Study Shabbat folio 26B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
רבי שמעון בן אלעזר ותנא דבי רבי ישמעאל אמרו דבר אחד. רבי שמעון בן אלעזר — הא דאמרן. תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל מאי היא? דתני דבי רבי ישמעאל: הואיל ונאמרו ״בגדים״ בתורה סתם, ופרט לך הכתוב באחד מהן צמר ופשתים. מה להלן צמר ופשתים, אף כל צמר ופשתים.
R' Shimon ben Elazar and the tanna of the school of R' Yishmael essentially said the same thing, even though they said it in different ways. The Talmud elaborates: The statement of R' Shimon ben Elazar is that which we said: The only fabrics woven from plant materials that are considered bona fide fabrics are those made of linen. What is the statement of the tanna from the school of R' Yishmael? As it was taught in the school of R' Yishmael: Since the word garments is stated in the Torah unmodified, without stating from what materials those garments were made, and the verse specified in one of its references to garments, in the halakhot of ritual impurity of tzara'at, wool and linen: “And the garment in which there will be the plague of tzara'at, whether it be a woolen garment, or a linen garment” (Leviticus 13:47), the conclusion can be drawn: Just as below, when it mentions a garment in the case of tzara'at, the Torah is referring to one made of wool or linen, so too, all garments mentioned in the Torah are those made from wool or linen. Other fabrics are not classified as garments.
רבא אמר: שלשה על שלשה בשאר בגדים איכא בינייהו. דרבי שמעון בן אלעזר — אית ליה. לתנא דבי רבי ישמעאל — לית ליה.
In contrast to Abaye, who viewed the opinions expressed by R' Shimon ben Elazar and the tanna of the school of R' Yishmael as expressing the same idea, Rava said that the two opinions are not identical. There is a difference between them when the cloth is 3 by 3 handbreadths, with regard to other garments that are neither wool nor linen. As R' Shimon ben Elazar says explicitly: If it is less than 3 by 3 fingerbreadths, indicating that he is of the opinion that a cloth that is 3 by 3 handbreadths that is suitable for use even by wealthy people can become ritually impure. In his opinion, the uniqueness of linen fabric is not that it can become ritually impure, but rather that a linen rag, even if it is very small, can become ritually impure. The tanna of the school of R' Yishmael is not of the opinion that other garments can become ritually impure.