25 (53) As a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

(54) And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.

(55) For to me the children of Yisra᾽el are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Miżrayim: I am the Lord your God.

26 (1) You shall make no idols, nor shall you erect a carved idol, or a pillar, nor shall you install a figured stone in your land, to bow down upon it: for I am the Lord your God.

(2) You shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary, I am the Lord.

32 (6) And Yirmeyahu said, The word of the Lord has come to me, saying, (7) Behold, Ḥanam᾽el the son of Shallum thy uncle shall come to thee, saying, Buy my field that is in ῾Anatot: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. (8) So Ḥanam᾽el my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in ῾Anatot, which is in the country of Binyamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. (9) And I bought the field from Ḥanam᾽el my uncle’s son, that was in ῾Anatot, and weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver. (10) And I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances. (11) So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and which was open: (12) and I gave the deed of the purchase to Barukh the son of Neriyya, the son of Meĥaseya, in the sight of Ḥanam᾽el my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the men of Yehuda that sat in the court of the guard. (13) And I charged Barukh before them, saying, (14) Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Yisra᾽el; Take these documents, this deed of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and this open deed; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last for many days. (15) For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Yisra᾽el; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought again in this land. (16) Now when I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Barukh the son of Neriyya, I prayed to the Lord, saying, (17) Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee: (18) Thou showst loyal love to thousands, and dost recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: O great and mighty God! the Lord of hosts is his name, (19) Great in counsel, and mighty in performance: Thy eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: (20) who has set signs and wonders in the land of Miżrayim, to this day, and in Yisra᾽el, and among mankind: and hast made Thee a name, as at this day; (21) and hast brought Thy people Yisra᾽el out of the land of Miżrayim with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; (22) and hast given them this land, which Thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; (23) and they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not Thy voice, neither followed Thy Tora; they have done nothing of all that Thou didst command them to do: therefore Thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them: (24) behold the siege works are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Kasdim that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what Thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, Thou seest it. (25) And Thou hast said to me, O Lord God, Buy the field for money and take witnesses; though the city is given into the hand of the Kasdim. (26) Then came the word of the Lord to Yirmeyahu, saying, (27) Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any-thing too hard for me?

1. Both persons and vessels can form ‘tents’ to bring uncleanness, but not to [protect objects so that they] remain clean. How so? There are four people carrying a chest: If there is uncleanness beneath it, vessels upon it become unclean. If there is uncleanness upon it, vessels beneath it become unclean. Rabbi Eliezer declares them clean. [If the chest] is placed upon four vessels, even if they are vessels made of dung, vessels of stone, or vessels of [unbaked] earth, If there is uncleanness beneath [the chest], vessels upon it become unclean. If there is uncleanness beneath it, vessels upon it become unclean. [If the chest] is placed on four stones or on any living creature, If there is uncleanness beneath it, vessels upon it remain clean. If there is uncleanness upon it vessels beneath it remain clean.

2. If corpse-bearers were passing along a portico and one of them shut a door and locked it with a key, If the door can remain in its position on its own,[the contents of the house] remain clean, But if not, they become unclean. Similarly [in the case of] a barrel of dried figs or a basket of straw placed in a window, If the dried figs or the straw can remain in their position on their own, [the contents of the room] remain clean, But if not they become unclean. [In the case of] a house partitioned off by wine-jars, which had been plastered with clay, If the clay can remain in its position on its own, [the space partitioned off] remains clean, But if not, it becomes unclean.

3. A wall serving a house is treated as if it was separate halves. How so? A wall serving an open space, that has uncleanness within it: If it is in the inward half, the house is unclean, But what is above [the wall] remains clean. If it is in the outward half, the house remains clean, But what is above [the wall] becomes unclean. If it is exactly in the middle, the house becomes unclean, And as for what is above, Rabbi Meir declares it unclean, But the sages declare it clean. Rabbi Judah says: the whole of the wall belongs to the house.

4. [In the case of] a wall between two houses and there is uncleanness within it, The house nearer to the uncleanness is unclean, And the house nearer to the clean part is clean. If [the uncleanness] is in the middle, both are unclean. If there is uncleanness in one of the [houses] and there are vessels in [the thickness of] the wall: Those in the half nearer the uncleanness are unclean, Those in the half nearer the clean [house] are clean, And those in the middle are unclean. [With regard to the] plaster-work between the house and the upper story, and there is uncleanness in it: If it is in the lower half, the house [below] is unclean and the upper story is clean If it is in the upper half, the upper story is unclean and the house is clean: If it is in the middle, both are unclean. If there is uncleanness in either [the house or the upper story] and there are vessels inside the plaster-work, Those in the half nearer the uncleanness are unclean, And those in the half nearer the clean [space] are clean. If they are in the middle, they are unclean. Rabbi Judah says: all the plaster-work is considered as part of the upper story.

5. [In the case of] uncleanness among the roof-beams, [with a covering] beneath it thin as thin as garlic-skin, If there is a space within of a cubic handbreadth, everything becomes unclean. If there is not a space of a cubic handbreadth, the uncleanness is considered plugged up. If the uncleanness was visible within the house, in either case the house becomes unclean.

