Shabbat 61B

בשיר ובטבעת ויצא בו ברשות הרבים. משום מראית העין.

to a bracelet or a ring and go out with it into the public domain. The reason for the prohibition is due to the appearance of transgression, as, in that case, it appears that he is wearing the amulet strictly for ornamental purposes, which is prohibited.

והתניא: איזהו קמיע מומחה ⁠— כל שריפא שלשה בני אדם כאחד!

With regard to the definition of an effective amulet as one which healed one person 3 times, the Talmud raises an objection. Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: Which is an effective amulet; any amulet that healed 3 people as one?

לא קשיא: הא ⁠— למחויי גברא, הא ⁠— למחויי קמיעא.

The Talmud answers: This is not difficult. This, where it was taught in the baraita that the amulet must have healed 3 different people, is referring to proving the expertise of the man who wrote it. Once his amulets have proven themselves by healing 3 different people stricken with different illnesses, clearly the one who wrote them is an expert. That, where it was taught in the Tosefta that even if the amulet healed one person 3 times, is referring to proving that the amulet is effective in fulfilling its designated purpose.

אמר רב פפא: פשיטא לי תלתא קמיעי לתלתא גברי תלתא תלתא זימני ⁠— איתמחי גברא ואתמחי קמיע. תלתא קמיעי לתלתא גברי חד חד זימנא ⁠— גברא איתמחי, קמיעא לא איתמחי. חד קמיע לתלתא גברי ⁠— קמיעא איתמחי, גברא לא איתמחי.

Rav Pappa said: It is obvious to me in a case where 3 amulets were written for 3 people and effectively healed each 3 times that both the man who wrote them is proven an expert and the amulet is proven effective. Likewise, it is obvious to me that in the case of one who writes 3 amulets for 3 people and healed each one time, the man is proven to be an expert; however, the amulet is not proven effective. Similarly, if one wrote one amulet for 3 people and it healed them, the amulet is proven effective, while the man who wrote it is not thereby proven an expert.