Shabbos 145b

שבת קמ״ה ע״ב

Shabbat 145b

Learn Shabbos 145b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 145b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hearsay testimony for a בכור, liquids that flow out on שבת, soaking and rinsing salted foods in hot water, and רבי יוחנן's comparisons of בבל and ארץ ישראל

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the rule that עד מפי עד is accepted only for עדות אשה. The גמרא then asks whether hearsay is also accepted for a blemished בכור. רב אסי reads the rule as covering any testimony a woman may give, and the הלכה follows him: hearsay is valid for a בכור. Next the גמרא returns to the honeycomb case. Through רב הושעיא's ברייתא and אביי's answer, we learn that רבי אלעזר permits juice that flows out on its own even when a food turns into a liquid. A new משנה teaches that food cooked before שבת may be soaked in hot water on שבת, while uncooked food may only be rinsed. The exception is certain salted fish, for which rinsing completes the cooking, so one who rinses them is חייב חטאת. Along the way come stories about רבי אבא's chicken and Babylonian כותח. A longer story follows: רבי יוחנן scolds students who guessed, and then explains why בבל's birds are fat, why its festivals are joyful, and why its scholars dress distinctively. His answer about why the גוים are contaminated begins here and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (46)

1. StatementHearsay is accepted only for a woman's testimony
2. QuestionIs hearsay accepted for a firstborn animal?
3. ResponseTwo אמוראים disagree
4. ChallengeChallenge from the school of מנשיא
5. ResolutionReread it: any testimony that a woman may give
6. Statementרב יימר ruled hearsay valid for a בכור
7. Rejectionמרימר mocks the lenient ruling
8. ConclusionFinal ruling: hearsay is valid for a בכור
9. StatementBack to the משנה: honeycombs
10. Statementרב הושעיא brings a ברייתא about crushed olives and grapes
11. ChallengeWhat does the ברייתא add beyond an extra name?
12. Resolutionאביי: the ברייתא teaches a new case, food that turns into liquid
13. Statementמשנה: soaking food already cooked, rinsing food not yet cooked
14. Statementמשנה's exception: fish for which rinsing finishes the cooking
15. QuestionWhat kind of cooked food would still need soaking?
16. ResponseExample: רבי אבא's chicken
17. Statementרב ספרא's story of eating Rabbi Abba's chicken
18. Statementרבי יוחנן's disgust at Babylonian כותח
19. Challengeרב יוסף's reply: we should spit at רבי אבא's chicken
20. Proofרב גזא: the sick of ארץ ישראל asked for כותח
21. QuestionWhat if someone rinsed the forbidden fish?
22. Responseרב יוסף: rinsing makes one liable to a חטאת
23. ProofProof from the משנה's wording
24. ConclusionConclusion: the proof stands
25. StatementSetting the scene: רבי יוחנן dozes
26. ResponseWhy are the birds of בבל fat?
27. ResponseWhy are the יום טוב days in בבל so joyous?
28. ResponseWhy do the scholars of בבל dress differently?
29. ResponseWhy are the גוים morally impure?
30. Rejectionרבי יוחנן wakes up and scolds his students
31. QuestionThe students ask רבי יוחנן for real answers
32. ResponseThe birds of בבל are fat because they were never exiled
33. QuestionWhere do we see that the birds of ארץ ישראל were exiled?
34. Proofרבי יהודה: even the animals left יהודה for 52 years
35. StatementAll the fish returned except the קולייס
36. ProofHow the fish returned and why the kolyas could not
37. QuestionWhy are the festivals in בבל so joyful?
38. Responseבבל was not included in the curse on festivals
39. QuestionWhat does 'a burden to Me' mean?
40. Responseרבי אלעזר: the burden of choosing a harsh decree
41. ProofReal-life examples: troops and officials on every festival
42. QuestionWhy do בבל's תלמידי חכמים dress distinctively?
43. ResponseThey are not natives, so clothing earns them respect
44. Statementרב יוסף praises בבל's scholars from a פסוק
45. QuestionWhy are the nations contaminated?
46. ResponseBecause they did not stand at הר סיני