Study Shabbat folio 87B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לחנייתן, רב אחא בר יעקב אמר: למסען. וקמיפלגי בשבת דמרה. דכתיב: ״כאשר צוך ה׳ אלהיך״, ואמר רב יהודה אמר רב: ״כאשר צוך״ — במרה. מר סבר: אשבת איפקוד, אתחומין לא איפקוד. ומר סבר: אתחומין נמי איפקוד.
the 6th day from their encampment. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: The 6th day from the start of their journey. They left Refidim and arrived and camped in the desert on the same Sunday. And Rava and Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov disagree with regard to the mitzva of Shabbat commanded to the Jewish people at Mara, as it is written in the 4th commandment: “Observe the Shabbat day to keep it holy as YHWH your God commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:11). And Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: As He commanded you in Mara, as it is stated: “There He made for him a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved him” (Exodus 15:25). Their dispute was: One Master held: They were commanded about Shabbat, but they were not commanded about Shabbat boundaries. Therefore, it was permitted to travel from Refidim on Shabbat, because the restriction of Shabbat boundaries was not yet in effect. And one Master held: They were also commanded about the boundaries, and therefore, it was prohibited to leave Refidim on Shabbat.
תא שמע: ניסן שבו יצאו ישראל ממצרים, בארבעה עשר שחטו פסחיהם, ובחמשה עשר יצאו, ולערב לקו בכורות. לערב סלקא דעתך?! אלא: מבערב לקו בכורות, ואותו היום חמישי בשבת היה. מדחמיסר בניסן חמשא בשבא, ריש ירחא דאייר שבתא, וריש ירחא דסיון חד בשבת, קשיא לרבנן!
Come and hear an additional proof with regard to the day of the revelation at Sinai from what was taught in a baraita: In the month of Nisan during which the Jewish people left Egypt, on the 14th, they slaughtered their Paschal lambs; on the 15th, they left Egypt; and in the evening, the firstborn were stricken. The Talmud asks: Does it enter your mind to say that they were stricken in the evening? Was the Plague of the Firstborn after the Jews left Egypt? Rather, say that the evening before, the firstborn were stricken. And that day was the 5th day of the week. From the fact that the 15th of Nisan was a Thursday, Rosh Chodesh of Iyyar was Shabbat, as Nisan is typically 30 days long. And Rosh Chodesh of Sivan was on the 1st day of the week, as Iyyar is typically 29 days long. This is difficult according to the opinion of the Rabbis, who hold that Rosh Chodesh of Sivan that year was on Monday.