Daf Ditty Shabbes 142: ‫ְדָּאָדם ָחשׁוּב ֲאָנא‬

“everything's all Sir Garnet",

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,

I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical1

“a person should have a piece of paper in each side pocket.

On one should be written, “The world was created (just) for me”.

On the other, “I am (originated from only) dust and ashes”

Kotzker Rebbe

1
HMS Pinafore, Gilbert and Sullivan

1
Abaye explained his actions and said: If not for the fact that I am an important person, why
would I need to place a spoon on the bundles? Aren’t the bundles themselves suited to lean
upon? I could have carried the bundles without the spoon.

Similarly, Rava said: If not for the fact that I am an important person, why would I need to
place a knife on a young dove? Isn’t the young dove itself suited to be eaten as raw meat?

The Gemara asks: The reason that it is permitted to move the slaughtered dove is because it is
suited to be eaten by a person as raw meat; but if it is not suited to be eaten by a person as raw
meat, no, it may not be moved.

Is that to say that Rava holds in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, that on
Shabbat it is prohibited to move food that was originally designated for human consumption and
is now only suited for animal consumption?

Didn’t Rava say to his attendant on a Festival: Roast a duck for me, and throw its intestines
to the cat. Moving the duck’s intestines was permitted in order to feed the cat. Similarly, moving

2
the dove should have been permitted not because it is raw meat fit for consumption by a person,
but because it is suited for consumption by a dog.

RASHI

..because I am stricter on myself so that people will not learn from me to be lenient…

RASHBA

JASTROW

Our Daf relates that although Abaye was of the opinion that it is permitted to carry sheaves of
harvested grain on Shabbos, he nevertheless refrained from doing so unless he first placed a ladle
on the sheave.

Why did he hold it is permitted to carry sheaves? Although the grain they contain must undergo
much processing before it is edible, the stalks of which the sheaves are comprised can serve here
and now as mats upon which a person may lay down.

Why then did he refrain from doing so? Because he was a distinguished person. Hence, his conduct
would serve as a model that other people might emulate.

Therefore, lest other people draw erroneous conclusions and potentially treat prohibitions
leniently, Abaye conducted himself stringently and refrained from carrying the sheaves outright.

The Gemara then cites Rava’s similar conduct in another case involving the laws of Shabbos.

3
On the basis of this passage and similar Gemaras, Yad Malachi (Klalei ha’Alef #6) rejects the
assertion of Be’er Sheva (fol. 110d) that it is only in regard to the law that forbids dishes cooked
by non-Jews (Bishul Akum) that a distinguished person must maintain a higher standard.2

Indeed, in his notes to Yad Malachi (ad loc.), R’ Yeshaya Pick notes that he found fourteen laws
besides the law of Bishul Akum in which the principle that a distinguished person should maintain
a higher standard is invoked.

Hence, writes Yad Malachi, a scholar must refrain from activities — that are perfectly permissible
for other people — when they touch upon any area of Halacha in which a prohibition may apply.

He explains that this is because of a fact of human nature expounded by Talmud Yerushalmi in
Moed Kattan (cited by Ritva to Moed Kattan 2a), that people are more likely to interpret what they
see erroneously and draw distorted conclusions than to interpret what they see correctly and draw
accurate conclusion.3

Jan Hus
A church dissenter, he was eventually taken in front of the council and asked to recant his views.
He replied, "I would not for a chapel of gold retreat from the truth!". When he refused, he was put
back in prison.

On July 6, 1415, he was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic
Church. He could be heard singing Psalms as he was burning.

2
Be’er Sheva contends that this is due to the unique distance from “non-kosher” food that is the essence of this prohibition.
3
Daf Digest

4
After Hus was executed, the followers of his religious teachings (known as Hussites) refused to
elect another Catholic monarch and defeated five consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and
1431 in what became known as the Hussite Wars.

Both the Bohemian and the Moravian populations remained majority Hussite until the 1620s,
when a Protestant defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain resulted in the Lands of the Bohemian
Crown coming under Habsburg dominion for the next 300 years and being subject to immediate
and forced conversion in an intense campaign of return to Catholicism.

“You’ve cooked your goose”

If your “goose has been cooked”, that probably means that you’ve been – to use another idiom –
caught red-handed. You’re done for! The jig is up! In other words, you’re in big trouble. But the
phrase’s deeper connotation implies more than just trouble. It also connotes a sense of being
trapped and unable to escape your fate.

Interestingly enough, there might not be any literal geese involved in the origin of this idiom. Some
people believe it comes from the Czech and is derived from the burning of a famous early
protestant martyr, Jan Hus, who was put to death as a heretic in 1415. The origin of the surname
Hus is the word goose, meaning the idiom may be much more macabre.

Rav Mordechai Kornfeld writes4 that on Yom Tov, Rava told his servant to roast a goose and
throw its intestines to a cat.

The Gemara understands from Rava's words that he rules in accordance with Rebbi Shimon, who
maintains that one is permitted to move an object on Yom Tov for the sake of animals, even though
the object was designated for human use before Yom Tov.

How can this be inferred from Rava's ruling?

Perhaps Rava agrees with Rebbi Yehudah and not with Rebbi Shimon; Rebbi Yehudah prohibits
giving animals an object designated for humans only when the object is no longer fit to be used by
a person.5
If the object can still be used by a person (that is, it is fit for its designated use), even Rebbi
Yehudah agrees that it is not Muktzah and it may be given to animals. Why, then, does the Gemara
say that Rava's action shows that he rules like Rebbi Shimon? The goose intestines were still fit
for humans!

The type of Muktzah that the Gemara here discusses is usually referred to as "Muchan l'Adam Eino
Muchan l'Behemah." It is important to note that there are two distinct types of Muktzah which are
included in this expression.

4
Daf Advancemnet Forum Shabbes 142
5
Because the object is no longer fit for its originally designated use as human food, it is considered Nolad and is Muktzah.

5
 1. An object is Muktzah when the laws of Shabbos or Yom Tov prevent man from using the
object. For example, on Shabbos a live animal is Muktzah, because the laws of Shabbos
forbid the slaughter of an animal. Even though live animals are sometimes fed to dogs,
since this animal is not fit for humans at present it is Muktzah (according to Rebbi Shimon)
and may not be fed to dogs.

2. If something happens to an object on Shabbos that makes it unfit for man, it may not be
fed even to dogs. (This is a form of Nolad.)

For example, if the animal was alive before Yom Tov (and was fit for man, since he could slaughter
and eat it on Yom Tov) and then it died on Yom Tov, it becomes unfit for man and is Muktzah and
may not be fed to dogs.

In Rava's case, the intestines of the animal fit into neither category! There is no law of Yom Tov
that prevents the intestines from being used by man, and nothing happened to the intestines that
made them unfit for human use.

RASHI explains:

that goose intestines are unfit for man not because any change occurred to them, but because it is
Yom Tov, and it is not the manner to eat goose intestines on Yom Tov.

Therefore, it is considered as though the laws of Yom Tov prohibit this item from human use (the
first category mentioned above). That is why Rebbi Yehudah would prohibit giving them to
animals.

TOSFOS (Shabbos 29a, DH Achlan, and Beitzah 33a, DH v'Shadi) challenges Rashi's explanation
from the Gemara earlier (128a) which states that one is permitted to move raw meat on Shabbos
because it is possible for people to eat the meat in such a state.

Certainly it is not the normal manner to eat raw meat on Shabbos, and yet the raw meat is not
considered Muktzah! Tosfos therefore explains that goose intestines are edible as soon as the goose
is slaughtered (before Yom Tov).

However, shortly thereafter (on Yom Tov) the intestines spoil and become inedible. Since the
intestines are no longer fit for man, they become Muktzah according to Rebbi Yehudah.6

6
Tosfos understands that they fall into the second category mentioned above.

6
Rav Kornfeld ends, “perhaps Rashi maintains that goose intestines cannot be compared to raw
meat for the following reason. Rava slaughtered the goose because he intended to eat its meat,
and the intestines were secondary to the meat. Relative to the meat, the intestines are not fit for
use on Yom Tov. Raw meat, though, stands by itself and is not secondary to anything else, and
therefore it is not Muktzah.”

‫ְדָּאָדם ָחשׁוּב ֲאָנא‬

Tosafos Shabbes 19b

‫ת וס פ ות ד " ה ו ש מ וא ל ש ר י‬

(SUMMARY: Tosfos explains that while Shmuel permits Nolad, he personally did not rely on
leniencies stemming from his ruling.)

‫( אמרי' דשמואל הוה מטלטל גרעיני פרסייתא אגב ריפתא פי' בשולות כל צרכן‬.‫תימה דבס"פ נוטל )לקמן קמג‬
‫שאין נשאר מן האוכל עליהם כלל וכיון דשרי נולד כר"ש בלא ריפתא נמי לישתרי‬

Question: This is difficult, as the Gemara later (142b-143a) our daf says that Shmuel would carry
the pits of good dates if they were on bread. This means he would carry the pits of ripe dates that
have no pieces of date on them. Since Shmuel permitted Nolad in accordance with the opinion of
Rebbi Shimon, he should even have permitted carrying them without bread!

‫ותירץ ר"ת דשמואל מחמיר על עצמו היה לפי שהיה אדם חשוב וכן מוכח סוגיא התם דאמר אביי אי לאו דאדם‬
‫חשוב אנא‬

Answer: Rabeinu Tam answers that Shmuel was more stringent on himself, since he was an
important person. This is also implied in the Gemara (ibid.) where Abaye says, "If I was not an
important person (etc)."

RAMBAM Hil Yom Tov 17:1

7
Anything that is forbidden on Shabbat—whether because it is similar to work or it [may] bring
one to [do] work or it is because of a Shabbat decree—is certainly forbidden on a holiday, unless
there was something about it for the sake of eating and that which is similar to it. And anything
that is permissible on Shabbat is permissible on a holiday.

But there is the prohibition on a holiday of muktseh (that which is designated) which is not found
on Shabbat—as muktseh is forbidden on a holiday, but permissible on Shabbat. Because a holiday
is less weighty than Shabbat, [the Sages] forbade muktseh upon it, lest one would come to make
light of it.

Sha'ar HaMelekh on Mishneh Torah

Abaye and Rava were one of history’s most famous pairs, noted, of all things, for their intense
arguments with one another! But in the end they were inseparable.

They were buried together in one of the most elevated and scenic sites in northern Israel, where,
on a clear day, you could almost see forever.

8
 Abaye and Rava

Although both Abbaye and Rava introduced the Torah student to noted points of view, still, a
final decision must be made when it comes to halacha, or Jewish law, and it is said that in all but
six instances the halacha was based on Rava’s interpretations. But in the end it was Abbaye, who
was engaged in acts of good deeds as well as Torah study, who outlived his colleague by 20
years.

Abbaye and Rava were among the many bright spots in what started out as a dismal and bitter
exile from Eretz Yisroel to Babylonia, a period which spanned some 1,500 years. When the
Babylonians captured 10,000 Jews from Israel and took them from the Holy Land, it didn’t look
like a very bright future for the Jewish nation. But as it turned out, these initial 10,000 captive
Jewish souls actually planted the seeds for what was to become the greatest center of Torah
learning in its time, culminating with the rendering of the Babylonian Talmud.

Abbaye, who was also known as Nahmani ben Keilil, lost his father before he was born and then
his mother died upon his birth.
He grew up in the home of his uncle, the famous Torah sage, Rabbah. Upon the death of Rav
Yosef, Abbaye was chosen from among four candidates (including Rava) to head the prestigious
learning academy at Pumbedita.

Both Abbaye and Rava are recorded as having descended from the famous house of Eli, the high
priest and mentor of Samuel the Prophet.

Rava, who opened a school in Mahoza on the banks of the Tigris, was said to have been very
poor and cultivated his vegetable plot by night in order to be able to learn by day.
One of Abbaye’s most notable halachic opinions is one in which he permitted the Hebrew
language to be used in all matters and places, in opposition to those who sought to preserve it for
only sacred places and activities.

By now, one must be wondering what a discussion between Abbaye and Rava sounded like.
Since they are probably the most quoted partners in the Talmud, finding such an example is not
so difficult, such as this one brief example found in Tractate Nedarim, p. 39b:

“It was taught: There is no measure for visiting the sick. What does ‘no measure’ mean?
Rabbi Yosef explained: This means the rewards for doing so are unlimited.

9
But Abbaye said: Is there a definitive measure of reward for carrying out any commandment? …
Rather, ‘no measure’ means that even a great person must visit a lowly one who is sick.

Rava said: A person must visit the sick even a hundred times a day.”

Among Rava's teachers were also Rav Sheshet and Rav Joseph bar Chiya, head of the Academy
of Pumbeditha. Rav Joseph became blind in his old age, and Rava used to walk backwards when
leaving him, as one respectfully leaves the presence of a great Talmud-scholar or king.

Rava did this even though Rav Joseph could not see in what manner his pupil departed. Thus, Rava
never turned his back on his teacher, and when Rav Joseph was told of this, he blessed his devoted
pupil to become a great man and deserve great honor.

Rava was about the same age as Abaye and was born in, or near, the year 4038. In their youth
they learned together under Rabbah, Abaye's uncle. Both of them distinguished themselves as
outstanding scholars.

When Abaye was chosen to head the Academy of Pumbeditha, after the death of Rav Joseph bar
Chiyah, Rava, too, acknowledged him as chief leader of Babylonian Jewry, and he would often
go to Pumbeditha to pay his respects to his friend, though he himself (Rava) was the head of the
Yeshivah in his hometown Mechoza.

Chana Katz writes:7

To get there from Tsfat, head out of the city toward the Haifa-Acco Road but don’t turn left there,
instead head straight up the hill in the direction of the Bat Ya’ar Ranch and Amuka. The Biriya
Forest will be ahead but you will want to make a right turn first at a sign that says Biriya

7
Chana Katz, a former South Florida journalist, lives in Tsfat. Her articles on life in Israel have reached publications throughout
the world.

10
Watchtower and Fort Biriya. You will see a cement barricade which leads into an army base.
Before that you will see a sign in Hebrew: kever Abbaye & Rava, 0.8 kilometer.

There you will take a left off the paved road onto a rocky path. You will soon find yourself in the
midst of a lovely, peaceful forest. Then, in an almost roller-coaster setting, you will drive up a
very steep slope but it will level off faster than you’d think and more radar stations (pointing in
the direction of Syria) will be visible and a sign that says Yavnit Mount.

To the left you have already come to a clearing and what a view! Even on a hazy day you can
still make out the outline of Israel’s largest mountain in the distance, Har Hermon.

You can take the car all the way to the entrance of the kever but the rocky road is narrow, so you
may want to park and walk the remaining short distance listening to the whoosh of the wind and
the stones grinding under your shoes on the sandy path.

11
A hassidic Tale:
I am reminded of the famous Hassidic story regarding Abaye and the importance of every Yid,
despite being orphaned, bringing together the self-awareness of “importance” and the humility
of the Hassidic Rebbe, from Pshischa.8

Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Pshischa (1766–1813), known in the chassidic world by the title “The
Holy Jew” (Yid Hakadosh), had the following custom when teaching his disciples: whenever a
very difficult question arose, he would concentrate very deeply, often remaining steeped in his
thoughts for half an hour or more, until the answer came to him.

One day, when one of these questions came up, one of his students, a young man who was orphaned
of his father, became very hungry and decided to dart home to his mother for a quick bite while
everyone waited for their rebbe to emerge from his meditative trance.

He quickly ran home and asked his mother for some food. While he ate, his mother asked him to
bring down a package that she needed from the attic. Nervous about returning late, the young man
told his mother he had to return right away. But as he hurried back to the study hall, the student

8
Yerachmiel Tiles: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/440165/jewish/The-Orphan-Sage.htm

12
realized what he had done: after all, isn’t the study of Torah supposed to lead to fulfillment of
its mitzvot? He had just missed an opportunity to fulfill the divine commandment to honor his
mother!

