Shabbat 128b — the Talmud in English

They may move

spoiled meat, because it is food for an animal.

They may move

water

that was

uncovered

at night, although it is forbidden to drink it because of “uncovering,” lest a snake deposited venom in it,

because it is fit

for drinking

by a cat,

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

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

lest a person come to drink them.

Mishna:

One overturns the basket before the chicks

on Shabbat,

so that they may go up and down

on it.

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

[And Rabbi Yitzhak, who holds in the chapter “Kirah” [43a] that a vessel 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 of the vessel; and since he may take it for the sake of its place, he carries it to whatever place he wishes. Rashi there.]

A chicken that fled

from the house,

one pushes it

with his hands

until it enters

its place.

One may lead calves and foals by hand,

that is, one holds them by their ears or by their necks and assists them in walking.

And a woman may lead her child by hand,

and assists him in walking.

Rabbi Yehuda said: When

did they permit a woman to lead her child by hand?

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 by hand, because she is carrying him.

Gemara:

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: An animal that fell

into a water channel—

he brings pillows and cushions and places them beneath it, and if it comes up, it comes up.

They raised an objection: An animal that fell into a water channel—one provides it with sustenance in its place,

one who worries for its survival in the water and brings it food

so that it will not die.

And we infer:

Sustenance, yes, but pillows and cushions, no.

But Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav said: Pillows and cushions as well are permitted.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

is speaking

where it is possible through sustenance.

And

this

is speaking

where it is impossible through sustenance.

If it is possible through sustenance, yes,

he should do so.

But if not,

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

pillows and cushions and places them beneath it.

And we challenge: How is this permitted?

But he is rendering a vessel unusable from its designated function,

for once he places them beneath it, he cannot move them, and rendering a vessel unusable for its use resembles demolishing a building [and see above 43a, Tosafot s.v. “who renders,” which explains that the basis of the prohibition is that it resembles building].

And we explain: This tanna

holds: rendering a vessel unusable from its designated function

is a rabbinic prohibition, and

the suffering of living creatures

is a prohibition

from the Torah.

And a prohibition from the Torah comes and overrides a rabbinic prohibition.

We learned in the Mishna:

A chicken that fled

one pushes it until it enters.

And we infer:

Pushing, yes,

but

leading by hand,

that he holds it by its wings, with its feet touching the ground, and leads it,

no.

We have learned this.

For the Sages taught: One may lead an animal, beast, or bird by hand in a courtyard, but not

lead by hand

a chicken.

And we considered it:

A chicken—what is the reason that one may not

lead it by hand?

And we explain:

Abaye said: Because

the chicken

raises

its

self,

and thus he is moving it.

But geese, when one holds them by their wings, walk on their feet.

But in the public domain it is forbidden, lest he lift them from the ground and it be found that he is carrying them. And this follows the view of the Rabbis, who do not hold that “a living being carries itself” with regard to an animal.

One teaching states: One may lead a beast and a bird by hand in a courtyard, but not in the public domain.

And a woman may lead her child by hand in the public domain, and it is unnecessary to say

that it is permitted

in a courtyard.

Since, with regard to a person, everyone agrees that “a living being carries itself.” And even if he lifts himself, it is not considered moving.

And another teaching states: One may not lift

the feet of

an animal, a beast, or a bird

from the ground

in a courtyard,

because of the prohibition of muktze,

but one may push them so that they enter.

This itself is difficult:

You said, “One may not lift

their feet.” And it implies:

but leading by hand, one may lead them.

And afterward you said, “Pushing, yes,”

and it implies, but

leading by hand, no.

Abaye said: The latter part,

which teaches “one may push but may not lead by hand”—

comes to the chicken.

And that from which we infer, from the first part, that it is permitted to lead them by hand, refers to other birds.

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

he should hold its feet close to the ground so that it cannot rise.

Alternatively, he should lift them repeatedly,

he should raise them above the ground, because of the concern

that perhaps

the chicken

will place its claws

its claws

on the ground, and

through this

it will uproot the sinews.

