Since it is known that the Greek and Roman world had a significant influence on the Jewish one, it operated in many fields, including the sports-entertainment one. The leaders of the generation saw this quite harshly, but their hand was short of "saving"
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Among the generations of Rashi's successors was Rabbi Simcha of Vitry, the owner of the "Mechzor", who described to us a common picture of the customs of the Jews on Passover from the city of Vitry in France in this language: emanate noises). And Ela Ha Damer Rei - Women playing with apples is forbidden. Hatem, mai kala ika (meaning, and there, what kind of voice is there?!). Ethical dilemma for repairing dimples (lest it is about conquering dimples). It's not that I'm not, I'm sure because it's a kala maida (here, the matter is no different. There it turns out that it's about a voice being heard). such as receiving one and throwing one away from the flute, but they are not touching each other, and it is implied that it is a dezmazim. And in Tarita Datpohim we used to drag and pull apples on the ground, there is a comparison of dimples... Apples are not allowed to be played with by dragging them on the ground and throwing them into a dimple, and especially nuts, whether on Shabbat or on Yom Tov... nevertheless, one should not protest In women and babies (boys and young people) who are used to rubbing, but in a place where it is known that they will receive from it, it is prescribed for them in Israel: it is better that they be shoggin and not be mischievous, and to rub with a ball that Korin Plut'a allows our rabbi from Penishimathium Tov" (Mezhor Vitri, Pesach Laws Siman Tsad).
A few conclusions can be suggested from this section: First, apples and nuts are mentioned there. It is possible that the reference is to a kind of small balls, as opposed to the PLUTA. However, even if they are apples and nuts, it does not detract from the general picture; Second - this game was played by babies (boys and guys before marriage) and women. As for boys and girls, this is reasonable. However, what about women and the game? Well, in the early period, and this also appears in Sage sources, such as "a ball of girls" (see also Y. Shurk, Body Culture in the Land of Israel in the Period of the Mishna and the Talmud, p. 71 et seq.), since a significant influence of the Greek and Roman world on this is known The Jew, this action in many fields, including the sports-entertainment one. The leaders of the generation saw this quite harshly due to the pagan, ceremonial elements in the field of fertility mainly, but their hand was short of "saving", and these pastimes were assimilated into Jewish society. It should be noted that the same Rabbi Simcha of Viteri knew how to mention the concept of "girls' ball", which was thrown from hand to hand (Vitri cycle sign Rafah) to teach us about his knowledge and awareness of the sport of ball.
Thirdly - there was a concern that as part of the game, the thrown or rolled ball would cause holes or channels in the ground, which is an offense regarding Shabbat laws. It is possible that here the reference is to the holes that were prepared in advance, before the game and the task of the players was to roll or throw the balls (nuts or apples) into the holes and from the prohibition to drag the apples or nuts on Shabbat "and throw into Loch Goma" as appears in the text it may be possible to conclude that those games were indeed played on Saturdays and on good days.
Fourth - the next sentence - "One should not protest against women and babies, who are used to wear, but in the place where they will receive from it" - may perhaps teach us that there were playhouses, halls, or designated places where those games were played, which may imply a degree of institutionalization and organization and support the assumption, as similar to an organization The Jewish tournaments mentioned in one of the previous chapters and the tennis match in Italy, as will be brought up in the next chapter.
Fifth - lest the "Kla Dzazumi" might indicate that it is possible that this is a well-known game, a kind of "bowling", which was popular in Europe, in which the player must hit other balls with his own ball. For example, the Maharam of Rothenburg, born in the 13th century in Ashkenaz, testified that women play with nuts and apples "... and prepare each other, and the sound is heard (that they know) (and they know) that they smelled" (Maharam Siman Tza's report). From this we learn that the game tools, balls or fruits, would hit each other and touch each other, and the player who hit won.
Moreover, from the words of the Maharam, the matter of profit emerges, and as we have seen in similar cases, the matter of profit was an important element in the considerations of the sages to prohibit the holding of the game, especially on Shabbat, when many of them considered it a kind of "game with dice".
In another case, the Maharam testifies that women are not allowed to play with nuts on the ground "because of the pitfalls" unless she takes care in advance to lay a sheet of cloth or a carpet on the ground, and in this way she will not violate the Halacha's instruction. The words of the Maharam may assume that the same games spread even to Ashkenaz and served as an important element in the joy of Shabbat and Yom Tov. Also, the rest of the Maharam may join the same paragraph above, of the owners of the tosafs - "I gave them to Israel." It is better that he be a Shuggin and not a Mazidin." This is not an easy statement at all, and it even has a kind of defiance towards God, or towards those who are strict in their regulations against holding games. In any case, it embodies a statement about the right to hold the games, and to me even on the basis that no decree should be passed on the public if the majority of the public cannot abide by it.
However, there were many and good among the spiritual leaders who opposed the ball games, such as the testimony of the father guiding his son in 13th century Italy, and instructing him that it is better for him to stick to the studies of the Torah and wisdom "and not lie in the words of the ball" (Oxford manuscript, no. 2225). The same father continues and says, with emphasis and eloquence - "I saw a scandal in Beit Ya'akov, her home is turbulent. Anyway, I can't eat her, seeing that the doors are closed and the gates of the letter (that is, the theoretical studies) are bolted... and why did you abandon the sentence of the letter and its command in your heart all day long as one man looked at the other's face together, and you will sneer and go after the way of the entrance of the ball, they will swagger him swagger in a playful dance, and not your father to go up to the gate of the yard..." (ibid., Eg p. XNUMX).
It is difficult to ignore the allusion in the text about playing ball inside a closed hall (perhaps with the participation of girls only), and it is difficult to understand whether the author of the article is complaining more about the game itself or about the (male?) glimpse towards it. The same person who denounces the addiction to the game uses the verse of the curse of the prophet Isaiah: "Zenof will shoot a ball into a vast land." Her name will be death, and her chariots of honor will be a reproach to the house of your Lord" (Isaiah 18:3), and he implies that the ball game as entertainment was carried out in the way of tsnipeh. We were rolling the ball and hitting it. It may be, by the way, that this sport entered Italy from the south with its Arab influence and from the north with its French and Spanish influence. The phrase "play dance" appears in the Bible in connection with the prophecy of redemption in Jeremiah: "Yet your son and the virgin of Israel is being built." You beat your drums and went out dancing games..." (Jeremiah no, XNUMX). Dancing, as we know, was mainly the domain of women, and they used game balls in a ritual-ritual context, and sometimes even erotic, and we have already mentioned above the connection between women and ball games. Therefore, it is possible to speculate what the reason for the article's author's skepticism was.
In the middle of the 13th century, Rabbi Zedekiah ben Avraham lived and worked, a doctor by profession, from the family of the humble, and he is the author of the essay "Without the Gathering", and from his words it is good to know the various ball games.
In the first section it seems that he was influenced by Rashi and his disciples, according to him the old Rabbi (and this means the owner of the Tosafs, the rabbi of Rabbi Eliezer Mator) does not allow playing with nuts on Shabbat and Yom Tov because of the sound that is heard from the balls hitting each other. What's more, the guys were playing for money. He cites Rashi's Parosh, that the women used to roll the toys, which would hurt each other, and the words of the Hargamah (Rabbi Gershom of Or the Ghola), which translates "playing" as "rolling". All this to teach us that even in his day this game was prevalent among mankind.
The author of "Shabli Halket" goes on to say that Rashi explained that Plut'a is a sphere "covered with skin and filled with the hair of a ram in a hurry", and the sages disagreed on whether the sphere receives impurity, since it has a receptacle. But, as he continues, the old Rabbi, the owner of the additions, disagrees with the determination of the Sages on the basis of a difference between the ball of the period of the Mishna and the Talmud and the ball of the medieval period. In other words, while the first one was considered a "vessel" (that is, they saw the space in it), the later sphere, hundreds of years later, was different, and thus in his words: "But these, our spheres, are not even a significant vessel". This statement, beyond the fact that it highlights the advantageous difference of the later ball, which is covered with skin and pressed with ram's fur, hence its stiffness, strength and even its bounce, and beyond the fact that sages discussed its teaching, indicates its explosiveness in the Jewish audience and the sages' permission to use it.
Moreover, the author of "Shebli Helkett" continues and says, in light of the ruling of the Elder Hari, that the difference between "our ball" and the ancient ball, also lies in the fact that "and the thought of the worn one who thought to play with it, does not equal a tool of any kind" (Shebli Helket Name). That is, if there was any doubt about the relationship between the previous generation and some game, then it is clear that the later ball was intended for game purposes.
It is also possible to learn about the size of the ball, as stated there - "It is forbidden to laugh (play) with a ball on Shabbat and Yom Tov with those balls, because they are not fit to be made according to a saucer (to have a spherical shape, or too small), dammasi (causing disgust), which - hands of clay and dirt". There were therefore, naturally, balls of different sizes. And in general, from the mention of the aforementioned filth, we learn that they played ball outside the house - in the yard, on the path or in the field.
And later it is said "and a ball of wood, it is forbidden to shake it and laugh at it... on Shabbat and Yom Tov" (ibid.), to teach us about a new type of ball that we did not know from previous sources and it is intended more for rolling, throwing and hitting. And we'll talk about that later.
The Rashba, 13th century in Spain, testified about "the egg wear, called 'kotam'" (The Rashba, vol. 14, mark XNUMX). It is not known whether the reference is to a kind of egg-like balls or to real eggs. However, a XNUMXth-century source named Kal-Bo states that they sometimes played with round stones, apples, nuts, and even eggs in a ball game.
The Sefer Hasidim, which was the product of the Hasidic circles in Ashkenaz in the 12th and 13th centuries, required the verse in Sefer Devarim, 15:XNUMX, in this language: "Writing - and it was (originally so) but happy, able with a ball, or with a rough step" (Sefer Chassidim sign you will get stuck). This source is interesting because the entire Sefer Chassidim highlights the value of morality. He calls for the conquest of the instinct and often discusses with frankness and holy simplicity the questions of the instinct and will not fight against human pride and its spiritual content. Well, if this book encourages the game of ball, then it says preachy. In other words, the owner of the connection turns to the public and tells them: you want to be happy, play ball or engage in aerobics - jogging or brisk walking. This is about Shabbat, because sages discussed it at the time and warned against "rude treading", that is, making a footprint in sand or earth, which is forbidden on Shabbat, and here not only does the Book of Chassidim permit it, but it binds the activity to the effect of joy on Shabbat.
At the end of the 13th century, the Meiri mentions the ball game in which he "threw (the ball) and the thrower himself ran and received it in his hand with another permission, or outside four cubits with the public permission" (The Meiri Shabbat 4 p. 2.6). Although there is no innovation here, due to the reliance on Sage literature that permits the game of ball on Shabbat with the sole possession of the court which is XNUMX cubits long, that is XNUMX m per side as long as the ball is not hit or thrown into the public possession and one of the players asked to return it from there to the sole possession of the ball. However, his testimony may support the assumption that the game of ball bought a strike and a hold among Jewish communities in the European diaspora.
