Shabbos 54b

שבת נ״ד ע״ב

Shabbat 54b

Learn Shabbos 54b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 54b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Items animals may not go out with on שבת, and the duty to protest wrongdoing (מחאה)

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion about the rope a person holds when leading a camel on שבת. A ברייתא requiring the rope to stay a טפח off the ground refers to the stretch between the person and the animal. Then a new משנה lists items with which animals may not go out on שבת. The items belong to a donkey, roosters, rams, ewes, a calf and a cow. The משנה ends with the story of רבי אלעזר בן עזריה's cow, which went out with a strap between its horns against the will of the חכמים. The גמרא explains each item in turn. It spends the most time on the puzzling word חנונות, rejecting two explanations as luxury care before settling on a sneezing remedy, and it defines גימון as a small training yoke. It then asks how a man with huge herds could have only 'his cow.' The answer is that the cow was his neighbor's, and it was called by his name because he did not protest. This leads to the teaching that anyone who can stop wrongdoing and stays silent is held responsible for it, whether at home, in his town, or in the whole world. The amud ends in the middle of רבי חנינא's explanation of a פסוק in ישעיה, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to allow the rope to hang low
2. ResolutionThe ברייתא refers to the rope between person and animal
3. StatementItems a donkey may not go out with
4. StatementItems roosters and rams may not go out with
5. StatementItems ewes, a calf and a cow may not go out with
6. StatementThe cow of רבי אלעזר בן עזריה
7. ResponseWhy the untied saddlecloth is forbidden
8. StatementWhy a plugged bell is forbidden
9. Statementרב הונא identifies the neck frame
10. QuestionWhat is the jaw device for?
11. ResponseThe device keeps the donkey from scratching a wound
12. StatementThe leg strap protects the donkey's stride
13. StatementWhy roosters wear strings
14. StatementWhy roosters wear a strap
15. StatementWhy rams have a little wagon
16. StatementFirst explanation of חנונות: oiled wool after shearing
17. Rejectionרב חסדא: that is too much pampering for a sheep
18. StatementSecond explanation of חנונות: oiled wool during birth
19. Rejectionרב נחמן: that is still too much pampering
20. StatementA tree named יחנון whose chip makes ewes sneeze out worms
21. ChallengeWhy only ewes and not rams too?
22. ResolutionRams butt heads, so the worms fall off by themselves
23. Statementשמעון נזירא: the chip comes from a broom tree
24. ChallengeFor the other opinions, why use the word חנונות?
25. Resolutionחנונות means 'animals shown mercy'
26. QuestionWhat is a calf with a גימון?
27. Responseרב הונא: a small training yoke
28. ProofA פסוק shows that גימון means bending
29. StatementA cow with a hedgehog skin, to stop creatures from sucking its milk
30. StatementThe strap between the horns according to רב and שמואל
31. ChallengeDid רבי אלעזר בן עזריה really have only one cow?
32. ResolutionIt was his neighbor's cow, named after him because he did not protest
33. StatementWhoever can protest and does not is held responsible
34. StatementThe Exilarch's household is held responsible for the whole world
35. ProofA פסוק about ה׳ judging the elders and the princes