Shabbos 129a

שבת קכ״ט ע״א

Shabbat 129a

Learn Shabbos 129a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A חיה on שבת (stages after birth, טבילה, fire for warmth), and caring for one's health after הקזת דם

Overview

This amud opens by finishing רב אשי's version of שמואל's ruling about desecrating שבת for a חיה. Then it quotes מר זוטרא's more lenient version, and מרימר rules like מר זוטרא because of ספק נפשות להקל. The גמרא next defines when the 'open womb' period starts and how long it lasts. The נהרדעי combine the numbers 3, 7, and 30 into stages: breaking שבת always, then only on her request, then only through a non-Jew. A separate 30-day teaching of שמואל is explained as a delay before טבילה, which רבא limits to when her husband is away. The גמרא then rules that a fire may be lit on שבת for anyone endangered by cold, in any season. This leads into a long section on הקזת דם: protecting the body outweighs בל תשחית, and a person must eat well afterward. Several stories and tips from the חכמים follow. The amud ends with warnings to avoid wind and to eat before going outside, and that list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. StatementEnd of רב אשי's version: after the womb closes, no desecration
2. Statementמר זוטרא's version: after the womb closes, her request is enough
3. Questionרבינא asks which version is the הלכה
4. Responseמרימר rules like מר זוטרא because a life may be at stake
5. QuestionWhen does the 'opening of the womb' begin?
6. Responseאביי: from when she sits on the birthing chair
7. Responseרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע: from when blood flows, or when friends support her
8. QuestionHow long does the open-womb status last?
9. Responseאביי says three days
10. Responseרבא says seven, or by another version thirty
11. StatementThe נהרדעי combine 3, 7, and 30 into stages
12. ProofThe non-Jew rule matches רב עולא and רב המנונא
13. Statementשמואל: a woman after birth has a 30-day rule
14. QuestionWhich law is this 30 days about?
15. ResponseThe 30 days are about immersion
16. Statementרבא limits the 30-day rule to when the husband is away
17. ProofThe tragic story of רב חסדא's daughter
18. Statementשמואל: make a fire on שבת for a woman after childbirth in the rainy season
19. StatementThe mistaken narrow reading of שמואל
20. RejectionNo difference between a יולדת and a sick person, or winter and summer
21. ProofProof: a fire even in תמוז for someone chilled after bloodletting
22. ProofFurniture broken to make fires for שמואל, רב יהודה and רבה
23. Challengeאביי objects: isn't this בל תשחית?
24. Resolutionרבה: not destroying my own body matters more
25. StatementSell your house beams for shoes, and your shoes for a meal after bloodletting
26. QuestionWhat counts as the needs of a meal
27. ResponseMeat or wine
28. StatementThe reasons: life for life, red for red
29. StatementA memory aid for the coming stories
30. Proofשמואל ate a dish of spleen after bloodletting
31. ProofHow much wine three Sages drank after bloodletting
32. Proofרבא looked for well-aged wine
33. StatementTell your wives an important guest is coming
34. StatementThe one permitted trick: tasting wine with a worn coin
35. StatementBackup remedy: black dates, oil, and sunshine
36. Proofאבלט finds שמואל lying in the sun
37. RejectionThe real reason: the day of תקופת תמוז
38. StatementA memory aid, then: whoever is careless with the bloodletting meal loses Heaven's care
39. StatementAfter bloodletting, do not sit in the wind
40. Proofשמואל felt weak when his wall was missing half a brick
41. StatementEat something before going outside after bloodletting