Study Berakhot folio 62A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
It was taught in a baraita in tractate Derekh Eretz that R' Akiva said: I once entered the latrine after my teacher R' Yehoshua, and I learned 3 things from observing his behavior: I learned that one should not defecate while facing east and west, but rather while facing north and south; I learned t
Similarly, we learned in a baraita: Ben Azzai said: I once entered a latrine after R' Akiva, and I learned 3 things from observing his behavior: I learned that one should not defecate while facing east and west, but rather while facing north and south; I learned that one should not uncover himself w
On a similar note, the Talmud relates that Rav Kahana entered and lay beneath Rav’s bed. He heard Rav chatting and laughing with his wife, and seeing to his needs, i.e., having sex with her. Rav Kahana said to Rav: The mouth of Abba, Rav, is like one whom has never eaten a cooked dish, i.e., his
The Talmud asks: Why must one not wipe himself with his right hand, but with his left? Rava said: Because the Torah was given with the right hand, as it is stated: “At His right hand was a fiery law unto them” (Deuteronomy 33:2). Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: Because the right hand is close to the mouth,
The Talmud notes that this is parallel to a tannaitic dispute: R' Eliezer says: One is forbidden to wipe himself with his right hand because he eats with it. R' Yehoshua says: Because he writes with it. R' Akiva says: Because he points to the notes of the Torah with it.