Shabbat 128b (קכח:) — the Talmud in English

One may move

rotting meat, because it is food for a wild animal.

One may move

water

that was

uncovered

at night, even though it is forbidden to drink it because of the prohibition against uncovered liquids, lest a snake have injected venom into it,

because it is fit

for

a cat,

which is not harmed by snake venom. [For it even eats the snake itself. Rashi].

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: It is itself forbidden to leave it standing, because of the danger,

lest a person come to drink it.

Mishna:

One forces a basket over the chicks

on Shabbat

so that they may climb up and down

on it.

This teaches that it is permitted to take a utensil on Shabbat even for the sake of something that may not be moved.

Rabbi Yitzḥak, who holds in the chapter “Kira” [43a] that a utensil may not be moved on Shabbat for the sake of something that may not be moved, explains the Mishna as referring to a case in which he needs the place occupied by the utensil. Since he may take it for the sake of its place, he may move it to wherever he wishes. Rashi there.

A chicken that escaped

from the house

may be pushed

with the hands

until it enters

its place.

One may lead calves and foals,

meaning that one grasps them by their ears or necks and assists them in walking.

And a woman may lead her child,

assisting him in walking.

Rabbi Yehuda said: When

did they permit a woman to lead her child?

When he is

the infant

lifting

one foot

and placing

one foot

down.

But if he was dragging

his feet,

it is forbidden

to lead him, because she is carrying him.

Gemara:

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: If an animal fell

into a water channel,

one brings cushions and mattresses and places them beneath it, and if it climbs out, it climbs out.

The scholars raised an objection: If an animal fell into a water channel, one provides sustenance for it in its place,

taking care of its survival in the water and bringing it food

so that it will not die.

And we infer:

Sustenance, yes; but cushions and mattresses, no.

Yet Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav that cushions and mattresses are also permitted.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

case is discussing

a situation in which it is possible to provide sustenance.

And

this

case is discussing

a situation in which it is impossible to provide sustenance.

If it is possible to provide sustenance, that is the option,

he should do so.

But if not

possible, for example, when the water is deep, he brings

cushions and mattresses and places them beneath it.

And we challenge this: How is this permitted?

Does he not thereby render a utensil unusable for its designated purpose,

since once he places them beneath the animal he can no longer move them, and rendering a utensil unusable for its ordinary use is similar to demolishing a structure [see above, 43a, Tosafot, s.v. “for he renders,” which explains that the basis of the prohibition is that it resembles building].

And we explain: This tanna

holds that rendering a utensil unusable for its designated purpose

is prohibited only by rabbinic decree, whereas

the suffering of living creatures

is a prohibition

by Torah law.

And a prohibition by Torah law comes and overrides a rabbinic prohibition.

We learned in the Mishna:

A chicken that escaped

may be pushed until it enters.

And we infer:

Pushing, yes,

but

leading

it—grasping it by its wings while its feet touch the ground and leading it—

no.

We have also learned this.

As the Sages taught: One may lead an animal, a wild animal, or a bird in a courtyard, but one may not

lead

a chicken.

And we considered this:

A chicken—for what reason may one not

lead it?

And we explain:

Abaye said: Because

the chicken

raises

its

self

and thereby he is carrying it.

But when one grasps geese by their wings, they walk on their feet.

But in the public domain it is forbidden, lest he lift them from the ground, in which case he will be carrying them. This follows the opinion of the Rabbis, who do not hold that “a living being carries itself” in the case of an animal.

One beraita teaches: One may lead a wild animal or a bird in a courtyard, but not in the public domain.

And a woman may lead her child, in the public domain, and it is not necessary to say

that this is permitted

in a courtyard.

Since, in the case of a human being, everyone agrees that “a living being carries itself,” even if he lifts himself, this is not considered carrying.

And another beraita teaches: One may not lift

the feet of

an animal, a wild animal, or a bird

from the ground

in a courtyard,

because of the prohibition of muktzeh,

but one may push them so that they enter.

This itself is difficult:

You said: One may not lift

their feet. This implies:

But one may lead them.

And then you said: Pushing, yes,

which implies, however, that

leading, no.

Abaye said: The latter clause

which states that one may push them but may not lead them—

refers to a chicken.

The inference from the first clause, that it is permitted to lead them, refers to other birds.

Abaye said: One who slaughters a chicken should press its feet down to the ground,

holding its feet close to the ground so that it cannot rise.

Alternatively, he should lift them up,

raising them above the ground, because of the concern

lest

the chicken

place its claws

its claws

on the ground, and

as a result

tear its sinews.

