Study Bekhorot folio 44B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מתני׳ דדין שוכבין כשל אשה, כריסו צבה, טיבורו יוצא, נכפה — אפילו אחת לימים, רוח קצרה באה עליו, המאושבן, ובעל גבר.
Mishnah: The Mishnah lists additional blemishes that disqualify a priest from performing the Temple service: One who has breasts so large that they sag like those of a woman; or if one’s belly is swollen and protrudes; or if one’s navel protrudes; or if one is an epileptic, even if he experiences seizures only once in a long while; or one who is afflicted with a melancholy temper; or one whose scrotum is unnaturally long; or one whose penis is unnaturally long is disqualified from performing the Temple service.
גמ׳ אמר רבי אבא בריה דרבי חייא בר אבא: משתינין מים בפני רבים, ואין שותין מים בפני רבים. ותניא נמי הכי: משתינין מים בפני רבים, ואין שותין מים בפני רבים. ומעשה באחד שביקש להשתין מים ולא השתין, ונמצא כריסו צבה.
Talmud: The Talmud cites a halakha involving a swollen belly. R' Abba, son of R' Ḥiyya bar Abba, says that Torah scholars may urinate in public and they need not be concerned with issues of modesty, because holding back from urinating causes bodily harm. But they may not drink water in public, as such conduct is unbefitting a Torah scholar. And this is also taught in a baraita: Torah scholars may urinate in public, but they may not drink water in public. And there was an incident involving one who sought to urinate, and he did not urinate, and his belly was found to be swollen.
שמואל איצטריך ליה בשבתא דרגלא, נגדו ליה גלימא, אתא לקמיה דאבוה, אמר ליה: אתן לך ארבע מאה זוזי וזיל אהדר עובדא. את — דאפשר לך, דלא אפשר ליה — ליסתכן.
The Talmud relates: It was necessary for Shmuel to urinate on the Shabbat when everyone came to hear halakhot relating to the impending Festival. In order to afford him privacy, they spread a sheet for him. Shmuel then came before his father, who said to him: I will give you 400 dinars if you will go and retract this incident, i.e., if you will state publicly that one may not hold back from urinating even at the expense of one’s privacy. Since you are an important man, you can have others spread a sheet around you. But with regard to one who cannot have others spread a sheet for him, should he endanger himself by seeking privacy? You must therefore teach that one should not hold back from urinating even in public.