Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 1, scan section 21

not the master said : A (sacrificial) kid may be used, well done or not well done ? Aye, but in that case it is cut in pieces; in our case it could not be cut in pieces.* The fire m the heating-house,'' etc. Why so ? Whence is this deduced ? Said R. Huna: It is written [Ex. xxxv. 3]: ' Ye shall not kindle any fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day." Your habitations excluded the sanctuary. R. Hisda opposed: If it is so, then they may do so on Sab- bath itself; therefore he explains thus: The cited verse ex- cludes only the parts of the members which are already upon the altar, and the reason of our Mishna is because priests are very careful. ' ' In the rural districts, ' ' etc. What does ' ' the greatest part " mean ? According to Rabh : " The greatest part of each piece " ; and according to Samuel : " Until no more small wood is needed to make the heap burn." R. Hyya taught the fol- lowing Boraitha in support of R. Samuel: "The flame should continue rising by itself, and not by the assistance of anything else. ' ' And to only one log of wood ? — until the fire catches most of its thickness; and according to others, the most of its circum- ference, was the decision of Rabh. Said R. Papa: To comply with both views just mentioned it is right that the fire should catch both, the most of its thickness and the greatest part of its circumference. However, regarding this law Tanaim of the fol- lowing Boraitha differ. R. Hyya says: Until it is so burned that it is unfit for any carpenter's work. R. Judah b. Bathyra says: Until the fire catches both sides. And although this can- not be substantiated by evidence (from Scripture), there is a hint of this — viz.: " Both ends are consumed by the fire and the inside is scorched; is it fit for any work ? " [Ez. xv. 4]. It was taught: R. Kahana said: Reeds, if they are tied together, must (have enough daytime on Friday) to burn over half; if not tied together, less is sufificient. Granum must have enough time for the fire to catch their greater part ; if they are put in a fire-pot, they need not. R. Joseph taught four sub- * See Ex. xii. 9, 46, wher^ it is explicitly ordained that the paschal Iamb should not be dismembered, and no bone should be broken. 30 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. stances (used as fuel) need not (have time until the fire catches) the greater part — viz. : pitch, sulphur, cheese, and running fats. In a Boraitha it was taught that straw and (wood) shavings belong to the same category. R. Johanan said that the same is the case with fuel in Babylon. What does it mean ? Accord- ing to R. Joseph bast, and according to Rami b. Aba branches. APPENDIX. [Explanatory to p. 8, line 2 (Erubhin, p. 25).] There is a Boraitha in addition to the last Mishna of Chap. IX., ibid., p. 226, as follows: " More than this said R. Jehudah: ' He who has two houses, one on each side of public ground, may add to each a beam or a side beam (for a sign), and this allows him to carry things from one house into the other.' To which the rabbis answered that such an erubh does not suffice for public ground." (The reason of R. Jehudah's statement is that biblically two partitions sufifice to turn premises of public ground into private ground, with which the rabbis do not agree.)* * This Boraitha was omitted in Tract Erubhin. Here, however, to render the above-mentioned passage clearer for the reader, we deem it necessary to translate it. CHAPTER II. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE SABBATH AND 'haNUKAH LIGHT. MISHNA /. : What shall and what shall not be used for lighting (the Sabbath light) ? The light shall not be made with (wicks of) cedar bast, raw flax, silk fibre, weeds growing upon the \yater, and ship-moss.* Nor shall pitch, wax, cotton-seed oil, oil of rejected heave-ofTerings,f fat from the tail of a sheep, and tallow be used. Nahum the Modait says melted tallow maybe used for light- ing; the schoolmen, however, prohibit melted and raw tallow alike. GEMARA : Rabbin and Abayi were sitting before Rabbanah Ne'hemiah, the brother of the Exilarch (after the death of his brother he became Exilarch under the name Ne'hemiah the Second), and they saw that he was dressed in a mantle of yufro'^a' (raw silk). Said Rabbin to Abayi : "This is called in our Mishna kklakh." X And he answered: " In our city it is called Shira Peranda {ferandinis)." The same (Rabbin and Abayi) happened to be in the valley of Tamruritha, and they saw a kind of willow, and Rabbin said to Abayi: " This is edan mentioned in our Mishna"; and he rejoined: "This is only common wood; how could a wick be made of it ? " He peeled off one of them and showed him a kind of woolly substance between the bark and the stem. * Moss springing up on the hulk or boards of a ship. t The text reads " oil for burning," the full explanation of which is given in the Talmud farther on. We have paraphrased the term to convey the sense to the English reader. X The terms in the Mishna, with which it must not be lighted, are expressed in a mixture of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman names. The Gemara then discusses what is meant by the names, and, probably, some of the Babylonian Amoraim did not understand Greek or Roman, as is seen from the fact that Rabbin did not know of the name metaxa when he saw it on the body of Ne'hemiah, and exclaimed only, " This is meant by the expression khlakh "; and Abayi answered in broken Roman, Paranda. We, as we have translated the names into English, have omitted the whole discussion in the first edition. In this second edition, however, we are dis- posed not to omit at least the historical facts. 32 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. The rabbis taught: All that which was prohibited for the Sabbath lamp may be used in fires that are kept up for heat or even for constant light, whether (such fires are built) upon the ground or in the hearth ; as the materials are prohibited only for use as wicks for the Sabbath lamp. Rabba said : The wicks which the rabbis forbade the use of in the Sabbath lamp are prohibited becau5>e they give a flicker- ing light. The oily substances were prohibited because they do not adhere to the wick. Abayi questioned Rabba: Would it be permitted to mix oil with these prohibited fats and then use them for the Sabbath lamp ? Or is even that prohibited as a precaution lest one use those fats without the addition of oil? Rabba answered: It is prohibited. Why so ? Because they do not give a right light. Abayi objected to him from the following: " R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: 'In my father's house they wound the wick around a nut and lighted it ' ; hence you see that it may be lighted." Said Rabba: " Instead of contradicting me with the saying of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel, support my view with the decision of the first Tana" (of our Mishna). This would not