Wearing a mask isn't a mundane matter TB Sabbat 82

With today’s daf TB Shabbat 81 we finish the eighth chapter of our massechet and begins the ninth chapter. The very end of the eighth chapter continues the discussion appropriate bathroom procedures. Rav Huna wants to know why his son Rabba wasn’t going to Rav Hisda’s class.  Rabba complained that wasn’t teaching Torah, but discussing mundane matters like appropriate bathroom procedures. “Rav Huna said to his son Rabba: He is dealing with matters crucial to human life, and you say that he is dealing with mundane matters? Now that I know what you meant, all the more so go before him.” (Sefaria.org translation) In other words, the Torah is ultimately concerned with all aspects of human life which leaves the well-being and health of the individual. I saw too many people including our president flout the CDC’s guidelines to wear face masks in public during the Memorial Day weekend. When a rabbi teaches or sermonizes the very importance of wearing face mask in public to flatten the epidemic curve, he or she is teaching real life Torah.

The ninth chapter takes a break for a while from discussing the laws of Shabbat. For example, it begins with the discussion of the laws of idolatry. On daf TB Shabbat 86b we shall read a famous rabbinic interpretation on what exactly happened at Mount Sinai when God gave us the Torah (after we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, but in the same ballpark). There must be some type of organic connection to facilitate the memorization of the Gemara.

Tosafot explains the connective tissue between the two chapters. In the very last Mishna in chapter 8, Rabbi Meir supports his halachic decision with a verse from the book of Isaiah. Rabbi Akiva in the very first Mishna of chapter 9 supports his halachic decision with the verse from the book of Isaiah. That’s the connection. I have highlighted both verses with a red font to make this connection visually clear.

“MISHNA (last Mishna in chapter 8): One who carries out a shard of earthenware on Shabbat is liable if it is in a measure equivalent to that which is used to place between one pillar and another when piled on the ground to separate them; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Meir says: In a measure equivalent to that which is used to stoke a fire with it. Rabbi Yosei says: In a measure equivalent to that which is used to hold a quarter of a log in it. Rabbi Meir said: Although there is no proof for the matter, there is a biblical allusion to my opinion, as it is stated: “And He shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, smashing it without sparing; and there shall not be found among its pieces a shard to rake fire on the hearth” (Isaiah 30:14). Rabbi Yosei said to him: Is there proof from there? The verse concludes: “And to extract water from the cistern,” indicating that earthenware is significant if it is large enough to hold water.

“MISHNA (first Mishna in chapter 9): Rabbi Akiva said: From where is it derived that idolatry, e.g., a statue of a deity, transmits impurity imparted by carrying even when the person who carries it does not come into contact with it, just as a menstruating woman does? As it is stated: “And you will defile the silver overlays of your statues, and the golden plating of your idols, you will cast them away as you would a menstruating woman [dava], you will tell it, get out” (Isaiah 30:22). Just as a menstruating woman transmits impurity imparted by carrying, so too, idolatry transmits impurity imparted by carrying.” (Sefaria.org translation)