Shabbat 156b (קנו:) — the Talmud in English

And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him:

What is your reasoning

that you are not worthy to beget children? Is it not because

the planet

of

Jupiter

, which is your mazal, is

in the west “Jupiter” is Abraham’s star, as stated above: “One who is under Jupiter will be righteous in mitzvot.” And it is written concerning Abraham: “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children… and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to perform charity and justice” (Genesis 18:19). Maharsha]. And the western side is a cool place and unsuitable for begetting.

And Tzedek is the star of Abraham. As it is stated above: “One who is under Tzedek will be righteous in mitzvot.” And it is written concerning Abraham: “For I have known him, so that he may command his children, etc., and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to perform charity and justice.” Maharsha]. And the western side is itself a cool place and is not fit for begetting.

I shall move it and place it

Jupiter

in the east

, which is a hot place, and then you will be worthy to beget children.

And this is what is written: “Who has raised up one from the east, whom righteousness calls to its foot”

. For the Holy One, blessed be He, called to Jupiter and brought it to the east.

It is evident, then, that through merits the mazal of Israel is changed for the better.

And from Shmuel as well

we learn that he held:

There is no mazal for Israel.

For Shmuel and Avlat a gentile sage who practiced astrology

the name of a gentile sage who would divine by the stars

were sitting. And certain people were going

on their way

to the marsh

to cut reeds, and they passed before them.

Avlat said to Shmuel

about one of them:

This man is going

to the marsh

and will not return

from there. For

a snake will bite him

him

and he will die that man.

that man

and he will die.

Shmuel said to him: If

that man

is an Israelite

, what you foresaw will not come to pass. Rather, he will

go and return

—he will return and will not die, because there is no mazal for Israel. Prayer will help him escape his mazal.

While they were sitting there,

while they were still sitting,

that man went

and

returned

from the marsh.

Avlat rose and removed his load from that man.

from that man.

He found in it a snake cut and lying in two pieces —he had cut the snake together with the reeds, without realizing it.

For he had cut the serpent together with the reeds, without knowing it.

Shmuel said

to that man:

What

deed

did you perform

by virtue of which you were saved from your mazal?

He said to him: Every day the entire group would cast each man

all the members of the group

bread into a single basket

bread

together

and

we would eat

our meal together; one of us would collect the bread from everyone.

Today, there was one

man

among us who had no bread

to put into the basket.

He was embarrassed by this.

because of this.

I said to them

the members of the group:

I will stand up and collect from everyone.

I shall stand and collect from everyone.

When I reached him

that man,

I made myself appear as though I were taking from him as though I were taking bread from him

I made myself as though I were taking bread from him,

so that he would not be embarrassed.

Shmuel said to him: You performed a mitzva

. And by virtue of this you were saved from the snake.

Shmuel went out and taught

: This is what is written:

“And charity saves from death”—it does not save him only from an unusual death

by bringing him to a respectable death,

but from death itself

; he is saved, and charity grants him life.

And from Rabbi Akiva as well

we learn that he held:

There is no mazal for Israel.

For Rabbi Akiva had a daughter. Astrologers said to him:

astrologers:

On the day that she enters

your daughter

the bridal chamber for her wedding,

for her canopy,

a snake will bite her and she will die —a snake will bite her and she will die.

it will bite her and she will die.

Rabbi Akiva was

very

very worried

worried

a

bout

this matter.

That day

when she entered the bridal chamber,

Rabbi Akiva’s daughter took

a

a head ornament a gold plate used to adorn the head,

a gold plate for adorning the head,

and stuck it into the wall .

she drove it into the wall.

It happened that the head ornament became lodged

the head ornament became lodged

in the snake’s eye

, and it died.

In the morning, when she removed it

the head ornament,

the snake was trailing after it and came out —it was dragged out

being drawn out

behind it.

Her father said to her: What

deed

did you perform

by virtue of which you were saved from the snake that was about to bite you?

She said to him: Last night ,

yesterday

a poor man came and called at the door

and requested charity.

Everyone was occupied with the meal

of the wedding feast,

and there was no

one

who heard him

the poor man.

I got up ,

I arose,

took my portion of the meal

my portion of the meal

that had been given to me, and gave it to him

the poor man.

He said to her: You performed a mitzva

. And by virtue of it you were saved from the death that, according to your mazal, you were destined to die.

Rabbi Akiva went out and taught

: This is what is written:

“And charity

saves from death”—not only from an unusual death

but

from death itself.

