Shabbos 40b

שבת מ׳ ע״ב

Shabbat 40b

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

Open Shabbos 40b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Warming, cooking, and bathing on שבת: oil, water, כלי שני, and bathhouse conduct

Overview

This amud opens by tying an earlier harsh statement about bathhouse transgressors to a known תנא. A ברייתא then allows strolling through big-city bathhouses on שבת, and רבא limits this to cities, because small village bathhouses are too hot. Next comes a series of ברייתות about warmth on שבת: warming by a fire before rinsing, a warm towel versus a kettle, and taking the chill off water or oil near a fire. The גמרא asks how the תנא קמא rules on oil, and רבה and רב יוסף read the ברייתא one way while רב נחמן בר יצחק reads it another way. שמואל sets the practical rule that for both oil and water the line is יד סולדת בו, which רחבא defines as heat that would burn a baby's belly. A story about רבי in the bathhouse teaches that oil can be cooked, that warming oil counts as cooking it, and that a כלי שני does not cook. The גמרא explains that רבי could teach there because stopping someone from an איסור is different, and רבינא and רב חסדא are reconciled about cooking in the hot springs of טבריה. The amud ends with רבי זירא's report of רבי אבהו floating in a bath, and the answer to the challenge against it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. ProofMatching the previous statement to a known תנא
2. StatementStrolling through city bathhouses is allowed
3. Statementרבא limits the rule to cities, not villages
4. QuestionWhy the difference between cities and villages?
5. ResponseSmall village bathhouses are much hotter
6. StatementWarm by the fire first, then rinse, not the other way
7. StatementA warm towel on the stomach is fine, but a kettle is not
8. StatementPlacing water near a fire only to take off the chill
9. Statementרבי יהודה: oil may be warmed near a fire
10. Statementרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: warming oil on one's hand
11. QuestionWhat does the first opinion hold about oil?
12. ResponseTwo answers: permitted or forbidden
13. Statementרבה and רב יוסף: oil cannot be 'cooked'
14. Statementרבה and רב יוסף: how the other two opinions fit
15. Statementרב נחמן בר יצחק: the first opinion forbids even warming
16. Statementרב נחמן בר יצחק: how the other two opinions fit
17. ChallengeIsn't רבן שמעון בן גמליאל just the first opinion?
18. ResolutionThe difference: doing it in an unusual way
19. Statementשמואל's rule: oil and water alike, יד סולדת בו is the line
20. QuestionWhat counts as 'the hand recoils'?
21. Responseרחבא: hot enough to burn a baby's stomach
22. StatementStory: רבי in the bathhouse
23. ConclusionThree lessons from רבי's instruction
24. ChallengeHow could רבי teach Torah inside a bathhouse?
25. ChallengeRejecting the idea that רבי spoke in a non-holy language
26. ResolutionStopping someone from sinning is different
27. ProofProof from רבי מאיר's student in the bathhouse
28. Statementרבינא: cooking in the hot springs of טבריה on שבת makes one חייב
29. Challengeרב חסדא says cooking in טבריה springs is פטור
30. Resolutionרבינא's חייב means rabbinic lashes
31. Statementרבי זירא saw רבי אבהו floating in a bath
32. ChallengeObviously he did not lift his feet, since a ברייתא forbids floating
33. ResolutionBeginning of the answer: two different cases