Un hombre no debe sentarse ante el barbero cerca de (la hora de) la oración de Minchah antes de orar. [No debería hacerlo incluso entre semana. Esto se afirma aquí debido a lo que sigue (1: 3): "Un sastre no debe salir con su aguja ... para que no se olvide y lleve", similar a "Un hombre no debe sentarse ante el barbero cerca de Minchah para que no olvida y no ores ". Dado que solo hay unas pocas cosas que se deben mencionar a este respecto, se mencionan primero, después de lo cual se expanden las cosas relacionadas con el sábado. ("cerca de Minchah" :) Minchah Gedolah, a partir de las seis horas y media. "cerca de Minchah" es desde el comienzo de la séptima hora. Y aunque hay tiempo suficiente (para Minchah Gedolah), esto (sentado ante el barbero) fue decretado en contra, para que las tijeras del barbero no se rompan después de que comience a cortar y el tiempo para la oración pase antes de que se reparen y se complete el corte de pelo.] Un hombre no puede entrar a la casa de baños [cerca de Minchah, para que no se desmaye], ni a la curtiduría [para que no descubra que las pieles se echarán a perder si no las mueve de su lugar y las atiende, haciendo lo cual, podría extrañar el tiempo para la oración], ni puede comer [incluso una comida pequeña, para que no se demore en ello], ni los jueces se sientan a juzgar [incluso en su conclusión, cuando las demandas de los litigantes ya se han escuchado y nada más queda por ser hecho que pronunciar el juicio, (aún así, no pueden hacerlo tan cerca de Minchah) para que no encuentren una razón para contradecir su decisión prevista y regresar al comienzo de la deliberación.] Pero si han comenzado, [en cualquiera de los mencionados anteriormente instancias], no se rompen, sino que terminan y luego rezan—[esto, con la condición de que haya tiempo suficiente para terminar la actividad antes de que pase el tiempo de la oración. El comienzo del corte de cabello es la colocación de la sábana del barbero sobre sus rodillas para que el cabello no caiga sobre su prenda. El comienzo del baño—quitándose la prenda más íntima. Otros dicen: quitándose la bufanda, la primera prenda de vestir que se quitó. El comienzo del bronceado.—atando el delantal alrededor de sus hombros para comenzar a broncearse. El comienzo de comer—lavarse las manos El comienzo del juicio.—ponerse las túnicas para sentarse a juzgar con miedo y asombro. Y si ya estaban vestidos y sentados en juicio y otro caso se les presentó cerca de Minchah, el comienzo de ese juicio es cuando los litigantes comienzan su presentación.] Se detienen para el recital del Shema, pero no se detienen para la oración (la Amidah). [Esta es una declaración independiente, a saber: los eruditos ocupados en el estudio de la Torá interrumpen su estudio para el recital del Shema, que tiene un tiempo fijo, a saber. (Deuteronomio 6: 7): "cuando te acuestas y cuando te levantas". Pero no se separan para la oración, que no tiene un tiempo fijo ordenado por la Torá. Y esto se aplica solo a R. Shimon b. Yochai y sus colegas, cuya Torá era su "oficio". Pero nosotros— ya que terminamos nuestra Torá (estudio) para nuestro comercio, cuánto más lo separamos para la oración.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
לא ישב אדם לפני הספר – and even on weekdays, and since it (i.e., the Mishnah) had to teach (in Tractate Shabbat, Chapter 1, Mishnah 3) that a tailor must not go out with his needle, etc., lest he forget and leave, which is similar to the decree that a person should not sit before the barber close to [the time] for the afternoon prayer, lest he forget and not pray, because of this, it [the Mishnah] teaches this here, and since their words are small/short, he makes a decision and teaches it in the first part of the Mishnah, and then explains the matters of Shabbat and expands upon them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
After an introductory mishnah, the Mishnah continues with laws relevant to the day before Shabbat. Our mishnah deals with things that one shouldn’t do once the time for the afternoon prayer, minhah, has arrived. The problem is that if one becomes engaged with one of these activities, he may become swept away and forget to pray minhah.
