Daf Ditty Shabbes 136 Yawning and Mirror Neurons

Joseph Ducreux pandiculating (both yawning and stretching);

self-portrait c. 1783

"One man's yawning makes another yawn"

Erasmus 1508

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 Melodies for "Ring a Ring o' Roses", Alice Gomme, 1898

‫שַׁﬠ ִאיְקַּלעוּ ְלֵבי ְבּ ֵריהּ ְדּ ַרב‬

ֻ ‫ַפל ִמן ַהָגּג אוֹ ֲאָכלוֹ ֲא ִרי — ִדְּב ֵרי ַהֹכּל ַחי הוּא? ְוָהא ַרב ָפָּפּא ְו ַרב הוָּנא ְבּ ֵריהּ ְדּ ַרב ְיהוֹ‬
‫ ִאי ִאיָתּ ְרִחיתוּ ֵליהּ ַﬠד ְלאוּ ְרָתּא — ֲהָוה‬:‫ ְוָאְמ ִרי ֵליהּ‬.‫ ַוֲﬠַבדוּ ְלהוּ ִﬠיְגָלא ִתּיְלָתּא ִבּיָמָמא ְדִשְׁבָﬠה‬,‫ִאיִדי ַבּר ָאִבין‬
‫ ַהְשָׁתּא — ָלא ָאְכִליַנן ִמיֵנּיהּ‬,‫!ָאְכִליַנן ִמיֵנּיהּ‬

The Gemara raises a difficulty: Is that to say that if the child fell off a roof or was eaten by a lion,
everyone agrees that it is considered to have been alive? Didn’t Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son
of Rav Yehoshua, happen to come to the house of the son of Rav Idi bar Avin, and he
prepared for them a third-born calf on the seventh day after its birth. And they said to him:
Had you waited to slaughter it until the evening, we would have eaten from it. Now that you
did not wait, we shall not eat from it. Apparently, if a calf is slaughtered before it was alive for

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eight days and definitely viable, suspicion that it is stillborn remains; the same is true of a child
who dies from an accident within thirty days of birth.

‫ וָּמר ָסַבר ַחי הוּא‬,‫ ֵמת הוּא‬:‫ ָמר ָסַבר‬,‫ ִכּי ְפִּליִגי ְבָּנַפל ִמן ַהָגּג ַוֲאָכלוֹ ֲא ִרי‬,‫שִׁפּיֵהק ָוֵמת — ִדְּב ֵרי ַהֹכּל ֵמת הוּא‬
ֶ ‫ ְכּ‬:‫ֶאָלּא‬.

Rather, Abaye’s statement must be reformulated: When the baby yawned and died, everyone
agrees that it is considered to have been dead from the outset. Where they disagree is in a case
when it fell off a roof or was eaten by a lion: This Master, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, holds:
It is considered to have been dead; and this Master holds that since it did not die on its own, it
is considered to have been alive.

Rabbeinu ּZerachya HaLevi explains that the phrase yawned and died refers specifically to a
case where the baby breathed a bit and immediately died.

However, if it died as a result of illness, the baby is considered like one that fell from a roof and
died accidentally.

Other commentaries state that the phrase yawned and died is only a figure of speech, and if the
baby died as a result of illness, we assume that its naturally weak constitution was the cause of
its death (Rabbeinu Yona; see Me’iri).1

Yawning was a physiological function discussed on Berachot 24b:

ֶ ‫ וְּכ‬.‫ ֲאָבל ל ֹא ָהָיה ִמְתַﬠֵטּף‬,‫וְּמַמְשֵׁמשׁ ְבִּבְגדוֹ‬.

‫שׁהוּא ְמַפֵהק ָהָיה ַמ ִנּיַח ָידוֹ ַﬠל ַס ְנֵטרוֹ‬

..and if he (Rebbe) was stung by a louse, he may feel for it and remove it with his garment, but
he would not wrap himself in his prayer shawl if it fell during prayer. And when he would
yawn, he would place his hand on his chin so that his open mouth would not be visible.

‫ ָה ָרק‬.‫שׁהוּא ְמכוָֹﬠר‬
ֶ ‫ ִניָכּר‬:‫ ְוֵישׁ אוְֹמ ִרים‬.‫ ַהִמְּתַﬠֵטּשׁ ִבְּתִפָלּתוֹ — ִסיָמן ַרע לוֹ‬.‫ְמַגֵהק וְּמַפֵהק — ֲה ֵרי ֶזה ִמַגֵּסּי ָהרוַּח‬
…‫ִבְּתִפָלּתוֹ — ְכִּאילּוּ ָרק ִבְּפֵני ַהֶמֶּל‬.

