Commentary for Shabbat 257:24

רב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו האי מאן דעביד מילתא ליטעום מידי והדר ליפוק דאי לא טעים מידי אי פגע בשכבא ירקא אפיה אי פגע במאן דקטל נפשא מית אי פגע

R. Nahman b. Isaac said to his disciples: I beg of you, tell your wives on the day of blood-letting, Nahman is visiting us.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That they may prepare substantial meals! ');">¹⁸</span> Now, all artifices are forbidden, save the following article, which is permitted. Viz., if one is bled and cannot [buy wine],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Having no money. ');">¹⁹</span> let him take a bad <i>zuz</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a worn-out one which is not accepted as current coin. ');">²⁰</span> and go to seven shops until he has tasted as much as a rebi'ith.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A quarter of a log. Wine was tasted before buying; at each shop he would taste the wine and then proffer the coin, which, of course, would be refused. ');">²¹</span> But if not,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He does not even possess such a coin. ');">²²</span> let him eat seven black dates, rub his temples with oil, and sleep in the sun. Ablat<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A Persian sage and friend of Samuel, v. A.Z. 30a. ');">²³</span> found Samuel sleeping in the sun. Said he to him, O Jewish Sage! can that which is injurious be beneficial? It is a day of bleeding, replied he.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And I require heat. ');">²⁴</span> Yet it is not so, but there is a day when the sun is beneficial for the whole year, [viz.,] the day of the Tammuz [summer]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Var. lec. Tebeth (winter). ');">²⁵</span> solstice, and he said to himself, I will not reveal it to him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Samuel possessed medical knowledge and did not wish to reveal trade secrets. ');">²⁶</span> (Mnemonic: <i>Sparingly, wind, taste, tarry</i>.) Rab and Samuel both Say: If one makes light of the meal after bleeding his food will be made light of by Heaven, for they Say; He has no compassion for his own life, shall I have compassion upon him! Rab and Samuel both say: He who is bled, let him, not sit where a wind can enfold [him], lest the cupper drained him [of blood] and reduced it<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'set it'. ');">²⁷</span> to [just] a rebi'ith,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which was held to be the minimum quantity of blood which can sustain life. ');">²⁸</span> and the wind come and drain him [still further], and thus he is in danger. Samuel was accustomed to be bled in a house [whose wall consisted] of seven whole bricks,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A whole brick is three handbreadths, ');">²⁹</span> and a half brick [in thickness]. One day he bled and felt himself [weak]; he examined [the wall] and found a half-brick missing. Rab and Samuel both say: He who is bled must [first] partake of something and then go out; for if he does not eat anything, if he meets a corpse his face will turn green; if he meets a homicide he will die; and if he meets

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