Rest on the Tenth of Tishrei

There is a positive commandment to rest from labor on the 10th of the seventh month [Tishrei], as it says, "it shall be a Sabbath of rest for you." And anyone who does labor on it has failed to perform a positive commandment and violated a negative commandment, as it says, "and on the 10th etc. no labor shall be done." And for which punishment is he liable for doing labor on this day? If he did it willingly and intentionally, he is liable to [spiritual] excision. If he did it unintentionally, he is obligated to bring a set sin-offering [not one that varies depending on what the sinner can afford].

Every labor that performed on the Sabbath intentionally would make one liable to [death by] stoning, one would be liable to excision for it if done on the 10th [day]. And everything for which one would be liable to a sin-offering on the Sabbath, one is liable to a sin-offering on the Day of Atonement. Anything that is forbidden to be done on the Sabbath even if it is not a labor [one of the 39 principal labors] is prohibited on the Day of Atonement. And if he did it, they [the court] would whip him 'a lash of rebelliousness' [the punishment for violating a rabbinic commandment] as they would have done [for a similar violation] on the Sabbath. And anything that is forbidden to be moved on the Sabbath is forbidden to be moved on the Day of Atonement. And anything that is forbidden to be said or to be done initially on the Sabbath is similarly forbidden on the Day of Atonement. The general rule of the matter: there is no difference between the Sabbath and the Day of Atonement in these matters except that intentional labor on the Sabbath incurs the punishment of stoning and on the Day of Atonement, excision.

It is permitted to do kinuv on [detached] vegetables on the Day of Atonement from the afternoon and on. And what is kinuv? That he removes the rotten leaves and trims the rest and prepares the vegetable for eating. So too, it is permitted to crack open nuts and break open pomegranates from the afternoon and on because of the anguish of the soul [i.e. so one won't have to do it after the fast when he is very hungry]. But the people of Shin'ar [Babylonia] and the West [Israel] have already accepted not to do any of these activities on the day of the fast, rather it is like the Sabbath in all of its matters.

There is another positive commandment on the Day of Atonement, namely to rest [i.e. refrain] from eating and drinking, as it says, "you shall afflict your souls [i.e. yourselves]." From the oral tradition, they [the rabbis] have learned: what is an affliction to the soul? Fasting. Anyone who fasts on it fulfilled a positive commandment. Anyone who eats and drinks on it failed to perform a positive commandment and violated a negative commandment, as it says "for any soul who is not afflicted on this very day will be cut off." From the fact that the verse gave one who did not fast the punishment of excision, we have learned that we are forbidden to eat and drink on it. And anyone who eats or drinks on it unintentionally must bring a set sin-offering.

We have also learned from the oral tradition that it is forbidden to wash [one's body], anoint oneself, wear shoes, or have sexual relations on it. And it is a commandment to refrain from all of these [activities] in the same manner that one refrains from eating and drinking, as it says "a Sabbath of rest," a Sabbath for the matter of eating, rest for these [other] matters. One is not liable to excision or an offering except for eating and drinking. But if one washed, anointed, put on shoes, or had relations, he is given rabbinic lashes.

In the same manner that resting from labor applies during the day and at night, so too refraining for the other prohibitions of affliction applies during the day and at night. One must add from the profane to the holy by starting the Day of Atonement while it is still day and ending it later than nightfall, as it says "and you shall afflict your souls on the 9th of the month, in the evening." Meaning to say, begin to fast and afflict oneself from the evening of the 9th which is close to the 10th [i.e. the evening before the 10th]. So too, at its departure, delay in his affliction a short while in the night of the 11th that is close to the 10th [i.e. the night after the 10th], as it says "from evening to evening, you shall rest your Sabbath."

Women who eat and drink until dark [on the evening of the 9th going into the 10th] and do not know that it is a commandment to add from the profane onto the holy, we do not rebuke them so they do not come to do so intentionally [by ignoring the rebuke]. For behold, it is impossible for there to be an officer in everyone's house to warn his wives. We should not rebuke them so that they will act unintentionally and not willfully. So too [the law is the same], in similar cases.

