Shabbat 9b — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

Our Mishna is not dealing at all with the laws of Shabbat, but with general laws that apply close to Mincha even on weekdays. And the tanna stated them here because of the laws that apply on the eve of Shabbat close to nightfall, which are taught in the Mishna below

.

The common denominator in the rationale of all these laws is that they are enactments that the Sages decreed out of concern for a person’s forgetfulness. 1.

A person may not sit before the barber

to have his hair cut,

close to

the time of

Mincha

until he prays.

Perhaps he will forget and not pray.

And likewise,

a person may not enter

during this time

the bathhouse, nor

may he enter

the tannery

[a place for processing hides],

nor

may he enter

for judgment.

The rationale of all of them is that perhaps he will become involved in them until the time for prayer passes.

And if they began

to engage in one of all these activities,

they do not interrupt

them in order to pray but complete the act and afterward pray.

2.

They interrupt

in the middle of all the activities mentioned above in order

to recite

the recitation of the Shema

even if there is time during the day to recite it after he completes the activity, since its obligation is from the Torah.

But

they do not interrupt for prayer

because the obligation of prayer is only rabbinic.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: A person may not sit before the barber, nor enter the bathhouse close to Mincha.

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

Which

[of the times]

close to Mincha

does the Mishna intend?

If you say that it means Mincha Gedola

whose time is from six and a half hours, and “close” to it means from six hours,

why may he not

perform all these activities at this time? And

there is a great deal of time during the day

for there are six hours until night, and there is no reason to fear that he will become involved in them to such an extent.

Rather,

necessarily, the intention of the Mishna is the time

close to Mincha Ketana.

For its time is from nine and a half hours, and “close” to it means from nine hours, when there is no great amount of time until night, but only three hours.

And we raise an objection: If you establish it as referring to Mincha Ketana, it follows that concerning this time it teaches, “If they began, they do not interrupt.” If so,

shall we say that it is a refutation of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi?

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Once the time of the Mincha prayer has arrived

[Mincha Ketana]

it is forbidden for a person to taste anything before he prays the Mincha prayer.

And since he says that it is forbidden “to taste anything” it is implied that he is speaking even after he has begun. That is, he must interrupt eating and stand and pray. And this is difficult, for it is explicit in our Mishna that even during Mincha Ketana he does not interrupt in order to pray.

And we answer:

No,

the Mishna is not speaking of Mincha Ketana, but

in any event it is speaking of close

to

close to Mincha Gedola.

And as for what is difficult for you—why may he not sit before the barber, when there is a great deal of time?—

we are dealing with the haircut of Ben Elasa,

who would cut all his hair and leave a little of each of the hairs, so that the tip of one hair would be beside the root of the other. This was like the haircut of the High Priest, concerning which it is written: “They shall surely cut off the hair of their heads.” This haircut takes a great deal of time, and there is concern that perhaps he will become involved in it until night and the time for prayer will pass.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor the bathhouse,”

this means

the entire activity of the bathhouse.

To wash his head, to bathe in hot water and in cold water, and to sweat. And since it can continue for a very long time, we are concerned that perhaps it will continue until night.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor the tannery,”

this means

a large tannery,

for processing many hides and at the beginning of their preparation, when the labor continues for a long time.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor to eat,”

it is speaking

of a large meal,

such as a betrothal feast, a wedding feast, or a circumcision feast, which continues for a long time.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor for judgment,”

it is speaking

of the beginning of a judgment,

which continues for a long time until the judgment is concluded.

And since we are dealing with Mincha Gedola, the matter of “they do not interrupt” is well understood. And there is no longer any difficulty for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, from whom it is implied that they interrupt, for he is speaking of Mincha Ketana.

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said: In any event

even

with our haircut

the Mishna is speaking, and not specifically with the haircut of Ben Elasa. And as for our objection that if it refers to Mincha Gedola,

why may he not initially sit

before the barber?—it is not difficult. For the reason is

a decree lest the scissors break

[scissors], and he will have to search for another pair and meanwhile the time of Mincha will pass.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor the bathhouse,”

it does not refer to the entire activity of the bathhouse, but even

merely to sweating

is forbidden. And

why may he not initially

enter?—because of

a decree lest he faint

[become faint], and before he returns to his condition, the time of Mincha will pass.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor the tannery,”

this means even

merely to inspect

the hides, and not to begin preparing them. And

why may he not initially

enter?—

perhaps he will see a loss in his merchandise,

that the hides have been spoiled,

and become distraught,

so that his mind will be disturbed because of his distress and he will not pray.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor to eat,”

we are speaking even

of a small meal.

And

why may he not initially?—

perhaps he will come to become involved in it

until after the time of Mincha.

And as for that which it teaches,

“nor for judgment,”

it is speaking even after the negotiation concerning the matter, when they enter only for

the conclusion of the judgment.

And

why may they not initially

enter for this, when it does not continue for very long?—we are concerned

perhaps the judge will see

a reason

that

he had not considered beforehand

and overturn the judgment

that had already been decided, and they will retract their positions and have to begin the judgment again. And meanwhile the time of Mincha will pass.

And we raise a difficulty:

From when is the beginning of the haircut

concerning which we learned that once he has begun, he does not interrupt?

Rav Avin said: From when he places the barber’s cloth

[a cloth]

on his knees

so that the hair will not fall on his garments.

And from when is the beginning of the bathhouse?

Rav Avin said: From when he removes

[takes off]

his cloth from him!

For the cloth is the first garment he removes.

And from when is the beginning of the tannery?

From when he

takes off his sleeves and

ties

them

between his shoulders.

For this is the practice of the tanner before he begins his labor.

And from when is the beginning of eating?

Rav said: From when he washes his hands

for the meal!

And Rabbi Ḥanina said: From when he loosens

the

belt.

And we explain:

They do not disagree,

Rav and Rabbi Ḥanina.

This

that Rabbi Ḥanina said, “from when he loosens the belt,”

is for us

[the Babylonians] that he said this. We customarily gird ourselves tightly and loosen the belt before the meal.

And this

that Rav said, “from when he washes his hands,”

is for them

[the people of the Land of Israel] that he said this. They do not customarily gird themselves tightly, and therefore they do not need to loosen it before washing their hands.

Abaye said: These Babylonian companions—

according to the one who says, “The evening prayer is optional,”

once he loosens his belt

[his belt], it is already considered the beginning of eating. Therefore,

we do not trouble him

to interrupt when the time of the evening prayer arrives; rather, he completes his meal and afterward prays. Since it is not an obligation, we are not so concerned about forgetfulness.

And we raise an objection:

And

if

according to the one who says “the

evening prayer is

obligatory,”

indeed

do we trouble him

to interrupt and pray, because we are concerned that perhaps he will forget?

But the Mincha prayer is obligatory according to everyone, and

even so

we learned: “If they began, they do not interrupt.” And

concerning it

Rabbi Ḥanina

said that the beginning means

“from when he loosens his belt,”

and what is different about the evening prayer, concerning which Abaye said that if it were obligatory, they would interrupt even after loosening the belt?