Translation:Mishnah/Seder Zeraim/Tractate Berakhot/Chapter 2/6

Introduction

This mishnah follows from the story about Rabban Gamliel in the previous mishnah, and provides another story in which he makes an exception for himself from the general rule that he taught his students.

Hebrew Text

רָחַץ לַיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁמֵּתָה אִשְׁתּוֹ.

אָמְרוּ לוֹ תַּלְמִידָיו:

לֹא לִמַּדְתָּנוּ, רַבֵּנוּ, שֶׁאָבֵל אָסוּר לִרְחֹץ?

אָמַר לָהֶם:

אֵינִי כִּשְׁאָר כָּל אָדָם,

אִסְטְנִיס אֲנִי.

English Translation

[Rabban Gamliel] washed on the first night after his wife died.

His students said to him:

Didn't you teach us, our teacher, that a mourner is forbidden to wash?

He said to them:

I am not like other people.

I am delicate.

Explanation

Delicate: i.e. the Rabban was old and ill and needed to wash to maintain his health. Alternatively, he was deeply affected by uncleanliness, and not to wash would have caused him inordinate hardship.