My Mother Told Me אמרה לי אם

When Rav Yosef heard his mother’s footsteps, he would say: I will stand before the arriving Divine Presence. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Fortunate is one who never saw his father and mother, as it is so difficult to honor them appropriately. The Gemara relates that Rabbi Yoḥanan himself never saw his parents. When his mother was pregnant with him, his father died; and when she gave birth to him, his mother died. And the same is true of Abaye. The Gemara asks: Is that so, that Abaye never saw his mother? But didn’t Abaye say on many occasions: My mother told me? The Gemara answers: That mother was actually his foster mother, not his birth mother.

And likewise Abaye, when he would drink one cup, his mother would immediately place two cups in his two hands so that he would not inadvertently drink only one more cup and thereby expose himself to the danger of drinking in pairs. And similarly, when Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak would drink two cups, his attendant would immediately place one more cup in his hand, and if he would drink one cup, the attendant would place two cups in his two hands. These reports indicate that one should be concerned for his safety after drinking an even number of cups, even when he remains at home. The Gemara answers: An important person is different. The demons focus their attention on him, and he must therefore be more careful than the average person.

It is stated: With regard to mustard that one kneaded on Shabbat eve, on the following day, Shabbat, Rav said: One may dissolve it in wine or water with a vessel, but not with his hand, as using a vessel diverges from the normal method of preparation. Shmuel said to him: Why may he not dissolve it with his hand? Is that to say that he dissolves it with his hand every day? If it is prepared in that manner, it is donkey food. Certainly dissolving by hand is not the manner in which mustard is prepared during the week. Therefore, dissolving mustard with a vessel should not be permitted on Shabbat. Rather, Shmuel said the opposite: He may dissolve it with his hand as a divergence from the typical method of preparation, but he may not dissolve it in the usual manner, with a vessel. It is stated that amora’im from Eretz Yisrael also disputed this issue, as Rabbi Elazar said: Both this and that, dissolving by hand and with a vessel, are prohibited; while Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Both this and that are permitted. Abaye and Rava both said: The halakha is not in accordance with the lenient opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan. Subsequently, Rabbi Yoḥanan stood and adopted the opinion of Rabbi Elazar and prohibited both methods of dissolving. Rabbi Elazar stood and adopted the opinion of Shmuel, who prohibited using a vessel but permitted it by hand. Given these stances, Abaye and Rava both said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, who prohibited both methods. The Gemara relates: Abaye’s mother, actually his foster mother, prepared mustard for him, and he did not eat it. Ze’eira’s wife prepared mustard for Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi, her husband’s student, and he did not eat it. She said to him: I made this for your rabbi and he ate it, and you do not eat it? Rava bar Shabba said: I was standing before Ravina, and they stirred mustard for him with the inner part of the garlic, and he ate it. Mar Zutra said: The halakha is not in accordance with any of these statements. Rather, it is in accordance with this one, as it was stated: Mustard that one kneaded on Shabbat eve, on the following day he may dissolve it either by hand or with a vessel, and he may place honey in it. And when he dissolves it he may not beat it forcefully as would a craftsman, but he may mix it gently.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: The study of halakha requires clarity, as on a day when a north wind blows and clears the skies. Abaye said similarly that if my stepmother says to me: Bring me a dish of kutaḥ, I can no longer study Torah in my usual fashion, as even a simple task such as this troubles me and distracts me from my Torah study.

The Gemara asks: What is the affliction aḥilu mentioned here? Rabbi Elazar says: A fire of the bones. The Gemara asks: What is a fire of the bones? Abaye said: This is what is called esh garmei in Aramaic. What is its remedy? Abaye said: My mother told me that any drink consumed for medicinal purposes should be taken for either three or seven or twelve days, depending on what is necessary for that specific ailment. And if this is taken to treat aḥilu then he must drink it until he is healed.

The Gemara clarifies this: At what point is it considered to be a persistent rumor? Abaye said: My mother told me: A rumor in the city lasts a day and a half. The Gemara comments: We said that this is the length of time only if the rumor did not cease in the meantime. But if the rumor did cease in the meantime, even it was later renewed, this is considered a rumor that has ceased and is disregarded. And we said that a rumor that ceased is not considered persistent only if the reason it ceased was not due to fear of the individual about whom it is said. But if it ceased due to fear, it is only due to fear and is still considered a persistent rumor. And we said that a persistent rumor has validity only if the subject of the rumor does not have any known enemies, but if he has enemies it may be assumed that it is the enemies who put out the rumor about him.

