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Avodah Zarah 29a

עבודה זרה כ״ט ע״א

Learn Avodah Zarah 29a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Health advice and remedies, and haircuts between Jews and a גוי

Overview

This amud is a collection of practical health advice, followed by laws about haircuts between Jews and a גוי. It starts with tips about food and הקזת דם (bloodletting), including a ברייתא listing foods to avoid after letting blood and אביי's cure for someone who ate them. רבי יהושע בן לוי allows putting the אונקלי, the edge of the ribs near the heart, back in place on שבת. The גמרא then describes herbal cures for that condition, and רב פפא tells how a different remedy healed him. A ברייתא lists six things that truly heal a sick person and ten things that bring an illness back. The גמרא then returns to the משנה's rule about getting a haircut from a גוי. It explains why a mirror protects the Jew, tells the story of רב חנא בר ביזנא, and gives the size of the margin a Jewish barber must leave around a גוי's בלורית. It ends by showing two ways to tell apart the similar names רב מלכיה and רב מלכיו.

Opening lines

לְחַסְפָּנִיתָא,

for facial wounds,

וְחִילּוּפָא סַכַּנְתָּא.

but the reverse is a danger.

חַלָּא לְסִיבּוּרֵי,

Vinegar for after bloodletting,

וּמוֹנִינֵי לְתַעֲנִיתָא,

and small fish for after a fast,

The steps (31)

  1. StatementEnd of a health tip from the previous page
  2. StatementVinegar after bloodletting, small fish after a fast
  3. StatementSituations where bloodletting is dangerous
  4. StatementHow many days to wait between fish and bloodletting
  5. StatementFour foods one may not eat after bloodletting
  6. Statementאביי's cure if one ate these foods
  7. StatementRelieving oneself east of the city
  8. StatementOne may push the אונקלי back on שבת
  9. QuestionWhat is the אונקלי?
  10. ResponseThe אונקלי is the edge of the ribs near the heart
  11. QuestionWhat is the cure?
  12. ResponseHerbs used to cure the אונקלי
  13. ResponseWhich drink to take the herbs with, for each ailment
  14. StatementHow רב אחא בריה דרבא and רב אשי prepared the herbs
  15. Statementרב פפא was healed by a different cure
  16. StatementSix things that truly heal a sick person
  17. StatementTen things that bring a sick person's illness back
  18. StatementWhy cucumbers are called קשואין
  19. StatementThe משנה's haircut rule and a ברייתא about mirrors and forelocks
  20. QuestionWhere would a mirror help?
  21. ResponseThe mirror makes the Jew look important
  22. Statementרב חנא בר ביזנא is threatened by his barber
  23. ChallengeDidn't he go against the רבנן too?
  24. ResolutionBusy side streets count as public
  25. StatementA Jewish barber must stop at the gentile's forelock
  26. QuestionHow much space must he leave around the forelock?
  27. ResponseThree fingerbreadths on every side
  28. StatementSorting the rulings of the two similar names by topic
  29. StatementA different way to sort them: by type of teaching
  30. QuestionWhere do the two methods give different answers?
  31. ResponseThey differ about the maidservants ruling