Shabbat 153a — the Talmud in English

Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Shilat, said in the name of Rav: From a person’s eulogy it is recognizable concerning him whether he is a member of the World to Come or not.

For if he is a worthy person, everyone weeps over him and speaks his praise.

And we raise an objection:

Is that so? But Rav said to Rav Shmuel bar Shilat:

At the time of my death, exert yourself

and warm

the listeners

with the eulogy,

so that their compassion will be stirred and they will weep over me. For

there

I

will be standing,

at the time of the eulogy, and I will hear this.

It follows that Rav had to instruct him about this. And this is difficult: Rav was a great man and a member of the World to Come, so why did he need to instruct him? For he said that from his eulogy it is recognizable whether he is a member of the World to Come.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

For one always needs to warm the public, because human compassion is not stirred of itself over an old man who has died. Rather,

this, when they warm

the public concerning him

and they warm up

and it is recognizable concerning him that he is a member of the World to Come.

And this, when they warm

the public concerning him

but they do not warm up,

it is recognizable that he is not a member of the World to Come.

Abaye said to Rava:

A person

such as the Master

Rava,

whom

they hate

all of Pumbedita,

because you rebuke them with matters of Heaven [for the people of Pumbedita are deceitful],

who will warm up at your eulogy

of you?

He said to him: It is sufficient

that

you and Rava bar Rav Hanan

will warm up and weep over me.

Rabbi Elazar asked Rav: Who is a member of the World to Come?

Rav said to him:

As it is written:

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it,’ when you turn to the right and when you turn to the left.”

For if, after your bier, you hear people saying about you, “On this way upon which this deceased walked, walk,” it is assured to you that you are a member of the World to Come.

Rabbi Hanina said: Everyone

who

is pleasing to his teachers’ minds,

because of what they hear about him and see of this, he is a member of the World to Come.

It is further written there:

“And the eulogizers shall go around in the marketplace.”

The people of the Galilee say: Do things

good, so that the eulogizers will say them

before your bier.

The people of Judea say: Do things

so that the eulogizers will say them

after your bier.

And we explain: They do not disagree

the people of the Galilee with the people of Judea. Rather,

this one

the people of the Galilee took

according to his place.

And in the Galilee the eulogizers would stand before the bier. And

this one

the people of Judea took

according to his place.

And in Judea they would stand after the bier.

We learned there: Rabbi Eliezer says: Return

in repentance

one day before your death.

His students asked Rabbi Eliezer: Does a person know which

the

day

that

he will die,

so that he will return then in repentance?

He said to them

Rabbi Eliezer:

And all the more so,

since, because he does not know, he must return constantly. And since repentance is beneficial one day before death,

let him return today, lest he die tomorrow.

And likewise every day.

And it is found that all his days

he is found

in repentance.

And Solomon too

the king

said in his wisdom: “At every time let your garments be white, and let oil not be lacking upon your head.”

And “your garments be white” alludes to the soul, which must always be pure and clean.

Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said: A parable to a king who invited his servants to a feast, but did not set a time for them

for it.

The intelligent ones among them adorned themselves immediately and sat at the entrance of the king’s house

and prepared themselves for the feast. Because

they said:

And does

anything lack

any item of the needs of the feast

in the king’s house?

For everything is ready for the feast. And perhaps they will suddenly hurry us before the king.

But

the foolish ones among them went to their work.

Because

they said:

And is

there a feast without toil?

And until they have time in the king’s house to labor for the feast, we still have much time to adorn ourselves for the feast.

Ultimately,

the king suddenly requested his servants

to come to the feast.

The intelligent ones among them

were

brought in before him while they were adorned.

And the foolish ones entered before him while they were soiled

from their work.

The king rejoiced at the intelligent ones and was angry at the foolish ones.

The king

said: The intelligent ones

who adorned themselves for the feast—let them sit and eat and drink.

But the foolish ones

who did not adorn themselves for the feast—let them stand and look

at the feast of the intelligent ones, and they will not eat.

And so it is in the World to Come. The righteous, who are always concerned lest they die tomorrow and are consequently always in repentance, sit and eat there. But the wicked, who did not prepare themselves in this world, stand and look upon the honor of the righteous.

