And we answer:

The latter 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 reciting Shema and prayer.

And

as it is taught in a beraita:

Companions who were engaged in Torah study

interrupt for the recitation of 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 “companions,”

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

and they have no other occupation.

But as for people like us,

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

we interrupt

our Torah study

for

the sake of

the recitation of Shema and prayer!

And we raise an objection:

But it is taught in a beraita: Just as they do not interrupt

the companions' Torah study

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

Yet our Mishna teaches that they do interrupt for the recitation of Shema.

And we answer:

That

beraita is referring to a court that is debating

the intercalation of the year,

whether it should be intercalated [based on the considerations relating to spring, the fruit of the trees, and the season, as explained in Sanhedrin]. The recitation of Shema is overridden because the establishment of the festivals depends on the intercalation. If they do not intercalate the year properly, the festivals will be disrupted. [Tosafot.] But ordinary Torah study does not override the recitation of Shema.

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

Mishna:

All the laws of our Mishna are measures intended as a safeguard, to distance a person from transgression.

A.

A tailor may not go out with his needle

on the eve of Shabbat

close to nightfall

lest he forget

to put it away before Shabbat, and ultimately, 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

a scribe with his quill

on the eve of Shabbat close to nightfall.

B.

And he may not delouse

[burn] a person

his garments

[clothing] to remove lice from them on Shabbat, lest he inadvertently violate a prohibition of Shabbat. 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 properly, thereby becoming liable for kindling.

In truth they said—

the sexton

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

may see

by candlelight

where the children

of the school

are reading

on Friday night, in order to know what the weekly Torah portion is. They did not issue a decree with regard to this. But

he himself may not read

by candlelight.

D.

Similarly,

they instituted a safeguard against transgression, and said:

A zav may not eat together with a zava,

because of habituation to transgression.

For by being secluded together, he may come to have intercourse with her, and they will violate a prohibition punishable by karet.

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 issue a decree lest he carry the vessel into the domain in which he is standing, thereby becoming liable to bring a sin-offering.

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

For in this case there is no concern that he may bring the vessel into the domain where his feet are standing.