Shabbat 134a — the Talmud in English

What is its remedy?

What is its treatment?

Let him wash a great deal in water of salka,

that he wash extensively in water of salka [beet greens].

We learned in the Mishna: If

he did not grind it on the eve of Shabbat,

he chews it with his teeth.

The Sages taught: Things that one does not do for the

need of

circumcision on Shabbat, one does for it on a Festival. One grinds cumin for it, and one beats wine and oil for it.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is different about

the grinding of

cumin on a Festival

which was permitted because

it is fit for a pot; wine and oil are also fit on Shabbat

for a sick person who is not in danger?

For it was taught in a beraita: One does not beat wine and oil for a sick person on Shabbat.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Meir: One may even beat wine and oil.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Once Rabbi Meir felt pain in his intestines, and we wished to beat wine and oil for him, but we did not allow

Rabbi Meir to have this done for him.

We said to him: Your words

that you permitted

should be nullified during your lifetime,

for you are sick, and you do not permit us to beat it.

He said to us: Even though I say this, and my colleagues say that, never in my life did my heart embolden me to transgress the words of my colleagues.

And we infer:

It is he himself

Rabbi Meir

who is stringent with himself. But for everyone, Rabbi Meir permits it

... And since an anonymous Mishna is Rabbi Meir, why did we learn in our Mishna, “He places this separately and that separately,” and does not mix them together?

And we answer:

There,

in the case of a sick person,

he does not require thorough mixing,

there is no need to mix it very thoroughly; but

here,

in the case of circumcision,

he requires thorough mixing,

a thorough mixing is needed.

And we challenge:

Here too, let him do it, but not mix it,

so that he does not mix it very thoroughly?

And we answer:

This is what is taught in the Mishna: “He places this separately and that separately,”

that he mixes it, but does not mix it thoroughly.

The Sages taught: One does not strain mustard

on a Festival

through its strainer

because it appears like selecting, as he removes the refuse from it.

And one does not sweeten it with a coal,

for they were accustomed to extinguishing a coal into it in order to lessen its sharpness.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is different from that which we learned: One places an egg in a mustard strainer

in order to beautify it?

He said to him: There,

in the case of an egg,

it does not appear like selecting,

since the entire egg passes through the strainer.

Here,

in the case of straining mustard through a strainer, where refuse remains,

it appears like selecting.

We learned in a beraita:

And one does not sweeten it with a coal.

And we challenge:

But it was taught: One sweetens it with a coal.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

Here,

where we permit it, it is speaking

of a metal coal

which does not become charcoal.

Here,

where we prohibit it,

it is a wood coal,

which, when extinguished, becomes charcoal.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is different about

sweetening mustard with a wood coal

from meat on coals,

where they roast meat on a Festival on top of coals, even though it extinguishes the fire?

He said to him: There, it is impossible

to roast it yesterday.

Here,

in the case of sweetening mustard,

it is possible

to do it yesterday.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is the ruling regarding making

cheese on a Festival? [And making cheese on Shabbat is liable because of building. See above 95a and Maimonides, chapter 10, halakha 13].

He said to him: It is prohibited.

He said to him:

What is different from kneading

which was permitted on a Festival?

He said to him: There,

in the case of kneading,

it is impossible

to knead yesterday, because bread baked on the same day is better.

But

here,

in the case of cheese,

it is possible

to make cheese yesterday.

And we challenge:

But the scholars of Nehardea said: Cheese

that is

of the same day is superior.

And since cheese made on the same day is better, let us permit its making on a Festival?

And we explain:

This is what the scholars of Nehardea said:

It is not only that cheese from yesterday is good, but

even cheese of the same day

is

superior.

We learned in the Mishna:

One does not make a garment for it

initially.

Abaye said: My mother said to me: This garment that they make for a

baby—

how should one make it?

How should he make it?

He should turn its edge upward,

he should turn the edge of the garment toward the body, because of the concern

perhaps

a thread will adhere to it,

for threads protruding from the edge of the garment may adhere to the place of the incision. And when he comes to remove the bandage, he might tear the head of the sinew,

and come to the condition of “severed urethra.”