Mishna:

One may not deliver,

pulling

the

offspring from the womb of

the animal, on a Festival,

because it is excessive exertion.

But one may assist,

assisting it to emerge, on a Festival.

And one may deliver a woman

even

on Shabbat, [and it is unnecessary to say that one may assist, and certainly 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 call for her a wise woman,

a midwife,

from place to place,

even if she is outside the Shabbat boundary.

And they desecrate Shabbat for her.

And they tie the umbilical cord

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

Rabbi Yosei says: They may even cut

the umbilical cord on Shabbat.

And they perform all the requirements of circumcision on Shabbat.

And below, in the chapter “Rabbi Eliezer of circumcision,” it explains it.

Gemara:

And we considered it:

How does one assist

the animal? And we explain:

Rav Yehuda said: He holds the offspring

so that

it will not fall to the ground.

Rav Naḥman said:

“assisting” means that he

presses the flesh

of the animal inward so that

the offspring will emerge

outside.

It was taught

in the Tosefta

in accordance with Rav Yehuda: How does one assist?

They hold the offspring so that it will not fall to the ground. And they blow into its nostrils

because its nostrils are blocked with mucus.

And they place its mother’s teat

into its mouth

so that it will suck.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: We show compassion,

we make it love,

that is, toward a kosher animal

that rejected its offspring

on a Festival.

How does one do it?

Abaye said: He brings a fistful,

a fistful

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

that it had during its delivery,

and

from this:

it will show compassion toward it. And they sprinkle the water of the afterbirth,

water in which the afterbirth was soaked,

onto the offspring, so that she will smell its scent and show compassion toward it. And specifically

a

kosher

animal,

but

an animal that is non-kosher, no. And we considered it:

What is the reason?

And we explain: Because a

non-kosher

animal, by its nature,

does not reject its offspring, and if it does reject its offspring,

any further

it does not draw it near.

We learned in the Mishna:

One may deliver a woman

on Shabbat, and they call for her a wise woman from place to place, and they desecrate Shabbat for her.

And we considered it:

Since it taught it to us

in the Mishna: “One may deliver a woman, and they call for her a wise woman from place to place,” this that it teaches, “and they desecrate Shabbat for her,”

what does it 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 lights the lamp for her. And if she was

the woman in labor

in need of oil, her companion brings her oil

even through the public domain

by hand,

in the palm of her hand, and not in a vessel. For everything that can be done with a change, is done [in that manner].

And if it is not sufficient

to bring enough

by hand,

because she needs a greater quantity,

her companion brings her

oil

in her hair,

for she oils her hair with oil, and when she comes to her, she wipes it off; and this too is not the ordinary manner of carrying out.

And if it is not sufficient

that she bring enough

in her hair, she brings her

oil

in a vessel.

The Master said:

This that it teaches,

“If she was in need of a lamp, her companion lights the lamp for her”—

is it 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 would be

forbidden

to light it for her,

it teaches us

that it is permitted, because of

settling her mind [that her mind is settled by this] since she

thinks: If there is something

that I will need,

her companion can see it and do it for me.

my companion can see it and do it for me.

We learned in a beraita:

If she was in need of oil,

her companion brings it for her in her hair, and if it is insufficient in her hair, she brings it for her in a vessel.

And we ask: What is the reason that only when it is insufficient in her hair does she bring it for her in a vessel,

and let it derive for you from

the prohibition of

squeezing?

And we answer:

Rabba and Rav Yosef, both say: There is no

prohibition of

squeezing in hair,

since it does not absorb.

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

the explanation in the beraita is that she

brings it for her in a vessel by way of her hair,

for she ties the vessel to her hair.

And the reason that we do this is because

whenever it is possible to make a change, we make a change.

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

a woman giving birth,

for as long as the womb,

the uterus,

is open, whether she says, “I need it,”

that they should desecrate Shabbat,

or whether she does not say, “I need it,” [some versions read:

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

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

they desecrate Shabbat for her,

because she has the status of a dangerously ill person.