Permitting and Forbidding - Shabbat 60b

Rabbi Chiyya said: Were it not for the fact that they would call me a Babylonian who permits forbidden things, I would permit more.

It's hard to be lenient. Much much easier to forbid everything and thus look suitably pious and stringent to those more strict than you. Rabbi Chiyya in this quote is concerned with the topic of how many nails is permitted in a sandal on shabbat, but his statement could be seen more generally - had he not been afraid to seem permissive, he would have permitted far more things.

How much should we be afraid of how we come across? How much should we follow what we really believe, even if the rest of the Jewish world will say we are permitting forbidden things?

The Master of Wings - Shabbat 49a

MISHNA: We may store food... in dove's wings...

GEMARA: Rabbi Yannai said: Tefillin demand a clean body, like Elisha, the master of wings...


This amazing story exemplifies one of the main reasons why I love Talmud. The gemara's first response to a mishna about storing food on shabbat is to tell a fantastical tale about the mysterious Elisha, whose tefillin morph into a dove when faced with Roman persecution. The leap is amazing, the story is a classic, and it offers great depth of interpretation.

"Why a dove?" asks the talmud, because just as the dove's wings protect it, so do the mitzvot protect Israel.

Because Elisha kept the law, he is saved by the symbol of that protection, and yet of course, he would not have needed the protection had he not kept the law.

Tefillin = dove's wings = mitzvot = insulation for food on shabbat.

And the clean body demanded, explained to refer to either passing wind or sleeping, seems to be more of a purity of soul, the white of the dove's wings.

Half-formed thoughts perhaps, but I'm several pages behind... Time for more talmud.