Furthermore, one who belches and yawns while praying is surely among the uncouth. One
who sneezes during his prayer, for him it is a bad omen. And some say: It is clear that he is
repulsive. Also, one who spits during prayer, it is tantamount to spitting in the face of the
king. In light of all this, how could Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi have done all that while praying?

‫ ֶאָלּא ִמְתַﬠֵטּשׁ ַאִמְּתַﬠֵטּשׁ ַקְשָׁיא‬.‫ ָכּאן ִל ְרצוֹנוֹ‬,‫ ָכּאן ְלאוֹ ְנסוֹ‬:‫!ִבּשְׁ◌ָלָמא ְמַגֵהק וְּמַפֵהק ָלא ַקְשָׁיא‬

The Gemara explains: Granted, with regard to one who belches and yawns, it is not difficult:
Here, in the case where Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi did so, it was involuntary and therefore

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Steinzaltz

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permissible; here, where it is considered uncouth, is in a case where it is deliberate. However,
the contradiction between sneezing in the case where Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi did so and
sneezing where it is considered a bad omen is difficult.

Adam Kirsh in his refreshingly irreverent commentary on this pericope uses the physiological act
as a window into rabbinic struggles between the halacha (davening) and bodily functions not under
control of the will:2

This testimony presents a problem, not because of the apparent insult to Rebbi’s dignity, but for a
reason that, in Talmudic terms, is far more serious: It raises a contradiction in the sources. It is
assumed that Judah HaNasi—the editor of the Mishnah and its authoritative voice—would not do
anything contrary to the law. Yet the Gemara goes on to cite a baraita holding that yawning,
sneezing, and spitting during prayer are serious offenses. How to reconcile the law with Rebbi’s
practice?

This kind of problem of reconciliation is, I have already come to recognize, the bread and butter
of the Gemara. Nothing is more characteristic of the pages I have read so far than the use of
imagination and logic to bring apparently contradictory sources into harmony. In the case of
Rebbi, the challenge is to reconcile his all-too-human behavior during prayer with the law that
forbids it. Lo kashya, “There is no contradiction,” the Gemara triumphantly holds: The law must
have been directed against yawning and belching deliberately, while what Rebbi did was
unintentional and therefore innocent.

But the rabbis go on to point out, this logic will not work when it comes to sneezes, for sneezes are
always unintentional, yet the baraita still holds, “One who sneezes during his prayer, it is an evil
omen for him.” How to solve this contradiction? Again, lo kasha: what Rebbi did was an ordinary
sneeze, but what the law meant to forbid was a sneeze “from below”—that is, passing gas.

One may feel that there is something too easy about this redefinition of sneezing. After all, if
the baraita meant to prohibit passing gas, why didn’t it just say so?

This kind of objection occurs to me fairly regularly in reading the Talmud, when the seemingly
plain sense of a text is reinterpreted to meet the necessity of an argument. But I am trying to think
my way into the logic of the rabbis, and it seems to me the best way to do this is by challenging my
own sense of probability.

But this way of thinking about probability is ruled out by what seem to be the first principles of the
rabbis. For these men, what seemed most improbable of all is that a holy man could have broken
a law. It is far more probable that the law said something different than what it appears to say.

2
“Let’s Get Physical” In this week’s Talmud reading, the soul addresses God, but the body has its own agenda:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/lets-get-physical

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The hierarchy of likelihoods is reversed, and that is why the rabbis seize on the possibility of
redefining sneezing as “sneezing from below.”

But they implicitly recognize that this is something of a stretch, which is why they go on to bring
another piece of supporting evidence. Rav Zeira cites an opinion he was taught, which holds that
sneezing during prayer is actually a good omen: “For just as [sneezes] give him satisfaction
below, in this world, so do they give him satisfaction above, in Heaven.” (The antinomian
possibilities opened up by this saying are fearful, but the rabbis do not pursue them.)

‫ ָהא ִמיְלָּתא ִאַבְּלָﬠא ִלי ֵבּי ַרב‬:‫ ְדָּאַמר ַרב ֵזי ָרא‬.‫ ָכּאן ִמְלַּמָטּה‬,‫ ָכּאן ִמְלַּמְﬠָלה‬,‫ִמְתַﬠֵטּשׁ ַאִמְּתַﬠֵטּשׁ ָנֵמי ָלא ַקְשָׁיא‬
…‫ ָכּ‬,‫ ְכֵּשׁם ֶשׁעוִֹשׂים לוֹ ַנַחת רוַּח ִמְלַּמָטּה‬,‫ ַהִמְּתַﬠֵטּשׁ ִבְּתִפָלּתוֹ ִסיָמן ָיֶפה לוֹ‬:‫ַהְמנוָּנא וְּתִקיָלא ִלי ִכּי כּוֵּלּי ַתְּלמוַּדאי‬
‫עוִֹשׂים לוֹ ַנַחת רוַּח ִמְלַּמְﬠָלה‬.

