The Mishnah on Medicinal Food on the Sabbath
Hebrew
One may not eat Greek hyssop on the Sabbath, because it is not a food for healthy people. But one may eat yo‘ezer and drink ’abuv ro‘eh [lit., shepherd’s flute].
One may eat any kind of [common] food eaten by people as medicine, and drink any beverage [as medicine], except for sap of palm trees and a “cup of roots,”1 since they are [remedies] for yerokah [jaundice?].
However, one may drink sap of palm trees to quench one’s thirst, and one may anoint oneself with root oil.
Notes
[A common translation as “abortive/infertility potion” seems to be a later conflation with sama’ de-‘akarta’ (a fertility drug).—Ed.]
Credits
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
