Talmud - Shabbat 118a שבת קי״ח א׳

one rescues food for three meals. What, is this not referring to a situation where he has not yet eaten any meals? Apparently, one is obligated to eat only three meals on Shabbat. The Gemara rejects this: No, it is referring to a situation where one already ate one meal. Three meals still remain, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka, who requires four meals. The Gemara challenges this from the continuation of the mishna: If a fire ignited in the morning, one may only rescue food for two meals. What, is it not referring to a situation where one has not yet eaten one’s morning meal and the obligation is to eat only three meals, one at night and two during the day? The Gemara rejects this: No, it is referring to a situation where one has already eaten the morning meal. The Gemara challenges this from the continuation of the mishna: If a fire ignited in the afternoon, one may rescue food for one meal. What, is it not referring to a situation where one has not yet eaten the afternoon meal and the obligation is to eat only three meals? The Gemara rejects this: No, it is referring to a situation where one has already eaten.

The Gemara challenges this: From the fact that it is taught in the latter clause of the mishna: Rabbi Yosei says: One may always rescue food for three meals, by inference, even the first tanna holds that the obligation is to eat three meals, as there is no dispute with regard to the number of meals on Shabbat. Rather, it is clear that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka. According to the tanna’im in the mishna, one is obligated to eat three meals on Shabbat.

And that which we learned in another mishna: One who has sufficient food for two meals in his possession may not take food from the charity plate that is distributed to the poor. He is not considered needy and would be taking food at the expense of people who are worse off than he. And one who has food for fourteen meals, enough meals for an entire week, may not take money from the charity fund. The Gemara asks: In accordance with whose opinion is this mishna? Apparently, it is neither in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis nor in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka. If it were in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, they maintain that they are fifteen meals that are eaten in a week, two each day, evening and morning, and three on Shabbat. If it were in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka, they are sixteen meals that are eaten in a week, twelve during the six days of the week and four on Shabbat. The Gemara rejects this: Actually, the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, but we say to him: That which you want to eat at the conclusion of Shabbat, Saturday night, eat it as the third meal on Shabbat.

The Gemara asks: Let us say that this mishna is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis and not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka. The Gemara rejects that approach: Even if you say that it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka, the mishna can be understood, as we can say to him: That which you want to eat on Shabbat eve, Friday afternoon, eat at night on Shabbat instead. The Gemara asks: And do we have a person sit and fast all day on Shabbat eve? According to this suggestion, he would not eat at all on Friday. Rather, we must say: In accordance with whose opinion is this mishna? It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Akiva, who said: Make your Shabbat like a weekday and do not be beholden to other beings. It is preferable to eat two meals on Shabbat as he does during the week if he can thereby avoid taking charity.

And that which we learned in another mishna: One gives no less charity to a poor person who is traveling from place to place than a loaf worth a pundeyon, one forty-eighth of a sela, when the standard price of grain is four se’a for a sela. If he sleeps there, one gives him money for sleeping; and if he spends Shabbat in that city, one gives him food for three meals. Let us say that is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis and not the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka. The Gemara rejects this: Actually, it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥidka. When it says that if the poor traveler spends Shabbat there one gives him food for three meals, it is referring to a case where there is one meal that he brought with him, for we say to him: This meal that you have with you, eat it. The Gemara is surprised at this: And when he goes, does he go empty-handed, with no food. The Gemara answers: We provide him a meal to accompany him when he leaves. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of money for sleeping? Rav Pappa said: It means that one provides his sleeping needs, i.e., a bed and cushions.

The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to bowls from which one ate in the evening on Shabbat, he may rinse them in order to eat from them in the morning. Bowls from which one ate in the morning, he may rinse them to eat from them in the afternoon. Bowls from which one ate in the afternoon, he may rinse them to eat from them in the afternoon. However, from the afternoon onward, one may no longer rinse them because there is no further need for these bowls on Shabbat, and it is prohibited to make preparations on Shabbat for a weekday. However, with regard to cups, and ladles, and flasks, which are vessels used for drinking, one rinses them all day long because there is no fixed time for drinking, and one does not know when he will drink again.

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of bar Kappara: Anyone who fulfills the obligation to eat three meals on Shabbat is rescued from three punishments: From the pangs of the Messiah, i.e., the suffering that precedes the advent of Messiah, and from the judgment of Gehenna, and from the war of Gog and Magog. The Gemara derives that one is rescued from the pangs of Messiah by means of a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to Shabbat, day: “Eat it today” (Exodus 16:25). And it is written there, with regard to Messiah, day: “Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of God” (Malachi 3:23). The Gemara derives that one is rescued from the judgment of Gehenna by means of a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to Shabbat, day, as cited above. And it is written there, day: “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and blackness, a day of cloud and thick fog” (Zephaniah 1:15), which is interpreted as referring to the punishment of Gehenna. The Gemara derives that one is rescued from the war of Gog and Magog by means of a verbal analogy. It is written here, with regard to Shabbat, day. And it is written there, with regard to the War of Gog and Magog, day: “And it shall be on that day, on the day that Gog arrives on the land of Israel” (Ezekiel 38:18).

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: With regard to anyone who delights in the Shabbat, God gives him a boundless portion, i.e., a very large reward, as it is stated: “If you keep your feet from violating Shabbat, from pursuing your affairs on My holy day, and you call Shabbat a delight, the Lord’s holy day honored, and you honor it by not going your own way, or attending to your own matters or speaking idle words. Then you shall delight in the Lord and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the world, and to feast

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

Shabbat 118a examines the Talmudic debate over the required number of Shabbat meals, weighing rescued food from fires against the four-meal view.