Nedarim 49

הנודר מן המבושל מותר בצלי ובשלוק אמר קונם תבשיל שאיני טועם אסור במעשה קדרה רך ומותר בעבה ומותר בביצה טורמוטא ובדלעת הרמוצה הנודר ממעשה קדרה אין אסור אלא ממעשה רתחתה אמר קונם היורד לקדרה שאיני טועם אסור בכל המתבשלין בקדרה:

MISHNA: In the case of one who vows that cooked foods are forbidden to him, he is permitted to eat roasted and boiled foods, as they are not defined as cooked. If one said: Cooked food is konam for me, and for that reason I will not taste it, he is prohibited from tasting a loose cooked food but is permitted to taste a thick one, which people do not generally refer to as a cooked food. And he is likewise permitted to eat a turemuta egg and the remutza gourd, as they are not considered cooked foods either. In the case of one who vows that food cooked in a dish is forbidden to him, he is prohibited from deriving benefit only from food that is cooked by boiling it in a dish. However, if one said: That which enters into a dish is konam for me, and for that reason I will not taste it, he is prohibited from tasting anything cooked in a dish.

גמ׳ תניא רבי יאשיה אוסר ואף על פי שאין ראיה לדבר זכר לדבר שנאמר ויבשלו את הפסח באש כמשפט

GEMARA: It is taught in a baraita: In the case of one who vowed that cooked foods are forbidden to him, Rabbi Yoshiya maintains that he is prohibited from eating roasted foods. And although there is no biblical proof of the matter, there is an allusion to the matter, as it is stated: “And they cooked the Paschal offering with fire according to the ordinance” (II Chronicles 35:13). Since the Paschal offering must be roasted, it is evident that roasting can also be referred to as cooking.

לימא בהא קמיפלגי דרבי יאשיה סבר הלך אחר לשון תורה ותנא דילן סבר בנדרים הלך אחר לשון בני אדם

The Gemara suggests: Let us say that they disagree with regard to this following principle, that Rabbi Yoshiya holds that one should follow the language of the Torah, and our tanna holds that with regard to vows one should follow the language of people.

לא דכולי עלמא בנדרים הלך אחר לשון בני אדם מר כי אתריה ומר כי אתריה באתרא דתנא דילן לצלי קרו ליה צלי ולמבושל קרו ליה מבושל באתרא דרבי יאשיה אפילו צלי קרו מבושל

The Gemara refutes this suggestion: No, it is possible that everyone agrees that with regard to vows one should follow the language of people. Rather, this Sage stated his opinion in accordance with the language of his locale, and this Sage stated his opinion in accordance with the language of his locale. In the locale of our tanna, roasted food is called roasted and cooked food is called cooked, and in the locale of Rabbi Yoshiya even roasted food is called cooked.

והא קרא נסיב לה אסמכתא בעלמא:

The Gemara raises a difficulty: But doesn’t Rabbi Yoshiya cite a verse as proof for his opinion, which shows that his opinion is not based on the vernacular? The Gemara answers: The verse is cited as a mere support for his opinion, as implied by his statement that the verse is only an allusion, not a full proof.

קונם תבשיל כו׳: והא מתבשיל נדר

It is stated in the mishna that one who said: A cooked food is konam for me and for that reason I will not taste it, he is prohibited from tasting a loose cooked food but is permitted to taste a thick one. The Gemara asks: Why is he permitted to eat it? But didn’t he vow that a cooked food, which includes one that is thick, is forbidden to him?

אמר אביי האי תנא כל מידי דמתאכל ביה ריפתא תבשיל קרו ליה והתניא הנודר מן התבשיל אסור בכל מיני תבשיל ואסור בצלי ובשלוק ובמבושל ואסור בהיטריות רכות שהחולין אוכלין בהן פיתן

Abaye said: This tanna maintains that anything with which bread is eaten is called a cooked food, whereas a thick dish is eaten without bread. And it is taught likewise in a baraita: One who vows that a cooked food is forbidden to him is prohibited from eating all types of cooked foods, and he is therefore prohibited from eating roasted, boiled, and cooked foods. And he is also prohibited from eating soft gourds [hiteriyyot], with which the sick eat their bread. This indicates that a cooked food is one eaten with bread.

איני והא רבי ירמיה חלש על לגביה ההוא אסיא לאסיוה חזא קרא דמחת בביתיה שבקיה ונפק אמר מלאך מותא אית ליה לדין בביתיה ואנא איעול לאסאה יתיה

The Gemara asks: Is that so, that the sick eat gourds? But Rabbi Yirmeya fell ill, and a certain doctor came to him to heal him. He saw a gourd that was placed in his house, and he left Rabbi Yirmeya and exited the house and said: This person has an angel of death, a gourd, in his house, and I will enter to heal him? This incident teaches that gourds are detrimental for the sick.

לא קשיא הא ברכיכי הא באשוני רבא בר עולא אמר הא בקרא גופיה והא בגוויה דקרא דאמר רב יהודה לוליבא דקרא בסילקא לוליבא דכיתנא בכותחא ודבר זה אסור לאומרו בפני עם הארץ

The Gemara responds: This is not difficult. This baraita is referring to soft gourds, which are beneficial to the sick, and this incident is referring to hard ones, which are detrimental. Rava bar Ulla said a different answer: This incident is referring to the gourd itself, which is detrimental, and this baraita is referring to the innards [luliva] of the gourd, as Rav Yehuda said: The innards of the gourd are best eaten with chard; the innards of flax seeds are best eaten with kuteḥa, a dip made from bread crumbs and sour milk. And one may not say this matter in the presence of an ignoramus, so that ignoramuses do not uproot flax for consumption of its seeds.

רבא אמר מאן חולין רבנן רבא לטעמיה דאמר רבא

Rava said a different response: Who are the sick mentioned in the baraita, for whom a gourd is beneficial? They are the Sages, who are weakened by their toil in the study of Torah and their abstention from worldly pleasures, although they are not actually sick. Therefore, there is no contradiction. Gourds are harmful for people who are actually sick. The Gemara comments: Rava conforms to his standard line of reasoning, as Rava said:

כמאן מצלינן על קצירי ועל מריעי [כמאן כרבי יוסי] מדאמר קצירי ומריעי שמע מינה קצירי קצירי ממש מריעי רבנן:

In accordance with whose opinion do we pray every day for the sick and for the suffering? In accordance with whose opinion? In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, who holds that one is judged every day, not only on Rosh HaShana, and therefore it is appropriate to pray for people every day. From the fact that he said: The sick and the suffering, one can learn from his statement that the term: The sick, is referring to actual sick people, while the term: The suffering, is referring to the Sages, who typically are physically frail.

ומותר בעבה: מתניתין דלא כבבלאי דאמר רבי זירא בבלאי טפשאי דאכלי לחמא בלחמא

§ It is stated in the mishna that one who vowed that loose cooked food is forbidden to him is permitted to taste a thick cooked food. The Gemara comments: The mishna is not in accordance with the custom of the Babylonians, as Rabbi Zeira said: Babylonians are foolish, as they eat bread with bread. They eat thick porridge with their bread, which is essentially eating one kind of bread with another. According to their custom, one who vows that cooked foods are forbidden to him is prohibited from eating even a thick cooked food.

אמר רב חסדא דמשאיל להון להלין נקדני דהוצל הדין דייסא היכין מעלי למיכלה דחיטי בלחמא דחיטי ודשערי בלחמא דשערי או דלמא דחיטי בדשערי ודשערי בדחיטי

In that context, Rav Ḥisda said that those fastidious residents of Huzal, Babylonia were asked: How is it best to eat this porridge? Should wheat porridge be eaten with wheat bread and barley porridge with barley bread, or perhaps wheat porridge should be eaten with barley bread and barley porridge with wheat bread?

רבא אכליה בחסיסי רבה בר רב הונא אשכחיה לרב הונא דקאכיל דייסא באצבעתיה אמר ליה אמאי קאכיל מר בידיה אמר ליה הכי אמר רב דייסא באצבעתא בסים וכל דכן בתרתין וכל דכן בתלת

The Gemara relates: Rava would eat his bread with ḥasisei, a porridge made of toasted barley grains. Rabba, son of Rav Huna, found Rav Huna eating porridge with his fingers. He said to him: Why is the Master eating with his hands? Rav Huna said to him: This is what Rav said: Porridge eaten with a finger is tasty, and all the more so if it is eaten with two fingers, and all the more so with three. It is more enjoyable to eat porridge with your hands.

אמר ליה רב לחייא בריה וכן אמר ליה רב הונא לרבה בריה מזמנים לך למיכל דייסא עד פרסה למיכל בישרא דתורא עד תלתא פרסין אמר ליה רב לחייא בריה וכן אמר ליה רב הונא לרבה בריה כל מידעם לא תפלוט קמיה רבך לבר מן קרא ודייסא שהן דומין לפתילתא של אבר ואפילו קמי שבור מלכא פלוט

Rav said to his son Ḥiyya, and Rav Huna similarly said to his son Rabba: If you are invited to eat porridge, for such a meal you should travel up to the distance of a parasang [parsa]. If you are invited to eat ox meat, you should travel up to three parasangs. Rav said to his son Ḥiyya, and Rav Huna similarly said to his son Rabba: You should not spit out anything before your teacher, as this is disrespectful, apart from gourd and porridge, as they are like a burning lead wick in the intestines when they cannot be digested, and therefore spit them out even before King Shapur, due to the danger involved.

רבי יוסי ורבי יהודה חד אכיל דייסא באצבעתיה וחד אכיל בהוצא אמר ליה דאכיל בהוצא לדאכיל באצבעתיה עד מתי אתה מאכילני צואתך אמר ליה דאכיל באצבעתיה לדאכיל בהוצא עד מתי אתה מאכילני רוקך

The Gemara relates more incidents: Rabbi Yosei and Rabbi Yehuda dined together. One of them ate porridge with his fingers, and the other one ate with a fork [hutza]. The one who was eating with a fork said to the one who was eating with his fingers: For how long will you keep feeding me your filth? Must I keep eating off of your dirty fingernails? The one who was eating with his fingers said to the one who was eating with a fork: For how long will you keep feeding me your spittle, as you eat with a fork which you then put back in the common bowl.

