Talmud - Shabbat 114a שבת קי״ד א׳

From where is it derived that changing clothes is a display of honor? As it is stated: “And he will remove his garments and will don other garments, and he will bring the ashes outside of the camp to a pure location” (Leviticus 6:4). The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: The Torah taught you etiquette. The clothes in which one prepared food for his master, one does not wear to pour his master wine. Since cooking makes one’s clothes dirty, he should wear fresh clothes when serving his master.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is disgraceful for a Torah scholar to go out to the marketplace in patched shoes. The Gemara asks: Didn’t Rabbi Aḥa bar Ḥanina go out in patched shoes? Rabbi Aḥa, son of Rav Naḥman, said: They only prohibited patched shoes if there is a patch upon a patch.

And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: A Torah scholar on whose clothes a fat stain is found is liable to receive the death penalty, as it is stated: “All those who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:36), and the Sages said: Do not read: Those who hate me [mesanai]. Rather, read: Those who cause me to be hated [masniai]. Those who cause people to hate the Torah by creating the impression that those who study Torah are unclean deserve the death penalty. Ravina said: A fat stain [revav] was not stated, but rather a bloodstain [revad] was stated (Rabbeinu Ḥananel), which is a greater disgrace. The Gemara adds: They did not disagree over the halakha. Rather, the dispute is whether that which we learned concerning stains on a Torah scholar’s clothes refers to an overgarment that people wear over the rest of their clothes, while that which we learned with regard to a bloodstain refers to an undergarment, where a bloodstain is disgraceful but other types of spots are not.

And similarly, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: That which is written: “As My servant Isaiah went naked and barefoot for three years” (Isaiah 20:3), is not to be understood literally. Rather, naked means that he wore tattered clothing, and barefoot means that he walked with patched shoes.

We learned in a mishna there: A fat stain on a donkey’s saddle interposes, i.e., if the saddle becomes impure, its immersion in a ritual bath is invalid unless the stain is removed. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: A stain interposes only when it is as large as an Italian issar but not smaller. And if there were a fat stain on clothing on one side, it does not interpose, but if the stain is on both sides it interposes. Rabbi Yehuda says in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: It interposes even on one side.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish raised a dilemma before Rabbi Ḥanina: Is a stain on a saddle an interposition even if it is on just one side, or only if it is on both sides? Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: That, I did not hear explicitly. However, I heard something similar to it. As we learned in that same mishna that Rabbi Yosei says: A garment belonging to builders [banna’in] is considered to have an interposition if it has a stain on one side, and that of an ignoramus, who is not meticulous, is considered to have an interposition when the stain is on both sides. And certainly a donkey’s saddle cannot be more important than the garment of an am ha’aretz.

The Gemara asks: Who are the builders mentioned here? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: These are Torah scholars, who are engaged in building the world all of their days. And with regard to this, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is a Torah scholar of whom the Sages said that one must return a lost object to him based on visual identification, even if he does not provide an identifying sign for it? That is one who makes sure his upper undergarment is turned inward so that the uneven stitching is not visible. This means that he conducts himself like a Torah scholar in all his ways, even in matters of cleanliness and order (Maharsha). On a related note, the Gemara adds that which Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is a Torah scholar who may be appointed as a leader of the community? This is one who is asked about matters of halakha on any topic and he is able to answer, and even if he were asked about tractate Kalla, a tractate that few have mastered.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is the Torah scholar for whom the inhabitants of his city are commanded to perform his labor for him? This is one who sets his own matters aside and engages in matters of Heaven. It is therefore fitting for the community to support him. And that applies only to exerting themselves to provide him with his bread, as it is appropriate that they sustain him. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is included in the category of a Torah scholar? Anyone who is asked about the halakha with regard to any topic and is able to state it. And they say: What are the practical consequences of this question? It is to appoint him a leader of the community. If he is an expert in a single tractate, they appoint him as a leader in his place; if he is an expert in all of his learning, they appoint him as the head of the yeshiva.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: These garments of the banna’in mentioned in the mishna are the clothes of the bath attendants [ulairin] that come from a country overseas, on which stains are apparent, and these men are meticulous about their cleanliness. The Gemara asks: Is that to say that these are white garments? Didn’t Rabbi Yannai say to his sons: My sons, do not bury me in white garments nor in black garments. Not in white, lest I not be acquitted in judgment, and I will be among the wicked like a groom among mourners. And not in black, lest I be acquitted in judgment, and I will be among the righteous like a mourner among grooms. Rather, bury me in the clothes of the bath attendants who come from a country overseas, which are neither black nor white. Apparently, these clothes of the bath attendants are red. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, as a distinction can be made. When Rabbi Yannai indicates that they are red, that is referring to overgarments; the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish that indicated that they are white, that is referring to undergarments.

We learned in the mishna that Rabbi Yishmael says: One may fold clothes and make beds on Yom Kippur for Shabbat if Yom Kippur occurs on Friday, and the fats of the sacrifices that were brought on Shabbat were offered on Yom Kippur that occurs on Sunday. The verse “The burnt-offering of Shabbat on its Shabbat, besides the daily offering and its libation” (Numbers 28:10) taught, with regard to the fats of Shabbat, that they are offered on Yom Kippur, because Yom Kippur is also called Shabbat, and the verse indicates that the Shabbat offering is offered on another Shabbat. I might have thought even the fats from Yom Kippur offerings could be sacrificed on Shabbat; therefore, the verse states “on its Shabbat” to specify that it is not so; this is the statement of Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Akiva says that when the verse says: “The burnt-offering of Shabbat on its Shabbat,” it teaches that the fats of Shabbat are offered on a Festival that occurs on the following day. I might have thought that they could even be offered on Yom Kippur that occurred on the day after Shabbat. Therefore, the verse states “on its Shabbat” and not on another one.

When you analyze the matter you will find that you can say that, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yishmael, vows and free-will offerings are offered on a Festival. If sacrifices that fulfill vows can be postponed to a weekday but are nevertheless brought on a Festival, certainly fats from Shabbat can be offered on a Festival that follows it. And the verse is needed to permit offering Shabbat fats on Yom Kippur that follows it. However, according to Rabbi Akiva vows and free-will offerings are not brought on a Festival, and therefore the verse is needed to permit sacrificing the fats from Shabbat on a Festival that follows it, but on Yom Kippur it is prohibited. Rabbi Zeira said:

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Shabbat 114a explores dignified dress for Torah scholars, warning against patched shoes or stained garments as marks of disgrace.