Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Yoma 83 - Hand washing after the meal (maim acharonim)

Any possible danger to life supersedes the laws of Shabbat and the laws of Kashrut. For example, if one was seized by a fit called "bulmos," which reduces one's eyesight, he must be fed any food, non-kosher if it is closer. However, on Yom Kippur, they give it in small amounts.

Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Yose were once on the road. Bulmos seized Rabbi Yehudah, and he ate all the food of a nearby shepherd. Rabbi Yose remarked, "You cleaned up this shepherd!' When they arrived at a city, bulmos seized Rabbi Yose. The city residents surrounded him with all kinds of dishes. Now Rabbi Yehudah said, "I cleaned up a shepherd, but you clean up the city."

The same Rabbis were once traveling with Rabbi Meir. They arrived at an inn whose owner's name was Kidor. Rabbi Meir considered this a bad name because of the phrase "Kidor" - because they are a generation that cannot be trusted and did not trust Kidor with his purse. Instead, Rabbi Meir hid the purse at the Kidor father's grave. Kidor's father appeared to his son in a dream and told him to go appropriate the purse. Kidor asked the Rabbis about the dream's meaning, and they told him that Friday night dreams mean nothing. Instead, Rabbi Meir guarded his purse all of Shabbat.

The other two Rabbis did trust Kidor with their purses, and the next day he denied getting them. They saw some lentils on his beard (because he did not do washing hands after the meal.) They went to Kidor's wife and told her that Kidor instructed to give them their purses, and as proof, they said that she fed him lentils. She gave them the purses, and Kidor killed his wife. 

Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Yehudah then asked Rabbi Meir why he did not warn them. He said that the name is enough for one to be suspicious but not to tell bad things to others.

Art: The Shepherd’s Meal by George Morland

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