Wednesday 13 February 2013

shabbat 133

inky fingers & blood on their hands
3 types of skilled professionals: the sofer, the mohel, and the doctor

the sofer can make the mitzvot beautiful
but the mohel can be excommunicated and struck off
and the doctor can be made redundant if the rabbis teach all the healing secrets

(the sofer, an expert scribe, is an example of making mitzvot beautiful to God. if the mohel does not complete the circumcision he is punished with karet, excommunication. if he endangers the infant he is to be removed from his position. later in the page Abaye and Rava explain what makes a healing bandage. the doctor of Mehoza's son are upset as this would deprive them of a livelihood.  for english translation of this talmud page, see here)

1 comment:

  1. I have d'yo (ink) on my fingers right now, almost finished writing a Megillat Esther :)

    ReplyDelete