Shabbat 139b (קלט:) — the Talmud in English

And Rabbi Yehuda bar Sheilat said that Rabbi Asi said: There was an incident in the synagogue of Ma'on

where there was a corpse

on a Festival adjacent to Shabbat,

and I do not know whether

the Festival was on the day that

preceded it

[Friday],

or

whether it was on the day that

followed it

[Sunday].

And they came before Rabbi Yohanan. And he said to them:

They permitted the prohibition against instructing on a Festival for the sake of the honor of the deceased, and therefore

non-Jews should attend to it

for its burial.

Rav Asi understood that Rabbi Yohanan had not permitted burial on a Festival that fell in the middle of the week, because the prohibition should be permitted only so that the corpse would not remain unburied for more than one day. His uncertainty was whether Rabbi Yohanan had permitted this only in the case of a person who died on Shabbat, to bury him on the Festival that was Sunday, because he had already remained unburied and had begun to decompose, or whether even in the case of a person who died on Friday, which was a Festival, it was permitted to bury him on that day, so that he would not remain unburied for two days and decompose, since on Shabbat there is no permission whatsoever to bury him.

And Rava said: A corpse

that is lying awaiting burial

on the first day of a Festival—

non-Jews should attend to it.

But if it is incumbent upon us to bury it

on the second day of a Festival,

which is only rabbinic,

Jews should attend to it.

And even on the second day of Rosh Hashanah

Jews should attend to its burial, although it is more stringent than every other second day of a Festival, because according to the enactment of the Sages its sanctity is one sanctity with that of the first day.

This is not the case with regard to an egg

that was laid on a Festival. For on the second day of Rosh Hashanah we were stringent concerning it: if it was laid on the first day of the Festival, it is prohibited even on the second day, because the two days of Rosh Hashanah have a single sanctity. This is not the case with other Festivals, for if it was laid on the first day, it is permitted on the second, because the entire basis for the sanctity of the second day is only the uncertainty that perhaps the first day was an ordinary weekday, and an egg laid on an ordinary weekday is certainly permitted on a Festival.

The question therefore arises: Why did Rav Mansya not permit the people of Beshkhar to bury the corpse on the first day through non-Jews, and on the second day through Jews as Rabbi Yohanan and Rava said?

And we answer:

Because they are not learned in Torah,

and they might come to be lenient even in a prohibited manner.

Rav Avin bar Rav Huna said that Rav Hama bar Gurya said: A person may wrap himself in a canopy,

for a canopy is a sheet spread over poles, and therefore he may wrap himself in its sheet in the manner of a garment,

and with its straps

[with the straps hanging from it],

and go out into the public domain on Shabbat, and he need not be concerned on account of

carrying the straps, which do not serve the purpose of wrapping.

And we challenge this:

What is different

about carrying the canopy’s straps

from

that

of Rav Huna?

For Rav Huna said that Rav said: One who goes out on Shabbat wearing a tallit whose ritual fringes are not attached in accordance with halakha—

is liable to bring a sin-offering,

because the ritual fringes are not part of the garment, but when they are valid, they are needed for the garment and fulfill its mitzva. When they are invalid, however, they are not needed, and they are therefore a burden. The same law should apply to the canopy’s straps!

And we answer:

Ritual fringes

that contain sky-blue wool,

with regard to a tallit—

are considered

independent entities

and are not nullified

and are not considered part of the garment. But

these

straps

are not considered significant.

And they are nullified

with regard to the garment, and the garment lends them the status of clothing.

This is how Rashi explains it. And the Ran wrote that according to Rashi, only sky-blue threads, which have special significance, are not nullified with regard to the garment. But for us, since we do not have sky-blue wool, there is no prohibition against carrying on Shabbat with a tallit whose ritual fringes are not attached in accordance with halakha, since the white threads are nullified with regard to the garment. But Tosafot [s.v. Tzitzit] explained in the name of Rabbeinu Hananel that the intention is not that the sky-blue threads have special significance. Rather, the Gemara means that ritual fringes are significant because a person wants them to be attached to the garment and intends to complete the missing ritual fringes later. Since at present they do not serve the purpose he desires, they are a burden. Maimonides ruled accordingly in Hilkhot Shabbat, chapter 19. Rabba bar Rav Huna said:

According to the Rabbis, who prohibit hanging the strainer, and whose reason is that it constitutes weekday activity, it is permitted to hang it in order to place pomegranates upon it, since this is not weekday activity. And

a person may employ a ruse with the strainer on a Festival,

spreading it in order

to hang pomegranates in it,

although he does not need to do so; and after he has hung it on the vessel,

he hangs sediment in it,

for it is permitted to strain on a Festival.

Rav Ashi said: This is so only when he first hung

initially

pomegranates,

thereby demonstrating through his action that he hung the strainer for pomegranates. It is not sufficient for him to say at the time of hanging it that he is hanging it for pomegranates, nor is it sufficient for him to hang pomegranates in it after he has strained the sediment.

And we challenge Rav Ashi:

What is different

here, where employing a ruse was permitted only in a manner in which he initially performs an act indicating that he actually hung the strainer for pomegranates, so that a casual observer would not think that he hung it for sediment,

from

what we find with regard to labor performed on the intermediate days of a Festival?

As it was taught in a beraita: One may make beer

[one may prepare beer]

on

the intermediate days of a Festival

for the needs of the Festival.

But

when not for the needs of the Festival—

it is prohibited. Whether date beer or barley beer.

And even though they have

old

beer,

and want to make new beer so that beer will remain for them after the Festival,

they employ a ruse

and make beer during the Festival,

and drink from

the

new

beer that they made during the Festival.

Thus, they permitted employing a ruse even though he does not demonstrate that he actually made the beer for the needs of the Festival, except at the end, when he drinks it, and despite the fact that when people see him making beer, it appears certain that he is doing so not for the needs of the Festival, since he already has old beer!