6. A house serving a wall is subject to the principle of garlic-skin. How so? [In the case of] a wall between two tomb-niches or two caverns, If there is uncleanness in them and vessels in the walls, and there is a covering thin as garlic-skin over them, they remain clean. If the uncleanness is in the wall and the vessels are in them, and there is a covering thin as garlic-skin over the uncleanness, they remain clean. If there is uncleanness beneath a pillar, the uncleanness cleaves upwards and downwards.

7. Vessels beneath the flowerlike top [of a pillar] remain clean. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri declares them unclean. [In the case of] the uncleanness and the vessels being [together] beneath the flowerlike top [of a pillar]: If there is a space of one cubic handbreadth there, [the vessels] become unclean; If not, they remain clean. [In the case of] two wall-cupboards, one beside the other, or one above the other, if one of them was opened, both it and the house become unclean, but its companion remains clean. The wall-cupboard is considered as if it is plugged up, and it is subject to the principle of halves for conveying uncleanness into the house.

§ The Gemara relates that Yalta, Rav Naḥman’s wife, brought blood before Rabba bar bar Ḥana, and he deemed her ritually impure. She then brought it before Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, and he deemed her pure.

The Gemara asks: But how could Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, act in this manner? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: In the case of a halakhic authority who deemed an item impure, another halakhic authority is not allowed to deem it pure; if one halakhic authority deemed a matter prohibited, another halakhic authority is not allowed to deem it permitted?

The Gemara explains that initially Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, deemed her impure, but he changed his mind when Yalta said to him: Every day that I bring blood of this kind of color to Rabba bar bar Ḥana he deems me pure, and specifically now he issued a different ruling, as he feels pain in his eye. Upon hearing this, Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, deemed her pure.

The Gemara asks: But are people deemed credible to present claims such as the one presented by Yalta? The Gemara answers: Yes; and likewise it is taught in a baraita: A woman is deemed credible if she says: I saw blood like this color, but I lost it before it could be examined.

A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If a woman states to her friend who showed her blood: My blood, which has an appearance like this, so-and-so, the halakhic authority, deemed it pure, what is the halakha? Is she deemed credible concerning its status?

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a resolution to this dilemma from the baraita cited above: A woman is deemed credible if she says: I saw blood like this color, but I lost it. This demonstrates that a woman may issue claims of this kind. The Gemara rejects this proof: There it is different, as in that case the blood is not before her, and therefore the Sages were lenient. But here, the woman’s friend can take her blood to a halakhic authority for examination.

The Gemara further suggests: Come and hear the incident cited above, as Yalta brought blood before Rabba bar bar Ḥana, and he deemed her ritually impure; she then brought it before Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, and he deemed her pure. And the Gemara asked: How could Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, act in this manner? But isn’t it taught in a baraita: In the case of a halakhic authority who deemed an item impure, another halakhic authority is not allowed to deem it pure?

And we say in response that initially Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, deemed her impure, but he changed his mind when she said to him that every day that she brings blood of this kind of color to Rabba bar bar Ḥana he deems her pure, and specifically now he issued a different ruling, as he feels pain in his eye. The Gemara summarizes: The conclusion of the story was that upon hearing this, Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, then deemed her pure. Evidently, when a woman issues claims with regard to blood that is presented, we deem her claims credible.

The Gemara answers: That incident does not provide proof, as Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda, relied on his studies in his lenient ruling. At first, he was reluctant to issue his ruling, in deference to Rabba bar bar Ḥana, who had said the blood was impure. But when he heard Yalta’s explanation he deemed the blood pure, as he had originally thought. Therefore, there is no proof from there that a woman’s statements of this kind are accepted.

R. Hamnuna the Elder, when the morning star would come out throughout Shabbat, he would sit for a moment and raise his eyes, and was happy, and would say that he was sitting under the sight of the joy of the superior angels. They go out and they rest, and throughout Shabbat a person sits in the world of souls.

One who squeezes fruit to extract their juices is liable on account of extracting; and he is only liable once the liquids that he squeezed constitute the amount of a dried fig. And we are only liable from the Torah for the crushing of olives and grapes alone. But it is permissible to crush a cluster of grapes into [solid] food. For liquid that goes into food is food – and it comes out that he is extracting food from food [which is not true extraction]. However if he squeezes [it] into a vessel that has no food, he is surely crushing, so he is liable. And one who milks into food or suckles into his mouth is exempt; and he is only liable once he milks into a vessel.

One who winnows or sorts [something] the size of a dried fig is liable. And one who churns is surely [doing] a subcategory of sorting. Likewise one who sorts sediments from liquids is surely [doing] a subcategory of sorting or a subcategory of sifting, so he is liable. For the function of winnowing, sorting and sifting are similar to one another. [So] why did they count them as three [categories]? Because we count each type of work that was [done] in the [preparation of the] Tabernacle on its own.

[In the case of] one who sorts food from the residue, or one who sorts one type of food from another when there are two types in front of him: With a sieve or with a sifter, he is liable. [But] with a tray or with a plate, he is exempt. And if he sorted with his hand to eat immediately, it is permissible.