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Shabbos 62b

שבת ס״ב ע״ב

Shabbat 62b

Learn Shabbos 62b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 62b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Going out on שבת with perfume containers, followed by אגדות about the luxury, immorality, and punishment of שומרון and ירושלים.

Overview

The גמרא opens with a ברייתא in which רבי מאיר and רבי אליעזר disagree about a woman who goes out on שבת with a key, a כובלת, or a flask of פלייטון. It fixes a gap in the ברייתא and learns that an empty perfume flask makes her liable. רב אדא בר אהבה uses this to rule that carrying פחות מכשיעור of food in a vessel makes one liable, but רב אשי rejects the proof. Because perfume came up, the גמרא turns to the verses in עמוס about the luxuries of שומרון. It concludes that after the חורבן the רבנן banned only things that bring both pleasure and joy. Next, רבי אבהו explains the sin of the סְרֻחִים as wife-swapping, and three behaviors are listed that bring a person to poverty. The גמרא then explains the verses in ישעיה about the immodest בנות ציון and their punishments, each one matching the sin. It ends with רב's statement that the people of ירושלים were arrogant, and its example continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּמַאי רַבִּי מֵאִיר?

And what is the statement of Rabbi Meir?

דְּתַנְיָא: לֹא תֵּצֵא אִשָּׁה

As it was taught: A woman may not go out

בְּמַפְתֵּחַ שֶׁבְּיָדָהּ,

with a key that is in her hand,

וְאִם יָצָאת — חַיֶּיבֶת חַטָּאת,

and if she went out, she is liable to bring a sin-offering;

The steps (32)

  1. QuestionWhich statement of רבי מאיר is meant?
  2. ResponseThe ברייתא about the key, the herb bundle, and the balsam flask
  3. ChallengeWho mentioned the herb bundle?
  4. ResolutionThe baraita is missing words, and the full text is restored
  5. Statementרב אדא בר אהבה: carrying less than the minimum amount of food in a vessel makes one liable
  6. ProofWhy the empty perfume flask proves the rule
  7. RejectionAn empty perfume flask is different from a vessel with a little food
  8. StatementThe 'chief oils' in the verse are balsam oil
  9. ChallengeThe חכמים rejected a decree against balsam oil
  10. ResolutionBy that logic, the wine vessels in the same verse would be forbidden too
  11. ProofA sage saw the ריש גלותא drink from such a vessel and said nothing
  12. ConclusionThe rule: pleasure with joy was banned, pleasure alone was not
  13. StatementA first reading of 'stretched out on their couches'
  14. ChallengeExile is too harsh a punishment for that
  15. Resolutionרבי אבהו's reading: shameful immoral behavior
  16. StatementThree things that bring a person to poverty
  17. StatementOnly when facing the bed
  18. StatementOnly onto the floor, not into a container
  19. StatementCareless hand-washing means not washing at all
  20. RejectionRejecting the idea that a little water is enough for washing
  21. StatementWhat kind of cursing by a wife brings poverty
  22. StatementOnly when he can afford the jewelry but does not buy it
  23. StatementThe immodest walking of the daughters of Zion
  24. StatementPerfume in their shoes to tempt the young men
  25. QuestionWhat was their punishment?
  26. ResponseEach punishment matched the sin
  27. StatementInstead of beauty, a sore
  28. StatementThe scab on the daughters of Zion was leprosy
  29. ProofProof from a matching word in the laws of leprosy
  30. Statementרב and שמואל argue about 'their openings'
  31. StatementThe people of Jerusalem were arrogant
  32. StatementAn example of their coded dinner talk