The son-in-law of Rabbi Meir said in the name of Rabbi Meir:

The wicked do not stand and look. For if so,

they too appear

as though they too are among those invited

as attendants.

For it is the way of attendants to stand at the time of the feast, and there is no shame here.

Rather, both these and those

the righteous and the wicked

sit. These eat and those are hungry. These drink and those are thirsty. As it is stated: “Therefore, so said the Lord God: Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall hunger; behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall thirst; behold, My servants shall sing out from goodness of heart, but you shall cry out from pain of heart.”

And he returns to explain Solomon’s words:

Alternatively: “At every time let your garments be white”

these are tzitzit.

For they are of white wool.

“And let oil not be lacking upon your head”—

these are tefillin.

For tefillin are the Name of the Lord, as it is written: “And all the peoples of the land shall see that the Name of the Lord is called upon you,” and he expounds it as “good oil,” referring to the tefillin on the head, for a good name is better than good oil.

We shall return to you, chapter “One who asks.”

Matanita:

One whom darkness overtook him

while he was still walking on the

road,

and Shabbat was about to enter, he

gives

his

purse to a gentile

while it is still day. For he will not be able to carry it upon himself after the entrance of Shabbat, because of the prohibition of carrying out. And although in general it is forbidden to give a gentile an instruction that he perform labor for him on Shabbat, because he is considered like his agent of the Jew for performing the prohibition, here they permitted it. The reason for the permission will be explained in the Gemara.

And if he has no gentile with him, he places it

on the purse

upon the donkey,

and the donkey will carry it until he reaches the city . But if he has a gentile with him, he should not place it upon the donkey, because he is commanded concerning the resting of his animal. And the Gemara will explain that this is speaking in a manner in which there is no prohibition of “driving an animal.”

When

he reaches the outer courtyard

of the city [which is a guarded place], he

takes

from atop the donkey

the utensils that may be taken

[which are permitted to be moved]

on Shabbat.

And

the utensils

that may not be taken

on Shabbat because of the prohibition of muktzeh, he should not take. Rather, he

loosens

the

ropes

of the saddle,

and the sacks

tied to it, with those utensils inside them,

fall by themselves

from atop the donkey’s back.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: He gives his purse to a gentile.

And we raised this question:

What is the reason that the Rabbis permitted him to give his purse to a gentile?

But the gentile is his agent to carry it on Shabbat, and it is forbidden because of a rabbinic prohibition.

And we answer:

It is established for the Rabbis that a person does not restrain

[prevent]

himself from

saving

his property. And if you do not permit him

to give it to a gentile,

he will come to carry

the purse

four cubits in the public domain

himself.

Rava said: Specifically

his

purse

they permitted him to give to a gentile.

But a lost object

that he found on the road,

he should not

give to a gentile so that he will carry it for him on Shabbat. Since he did not care for it so greatly, we do not say concerning it, “A person does not restrain himself from his property.” And even if we do not permit him to give it to a gentile, he will not come to carry it in the public domain.

And we object:

It is obvious

that this is so, for

“his purse,” we learned.

And what is Rava teaching us with this?

And we answer:

It might have been said that the same law applies

that

even a lost object

he gives to a gentile.

And the reason that it teaches “his purse”

is because

it is the ordinary manner of the matter

that his purse should be with him on the road;

it teaches

thus.

It teaches us Rava that only “his purse” does it teach.

And we say this only

that he should not give a lost object to a gentile,

—that he may not give a found object to a non-Jew—

but with a lost object

with regard to a found object

that did not come into his possession before darkness. Since he had not yet acquired it, he did not care for it. And even if we do not permit him to give it to a gentile, he will not come to carry it on Shabbat in the public domain.

But if the lost object had already

come

to him

before darkness, and he had already acquired it,

into his

as his purse, so it is.

And after it became his property in every respect, we say concerning it, “A person does not restrain himself from his property.”

There are those who say: This matter was not obvious to Rava; rather, he stated it by way of a question.

Rava asked:

A lost object

that had already

come into his possession

before darkness,

what

is the law as to giving it to a gentile?

We may say:

Since it came into his possession

and he had already acquired it before Shabbat,

it is like his purse.