רבי יהודה ורבי שמעון אייתו לקמייהו בלוספיין רבי יהודה אכל רבי שמעון לא אכל אמר ליה רבי יהודה מאי טעמא לא אכיל מר אמר ליה רבי שמעון אלו אין יוצאין מבני מעים כל עיקר אמר ליה רבי יהודה כל שכן שנסמוך עליהן למחר

Belospayin, a type of figs, were brought before Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Yehuda ate them, but Rabbi Shimon did not eat them. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: What is the reason that the Master is not eating? Rabbi Shimon said to him: These do not leave the intestines at all. They remain undigested. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: If so, all the more that one can rely on them to feel full tomorrow.

רבי יהודה הוה יתיב קמיה דרבי טרפון אמר ליה רבי טרפון היום פניך צהובין אמר ליה אמש יצאו עבדיך לשדה והביאו לנו תרדין ואכלנום בלא מלח ואם אכלנום במלח כל שכן שהיו פנינו צהובין

Rabbi Yehuda was sitting before Rabbi Tarfon. Rabbi Tarfon said to him: Your face today is ruddy, i.e., a rosy, healthy color. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: Last night your servants, i.e., we students, went out to the field, and beets were brought to us, and we ate them without salt. This is the reason for our healthy complexion. And had we eaten them with salt, all the more so would our faces have been ruddy.

אמרה ההיא מטרוניתא לרבי יהודה מורה ורוי אמר לה הימנותא בידא דההיא איתתא אי טעימנא אלא קידושא ואבדלתא וארבעה כסי דפסחא וחוגרני צידעי מן הפסח עד העצרת אלא חכמת אדם תאיר פניו

The Gemara cites related incidents: A certain gentile lady [matronita] said to Rabbi Yehuda, whose face was ruddy: How can one teach the Jews and be a drunk at the same time? He said to her: I place my integrity in the hands of this woman and should no longer be deemed credible if I ever taste any wine except for that of kiddush, havdala, and the four cups of Passover. And after I drink those four cups I tie my temples from Passover to Shavuot, as wine gives me a headache. Rather, my complexion is explained by the verse “A man’s wisdom makes his face to shine” (Ecclesiastes 8:1).

אמר ליה ההוא מינא לרבי יהודה פניך דומין אי כמלוי רבית אי כמגדלי חזירין אמר ליה ביהודאי תרוייהו אסירן אלא עשרים וארבעה בית הכסא אית לי מן ביתא עד בי מדרשא וכל שעה ושעה אני נכנס לכל אחד ואחד

A certain heretic said to Rabbi Yehuda: Your face is similar either to usurers or to pig breeders. These people would earn a good living without expending much energy, which gave them plump, healthy complexions. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: Both of these occupations are prohibited to Jews. Rather, my face is ruddy because I have twenty-four bathrooms on the way from my home to the study hall, and all the time I enter each and every one of them. He did not suffer from constipation, which had a beneficial effect on his complexion.

רבי יהודה כד אזיל לבי מדרשא שקיל גולפא על כתפיה אמר גדולה מלאכה שמכבדת את בעליה רבי שמעון שקיל צנא על כתפיה אמר גדולה מלאכה שמכבדת את בעליה

§ The Gemara relates: When Rabbi Yehuda would go to the study hall he would carry a pitcher [gulefa] on his shoulder to sit on, saying: Labor is great, as it brings honor to the laborer who performs it. It brought him honor by enabling him to avoid sitting on the floor of the study hall. Similarly, Rabbi Shimon would carry a basket on his shoulder, saying: Labor is great, as it brings honor to the laborer who performs it.

דביתהו דרבי יהודה נפקת נקטת עמרא עבדה גלימא דהוטבי כד נפקת לשוקא מיכסיא ביה וכד נפיק רבי יהודה לצלויי הוה מכסי ומצלי וכד מיכסי ביה הוה מברך ברוך שעטני מעיל

The Gemara further relates: Rabbi Yehuda’s wife went out to the market, collected wool, and made a thick [hutevei] cloak. When she would go out to the market she would cover herself with it, and when Rabbi Yehuda would go out to pray he would cover himself with the cloak and pray. And when he would cover himself with it he would recite the blessing: Blessed is He who wrapped me in a coat, as he took much pleasure in it.

זימנא חדא גזר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל תעניתא רבי יהודה לא אתא לבי תעניתא אמרין ליה לא אית ליה כסויא שדר ליה גלימא ולא קביל

On one occasion Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, the Nasi, decreed a fast. Rabbi Yehuda did not come to the house of the fast, where everyone gathered. The people said to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: Rabbi Yehuda does not have a dignified garment to cover himself with, and therefore he shies away from public events. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel sent him a cloak of his own, but Rabbi Yehuda did not accept this gift.