29. Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda were walking along the road. They reached the place of the village Sachnin, where Rav Hamnuna Saba (the elder) lived, and they were guests of his wife who had a small boy. Every day he went to school, and when he came home from school that day, he saw these sages. His mother told him to approach these lofty people and receive blessings from them. He approached them. As he was approaching, he retreated and said to his mother, I do not wish to approach them, since they did not read Kriat Sh'ma this day and they taught me that whoever does not recite the Sh'ma at its appropriate time is banned all that day.

30. They heard and marveled. They raised their hands and blessed him. They said, It is certainly true THAT WE DIDN'T READ THE KRIAT SH'MA, because today we were busy with a groom and a bride that did not have their minimum needs, and were thus being delayed in their marriage. There was no one to take up their cause and we did our best for them. THEREFORE, we could not read the Kriat Sh'ma at its appropriate time. And whoever performs a precept is exempt from a precept. They said to him, son how did you know? He said to them, By the fragrance of your garments I knew, when I approached you. They marvelled, sat down, washed their hands and ate bread.