(Permission is granted to print and redistribute this material
as long as this header and the footer at the end are included.)


ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

Previous daf

Shabbos 151

Questions

1)

(a) Yes! One may call an animal that has strayed outside the Techum, on Shabbos.

(b) According to Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah, one is not permitted to mention the amount - one Manah or two, as Aba Shaul permits in the case of someone who is going to fetch the needs of a Kalah or of a dead person.

(c) Aba Shaul is the author of the Mishnah which permits being Machshich al ha'Techum for the needs of a Kalah or of a dead person, as we explained on the previous Amud.

2)
(a) If a gentile brings flutes (to mourn for a Jew) from outside the Techum on Shabbos - a Jew is not allowed to use them ever (see also Tosfos DH 'Nochri').

(b) One may use a coffin or a grave which a gentile prepared on Shabbos for himself or to sell - to bury a Jew.

(c) But if the gentile prepared them on Shabbos for a Jew, then, like the flutes, they may never be used for a Jew.

(d) According to Shmuel, 'from a near place' includes from outside the town, as long as we can suspect (a word whose Hebrew counterpart - Choshesh - sometimes has a connotation of leniency) that they had reached the Techum before Shabbos, and had just waited outside the walls of the town overnight.

3)
(a) If a gentile heated water in a bath-house in a town where the majority of inhabitants are gentiles, then one is permitted to use the hot water immediately after Shabbos; but if the majority of inhabitants - or even exactly half - are Jews, then it is forbidden to use it until the time it would take to heat the water.

(b) The reason that, in the case of the bath-house, a Safek is permitted after 'bi'Chedei she'Yechamu Chamin'; whereas in our Mishnah, the flutes are Asur forever - is because, whereas in the case of the flutes, it is evident that the Melachah was performed for the Jew, in the case of the bath-house, it is *not*, since there are also gentiles (according to Rashi; according to Tosfos DH 'Nochri'), there is no difference between the two cases).

(c) Rebbi Yehudah Omer, be'Ambati Ketanah, Im Yesh Bah Reshus, Rochetz Bah Miyad' - means that in the case of a small bath, and in a town where there is an important (non-Jewish) dignitary, who has ten servants to heat him kettles of water, one may assume that the water was heated on his behalf, and bathe in that water immediately after the termination of Shabbos.

(d) Shmuel seems to follow the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah, who simply assumes that the water was heated up for that dignitary (than to be strict when in doubt).

4) The reason that one may bury a Jew immediately after nightfall, in a grave that a gentile dug on Shabbos - is because the Mishnah speaks when the grave was dug by the main road, where Jews are normally buried. Consequently, the grave was definitely not dug for a Jew (it is not clear why this needs to be said, since our Mishnah expressly says 'Asu *Lo* Aron ve'Chafru *Lo* Kever' - implying that they were specifically prepared for the gentile?)

5)

(a) Yes! One may wash and rub oil on a dead person, or perform any of his other needs, provides one does not move any limbs.

(b) One moves him on to the ground, to prevent his body from becoming too hot and becoming putrid - by pulling the sheet from under him.

(c) If a dead man's cheeks begin to puff out - one is permitted to tie them, to prevent them from puffing out still more, but not to deflate them (since that would entail moving a limb, which is forbidden). A similar Halachah applies to a sagging beam, which one may prevent from sagging still further on Shabbos, by placing a bench underneath it, but one may not lift the beam in any way, since that would constitute building.

151b---------------------------------------151b

Questions

6)

(a) The Gemara thought that it was forbidden to rub oil on the ground, because one was forbidden to move it. If that is the case, why should anointing a dead person (who may not be moved) be permitted?

(b) The Gemara answers that rubbing oil on the ground is forbidden because one may come to straighten the grooves in the ground, which is an Isur d'Oraysa. One is unlikely however, to confuse a dead person for the ground, therefore it is not necessary to forbid anointing him because of making grooves in the ground.

(c) 'Osin Kol Tzorchei ha'Mes' comes to include bringing cold vessels, such as glass or metal vessels to place on his stomach and cool him down.

7)
(a)
  1. "Ad she'Lo Yeratek *Chevel ha'Kesef*" - refers to the spinal cord;
  2. "ve'Tarutz *Gulas ha'Zahav*" - to the Ever ha'Milah;
  3. "ve'Tishava *Kad* Al ha'Mabu'a" - to the stomach;
  4. "ve'Narutz *ha'Galgal* el ha'Bor" - to the dung (Galal).
(b) "ve'Zerisi Peresh Al Penechem, Peresh Chagechem" - refers to people who leave the words of Torah aside, to indulge in the pleasures of this world, as if every day was a Yom-Tov?
8)
(a) 'Ein Me'atzmin es ha'Mes be'Shabbos' - means that one is not permitted to close a dead man's eyes, since that entails moving them, which is forbidden.