The Gemara responds: The contradiction between sneezing in one case and sneezing in the other
case is also not difficult: Here, in the case of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, it is referring to sneezing
from above, his nose; here, where it is a bad omen, is referring to sneezing from below, flatulence.

As Rav Zeira said: In the school of Rav Hamnuna I absorbed this matter in passing, and it is
equal in significance to all the rest of my learning: One who sneezes in the midst of prayer, it
is a good omen for him. Just as the sneeze soothes his irritation, giving him pleasure below, it
is a sign that they are similarly giving him pleasure above. Since Rav Zeira sneezed often, he
was extremely pleased to hear this.

Now the balance of authorities with regard to sneezing is neutral: One is for it, the other against
it. In these circumstances, it becomes more probable than ever that sneezing itself is not
prohibited—which means that sneezing as the baraita used the term must actually mean passing
gas.

Halachically, however the law is clear:3

‫י׳‬:‫צ״ז‬-‫א׳‬:‫משנה ברורה צ״ו‬

:‫ בפמ"ג כתב דה"ה בשעת ק"ש ופסוקי דזמרה‬- ‫)א( כשהוא מתפלל‬

‫ ה"ה דבגיהוק מתוך אונס ליכא איסורא ומה דלא נקטו אפשר משום דבו ליכא חיובא‬- ‫)א( לפהק מתוך אונס‬
:‫להניח ידו שאין פתיחת פיו רב כ"כ וגם הוא לזמן מועט מאוד משא"כ בפיהוק‬

‫ היינו לחי התחתון וחזנים העושים כן בשעת הזמר מותר לפי שאינם מתכוונים לגסות אלא להנעים‬- ‫)ב( סנטרו‬
:‫את הקול אבל שלא בשעת הזמר אסור‬

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Daf Digest

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‫)ג( לרוק ‪ -‬וכל שאסור בתוך התפילה אסור אפילו בתחנונים שלאחר התפילה דכל זמן שלא פסע ה"ל כעומד לפני‬
‫המלך‪:‬‬

‫)ד( א"א לו וכו' ‪ -‬כגון שיצטער בזה ויהא טרוד בתפילתו ואחר הרקיקה ימתין כדי הילוך ד"א וכדלעיל בסימן‬
‫צ"ב ס"ט‪:‬‬

‫)ה( שלא יהא נראה ‪ -‬כגון בבגד תחתון אבל בבגד עליון כיון שהרוק נראה אסור ובמדינתינו שלובשין פאצילעס‬
‫אף שהרוק נראה אפשר דמותר דכיון שעשוי לכך אין בו משום מיאוס כן כתב המ"א אבל שארי אחרונים כתבו‬
‫שגם בזה צריך לכרוך מקום הרוק שלא יהא נראה‪:‬‬

‫)ו( ואינו יכול וכו' ‪ -‬פי' שמאוס לו להבליעו בכסותו או שאינו יכול לשהותו בפיו עד שיבליענו או שהוא כסות‬
‫נאה ואם נצריכנו שיבליענו בו יטרידנו ג"כ‪:‬‬

‫)ז( זורקו לאחוריו ‪ -‬היינו שהופך פניו לאחוריו או שזורקו בידו לאחוריו אבל לא כלפי מעלה שנראה ככופר‪:‬‬

‫)ח( וכש"כ לפניו ‪ -‬מפני שהמתפלל שכינה לפניו ומ"מ אם א"א לו לרוק אלא לפניו או לימינו והוא מצטער‬
‫בתפילה ע"י שאינו יכול לרוק מותר לו לרוק לימינו ואפילו לפניו‪:‬‬

‫)ט( י"ל דהטעם וכו' ‪ -‬והאחרונים תרצו בפשיטות דהכא בשעת רקיקתו מסלק ממנו כבוד השכינה וכמש"כ‬
‫בסימן ג' לענין התכבדו מכובדים וכו' ע"כ אזלינן בתר ימין ושמאל של האדם משא"כ בסימן קכ"ג דאיירי‬
‫בהשתחואה שמשתחוה בסוף תפילתו להשכינה ע"כ אזלינן בתר ימין דשכינה‪:‬‬

‫)י( והוא כנגד השכינה ‪ -‬ר"ל שע"כ כונתו אז בעת השתחויה להשתחות נגד השכינה שהיא למעלה מעשרה כי‬
‫הלא לא ירדה למטה‪:‬‬

‫‪One is not allowed to yawn while davening — unless the yawn is beyond your control, in which‬‬
‫‪case one should cover his mouth with his hand. Orach Chayim 97:1‬‬

