Shabbat 119A

עבידנא יומא טבא לרבנן. אמר רבא תיתי לי, דכי אתא צורבא מרבנן לקמאי לדינא, לא מזיגנא רישי אבי סדיא כמה דלא מהפיכנא בזכותיה. אמר מר בר רב אשי: פסילנא ליה לצורבא מרבנן לדינא. מאי טעמא? דחביב עלי כגופאי, ואין אדם רואה חובה לעצמו.

I make a feast for the rabbis. Rava said: May I receive my reward because when a young Torah scholar comes before me for judgment, I do not put my head on the pillow until I seek as many of his merits as possible, based on conditions and his claims. Mar bar Rav Ashi said: I am disqualified to sit in judgment of a young Torah scholar. What is the reason that I am disqualified? It is because the Torah scholar is as beloved to me as my own self, and a person does not find fault in himself.

רבי חנינא מיעטף וקאי אפניא דמעלי שבתא, אמר: ״בואו ונצא לקראת שבת המלכה״. רבי ינאי לביש מאני מעליי (שבת) [ומיכסי], ואמר: ״בואי כלה, בואי כלה״. רבה בר רב הונא איקלע לבי רבה בר רב נחמן. קריבו ליה תלת סאוי טחיי. אמר להו: מי הוה ידעיתון דאתינא? אמרו ליה: מי עדיפת לן מינה?

The Talmud now returns to the issue of delight in and deference to Shabbat. R' Ḥanina would wrap himself in his garment and stand at nightfall on Friday, and say: Come and we will go out to greet Shabbat the queen. R' Yannai put on his garment on Friday and said: Enter, O bride. Enter, O bride. The Talmud relates: Rabba bar Rav Huna happened to come to the house of Rabba bar Rav Naḥman. They brought before him 3 se’a of oiled biscuits. He said to them: Did you know I was coming and prepared all of this in my honor? They said to him: Are you more important to us than Shabbat? The biscuits were prepared in deference to Shabbat.

רבי אבא זבן בתליסר אסתירי פשיטי בישרא מתליסר טבחי, ומשלים להו אצינורא דדשא, ואמר להו: ״אשור הייא, אשור הייא״. רבי אבהו הוה יתיב אתכתקא דשינא ומושיף נורא. רב ענן לביש גונדא, דתנא דבי רבי ישמעאל: בגדים שבישל בהן קדירה לרבו ⁠— אל ימזוג בהן כוס לרבו.

R' Abba bought 13 plain staters [astirei peshitei] worth half a zuz of meat from 13 butchers in deference to Shabbat, so that he would have various types of fine meat. And he would place the meats at the door hinge at the entrance to his house to hurry to bring another type of meat. And he said to the cooks, in order to rush them: Hurry and prepare it, hurry and prepare it. The Talmud also relates: R' Abbahu would sit on an ivory chair [takhteka] and fan the fire cooking the food for Shabbat, in order to play a role in preparations for Shabbat. Rav Anan would don a simple black garment for the Shabbat preparations, as the school of R' Yishmael taught: While wearing the garments in which he cooked a pot of food for his master, one should not dilute a cup of wine for his Master. One should wear a garment appropriate for the task at hand.