Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 1, scan section 32

as a matter of common sense." Does not the text contradict itself ? It states: " One must say three things, etc., when it is getting dark." This implies that if he is in doubt whether it is getting dark or whether dark- ness has already set in, he cannot say it any longer. In the lat- ter part, however, it says "if he is in doubt, etc., he may put up an Erubh. " Said R. Aba in the name of R. Hyya b. Ashi, quoting Rabh : " It presents no difficulty. In the first part it speaks of an Erubh of Techum (that marks the boundary of two thousand ells around the city, where it is allowed for one to walk on Sab- bath); in the latter part it speaks of an Erubh by which the neighbors of adjoining courts make common cause." Rabba said : The rabbis have prohibited putting victuals among things (that preserve but) that do not increase the heat after dark, for fear lest one find them too cold and be tempted to make them boil. Said Abayi to him: " If such is the case, why did they not enact the same prohibition for (the time) when it is twilight also ? " Answered Rabba: " At that time the pots are generally boiling hot." Rabba said again : " Why was it said that one must not put victuals among things that increase the heat, when it is yet day, for fear lest one put them in cinders where there are yet live coals?" Said Abayi to him: "What harm is there? let him do so." And he answered: "It may be feared lest he be tempted to stir the burning coals. * ' The rabbis taught : ' ' Which is the time of twilight ?" When the sun sets and the eastern sky is red ; when the lower (edge of a cloud) is dark, while the upper part is not yet dark; but when the upper edge (of such a cloud) is as dark as the lower, night has set in. So says R. Jehudah. R. Nehemiah says : (The duration of twilight) is the time one takes to walk half a mile from the moment the sun sets. R. Jose says : Twilight is like the twinkling of an eye ; the one (day) goes out, the other (night) comes in, and it is im- possible to determine it. And each of them is in accordance with his theory elsewhere; as it was taught: What is the dura- tion of twlight ? Rabba in the name of R. Jehudah, quoting Samuel, said : (The time it takes to walk) three-quarters of a mile; and R. Joseph said in the name of the same authority: Two-thirds of a mile. The difference between them is half a danka. (The contrary is the case when a bee-hive is con- 6o THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. cerned ; in that case Rabba said : A bee-hive of two kurs * one may move on the Sabbath; of three, one shall not. R. Joseph, however, said that one may move even a hive of three kurs, but one of four is forbidden. Said Abayi : I have inquired of the master at the time of the deed, and he did not even permit me to move one of two kurs.) Rabha saw that Abayi was (one Friday) looking toward the east (to calculate the duration of twilight). Said he to him : " Dost thou think the masters spoke of the sky in the east? They spoke of an object in the east that reflects the red sky (of the west), like a window (placed eastward of the setting sun). " It takes one to walk half a mile." Said R. Hanina: " If one wishes to know the time according to R. Nehemiah's calcu- lation, he should leave the sun (see it set) on the top of Karmel (a certain mountain peak on the sea-coast), go down, dive into the sea, and go up (the mountain) again ; this will give him the exact time." R. Jehudah, however, in the name of Samuel said: (To know the exact time of twilight may be fixed thus:) " If only one star (can be seen in the sky), it is yet day; if two stars, it is twilight; three stars, it is night." And so also we have learned plainly in a Boraitha with the addition: Said R. Jose: The stars mentioned do not mean the big stars, that can be seen in daytime, and not the small stars, which cannot easily be seen at night, but stars of medium size. R. Jose b. R. Zebhida said: If one (unintentionally) per- forms work on both times of twilight (Friday and Sabbath), he must certainly bring a sin-offering (because at one of both times it was certainly Sabbath). Rabba said to his servant: " You, who are not an expert in the scholarly calculation of time, must light the Sabbath lamp when you see the (last rays of the) sun on top of the trees. In cloudy weather how shall it be ? (The lamp must be lit) in the city when the hens go to roost ; in the field, when the ravens fly to roost or when the mallow shrub f (inclines its head to the west). The rabbis taught : Six times was the signal blown on Friday: the first time to stop work in the field, the second to * Kur was an ancient measure and cannot be determined at the present time ; it may have been about three gallons. See Schoenhak's " Hamashbir." A danka is a twelfth or a half of a sixth part. f The mallow {Adana or Harna, see Arukh), more than any other plant, was be- lieved to incline its head toward the sun, like our own sunflower. TRACT SABBATH. 6i stop it in the city and in the stores, the third time to light the lamps. So said R. Nathan. R. Jehudah the Prince says that the third time is sounded to take off the phylacteries. Then (the beadle) waits about as long as is required to bake a small fish, or for bread to cleave to the oven, and he sounds again the three tones * of the signal in succession for the Sabbath (that is already come). R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: " What shall we do with the Babylonians ? They sound the signal first, and then blow the trumpet ; from the moment the trumpet is sounded they cease work." They do so because it is with them a matter of inherited custom. R. Jehudah taught his son, R. Itz'hak: " The third (sound- ing was a signal) to light the lamp." This agrees with the ruling of R. Nathan. • At the school of R. Ishmael it was taught : Six times the signal is sounded on Friday. When the first sounding begins, those who are in the field stop ploughing and harrowing and all field work. At the entrance to the city those who are near must wait until the distant (farmers) come, so that they enter the city all together. The stores are yet open, and the stalls (upon which wares are laid out) are as yet in their places. As soon as the second sounding begins, the stalls are cleared and the stores closed. The warm victuals (prepared for the Sab- bath) and the pots are as yet upon the hearth. As soon as the third sounding begins the pots are taken off the hearth, the warm victuals are put in the stove, and the lamps are lighted. Then (the beadle) waits about as long as it is required to bake a small fish or for bread to cleave to the oven, and he sounds trumpets and sounds the signal again and rests. Said R. Jose b. R. Haninah : " I have heard that if one wants to light up