We have been discussing animals and Shabbat in chapter five. Shabbat is a day of rest for our animals as well as us. Just as there are complicated rules as to what we can transfer between a private domain and a public domain, or vice versa, we need to investigate the rules related to what animals can transport between domains. We have considered primarily leads, halters, nose rings and other control devices. Today, we spend part of the Daf discussing amulets and whether animals can wear them when they move between the private domain and the public domain on Shabbat.

What is an amulet? Jews are forbidden to practice witchcraft (See, e.g., Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (“Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead.”) We are told the animals (and people) wear amulets to cure sickness. If the amulets do not have magic powers, where does there healing power come from? According to the commentators, an amulet is inscribed with supplications and special combinations of God’s names to cure sickness. The ancients must have noticed a cause and effect relationship between wearing the amulet and healing and ascribed the reason to the presence of God’s name and supplications. I believe this practice borders on idolatry since it ascribes supernatural powers to an object, but apparently the Sages did not have a problem with this practice. I suppose we do not ascribe magic to our antibiotics or other medicines, but we have a germ theory and an understanding of osmotic death to explain their effectiveness.

We learn today that a person can wear an amulet that has proven effective at curing disease in public on Shabbat. An animal cannot wear an amulet that has proven effective. To explain this difference, our Daf has to assume that the amulet has proven effective for humans, but would not work for animals. This Rabbis justify this assumption because amulets work for people who have Mazal and animals do not have Mazal. Mazal can have many different meanings. I always understood it as “luck”. A note in the Schottenstein edition indicates that Mazal indicates a person’s angel who advocates the person’s cause in heaven. Alternatively, the Schottenstein edition states that “Mazal” means intelligence and the amulet works for people because they think it will work – sort of a placebo effect. The Neusner translation says “Mazal” means “planetary influence” and, although humans are subject to “planetary influence”, animals are not.

Whatever the meaning of “Mazal“, humans have it and animals do not. Therefore, an amulet will have no effect on an animal. An animal who wears an amulet on Shabbat is merely carrying an extraneous item, which is a burden and forbidden on Shabbat. Strike another blow for animal rights!

Before we get to the part about amulets, we discuss donkeys and saddles and saddle blankets. Remember, we learned that donkey are always cold. Therefore, they are allowed to wear a saddle blanket when they go out on Shabbat because the blanket serves a purpose – keeping the donkey warm. Saddles do not help the donkey, so saddles are a no-no on Shabbat. The donkey can wear a saddle blanket on Shabbat, but can we put the blanket on the donkey or take it off on Shabbat? We learn that we can by analogizing to a feed bag. We are allowed to put a feed bag on a donkey on Shabbat, because the feed bag helps alleviate the donkey’s suffering. Therefore, we must be able to put a saddle blanket on the donkey to keep it warm.

We get a lot of discussions about what we can and cannot do with goat udders on Shabbat. I am not really a goat udder expert, so I am not going to wade into this territory. The discussion of goat udders does lead to some stories of miracles that are quite interesting. First we learn of a man whose wife died shortly after giving birth. The man could not afford a wet nurse. He miraculously grew breasts and he was able to nurse his child. We debate if the man had a lot of merit because a miracle was performed for him or if he used up some of his merit because he could not earn a living for his family in the normal way. Rav Yehudah has a different observation about the story. Rav Yehudah believes the story demonstrates what miracle food creation for anyone is. As a note in the Schottenstein edition explains, “Maharal explains that God provides food to each person individually, which is an act of Divine grace that transcends nature. Moreover, unlike other miracles (e.g. the splitting of the Red Sea) which involve a change in matter that already exists, the provision of food entails a more fundamental ‘creation.'” We should all be aware of the miracle of food when we sit down to eat, especially now when so many people have too little access to food because of the pandemic.

We get one final story in today’s Daf. The Rabbis tell of a man who married a woman without a hand. The man did not know his wife was missing her hand until she died. The Rabbis debate whether the wife was more modest for covering herself for their entire marriage or the man was more modest for not seeing his wife unclothed during their marriage. I think the Rabbis misunderstand this story. The man loved his wife so much that he did not believe missing a hand was something to be noticed. When we love someone, they become more beautiful, regardless of their physical characteristics. I can honestly say my wife is the most beautiful woman I know, because for me it is true.