Shabbos 30b

שבת ל׳ ע״ב

Shabbat 30b

Learn Shabbos 30b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How דוד died on שבת and putting out a lamp for a sick person; why קהלת and משלי were nearly hidden; joy and the שכינה; answering fools; patience like הלל

Overview

This amud finishes the story of how דוד המלך died on שבת, and of how שלמה asked the בית המדרש what to do with his father's body and the hungry dogs. These stories complete רב תנחום's answer: one may put out a lamp on שבת for a sick person, because a person's soul is God's 'lamp'. The talk of contradictions in קהלת leads to רב's teaching that חכמים wanted to hide ספר קהלת, but it was kept because it begins and ends with דברי תורה. The גמרא then resolves its contradictions about laughter and joy, and teaches that the שכינה rests only on a person who is in שמחה של מצוה. This leads to a discussion of whether a teacher of הלכה should be joyful or in awe, and רבה's practice shows how both fit. ספר משלי was also nearly hidden, because one verse says to answer a fool and the next says not to. The answer is that one ignores a fool in everyday matters, as the stories of רבי and רבי חייא show. One does answer a fool in דברי תורה, as רבן גמליאל did with a mocking student. The amud ends with a ברייתא praising the patience of הלל over the strictness of שמאי, whose first story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. Statementדוד learned all שבת, so מלאך המות could not take him
2. Statementמלאך המות distracts דוד and he dies
3. Questionשלמה asks the בית המדרש what to do on שבת
4. ResponseFeed the dogs, and move the body using a loaf or a baby
5. ConclusionA living dog is better than a dead lion
6. ConclusionOne may put out a lamp for a sick person
7. Statementחכמים wanted to hide ספר קהלת
8. QuestionWhy did they not hide it?
9. ResponseIt begins and ends with Torah
10. ProofProof that the beginning is Torah
11. ProofProof that the end is Torah
12. QuestionWhat does 'this is the whole man' mean?
13. ResponseThe world was created for the God-fearing person
14. ResponseThis person equals the whole world
15. ResponseThe world was created as company for this person
16. ChallengeThe contradictions in קהלת are listed
17. ResolutionResolving the contradiction about laughter
18. ResolutionTwo kinds of joy: מצוה joy and empty joy
19. StatementThe שכינה rests only on a person in מצוה joy
20. ProofProof from אלישע and the musician
21. Statementרב יהודה: the same applies to teaching הלכה
22. Statementרבא: the same applies to a good dream
23. ChallengeChallenge: a student's lips must drip bitterness
24. ResolutionAnswer 1: the rebbe is joyful, the student is in awe
25. ResolutionAnswer 2: both are about the rebbe, before and after he starts
26. Proofרבה's practice: a joke first, then awe
27. Statementחכמים also wanted to hide ספר משלי
28. QuestionWhy didn't they hide it?
29. ResponseJust as קהלת was explained, so can משלי be
30. QuestionWhat exactly is the contradiction in משלי?
31. ResponseDon't answer a fool, and do answer a fool
32. ResolutionTorah matters versus everyday matters
33. ProofThe fool who insulted רבי
34. ProofThe fool who insulted רבי חייא
35. Statementרבי's prayer protected his children
36. QuestionWhat does answering a fool in Torah matters look like?
37. ResponseA woman giving birth every day, and the hen
38. ProofTrees giving fruit every day, and the caper bush
39. ProofThe land producing cakes and fine garments, and the mushrooms
40. StatementBe patient like הלל, not strict like שמאי
41. ProofOpening of the story of the two men