"And it shall come to pass, on the sixth day, when they prepare what they shall have brought in," etc., and this means, that as soon as the sixth day sets in, preparations for the Sabbath should be begun.
R. Aba said: "A man must pronounce the benediction over two loaves on the Sabbath," for it is written [ibid. xvi. 5]: "Double bread." Said R. Ashi: "I noticed the manner in which R. Kahana did this: He would hold two loaves, but would cut only one, because it is written [ibid. xvi. 18]: 'Every man according to his eating had he gathered.'" R. Zera used to cut off the loaf sufficient to last him for the entire meal. Asked Rabhina of R. Ashi: "Does this not seem gluttonous, to hold so large a piece in one's hand?" Answered R. Ashi: "Because on week-days such was not his wont, it does not appear gluttonous on Sabbath, and R. Zera did this only in honor of the day." R. Ami and R. Assi, if happening to have the same bread used in making an Erub, for use on Sabbath, would pronounce the benediction over the bread, for they said that because one religious duty had been fulfilled with that bread, it should be used to fulfil another religious duty."
"How so: If a conflagration," etc. The rabbis taught: How many meals should a man eat on the Sabbath? Three. R. 'Hidka said four. Said R. Johanan: Both the rabbis and R. [paragraph continues] 'Hidka adduced their opinions from the same passage, as follows [Exodus xvi. 25]: "And Moses said, Eat it to-day; for a Sabbath is this day unto the Lord: to-day ye will not find it in the field." R. 'Hidka holds that, day being mentioned three times, three meals should be eaten during the day and one at night, and the rabbis hold that the day includes the night and only three meals are required. Our Mishna, however, which decrees that only enough for three meals should be saved, does therefore not agree with R. 'Hidka. According to whose opinion, however, will the following Mishna be? (Tract Peah): "If a poor man have sufficient for two meals, he must not apply for another at the public kitchen (where food is distributed), but he may apply to the general charity fund. If he have, however, sufficient for fourteen meals (for the week) he must not even apply to the general charity fund!" If the Mishna were of the opinion of R. 'Hidka, he should have had sufficient for sixteen meals, so as to afford him four meals on the Sabbath, and, according to the rabbis, for fifteen meals in order to have three meals on the Sabbath? It is therefore neither in accord with R. 'Hidka nor with the rabbis. Nay; it is in accord with the rabbis, and the poor man should eat his Sabbath-night meal on the Sabbath day, so with his Friday-night meal it will make three meals on the Sabbath. It may also be said that the Mishna holds with R. 'Hidka, and that the poor man should leave his Friday meal for the Sabbath. Shall we make the poor man then fast on Friday? It would therefore be better to hold the Mishna's opinion to be in accord with R. Aqiba, who says, that the poor man should make Sabbath equal to a weekday in order not to be forced to rely upon charity. Thus fourteen meals are sufficient, and he may eat only two on Sabbath.
But according to whose opinion is the Mishna (Tract Peah): "If a wandering mendicant come to a town, he must be given a loaf which can be bought for a Pundian (one forty-eighth of a Sela) when the price of flour is one Sela for four Saahs (and the sages calculated that such a loaf is sufficient for two meals). If he remain over night he must be given lodging, and if he remain over Sabbath he must be given three meals for Sabbath." Shall we assume, that this Mishna holds with the rabbis and not with R. 'Hidka? It might also be in accord with R. 'Hidka if the mendicant happen to have one meal with him, he is told to eat the one he has and is given three more. Should the mendicant then depart empty-handed? Nay; he is also given a meal to take along on the way. What must he be given for lodging? Said R. Papa: Enough to hire a bed and a pillow.
The rabbis taught: The dishes used on the eve of Sabbath may be cleansed for the Sabbath-morning meal. The dishes used in the morning may be cleansed for the mid-day meal, and those of the mid-day meal for the afternoon; but those of the afternoon must not be cleansed until the Sabbath is over. All this is said concerning dishes; but glasses, cups, and all drinking utensils may be cleansed at any time, because there are no fixed times for drinking.
