Eighteen Treatises from the Mishna, by D. A. Sola and M. J. Raphall, [1843], at sacred-texts.com

CHAPTER VI.

§ 1. Wherewith [on her person] may a woman go out? and wherewith may she not go out? 1 A woman must not go out with linen or woollen laces; nor with the straps on her head, because

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she cannot bathe with them on, but must first unfasten them: nor with a frontlet and pendants thereto, 2 unless sewn to her cap; nor with the lining of the frontlet, into the public reshuth; 3 nor with a golden [ornament in the shape of a] town; nor with a tight gold chain; nor with nose-rings; nor with finger-rings, on which there is no seal; nor with a needle without an eye: but if she has gone out with either of these, she is not guilty [to bring] a sin-offering.

§ 2. A man is not to go out with iron-bound sandals, 4 nor with one [iron-bound shoe], unless he has a sore in [the other] foot; nor yet with Tephilin; 5 nor yet with an amulet, unless it be by a distinguished sage; nor with cuirass, helmet, or armour for the legs: but if he has gone out [with either of these] he is not guilty [to bring] a sin-offering.

§ 3. A woman must not go out with a needle that has an eye; nor with a finger-ring that has a seal on it; nor with a ‏כוליאר‎; 6 nor with a smelling-bottle, or balm-flask: if she has gone out [with either of these] on her person, she is guilty, [and bound to bring] a sin-offering. Such is the dictum of R. Meir; but the sages absolve her [therefrom, as far as regards going out] with a smelling-bottle or balm-flask.

§ 4. Man must not go out with a sword, nor with a bow, nor with a triangular shield, nor with a round one, nor with a spear; if he has gone out [with either of these] he is guilty, [and bound to bring] a sin-offering. R. Eleazar saith, "They are ornaments [becoming] to him:" but the sages hold, "they are nothing else but a stigma [unbecoming], for it is said, 'They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears unto pruning-books, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'" 7

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[paragraph continues] Knee-buckles are clean, and a man may go out with them on the Sabbath; stride-chains 8 are liable to become unclean, and a man must not go out with them on the Sabbath.

§ 5. A woman may go out with plaits of hair, whether of her own hair or of another woman, or of an animal; with frontlet and pendants, if they are sewn fast to the cap; with the lining of a frontlet, and with false-ringlets [curls], into the courtyard; with soft wool in her ears, or soft wool in her shoe, or soft wool she has prepared for her menstruation; with a [grain of] pepper or [of] salt, or with whatever else she [is accustomed to] put into her mouth, provided she does not put it [into her mouth] especially on the Sabbath; and if she drop it [out of her mouth on the ground] she must not put it back [into her mouth] again; a false tooth, or a gilt tooth, Rabbi permits [the going out with]; but the sages prohibit [it].

§ 6. Women may go out with a coin fastened on a swelling in their feet; little girls may go out with laces on, and even with wires in their ears; Arabian women may go out in their large veils, and Median women in their mantillas: so [indeed] may any one; but the sages adduce their instances from existing [and known objects].

§ 7. A woman may fold up a stone, or a nut, or a coin, in her mantilla, provided she does it not especially on the Sabbath-day.

§ 8. The cripple may go out with his wooden leg: such is the dictum of R. Meir; but R. José prohibits it. If the wooden leg has a hollow receptacle for rags, it is [liable to become] unclean; leather crutches [of a cripple who is lame of both ankles], are [liable to become] unclean from pressure; but he may go out with them on the Sabbath, and [also] enter into the outer court [of the temple] with them. The chair and crutches [of one who is paralytic] are [liable to become] unclean from pressure, he must not go out with them on the Sabbath, and he must not enter the outer court [of the Temple] with them: ‏אנקטמין‎ 9 are clean, but he must not go out with them.

§ 9. Boys may go out with their bands, and princes with golden bells: so [indeed] may every one, but the sages adduce their instances from things existing [and known].

§ 10. It is permitted to go out with the egg of a grasshopper, or

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the tooth of a fox, or the nail of one who has been hanged, as medical remedies: such is the dictum of R. Meir; but the sages hold [according to another version; such is the dictum of R. José, but R. Meir holds], "That even on the week-day this is prohibited, because of [its imitating] the ways of the Amorites." 10

Footnotes

44:1 The question is, to decide what constitutes ornaments, and, as such, part of her attire, and what is burden.

45:2 In the East, women wear a thin gold plate on their foreheads, with pendants fastened thereto.

45:3 According to some, this restriction applies to the lining only; according to others, to all the articles.

45:4 This prohibition was occasioned by a melancholy accident during the persecution by Hadrian, when some Jews assembled in the synagogue on the Sabbath in defiance of the imperial edict, were disturbed by a sudden noise, and fearing the Romans were upon them, preferred falling by their own hands, and used their iron-bound sandals as the instruments of death.

45:5 Even according to the opinion of those who maintain that tephilin must be used on the Sabbath.

45:6 A diadem, or serpentine kind of head-dress, not generally worn by women, and therefore considered a burden.

45:7 Isa. ii. 4; Mic. iv. 3.

46:8 Small chains used to contract the length of the stride or step. They were the invention of a particular family at Jerusalem, who suffered ill-health, and other inconveniencies from the length and rapidity of their steps.

46:9 Wooden shoes or stilts, used to supply the loss of a limb.

47:10 And, as such, being a reprehensible superstition, prohibited; vide Lev. xviii. 3.