Shabbat 21a — the Talmud in English

And we raise a question about it: This statement of Rami bar Avin —

what practical difference does it make?

Everyone recognizes tar and wax.

And we answer:

For buying and selling,

for one who sells wax to his fellow may give him the waste of honey without refining it.

The Sages taught: All these

species

that they said

in the Mishna —

one does not kindle with them

a lamp

on Shabbat.

But one may make a bonfire from them [A0263][since the fire is large, each one ignites the other] —

[since the fire is large, each material ignites the others]—

whether to warm oneself opposite it, whether to use its light

of the bonfire on Shabbat.

And it is permitted to do so

whether

if he makes the bonfire

upon the ground, or upon a stove [A0270][the version of the Rif:

[the version of the Rif is:

upon a lampstand].

And they prohibited

the Sages

only making a wick for a lamp from them.

We learned in the Mishna: Nor with castor oil.

And we raise a question about it:

What is castor oil?

Shmuel said: I asked all the sailors,

I asked the seafarers — what is castor oil?

And they said to me: There is one bird in the coastal cities, and “kik” is its name [A0281][in the Jerusalem Talmud, Rabbi Ishmael taught: “And the kaat” — this is the kik. Beautiful of eyes.] And one does not kindle a Shabbat lamp with the oil of this bird.

[in the Jerusalem Talmud, Rabbi Yishmael taught: “‘And the castor’—this is the castor.” Beautiful of eyes]. One may not light the Shabbat lamp with the oil of this bird.

Rav Yitzhak, son of Rav Judah, said:

Castor oil is

the oil of kaza,

oil made from cotton seeds [cotton].

Resh Lakish said: Like that

type of

Jonah’s castor-oil plant

the prophet had.

Rabba bar bar Hana said: I myself saw

I saw

Jonah’s castor-oil plant. And it resembles the tzelivla

[a type of barren tree]

in appearance.

And from its spreading

it grows,

and it grows in watery marshes.

And at the mouths of shops they raise it,

and they raise it at the entrances of shops so that it will make shade and produce a pleasant smell.

And from its fruits

from its seeds,

they make oil,

oil.

And in its branches all the sick of the West repose,

all the sick people of the West rest in its shade.

Rabba said: As for the wicks that the Sages said one does not kindle with on Shabbat,

what was their reason for this decree?

Because the flame flickers in them,

meaning that the fire is not fixed in one place, but jumps.

Another explanation: it does not seize the wick itself, but around it; and because of this the Sages were concerned lest it go out, and he kindle it.

As for the oils that the Sages said one does not kindle with,

a Shabbat lamp — what was their reason for this decree?

Because

these oils

do not flow after the wick,

and because of this there is concern lest he come to adjust the lamp on Shabbat [and be liable because of kindling].

Abaye asked Rabba:

Those

oils that the Sages said one does not kindle with on Shabbat —

what is the law if one puts into them any amount of oil

fit for kindling, so that through adding the oil they will flow after the wick,

and kindles

a Shabbat lamp with them?

And the sides of the uncertainty are:

Do we decree, lest

since it will be permitted to kindle with them through adding oil, another time he

come to kindle

when they are

as they are,

without adding oil to them; therefore there is reason to decree that in every manner he should not kindle with these oils.

Or not,

did the Rabbis decree in this matter, and they are permitted for kindling when he adds oil?

He said to him: One does not kindle

with them at all.

What is the reason?

Because

the Sages decreed that

one does not kindle

with them as they are, they also decreed to prohibit it even when he put into them oil fit for kindling, lest he kindle them as they are.

He raised an objection to him

from a beraita, which teaches:

One wrapped a substance

of the type

with which one kindles, over a substance with which one does not kindle,

and made them into one wick —

one does not kindle with it

a Shabbat lamp.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: In the house of my father,

in Rabban Gamaliel’s house,

they would wrap a wick over a nut and kindle.

Even though a nut is not fit for a wick [and as we learned below, 27b: anything that comes from a tree, one does not kindle with it, except flax].

In any event, it teaches

in the beraita, in Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel’s statement, that if one wrapped a wick over a nut —

one kindles!

And learn from this that whenever one combines a species fit for kindling with one unfit for kindling, it is permitted to kindle with it, whereas you said one does not kindle?

He said to him: Instead of challenging me

from the words of

the words

of

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel —

assist them from the words

of

the first tanna,

who says: One wrapped a substance with which one kindles over a substance with which one does not kindle; one does not kindle with it.

And we answer:

This is not difficult.

For from

“a deed of a great man”

comes the question. Since Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel testified that this is what they used to do in Rabban Gamaliel’s house, it implies that this is the halakha. [And see Rashi below, 126b, s.v. “a deed of a great man.”] Therefore he preferred to challenge him from the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel rather than assist him from the words of the first tanna.

In any event, there is a difficulty

for Rabba, who prohibited it, from the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel. For

is it not

that they used the nut in order

to kindle

with it?

And we answer:

No,

the nut was needed not for kindling, but

for floating,

in order to hold the wick up so that it would float upon the oil, and therefore it is permitted.

And we challenge:

If for floating

they used the nut —

what is the reason of the first tanna

who prohibits it?

