Shabbos 20b

שבת כ׳ ע״ב

Shabbat 20b

Learn Shabbos 20b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 20b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Fuels exempt from the רוב rule, the end of פרק יציאות השבת, and the opening of במה מדליקין on forbidden wicks and fuels

Overview

This amud finishes the first פרק of מסכת שבת and begins the second. First the גמרא lists fuels that do not need the fire to catch 'most' (רוב) of them before שבת: loose reeds, pits in baskets, quick-burning bonfires, and the 'wood of בבל', which רב יוסף and רמי בר אבא each identify. Then the פרק ends with the הדרן. The new פרק opens with the famous משנה 'במה מדליקין', which lists wicks and fuels that may not be used for the שבת lamp. It ends with a dispute about boiled tallow between נחום המדי and the חכמים. The גמרא then goes through the משנה word by word, identifying each material, such as לכש, חוסן, כלך, אידן and the green moss. Along the way there are challenges, stories about רבין and אביי, and a refutation of רבין about כלך. A ברייתא adds wool and hair, and another shows that from זפת onward the משנה lists fuels, not wicks. So wax may be used on a wick but not as fuel.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. Statementרב כהנא on reeds and pits
2. StatementFour bonfires that do not need most
3. StatementAnother ברייתא adds straw and twigs
4. Statementרבי יוחנן on Babylonian wood
5. Challengeרב יוסף asks which wood is meant
6. Resolutionרב יוסף: it means a cedar branch
7. Resolutionרמי בר אבא: it means זאזא
8. Conclusionהדרן — Closing יציאות השבת
9. StatementThe new chapter opens: forbidden wicks
10. StatementForbidden fuels for the שבת lamp
11. Statementנחום המדי permits boiled tallow
12. StatementThe חכמים forbid tallow either way
13. StatementDefining לכש as a cedar branch
14. ChallengeWood cannot be a wick
15. ResolutionThe woolly layer under the bark
16. Statementרב יוסף: חוסן is flax tow
17. Challengeאביי's verse shows חוסן is not tow
18. Resolutionאביי: crushed but uncombed flax
19. Statementשמואל asks the sailors about כלך
20. Statementרב יצחק בר זעירא: silk cocoon
21. Statementרבין identifies כלך as the silk worn by רבנא נחמיה
22. Rejectionאביי gives the local name for this silk
23. ChallengeA ברייתא lists שיראים and כלך separately
24. ConclusionThe גמרא accepts that רבין is refuted
25. Resolutionשירא and שירא פרנדא are different materials
26. Statementפתילת האידן is willow
27. Statementרבין points out willow trees as the אידן
28. Challengeאביי objects that willow is just wood
29. Resolutionרבין peels the bark and shows the wool-like layer
30. Statementפתילת המדבר is mullein
31. QuestionWhat is the green moss on the water?
32. RejectionMoss from standing water is rejected because it crumbles
33. Responseרב פפא: it is the moss that grows on ships
34. StatementA ברייתא adds wool and hair to the forbidden wicks
35. ResolutionWhy our משנה did not list wool and hair
36. StatementDefining זפת and שעוה
37. StatementThe משנה switches from wicks to oils
38. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
39. ResolutionThe point is about wax
40. StatementWhat tar and wax come from