And since he cares for it, we must be concerned lest he come to take it out into the public domain.

Or perhaps only with money in his purse, which he obtained through the effort of his labor, are we concerned for this. But a lost object,

since he did not toil for it, it is not like his purse,

and he will not come to take it out into the public domain.

And we conclude:

Teyku.

We learned in the Mishna: And if

he has no gentile with him, he places it upon the donkey.

And we infer:

The reason

that they permitted him to do so is because

he has no gentile with him.

It follows:

If he has a gentile with him, he gives it to the gentile

and does not place it upon the donkey.

And we raised this question:

What is the reason

that giving it to a gentile is preferable to placing it upon the donkey?

And we answer:

A donkey—you are commanded concerning its resting

by Torah law. As it is written, “So that your ox and your donkey may rest. But

a gentile—you are not commanded concerning his resting.

And its prohibition is only because “instructing a gentile is a rabbinic prohibition.” Therefore, the prohibition concerning a gentile is lighter than the prohibition of placing it upon the donkey.

And although below we establish it in a case in which he does not transgress the obligation concerning the resting of his animal by Torah law, nevertheless it is more stringent than a gentile. For in a case where the donkey performs fully-fledged labor, he is obligated concerning its resting by Torah law [Ran].

And just as they permitted him to place his purse upon the donkey, so they permitted him to give it to a deaf-mute, an imbecile,

and a minor,

if he has no donkey with him.

But if he has a donkey with him, and likewise if he has a deaf-mute, an imbecile, and a minor with him, he places it upon the donkey, with regard to his purse. But he should not give it to the deaf-mute, the imbecile, or the minor.

Although later we establish the Mishna as referring to a case in which he does not violate the Torah obligation that his animal rest, it is nevertheless more stringent than the case of a non-Jew. For when the donkey performs fully prohibited labor, he is obligated by Torah law to ensure that it rests [Ran].

Just as they permitted him to place his pouch on the donkey, so they permitted him to give it to a person who is deaf-mute or mentally incompetent and to a minor, if he has no donkey with him.

And we raised this question:

What is the reason?

And we answer:

These

[the deaf-mute, the imbecile, and the minor]

are human beings, and among their kind there are human beings who are obligated in the commandments. And if we permit giving them the purse to carry on Shabbat, they will exchange and permit giving it even to those obligated in the commandments. But

this one

[the donkey]

is not a human being. And a human being is not confused with a donkey.

And if he has only

a deaf-mute and an imbecile, he should give it

to the imbecile and not to the deaf-mute, because an imbecile has no understanding at all. But a deaf-mute has a limited understanding.

And if he has with him

an imbecile and a minor, he should give it

to the imbecile and not to the minor, because a minor has more understanding than an imbecile.

They raised a question before them: If he has with him

a deaf-mute and a minor, what? To whom should he give his purse? And we explain:

According to Rabbi Eliezer, you need not ask. He should certainly give it to the minor and not to the deaf-mute, because he holds that a deaf-mute is possibly a person of understanding, and is obligated in the commandments as a matter of doubt.

Page 153b

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Isaac says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: The heave-offering of a deaf-mute ![](pamud.bmp "

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does not become non-sacred, because it is uncertain

whether his understanding is clear or not. And because of the doubt, one must treat it according to the stringencies of heave-offering and forbid it to non-koanim.

The competent person must nevertheless return and separate another heave-offering in order to rectify the untithed produce, for perhaps his heave-offering is not a heave-offering.

When you ask which is preferable, a deaf-mute or a competent person,

according to the Rabbis you should ask. For they hold that a deaf-mute is not obligated in the commandments, since he is not a person of understanding.

For we learned: Five may not separate heave-offering. And if they separated it, their heave-offering is not a heave-offering. And these are they: the deaf-mute, the imbecile, and the minor.

For none of these may separate heave-offering, as we derive from what is written concerning the heave-offering of the Tabernacle, “whomever his heart moves him.” For we require one who has a heart [understanding] with which to volunteer. [Jerusalem Talmud].

And one who separates

what is

not his, without the owner’s permission, for it is written, “The heave-offering of your seed.”

And a gentile who separated heave-offering from

the produce