Shabbos 40a

שבת מ׳ ע״א

Shabbat 40a

Learn Shabbos 40a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 40a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Washing and bathing on שבת and יום טוב: רב vs. שמואל on pre-heated water, רבה's practice, and the history of the rabbinic bans on bathing and sweating

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a discussion from the previous daf: רבה בר בר חנה says he heard his ruling explicitly, so it does not depend on the rule of following the middle opinion. Then a new topic begins. רב says that on שבת one may wash the whole body, limb by limb, with water heated before שבת. שמואל allows only the face, hands and feet. רב survives two ברייתות by reading 'face, hands and feet' as a model for washing one part at a time, but a third ברייתא supports שמואל. רבה's version of רב, wash the whole body but leave out one limb, is refuted outright. The גמרא then asks whether רבה himself practiced that version, and answers that he followed רב's stringencies but not necessarily his leniencies. Next comes a ברייתא and a story about sweating in a sealed bathhouse on יום טוב, which was later forbidden because of 'transgressors'. בר קפרא explains the history: each permission was abused, step by step, until the final rule allowed the hot springs of טבריה but kept sweating forbidden. רבא learns that someone who breaks a rabbinic law may be called a 'transgressor', and the גמרא begins asking whose view this follows; the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. Statementרבי עקיבא retracted to רבי יהושע's view
2. QuestionWhat is wrong with learning the ruling by inference?
3. ResponseThe principle may only apply to a משנה
4. Responseרבה בר בר חנה heard it explicitly
5. Statementרב and שמואל disagree about washing with pre-heated water
6. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to refute רב
7. Resolutionרב: 'Not the whole body' means not all at once
8. ChallengeBut the ברייתא lists only face, hands and feet
9. ResolutionFace, hands and feet are a model for limb-by-limb washing
10. ChallengeA second ברייתא against רב
11. ResolutionSame answer: in the manner of face, hands and feet
12. ProofA ברייתא supports שמואל
13. Statementרבה's version of רב's ruling
14. ChallengeAll the earlier objections are raised against this version
15. Conclusionרבה's version of רב is refuted
16. QuestionDid רבה practice this ruling of רב?
17. ChallengeWhy ask? The view was already refuted
18. ResolutionMaybe רבה never heard the refutation
19. ChallengeIf so, רבה surely followed רב
20. Resolutionרבה followed only רב's stringencies
21. StatementA bathhouse sealed before שבת or יום טוב
22. ProofThe incident at the בני ברק bathhouse
23. StatementThe חכמים permit it even without boards
24. ConclusionLater forbidden because people abused it
25. StatementStrolling through large city bathhouses is allowed
26. QuestionWhat does 'transgressors' mean here?
27. ResponseStage one: bathhouse workers lied, so hot-water bathing was banned
28. ResponseStage two: 'We're just sweating' becomes an excuse, so sweating is banned
29. ResponseStage three: false 'טבריה' claims lead to allowing only cold water
30. ConclusionFinal balance: טבריה springs allowed again, sweating stays banned
31. Statementרבא: a violator of a rabbinic law may be called a transgressor
32. QuestionWhose opinion does רבא follow?