Mishna:

One may not deliver

by pulling

the

fetus from the womb of

an animal on a Festival,

because this entails excessive exertion.

But one may assist,

helping it emerge, on a Festival.

And one may deliver a woman

even

on Shabbat, [and it is not necessary to say that one may assist her; and certainly this applies on a Festival].

and it is not necessary to say that one may assist her, and all the more so on a Festival].

And

also

they may summon a midwife

the midwife

from place to place,

even if she is outside the Shabbat boundary.

And one may desecrate Shabbat for her.

And one may tie the umbilical cord

of the fetus, by which it is attached to its mother’s womb, because if they do not tie it, its intestines may emerge.

Rabbi Yosei says: One may even cut

the umbilical cord on Shabbat.

And all the requirements of circumcision may be performed on Shabbat.

This is explained below, in the chapter “Rabbi Eliezer on Circumcision.”

Gemara:

And we considered this:

How does one assist

the animal? And we explain:

Rav Yehuda said: One holds the fetus

so that

it will not fall to the ground.

Rav Naḥman said: By “assisting” we mean that he

that he

presses the flesh

of the animal inward so that

the fetus will emerge

outside.

It was taught

in the Tosefta

in accordance with the opinion of Rav Yehuda: How does one assist?

One holds the fetus so that it will not fall to the ground. And one blows into its nostrils

because its nostrils are blocked with mucus.

And one places its mother’s teat

into its mouth

so that it will suckle.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: We show compassion

we demonstrate affection

only toward a kosher animal

that rejected its offspring

on a Festival.

What does one do?

Abaye said: One brings a handful

a fistful

of salt and places it inside her womb, so that she will remember her pain

that she experienced during childbirth,

and

as a result

she will have compassion on it. And one sprinkles placental water,

water in which the placenta was soaked,

over the fetus, so that she will smell its scent and have compassion on it. And specifically

in the case of a

kosher

animal, but not a non-kosher

animal.

And we considered this:

What is the reason?

And we explain: Because a

non-kosher

animal

by nature does not reject its offspring; and if it does reject its offspring,

it

will not draw it closer.

We learned in the Mishna:

One may deliver a woman

on Shabbat, summon a midwife for her from place to place, and desecrate Shabbat for her.

And we considered this:

Since the tanna already taught

in the Mishna: “One may deliver a woman and summon a midwife for her from place to place,” what does the statement “and one may desecrate Shabbat for her”

come to include?

And we explain:

It comes to include that which the Sages taught: If she was

the woman in labor

in need of a lamp, her companion may light a lamp for her. And if she was

the woman in labor

in need of oil, her companion may bring her oil

even through the public domain

by hand,

in the palm of her hand, and not in a utensil, since whenever it is possible to perform the act in an unusual manner, one does so.

And if there is not enough

to bring

by hand,

because she requires a larger quantity,

her companion brings her

oil

in her hair,

applying oil to her hair and wiping it off when she comes to her; this too is not the ordinary manner of carrying.

And if there is not enough

to bring

in her hair, she brings her

oil

in a utensil.

The Master said: The statement

The statement that

“If she was in need of a lamp, her companion may light a lamp for her”—

is it not obvious?

For saving a life overrides Shabbat.

And we explain:

It is necessary

to teach us this

only in the case of

a woman in labor who is

blind.

Lest you say: Since

she is blind,

she cannot see,

it should be

forbidden

to light it for her,

it teaches us

that it is permitted, because

it settles her mind

[for her mind is thereby settled], because she

thinks: If there is anything

that I will need,

my companion will see it and do it for me.

We learned in a beraita:

If she was in need of oil,

her companion brings it to her in her hair; and if there is not enough in her hair, she brings it to her in a utensil.

And we ask: Why is it only when there is not enough in her hair that she brings it to her in a utensil?

Let it be derived instead from

the prohibition of

squeezing?

And we answer:

Rabba and Rav Yosef both say: There is no

prohibition of

squeezing hair,

since it does not absorb.

Rav Ashi said: Even if you say that squeezing applies to hair,

the explanation of the beraita is that she

brings it to her in a utensil by way of her hair,

tying the utensil to her hair.

And the reason we do this is because

whenever it is possible to make an alteration, we make an alteration.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: A woman in labor,

a woman giving birth,

as long as the womb,

the uterus,

is open, whether she says, “I need

them to desecrate Shabbat,”

or whether she does not say, “I need it,”

[there are those who read:

whether she says, “I do not need it,”]

one may desecrate Shabbat for her,

because she is considered a dangerously ill person.