Shabbos 153a

שבת קנ״ג ע״א

Shabbat 153a

Learn Shabbos 153a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Eulogies, readiness for death, and the end of פרק שואל; then a traveler's pouch when שבת begins on the road

Overview

The amud opens with the last words of a statement from the previous daf about the soul after death. רב teaches that a person's הספד shows whether he is a בן העולם הבא. The sign is whether the listeners are truly moved, and רבה adds that the tears of a few worthy scholars are enough. רבי אלעזר, רבי חנינא, and the people of the גליל and יהודה add more about who is a בן העולם הבא and how to earn good words at one's הספד. רבי אליעזר's teaching "repent one day before your death" means repent every day. A פסוק in קהלת and רבן יוחנן בן זכאי's parable of the king's feast, along with רבי מאיר's sharper ending, teach the same lesson. After a second reading of the פסוק as ציצית and תפילין, פרק שואל ends. The new פרק teaches what a traveler does with his money pouch when שבת begins on the road. The גמרא explains this leniency, limits it to his own pouch, and ranks who should carry it: a גוי, a donkey, then a שוטה. The question of a חרש versus a קטן begins with a ברייתא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (42)

1. StatementThe soul rises and does not come down again
2. StatementA הספד reveals whether a person is a בן העולם הבא
3. ChallengeChallenge: רב himself asked for a moving eulogy
4. ResolutionThe sign is whether people are actually moved
5. Questionאביי asks who will cry for the disliked רבה
6. Responseרבה: two worthy mourners are enough
7. Questionרבי אלעזר asks who is a בן העולם הבא
8. Responseרב answers with a פסוק: people say 'this is the path'
9. Statementרבי חנינא: one whom the Rabbis are pleased with
10. Statementגליל and יהודה describe הספד customs differently
11. ResolutionNo real disagreement: each follows his local custom
12. StatementRepent one day before you die
13. QuestionThe students ask how anyone can know his day of death
14. ResponseRepent today, so your whole life is spent in תשובה
15. Proofשלמה המלך's פסוק: always keep your clothes white
16. StatementThe parable: a king invites his servants without setting a time
17. StatementThe king calls suddenly: the ready ones eat, the unready ones stand
18. Challengeרבי מאיר: standing would just look like serving
19. ResolutionBoth groups sit, but only the ready ones eat and drink
20. ProofProof from ישעיהו: My servants eat and you go hungry
21. StatementA second reading: white clothes are ציצית, oil is תפילין
22. Conclusionהדרן — Closing פרק שואל
23. StatementCaught on the road at nightfall: give the pouch to a non-Jew or put it on the donkey
24. StatementArriving at the outer courtyard: unloading the donkey
25. QuestionWhy were the רבנן lenient about giving the pouch to a non-Jew?
26. ResponsePeople won't abandon their money, so a smaller leniency prevents a bigger sin
27. Statementרבא limits the leniency to one's own pouch
28. ChallengeIsn't that obvious from the משנה's wording?
29. ResolutionThe משנה might have just been using a common example
30. StatementA found object already in his hands counts like his pouch
31. QuestionSecond version: רבא asks about a found object in his possession
32. ConclusionThe question remains unresolved
33. StatementInference from the משנה: a gentile comes before the donkey
34. QuestionWhy is a gentile preferred over a donkey?
35. ResponseWe are commanded about a donkey's rest, not a gentile's
36. StatementA donkey comes before a deaf-mute, imbecile, or minor
37. QuestionWhy is the donkey preferred over these people?
38. ResponseThey are people; the donkey is not
39. StatementThe imbecile is preferred over a deaf-mute or a minor
40. QuestionWhich comes first: a deaf-mute or a child?
41. ResponseAccording to רבי אליעזר there is no question
42. ProofProof begins: a ברייתא about a חרש's תרומה