The underlying theme of this week's pages is how careful do we have to be when Shabbat approaches. The discussion focuses on whether a forbidden activity on Shabbat can be started before shabbat, and if so how much before. The rabbis agree that many of these can be done but one might want to be extra careful about doing them on Friday afternoon. Though not explicitly stated in the Talmud, the rabbis had to weigh high standards for observance vs. the reality of the average Jew being able to achieve those standards. Throughout these pages, and the entire Talmud, we find some rabbis advocating for the strictest observance and others who are more lenient in order to ensure more people being able to observe.
One story from these pages highlights the strict observance perspective. A young scholar died. His wife came to the study house to complain. If the laws of the Torah are to provide length of days, she said, then why did my husband die? The rabbis test her about their level of observance and when she described their separation during her monthly period, she said that they would touch during the her clean days before she went to the mikvah. That's why, the rabbis said, he died. Not only is this a story about proper sexual behavior for husband and wife, it's also a story about how careful we need to be about following Jewish law.
These pages conclude by beginning a discussion about the 18 instances in which Jewish law follows the house of Shammai instead of the house of Hillel. Shammai was considered a strict literalist regarding the law and Hillel was considered to be more liberal. As these pages conclude we learn what areas of Jewish law tend toward Shammai.
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