Abaye’s mother,

who had raised him,

made a pocket halfway,

she would make for babies a pocket in the garment up to its halfway point, in order to separate the edge of the garment from the sinew.

Abaye said: In the case of this baby who has no garment—

let him bring a worn cloth,

a worn-out garment,

which has an edge,

which has a finishing [“hem”] that adheres firmly, while its other side is smooth.

And let him wrap it

Rashi’s version:

and let him turn its edge downward,

and let him turn the side of the “hem” toward the bottom of the sinew, and place the smooth end upward,

and let him fold it upward,

and at its upper end let him fold it outward, so that the threads of the garment do not adhere to the wound.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby whose opening is not recognizable,

which is not discernible in him—

his outlet,

the place where feces emerge. His treatment is:

to rub oil on it,

they should rub him with oil whose nature is to make the flesh shine.

And let them place him facing the sun,

and they should place him facing the sunlight.

And where it is transparent,

and wherever it appears transparent, there is the place of the opening. And

let them tear it with a barleycorn, in a crosswise manner,

and make a crosswise incision with the end of a barleycorn.

But not with a metal implement, because it is injurious,

because it causes swelling.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby who does not suck,

who cannot nurse. The reason is that

his mouth has become cold,

his lips have cooled and he has no strength to suck with them.

What is his remedy?

Let them bring a coal vessel,

let them place coals in a vessel.

And let him hold it

Rashi’s version:

and let them place it

opposite his mouth,

and let them bring the vessel near his mouth, and through this it will cause

that his mouth become warm

so that his mouth will become warm,

and he will suck.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby whose breathing is not sensed,

because on account of his illness his breathing is not felt, and consequently it is difficult to sense the heartbeat— his treatment is:

to fan him with a fan,

they should fan him with a fan,

and his breathing will be sensed,

and his breathing will be discernible.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby who does not breathe,

who has difficulty bringing in and expelling air—his treatment is:

let them bring his mother’s afterbirth,

let them bring the placenta with which he was born,

and let them smear it over him,

and spread it over his flesh,

and he will breathe,

and his breathing will become regular.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby who is thin,

who is thin,

let them bring his mother’s afterbirth,

let them bring the placenta with which he was born,

and let them smear it over him,

and spread it over his flesh,

from the narrow part toward the wide part,

and begin pulling from the narrow part of the placenta toward the wide part, so that likewise the baby will expand and grow.

And if

the baby is

swollen,

swollen [not on account of fat], they should spread the placenta over his flesh

from the wide part toward the narrow part,

they should pull from the wide side toward the narrow side, so that likewise his swelling will decrease.

And Abaye said: My mother said to me: In the case of this baby who is red,

whose entire flesh is red, the reason is

that his blood has not yet been absorbed into him

in his flesh, but it is between the skin and the flesh. Consequently there is danger in circumcising him, for he might lose all his blood. Therefore,

let them wait,

let them wait

until his blood settles into him,

so that it is absorbed into his flesh,

and let them circumcise him.

For it was taught: Rabbi Natan said: Once I went to the coastal cities, and a woman came before me

and told me

that

she

circumcised

her

first son

and he

died,

and her

second son died.

And her

third son she brought before me.

I saw that he was red.

I said to her: Wait for him

from circumcising him

until his blood is absorbed into him. She waited for him until his blood was absorbed into him, circumcised him, and he lived. And they called him Natan the Babylonian after me.

Once again, I went to the land of Cappadocia, and one woman came before me who circumcised

her

son,

her

first, and he died. The second died. She brought the third before me; I saw that he was green. I examined him, and I did not see in him the blood of the covenant,

and besides the fact that it was dangerous for him, “the blood of the covenant” would not emerge from him, whereas it is a mitzva that blood emerge. As it is stated: “I have also given you the blood of your covenant.”

I said to her: Wait for him until his blood settles into him. She waited for him, circumcised him, and he lived, and they called his name Natan the Babylonian after me.