Shabbat 156b — the Talmud in English

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

What is your reasoning

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

the star

Tzedek

stands

which is your astrological sign

in the West

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 return and establish it

for Tzedek

in the East

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

And this is what is written: “Who has roused him from the East, Tzedek shall call him to his foot”.

For the Holy One, blessed is He, called upon Tzedek and brought it to the East.

It follows that through merits, the astrological sign of Israel changes for the good.

And from Shmuel as well

we learn that he held:

There is no astrological sign for Israel.

For Shmuel and Avelat

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

were sitting. And those people were going

on their way

to the marsh

to cut reeds, and they passed before them.

Avelat said to Shmuel

concerning one of them:

This man is going

to the marsh

and will not come

back from there. Because

a snake will bite

him

a serpent

that man

and he will die.

Shmuel said to him: If

that man

is an Israelite

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

going and coming

back, and he will not die. For there is no astrological sign for Israel. And prayer will help him to be saved from his astrological sign.

While they were sitting

while they were still sitting,

the man went

that man

and came

from the marsh.

Avelat rose and cast off his burden

from that man.

He found in it a serpent cut and thrown into two pieces

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 astrological sign?

He said to him: Every day we would cast

all the members of the group

bread

bread

together

into one basket,

and we would eat

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

Today, there was one

man

among us who did not have bread

to cast into the basket.

He was becoming ashamed

because of this.

I said to them

to the members of the group:

I shall stand and collect

I shall stand and collect from everyone.

When I reached him

that man,

I made myself as though I were taking from him

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

so that he would not become ashamed.

Shmuel said to him: You performed a mitzva.

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

Shmuel went out and expounded:

That which is written,

“And charity will save from death,” it does not save him only from an unusual death

to bring him to a proper death,

but from death itself

he is saved, and it gives him life .

And from Rabbi Akiva as well

we learn that he held:

There is no astrological sign for Israel.

For Rabbi Akiva had a daughter. The astrologers said to him

astrologers:

On that day when she enters

your daughter

the bridal chamber

for her canopy,

a serpent will bite her and she will die

it will bite her and she will die.

Rabbi Akiva was

very

worried

worried

v

about this

very much.

That day

when she entered the bridal chamber

she took

Rabbi Akiva’s daughter

the makhbaneta

a gold plate for adorning the head,

and stuck it into the wall

she drove it into the wall.

It happened that it was driven

the makhbaneta

into the serpent’s eye,

and it died.

In the morning, when she pulled it out

the makhbaneta,

it was dragging and coming out

being drawn out

the serpent after it.

Her father said to her: What

deed

did you perform

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

She said to him: In the evening

yesterday

a poor man came and called at the door

and requested charity.

And everyone was occupied with the meal

of the wedding feast,

and there was no

person

who heard him

the poor man.

I stood

I arose,

and took my portion

my portion of the meal

that had been given to me, and I 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 you were destined to die according to your astrological sign.

Rabbi Akiva went out and expounded:

That which is written,

“And charity

will save from death,” not only from an unusual death

but,

rather, from death itself.

And from Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak as well

we see

that there is no astrological sign for Israel.

For Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak’s mother, the astrologers said to her

astrologers:

Your son

your son

will be a thief.

And from then on

she did not allow him

to leave him

to uncover his head.

And she would

say to him: Cover your head,

so that fear of Heaven should be upon you. And pray

for yourself, so that the evil inclination should not rule over you.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak did not know

why she said to him

his mother this.

One day

he was

sitting and studying beneath a palm tree

studying beneath the palm tree.

His cloak fell from atop his head,

and his head was exposed.

He lifted

raised

his eyes, and saw the palm tree. It follows

he overcame him

that his inclination prevailed over him, and he climbed

he climbed up the palm tree,

and cut off a cluster

he cut off a cluster of dates

with his teeth.

And the palm tree was not his, and there was a prohibition of theft involved.

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

Mishna:

One cuts the pumpkins

that are detached

before the animal

on Shabbat. And the novelty of the Mishna is that although ordinary pumpkins are designated for human consumption, we do not say that they are muktze from animal consumption.

And

one cuts

the carcass before the dogs.

And although it died today, and at twilight on the eve of Shabbat the animal was designated for human consumption and not for dogs, it is not prohibited for dog consumption because of muktze.

Rabbi Yehuda says: If it was not a carcass

already

before Shabbat, it is prohibited

on Shabbat because of muktze.

Because it is not prepared

for dog consumption.

For “prepared for a person” is not prepared for dogs. And since at twilight it was set aside for dogs, it remains set aside for dog consumption for the entire Shabbat.

Gemara:

It was stated:

[Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Zeira, sign].

Ulla said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda

who prohibits a carcass that died on Shabbat because of muktze.

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

From

we find concerning

the mats of coins

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

For Rav prohibited

them because they are muktze because of repulsiveness. And he holds that there is muktze, in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

And Shmuel permitted.

Because he held in accordance with Rabbi Shimon [Rabbi Yehuda’s first disputant], who does not hold of muktze with regard to an object that is fit [apart from certain circumstances explained in the course of the tractate].

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

As in this

case that we find,

that when they would bring before Levi a torn animal

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

on a Festival, he would not inspect it.

Because if he declared it tereifa, it would be prohibited to move it because of muktze, and he would not be able to remove it from his house. And he would inspect it

only when he was sitting on the refuse heap

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

For he said: Perhaps it will not be rendered fit

and it will not be fit for a person.

And it will not even be fit for dogs.

For at twilight it was not prepared for dogs. And prepared for a person is not prepared for dogs, in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda.

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

who does not hold of muktze. As we found concerning the mats of coins, for although they are muktze because of repulsiveness, Shmuel permitted moving them.

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

For we learned: An animal that died

on a Festival,

one may not move it from its place.

And Zeiri interpreted

this Mishna

as referring to a consecrated animal,

which is not fit for anything. For it is forbidden to feed it to dogs. [Since it has no redemption after it dies, because it requires standing and valuation. Moreover, consecrated animals are not 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

an unconsecrated

animal

that died,

it is entirely well,

and it is permitted to move it. For it is fit for dogs. And although it died on the Festival and was not designated for dogs at twilight, we do not have this matter of muktze.

And 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 him, learn from it that this is the halakha.

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

And we raise an objection:

And did Rabbi Yoḥanan say this?

But Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The halakha is in accordance with an unattributed Mishna.

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