פירוש על עבודה זרה 51:13

R. Joseph here thinks that a Jew should be allowed to act as a midwife on Shabbat for a nonJew even though this would involve desecration of Shabbat. This would be to avoid enmity. Abaye remarks to him that the Jew could offer an excuse so as to avoid enmity without having to actually desecrate Shabbat. As we shall see, Abaye offers the same type of comment in each of the following cases below.