Talmud - Shabbat 134a שבת קל״ד א׳

sores on his flesh. What is his remedy? Let him wash extensively in beet water, in which beets have been boiled.

We learned in the mishna: If one did not grind the cumin from Shabbat eve, he chews it with his teeth and places it on the place of circumcision as a salve. The Sages taught: There are actions that may not be performed in preparation for a circumcision on Shabbat but may be performed in preparation for it on a Festival. For example: One grinds cumin for it, and one mixes wine and oil for it.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is different about cumin that makes it permissible to grind it on a Festival? The fact that it is suitable for use to spice a pot, in cooking. Based on that explanation, mixed wine and oil are also suitable for use on Shabbat for a sick person, as it was taught in a baraita: One may not mix wine and oil for a sick person on Shabbat. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Meir: One may even mix wine and oil on Shabbat.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: It happened on one occasion that Rabbi Meir had intestinal pain on Shabbat, and we sought to mix wine and oil for him as treatment and he did not let us do so. We said to him: Will your statement be negated in your lifetime? You permit mixing these ingredients for a sick person. He said to us: Even though I say this and my colleagues say that, and I do not retract my statement, still, in all my days I have never been so presumptuous as to violate the statements of my colleagues and act in accordance with my opinion. Apparently, it was he who was stringent with regard to himself, but for everyone it is permitted.

The Gemara answers that there is a distinction between the cases: There, for medicinal purposes, it need not be beaten, whereas here, for circumcision, it must be beaten. The Gemara asks: Here too, let us prepare the mixture but not beat it. The Gemara answers: That is in fact the custom, and that is what the mishna teaches: He places this by itself and that by itself, meaning that he may mix the wine and oil, but he may not beat them.

The Sages taught with regard to labor on a Festival: One may not strain mustard in its strainer, and one may not sweeten it with coal. Abaye said to Rav Yosef: In what way is this different from that which we learned in a mishna: One may place an egg in a mustard strainer on Shabbat?

Rav Yosef said to him: There is a distinction between the cases, that there, in the case of the egg, the act does not appear like selecting, whereas here, in the case of the mustard, the act appears like selecting. Straining an egg does not actually separate it into its component parts. Straining mustard does.

We learned that one may not sweeten the mustard with coal. The Gemara asks: Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: One may sweeten it with coal. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, as there is a distinction: There, where it is permitted, it is referring to the case of a metal coal, as extinguishing metal coals is not prohibited by Torah law, whereas here, where it is prohibited, it is referring to the case of a wooden coal.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: In what way is mustard placed on coals, which is prohibited, different from meat placed on coals, which is permitted even if the coals are extinguished by the blood dripping from the meat? Rav Yosef said to Abaye: The two cases are not similar, as there, with regard to meat, it is not possible to accomplish this in any other way, but here, with regard to mustard, it is possible to accomplish this in another way.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: What is the halakha with regard to whether it is permissible to curdle cheese on a Festival? He said to him: It is prohibited. Abaye asked: In what way is this different from kneading dough, which is permitted on a Festival? Rav Yosef said to him: There, with regard to dough, it is not possible to bake bread before a Festival, as day-old bread is inferior to fresh bread. Therefore, kneading dough to bake bread on a Festival is permitted. Here, with regard to cheese, it is possible to curdle cheese before a Festival and it will not deteriorate in any way.

Abaye challenged this distinction: Didn’t the Sages of Neharde’a say that one-day-old cheese is excellent? Curdling cheese on a Festival should be permitted? Rav Yosef responded: This is what they are saying: Even one-day-old cheese is excellent; however, cheese that aged longer is better. Therefore, they did not permit curdling cheese on a Festival, as it is not necessary for the Festival.

We learned in the mishna: And on Shabbat one may not make a pouch to place over the circumcision as a bandage ab initio. Abaye said: My mother, actually his foster mother who was the nursemaid who raised him, told me: With regard to that pouch, placed as a bandage over the circumcision of a baby, let one place it on the upper side with the threads below, lest a thread from it stick to the place of circumcision and cause the baby to become one with a severed urethra. The Gemara relates that Abaye’s mother would make a pouch that covered half the place of circumcision so that it would not be damaged through contact with the threads emerging from the edge of the pouch. Abaye said: If this baby does not have a pouch to put on the place of the circumcision, let one bring a worn-out garment with a hem, and wrap the hem under, and fold the garment over, so that the threads from the worn-out garment will not adhere to the wound.

And Abaye also said: My mother told me: In the case of a baby the location of whose exit, i.e., anus, is unknown, as it is obscured by skin, let one rub it with oil and stand it before the light of the day. And where it appears transparent, let one tear it with a barley grain widthwise and lengthwise. However, one may not tear it with a metal implement because it causes infection and swelling. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby refuses to nurse, that is because its mouth is cold and it is unable to nurse. What is his remedy? They should bring a cup of coals and place it near his mouth, so that his mouth will warm and he will nurse. And Abaye said that my mother told me: A baby that does not urinate, let one place him in a sieve and shake him, and he will urinate.

And Abaye said: My nurse told me: If a baby is not breathing, let them bring his mother’s placenta and place the placenta on him, and the baby will breathe. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby is too small, let them bring his mother’s placenta and rub the baby with it from the narrow end to the wide end of the placenta. And if the baby is strong, i.e., too large, let them rub the baby from the wide end of the placenta to the narrow end. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby is red, that is because the blood has not yet been absorbed in him. In that case, let them wait until his blood is absorbed and then circumcise him. Likewise, if a baby is pale and his blood has not yet entered him, let them wait until his blood enters him and then circumcise him.

As it was taught in a baraita, Rabbi Natan said: On one occasion, I went to the coastal cities, and one woman came before me who circumcised her first son and he died, and she circumcised her second son and he died, and since she feared circumcising the third due to concern that he might die as well, she brought him before me. I saw that he was red. I said to her: Wait until his blood is absorbed into him. She waited until his blood was absorbed into him and then circumcised him, and he lived. And they would call him Natan the Babylonian after my name.

Rabbi Natan further related: On another occasion I went to the state of Cappadocia, and a woman came before me who circumcised her first son and he died, and she circumcised her second son and he died. Since she feared circumcising the third due to concern that he might die as well, she brought him before me. I saw that he was pale. I looked at him and I could not see in him the blood of the covenant, i.e., he had a blood deficiency. I said to her: Wait until blood enters him. And she waited and then circumcised him, and he lived. And they would call his name Natan the Babylonian after my name.

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

Shabbat 134a examines circumcision-related preparations like grinding cumin and mixing wine with oil, weighing personal strictness against general halachic leniency.