And we answer:

The entire

beraita is the words of

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel. And the

beraita

is lacking, and this is what it teaches:

One wrapped a substance with which one kindles

on Shabbat

over a substance with which one does not kindle —

one does not kindle with it.

When are these words applicable:

when he wrapped it in order

to kindle.

But

if he wrapped it in order

to make it float, it is permitted.

For Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: In the house of my father they would wrap a wick over a nut

in order to make it float.

And we ask:

Is that so?

And do you think that adding oil to a substance with which one does not kindle is forbidden?

But Rav Bruna said in the name of Rav: Melted fat

— melted [and see the Ran whether the interpretation is cooked or not congealed]

and fish innards that have melted —

one puts any amount of oil into them, and kindles

with them.

And learn from this that adding oil to a substance with which one does not kindle is effective.

And we resolve:

These,

melted fat and fish innards —

do flow

and they are fit for kindling

as they are,

as they are.

But these,

which they said in the Mishna are forbidden for kindling —

do not flow as they are,

and they are not fit as they are.

And as for these two, which do flow, it would have been proper that it be permitted to kindle with them as they are, even without adding oil.

And the Rabbis decreed concerning melted fat

that one should not kindle with it,

because of unmelted fat,

since when it is not melted it does not flow after the wick.

And

they decreed

concerning fish innards that have melted

that one should not kindle with them,

because of fish innards that have not melted,

which do not flow after the wick.

And we ask:

And let them decree

the Rabbis

also

that it should be forbidden to kindle with

melted fat and fish innards that have melted into which one put oil —

because of melted fat and fish innards that have melted into which one did not put oil,

so that they would not come to kindle with them without oil!?

And we answer: The prohibition against lighting with them

is itself a rabbinic decree, and

because

should we establish a decree to safeguard another decree?! [

Therefore, the accepted ruling is that melted animal fat and liquefied fish entrails, if oil was added to them, may be used for lighting, and they are not comparable to the other materials disqualified for lighting. See also the difficulty raised by the Tosafot Yeshanim].

Rami bar Ḥama taught: The wicks and oils concerning which the Sages said that one may not light with them on Shabbat—

one may not light with them

the lamp of the menorah

in the Temple.

The reason

is because it is stated

in the commandment concerning the lighting of the lamps of the menorah:

“To raise an everlasting lamp.”

He taught it

as a legal ruling,

and he stated it

to explain how it is inferred from the verse that lighting with them is prohibited.

And this is how he expounded the verse: “To raise”

—so that the flame

of the menorah

rises by itself

without requiring adjustment,

and not so that it rises by means of something else,

so that it would require adjustment of the wick.

And we raise an objection:

We learned

in a Mishna in tractate Sukka:

From the worn-out trousers of the kohanim

—from the trousers of the kohanim, members of the priestly family who served in the Temple, after they had worn out—

and from their belts

—from the old belts—

they would unravel them

—tear them into strips and make wicks from them.

And from them they would light

the lamps used for the celebration of the Drawing of the Water.

But the trousers and belts of the kohanim were made of wool and linen, as it is written: “six-fold twisted linen, and blue wool, and purple wool”—“six-fold twisted linen” is linen, and “blue wool” is wool. And a beraita, a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna, was taught earlier: The Sages added wool to the materials with which one may not light. It follows that although it is prohibited to light with woolen wicks in honor of Shabbat, it is permitted to do so in the Temple.

And we answer:

The celebration of the Drawing of the Water is different.

The verse “to raise” is not written with regard to it; it is written only with regard to the lighting of the menorah: “to raise.”

Come and hear a proof, as Rabba bar Mattana taught: When the priestly garments become worn out,

they are unraveled.

And from them they would make wicks for the Temple.

And we analyze this:

Is it not

speaking here about priestly garments

made of mixed wool and linen,

which contain wool? And can it not be inferred from here that wool is also permitted for lighting the menorah?

And we reject this: The beraita

does not

speak about garments made of mixed wool and linen—trousers and belts—but about garments

of linen,

made entirely of linen, such as the tunics, without wool.

Rav Huna said: The wicks and oils concerning which the Sages said

that

one may not light with them on Shabbat,

also

one may not light with them on Hanukkah—

whether on Shabbat

of Hanukkah,

or on a weekday .

Rava said: What is the reason for Rav Huna’s ruling?

He holds

that if

it goes out

the Hanukkah lamp after it has been lit,

one is required to attend to it

by fixing it and lighting it again. Therefore, one must initially fix it in a manner that will prevent it from going out, because perhaps it will go out and he will act negligently and fail to fix it.

From the fact that Rav Huna added that this ruling applies both on Shabbat and on weekdays, we learn an additional ruling:

It is permitted

to use the light

of a Hanukkah lamp. Thus, Rav Huna added that even on Shabbat of Hanukkah it is prohibited to light with wicks that do not draw up the oil properly, because of the concern that one might adjust them in order to use their light. It follows that it is permitted to benefit from the light of a Hanukkah lamp.

And Rav Ḥisda said:

These oils, with which one may not light a Shabbat lamp,

may be used to light

a Hanukkah lamp

on a weekday, but not on Shabbat.

What is his reason?