Study Bava Kamma folio 92B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
״וטמא טמא יקרא״.
The verse states with regard to one diagnosed with tzara'at: “And the metzora in whom the plague is, his clothes should be rent, and the hair of his head should go loose, and he should cover his upper lip, and he should cry: Unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:45). Not only must the metzora suffer from the tzara'at itself; he must undergo further embarrassment by publicizing his condition. This is akin to the aphorism that poverty follows the poor.
אמר ליה רבא לרבה בר מרי, מנא הא מילתא דאמור רבנן: השכם ואכול בקיץ מפני החמה, ובחורף מפני הצינה; ואמרי אינשי: שיתין רהוטי רהוט, ולא מטו לגברא דמצפרא כרך? דכתיב: ״לא ירעבו ולא יצמאו, ולא יכם שרב ושמש״.
Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: From where is this matter derived by which the rabbis stated: Awaken early and eat, in the summer due to the heat and in the winter due to the cold. And similarly, people say: 60 runners run and do not reach the man who ate in the morning. Rabba bar Mari said to him that the source is as it is written: “They should not hunger nor thirst, neither should the heat nor the sun smite them” (Isaiah 49:10), indicating that one who is not hungry or thirsty will not be affected by the weather.
אמר ליה: את אמרת מהתם, ואנא אמינא מהכא: ״ועבדתם את ה׳ אלהיכם״ – זו קרית שמע ותפלה. ״וברך [את] לחמך ואת מימיך״ – זו פת במלח וקיתון של מים. מכאן ואילך: ״והסירתי מחלה מקרבך״.
Rava said to him: You said the proof from there, from a verse in the Prophets, and I say the proof from here, from a verse in the Torah. The verse states: “And you should serve YHWH your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you” (Exodus 23:25). Rava explicates: “And you should serve YHWH your God”; this is referring to the recitation of Shema and prayer. “And He will bless your bread and your water”; this is referring to bread dipped in salt, and a flask of water drunk after the bread, in the mornings. From this point forward the remainder of the verse applies: “And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.