Shabbos 155b

שבת קנ״ה ע״ב

Shabbat 155b

Learn Shabbos 155b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Feeding animals on שבת: effort over food, the new משנה's feeding rules, responsibility for an animal's food, and adding water to bran

Overview

The amud opens by finishing two challenges to רב יהודה, who holds that one may not go to effort over food that is already edible (לא טרחינן באוכלא). Each time, the גמרא answers that the food in the source was not yet edible for that animal: elephant meat or meat for puppies, rotten straw, and alfalfa for young donkeys. Next comes a new משנה listing which ways of feeding animals are allowed on שבת. The גמרא explains אובסין as stuffing a camel until its belly becomes a trough. רב יהודה and רב חסדא then disagree about the difference between המראה and הלעטה. רב יוסף challenges רב יהודה, who answers that one may feed only animals whose food is your responsibility, like a dog but not a pig. This leads to teachings about ה׳'s care for the poorly fed dog, and to a ברייתא supporting רב יהודה. Finally, the גמרא shows that the משנה's rule about putting water into bran follows רבי יוסי בר יהודה, and it begins asking who the 'יש אומרים' are in a dispute about kneading קלי. רב חסדא's answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (38)

1. ChallengeCutting pumpkins and a carcass seems to refute רב יהודה
2. Resolutionרב יהודה reverses the comparison: the carcass is hard like the pumpkins
3. QuestionWhen is a carcass too hard to eat?
4. ResponseElephant meat, or ordinary meat given to puppies
5. ChallengeCrumbling straw and alfalfa seems to show effort with food is allowed
6. RejectionRotten straw, and alfalfa for young donkeys
7. Statementמשנה: force-feeding camels, calves, and chickens; mixing bran
8. Statementמשנה: giving water to bees, doves, geese, and chickens
9. QuestionWhat does 'overfeed' mean?
10. Responseרב יהודה: making a trough inside its stomach
11. QuestionCan a camel really be fed that much?
12. Responseרב ירמיה מדיפתי saw a camel fed a כור and loaded with a כור
13. QuestionWhat Is the Difference Between הַמְרָאָה and הַלְעָטָה?
14. Responseרב יהודה: It Depends on How Deep the Food Goes
15. Responseרב חסדא: It Depends on Tool Versus Hand
16. Challengeרב יוסף Quotes a Teaching About Chickens and Doves
17. QuestionWhat Do the Two Feeding Words Mean?
18. RejectionThe Hand-Versus-Throwing Reading Seems Impossible
19. ChallengeThe Depth Reading Refutes רב יהודה
20. Resolutionרב יהודה: Doves Are Not Your Responsibility
21. ProofSupport from the Dog and the Pig
22. Proofרב אשי brings support from our משנה
23. ChallengeWhy would the משנה mention only water?
24. RejectionWater is different because it is found in lakes
25. Statementה׳ cares for the dog, whose food is scarce
26. ProofA משנה confirms the dog's three-day digestion
27. StatementIt is proper to throw a dog some meat
28. QuestionHow much should one give a dog?
29. ResponseThe size of its ear, then a stick
30. StatementOnly in the field, not in the city
31. ConclusionNothing poorer than a dog, nothing richer than a pig
32. ProofA ברייתא defines המראה and הלעטה in line with רב יהודה
33. Questionאביי asks whose view the משנה follows
34. Responseרבה answers that it follows רבי יוסי בר יהודה
35. RejectionMaybe bran is different from flour
36. ProofAn explicit ברייתא shows he permits water in bran
37. StatementA dispute about kneading roasted-grain flour
38. QuestionWho are the unnamed 'some say'?