Shabbat

MISHNAH. [IF ONE CARRIES OUT] BONE, [THE STANDARD IS AS MUCH AS IS REQUIRED FOR MAKING A SPOON;  R. JUDAH MAINTAINED: FOR MAKING THEREOF  A HAF; GLASS, LARGE ENOUGH FOR SCRAPING THE TOP OF THE WHORL [OF A SPINDLE]; A CHIP OR A STONE, LARGE ENOUGH TO THROW AT A BIRD; R. ELEAZAR B. JACOB SAID: LARGE ENOUGH TO THROW AT AN ANIMAL. GEMARA. Shall we say that R. Judah's standard is larger: but we know the standard of the Rabbis to be larger?  — Said 'Ulla: [It means] the wards of a lock. Our Rabbis taught: The wards of a lock are clean;  [but] when one fits them into the lock, they are [liable to become] unclean.  But if it [the lock] is of a revolving door,  even when it is fixed on the door and nailed on with nails, they [the wards] are clean, because whatever is joined to the soil is as the soil. GLASS, LARGE ENOUGH FOR SCRAPING [etc.]. A Tanna taught: Glass,  large enough to break across two threads simultaneously. A CHIP, OR A STONE, LARGE ENOUGH TO THROW AT A BIRD: R. ELEAZAR [etc.]. R. Jacob said in R. Johanan's name: Providing that it can feel it. And what size is that? It was taught, R. Eleazar b. Jacob said: Ten zuz in weight. Zonin entered the Beth Hamidrash [and] said to them [the students]: My masters, what is the standard of the stones of a privy?  Said they to him: [One] the size of an olive, [a second] the size of a nut, and [a third] the size of an egg.  Shall one take [them] in a [gold] balance! he objected.  [Thereupon] they voted and decided: A handful.  It was taught; R. Jose said: [One] the size of an olive, [another] the size of a nut, and [a third] the size of an egg: R. Simeon b. Jose said on his father's authority: A handful. Our Rabbis taught: One may carry three smoothly rounded stones  into a privy. And what is their size? R. Meir said: As [large as] a nut; R. Judah maintained: As [large as] an egg. Rafram b. Papa observed in R. Hisda's name: Even as they differ here, so do they differ in respect to an ethrog.  But there it is a Mishnah, whereas here it is [only] a Baraitha?  Rather [say:] Just as they differ in respect to an ethrog, so do they differ here. Rab Judah said: But not brittle stone [payas].  What is payas? — Said R. Zera: Babylonian pebbles. Raba said: One may not use a chip on the Sabbath [as a suppository] in the same way as one uses it on weekdays. Mar Zutra demurred: Shall one then endanger [his health]? — [It may be done] in a back-handed manner. R. Jannai said: If there is a fixed place for the privy,  [one may carry in] a handful [of stones];  if not, [only] the size of the leg of a small spice mortar [is permitted].  R. Shesheth said: If there is evidence upon it,  it is permitted.  An objection is raised: Ten things lead to hemorrhoids in a man, and these are they: [i] eating the leaves of reeds; [ii] the leaves of vines; [iii] sprouts of grapevine; [iv] the rough flesh  of an animal without salt; [v] the spine of a fish; [vi] a salted fish insufficiently cooked; [vii] drinking the lees of wine; [viii] wiping oneself with lime, [ix] with clay. [x] [and] with a chip which one's neighbour has [already] used thus.  And some say, Suspending oneself in a privy too.  — There is no difficulty; the one refers to a damp [stone];  the other to a dry one. Alternatively, here the reference is to the same side [of the stone];  there, to the other side. Another alternative: the one refers to his own;  the other, to his neighbour's. Abaye asked R. Joseph: What if rain fell on it and it [the stain] was washed away? If the mark thereof is perceptible, he replied, it is permitted. Rabbah son of R. Shila asked R. Hisda: