יומא 78 — Soncino English Talmud

¹which will bubble forth from under the threshold of the Sanctuary. From there onwards it becomes bigger, rising higher and higher, until it reaches the entrance to the House of David. As soon as it reaches the entrance to the house of David, it becomes even as a swiftly running brook, in which men and women afflicted with gonorrhoea, menstruating women, and women after childbirth bathe, as it is said: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for purification and for sprinkling. Said R. Joseph: Hence there is an intimation that a menstruating woman [at her purification] must sit in water [that reaches in height] up to the neck. But the law is not in accord with him. (That will be right on the Day of Atonement, on which no sandal is worn). But what about the Sabbath on which sandals are worn? — R. Nehemiah, the son-in-law of the Prince, said: I saw R. Ammi and R. Assi who reached a pool of water and crossed it dressed. That is all right in shoes, but what can be said in the case of sandals? R. Rihumi said: I saw Rabina, who crossed it in sandals. R. Ashi said: One must not do so at the outset in sandals. The Exilarch once came to Hagronia to the house of R. Nathan. Rafram and all the Rabbis attended his lecture, Rabina did not. Next day Rafram wanted to remove Rabina from the mind of the Exilarch, so he said to him: ‘Why did you not come to the lecture, Sir’? He answered: ‘My foot hurt me’. ‘You should have put shoes on’! ‘It was the back of the foot’. ‘You should have put sandals on’. He answered: ‘A pool of water was in the way’. ‘You should have crossed it in them,’. He replied: ‘Don't you hold, Sir, the view of R. Ashi, that one must not at the outset do so in sandals’! Judah b. Gerogeroth taught: It is forbidden to sit on moist muddy ground on the Day of Atonement. R. Joshua b. Levi said: This refers to mud which makes wet [those sitting on it]. Abaye said: If it is moist enough to moisten other subjects. Rab Judah said: It is permitted to cool off [by sitting] on fruit on the Day of Atonement. Rab Judah would cool off through squash, Raba through fresh twigs, Rabbah through a silver cup. R. Papa said: On a silver vessel one may not cool oneself if it is full; it is permissible only when it is not full. On an earthen vessel it is forbidden in either case, because [the unglazed vessel] lets the moisture ooze through. R. Papa said: A silver vessel, if not full, is also forbidden for use as a cooler-off, because it may be upset. Ze'iri b. Hama was the host of R. Ammi and R. Assi, and R. Joshua b. Levi, and of all the Rabbis of Caesarea. He said to R. Joseph the son of R. Joshua b. Levi: O, son of a great man, come and let me tell you a fine custom that your father had. He had a towel from the eve of the Day of Atonement, which he soaked in water, made it into a kind of dry vessel, and on the morrow would wipe his face, hands and feet with it. On the eve of the ninth of Ab he would soak it in water and on the morrow he would stroke his eyes with it. Similarly when Rabbah b. Mari came he reported: On the eve of the ninth of Ab a towel was brought to him, he soaked it in water, and put it under his head. On the morrow he would therewith wipe his face, hands and feet. On the eve of the Day of Atonement one brought him a towel, which he soaked in water and made it into a kind of dry vessel, and on the morrow he stroked his eyes with it. Said R. Jacob to R. Jeremiah b. Tahlifa: You had told us the matter in just the opposite fashion and we refuted you by reference to prohibition of wringing out. R. Menashiah b. Tahlifa, in the name of R. Amram, on the authority of Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said: The following question was propounded to R. Eleazar: Must a scholar, who is a member of an Academy, obtain special permission to declare a firstborn animal allowed, or does he not need that special permission? What was it that appeared doubtful to them? — This is what they wanted to know: In accord with the statement of R. Iddi b. Abin that ‘this matter was left in the hands of the Prince as a special distinction for himself’, the question is: Must [the elder] receive permission, or, since he is an elder and a member of an Academy, he need not? R. Zadok b. Haloka thereupon stood up and said: I saw R. Jose b. Zimra who was both an elder and a member of an Academy, and indeed was superior to the grandfather of this our Prince, yet obtained permission to declare firstborn animals for profane use! — R. Abba replied to him: It was not like this, but rather, this was the fact: R. Jose b. Zimra was a priest, and this was his problem: Is the halachah in accord with R. Meir, who said: One who is suspected concerning a matter may neither judge nor offer testimony in connection therewith; or is the halachah in accord with R. Simeon b. Gamaliel who said: Such a one would be trustworthy in a case concerning his neighbour, but not in a case concerning himself? The answer given was: The halachah is in accord with the view of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. Furthermore did they ask [R. Eleazar]: How about^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ

^ᵃnote:Mid. III, 6. A play on pakh (pitcher) as if derived from pakhakh (to bubble forth).
^ᵇnote:I.e., Zion, outside Jerusalem, the fortress in the wall of the Holy City.
^ᶜnote:All of which need a ritual immersion to regain their purity. Zech. XIII, 1.
^ᵈnote:Some commentators, among them Rashi, omit the bracketed portion. The question taken up again is: Whether, as apart from the prohibition to wear shoes, which applies on the Day of Atonement as a form of affliction, on a Sabbath such crossing would be permissible, since the possibility of their falling off, and being carried, should involve a preventive prohibition of such crossing. They might slide off easily, and thus lead the wearer to carrying them.
^ᵉnote:Perhaps R. Judah II.
^ᶠnote:I.e., with their feet dressed in shoes.
^ᵍnote:The difference between the two lies in this: that shoes, as a rule, are laced or worn tight, whence the danger of their falling off is minimized. Therefore the Rabbis above were seen wearing shoes. But sandals which are but lightly attached, might slide off.
^ʰnote:I.e., to find out from Rabina the reason for his absence and thereby remove the suspicion of deliberate negligence in his friend's part from the mind of the Exilarch.
^ⁱnote:Asheri: Rab.
^ʲnote:Alfasi and Asheri: R. Ashi.
^ᵏnote:The silver vessel, being smooth, may be upset and the liquid spilt, thus offering unlawful flow.
^ˡnote:Lit., ‘son of a lion’.
^ᵐnote:[Wilna Gaon Glosses deletes ‘Similarly’].
^ⁿnote:Wringing out is forbidden on the Day of Atonement; the towel had therefore to be dried on the eve of the Day of Atonement. Abba Mari was wrong and rejected this important detail, hence the version reported by R. Jeremiah b. Tahlifa.
^ᵒnote:According to Sanh. 5a no Sage was permitted to declare a firstborn animal free, i.e., defective and hence permitted for profane use, unless he had received special authorization from the Prince in Palestine. The question here posed is whether a member of an Academy may be considered a privileged person in this respect or not. This problem is not germane to the present discussion and is introduced only because it leads to another (the next) question, touching the Day of Atonement, which was submitted at the same time.
^ᵖnote:[R. Judah II, whose grandfather was R. Judah I, the Prince].
^ᵠnote:Since the destruction of the Temple a firstborn animal must be left to pasture under priestly control until it acquired a blemish. To avoid such inconvenience many a priest felt tempted to discover a blemish before its actual appearance, hence the priests were suspected of undue laxity in this matter. V. Bek. 35a.

²going forth [on the Day of Atonement] in sandals of bamboo? — Thereupon R. Isaac b. Nahmani stood up and said: I saw myself R. Joshua b. Levi going forth in sandals of bamboo on the Day of Atonement. I asked him: How about [on public rain] fast? He answered: There is no difference. Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said: I saw R. Eleazar of Niniveh who was going forth in sandals of bamboo on a public [rain] fast, and I asked him: How about the Day of Atonement? He answered: There is no difference. Rab Judah went forth in [sandals made of] reeds; Abaye in [such made] of palm-branches; Raba in [such made of] twisted reeds; Rabbah b. Bar Hanah tied a piece of cloth around his legs and went thus forth. Rami b. Hama raised an objection: ‘A cripple may go forth with his artificial foot’, according to R. Meir, whilst R. Jose forbids it. Both agree, however, that he must not go forth with it on the Day of Atonement. Said Abaye: There, the reference is where it [the wooden leg] has pads, and [the prohibition to go out with them on the Day of Atonement is] due to the comfort [they bring]. Said Raba to him: But if it be no object of wear [without them], would the pads make it one? And, furthermore, is any comfort not coming from shoes forbidden on the Day of Atonement? Did not Rabbah b. Bar Hanah tie a cloth around his legs and thus go forth? Furthermore, since the conclusion [of that teaching] reads: ‘If it [the artificial leg] has a receptacle made of pads, it is capable of acquiring ritual uncleanness’, it follows that the first portion deals with a wooden leg without such pads? — Rather, said Raba: In truth, all agree that an artificial leg is not considered a shoe, but in the case of the Sabbath they differ on the following point: One Master holds, We decree [the prohibition for fear] it may fall off and cause him to carry it four cubits in a public thoroughfare; whereas the other Master holds, We do not decree [any prohibition because of such fear]. Our Rabbis taught: Children are permitted all these [matters], with the exception of the putting on of shoes. Wherein is the putting on of shoes different? [Presumably] because people might say: Adults made them [wear them]. In all other cases, too, they might say: Adults made them for them? Bathing and anointing can be performed on the preceding day. But sandals, too, may be assumed to have been put on yesterday? It is impossible for sandals to have been put on yesterday, for Samuel said: Let one who would experience a taste of death put on shoes and sleep in them! But it is stated that [the other matters] are permitted [implying] for them at the very outset? — Rather, those things which have nothing to do with their natural growth, the Rabbis have interdicted, these however, which are needed for their health, the Rabbis have not forbidden. For Abaye said: Mother told me the proper treatment for a child consists in [bathing in] warm water and [rubbing with] oil. If he has grown a bit,in egg with kutah; if he grows up still more, the breaking of clay vessels. Thus did Rabbah buy clay vessels in damaged condition for his children who would break them. THE KING AND THE BRIDE MAY WASH THEIR FACES. According to whom is our Mishnah? According to R. Hananiah b. Tradion. For it was taught: [Even] the king and the bride may not wash their faces. R. Hananiah b. Tradion said in the name of R. Eliezer: The king and the bride may wash their faces. The woman after childbirth may not put on a sandal. R. Hananiah b. Tradion said in the name of R. Eliezer: A woman after childbirth may put on a sandal. Why [may] a king [wash his face]?-Because Scripture said: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. Why [may] a bride [wash her face]? — Lest she become unattractive to her husband. Rab said to R. Hiyya: How long [does] a bride [enjoy this privilege]? He replied: As it was taught: One must not withhold her adornment from the bride during the full thirty days [after the wedding]. The woman after childbirth may put on shoes to avoid a cold. Samuel said: If there is danger of a scorpion it is permitted [for all to wear shoes]. ONE WHO EATS AS MUCH AS THE BULK OF A BIG DATE. R. Papa asked:^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ

^ʳnote:V. Ta'an. 12b.
^ˢnote:[Probably Nawa in the Golan Province (Transjordania). V. Klein JQR (NS) II, 550ff]
^ᵗnote:Shab. 65b. It is assumed at present that although the artificial leg is not considered a shoe, it is yet forbidden to walk out with it on the Day of Atonement. Hence sandals of bamboo should also be forbidden on that day.
^ᵘnote:V. loc. cit.
^ᵛnote:The minimum constituting a transgression of the prohibition to carry anything in a public thoroughfare. No minimum is necessary for transferring an object from a private to public thoroughfare and vice versa.
^ʷnote:Prohibited in our Mishnah on the Day of Atonement.
^ˣnote:As wearing shoes.
^ʸnote:As washing and anointing.
^ᶻnote:V. Kid. 31b.
^ᵃᵃnote:A preserve consisting of sour milk, bread-crusts and salt.
^ᵃᵇnote:The breaking of the glass is not a concession to their youthful fury, but an excellent outlet for emotional surplus energies, cheaper than anything else on which they might wreak themselves.
^ᵃᶜnote:V. Kid. 31b.
^ᵃᵈnote:Isa. XXXIII, 17.
^ᵃᵉnote:The bride or young matron retains her privilege for thirty days, even if she becomes a mourner after father or mother, her ornaments would be left to her (v. Keth. 4a). Similar consideration is lawful for the weak mother after childbirth, and for any person in danger of contracting a disease. Hence the ‘menace of a scorpion’ applies to all, even healthy persons.