‫‪Why, does Shulchan Aruch only mention the solution of covering the mouth in the context of‬‬
‫‪yawning? Because with a burp it is not absolutely necessary— or even feasible — to cover your‬‬
‫‪mouth, because a burp takes a much shorter time than a yawn, and, moreover, much less of the‬‬
‫‪mouth is revealed.‬‬

‫‪Yawning, on the other hand, takes longer and opens the mouth to a much greater extent, and hence‬‬
‫‪the feasibility and requirement to cover your mouth.‬‬

‫‪Aruch HaShulchan, op cit, on the other hand, asserts that only yawns are sometimes involuntary‬‬
‫‪and beyond your control. Burps, however, can and must be suppressed altogether during davening‬‬
‫‪— just as one would do at a fancy party or other venue in which the burping would be perceived‬‬
‫‪as rude. Accordingly, in the context of burping Shulchan Aruch does not mention the solution of‬‬
‫‪covering the mouth because it is not a solution, as you are required to suppress the burp.‬‬

‫‪6‬‬
The prohibitions against yawning and burping during davening apply to a person davening alone
in a private place to the same extent that they apply to a person davening with others in a public
place.

For although there are no other people present to be disgusted by these bodily functions,
nevertheless, when davening, even by oneself, it is as if one is standing before Hashem, and,
therefore the same standards apply. (Tiferes Shlomo on the Rosh to Berochos III: 39)

Dr Jeremy Brown MD

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Rabbinic ambivalence to sneezing and yawning is seen in this blog from my old colleague from
medical school in London, Dr Jeremy Brown MD.4

‫ א‬,‫ברכות נג‬
‫ ִמְפֵּני ִבּיטּוּל ֵבּית ַהִמְּד ָרשׁ‬,‫ ֶשׁל ֵבּית ַרָבּן ַגְּמִליֵאל ל ֹא ָהיוּ אוְֹמ ִרים ״ַמ ְרֵפּא״ ְבֵּבית ַהִמְּד ָרשׁ‬:‫ַתּ ְנָיא ָנֵמי ָהִכי‬

This concern for disrupting Torah study was also taught in a baraita: The members of the house
of Rabban Gamliel would not say “good health” when someone sneezed in the study hall, due
to the fact that it would lead to suspension of study in the study hall.

Simply saying “bless you” after hearing a person sneeze was considered to be inappropriate
when it would lead to - an albeit very brief - interruption of Torah. Rashi explains that this word
was said after hearing a person sneeze: “‫ ”מרפא – לאדם המתעטש שרגילים לומר אסותא‬He notes that
another word people said after hearing a sneeze is assuta - ‫אסותא‬, which means a cure or a
remedy. (It is also, by the way, the name of a hospital in north Tel Aviv.)

SNEEZING IN THE MIDRASH, AND IN NURSERY RHYMES

Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer is a collection of rabbinic stories traditionally ascribed to the first
century sage Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, (although scholars believe it was composed around the
8th century). Towards the end is a chapter describing “seven wonderful things that have been
done in the world, the like of which have never been seen.” The fourth of these wonders is
sneezing:

52 ‫פרקי דרבי אליעזר‬

‫ אלא בכל מקום שהיה אדם אם בדרך אם בשוק ועטש‬,‫ מיום שנברא העולם לא היה אדם חולה‬,‫המופת הרביעי‬
‫ רבונו של עולם‬,‫ עד שבא יעקב אבינו ובקש רחמים על זאת ואמר לפני הב"ה‬,‫היתה נפשו יוצאה מנחיריו ומת‬
‫ שנ' ויהי אחרי הדברים האלה ויאמר‬,‫ ונעתר לו‬.‫אל תקח את נפשי ממני עד אשר אני מצוה את בני ובני ביתי‬
‫ ושמעו כל מלכי הארץ ותמהו שלא היה כמהו מיום שנבראו שמים וארץ‬.‫ליוסף הנה אביך חולה‬
‫ י( עטישותיו‬,‫ שנ' )איוב מא‬,‫לפיכך חייב אדם לומר לחבירו בשעת עטישותיו חיים שנהפך מות העולם לאור‬
‫תהל אור‬

The fourth wonder: From the day when the heavens and the earth were created no man became
ill. Rather, wherever a person happened to be, whether on a journey or in the market, he would
suddenly sneeze, and his soul would leave through his nostrils, and he would die.

This continued until our father Jacob came and prayed for mercy concerning this, and he said
before the Holy One, blessed be He: “Sovereign of all the worlds! Do not take my soul from me
until I have charged my sons and my household.”