One who eats on the Day of Atonement foods fitting for human consumption of the size of a thick date which is slightly smaller than an egg, is liable. All foods combine to this measure. Similarly, one who drinks beverages fitting for human drinking of the [full] volume of the cheek of the drinker--each drinker according to his cheek--is liable. How much is the [full] volume of his cheek? It is such that if he pushed [the liquid] to one side, it looks like his cheek is full. This measure in an average person is less than a revi'it [specific unit of volume]. All beverages combine to this measure, but eating and drinking do not combine to one measure.

Whether one eats permitted foods or forbidden foods, such as sacrificial meat that was slaughtered with the intent to eat it after the designated timeframe, sacrificial meat that was [actually] left over past the time frame, untithed food, meat from an unslaughtered [or improperly slaughtered] animal, meat from an animal with a mortal defect, forbidden fat, or blood, seeing as he ate foods fitting for human consumption, he is liable to excision for eating on the Day of Atonement.

If one ate or drank less than this measure, he is not liable to excision [because] although [consuming] a partial measure is Biblically forbidden, people are not liable to excision except for a [full] measure. And one who eats or drinks a partial measure receives rabbinic lashes.

If one ate a small amount and then ate again, if the time that elapsed between the beginning of the first eating and the end of the second eating was less than the time it takes to eat three eggs, they combine to the measure, and if not, they do not combine to the measure. If one drank a small amount and then drank again, if the time that elapsed between the beginning of the first drinking and the end of the second drinking was less than the time it takes to drink a revi'it, they combine to one measure, and if not, they do not combine [to one measure].

If one ate foods that are not fitting for human consumption, such as bitter grasses or foul syrups or drank liquids that are not fitting for human drinking, such as [fish-]broth, fish oil or undiluted vinegar, even if he ate or drank a lot, he is exempt from excision, but receives rabbinic lashes.

If one drank vinegar diluted in water, he is liable. If one chews peppercorns or dry ginger and the like, [he] is exempt, but if it was fresh ginger, he is liable. If one ate grape leaves, he is exempt, but if they were grape vines, he is liable. These are grape vines: anything that blooms in the Land of Israel from the New Year until after the Day of Atonement. Beyond that time, they are like wood and [he is] exempt, and so too with similar items.

If one ate roasted meat in salt, the salt combines with the meat [for the measure]. Broth that is on a vegetable combines [with the vegetables] because items prepared with food that are mixed with the food are considered like [the] food. If one was full from gluttonous eating, meaning to say that he ate until he spurned [more] food and ate more than his fill, he is exempt like one who ate foods not fitting for consumption. [This is] because although this food is permitted and fitting for one who is hungry it is not fitting for this one who is as full as he [is].

A dangerously ill person who asks to eat on the Day of Atonement, although the expert doctors say he does not need [to eat], we feed him according to his word until he says 'enough.' If the ill person says, 'I don't need [to eat]' and the doctor says he needs [to eat], we feed him according to his [the doctor's] word. If one doctor says he needs to [eat] and the other doctor says he does not need to [eat], we feed him. If some doctors say he needs to and others say he does not need to, we go according to the majority or [according to] the more experienced ones. This is only if the ill person does not say 'I need [to eat].' But if he says 'I need [to eat], we feed him. If the ill person does not say that he needs [to eat] and there is a difference of opinion among the doctors and all of them were [equally] expert and those who said that he does not need to [eat] are of the same number as those who said he needs [to eat], we feed him.

A pregnant woman who smelled [food and wants to eat it], we whisper in her ear that it is the Day of Atonement. If she calmed down upon being reminded of this, all is well [and we do not feed her]; if not, we feed her until she calms down. So too, we feed one who is struck with extreme hunger until his eyes light up [i.e. he is satiated]. We feed him even unslaughtered animals and [other] non-kosher foods immediately and don't wait until permissible foods can be found.

A child of the age of 9 or 10 is trained by hours. How so? If he normally eats at the second hour of the day, we feed him at the third hour. If he normally [eats] at the third hour, we feed him at the fourth hour. According to the strength of the child [lit. son], we continue to afflict him by hours. An eleven-year-old, whether male of female, is rabbinically obligated to complete the fast in order to train him to perform the commandments.

