We learned (078): Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel derived from here that if one gives a child a piece of bread, he must let the mother know.
Question: How is this accomplished?
Response: He can smear some oil on the child [it was customary in those days to smear oil on the forehead and cheeks] and fill around his eyes with bluestone.
Nowadays since people [deteriorated and] are worried about sorcery, some of that food is smeared on the child.
Rabbi Yochanan from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: All mitzvos were given to us publicly, except for Shabbos which was given privately, as it states “Between Me and the children of Yisroel, a sign forever”.
Challenge: If that’s the case, Gentiles should not be punished for not accepting this mitzvah [they are held responsible for not accepting the Torah, as the Gemara explains elsewhere that Sinai means that the nations are now despised (sinah) because they did not accept the Torah]?
Resolution: Shabbos is revealed, but its reward was not revealed.
Another explanation: Its reward was revealed but the neshamah yeseirah [an expansion of the neshamah] was not revealed. As Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Hakodosh Boruch Hu gives a neshamah yeseirah into every Jew on erev Shabbos which is taken from him on Motzoei Shabbos, as it states “He rested and was refreshed (vai-nefesh)”, once the rest is over, vai [alas] the nefesh [soul] departs.
[The Rov spoke here about the reward of Shabbos which was explained in last week’s Toras Avigdor booklet here].
074: If you cook something [for Shabbos] before Yom Tov, you can rely on it for Shabbos.
Abayye: This is in order to cook, but bread need not be prepared in order to bake bread.
Question: Why is bread specifically excluded? Because bread is a staple and not eaten without an accompaniment? Perhaps only something which is an accompaniment can be used as an Eiruv Tavshilin?
But porridge is not eaten as an accompaniment as Rabbi Zeira said: The Babylonians are foolish, they eat bread with bread [they would eat bread (baked grain) with porridge (boiled grain), he was ridiculing them for their lack of variety in diet] [so we see it’s not an accompaniment]. And Rav Nechumi bar Zechariah said in the name of Abayye: One can use porridge as an Eiruv.
Response: Bread cannot be used, because it must be something that is not a constant.