The student did an about-face and ran back to his mother’s house. He begged his mother’s
forgiveness and brought the package down from the attic. He then rushed back to the study hall.
As soon as he entered the room, the Rebbe of Pshischa emerged from his deep thoughts, and
promptly stood up to greet the young man.

Noticing that their master had stood up, all the other students also stood. The young man was quite
bewildered at all of this. The rebbe then delivered his answer to the difficult question, and asked
everyone to sit down. Sitting down with them, he turned to the young man and said: “Now tell us
everything that happened to you.”

After the young man related what had happened, the rebbe said:

“Surely you wonder why I stood up. The Talmud tells us that the great sage Abaye was orphaned
of both parents. His father had passed away soon after his mother had conceived, and his mother
died in childbirth. How, then, could he fulfill the command of honoring one’s parents, which is
one of the Ten Commandments? Therefore, whenever anyone fulfills this mitzvah properly, Abaye
accompanies him.

“Since you fulfilled this mitzvah,” said the Holy Jew to the fatherless student, “Abaye went with
you. When you came here, Abaye came along with you, and I stood up in his honor.

And it was he who gave me the answer to the difficult question . . .”

13
“everything's all Sir Garnet!"

Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount

Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC (4 June 1833 – 25 March 1913),

He was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and
admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, West Africa, and Egypt, followed
by a central role in modernizing the British Army in promoting efficiency.

He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada and widely throughout
Africa—including his Ashanti campaign (1873–1874) and the Nile
Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884–85.

Wolseley served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1895 to 1900.

His reputation for efficiency led to the late 19th century English phrase “everything’s all Sir
Garnet”, meaning, “All is in order.

Initially reading the notion of “an important man”…

‫ ְדָּאָדם ָחשׁוּב ֲאָנא‬I was reminded of the Gilbert and Sullivan spoof of the Major General in
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates. They had a unique sense of British Humor, both self-deprecating
and yet politically astute, something we lack in today’s climate.

In bringing this true ditty, I mean no respect to the Talmudic sages who lived and shaped our oral
tradition. On the contrary my Daf Ditty is meant to bring together a modern sensibility to a

14
modern ear, and sometimes my British sense of humor will get the better of me. So forgive the
ditty (after yesterday’s overly serious subject matter!).

"I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" (often referred to as the "Major-
General's Song" or "Modern Major-General's Song")

This is a patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. It has
been called the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan patter song. Sung by Major General Stanley at
his first entrance, towards the end of Act I, the character introduces himself by presenting his
résumé and admitting to a few shortcomings.

The song satirises the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century.
It is difficult to perform because of the fast pace and tongue-twisting nature of the lyrics.

The song is replete with historical and cultural references, in which the Major-General describes
his impressive and well-rounded education in non-military matters, but he says that his military
knowledge has "only been brought down to the beginning of the century".

The stage directions in the libretto state that at the end of each verse the Major-General is "bothered
for a rhyme". Interpolated business occurs here, and in each case, he finds a rhyme and finishes
the verse with a flourish.

15
The character of Major-General Stanley was widely taken to be a caricature of the popular
general Sir Garnet Wolseley. The biographer Michael Ainger, however, doubts that Gilbert
intended a caricature of Wolseley, identifying instead the older General Henry Turner, an uncle of
Gilbert's wife whom Gilbert disliked, as a more likely inspiration for the satire.

Nevertheless, in the original London production, George Grossmith imitated Wolseley's

mannerisms and appearance, particularly his large moustache, and the audience recognised the
allusion. Wolseley himself, according to his biographer, took no offence at the identification and
sometimes sang "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" for the private amusement of
his family and friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSGWoXDFM64

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,

I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;[a]
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.

16
 I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;

I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,[b]
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,

And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:[c]
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin",

When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,[d]
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat",
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery –
In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy –
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.[e]

For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,

Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.

17