Sages on Sedans: Anecdotes of Talmudic Personalities Being Carried on Litters (Beitzah 25b)
An English "Sedan chair" (circa late 18th Century) at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, UK. Courtesy of Nabokov at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the elements. Larger litters, for example those of the Chinese emperors, may resemble small rooms upon a platform borne upon the shoulders of a dozen or more people. To most efficiently carry a litter, porters either place the carrying poles directly upon their shoulders or use a yoke to transfer the load from the carrying poles to the shoulders [...]
Another form, commonly called a sedan chair, consists of a chair or windowed cabin suitable for a single occupant, also carried by at least two porters, one in front and one behind, using wooden rails that pass through brackets on the sides of the chair. These porters were known in London as "chairmen". These have been very rare since the 19th century, but such enclosed portable litters have been used as an elite form of transport for centuries, especially in cultures where women are kept secluded [...]
In pharaonic Egypt and many other places such as India, Rome, and China, the ruler and divinities (in the form of an idol like lord Krishna) were often transported in a litter in public, frequently in procession, as during state ceremonial or religious festivals.
The instructions for how to construct the Ark of the Covenant in the Book of Exodus resembles a litter.
In Ancient Rome, a litter called lectica or sella often carried members of the imperial family, as well as other dignitaries and other members of the rich elite, when not mounted on horseback.
The Talmudic passage (Beitzah 25b)
This Talmudic passage discusses the permissibility of using a litter for transport on Jewish festivals. R’ Ya'akov bar Idi initially raised a query regarding an old man who used a litter1 during festivals to R’ Yehoshua ben Levi, a leading authority of the time, seeking clarification on its permissibility (I skip the answer, which is technical).
Further examples are provided, illustrating that respected figures such as Rav Huna and Shmuel were transported in similar chairs during Festivals for essential movements, like moving from sunlight to shade, which supports the notion that such practices were acceptable under certain conditions.
The passage then details a dilemma raised to the afore-mentioned R’ Ya'akov bar Idi about the general permissibility of using such chairs. Unfortunately, Rabbi Ya'akov had passed away by the time the query could be addressed to him directly. Consequently, the question was redirected to R’ Zerika (I again skip the answer, which is technical).
It is recounted that Rav Naḥman allowed his wife Yalta to use a specific kind of litter (that for technical halachic reasons related to law of Jewish festivals should be prohibited), and it is explained that this is permitted due to her fear of falling. The passage explains that exceptions were made for individuals with specific needs, such as fear of falling or being crushed by crowds during public lectures, as was the case with Ameimar and Mar Zutra.
תנו רבנן: אין הסומא יוצא במקלו, ולא הרועה בתרמילו.
ואין יוצאין בכסא — אחד האיש ואחד האשה.
והא שלח רבי יעקב בר אידי:
זקן אחד היה בשכונתינו והיה יוצא בגלודקי שלו,
ובאו ושאלו את רבי יהושע בן לוי,
[...]
וסמכו רבותינו על דברי אחי שקיא, דאמר: אנא אפיקתיה לרב הונא מהיני לשילי ומשילי להיני.
ואמר רב נחמן בר יצחק: אנא אפיקתיה למר שמואל משמשא לטולא ומטולא לשמשא!
[...]
אמר ליה רב נחמן לחמא בר אדא שליח ציון: כי סלקת להתם, אקיף וזיל אסולמא דצור, וזיל לגבי דרבי יעקב בר אידי ובעי מיניה: כסא, מה אתון ביה?
אדאזל להתם, נח נפשיה דרבי יעקב בר אידי.
כי סליק, אשכחיה לרבי זריקא,
אמר ליה: כסא מה אתון ביה?
[...]
איני?! והא רב נחמן שרא לה לילתא למיפק אאלונקי!
שאני ילתא דבעיתא.
אמימר ומר זוטרא מכתפי להו בשבתא דרגלא
משום ביעתותא,
ואמרי לה משום דוחקא דצבורא.
The Sages taught in a baraita: A blind person may not go out on a Festival with his cane, nor a shepherd with his satchel.
And one may not go out on a chair borne on poles by other people, neither a man nor a woman. All of these are considered weekday activities, the performance of which would display disrespect for the Festival.
But didn’t Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi send the following halakha from Eretz Yisrael:
There was an old man in our neighborhood who would go out on a Festival in his litter [gelodki],
and they came and asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, the preeminent authority of the time, whether this was permitted.
[...]
Similarly, our Sages relied on the statement of Aḥi Shakkaya, who said: I once brought Rav Huna on a Festival from the town of Hinei to the town of Shilei and from Shilei back to Hinei on a chair of this kind.
And Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: I once brought Mar Shmuel on such a seat on a Festival from the sun into the shade and from the shade into the sun.
[...]
Rav Naḥman said to Ḥama bar Adda, emissary of the talmudic academies in Zion,2 who would regularly travel back and forth from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia: When you go up there, to Eretz Yisrael, take a roundabout route, i.e., do not travel by the shortest path; and go to the Ladder of Tyre, and go to Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi, who lives in Tyre, and raise this dilemma before him: What do you say with regard to a chair borne on poles; may one go out in such a chair on a Festival?
By the time he arrived there, Rabbi Ya’akov bar Idi had already passed away.
However, when he went up to Eretz Yisrael he found Rabbi Zerika
and said to him: What do you say with regard to a chair borne on poles; what is your opinion on this topic?
[...]
The Gemara asks: Is that so? But didn’t Rav Naḥman permit his wife Yalta to go out on a Festival on a chair borne on poles that rested on the shoulders of the bearers?
The Gemara answers: Yalta is different, as she was afraid of falling and therefore required this special arrangement.
The Gemara relates that Ameimar and Mar Zutra would be carried to their places in the study hall on the shoulders of their students for the public lecture delivered on the Shabbat of the Festival.
They would be carried in that manner due to their fear of falling.
And some say the reason was due to the pushing of the crowd, as these Sages were afraid of being crushed by the large number of people attending the lecture.
Nowadays, a wheelchair would be used in these circumstances, but this wasn’t invented outside of China until the 16th century, see Wheelchair - Wikipedia.