Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Shabbat/Chapter 1/3

Hebrew Text

לא ייצא החייט במחטו סמוך לחשיכה,

שמא ישכח וייצא;

ולא הלבלר בקולמוסו.

ולא יפלה את כליו,

ולא יקרא לאור הנר.

באמת,

החזן רואה מהיכן התינוקות קורין,

אבל הוא לא יקרא.

כיוצא בו,

לא יאכל הזב עם הזבה,

מפני הרגל עבירה.

English Translation

The tailor may not go out with his needle close to nightfall,

[for] perhaps he will forget and go out [on Shabbat];

and neither [may] the scribe [go out] with his quill.

One may not delouse his apparel,

and may not read by lamp-light.

In truth,

the lector may see where the children are reading,

but he may not read.

Similarly,

A man who experienced a flow may not eat with a woman who experienced a flow,

because of habitual sin.

Explanation

by lamp-light: The lamp which was then in common use gave off a relatively weak, flickering light, and it was common to adjust it to improve the light. The rabbis forbade one to read by lamp-light on Shabbat out of concern that he would forget himself and adjust the light, thereby transgressing the laws of Shabbat.

Similarly: Sexual relations with a man or woman who experienced certain types of genital discharge (zav/zavah) are Biblically forbidden. Therefore the rabbis enacted a restriction on a husband and wife eating together if one or both is a zav(ah). Similar to the case of one reading by lamp light, the rabbis were concerned that the prohibition would be forgotten and the husband and wife would act as they normally would.