The Gemara asks: But the mishna is teaching that they are permitted to wear shoes ab initio. If so, it is permitted for an adult to perform these acts for a child even on the day of Yom Kippur, and the observer will not think that the adult has done anything wrong. Rather, we must explain the mishna as follows: The Sages decreed against performing those actions that are not necessary for the child’s growth, but the Sages did not decree against performing those actions that are necessary for the child’s growth. As Abaye said: My mother told me: A child’s growth requires hot water and oil for smearing. When he grows a little, he must eat egg with kutaḥa, a pickled dip made with milk. When he grows a little more, he must have vessels to break, since he will enjoy breaking them. This is like Rabba who bought cracked ceramic vessels for his children, and they broke them for their enjoyment.

The Gemara asks: But don’t we see that even a married woman has pain when she engages in sexual relations for the first time? Abaye said: My foster mother told me that the pain is like hot water on the head of a bald man. Rava said: My wife, Rav Ḥisda’s daughter, told me that it is like the stab of a bloodletting knife. Rav Pappa said: My wife, Abba Sura’s daughter, told me that it is like the feeling of hard bread on the gums. When a woman engages in intercourse willingly, the pain is negligible. Therefore, the seducer is not obligated to pay for pain.

This is as Abaye said: My foster mother told me that a six-year-old is ready for Bible study and a ten-year-old is mature enough to study Mishna. Additionally, a thirteen-year-old is sufficiently developed to fast for twenty-four hours like any other adult. And as for a girl, she must start observing fasts when she is twelve years old. The Gemara cites another statement of Abaye in the name of his foster mother. Abaye said: My mother told me that a six-year-old child who is stung by a scorpion on the day that he completes six years will not live without emergency treatment. What is his cure? The bile of a white vulture in beer. One should rub him with this mixture and make him drink it. She further said to him: A one-year-old child who is stung by a hornet on the day that he completes a year will not live without emergency treatment. What is his cure? Palm-tree fiber in water. Again, one should rub him with it and make him drink it.

The students asked of Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: What is thehalakha with regard to sealing a barrel of beer during the intermediate days of the Festival? If it is not properly sealed, the beer will leak out through the sides of the barrel. He said to them: Sinai, i.e., Rav Yosef, said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei. They asked: Say that Rabbi Yosei said that one may be lenient about wine, but about beer does he say the same thing? Beer is much cheaper than wine, and the loss would be much less significant. The Gemara explains why no distinction should be made: With regard to wine, what is the reason that Rabbi Yosei was lenient? It is because the loss involved is considerable; with beer as well, there is a loss if the barrel is not properly sealed, as Abaye said: My foster mother told me: It is better to have a barrel of six se’a that is sealed than a barrel of eight se’a that is not sealed, as in the end more beer will remain in the smaller sealed barrel than in the larger unsealed one.

The Gemara answers: It is not difficult. This is referring to a rumor that stops, and therefore it is possible that it is groundless, whereas that is referring to a rumor that does not stop, and in that case there must be a factual basis for the suspicion. The Gemara asks: To be considered a rumor that does not stop, for how long must it persist? Abaye said: My nurse told me: Local gossip lasts for a day and a half, and then it is deemed to be a rumor that does not stop.

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Having mentioned roasted grain, the Gemara tangentially relates that Abaye said: Mother, actually his foster mother, told me: These roasted grains are good for the heart and drive away worrisome thoughts. And Abaye said: Mother told me about another remedy. One who suffers from weakness of the heart should go and bring the meat of the right thigh of a ram, and also bring the dung of grazing cattle from the month of Nisan, and if there is no cattle dung he should bring willow twigs, and then roast the meat on a fire made with the dung or twigs, and eat it, and drink afterward some diluted wine. This will improve his condition.

MISHNA: Young boys may go out on Shabbat with knots as a folk remedy and princes with bells. And any person is permitted to go out on Shabbat with those objects; however, the Sages spoke in the present, addressing situations that were prevalent.

GEMARA: We learned in the mishna that young boys may go out on Shabbat with knots. The Gemara asks: What are these knots? Adda Mari said that Rav Naḥman bar Barukh said that Rav Ashi bar Avin said that Rav Yehuda said: They are garlands of the madder plant that are tied for their medicinal qualities. Abaye said: Mother, actually his foster mother, said to me about the healing properties of madder: Three garlands maintain the illness at its present state and prevent it from worsening, five garlands heal the illness, and seven are effective even against sorcery.

...The Gemara cites additional statements said by Abaye in the name of the woman who raised him with regard to remedies. Abaye said, Mother said to me: All incantations that are repeated are intoned using the name of the mother of the one requiring the incantation, and all knots tied for the purpose of healing are tied on the left. And Abaye said, Mother said to me: All incantations for which the number of times they must be intoned is specified, one recites them as they are specified; and those for which the number of times they must be intoned is not specified, one recites them forty-one times.

...And Abaye said, Mother said to me: To heal a fever of one day, let one take a pale, i.e., newly minted, dinar and go to the salt pools, and weigh its weight in salt against it, and let him bind the salt to the opening of the neckline of his garment with a thread made of hair. And if this remedy is not effective, let him sit at a crossroads, and when he sees a large ant carrying something, he should take the ant and place it in a copper tube, and close it with lead, and seal it with sixty seals, and shake it, and lift it, and say to it: Your burden is upon me and my burden, my fever, is upon you. Rav Aḥa, son of Rav Huna, said to Rav Ashi: And perhaps a different person already found this ant and used this remedy to end his illness. In that case, by accepting the burden of the ant, he is bringing another’s illness upon himself. Rather, let him say to the ant: My burden and your burden are upon you. And if that remedy is not effective, let him take a new jug, and go to the river, and say to it: River, river, lend me a jug of water for a guest who happened to come to me. And let him turn it around his head seven times, and pour out the water behind him, and say to it: River, river, take back the water that you gave me because the guest who happened to come to me came on its day and left on its day.

We learned in the mishna: And on Shabbat one places on the wound from the circumcision a bandage. Abaye said: My nurse said to me: A bandage for all wounds should be made from seven parts fat and one part wax. Rava said: A bandage should be made from wax and sap of a tree.

We learned in the mishna: And on Shabbat one may not make a pouch to place over the circumcision as a bandage ab initio. Abaye said: My mother, actually his foster mother who was the nursemaid who raised him, told me: With regard to that pouch, placed as a bandage over the circumcision of a baby, let one place it on the upper side with the threads below, lest a thread from it stick to the place of circumcision and cause the baby to become one with a severed urethra. The Gemara relates that Abaye’s mother would make a pouch that covered half the place of circumcision so that it would not be damaged through contact with the threads emerging from the edge of the pouch. Abaye said: If this baby does not have a pouch to put on the place of the circumcision, let one bring a worn-out garment with a hem, and wrap the hem under, and fold the garment over, so that the threads from the worn-out garment will not adhere to the wound. And Abaye also said: My mother told me: In the case of a baby the location of whose exit, i.e., anus, is unknown, as it is obscured by skin, let one rub it with oil and stand it before the light of the day. And where it appears transparent, let one tear it with a barley grain widthwise and lengthwise. However, one may not tear it with a metal implement because it causes infection and swelling. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby refuses to nurse, that is because its mouth is cold and it is unable to nurse. What is his remedy? They should bring a cup of coals and place it near his mouth, so that his mouth will warm and he will nurse. And Abaye said that my mother told me: A baby that does not urinate, let one place him in a sieve and shake him, and he will urinate. And Abaye said: My nurse told me: If a baby is not breathing, let them bring his mother’s placenta and place the placenta on him, and the baby will breathe. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby is too small, let them bring his mother’s placenta and rub the baby with it from the narrow end to the wide end of the placenta. And if the baby is strong, i.e., too large, let them rub the baby from the wide end of the placenta to the narrow end. And Abaye said that my mother told me: If a baby is red, that is because the blood has not yet been absorbed in him. In that case, let them wait until his blood is absorbed and then circumcise him. Likewise, if a baby is pale and his blood has not yet entered him, let them wait until his blood enters him and then circumcise him.

The Gemara relates: The Sages of Neharde’a acted in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥiyya and would recite the blessing as they were breaking the bread and conclude the blessing as he finished breaking off the piece of bread. And the Rabbis acted in accordance with the opinion of Rava and would recite the blessing before breaking the bread. Ravina said: My mother told me: Your father acted in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥiyya, as Rabbi Ḥiyya said: The blessing must conclude with the beginning of the breaking of the loaf of bread. And the Rabbis acted in accordance with the opinion of Rava. The Gemara concludes: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rava, who said one recites the blessing over the complete loaf and only afterwards he breaks it.

Rabina said, ‘My mother told me that your father did not eat of the new corn until the night of the seventeenth which is the beginning of the eighteenth, for he is of the same opinion as R. Judah and also takes into account the day of doubt’.

The Gemara answers that there is no contradiction. Did we say that they are not exemplary? They are exemplary, and at the same time cause temporary distraction and intoxication, just as it is in the case of wine, as the Master said: One who drinks a quarter-log of wine should not issue halakhic rulings. And if you wish, say instead: This apparent contradiction is not difficult. This statement, which prohibits issuing a ruling under the influence of dates, is referring to one eating dates before he eats bread, when eating them can lead to intoxication. That statement, which enumerates the salutary effects of dates, is referring to one eating dates after he eats bread. As Abaye said: My mother told me that dates eaten before eating bread are destructive like an ax to a palm tree; dates eaten after eating bread they are beneficial like a bolt to a door, which provides support.