Eating and Drinking after Bloodletting

[Hebrew] If one has let blood and has nothing to eat, let him sell the shoes of his feet and provide the requirements of a meal. What [are the] requirements of a meal? Rav said, “Meat,” while Samuel said, “Wine.” Rav said, “Meat—breath [life] replaces breath [life], ” while Samuel said, “Wine—red wine replaces red [blood].”

The mnemonic is: shenimsar1 [lit., it shall be transmitted; var., it shall be sold].

[Aramaic] A dish of spleen would be prepared for Samuel on the day he did “the thing” [bloodletting]. R. Yoḥanan drank until vapor would come forth from his ears. R. Naḥman drank until his spleen would float. R. Joseph drank until it [the wine] would come forth from the incision of the scalpel. Rava would look for wine of a [vine] of three leaves [i.e., three-year-old wine].

Translated by Markham J. Geller and Lennart Lehmhaus.

Notes

[The mnemonic follows in the names of the rabbis: shin for Samuel, nun for Yoḥanan, mem for Naḥman, samekh for Joseph, and resh for Rava.—Ed.]

Credits

b. Shabbat 129a, trans. Markham J. Geller and Lennart Lehmhaus, publication forthcoming. Copyright Markham J. Geller and Lennart Lehmhaus. Used with permission of the translators.

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