Study Shabbat folio 108B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אבל עושה הוא את מי המלח, וטובל בהן פתו, ונותן לתוך התבשיל. אמר רבי יוסי: והלא הוא הילמי, בין מרובה ובין מועט! ואלו הן מי מלח המותרין — נותן שמן לכתחלה לתוך המים או לתוך המלח.
but one may make salt water and dip one’s bread in it, and place it in cooked food. R' Yosei said: But isn’t it still brine, whether it is a large quantity or whether it is a small quantity? And this is the type of salt water that is permitted: Salt water in which one places oil initially into the water or into the salt. This is salt water prepared not in the usual manner.
גמ׳ מאי קאמר? אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל, הכי קאמר: אין עושין מי מלח מרובין, אבל עושה הוא מי מלח מועטין.
Talmud: With regard to that which was stated in the Mishnah, the Talmud asks: What is the tanna saying with regard to the distinction between brine and salt water? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: This is what he is saying: One may not prepare a large quantity of salt water, brine, on Shabbat, but one may prepare a small quantity of salt water.
אמר רבי יוסי: והלא הוא הילמי, בין מרובין בין מועטין. איבעיא להו: רבי יוסי לאסור או להתיר? אמר רב יהודה: להתיר. מדלא קתני ״רבי יוסי אוסר״. אמר ליה רבה: הא מדקתני סיפא ואלו הן מי מלח המותרין, מכלל דרבי יוסי לאסור. אלא אמר רבה: לאסור. וכן אמר רבי יוחנן: לאסור.
We learned in the Mishnah that R' Yosei said: But isn’t it still brine whether it is a large quantity or a small quantity? A dilemma was raised before the rabbis: When R' Yosei said that there is no difference between a large and small quantity of salt water, was his intention to prohibit preparing any salt water on Shabbat or to permit doing so? Rav Yehuda said: His intention is to permit doing so, which is understood from the fact that the Mishnah is not teaching: R' Yosei prohibits. Rabba said to him: From the fact that it is taught in the latter clause of the Mishnah: And this is the type of salt water that is permitted, by inference, R' Yosei intended to prohibit preparing salt water. Rather, Rabba said: R' Yosei intended to prohibit preparing any salt water on Shabbat. And similarly, R' Yoḥanan said: R' Yosei’s intention was to prohibit.