4
The National Institutes of Health has selected Jeremy Brown, M.D., to be the first permanent director of its Office of Emergency
Care Research (OECR). He is currently an associate professor of emergency medicine and chief of the clinical research section in
the Department of Emergency Medicine at The George Washington University (GWU).

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God was convinced, as it says,
r‫ ִהֵנּה ָאִבי‬,‫ ַויּ ֹאֶמר ְליוֵֹסף‬,‫ ַאֲח ֵרי ַה ְדָּב ִרים ָהֵאֶלּה‬,‫א ַו ְיִהי‬ 1 And it came to pass after these things, that
.‫ֶאְפ ָר ִים‬-‫ ְוֶאת‬,‫ְמַנֶשּׁה‬-‫ֶאת‬--‫ ִﬠמּוֹ‬,‫ְשֵׁני ָבָניו‬-‫ֹחֶלה; ַו ִיַּקּח ֶאת‬ one said to Joseph: 'Behold, thy father is sick.'
And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh
and Ephraim.
Gen 48:1

"And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick" (Gen.
48:1). All the kings of the earth heard about this, and they wondered because there had never been
anything like this since the creation of heaven and earth.

Therefore, a man is in duty bound to say to his fellow: “Life!” when the latter sneezes, for the
death of the world was changed into light, as it is said,

,‫ְוֵﬠיָניו‬ ;‫ ָתֶּהל אוֹר‬,‫שָׁתיו‬

ֹ ‫י ֲﬠִטי‬ 10 His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the
.‫ָשַׁחר‬-‫ְכַּﬠְפַﬠֵפּי‬ eyelids of the morning.
Job 41:10

"His sneezing flash forth light"

According to this whimsical Midrash, there was a time when death only came suddenly, and was
always preceded by a sneeze. No wonder sneezing was so feared.

A soldier hides his yawn from his lady companion in this detail
from a painting by Oscar Bluhm titled Ermüdende Konversation,
or "Wearisome conversation".

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In a 1983 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Selig Kavka
noted there is no response after hearing someone “belching, coughing, groaning, hiccupping,
retching, snoring, vomiting, wheezing, or breaking
wind, even when these symptoms may portend trouble.”

So why sneezing? Perhaps it was because sneezing comes from the rapid movement of air in and
out of the body, and air was synonymous with the spirit.

The great Polish Jewish astronomer and historian (we wrote about him in Daf Ditty) David Ganz
(d.1613) wrote in his book Tzemach David of a plague that took place in the year 1590. “There
was poison and pollution that filled the atmosphere across almost the entire world. When a
person would sneeze, he would immediately fall to the ground and die a sudden death.”

According to Jacob Eisenbrok, from that time onward the custom because widespread in every
language and culture that that after a person sneezes, we say “assuta” - “may you be cured.”

And there is of course the sinister children’s poem in which sneezing (“ashes” or in some the
English versions “atishoo”) is followed by death, (at least according to some historians).

(for instance, “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is about the medieval wool tax, enforced in the 13th century
by the King Edward I. With the new rules, a third of the cost of the sack wool went to him, a third
went to the church, and the rest went to the farmer. Black sheep were also considered to be bad
luck for the reason that their fleeces, not able to be dyed, were less profitable for the farmer.)

Ring-a-ring o' roses,

A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down

10
The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin
finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague.

A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, and posies of herbs were carried as
protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal
symptom, and "all fall down" was exactly what happened.5

The line Ashes, Ashes in colonial versions of the rhyme is claimed to refer variously
to cremation of the bodies, the burning of victims' houses, or blackening of their skin, and the
theory has been adapted to be applied to other versions of the rhyme.6

5
Iona Margaret Balfour Opie, CBE, FBA (13 October 1923 – 23 October 2017) and Peter Mason Opie (25 November 1918 – 5
February 1982) were an English married team of folklorists, who applied modern techniques to children's literature, summarised
in their studies The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951) and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959). They were
also noted anthologists, and assembled large collections of children's literature, toys, and games.
6
“Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” might be about Bloody Mary, the daughter of King Henry VII, and the concerns of murder and
torture of the Protestants. Queen Mary was a faithful Catholic, and her garden was a reference to the graveyards which were filled
with Protestant martyrs. The ‘cockleshells’ were thought to be devices of torture that were attached to the male genitals, and the
‘silver bells’ were thought to be thumbscrews

11
THE MEANING OF SNEEZING IN OTHER CULTURES

The Romans apparently had a similar custom to the Jews and would say “Absit omen” ("Evil
spirit be gone!") after someone sneezed. In his review of the topic, J. Askenasy, then at the Sheba
Medical Center in Tel Aviv, noted that Hippocrates attributed a dialectic dualistic interpretation
to sneezing.

