שבת 48:1 — Soncino English Talmud

causing heat to ascend, [peat] of olives causes heat to ascend, but not [peat] of poppy seed. Rabbah and R. Zera visited the Resh Galutha, and saw a slave place a pitcher of water on the mouth of a kettle. Thereupon Rabbah rebuked him. Said R. Zera to him: Wherein does it differ from a boiler [placed] upon a boiler? — There he [merely] preserves [the heat], he replied, whereas here he creates it. Then he saw him spread a turban over the mouth of a cask and place a cup upon it. Thereupon Rabbah rebuked him. Said R. Zera to him: Why? You will soon see, said he. Subsequently he saw him [the servant] wringing it out. Wherein does this differ from [covering a cask with] a rag? he asked him. There one is not particular about it; here he is particular about it. [NOR WITH] STRAW. R. Adda b. Mattenah asked Abaye: Is it permissible to handle flocking in which one stored [food]? Said he to him: Because he lacks a bundle of straw, does he arise and renounce a bundle of soft flocking? — Shall we say that the following supports him: We may store [food] in wool clip, hatchelled wool, strips of purple [wool], and flocking, but they may not be handled? — As for that, it is no proof: this may be its meaning: if one did not store [food] in them, they may not be handled. If so, why state it? — You might say, They are fit for reclining: hence we are told [otherwise]. R. Hisda permitted stuffing to be replaced in a pillow on the Sabbath. R. Hanan b. Hisda objected to R. Hisda: The neck [of a shirt] may be undone on the Sabbath, but may not be opened; nor may flocking be put into a pillow or a bolster on a Festival, and on the Sabbath it goes without saying? — There is no difficulty: one refers to new ones, the other to old ones. It was taught likewise: Flocking may not be put into a pillow or a bolster on the Festival, and on the Sabbath it need not be stated; if it falls out, it may be replaced [even] on the Sabbath, while on Festivals it goes without saying. Rab Judah said in Rab's name: One who opens the neck [of a shirt] on the Sabbath incurs a sin-offering. R. Kahana objected:^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ

^ᵃnote:As here, the food is stored in a substance which does not add heat, but heat may mount up from the peat and penetrate the basket.
^ᵇnote:Head of the Exile, Exilarch, official title of the head of Babylonian and Persian Jewry, whose authority was recognized and sustained by the State. V. J.E. V, p. 228, s.v. Exilarch.
^ᶜnote:The pitcher contained cold water, and the kettle was hot.
^ᵈnote:Which is permissible; 51b.
^ᵉnote:For the upper boiler too is filled with hot water.
^ᶠnote:The kettle below heats the cold water in the pitcher.
^ᵍnote:Natla is a ladle or a small vessel for taking liquid out of a large vessel.
^ʰnote:Lit., 'you see now'.
^ⁱnote:This is forbidden on the Sabbath.
^ʲnote:Which is permitted, and we do not fear that the owner will wring it dry. And though the servant did so here, yet on what grounds did Rabbah rebuke him at the outset?
^ᵏnote:He does not mind if the rag remains wet.
^ˡnote:Hence he is likely to wring it.
^ᵐnote:Normally they may not be handled; the question is whether this use converts it into a 'utensil' which may be handled on the Sabbath.
^ⁿnote:Where possible straw is used, because it is cheaper. When one must use rags, he does not on that account renounce them, i.e., declare that they have no value in his eyes save for that purpose, but they remain independent, as it were, just as before they were so used: hence they may not be handled.
^ᵒnote:[H] is translated purple in E.V. (Ex. XXV, 4). But this was an extremely costly dye, and its proposed use here for storing food shows that such is not meant. It is rather a scarlet red dye, more brilliant than purple but not so enduring; v. T.A. I, 146f.
^ᵖnote:In their present state they cannot be used, hence they certainly do not rank as 'utensils'.
^ᵠnote:So that they are utensils.
^ʳnote:When it is returned by the launderer, who generally tied the neck up.
^ˢnote:The first time after it is sewn. This opening makes it fit for wear and thus finishes its work.
^ᵗnote:A pillow etc., must not be stuffed for the first time, as that is part of its manufacture; but if the stuffing falls out, it may be replaced.
^ᵘnote:V. n. 1.