A girl of 12 years and one day [i.e. 12 complete years] and a boy of 13 years and one day who have grown two [pubic] hairs are considered adults for all commandments and are Biblically obligated to complete the fast. But if they did not grow two hairs, they are still [considered] minors and are only rabbinically obligated to complete the fast. A child under 9 is not afflicted on the Day of Atonement so that he does not come to be endangered.

It is forbidden to wash oneself on the Day of Atonement whether with hot water or with cold water, whether his whole body or a single limb. It is forbidden to put even one's pinky finger into water. However, the king and a bride wash their faces--the bride so she will not be disgraceful to her husband and the king so [people] will see his beauty, as it says, "your eyes shall see the king in his beauty." For how long [after her wedding] is she called a bride? Thirty days.

One who was dirty with excrement or mud may wash the dirty place in his usual way without worrying [about violating the prohibition]. A woman can heat up one of her hands in water and give bread to a baby. An ill person may wash in his usual way even if he is not in danger [of his life]. All those who are obligated to immerse [in a ritual bath] immerse in their usual way, whether on the Ninth of Av or the Day of Atonement.

One who has a seminal emission on the Day of Atonement nowadays: If it is moist, he wipes it with a napkin, and that is enough. If it is dry or [he] became dirty [with it], he washes the dirty places alone and [then] he may pray. It is forbidden for him to wash his whole body or immerse. For one who immerses nowadays is not pure--due to impurity from exposure to dead people [which everyone is assumed to have]--and washing [i.e. immersing] for a seminal emission nowadays is only a custom. And a custom cannot permit something that is forbidden, rather it can only forbid something that is permissible. They [the rabbis] said that one who has a seminal emission on the Day of Atonement immerses only when there was a rule that those who had seminal emissions must immerse [the rule was made at the time of Ezra], and we already explained that this rule was cancelled.

It is forbidden to sit on mud that is so wet that a person can put one hand on it and pick up enough moisture to wet his other hand. A person may not fill up an earthenware utensil with water with which to cool off because the water flows [lit. crawls] from its walls. It is forbidden even with metal utensils for fear of water sprinkling on his flesh. It is permissible to cool oneself with fruits.

A person may take a handkerchief on the eve of the Day of Atonement, soak it in water, squeeze it out a little, and put it under clothes. The next day, he may pass it over his face and not worry [about violating the prohibition] although it is very cold.

One who goes to greet his teacher, father, or one who is wiser than he or to learn in the house of study may cross through water up to his neck and not worry [about violating the prohibition] and perform the mitzva that that he went to perform and return through the water to his place. For if you do not permit him to return, he will not go [in the first place] and will be prevented from doing the mitzva. So too one who is going to guard his fruit may cross through water up to his neck without worrying as long as they do not take their hands out from under the edges of their garments as they would do during the week [for then it looks as though they are carrying their garments which is forbidden on the Day of Atonement].

It is forbidden to wear shoes and sandals even on one foot. It is permitted to go out with a sandal of cork, rubber, or other similar materials. One may wrap a cloth around his feet and go out with it for the hardness of the earth reaches his feet and he feels as though he is barefoot. Children although they are allowed to eat, drink, wash, and anoint themselves, we prevent them from [wearing] shoes and sandals.

It is permitted for any person to wear a sandal because of a scorpion or similar [creature] so it will not bite him. A woman who gave birth is permitted to wear a sandal due to cold for thirty days after the birth. An ill person acts in the same way even if he is not in danger.

It is [as] forbidden to anoint part of one's body as [it is to anoint] his whole body whether an anointing of pleasure or otherwise. If he was an ill [person] even not in danger or one who has scabs on head, he may anoint as usual with worrying [about violating the prohibition].

There are places which have the practice to light a candle on the eve of the Day of Atonement so one will be embarrassed from his wife and not come to have marital relations with her. There are [other] places which have the practice not to light [a candle] lest one see his wife and she will find favor in his eyes and he will come to have relations with her. If the Day of Atonement falls on the Sabbath, everyone must light in all places because the lighting of candles for the Sabbath is a requirement.