Jewish Audio on Chabad.org. Today's שיעור will be in מסכת עבודה זרה דף כ"ח, but we will start two lines from the bottom of דף כ"ז עמוד ב'. The גמרא says: אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן, רבה בר בר חנה said in the name of רבי יוחנן, כל מכה שמחללין עליה את השבת, any wound that you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for it, אין מתרפאין מהן, such a wound you're not allowed to cure yourself from גוים. Because the גמרא here is in the middle of the סוגיא in connection to the משנה where it spoke about the דין that you're not allowed to cure yourself from גוים, because we're afraid that the גוי, instead of curing you, but while he is claiming that he is curing you, he might kill you. So רבה בר בר חנה holds that a מכה that you are allowed to be מחלל שבת, such a מכה you are not allowed to be מתרפא. The כלל is that only a מכה which is a סכנה, there's a danger to one's life, you are allowed to be מחלל שבת for that מכה, but if there is no danger for a person's life, you are not allowed to be מחלל שבת. So what really he is saying is that a מכה that is סכנת נפשות, you are not allowed to be מתרפא from them, but if there is no סכנה, you are allowed. And as רש"י says, it comes out from this גמרא that he argues on what the גמרא before brought in the name of רב יהודה that אפילו ריבדא דכוסילתא לא מסינן מינייהו, which means that even if it's a scar or the puncture caused by bleeding, also you're not allowed to be healed from them. And the גמרא before said that according to this opinion, not even if there is a סכנה, but even if there is no סכנה you're not allowed to cure yourself from גוים. But רבה בר בר חנה said that only if it's a מכה that you are מחלל שבת, which means a מכה which has a סכנה, you are not allowed to be מתרפא, but a מכה which has no סכנה, you are allowed to cure yourself from גוים.

איכא דאמרי, some say: אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן, that רבה בר בר חנה said in the name of רבי יוחנן, כל מכה של חלל אין מתרפאין מהן, any מכה, any wound which is in the חלל of the body, in the inside of the body, you are not allowed to cure yourself from גוים. And the גמרא asks: מאי בינייהו, what is the difference between these two opinions, whether we say that רבה בר בר חנה said in the name of רבי יוחנן that any מכה that you're מחלל שבת you're not allowed to be מתרפאין מהן, or he said any מכה של חלל you're not allowed to be מתרפאין מהן, because it seems to be the same thing! Because we פסק'ן in the גמרא יומא that any מכה של חלל you are allowed to be מחלל שבת. So if we use the לשון that he said any מכה which you're מחלל שבת, אין מתרפאין מהן, it actually means any מכה של חלל! So what is the difference whether he used this לשון or he used the other לשון? And the גמרא says: איכא בינייהו, the difference between them is גב היד וגב הרגל, the swelling of the hand or the swelling of the foot, because דאמר רב אדא בר מתנה אמר רב, because רב אדא בר מתנה said in the name of רב, גב היד וגב הרגל, if there's swelling on the hand or swelling of the foot, הרי הן כמכה של חלל, it has the same דין as a מכה of the internal part of the body, ומחללין עליהן את השבת, and you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for that. Now, according to the first לשון that he said, that any מכה that you are allowed to be מחלל שבת you are not מתרפא from גוים, so גב היד and גב הרגל would be included, that you are not allowed to cure yourself from גוים if it's a swelling of the hand or of the foot. But according to the לשון that said that he said clearly that any מכה של חלל you are not allowed to be מתרפא, so since גב היד and גב הרגל is not a מכה של חלל, it's not a מכה, not a wound which is inside the body, so according to that you would be able to be מתרפא from גוים if the מכה is גב היד and גב הרגל. And the reason would be because since it's a very external thing, you could see if he will do something wrong, try to hurt you. And therefore, there we are not afraid that he is going to kill you, but if it's a מכה של חלל, if it's inside, so then we are afraid he'll do it. And the גמרא continues:

אמר רב זוטי בר טוביה אמר רב, רב זוטי בר טוביה said in the name of רב, כל מכה שצריכה אומד מחללין עליה את השבת, any מכה that needs estimation, that means that you have to ask the doctors and figure out whether it is a סכנה or not, you are allowed to be מחלל שבת for that already. ואמר רב שמן בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן, שמן בר אבא also said in the name of רבי יוחנן, והאי אשתא דצמירתא, this inflammatory fever, כמכה של חלל דמי, is considered like a מכה that's inside, an internal wound, ומחללין עליה את השבת, and you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for it. Then the גמרא asks: מהיכן מכה של חלל, from which part of the body do we consider it as a wound which is inside that you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for it? And the גמרא says: פירש רב אמי, רב אמי explained, that means מן השפה ולפנים, from the lip and inward. So anything that's inside the body, deeper than the lip, so that has a דין of a מכה של חלל, and you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for that.

בעי ר' אלעזר, ר' אלעזר asked the question, ככי ושיני מאי? The gums and the teeth, what kind of דין does it have? Does it have a דין like a מכה של חלל of the inside, or not? Do we say, כיון דאקשי נינהו, since they are hard, כמכה דבראי דמי, it's like a wound on the outside, או דילמא maybe, כיון דאגואי קיימי, since after all they are inside, they're already inside deeper than the lips, כמכה של חלל דמי, it is considered like a מכה של חלל, like an internal מכה? אמר אביי, אביי said, תא שמע, come here, I'll try to answer your question. We learned, החושש בשיניו, if someone is bothered by his teeth, so then לא יגמע בהן את החומץ. You're not allowed to drink the vinegar, because vinegar would help the teeth. Now on שבת, a person is not allowed to take medicine. The רבנן made a גזירה that if a person will take medicine on שבת, then we're afraid he's going to prepare his own medicine and he might come to grind the different spices that you have to use for medicine. So there's a גזירה that you are not allowed to take any medicine on שבת. Now drinking חומץ, drinking vinegar that comes over the teeth is a kind of medicine for the teeth. So if he's bothered by the teeth, so then the דין is that he's not allowed to drink the vinegar. So it comes out from there that חושש הוא דלא, it's only if it bothers him you're not allowed. הא כאיב ליה טובא, but if it hurts him a lot, שפיר דמי, he is allowed. So we see from here that you are allowed to take medicine if your teeth hurt you. So obviously, the teeth are considered כמכה של חלל, like inside. So the גמרא says, no, maybe when it says that if his teeth bother him, he's not allowed to take the חומץ, דילמא תנא היכא דכאיב ליה טובא חושש נמי קרי ליה? Maybe this תנא, if it hurts him a lot, he still calls it only חושש. The whole ראיה we had was because we were מדייק that only if it's חושש בשיניו, חושש it means he's bothered by his teeth, that's when he's not allowed to take the חומץ. So we thought that if it hurts him a lot, he is allowed. But the גמרא says maybe when the תנא says חושש בשיניו, he doesn't only mean bothered a little bit, maybe he means when it hurts him a lot, and nevertheless it says you're not allowed to take the חומץ. So that would mean that it is not considered a מכה של חלל. So we have no ראיה from here that it is considered a מכה של חלל. Then the גמרא continues, תא שמע, come here, I'll try to answer your question. ר' יוחנן חש בצפדינא, ר' יוחנן was troubled with scurvy on his gums. אזל לגבי דההיא מטרוניתא, so he went to this certain lady, a certain גויה lady. עבדה חמשא ומעלי שבתא, she worked on him, she put on her medicine on Thursday and on Friday. אמר לה, and he said to her, למחר מאי? What will be tomorrow? Tomorrow is שבת, so I can't come to you because I have to give the שיעור. So what will be with the medicine tomorrow? אמרה ליה, so she said to him, לא צריכת, you probably won't need it. So he asked her, אי צריכנא מאי? If I will need it, what will I do? אמרה, so she said to him, אישתבע לי, swear to me, דלא מגלית, that you are not going to reveal to anybody the medicine, and I will tell you what the medicine is, and you'll be able to put it on yourself. אישתבע לה, so he swore to her, לאלהא דישראל לא מגלינא, that I swear to the God of ישראל that I will not reveal it. גליא ליה, so she revealed it to him, and she told him exactly what the medicine is made of. למחר, on the next day, on שבת, נפק, he went out, דרשה בפירקא. In his שיעור, he דרש'ד it, he told everybody the ingredients of this medicine. But the גמרא asks, והאישתבע לה, didn't he swear to her that he's not going to reveal? How was he עובר on his שבועה? And the גמרא answers the לשון that he used in his שבועה was לאלהא דישראל לא מגלינא: I swear to the God of ישראל I will not reveal it. He didn't say, I swear by the God of ישראל that I will not reveal it. He didn't say באלהא דישראל, he said לאלהא דישראל, and he meant that to the God of the יידן I will not reveal it, אבל לעמיה ישראל, but to His nation the יידן, מגלינא, I will reveal it! And that's why it's not considered that he was עובר on a שבועה. But the גמרא asks, והאיכא חילול השם, isn't there a חילול השם? As far as she was concerned, he did swear to her that he will not reveal it, and then when he went and revealed it, it's a חילול השם! And the גמרא answers, דגלי לה מעיקרא. He had told her before. After he swore to her and she told him the medicine, he told her, "You know that I really didn't swear to you, because I said לאלהא דישראל." So she knew that he was going to reveal it, so his revealing it was not a חילול השם. But the גמרא still see- we see here, אלמא כמכה של חלל דמיא, we We do see that it's considered like an internal מכה, because here the problem was that he couldn't come to her because he had to give the שיעור. But the problem wasn't about putting on the medicine, that for sure he was allowed. And that's why when she told him what it is, he was ready to put it on on שבת. So we see that even though only his teeth hurt him, and nevertheless he was allowed to put on the medicine on שבת, so that shows that this is like a מכה של חלל. So the גמרא says, אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק, רב נחמן בר יצחק said, שאני צפדינה, צפדינה is different. Scurvy on the gums is different. הואיל ומתחלת בפה, since it starts with the mouth, וגומרת בבני מעיים, but it finishes off with the intestines. In other words, at this point it is לית בה סכנה, but it'll end up if you don't put the medicine on, it'll end up with a sickness in the intestines and that already is a סכנה, that's a מכה של חלל, and that's why he was allowed to put the medicine on on שבת. Then the גמרא asks, מאי סימניה, what are the symptoms to this sickness? So the גמרא says, רמי מידי בי ככי, if you put something between your teeth, ומייתי דמא מבי דרי, and it bleeds from your gums. So then you know that you have the sickness. Then the גמרא asks, ממאי הוה, from what does it come? What is the cause of this sickness? So the גמרא says, מקרירי קרירי דחיטי, מחמימי חמימי דשערי, that means from the chill of cold wheat food and the heat of hot barley food. And also משיורי כסא דהרסנא, and from the remnant of the fish hash and flour. Then the גמרא asks, מאי עבדת ליה, what did she do to him? How did she cure him? What medicine did she put on to him? אמר רב אחא בריה דרבא, so רב אחא son of רבא said, מי סאור, leaven water, ושמן זית, and olive oil, ומלח, and salt. ומר בר רב אשי אמר, מר בר רב אשי said, what did she put on? משחא דאווזא בגדפא דאווזא, goose fat smeared with a goose quill. אמר אביי, אביי said, אנא עבדי כולהו, I did all this, ולא איתסאי, and I didn't get cured, עד דאמר לי ההוא טייא, till this Arab, this wandering Arab told me: אייתי קשיתא דזיתא דלא מלו תילתא, get seeds of an olive not one-third ripe, וקלינהו אמרא חדתא, and burn them on a new spade, ודביק בי דרי, and spread the ashes on the gums. עבדי הכי, I did so, ואיתסאי, and I was cured. ורבי יוחנן היכי עביד הכי, and now the גמרא asks, how was רבי יוחנן allowed to do this? To go to this גויה and have her put the medicine on? והא אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן, didn't רבה בר בר חנה say in the name of רבי יוחנן, which is the same רבי יוחנן? He said, כל מכה שמחללין עליה את השבת, any מכה that you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for it, אין מתרפאין מהן, you're not allowed to get cured from the גוים. Now in this case, it was a מכה that you were allowed to be מחלל שבת, as we said before, which means it was a סכנה, so he wasn't allowed to get cured from this גויה, so how did he go to her? And the גמרא answers, אדם חשוב שאני, an important person is different. The whole reason is because we're afraid that the גוי is going to kill him, but since he was an important person, there is no fear that she is going to kill him. But then the גמרא asks, והא רבי אבהו אדם חשוב הוה, רבי אבהו was also an אדם חשוב, an important person, ורמי ליה יעקב מינאה סמא אשקיה, and יעקב the מין put medicine on his foot, ואי לא רב אמי ורב אסי דלחכו לשקיה, and if not for רב אמי and רב אסי that licked his foot and licked off and sucked out the medicine, פסקוה לשקיה, he would have cut off his foot, because you're not allowed to get cured from a מין. And even though רבי אבהו was an אדם חשוב, nevertheless if they wouldn't have sucked off the medicine, he would have cut off his foot not to get cured from the גוי. So how was רבי יוחנן allowed to do this, even though he was an אדם חשוב, but we see that רבי אבהו was an אדם חשוב and still he didn't think that you're allowed to do it? And the גמרא says, דרבי יוחנן רופאה מומחה הוה, that this woman who cured רבי יוחנן, she was an expert רופאה, and an expert רופאה, an expert doctor is different because this person would not want to spoil his reputation, and therefore there is more סברא to say that they won't do anything, they won't hurt the person. But then the גמרא says, דרבי אבהו נמי רופא מומחה הוה, the one that cured רבי אבהו was also a רופא מומחה. And the גמרא answers, שאני רבי אבהו, רבי אבהו is different, because in that case it was a מין. It wasn't like the case of רבי יוחנן where it was just a גוי, but in the case of רבי אבהו it was a מין, דמוקמי מיני בנפשייהו תמות נפשי עם פלשתים. The מינים apply to themselves the concept of תמות נפשי עם פלשתים. This was a לשון said by שמשון הגיבור right before he passed away, and he was there in the building where you had the פלשתים, and he asked השם to help him knock over the pillars that were holding up the building, so all the פלשתים in that building would die, and he knew that he would die with them, so he said, "תמות נפשי עם פלשתים", let my נפש, let me die together with the פלשתים. And this is an expression used when somebody is ready to spoil it for himself as long as he will spoil it to his enemy. And that's what the מינים are. They don't mind to do some spoiling for themselves as long as they're able to do some harm for a איד. So therefore, he was afraid that even though that doctor was a רופא מומחה, and therefore if he would hurt רבי אבהו he would have spoiled his reputation, but he was afraid that by this מין, he would do this concept of hurting רבי אבהו even though he would hurt himself with it. Then the גמרא says, אמר שמואל, שמואל said, האי פדוסא סכנתא היא, an open wound is regarded as dangerous, ומחללין עליה את השבת, and you're allowed to be מחלל שבת for that. מאי אסוותא? What is the cure? So he says like this: למיפסק דמא, if it's for stopping the bleeding, then it's תחלי בחלא, it's cress with vinegar; לאסוקי, to bring back the flesh, then it's גירדא דיוולא, scraped root of cynodon, וגירדא דאסנא, and the paring of the bramble, אי נמי קקולי, the worms from the garbage that the chickens poke in. Then the גמרא continues, אמר רב ספרא, רב ספרא said, האי ענבתא, this wound which has a berry shape, פרוונקא דמלאכא דמותא היא, this is a forerunner of the מלאך המות, which means that this is something that could cause a person to die. מאי אסוותא? What is the remedy for it? תיגנא בדובשא, rue in honey, אי כרפסי בטיליא, or parsley in strong wine. אדהכי והכי, but in the meantime, what should you do? ענבתא בת מינה, you should find a berry which is resembling it in size, וניגנדרה ליה, and you should be brought and rolled over it. And what kind should it be? חיורתא לחיורתא, a white berry for a white one, for the white wound, ואוכמתא לאוכמתא, and a black one for a black one. אמר רבא, רבא said, האי סימתא, this abscess, פרוונקא דאישתא היא, this is a forerunner of fever. This is something that's going to breed fever. מאי אסוותא? What is the remedy for it? למחייה שיתין מסכותי, which means it should be snapped 60 times with the thumb, וליקרעיה שתי וערב, and then you should cut it crosswise. And that's how it that will cure it. והני מילי, that is only דלא חיוור רישא, if it wasn't brought to a white head; אבל חיוור רישא, if it came to a white head, לית לן בה, it doesn't matter, there's nothing to worry about. Then the גמרא continues, רב יעקב חוש בפיקא, רב יעקב was suffering from a slit in the rectum. אמר ליה רב אמי, so רב אמי said to him, told him, ואמרי לה רב אסי אמר ליה, some say it was רב אסי that said to him, that this is the cure: ליתי שבע ביעי אלאתונא, he should bring seven grains of purple-colored alkali, וצייריה בחללא דבית צוארא, and you should wrap them up in the collar of a shirt, וליכרכיה ליה נירא ברקא, and you should tie it around with a white thread of cattle hair, ותמשיליה בנפט חיוורא, and dip it in white naphtha, וליקליה, and you should burn it, ובדר ליה עלויה, and apply those ashes to the sore. אדהכי והכי, but while in the meantime you are preparing this, what should you do? ליתי, let him bring קשייתא דאסנא, the kernel of bramble nut, לינח פיקא להדא פיקא, and he should apply its split side to the split. והני מילי פיקא עילאה, but that is only if it's an external split. פיקא תתאה מאי? What is one to do if it is an internal split? So it says, ליתי, let him bring תרבא דצפירתא, some fat of a goat דלא אפתח, that has not bore any young, ולפשריה, let him melt it, ולישדי ביה, let him apply it to it. ואי לא, and if not, ליתי, let him bring תלת תלת טרפי קרא דמייבשי בטולא, three melon leaves which have faded in the shade, וליקלי, let him burn it, וליבדר עילויה, let him apply the ashes to it. ואי לא, and if not, if you don't have this, ליתי משכא דחילזוני, should apply snail shells. ואי לא, and if you don't have that, מאי סבי, you should bring משח קירו, olive oil mixed with wax, ולינקט בשיחקא דכיתנא בקיטא, and let him be covered with a rag of linen in the summer, and עמר גופנא בסיתוא, and cotton wool in the winter. And the גמרא continues, רבי אבהו חש באודניה, רבי אבהו had pain in his ear. אורי ליה רבי יוחנן, so רבי יוחנן said to him, directed him what to do. ואמרי לה, and some say, בי מדרשא, it was in the בית מדרש that they directed him what to do. מאי אורי ליה, what did they direct him, what did they tell him? כהא דאמר אביי, similar to what אביי said, אמרה לי אימי said, my mother said—it wasn't really his mother, it was the one that brought him up, it was his nurse, but since she raised him, she is considered as his mother. So he says, she said to him, לא איבריא כוליתא, kidneys were not created, אלא לאודנא, only for the ear; in other words, kidneys are good for the ear. ואמר רבא, and also did רבא say, אמר לי מניומין אסיא, מניומין the doctor said to me, כולי שקייני קשו לאודנא, that any kind of fluid is bad for the ear, לבר ממיא דכוליתא, except the juice from kidneys. So what should you do? ליתי כוליתא דברחא קרחא, one should take a kidney of a black buck, וליקרעיה שתי וערב, and he should cut it crosswise, ולינח אמעלל דנורא, and place it on glowing coals, והנהו מיא דנפקי מינייהו, and the water which comes out of it, you should לשדינהו באודניה, put that into your ear. לא קרירא ולא חמימא, it shouldn't be too cold, it shouldn't be too hot, אלא פשורי, it should be lukewarm. ואי לא, and if he doesn't have this, ליתי תרבא דחיפושיתא גמלתא, he should bring the fat of a large-sized cockchafer, וליפשר, and melt it, ולישדי בה, and should drip it into the ear. ואי לא, and if you don't have that, נמלי לה לאודניה משחא, the ear should be filled with oil, וליעבד שבע פתילתא דאספסתא, and you should have seven wicks made out of green blades of wheat stalks,

וליתי שיבצא דתומא, וליסוף ברקא בחד רישא, and at one end he should have dry garlic ends and some white thread, ולידליק בהו נורא, and he should set it afire, ואידך רישא, while the other end, מותיב באודניה, is placed within the ear, וליתיב אודניה להדי נורא, and the ear should be exposed to the light, ואיזדהר, but you should be careful, מזיקא, from no—that no sparks should fly there. ונשקול חדא וננח חדא, he should take one out and put the other one in; in other words, you should replace one after the other one is finished. לישנא אחרינא, another לשון was that ואי לא, if you don't have what we said before, ליתי שבע פתילתא ביקרא, one should prepare seven wicks of white thread, ושייפליה משחא דאספסתא, and dip them in oil of balsam wood, וניצית חד רישא בנורא, and you should set light to one end, וחד רישא באודניה, while placing the other end in the ear, ונשקול חדא וננח חדא, you should finish, put one in, and then when you finish, take it out and put the other one in, ואיזדהר מזיקא, and you should be careful that there should be no sparks. ואי לא, and if not, ליתי עודרא דנדא דלא משקי, you should take tow cotton which has been dyed but not combed, וננח בה, and place it in the ear, ולידלי ליה לאודניה להדי נורא, and the ear should be placed above a fire, ומיזדהר מזיקא, but you should be careful against sparks. ואי לא, and if you can't do that, ליתי גופסא דקניא עתיקא, take a tube of an old cane which is old, בר מאה שנין, which means it was cut off from the soil for about a hundred years, ולימלחיה מלחא גללניתא, and fill it with rock salt, וליקלי, and then burn it, ולידבק, and then apply it, the ashes to the ear. וסימנך, and the סימן to remember this, רטיבא ליבשתא ויבשתא לרטיבא, the wet one to the dry one and the dry one to the wet one, which which means that not all the medicines will fit to all the sores in the ear. But those medicines that have some liquid in it, those medicines are good if the sore in the ear is a dry sore. And those medicines that we mentioned before which are dry, they are good for the sore in the ear which is wet. Then the גמרא says, אמר רבא בר רב זוטרא אמר רב חנינא, רבא בר רב זוטרא said in the name of רב חנינא, מעלין אזנים בשבת, you're allowed to restore the ear into its proper position on שבת.

תני רב שמואל בר רב יהודה, so רב שמואל בר רב יהודה said, ביד, you're only allowed to do it with a hand, אבל לא בסם, but not with medicine. And the reason is, since putting on medicines a איסור on שבת, so as long as you're able to do it with your hand, you're allowed to do it. But if you have to do it with medicine, you're not allowed. איכא דאמרי, some say just the opposite, בסם, you're only allowed to do it with medicine, אבל לא ביד, but not with a hand. מאי טעמא, what is the reason? מיזרף זריף, because it causes soreness. If you will do it with the hand, it'll make it more sore, and then you are not allowed, because making a sore is a חילול שבת. So if you do it with your hand, you're going to cause a more sore, you're going to be מחלל שבת. So therefore you should only do it with medicines. Then the גמרא says, אמר רב זוטרא בר טוביה אמר רב, רב זוטרא בר טוביה said in the name of רב, עין שמרדה, if one's eye revolts, which means it gets out of order, מותר לכוחלה בשבת, you're allowed to paint in on שבת. And that was a kind of paint that would restore the eye. סבר מיניה, so he thought from him when he heard him say this, he thought הני מילי הוא דשחקי סמנים מאתמול, when is he allowed to paint it with the special spices, if they were ground from yesterday, from before שבת. אבל מישחק בשבת, but to grind it on שבת, ואתויי דרך רשות הרבים, and to have to bring it through the רשות הרבים, which is a real מלאכה דאורייתא, לא, you're not allowed. Only if he did it before שבת. The only שאלה would be whether you're allowed to apply it on שבת, so then he says you are allowed. But if you would have to do a מלאכה דאורייתא to it, he assumed that you wouldn't be able to do it. אמר ליה ההוא מרבנן, so one of the רבנן said to him, ורבי יעקב שמיה, and his name was רבי יעקב, לדידי מפרשא מיניה דרב יהודה, that I know clearly from רב יהודה, אפילו מישחק בשבת, you're even allowed to grind it on שבת, ואתויי דרך רשות הרבים, and to bring it from through the רשות הרבים, מותר, it's also מותר, because this is a סכנה. And therefore you are allowed to be מחלל שבת with a מלאכה דאורייתא for this. Then the גמרא continues, רב יהודה שרא למיכחל עינא בשבת, רב יהודה allowed to paint the eye on שבת, which means to apply that medicine on שבת. אמר להו רב שמואל בר רב יהודה, so רב שמואל בר רב יהודה said to the תלמידים there, מאן צאית ליהודה, who's going to listen to יהודה, מחל שביעי, to be מחלל שבת? Because he held that you're not allowed to do it. So he said, who's going to listen to this רב יהודה who allowed to be מחלל שבת. לסוף חש בעיניה, the end was that רב שמואל בר רב יהודה himself had trouble with his eye. שלח ליה, so he sent a question to רב יהודה, שרי או אסיר, am I allowed to put the medicine on on שבת, or am I not allowed? שלח ליה, so he said back to him, לכולי עלמא שרי, for everybody it is מותר. לדידך אסיר, for you it is אסור, because you are the one that yourself פסקנ'ט that you're not allowed. So to you it is אסור. And he gave him the reason why he פסקנ'ד that it's allowed: וכי מדידי הוא, is it mine? Was it my own פסק דין? דמר שמואל היא, this is a פסק דין of מר שמואל. And he tells the story, דההיא אמתא דהואי בי מר שמואל, there was this maid by מר שמואל, דקדחה לה עינה בשבתא, she had a fever in her eye on שבת, צווחא צווחא, screamed, וליכא דאשגח בה, no one cared about it, no one paid any attention to it, because they assumed that it's not dangerous and you're not allowed to be מחלל שבת, so there is nothing they could do about it anyway, so no one paid attention to it. פקעא עינה, so her eye dropped. למחר נפק מר שמואל, the next day, מר שמואל went out ודרש, and he דרש'נד in the ישיבה, עין שמרדה, if an eye is out of order, מותר לכוחלה בשבת, you are allowed to paint in on שבת. מאי טעמא, what is the reason? דשוריינא דעינא באובנתא דליבא תלי, the sight of the eye is connected to the veins of the heart, so therefore it is not just a question of becoming blind, which is not סכנת נפשות and you wouldn't be allowed to be מחלל שבת, but it's a question of סכנה for the person's life. Then the גמרא says, כגון מאי, what kind of disorder are we talking about? אמר רב יהודה, so רב יהודה said, כגון, for instance, רירא, if there is a discharge, דיצא, if there is pricking, דמא, if there is congestion, דימעתא, if there is watering, וקידחא, if there is inflammation, ותחלת אוכלא, or the first stage of sickness. לאפוקי סוף אוכלא, this comes to exclude if it's the last stage of sickness, or if it's צוחי, or if it's צוחי עיניה, or if it's the brightening of the eyesight, דלא, in this case, it is not permitted to be מחלל שבת because this is not a סכנה. Then the גמרא continues, אמר רב יהודה, רב יהודה said, זיבורא, if Then the גמרא continues, אמר רב יהודה, רב יהודה said, זיבורא, if you got the sting of a wasp, or the חזי סילוא, if you got pricked by a thorn, וסמטא, if you have an abscess, או דכאיב ליה עיניה, if you have a sore eye, ואתו עילויה אישתא, and if you have an inflammation, כולהו בבי בני סכנתא, for all these, it is dangerous to go into a bathhouse. And then it continues, חמא לחמא, radishes are good for fever, וסילקא לצינא, and beets are good for cold shivers. וחילופא סכנתא, if you have the opposite, it is dangerous. In other words, if you're going to have radishes for cold shivers, or you're going to eat beets for fever, then it's dangerous. Then it continues, חמימי לעקרבא, warm things are good for a scorpion bite, וקרירי לזיבורא, and cold things for that by a wasp. וחילופא סכנתא, if you have it the reverse, it is dangerous. חמימי לסילוא, warm things are good for a thorn prick, וקרירי, קרירי לחספניתא, and cold are good for an eruption. וחילופא סכנתא, but the reverse is dangerous. חלא לציבורי, vinegar is good after letting blood, ומוניני לטניתא, and small fish in brine are good after fasting. וחילופא סכנתא, the reverse is dangerous. תחלי וציבורי סכנתא, cress after bloodletting is dangerous. אישתא וציבורא, ציבורא סכנתא, fever is also dangerous for letting blood. כאיב עיניה וציבורא סכנתא, so also sore eyes are dangerous for letting blood. שני לדג דם, the second day after eating fish should be used for letting blood. שני לדם דג, the second day after bleeding is good for eating fish. שלישי לאי סכנתא, and the third day, it is dangerous, it could be injurious. Then the גמרא continues, תנו רבנן, the רבנן learned, המקיז דם, when you let blood, לא יאכל חגב''ש, do not eat the things which are in the abbreviation of ח' ג' ב' ש'. And the גמרא explains what it is: לא חלב, not milk, ולא גבינה, not cheese, ולא בצלים, and not onions, ולא שחליים, and not pepperwort. אם אכל, if one did eat one of these things, אמר אביי, so אביי said, נייתי רביעתא דחלא, he should take a quarter of vinegar, ורביעתא דחמרא, and a רביעית of wine, ונערבינהו בהדי הדדי, and he should mix them together, ונישתי, and he should drink it. And that will be the cure. וכי מפני, when he will then have to attend to his natural needs, he will have to go to the bathroom, לא ליפני אלא למזרחה של עיר, he should only do it to the east side of the town, משום דקשי ריחא, because then it will have a very bad smell, and if you do it to the other side, the wind will blow it, so therefore you should only do it to the מזרח side of the city, so the wind won't blow that smell into the city. Because the wind from the מזרח side is the weakest wind, so this will blow it the weakest, the least, and therefore he should do it only to the מזרח side.

Concerning all these medicines that the גמרא said, so it says in אחרונים that we nowadays cannot rely on these medicines, because we know that נשתנו הטבעים, the nature changed from what the time of the גמרא, and therefore those things that the גמרא says we should use for medicine is לאו דווקא that they will help nowadays, too, as it says in the רמ''א אבן העזר סימן קנ''ו סעיף ד', the מגן אברהם אורח חיים סימן קע''ג סעיף קטן א', in the אלטר רבי שלחן ערוך אורח חיים סוף סימן קע''ט, and many places. In שדי חמד, the first volume, דף ר''י עמוד א' and further, and the tenth volume, עמוד קצ''ד, so there, he discusses and brings a lot of אחרונים who bring out that the medicines that are in the ש''ס don't apply nowadays, and therefore we can't rely on it. But the question that one might ask is לכאורה לכאורה, how does that fit to the concept that התורה היא נצחית, that the תורה is eternal? We know this concept, התורה היא נצחית, doesn't only apply to תורה שבכתב, but also applies to תורה שבעל פה. Because we know that כל המצוות that were given למשה מסיני, as the רמב"ם says in his הקדמה, בפירושן ניתנה, was given together with תורה שבעל פה. So when we say the תורה היא נצחית, so the תורה שבעל פה is also נצחית. And this applies to all parts of תורה שבעל פה. Because we know that מקרא, משנה, תלמוד and אגדה, אפילו מה שתלמיד ותיק עתיד לחדש, everything is נאמרו למשה מסיני, as it says in many places in ירושלמי and in other ספרים. So it comes out that also those ענינים that are mentioned in the גמרא, which are connected to nature of people, or those things which are רפואות, since they are also part of תורה שבעל פה, because they are in the גמרא, so they're also included in the כלל of נצחיות התורה, which will never change. So the question that comes up is, how does this fit with the fact that נשתנו הטבעים, that the nature changed, and therefore the medicines of the גמרא don't apply? So it comes out that there is something in תורה שבעל פה which doesn't apply nowadays, which means it's not נצחי. And this is not the same as we speak about ענינים of איסור, that the חכמים said in many places that because of a certain סכנה you are not allowed to do a certain thing. And we know that in some places the דין changed. For instance, there is a דין that you're not allowed to drink מים מגולים. You're not allowed to drink water that was left open. Why? Because we're afraid maybe a snake drank from it. And nevertheless, the דין is that nowadays, when we live in places that the snakes are not מצוי, so we are allowed to drink מים מגולים. But there we understand, because there לכתחילה, the גמרא says that the whole reason was only because of נחשים, and as תוספות says בפירוש later on here in עבודה זרה דף ל"ה עמוד א', that מתחילה לא נאסר בכל המקומות, לכתחילה the איסור wasn't all over, only in those places where you have נחשים, where you have snakes. And therefore, nowadays that we don't have snakes, so לכתחילה the איסור doesn't apply. So this is not a contradiction to the ענין of נצחיות התורה, because this is a condition in the דין לכתחילה. Just like we understand that there is no contradiction to the נצחיות התורה from the fact that many דינים don't apply בזמן הזה or don't apply in certain places or in certain times, only בזמן שבית המקדש קיים, etc., because תורה itself מלכתחילה established that there's a specific time or a specific place where this מצוה applies. But the ענינים of רפואה, the medicines, or the ענינים of סגולה which are in the תורה, where it doesn't say that that only applies in a certain place, for instance in our סוגיא in the גמרא that we learned, the גמרא doesn't say that this is only in that time when the sickness was in that way, and not when the nature will change. And since there is no condition given, so it's as if the גמרא is saying that this is the cure. So how is it possible that this should change? So nowadays this doesn't apply, so there is no נצחיות in that ענין, so לכאורה this is a contradiction to the נצחיות of the תורה. באמת, the same קשיא also applies to the רמב"ם in הלכות דעות. The רמב"ם in הלכות דעות has a full, complete פרק, the fourth פרק, where he speaks about how a person should act in his food and in his drinking, etc. And he starts off by saying, since the person's body has to be healthy because then he's able to serve השם, so therefore he should eat and drink in a certain way. Now the רמב"ם's ספר, we know, is a ספר of הלכות. So we know that everything that the רמב"ם says there is a הלכה. Now we know that it is הלכה a person has to watch his health, because the פסוק says ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם. But nevertheless, the words of the doctor don't become דברי תורה. The דין is that when a doctor says something, so then you are supposed to listen to him, but not the words of the doctor himself is דברי תורה. But those things that the רמב"ם did write in his ספר, they are דברי תורה, because the רמב"ם himself said that his ספר is הלכות הלכות, it's only a ספר of הלכות. So those things that he says that a person should eat or not eat, those are הלכות. And the best ראיה for that would be that if for instance a person learns that פרק in הלכות דעות, he is מקיים the מצוה of תלמוד תורה. And before he learns it, he must say ברכת התורה. So it's understood that these are הלכות. So the question is, we know that many of the things that the רמב"ם writes don't apply nowadays because נשתנו הטבעים, that the nature changed even from the time of the רמב"ם. So the question is, how does that fit with the נצחיות התורה? לכאורה, the רמב"ם, what he should have done, it seems, he should have written that you should follow the instructions of a doctor in order to be healthy, because to be healthy is a מצוה. And in a different place, in a ספר הרפואה, he should have written what a person should eat. Just like the רמב"ם himself, in the end of the פרק, he writes that if a person is sick, then he should not follow the instructions that he gave, but there are other things he's supposed to do, and he says: כמו שיבואר בספרי הרפואות, as this is brought out down in the books of medicine. But these things that he does write, obviously, this is not just a medical thing, this is actually part of the תורה. But the question is, since this is not for always, how does this fit with נצחיות התורה? So the ליובאוויטשער רבי in his ספר לקוטי שיחות כרך כ"ג, twenty-third volume, in the שיחה that he has there concerning שבועות, so he explains it as follows. He says that רמב"ם himself explains in his ספר המצות, the reason why he counts amongst the מצות the מצוה of השמדת ז' אומות, of destroying the seven nations. Even though לכאורה this is a מצוה that doesn't apply to all generations, and the רמב"ם himself says that only מצות which apply לדורות for all generations he put into a ספר, but not מצות that don't apply to all generations. And he says like this: that really, the מצוה of destroying all the nations applies always. Even though we don't have the nations, and therefore בפועל we can not do this מצוה, but it's not because the מצוה doesn't apply. The מצוה applies. It is just that the מציאות of the nations are not there with whom to do the מצוה. But the מצוה is there, that's why he counts it. The same thing we could say here too. That באמת all the medicine that the גמרא says and the רמב"ם says, all of them apply now too. If the nature of people would be the same as they were then, this would be the medicine, or this would be the way a person is supposed to act in his eating and drinking as the רמב"ם says. The only thing is, the מציאות changed. The people have a different nature. So it's not the פשט that this thing is not a הוראה, that this is not a lesson or a תורה which is for always. This is a הוראה נצחית, this is a lesson which is eternal. That whenever the מציאות is as it was in the time of the גמרא, when the nature of the people are like that, whenever it should be, was it if it's then or now, this and this is the medicine. איי לפועל nowadays the medicine doesn't apply because the nature changed, so it's not that the הוראה, the lesson, the דין changed, it's that the מציאות changed. So just like in the case of where the רמב"ם says it's still considered a מצוה nowadays, and he counts it in the מנין המצות of a ספר המצות, even though בפועל we can't do it, but that's because the מציאות isn't there, the same thing here, all these things of the גמרא are true now also, the only thing is, the nature is different, so the מציאות of people for whom this should apply is different. Because the sickness is a different sickness because the people are different. But even now, if the מציאות would be that the nature of the people would be the way that they used to be in the time of the גמרא, in the time of the רמב"ם, then this would apply to them too. So it comes out that this is נצחי, it is eternal. But סוף כל סוף, the ליובאוויטשער רבי שליט"א says that it's not so understood, because by the דין of the השמדת ז' אומות, or by מחיית עמלק etc., there, this דין, that you have to destroy these nations is part of the מצוה. So therefore it is a condition, the מצוה is for always when you have this nation. If you don't have the nation, then לכתחילה the מצוה says there is no מצוה. So it's like any other איסור which has a time limit, that there is a condition in the מצוה that only at a certain time you have to do it, so at the time when you don't have to do it, it doesn't mean it's not נצחי, because that is a condition לכתחילה in the מצוה. But all these things in the גמרא and in the רמב"ם, the גמרא doesn't make a condition that this is only if the nature of the people are the way they are then. So it seems as if this is a lesson, this is a דין for always. So here לכאורה it should be more than that, it shouldn't just be that if the מציאות would be that way so then it would apply now. Here it should have been that this actually should apply now too because there is no condition put into these things in the גמרא and the רמב"ם. So therefore the ליובאוויטשער רבי שליט"א explains it as follows. He says it says in the ספר עשרה מאמרות, and the של"ה writes about it באריכות, and so does the אריז"ל at many places, that we should know that התורה מדברת בעצם בעליונים ורומזת בשנית בתחתונים. It is not like people think, that the תורה is מדברת בתחתונים, the תורה speaks about things down here in this world, it just hints for things of the higher worlds. In other words, everyone believes that the תורה also has רמזים for ענינים רוחניים in the

higher spiritual worlds, but the truth is just opposite. The תורה starts and mainly is בעליונים, speaks about spiritual things. It also is רומזת בתחתונים, it hints to the way things are down here. But the main, the עצם of the תורה is the way the ענינים are in its spiritual sense. Certainly we know that אין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו, that when you have a פשט in a פסוק, that's the real פשט. But in addition to that, we have to remember that the same פשט that we have בגשמיות also has a רוחניות'דיקע פשט, and that רוחניות'דיקע פשט is the source of the גשמיות'דיקע פשט, that is the way the תורה is בעצם, and from there it came down to this world. As it's a מפורש'ע פסוק that says ואהיה אצלו שעשועים, the תורה was שעשועים by השם, so first the תורה was there. And as the גמרא says in שבת that the לשון is חמודה גנוזה שגנוזה לך, when the מלאכים complain to משה about getting the תורה, so it says there that the תורה is חמודה גנוזה שגנוזה לך, it's hidden by השם, and השם gave the תורה from there. As it says מן השמים דברתי עליכם, מן השמים השמיעך את קולו. So we know that the תורה starts בעליונים, the way the תורה is by השם, and the way the תורה is by השם, it's in a very רוחניות'דיקע way, and from there it comes down as a השתלשלות to the גשמיות'דיקע תורה ומצות the way we have it. As מפורש in חז״ל on the פסוק מגיד דבריו ליעקב, חוקיו ומשפטיו לישראל, it says there הקדוש ברוך הוא מה שהוא עושה הוא אומר לישראל לעשות ולשמור. What He does He tells us to do. So

first the מצות are the way they are by Him, and from the way they are by Him in רוחניות, they come down בגשמיות. Because we know for sure that when השם, for instance, puts on תפילין, He doesn't חס ושלום put on a physical pair of תפילין made of leather, etc. It's in a spiritual sense. And from that רוחניות'דיקע way of putting on תפילין, there is a גשמיות'דיקע מצוה of putting on תפילין. We know המעשה הוא העיקר, and השם wants us to do the מצות בגשמיות. That is the truth, that's the way השם wants, and if a person will think or do all any מצוה ברוחניות, will not be יוצא the מצוה at all, because השם wants that the מצוה should be done the way it came down למטה בגשמיות, the way the פסק הלכה is למטה בגשמיות, because תורה לא בשמים היא. The תורה came down from שמים, השם gave it to us, and now it's in our hands, and we have to do the מצות the way it is in the simple meaning בגשמיות. That is true, but this doesn't take away from the fact that the same מצוה, essentially the way it was by השם, is in רוחניות, and from the way it's in רוחניות, it came down and is נשתלשל בגשמיות. The

same applies to the ענינים of רפואה that's in the גמרא, or the ענינים of רפואה and הנהגת אכילה ושתיה that are in the רמב״ם. When the תורה tells us these different הוראות of what רפואות to do for certain sicknesses, and what kind of סגולות to do, so מע רעדט בעצם בעליונים, which means and בעצם essentially at first this means the way the things are in רוחניות. Because every word that the גמרא says, which speaks about a medicine בגשמיות for a sickness בגשמיות, essentially, since this is part of the גמרא, part of תורה, which you have to make a ברכת התורה on before you learn, where you say אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו, that this is commanded by השם that we should learn this, so obviously this is part of the תורה. And if this is part of the תורה, it definitely doesn't only mean the way it is בגשמיות, but as the whole תורה, this really essentially means the way it's ברוחניות. And from the way it's ברוחניות, it also comes down בגשמיות, that בגשמיות for a sickness which is parallel to this spiritual thing, there is this medicine בגשמיות which is parallel to the medicine ברוחניות the way it's למעלה. That's the second step of the תורה, ברמז איז בשניה בתחתונים. The second step is the way it is מרמז to the way it is תחתונים. And these things, these רפואות that the גמרא has, ברוחניות they are always true. In the רוחניות'דיקע sense of these מצות, they apply even nowadays too. And פשוט, in the פשוט'ע meaning it means that all the ענינים of the body, the drinking and the eating and the רפואה, they are נשתלשל from the same way the same things are in their counterpart in רוחניות. So concerning the אכילה or the health, the way it's in רוחניות of the נפש, so these medicine and these סגולות the way they are בעליונים are as important now, and are as true now, and you could use them now without any change as they were before. The only difference is that the way the things came down למטה in גשמיות, then there is a difference.

When people were in a higher level, so then down here in this world they were able to apply the רוחניות'דיקע medicines also בגשמיות, so they used it בגשמיות. But when there was a ירידה in the world, the level of the people in the world are lower, so now they are not a vessel to accept these things the way they are ברוחניות. So when it is a מצוה or a חיוב that the תורה says, then there is no such thing saying that the things changed, because השם said do it, and if He didn't give a תנאי that this מצוה only applies at a certain time or a certain place, then what He's really saying is that always you have to do it בגשמיות the way it's in רוחניות. But here when we're talking about medicine that depend on the nature of the people, so here השם made it so that since there's a ירידת הדורות, that the nature of the people should change and they should not be able to apply. So the reason we don't apply it is because the way the גמרא said it was for a certain nature, and since our nature is different, it doesn't apply. But the question we asked before, but after all the גמרא doesn't say that this is only for such a nature, obviously it should apply now too, so the answer is for that, that ברוחניות it applies now too. בגשמיות it doesn't, because we are not the same people as they were in the time of the גמרא. So בגשמיות we can't apply this because not the same sickness, but ברוחניות this still remains. And just to give an example, just like the ענין of a רפואה רוחנית which is if a person was sick ברוחניות, meaning if he did an עבירה. So we see right away a difference in the רפואה that he had to have for this עבירה. רפואה for an עבירה is to do תשובה, and השם forgives. Now, certain עבירות in the time of the בית המקדש, the only way השם would forgive is if, in addition to the תשובה, he would also bring a קרבן. And if he wouldn't bring a קרבן, he would be missing in the תשובה, and השם wouldn't forgive him. Now that

there was a חורבן בית המקדש, so now, not only can't we bring a קרבן, but we're not allowed to bring a קרבן. And if a person would bring a קרבן for his עבירה, he would make it even worse. So now, he gets forgiven even without a קרבן. So we see that there is a כפרה for his עבירה, but the כפרה בגשמיות is different, but the כפרה ברוחניות is the same. The same, a כפרה a person used to get through bringing a קרבן now is done without a קרבן. And the same is with all other things, that the ענין ברוחניות could be applied, but בגשמיות, since we are not a כלי to receive the ענינים the way they are ברוחניות, so we cannot apply it now. But the physical reason is because our nature is different. But when the גמרא did not put a condition of the nature into it, it's because in רוחניות this is true even now. And the same is concerning our whole פרק in הלכות דעות of the רמב״ם. Because we know what the תומים writes in the ביאור to the ספר תקפו כהן סעיף קטן קכ״ד בסופו. He writes concerning the לשון of the בית יוסף and the רמ״א that הכל בכתב מיד ה׳ השכיל. Everything came from השם. And he says, רוח ה׳ נוססה בקרבם להיות לשונם מכוון להלכה. That their לשון is מכוון exactly to the הלכה בלי כוונת הכותב. Even if the one that wrote it, meaning the בית יוסף and the רמ״א, did not have that in mind. But חפץ ה׳ בידם יצליח that whatever they wrote is להלכה. And the same is understood, applies to the רמב״ם. That when the רמב״ם wrote in his ספר הלכות what we have to do concerning eating and drinking in order to have a healthy body, it is מכוון להלכה. It is מכוון to the נצחיות התורה. And therefore, even if such some things don't apply nowadays because the nature changed, but since it was מכוון להלכה and it's מכוון to נצחיות התורה, so ברוחניות it always applies. The reason בפועל we can't do everything or we don't have to do everything as the רמב״ם says according to those who hold like that, and it's brought down in the שדי חמד, is because the nature changed. But still it doesn't take away from the נצחיות התורה of these הלכות because ברוחניות they still apply. And to bring an example to this general concept, we find in the שאלות ותשובות of the רמ״ע מפאנו סימן ע״ג, where he explains what the גמרא says in חולין דף צ עמוד ב, דברה תורה בלשון הבאי. The תורה speaks in a לשון which seems not to be true, an exaggeration. For

instance, the פסוק where it says כי ערים גדולות ובצורות בשמים, says that they saw cities big and fortresses up to שמים. So in פשט it means that the גמרא is telling us that the תורה spoke in a form of exaggeration. So he explains it means פשוטו כמשמעו that they were בצורות במרום, which means that the cities of ארץ ישראל were fortified in מרום, in heaven, that the ע שרים, the 70 שרים של מעלה of the other nations couldn't go into it. They can't enter the אויר, the air of ארץ ישראל. So even though בגשמיות it seems like it is only a לשון הבאי, an exaggeration, but באמת, in רוחניות this has a meaning. And the same applies to everything in תורה. That everything in רוחניות is אמת לאמיתו and is 100% נצחי. Even though certain things the way they come out בגשמיות, it doesn't seem to be that way, that is only because the way it נשתלשל in גשמיות it's not like that. But in רוחניות, definitely every word of תורה has to be נצחי. And certainly every word of תורה is אמת, even when the תורה speaks about nature, natural things. For instance, if we find in the גמרא certain natural, scientific facts which seem not to be true according to the way scientists speak about it nowadays, we have to remember that since it's in תורה, which is דבר ה׳, it is definitely true. Sometimes we understand it, sometimes we don't understand it, we don't know how it's true, but one thing is for sure, that if it's mentioned in the גמרא, it is definitely true. Because if it's mentioned in the גמרא, this is all דבר ה׳, the words of השם, and the words of השם definitely have to be true. If we have that approach to תורה, then it's self-understood that our learning תורה will be in a higher level with more קדושה and טהרה.