m, "hast thou not taught us, our master, that a
mourner is forbidden to bathe?" He said to them, "I am not like all other
men; I am infirm."

7. When his slave Tabbi died, he received visits of condolence. His
disciples said to him, "hast thou not taught us, our master, that visits
of condolence are not to be received for slaves?" He said to them, "my
slave Tabbi was not like all other slaves, he was upright."

8. The bridegroom who wishes to recite the Shemah on the first night may
recite it. R. Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said, "not every one who wishes
to affect the pious reputation can affect it."

Chapter III

1. He whose dead lies before him is exempted from reciting the
Shemah,--from the prayer,--and from the phylacteries.(23) Those who carry
the bier, and those who relieve them, and those who relieve the
relief,--those who go before the bier, and those who follow it, who are
required for the bier, are exempted from reciting the Shemah. But those
not required for the bier are bound to recite it. Both (parties) are
exempted from the prayer.

2. When they have buried the dead, and return, if they have time to begin
and end (the Shemah) before they reach the rows (of mourners), they must
begin: if not, they must not begin. Of those standing in the rows the
inner (mourners) are exempt, but the outer ones are bound to recite the
Shemah.

3. Women, slaves, and children, are exempt from reciting the Shemah, and
also from the phylacteries; but they are bound in the prayer, the sign on
the door-post, and the blessing after food.

4. A man in his legal uncleanness is to meditate in his heart on the
(Shemah), but he is not to bless before, or after it. After his food he
blesses, but not before it. R. Judah says "he blesses both before and
after it."

5. If one stand in prayer, and recollect that he is in his uncleanness, he
is not to pause, but to shorten (the prayer). If he has gone down into the
water (to bathe),(24) and can go up, dress, and recite the Shemah before
the sun shines forth, he is to go up, dress, and recite it. But he is not
to cover himself with foul water or with water holding matter in solution
unless he has poured clean water to it. "How far is he to keep from foul
water, or excrement?" "Four cubits."

6. A man in his uncleanness with a running issue, a woman in her
uncleanness, during separation, and she who perceives the need of
separation, require the bath. But R. Judah "exempts the