And from Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak as well

we see

that there is no mazal for Israel.

For Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak’s mother was told by astrologers astrologers:

astrologers:

Your son

your son

would be a thief.

And from then on,

his mother did not allow him to

to leave him

uncover his head.

And she

would say to him: Cover your head ,

so that the fear of Heaven will be upon you. And pray

for yourself, so that the evil inclination will not control you.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak did not know

why she said this to him

his mother.

One day

he

was sitting and studying beneath a date palm —he studied beneath the date palm.

studying beneath the palm tree.

His cloak fell from upon his head

, and his head was uncovered.

He raised his

raised

eyes and saw the date palm. Evidently the evil inclination

he overcame him

overcame him, and he climbed the date palm

he climbed up the palm tree,

and cut off a cluster of dates

he cut off a cluster of dates

with his teeth.

The date palm did not belong to him, and this involved the prohibition of theft.

Nevertheless, from the fact that he did not become a thief as the astrologers had said, we learn that there is no mazal for Israel.

Mishna:

One may cut pumpkins

that have been detached

before an animal

on Shabbat. The innovation of the Mishna is that although ordinary pumpkins are presumed to be designated for human consumption, we do not say that they are muktze from being used as animal food.

And

one may cut

an animal carcass before dogs.

Even if the animal died today, and at twilight on the eve of Shabbat it had been designated for human consumption and not for dogs, it is not prohibited as dog food because of muktze.

Rabbi Yehuda says: If the animal was not a carcass

already

before Shabbat, it is prohibited

on Shabbat because of muktze,

since it is not prepared

for dogs to eat.

“Prepared for a human” is not prepared for dogs. Since at twilight it was set aside for dogs, it remained set aside from use as dog food for the entire Shabbat.

Gemara:

It was stated:

[An acronym: Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Ḥiyya, and Shimon—the mnemonic].

Ulla said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda

, who prohibits an animal that died on Shabbat because of muktze.

And Rav too held: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

From

what we find concerning

money mats mats used to cover the merchandise on a ship, where Rav and Shmuel disagreed:

mats with which the merchandise of the ship is covered, that Rav and Shmuel disagreed about them.

Rav prohibited them

because they are muktze due to repulsiveness, and he holds that there is muktze, in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

And Shmuel permitted them.

Because he held in accordance with Rabbi Shimon [the first tanna of the Mishna before Rabbi Yehuda], who does not recognize muktze with regard to an object that is fit for use [apart from certain circumstances explained in the course of this tractate].

And Levi too held: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

As in this case

that we find:

When they would bring an animal with a suspected tereifa condition before Levi an animal in which a possible tereifa condition had arisen and which required a sage’s ruling

an animal in which a possible defect rendering it tereifa had arisen, requiring a sage’s ruling

on a Festival, he would not examine it.

For if he declared it a tereifa, it would become prohibited to handle because of muktze, and he would be unable to remove it from his house. He would examine it

only when he was sitting on a refuse heap so that if he saw that it was a tereifa, he could leave it there.

on the dump. For if he saw that it was tereifa, he would leave it there.

For he would say: Perhaps it will not be deemed fit

, and it will not be fit for a human.

And it will not even be fit for dogs

, since at twilight it had not been prepared for dogs. Prepared for a human was not prepared for dogs, in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

And Shmuel said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon

, who does not recognize muktze, as we find with regard to the money mats: although they are muktze because of repulsiveness, Shmuel permits handling them.

And Zeiri too held: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon.

As we learned in a Mishna: An animal that died

on a Festival

may not be moved from its place.

And Zeiri explained

this Mishna

as referring to a consecrated animal

, which is not fit for anything, since it is prohibited to feed it to dogs. [It cannot be redeemed after it dies, since it requires standing and valuation. Furthermore, consecrated animals may not be redeemed in order to feed them to dogs [Rashi, Beitza 27b]. And with regard to something that is fit for nothing, everyone agrees that it is prohibited because of muktze.

But with regard to

an unconsecrated

animal

that died,

it is entirely acceptable

, and it is permitted to handle it, since it is fit for dogs. And although it died on the Festival and was not designated for dogs at twilight, we do not apply muktze in this case.

This is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon. And from the fact that he went out of his way to establish the Mishna in accordance with his view, we learn that this is the halakha.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan too said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon.

And we raise an objection:

But did Rabbi Yoḥanan actually say this?

Did Rabbi Yoḥanan not say: The halakha follows an unattributed Mishna

? And we find an unattributed Mishna in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.