He claimed that sneezing was dangerous before or after a lung illness but was beneficial to other
diseases (Prognosticon 41:22). In the first century BCE, Discorides reported the dangerous
relationship between epileptic seizures and copious sneezing. Hippocrates wrote in Aphorisms
section 6:13 that 'Sneezing, in the case of a person with hiccup, cures the hiccup'. This true feature
was understood 2,000 years later by means of the reciprocal inhibition phenomenon. Celsus
emphasized the beneficial aspect of sneezing during convalescence from illness (Medic2:3). This
belief still exists today among the Zulu tribes.

Many cultures have their own superstition surrounding sneezing which are delightfully described
in a London magazine in 1881.

To this day, in Ireland and in parts of Scotland, the

custom prevails. My housekeeper, a Devonshire woman,
tells me it is still observed by the peasantry in that county. During the past century it was
considered a gross breach of propriety not to salute a person on his sneezing. A friend of mine
has told me that his father, as a little boy, was presented to the Pope, and was promised on his
next visit, two days subsequently, a medal blessed by his Holiness. He and his
father were present when the cardinals were

12
 assembled together. He happened to sneeze, when, to his surprise and delight, their eminences
rose and bowed to him. The result was so agreeable that
he extemporized several sneezes which were similarly honoured. His father was so mortified at
the practical joke that he refused to present his son again to the Pope, and the little fellow
therefore paid dearly for his amusement and lost the intended present from his Holiness.
Not very long ago an Englishwoman, travelling in Italy, who had heard a married lady friend
who sneezed saluted by
those present, not understanding Italian, or the precise meaning of the phrase used, subsequently
astounded a bishop who sneezed near her, by the courteous
wish Figlio maschio ! (May it be a boy !)

GOOD SNEEZING

If all this led you to think that sneezing is always a bad omen, the Talmud thinks otherwise. In a
few pages (Berachot 57b) during a lengthy discussion about the meaning of dreams we will read
the following:

‫ ֵאלּוּ ֵהן‬,‫שּׁה ְדָּב ִרים ִסיָמן ָיֶפה ַלחוֶֹלה‬

ָ ‫ִשׁ‬: ‫ִﬠטּוּשׁ‬, ‫ ״ֲﬠִטישׁוָֹתיו‬:‫ ִﬠטּוּשׁ — ִדְּכִתיב‬.‫ ַוֲחלוֹם‬,‫שׁיָנה‬
ֵ ‫ ְו‬,‫ ֶק ִרי‬,‫ ִשְׁלשׁוּל‬,‫ֵזיָﬠה‬
‫ָתֵּהל אוֹר״‬
There are six good omens for the sick: Dreaming about sneezing, sweating, diarrhea, a seminal
emission, sleep, and a dream. These are all alluded to in Scripture: Sneezing, as it is written: “His
sneezes flash forth light” (Job 41:10),

So, while sneezing while awake was worrying, a dream in which you sneezed was considered
lucky.

13
But sometimes sneezing - even when awake - was a sign of good things. In the Book of Kings
(Kings II 4:34-35), Elisha famously revives a young boy whose birth he had prophesied.

‫שַׁבע ְפָּﬠִמים‬
ֶ ‫ַו ִיְּגַהר ָﬠָליו ַוָיָּחם ְבַּשׂר ַהָיֶּלד׃ ַוָיָּשׁב ַוֵיֶּל… ַבַּבּ ִית ַאַחת ֵהָנּה ְוַאַחת ֵהָנּה ַוַיַּﬠל ַו ִיְּגַהר ָﬠָליו ַו ְיזוֹ ֵרר ַהַנַּﬠר ַﬠד־‬
‫ַו ִיְּפַקח ַהַנַּﬠר ֶאת־ֵﬠיָניו׃‬

Then he mounted [the bed] and placed himself over the child. He put his mouth on its mouth, his
eyes on its eyes, and his hands on its hands, as he bent over it. And the body of the child became
warm. He stepped down, walked once up and down the room, then mounted and bent over him.
Thereupon, the boy sneezed seven times, and the boy opened his eyes.

In this story, sneezing is not a sign of impending death, as it is in Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer.
Instead, it was a sign of resurrection.

Two women ironing, one with a yawn, by Edgar Degas

14
Not so Yawning:
The custom of covering your mouth while yawning is common in several cultures, but so far, from
searching secular sources, I have not found any such customs or requirements with Jewish origins.

In Yawning: comparative study of knowledge and beliefs, popular and medical, O. Walusinski
writes:7

According to [Pierre] Saintyves, Islam sees yawning as a sign of Satan entering the body and
sneezing as a sign of his leaving the body. [...] "The Prophet told us that yawning is prompted by
Satan and gave us the order to avoid it whenever possible. When it becomes inevitable, we must
close our mouth with our hand."

