Drei Dinge sind von R. Elazar b. Azaryah und von den Weisen verboten: Seine Kuh ging (auf Jom Tov) mit dem [dekorativen] Riemen zwischen ihren Hörnern aus. Und die Weisen verbieten es. [Sie betrachten es als Belastung und nicht als Dekoration. (Es war nicht die Kuh von R. Elazar b. Azaryah, sondern die seines Nachbarn. Da er jedoch nicht protestierte, wird sie bei seinem Namen genannt.)] Es ist erlaubt, ein Tier auf yom tov [mit a kleiner eisiger Eisenkamm, obwohl man dadurch Wunden macht.] Und es ist erlaubt, Paprika in ihrer [kleinen] Mühle [für diesen Zweck bestimmt] zu mahlen. R. Yehudah sagt: Es ist verboten, ein Tier auf Jom Tov zu kräuseln, da es Wunden verursacht. Das Kämmen eines Tieres [mit einem Holzzamm mit großen Zähnen, der keine Wunden verursacht] ist jedoch zulässig. Und die Weisen sagen: Sowohl das Curryen als auch das Kämmen sind verboten, [das Kämmen wird aufgrund des Curryens verordnet. Die Halacha entspricht nicht R. Elazar b. Azaryah in (all) diesen drei Dingen, aber nur in Bezug auf das Curry eines Tieres. Denn er stimmt darin mit R. Shimon überein, der sagt, dass "eine unbeabsichtigte Sache (wie eine Wunde zu machen) erlaubt ist". Und wir regieren in Übereinstimmung mit ihm. Die Weisen, die sich von ihm unterscheiden, halten mit R. Yehudah fest, dass eine unbeabsichtigte Sache verboten ist. Und das ist nicht die Halacha.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
פרתו יוצאה ברצועה שבין קרניה – for beauty/adornment. And the Sages stated that it is a burden and is not a decoration for it. And it was not the cow of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah but that of his neighbor, and since they did not protest, it was called as associated with him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Introduction
Mishnah twelve contains three cases where Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah was more lenient than the other Sages. We should note that not all of these sections deal with the laws of Yom Tov.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
ומקרדין ביו"ט – like a small bronze saw whose teeth are thin and which rubs and scratches the animal, and even though it makes a wound.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah allows three things and the Sages forbid them: His cow used to go out with the strap which she had between her horns; It is forbidden to carry things in the public domain on Shabbat. This is true even for a person’s animal, since it is forbidden to make one’s animal perform work on the Sabbath. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah allowed his cow to go out with a strap between its horns, since this strap was only an adornment and therefore he did not consider it “work”. In the same way a person can wear clothing in the public domain and that is not considered carrying. However, the Sages forbid cows from carrying anything, since most cows do not do so. Furthermore, if others were to see this they would think that it is permitted for an animal to work on the Sabbath. (See also Shabbat 5:4).
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
ברחים שלהן – small which are made for this.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
One may curry cattle on a festival; Currying is a type of combing done with a sharp metal comb. Rabbi Eleazar permits a person to curry an animal on the festival, even though that might cause a wound. Rabbi Eleazar permits this since even if he does cause a wound he did not intend to do so and unintentionally performed work is permitted on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
מקרצפין – with a wooden saw whose teeth are thick. But they don’t make a wound.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
And one may grind pepper in its own mill. Rabbi Elazar holds that grinding pepper is permitted on Yom Tov because it is done in preparation of food, even if the grinding is done in a large mill. The sages however allow the grinding of pepper only in a small mill, one which will produce less ground pepper and that is easier.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
אף לא מקרצפין – for we decree that currying with a strigil leads to scratching (which causes a wound). But the Halakah is not according to Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah in these three matters, but rather, we scrape/curry the animal only, because in this we confirm the approach of Rabbi Shimon who said that a thing in which we don’t have an intention is permitted, and we hold according to him. But the Sages dispute this as they hold like Rabbi Yehuda who stated that a thing which was not intended is prohibited, but this is not the Halakha.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Rabbi Judah says: one may not curry cattle on a festival, because it may cause a wound, but one may comb them. Rabbi Judah states that currying is forbidden since it will cause a wound, but combing with a wooden comb is permitted since it will not cause a wound.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
But the Sages say: one may not curry them, and one may not even comb them. The Sages rule even more strictly. Even combing is forbidden, lest by permitting combing one might assume that currying is also permitted.