These laws apply not only to the day before Shabbat, but to any day of the week.
The minhah referred to here is from the time of 9 1/2 hours, the day being divided into 12 daylight hours. So on a day where daylight begins at 6 AM and ends at 6 PM, minhah is from 3:30 in the afternoon. In the Northern Hemisphere the hours will be longer in the summer months and shorter during the winter. We should note that one can also pray minhah at an earlier time of day, from 6 1/2 hours.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
סמוך למנחה – the “Great Minha”, from six-and-one-half [Halakhic] hours and beyond, and סמוך למנחה – close to the afternoon prayer , that is from the beginning of the seventh hour, and even though its time period is great, a decree was made lest the bell/body of the bell of the barbers breaks after he began to cut the hair, and the time of the prayer will pass over prior to his repairing it and he will complete the haircut.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
One may not sit down before a barber near Minhah until he has prayed. One shouldn’t begin to get a hair cut right before Minhah, lest the hair cut take a long time and he forget that he must pray his minhah prayers. After the sun has set, he will not be able to pray minhah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ולא יכנס למרחץ – near the time for the afternoon prayer lest his swoon [in the vapor bath – see Tractate Shabbat 9b].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
One may not enter the baths or a tannery, or [sit down] to eat or [begin] a court case. Similarly, a person shouldn’t begin any of these activities close to minhah time, lest he forget to pray. A tannery is an example of any type of work which is somewhat complicated and may cause him to forget that the time to pray has arrived.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ולא לבורסקי – a place where hides are made, perhaps he would see a loss and ruin of the hides if he did not move them from their place and repair them, and he would continue in his work until the time for the [Minha/afternoon] prayer had passed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
But if they began, they need not break off. However, if he began one of these things, then he need not stop in order to pray. Rather he may complete his haircut, etc. and then pray afterwards.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ולא לאכול – even a small repast, lest the meal continue on.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
One must break off for the reading of the Shema, but not for prayer. This section explains that one must stop what he is doing to recite the Shema but one doesn’t have to stop for “prayer”, otherwise known as the Shmoneh Esreh, or the Amidah. The reason is that the obligation to say Shema is from the Torah whereas the obligation to recite the Shmoneh Esreh is only derabbanan, of rabbinic origin.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ולא לדין – even at the close of legal proceedings, when they already had heard the claims of the litigants and there does not remain anything upon them other than only to decide the law, perhaps they see a reason and they will contradict what they want to decide and return to be the beginning of judgment.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ואם התחילו – in one of all of these, we state, that we don’t interrupt, but rather he should finish and afterwards prayer, and this is the case when there is a delay during the day to complete it prior to the time for prayer passing. But the beginning of a haircut is from when he places the apron/garment for the protection of the clothing of the barber between his knees, and this is the scarf that the person who has his hair cut upon his knees in order that the hair doesn’t fall on his clothing. And the beginning of the bath is from when he removes/undresses the clothing that is closest to his skin. And there are those who explain that the scarf that is upon him which is the first to be removed when he gets undressed. And the beginning of the tannery is when he girds himself between his shoulders the coverings of his arms in order to engage with the hides, and the beginning of eating is when he washes his hands. The beginning of judgment is when the judges cover themselves with their shawls to sit in judgment with terror and fear, and if they were covered and sitting in judgment and another case came before them near the time for Minhah, it would be the beginning of that case when the litigants would open with their pleas/claims.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
מפסיקין לק"ש – he took another matter, and this is how it should be read: colleagues engaged in the study of Torah interrupt their Torah study for the recitation of the Shema for its time is fixed, as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:9): “when you lie down and when you rise up.”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ואין מפסיקין לתפילה – which has no fixed time according to the Torah. But we are not teaching other than in the case of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his colleagues where their study of Torah is their craft, but for us, since we interrupt our Torah [study] for our craft/professions, all the more so we interrupt for our recitation of the Amidah.