Similar practices and ideas exist in India, and later in Europe during the Bubonic Plague where the
practice was instead signing the cross in front of their mouth.

Since Antiquity, yawning has held as little interest for philosophers, psychologists and
physiologists, as it has for teachers, moralists and physicians.

Around 590 AD, during the times of Pope Gregory the Great, a bubonic plague epidemic raged
through Europe, decimating the population and inspiring numerous superstitions:

“Yawning was fatal then, and the habit of signing the cross in front of the mouth originated during
the times of the plague. [...]

There was a plague they called inguinal, because a bubo appeared in the groins, causing men to
die suddenly in the streets, in their houses, at play, during a meal.

Their souls left their bodies when they sneezed or yawned. This is why we said ‘God bless you’ to
those who sneezed. Those who yawned made the sign of the cross over their mouths”.

Even the skeptical Michel de Montaigne concerned that he made the sign of the cross before his
mouth while yawning, given evidence for the education’s power.

In Austria, in the case of a yawning baby who was not able to perform the sign of the cross, an
older person would perform this gesture in front of the infant’s mouth in order to prevent illness
and bad luck.8

7
8
) Seuntjens W. On Yawning or the hidden sexuality of the human yawn. Thesis. Amsterdam 2004.Vrije

15
In his treatise on wind, De flatibus liber, Hippocrates9 noted that “the continual yawning of
apoplectics proves that air is the cause of apoplexies”, thereby confirming his theory that “wind
is the cause of all diseases”.

In 1739, Hermann Boerhaave, in his Praelectiones academicae10, explains that

“yawning and pandiculation favour the equitable distribution of spiritus in all the muscles and
unblock the vessels of which sleep, or rest may have slowed the functions”,

and that their action fights “against the excessive pre-eminence of the flexor muscles and returns
everything to its place”.

In his 1755 book De perspiratione insensibili, Johan de Gorter11 was the first to describe yawning
as accelerating blood flow, supposedly to improve the oxygenation of the brain, in response to
cerebral anemia.

Well into the 20th century, there were regular references to this notion, even though it had never
been demonstrated. Even someone as knowledgeable and inquisitive as Professor JM Charcot the
founder of modern neurology, repeated this maxim without any critical analysis in his Leçons du
Mardi à la Salpêtrière in 1888.

9
) Hippocrate. Opera omnia. Anuce Foes Ed. Francfurt/Main. 1595. Wechel héritiers d'André. 379p. (http://www.bium.univ-
paris5.fr/histmed/medica.htm).
10
Boerhaave H. Praelectiones academicae in proprias institutiones rei medicae. 1741-1745 Gottingae. A. Vandenhoeck (imp.) 4
vol.
11
de Gorter J. De perspiratione insensibili. Patavii. 1755. J. Manfrè. 328p. 11°) Provine RR, Tat

16
 Jena Pierre Charcot teaching a class of medical students 1888
"A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière" by Pierre Aristide André Brouillet. This painting
shows Charcot demonstrating hypnosis on a "hysterical" Salpêtrière patient, "Blanche"
(Marie "Blanche" Wittmann),
In Medicine
And yet, few things are as common as yawning. Everyone yawns 5 to 10 times a day. Yawning is
a recognized behavior in almost all vertebrates from birds to humans, one which starts in the womb
and continues until death.

Although yawning often procures a sense of well-being for the yawner, attempting to mask this
behavior is standard practice.

Yawning (oscitation)12 most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during
tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality.13 It is commonly associated
with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, boredom, or even hunger.

In humans, yawning is often triggered by the perception that others are yawning (for example,
seeing a person yawning, or talking to someone on the phone who is yawning). This is a typical
example of positive feedback. This "contagious" yawning has also been observed

12
The Latin term used in medicine is oscitatio (anglicized as oscitation), from the verb oscito "to open the mouth". Pandiculation is
the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously
13
Guggisberg AG, Mathis J, Herrmann US, Hess CW. The functional relationship between yawning and vigilance. Behav Brain
Res. 2007;179(1):159-166.

17
in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles and can occur between members of different
species. Approximately twenty psychological reasons for yawning have been proposed by scholars
but there is little agreement on the primacy of anyone.
In pre-term and near-term infants, the incidence of yawning and also the frequency, decreases
during the day and with age (Giganti, et al., 2007)14. This is probably due to circadian and
homeostatic control of sleep and wakefulness.

In non-primates, the incidence of yawning is higher before than after sleep (Walusinski &
Deputte, 2004). In particular, in rats, cholinesterase inhibitors such as E2030, can induce
yawning.

