Two beds are better than one TB Baba Metzia 113

The last third of chapter 9 in our massekhet deals with the laws of a collateral, mashkon-מַשְׁכּוֹן. Only a court can authorize an item as collateral. Not everything can be used as collateral. A “baraita continues: The agent of the court may not take as collateral from the debtor items that people use in the preparation of food, as the debtor needs such items, and the Torah explicitly forbade their removal. And the agent gives, i.e., leaves behind, a bed, and a second bed, and blankets, for a wealthy person; and a bed, and a second bed, and a mat, for a poor person. These items are left for the debtor himself, but not for his wife, and not for his sons or for his daughters, as the Torah did not obligate the creditor to care for the debtor’s family.” (daf TB Baba Metzia 113, Sefaria.org translation)

The Gemara asks the logical question why does a wealthy person have two beds? He can only sleep in one of them at a time. “The Gemara asks: Why does the debtor need two beds when one should suffice for all his needs? The Gemara answers: One is for him to eat on it and one is for him to sleep on it, and this is in accordance with the opinion of Shmuel. As Shmuel, who was a doctor by profession, said: With regard to all items that cause illness, I know their cure, apart from these three: One who eats a bitter date [ahina] on an empty stomach, one who girds a wet linen belt around his loins, and one who eats bread and does not walk four cubits afterward. It is for this reason that one requires two beds, so that he should not eat and sleep on the same bed without having to walk a little distance between them after his meal.” (Sefaria.org translation)

We have to remember that eating sitting up straight at a table is a modern phenomenon. Back in Talmudic times people ate reclining with a “TV tray” laden with food in from them. We make mention of this custom at every Passover Seder when the youngest child recites “שֶבְכָל הַלֵילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵין יוֹשְבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִין  הַלַיְלָה הַזֶה כֻלָנוּ מְסֻבִין.-And that every other night some sit to eat and some recline,
but tonight we are all reclining?”

A wealthy person needed a second bed that was four cubits away from the first in order to walk off the meal and not get sick. Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street teaches a second reason why one should not sleep in the same bed he eats in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRZrOCIzPt8