Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 2, scan section 57

ring to a black garment, it is only then prohibited to be dusted if its possessor is particular about it (to such a degree, that he never puts it on without dusting it)." Ula once came to Pumbaditha and he saw the fabbis dusting their clothes on a Sabbath, so he said: " The rabbis are violat- ing the Sabbath! " So R. Jehudah said to his disciples: " Dust your clothes right before his eyes: we are not particular." Abayi stood before R. Joseph. R. Joseph said to him: " Give me my hat." And seeing that the hat was very dusty, Abayi hesitated to give it to him. So R. Joseph said: " Take hold of it and dust it: we are not particular." We have learned in a Boraitha: Those who deal in clothes, and carry them folded on their shoulders on Sabbath, are liable for a sin-offering: this refers not only to clothes-dealers, but also to others ; clothes-dealers, however, are mentioned, because that is their usual custom. The same is the case with a mer- chant who carries out a bag of money. He is liable for a sin- offering; and not only a merchant, but also others; but mer- chants are mentioned because it is their wont to carry money in that manner. Said R. Jehudah: " It once happened that Hyrcanos the son of R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanos went out on Sabbath with a ker- chief folded on his shoulder and tied to one of his fingers with a piece of twine (in order that it might not fall down) ; and when the sages heard this, they said that the twine was unnecessary, for he could have carried the kerchief without it." It happened that Ula came to the house of Assi bar Hini, and he was asked whether it was allowed to make a groove of the clothes on Sabbath. (The Babylonians wore long garments, and by turning them up at the bottom a quasi-groove was made.) Ula answered: " So said R. Ilai: It is prohibited to make a 338 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. groove on Sabbath." What is a groove ? Said R. Zera: "A groove made of the clothes of the Babylonians." Said R. Papa: " Bear this rule in mind: If the clothes are turned up for the purpose of preventing their becoming soiled, it is prohibited; but if they are turned up to improve their appearance, it is allowed, as R. Shesha the son of R. Idi would always arrange his cloak (toga) tastefully (on a week-day, hence it is customary and may also be done on Sabbath)." When R. Dimi came from Palestine, he related: It once hap- pened that Rabbi went out into the field, and both ends of his toga hung on his shoulders. Said Jehoshua the son of Ziruz, the son of R. Meir's father-in-law before Rabbi: " Did not R. Meir say, that in a case of this kind one is liable for a sin-ofTer- ing ? " Said Rabbi: " Was R. Meir so particular, that he deter- mined just how far down the ends of one's toga should reach ? " Still he (Rabbi) let down his toga; and when Rabhin came from Palestine he said, that it was not Jehoshua ben Ziruz who made that remark, but Jehoshua ben Bepusai the son-in-law of R. Aqiba; and not that R. Meir said what has just been cited, but that R. Aqiba had said that. Also, that Rabbi had inquired whether R. Aqiba was so particular; and lastly, that Rabbi let down his toga. When R. Samuel ben R. Jehudah came from Palestine he said, that Rabbi was only asked concerning such a case (but not that he himself was the party referred to), MISHNA: One who bathes in the water of a cavern or in the hot springs of Tiberias, though he wipe himself with ten towels, must not carry them off in his hand ; but if ten persons wiped themselves, their faces, their hands, and their feet, with one towel, they might carry it off in their hands. One may anoint and rub the stomach with the hands, but not so as to cause fatigue. One must not brush the body with a flesh-brush or descend into a kurdima.* One must not take an emetic, or stretch the limbs of an infant, or put back a rupture; one who has strained his hand or foot must not pour cold water on it, but he may wash it in the usual way: if he thereby be- comes cured, it is well. GEMARA: The Mishna teaches, " the water of a cavern," in connection with the hot springs of Tiberias; hence it must be, that the water of a cavern is also hot. And again it says, " one * A bathing place with a loamy bottom, into which it is easy to descend, but from which it is quite an exertion to ascend. TRACT SABBATH. 339 who bathes," and not " one may bathe," from which we see, that to commence with, bathing in those waters is not allowed ; but merely to rinse one's self is permitted, even to commence with. This is according to the opinion of R. Simeon. Though he wipe himself with ten towels,'" etc. The first part of this clause in the Mishna imparts something new and unexpected in that it teaches, that, although if one man wipe himself with ten towels, there will be very little water contained in the towels, still he might through thoughtlessness wring them ; and the latter part of the clause also imparts something new and unexpected, stating, as it does, that if ten men wipe themselves with one towel, although the towel will contain a great deal of water, they will mutually remind each other that it must not be wrung. The rabbis taught: " A man may wipe himself with a towel and leave it at the window of a house that is nearest to the wall of the bathhouse; but he must not give it to the bathhouse employees, because they are suspected of wringing it on the Sabbath." R. Simeon, however, says: " A man may wipe him- self with one towel and carry it in his hand to his house." Said Abayi to R. Joseph: " How is the law?" and he answered: " Did not R. Hyya bar Aba in the name of R. Johanan say, that the law prevails according to R. Simeon ?" Did R. Jo- hanan say this indeed ? Did he not say elsewhere, that the Halakha prevails according to the anonymous teachers in the Mishna, and the Mishna teaches, that even if one man wiped himself with ten towels he must not carry them off in his hand ? E.. Johanan teaches, that the Mishna concludes with, " So said the son of Hakhinai " (hence it is the teaching of one individual). R. Hyya bar Aba in the name of R. Johanan said: " The bathhouse employees may carry the sheets with which the women wipe themselves in the bathhouse on the street by wrap- ping them around their bodies; provided they wrap them over their heads and the greater part of their body." R. Hyya bar Aba said in the name of R. Johanan: "A large veil which is worn by women should have the two ends that hang down in the back tied." And he said again, that they should be tied underneath the shoulders. Rabha said to the inhabitants of Mehuzza: "If ye must carry clothes for the military on Sabbath, wrap them around you underneath the shoulders." " One may anoint and rub his stomach/' The rabbis taught: