Pt1 Bloodletting, Recovery, and Regimens of Risk: Fires, Food, Wine, Timing, Exposure, and Practical Precautions of Babylonian Amoraim (Shabbat 129a-b)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series is below.

This sugya presents an extended discussion of bloodletting as a common but hazardous medical procedure that required careful management before, during, and especially after the act itself.¹ The sugya moves between halakhic rulings, practical medical advice, memorable anecdotes about named rabbis, scheduling rules, and warnings about conditions that might worsen physical weakness. Its basic premise is that bloodletting creates a state of vulnerability. Because of that vulnerability, the sugya treats warming the body, eating and drinking appropriately, avoiding exposure, and choosing the right time for the procedure as matters of real consequence. The major Babylonian amoraim Shmuel and Rav are cited extensively throughout this sugya, both directly, or as anecdotes about them.

The opening section frames recovery from bloodletting in terms of immediate bodily danger. Shmuel is cited as permitting the making of a fire even in summer for one who became chilled after bloodletting, just as a fire may be made on Shabbat for a woman in childbirth in winter. The sugya then illustrates the seriousness of this need with anecdotes about Shmuel, Rav Yehuda, and Rabba, for whom valuable furniture was broken up and burned in order to produce heat. The exchange between Abaye and Rabba formulates the principle explicitly: the preservation of the body overrides concern for the destruction of property.

From there the sugya turns to post-procedure nourishment. Rav, cited by Rav Yehuda, states that a person should prioritize protective footwear highly, yet after bloodletting should even sell his shoes in order to obtain food. Rav and Shmuel then differ over what that food should be: Rav emphasizes meat, while Shmuel emphasizes wine. The passage continues with a cluster of anecdotal reports about what prominent rabbis consumed after bloodletting, including cooked spleen and large quantities of wine.

A further subsection deals with obtaining needed nourishment when resources are limited. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak advises one to induce the preparation of a large meal at home through a permitted ruse. If that is not possible, he offers a second stratagem involving the tasting of wine at seven shops, and, failing that, a more minimal regimen of dates, oil, and sun exposure. The anecdote involving Ablat and Shmuel then connects sun exposure to recovery from bloodletting.

The sugya also gathers a series of warnings stated jointly by Rav and Shmuel. One must not neglect the recovery meal. One should avoid wind after bloodletting. One should taste something before going outside. One should not stand up immediately afterward. These cautions are reinforced by an anecdote about Shmuel’s preference for a thick-walled room and by a broader list of actions described as bringing a person “closer to death than to life.”

The final portions of the sugya regulate the timing of bloodletting. Shmuel sets intervals for how often it should be done and identifies suitable and unsuitable days of the week, dates of the month, and festival eves. These rules are explained through a mixture of practical danger, calendrical sensitivity, and astrological or supernatural considerations, including the influence of Mars and the danger associated with the eve of Shavuot.

The sugya closes with additional observations about eating wheat before bloodletting, the timing of food and drink afterward, and a brief saying of Rav about the economics of bloodletting, haircutting, and moustache grooming, which Rav Yosef later uses to explain an enigmatic expression that he had heard in the study hall.

Outline

Intro

The Passage - Bloodletting, Recovery, and Regimens of Risk: Fires, Food, Wine, Timing, Exposure, and Practical Precautions of Babylonian Amoraim (Shabbat 129a-b)

1. Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel - A fire may be made on Shabbat for a woman in childbirth during the winter

2. Rav Hiyya bar Avin citing Shmuel - If someone underwent bloodletting and became chilled, a fire may be made for him even in midsummer (because the condition is dangerous)

3. Three anecdotes re Babylonian amoraim - firewood after their bloodletting

   1. Abaye objected that breaking furniture violated needless destruction, and Rabba replied that protecting his body takes precedence

4. Rav Yehuda citing Rav - A person should even sell the beams of his house to buy shoes

   1. After bloodletting, if he has no food, he should sell even his shoes to obtain a restorative meal

5. Amoraic dispute - Rav - The special post-bloodletting meal should include meat, because one life-force replenishes another; Shmuel - The special post-bloodletting meal should include wine, because red wine replaces lost red blood

6. Four anecdotes re Babylonian amoraim - what they would eat and drink on the day of bloodletting

7. Anecdote - Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak advised scholars to tell their households that an honored guest had arrived on bloodletting day so a substantial meal would be prepared

   1. Most deceptive stratagems are forbidden, but this one is permitted because it protects health

   2. If a poor person cannot afford post-bloodletting nourishment, he should taste wine at seven shops until he has drunk a quarter-log of wine

   3. Alternatively - he should eat seven black dates, rub oil on his temples, and sit in the sun

8. Anecdote re Ablat and Shmuel - Ablat found Shmuel lying in the sun and questioned how something harmful could be good; Shmuel answered that on a bloodletting day the sun is beneficial

9. Rav and Shmuel - One who is careless about the meal after bloodletting will be treated carelessly by Heaven, because he showed no concern for his own life

Part 2

1. Rav and Shmuel - A person should not sit in a windy place after bloodletting, lest the wind worsen the loss of blood and create danger

2. Anecdote re Shmuel - He used to let blood only in a heavily walled house; once, he felt weak, and discovered that half a brick missing from the wall thickness had let in enough chill to harm him

3. Rav and Shmuel - After bloodletting, one should taste something before going outside

   1. ... because otherwise, encounters with a corpse, a murderer, or a pig can cause serious harm

4. Rav and Shmuel - After bloodletting, one should wait a bit before standing

   1. ... since standing immediately after the following activities bring a person close to death -- eating, drinking, sleeping, bloodletting, and sex

5. Shmuel - The normal interval for bloodletting is every thirty days, but one should reduce the frequency in middle age and again in old age

6. Shmuel - Bloodletting is suitable on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, but not on Monday or Thursday

7. ... because Monday and Thursday are days of heavenly and earthly judgment

8. Shmuel - Certain Wednesdays are especially dangerous for bloodletting: when Wednesday falls on the 4th, 14th, or 24th of the month, or when fewer than four days remain in the month (= ~25th of the month and on)

9. Bloodletting on the 1st or 2nd of the month causes weakness, and on the 3rd of the month is dangerous; Bloodletting on the eve of a festival causes weakness; Bloodletting on the eve of Shavuot is dangerous

10. Bloodletting on the eve of all Festivals is prohibited due to the festival of Shavuot; The danger of the eve of Shavuot is tied to the destructive spirit Tivuah, which would have slaughtered Israel had they not accepted the Torah

11. Shmuel - If one ate wheat and then let blood, the bloodletting is ineffective for medical treatment, because the wheat replaced what was removed

12. After bloodletting one should drink immediately, but delay eating until the time needed to walk half a mil

13. Anecdote - Rav announced fixed prices for bloodletting and haircutting, but said moustache grooming is effectively free and worthless work

14. Rav Yosef’s anecdote about Rav Huna’s school - When the rabbis were sluggish in study, they called it “the moustaches day”, and only later did Rav Yosef understand that they meant a day without productive value

Appendix - Summary lists of things considered good and bad in the context of bloodletting, according to the sugya

The Passage

Sefaria: Shabbat.129a.11-129b.12

ChavrutAI, starts at: Shabbat/129a#11

Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel - A fire may be made on Shabbat for a woman in childbirth during the winter

אמר רב יהודה, אמר שמואל:

עושין מדורה לחיה בשבת בימות הגשמים.

[...]

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said:

One builds a fire for a woman in childbirth (חיה) on Shabbat during the winter (ימות הגשמים).

[...]

Rav Hiyya bar Avin citing Shmuel - If someone underwent bloodletting and became chilled, a fire may be made for him even in midsummer (because the condition is dangerous)

אתמר,

אמר רב חייא בר אבין, אמר שמואל:

הקיז דם ונצטנן —

עושין לו מדורה

אפילו בתקופת תמוז.

it was stated:

Rav Ḥiyya bar Avin said that Shmuel said:

With regard to one who let blood and caught cold,

one makes a fire for him

even during the season of Tammuz, i.e., the summer.

Failure to do so could result in serious illness.

Three anecdotes re Babylonian amoraim - firewood after their bloodletting

1. Shmuel - After his bloodletting, people broke an expensive teak chair to use as firewood for him

2. Rav Yehuda - After his bloodletting, people broke an ebony table to use as firewood for him

3. Rabba - After his bloodletting, people broke a bench to make a warming fire because of the danger

1. שמואל

   1. צלחו ליה תכתקא דשאגא,

2. רב יהודה

   1. צלחו ליה פתורא דיונה,

3. לרבה

   1. צלחו ליה שרשיפא.

The Talmud relates that

1. after Shmuel underwent bloodletting,

   1. they broke for him a wooden armchair (תכתקא) made of teak [shaga] to build a fire.

2. Similarly, for the sake of Rav Yehuda

   1. they broke a wooden table made of ebony [yavna],

3. and for Rabba

   1. they broke a bench.

They needed to build a fire due to the potential danger to Rabba. Since they could not find firewood, they kindled the fire with the furniture.

Abaye objected that breaking furniture violated needless destruction, and Rabba replied that protecting his body takes precedence

ואמר ליה אביי לרבה:

והא קעבר מר משום ״בל תשחית״!

אמר ליה:

״בל תשחית״ דגופאי עדיף לי.

And Abaye said to Rabba:

In breaking the bench, didn’t the Master violate the prohibition, “Do not destroy”² (Deuteronomy 20:19)? It is prohibited to destroy objects of value.

Rabba said to him:

Do not destroy also with regard to destruction of my body. Preventing illness and danger is preferable to me.

Rav Yehuda citing Rav - A person should even sell the beams of his house to buy shoes

אמר רב יהודה, אמר רב:

לעולם ימכור אדם קורות ביתו

ויקח מנעלים לרגליו.

With regard to the danger of bloodletting, the Talmud cites that which Rav Yehuda said that Rav said:

One should always sell the beams of his house

and purchase shoes³ for his feet with the proceeds,

as shoes protect him from stepping on obstacles and from catching cold.

After bloodletting, if he has no food, he should sell even his shoes to obtain a restorative meal

הקיז דם ואין לו מה יאכל —

ימכור מנעלים שברגליו

ויספיק מהן צרכי סעודה.

If he let blood and has nothing to eat after the bloodletting,

he should even sell the shoes on his feet,

and from the proceeds provide the needs of a meal.

After bloodletting, a meal is more crucial to one’s well-being than shoes are.

Amoraic dispute - Rav - The special post-bloodletting meal should include meat, because one life-force replenishes another; Shmuel - The special post-bloodletting meal should include wine, because red wine replaces lost red blood

מאי צרכי סעודה?

רב אמר: בשר,

ושמואל אמר: יין.

The Talmud asks: What are these special needs of a meal?

Rav said: It is referring to meat.

And Shmuel said: It is referring to wine.

1. רב אמר:

   1. בשר —

   2. נפשא חלף נפשא.

2. ושמואל אמר:

   1. יין —

   2. סומקא חלף סומקא.

[...]

The Talmud explains:

1. Rav says:

   1. It is referring to meat

   2. because the soul (נפשא) replaces the soul,

   3. i.e., the meat replenishes the person’s strength.

2. And Shmuel said:

   1. It is referring to wine

   2. because the red⁴ replaces the red,

   3. i.e., red wine substitutes for red blood.

[...]

Four anecdotes re Babylonian amoraim - what they would eat and drink on the day of bloodletting

1. Shmuel - On the day of bloodletting, they prepared cooked spleen for him

2. Rabbi Yohanan - After bloodletting he drank wine until its smell emerged from his ears

3. Rav Nahman - After bloodletting he drank so much wine that his spleen seemed to float in it

4. Rav Yosef - After bloodletting he drank until wine emerged from the incision

5. Rava - After bloodletting he sought especially well-aged wine

1. שמואל ביומא דעבד מילתא,

   1. עבדי ליה תבשילא דטחלי.

2. רבי יוחנן

   1. שתי עד דנפיק תיהיא מאוניה.

3. ורב נחמן

   1. שתי עד דקפי טחליה.

4. רב יוסף

   1. שתי עד דנפיק מריבדא דכוסילתא.

5. רבא

   1. מהדר אחמרא בר תלתא טרפי.

The Talmud relates the following about bloodletting and drinking wine:

1. Shmuel, on the day on which he would perform the practice of bloodletting,

   1. they would prepare for him a dish of cooked spleen.

2. R’ Yoḥanan

   1. would drink wine after bloodletting until the odor (תיהיא) emerged from his ears.⁵

3. And Rav Naḥman

   1. would drink until his spleen floated in wine.

4. Rav Yosef

   1. would drink until the wine would emerge from the bloodletting incision.

5. Rava

   1. would search for wine that was sufficiently aged such that 3 leaves had already grown over 3 years on the vine from which the grapes were picked (Rashash).

Anecdote - Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak advised scholars to tell their households that an honored guest had arrived on bloodletting day so a substantial meal would be prepared

אמר להו רב נחמן בר יצחק לרבנן:

במטותא מינייכו!

ביומא דהקזה

אמרו לביתייכו:

נחמן אקלע לגבן.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzhak said to the rabbis:

I beg of you!

on the day that you undergo bloodletting,

tell your households, your wives:

Naḥman bar Yitzhak happened to come to visit us.

Due to the visit of the important guest, the women will prepare a large meal. The husbands will eat well, recover from the lost blood, and avoid endangering themselves.

Most deceptive stratagems are forbidden, but this one is permitted because it protects health

וכולהו אערומי אסירי,

בר מהאי ערמה דשרי

And all types of artifice⁶ that come at the expense of others are prohibited

except for this artifice, which is permitted.

If a poor person cannot afford post-bloodletting nourishment, he should taste wine at seven shops until he has drunk a quarter-log of wine

מאן דעביד מילתא

ולא אפשר ליה,

לישקול זוזא מכא

וליזיל לשב חנואתא,

עד דטעים שיעור רביעתא.

One who performed the practice of bloodletting

and it is not possible for him to purchase food due to lack of means,

let him take a worn (מכא) zuz coin

and go to 7 stores⁷

until he has tasted the measure of 1/4th of a log of wine.

Alternatively - he should eat seven black dates, rub oil on his temples, and sit in the sun

ואי לא —

ליכול שב תמרי אוכמתא,

ולישוף מישחא בצידעיה,

וניגני בשמשא.

And if doing so is not possible,

let him eat 7 black dates

and smear oil on his temple (צידעיה)

and lie in the sun.

Anecdote re Ablat and Shmuel - Ablat found Shmuel lying in the sun and questioned how something harmful could be good; Shmuel answered that on a bloodletting day the sun is beneficial

אבלט אשכחיה לשמואל דגני בשמשא.

אמר ליה:

חכימא דיהודאי!

בישא מי הוי טבא?!

אמר ליה:

יומא דהקזה הוא.

[...]

The Talmud relates:

The non-Jewish scholar Ablat (אבלט) found Shmuel lying in the sun.

Ablat said to Shmuel:

Wise man of the Jews!

a matter that is evil (=the heat of the sun), can it become good?! Are there any circumstances in which the heat of the sun, which is harmful, can be beneficial?

Shmuel said to him:

It happens on a day of bloodletting,

for which the heat of the sun is beneficial.

[...]

Rav and Shmuel - One who is careless about the meal after bloodletting will be treated carelessly by Heaven, because he showed no concern for his own life

רב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו:

כל המקיל בסעודת הקזת דם —

מקילין לו מזונותיו מן השמים,

ואומרים:

הוא על חייו לא חס,

אני אחוס עליו?!

Rav and Shmuel both said:

Anyone who is indifferent⁸ and not vigilant with regard to the meal eaten after bloodletting,

they are indifferent with regard to providing his food from the Heavens.

And they say in Heaven:

He took no pity (חס) on his life,

will I take pity on him?!

1. For more on bloodletting in the Talmud, see especially these pieces of mine:

• “Sex, Bloodletting, Travel, and Other Dangerous Activities (Gittin 70a-b)”, final part: Pt3

• Heavenly Greetings: The Righteousness of a Bloodletter (Taanit 21b-22a)

And compare also the discussion in Jeremy Brown, “Ketuvot 52b ~ Blood Letting” (March 26, 2015), at his Talmudology blog.

2. בל תשחית - Bal tashchit.

See Wikipedia, at that hyperlinked entry:

Bal tashchit (Hebrew: בַּל תַּשְׁחִית, lit. ‘do not destroy’) is an ethical principle in Jewish law (Halakha).

The principle is derived from a law revealed by God to Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 20:19–20 […]

In the Hebrew Bible, the command is given in the context of wartime and forbids cutting down fruit trees to assist in a siege.

In early Rabbinic law, however, the bal tashchit principle is understood to include other forms of senseless damage or waste.

For instance, the Babylonian Talmud applies the principle to prevent the wasting of lamp oil, the tearing of clothing, the chopping up of furniture for firewood, or the killing of animals.

3. מנעלים.

Compare my “From Eunuch-ville to Bald-town: A Eunuch and R’ Yehoshua the Bald Trade Insults Over Physical Shortcomings (Shabbat 152a)“, section “Pt3 - No horse, donkey, or shoes, vs. no beard, wife, or children“, and my note there.

4. סומקא.

Compare a bit earlier in this tractate, in my “Rav’s Arrival in Babylonia, Karna’s Test, and Shmuel’s Remedy: A Tale of Testing Scholarship and Curses (Shabbat 108a)“, section “From where is it derived that blood is red? (II Kings 3:22)“, where Rav cites II Kings 3:22 as a prooftext that blood is red.

5. It’s worth noting that R’ Yohanan is the only rabbi from Eretz Yisrael mentioned in this sugya.

See a similar pattern in my “Pt2 Sex, Bloodletting, Travel, and Other Dangerous Activities (Gittin 70a-b)“, section “Recipe for aphrodisiac“, where Abaye advises a remedy for “one who is not an expert in sex”, and R’ Yoḥanan comments that this remedy indeed helps him feel youthful in terms of sexual vitality.

6. אערומי - “deception”. Note that it’s not fully clear if the deception here is referring to the previous statement (of Rav Nahman), or the next one (re the coin and the wine stores/taverns).

In general, see my discussion in “A Preliminary analysis of stories of deception in the Talmud“, where I discuss this passage as well, especially the specific term used.

7. חנואתא.

Steinsaltz explains:

In each store, he tastes the wine as one who seeks to buy wine would.

After tasting, he hands the zuz to the storekeeper, who will not accept it because it is worn.

He then proceeds to do the same in all the stores

In this context, “store” is referring specifically to a wine store, or tavern. Compare the similar usage in the anecdote in my “Pairs, Planks, and Potions: Three Talmudic Tales of Witchcraft (Pesachim 110b and Sanhedrin 67b)“, section “Story of a woman using witchcraft to kill her ex-husband (Pesachim 110b)“, where I summarize:

The Talmud tells a story of a man who divorced his wife, who then married a wine shopkeeper (חנואה). The first husband frequented the shop to drink wine. His ex-wife attempted to harm him through witchcraft, but these efforts failed, as he was cautious about “pairs”.

One day, he drank excessively, losing track of pairs after 16 cups. In his drunken state, he unwittingly left the shop after consuming an even number of cups, making him vulnerable. An Arab (טייעא) noticed his bewitched state and commented on it, saying “a dead man walks here”. The man hugged a palm tree for support, which dried out due to the witchcraft, and he exploded (פקע).

8. מקיל - literally: “to make light of, be lenient about”.