R. Simeon ben Pazi in the name of R. Jehoshua ben Levi, quoting Bar Qapara, said: One who keeps the commandment to eat three times on the Sabbath will be rid of three punishments, viz.: "The tribulations (at the time) of Messiah; the punishment of Gehenna, and the war of Gog and Magog." From the tribulations of Messiah, because the Sabbath is always mentioned as the day, and it is written [Malachi iii. 23]: "Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord, the great and the dreadful." From the punishment of Gehenna, because it is written [Zephaniah i. 15]: "A day of wrath is that day," etc., meaning the Gehenna. From the war of Gog and Magog, because it is written [Ezekiel xxxviii. 18]: "On the day of Gog's coming."
R. Johanan said in the name of R. Jose: One who makes the Sabbath pleasant will be rewarded with a boundless inheritance, as it is written [in Isaiah lviii. 14]: "Then shalt thou find delight in the Lord; and I will cause thee to tread upon the high places of the earth, and I will cause thee to enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Not the inheritance of Abraham, concerning whom it is written [Genesis xiii. 17]: "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it," etc., and not as in the case of Isaac, as it is written [ibid. xxvi. 4]: "And I will give unto thy seed all these countries," but as it is written of Jacob [ibid. xxviii. 14]: "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south."
R. Na'hman bar Itz'hak said: (The man who makes the Sabbath pleasant) will also be saved the pain of exile, because it is written [Isaiah lviii. 14]: "And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth," and [Deut. xxxiii. 29]: "And thou shalt tread upon their high places." Said R. Jehudah in the name of Rabh, "He who makes the Sabbath pleasant is given everything his heart desires," because it is written [Psalms xxxvii. 4]: "And delight thyself in the Lord, and he will give thee the wishes of thy heart." What is meant by "delight"? From the passage [Isaiah lviii. 13]: "If thou call the Sabbath a delight," we can adduce that the delight means Sabbath.
Wherewith should the Sabbath be made pleasant? Said R. Jehudah, the son of R. Samuel bar Shilath, in the name of Rabh: "With a mess of beets, large fish, and garlic-heads." But R. Hyya bar Ashi said in the name of Rabh: "Even with any dish whatever prepared especially for the Sabbath." What does "any dish whatever" mean? Said R. Papa: "Even small fish fried in oil."
R. Jehudah said in the name of Rabh: "If the Israelites had kept the first Sabbath (after the commandments were given) properly, no nation or race on earth could have harmed them. For it is written [Exodus xvi. 27]: 'And it came to pass on the seventh day that there went out some of the people to gather; but they found nothing.' And not long afterwards Amalek attacked the Israelites."
R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon ben Jochai: "If the Israelites were to keep two Sabbaths in succession as they should, they would immediately be released from exile, for it is written [Isaiah lvi. 6]: 'Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves unto the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be unto him as servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath by not violating it, and those who take hold of my covenant,' and immediately afterwards it is written [ibid. ibid. 7]: 'Even these will I bring to my holy mountain.'
R. Jose said: "May my share in the world to come be with those who eat three meals on the Sabbath." Again he said: "May my share in the world to come be with those who recite Hallel 1 every day." This is not so. The Master says, that he who recites Hallel every day is a blasphemer. Nay; R. Jose does not mean Hallel, but Hallelujah.
R. Jose said again: "May my share in the world to come be with those who perform their morning devotion as soon as the sun begins to rise." Again said he: "May my share be with those who die of abdominal disease, for the Master said, that most of the righteous die of bowel troubles." He also said: [paragraph continues] "May my share be with those who die when about to fulfil a commandment; also with those who receive the Sabbath in Tiberias and see it out in Zipporias (Tiberias was in a valley and Zipporias on a hill); also with those who remain in the houses of learning, and not with those who attempt to draw scholars