(b) It is forbidden to close a *dying*-man's eyes, even during the week; doing so, is akin to murder.

(c) To get a dead man's eyes to close on Shabbos, one would blow wine up his nostrils, place oil between his eye-lashes and hold his big toes.

9)
(a) Like they said about the frozen Hillel (when they brought him down from the roof one Shabbos morning, and lit a fire to revive him): 'It is worthwhile breaking just one Shabbos for this man, so that he should be able to observe many more Shabasos. Tis reasoning is meaningless however, regarding a dead man, about whom the Pasuk writes "ba'Mesim Chofshi" - 'Kevan she'Mes Adam, Na'asah Chofshi Min ha'Mitzvos', and this applies even to David Melech Yisrael.

(b) We learn from ...

1. ... "u'Mora'achem ve'Chitchem Yihyeh al Kol Chayas ha'Aretz" - that once a baby is born, it is not necessary to guard him from weasels and mice, because they are afraid of him; once he dies however, the animals are no longer afraid of him.
2. ... the Pasuk in Tehilim "Adam bi'Yekar ve'Lo Yalin, Nimshal ka'Beheimos Nidmu" teaches us - that a wild animal will only attack a human, when it sees him as an animal (i.e. because he does not observe Torah and Mitzvos).
(c) Until now, we have been speaking about a wild animal attacking *two* people. It *will* however, attack *one* person, under any circumstances.

(d) Someone who sleeps alone in a house - is likely to be seized by a female demon called Lilis.

10)
(a)
1. ... "u'Zechor es Bor'echa bi'Yemei Bachurasecha" - means that one should remember one's Creator in one's youth ...
2. ... "Ad Asher Lo Yavo'u Yemei ha'Ra'ah" - before old age sets in.
3. ... "ve'Higi'u Shanim Asher Tomar Ein Li Bahem Chefetz" - before the days of Mashi'ach arrive (when the Yetzer ha'Ra will become Batel, and there will be no more reward and punishment - since the Yetzer-ha'Ra will no longer be active.
(b) This does not conform with the opinion of Shmuel - who learns from the Pasuk "Ki Lo Yechdal Evyon Mikerev ha'Aretz" that no basic change will take place in the days Mashi'ach, except for the fact that we will be free from the subjugation of the gentile nations of the world.

(c) "Ki Bigelal ha'Davar ha'Zeh" - teaches us that poverty is a wheel that goes from family to family; one person's wealth does not guarantee that his children will also be wealthy. Consequently, one needs to constantly plead with Hashem for Parnasah for oneself and for one's children.

(d) Rebbi Chiya advised his wife to give bread to the poor that came to their door, so that, should their children ever require assistance, it would also be forthcoming from others.

11)
(a) When Rav Yosef cited a tradition that a Talmid-Chacham never became poor - he meant that he would never need to go begging.

(b) We learn from the Pasuk "ve'Nasan Lecha Rachamim ve'Richamcha ve'Hirbecha" - that whoever has mercy on others *will* receive Divine mercy, but someone who does not, will *not*.

(c) Still with reference to old age, when one's functions slow down ...

  1. ... "ha'Shemesh ve'ha'Or " - refer to the forehead and the nose ...
  2. ... "ve'ha'Yare'ach" - to the Neshamah ...
  3. ... " ve'ha'Kochavim" - to the cheeks ...
  4. ... " ve'Shavu he'Avim Achar ha'Geshem" - the eyesight.
12)
(a) Up to the age of forty a person's stock of tears is replenished and eye-paint will improve his eye-sight.

(b) Beyond that, the eye-paint can retain one's eyesight, but not improve it.

(c) When Rav Nachman referred to putting on eye-paint as thick as a weaver's beam - he was teaching us that the more eye-paint one applies to the eye, the more it will improve one's eyesight (provided one has not reached the age of forty).

13)
(a) When Rav Chanina failed to cry at the death of his daughter - his wife asked him whether a chicken of his had died.

(b) He replied - that crying from Tzaros and mourning causes blindness, and that having lost his daughter, he didn't need to lose his eyesight as well.

(c) Tears of smoke and tears that result from straining oneself in the bathroom, are also harmful.

(d) The tears that result from smelling fruit, such as pepper, are healthy, too.

Next daf

Index


For further information on
subscriptions, archives and sponsorships,
contact Kollel Iyun Hadaf,
daf@shemayisrael.co.il