And we answer:

There,

with regard to beer,

it is not evident

that he is employing a ruse, since people do not know that he has old beer.

But

here,

with regard to a strainer, which is ordinarily hung for sediment, if he strains with it first,

it is evident

that he hung the strainer in order to strain with it. Therefore, he must first hang pomegranates in it, and only afterward may he strain with it.

The Rabbis said to Rav Ashi: Let the Master see

[may the Master see] this

young Torah scholar, whose name is Rav Huna son of Rabbi Hiyyon; and some say his name was Rav Huna son of Rabbi Halwon,

who performs acts of employing a ruse:

1.

He takes a clove of garlic and places it in the tap of a barrel

[he takes a clove of garlic and places it in the hole in the barrel made for the wine to exit], thereby repairing the barrel.

And he says:

I do not intend to repair the barrel, but only

to conceal

[to hide] the clove of garlic there,

as I am accustomed to do.

2.

He goes and falls asleep on a boat

[he goes and falls asleep on a non-Jew’s boat],

and crosses to the other side and keeps watch over his produce

[he crosses to the other side of the river to guard his produce there].

And he says: I,

did not intend to sail on the boat on Shabbat, but rather

to sleep

on the boat

was my intention.

Rav Ashi said to them

Rav Ashi:

Are you speaking of employing a ruse?

This

ruse

is

a rabbinic matter,

because

the prohibition against traveling on a boat, even when he pilots it himself, is rabbinic, and all the more so when a non-Jew pilots it. Likewise, sealing a hole with food, which is not customarily used for sealing, does not involve a Torah prohibition.

And

therefore, although it is not permitted for everyone to do this, lest he come to permit it for himself even without employing a ruse,

a Torah scholar will not come to do this initially

and it is permitted for him to do so.

Mishna:

1.

One may place water

on Shabbat

over the sediment

that was in the strainer from before Shabbat

so that it becomes clear

[so that the sediment becomes clear], and the water will flow out of it together with some of the wine that remained absorbed in the sediment.

b.

And one may strain wine through cloths and through an Egyptian basket [

or through a basket made of palm branches], because straining through them involves a deviation from the ordinary manner of the labor, as the ordinary manner of straining is with a strainer. Even with these, they permitted straining only wine that can be drunk without the straining.

c.

And one may place an egg in a mustard strainer

in which mustard had been placed on the eve of Shabbat, the egg yolk descends and mixes with the mustard, giving it a yellow color, while the egg white remains above in the strainer with the refuse.

d.

And one may prepare anomlin [

a mixture of wine, honey, and pepper]

on Shabbat,

and it is not necessary to prepare only the amount needed for Shabbat.

Rabbi Yehuda says: On Shabbat

one prepares a small amount

in a cup; on a Festival

one prepares a larger amount

in a login,

which is a vessel larger than a cup,

and on

the intermediate days of

the Festival—

in a barrel.

Rabbi Tzadok says: Everything

is prepared

according to the guests.

Gemara:

Ze’eiri said: A person may place clear wine and clear water into a strainer

on Shabbat and need not be concerned,

since most people do not insist on refraining from drinking the wine or water without this straining, it does not involve the prohibition of selecting,

but turbid liquids,

which people are not accustomed to drink

may not be strained.

A challenge is raised

from that which was taught in a beraita:

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: A person stirs [

mixes]

a barrel of wine, its wine and its sediment, and places it into a strainer on Shabbat, and need not be concerned.

It follows that they permitted placing turbid wine into a strainer, since it is fit to drink, even though people are not accustomed to drinking it without straining!

Ze’eiri interpreted it [

explained it]

as follows:

the words of the beraita refer to the period

known as “between the winepresses.”

They taught them with regard to that period, when grapes are pressed in the winepresses: all wines are turbid, and people customarily drink them mixed with wine sediment. Therefore, straining them is not considered an improvement through selecting.

We learned in the Mishna:

One strains the wine through cloths.

Rav Shimi bar Hiyya said: Provided that one does not make

in them

a depression,

because this resembles weekday activity, or because of concern that he may come to squeeze them.

And similarly we learned:

And through an Egyptian basket.

Rav Hiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: Provided that one does not raise

the basket

from the bottom

of the lower vessel

a handbreadth,

because he would then be making a tent.

Rav said: This perunka [

a cloth spread over a wine vat to cover it],

if it is spread over half the vat—

it is permitted [

to place it over half the vat—it is permitted, because this is not a tent. To place it over

the entire vat—

is prohibited

because of making a tent, when the vat is not full and there is a handbreadth between the wine and the cloth.

Rav Pappa said: A person must not tightly pack reeds and splinters into the mouth of the small funnel of a barrel, [

a person should not place reeds and splinters tightly into the mouth of the small funnel through which wine is poured from the barrel into cups], in order to stop the refuse

because it appears like a strainer,

although it is not an actual strainer, since the sediment is not separated from the wine by this means, which is effective only for larger particles of refuse.

In the house of Rav Pappa, they poured beer from one vessel into another [

in Rav Pappa’s house, they poured beer gently from one vessel to another, leaving the refuse in the first vessel], and this did not involve the prohibition of selecting, because the beer they poured was not mixed with the refuse; rather, it stood above it.

Rav Aha of Difti said to Ravina:

How did Rav Pappa permit them to do this?

But there are

after the stream has stopped

drops [

small droplets], and those droplets were certainly mixed with the refuse and were separated from it by them!

Ravina said to him:

The drops in Rav Pappa’s house are not significant,

because they had a great deal of beer, and when the stream stopped, they discarded what remained rather than separating the drops from the refuse.

We learned further:

And one places an egg in a strainer

of mustard.