Scopolamine, (a centrally acting anti-muscarinic drug), has been seen to block E2030-induced
yawning but not E2020-induced yawning. This suggests that central cholinergic and dopinergic
mechanisms may be involved in E2020-induced yawning.

Drug-induced yawning may serve as a compensatory brain cooling mechanism when natural
regulation fails (Prasad, 2008). Gallup and Gallup (2007) have suggested that yawning may
regulate brain temperature in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Although patients often experience
disturbed sleep patterns with MS, there is evidence of irregular thermoregulation (Fleming &
Pollak, 2005).

The yawn may be a physiological trait emerging from a vestigial reflex that coordinates
aggressive social behavior (Prasad, 2008). However, Walusinski and colleagues (2010) have
shown that the onset of yawning can coincide with involuntary rising of the paralyzed arm in
stroke, leading the authors to coin the term “parakinesia brachialis oscitans”.

Patients with depression have elevated brain temperature levels; with mania, brain temperature
tends to fall (Salerian, et al., 2008). This has led researchers to investigate whether reducing the
dose of antidepressant lowers brain temperature and reduces the incidence of yawning
(Gutiérrez-Álvarez, 2007).
The link between brain-stem ischemia and excessive yawning is also well documented
(Wimalaratna & Capildeo, 1988) and suggests that neural mechanisms are involved.

Contagious yawning

Fifty per cent of us yawn within 5 minutes of seeing another person yawn. It is suggested that
yawning is an innate action that recognizes a particular behavioral state. Indeed, Mental
Attribution Theory provides an explanation along the lines that we simulate another’s behavior if
we empathy with their perceived emotional state. Hence, if we are aligned with them at some
emotional level, then we might actually yawn after they yawn.

14
Giganti, F., Hayes, M. J., Cioni, G., et al. (2007). Yawning frequency and distribution in preterm and near-term infants
assessed throughout 24-h recordings. Infant Behavior & Development, 30, 641-647.

18
During a yawn the tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear contracts. This creates a rumbling
noise perceived as coming from within the head; however, the noise is due to mechanical
disturbance of the hearing apparatus and is not generated by the motion of air. Yawning is
sometimes accompanied, in humans and other animals, by an instinctive act of stretching several
parts of the body including the arms, neck, shoulders and back.

In animals, yawning can serve as a warning signal. For example, Charles Darwin, in his book The
Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, mentioned that baboons yawn to threaten their
enemies, possibly by displaying large canine teeth.

Similarly, Siamese fighting fish yawn only when they see a conspecific (same species) or their
own mirror-image, and their yawn often accompanies aggressive attack.

Guinea pigs also yawn in a display of dominance or anger, displaying their impressive incisor
teeth. This is often accompanied by teeth chattering, purring and scent marking. Adelie
penguins employ yawning as part of their courtship ritual. Penguin couples face off and the males
engage in what is described as an "ecstatic display", opening their beaks and pointing their faces
skyward. This trait has also been seen among emperor penguins. Researchers have been attempting
to discover why these two different species share this trait, despite not sharing a habitat. Snakes
yawn, both to realign their jaws after a meal and for respiratory reasons, as their trachea can be
seen to expand when they do this.

Dogs, and occasionally cats, often yawn after seeing people yawn and when they feel
uncertain. Dogs demonstrate contagious yawning when exposed to human yawning. Dogs are very
adept at reading human communication actions, so it is unclear if this phenomenon is rooted in
evolutionary history or a result of domestication. Fish can also yawn, and they increase this
behavior due to lack of oxygen.

19
Recently, the mirror neuron system of the brain, a collection of neurons in the right posterior
inferior frontal gyrus has been suggested to be involved in contagious yawning.15 Mirror neurons
are considered to be important for perception and understanding of motor actions, which is a pre-
requisite for “true-imitation,” that is, the exact copying of a goal directed behavior.16

15
Schürmann M, Hesse MD, Stephan KE, Saarela M, Zilles K, Hari R, et al. Yearning to yawn: The neural basis of contagious
yawning. Neuroimage. 2005;24:1260–4. Arnott SR, Singhal A, Goodale MA. An investigation of auditory contagious
yawning. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2009;9:335–42.

16
Rizzolatti G, Craighero L. The mirror-neuron system. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2004;27:169–92.

20
Mirror neurons are a class of neurons, originally discovered in the premotor cortex of monkeys,
that discharge both when individuals perform a given motor act and when they observe others
perform that same motor act.

Ample evidence demonstrates the existence of a cortical network with the properties of mirror
neurons (mirror system) in humans.

The human mirror system is involved in understanding others' actions and their intentions behind
them, and it underlies mechanisms of observational learning.

21