Es ist erlaubt, Gelübde am Schabbat aufzuheben [ein Ehemann, die Gelübde seiner Frau; ein Vater, der seiner Tochter], und es ist erlaubt, [einen Weisen (zur Absolution von Gelübden)] für Dinge zu konsultieren, die für den Schabbat benötigt werden, [als wenn er schwor, dass er an diesem Tag nicht essen würde. Dies ("Dinge, die für den Schabbat benötigt werden") bezieht sich speziell auf die Konsultation eines Weisen; denn ein Ehemann oder ein Vater kann sowohl Gelübde, die mit dem Sabbat zusammenhängen, als auch solche, die nicht mit dem Sabbat zusammenhängen, aufheben, denn er kann sie nur an dem Tag aufheben, an dem er sie hört. Und mit Gelübden, die mit dem Sabbat verbunden sind, darf er ihn am Schabbat konsultieren, auch wenn er vor dem Schabbat Zeit hatte, einen Weisen darüber zu befragen.] Und es ist gestattet, das Maor [das Fenster, durch das Licht wird - zu stoppen tritt ein, mit einem Brett oder etwas anderem, das für diesen Zweck verwendet wird], und es ist erlaubt, ein Tuch zu messen [Wenn es mit etwas Unreinem und dann mit sauberen Dingen in Kontakt gekommen ist, wird gemessen, um festzustellen, ob es drei mal drei ist oder nicht Finger. Für ein Tuch von weniger als drei mal drei erwirbt oder überträgt es keine Unreinheit.] Und (man darf messen) eine Mikwe [um festzustellen, ob sie eins zu eins Ellen und drei Ellen hoch ist. Denn dies sind Messungen der Mizwa, weshalb sie am Schabbat erlaubt sind.] Und es geschah in den Tagen des Vaters von R. Tzaddok und in den Tagen des Vaters von Abba Shaul b. Batnith, dass sie ein Maor [ein Fenster, das "Maor" genannt wird, weil Licht (orah) durch es eintritt] mit einem Tafiach [einem Steingutkrug] stoppten und eine Mekeidah [ein irdenes Gefäß] mit Gemi (Schilfgras) [ "gemi", speziell, weil es, da es für Tierfutter geeignet ist, nicht als permanenter Knoten (sie banden es usw.) für nichtig erklärt (um das Gefäß zu binden), um festzustellen, ob sich in der Hand eine Spalte mit einer Handbreite befand oder nicht Gigith (das Becken). [Es gab einen kleinen Weg zwischen zwei Häusern, der nicht überdacht war, über den jedoch ein Becken umgedreht wurde. Es gab Fenster, die sich von den Häusern zum Weg öffneten, und sie befürchteten, dass jemand in einem der Häuser sterben könnte und die Tumah (Unreinheit der Leiche) vom Fenster zum Weg und vom Weg zum anderen Haus über das offene Fenster. Sie stoppten daher das Fenster zum Haus der Tumah mit einem Tafiach mit dem Rücken zum Pfad (ein Steingutgefäß, das die Tumah nicht von hinten erwirbt und somit als Trennwand gegen die Tumah dient). Denn sie befürchteten, dass die Spalte im Gigith weniger als eine Handbreite sein könnte. In diesem Fall würde der Gigith den Weg "zelten" und die Unreinheit würde über den Weg von einem Haus zum anderen kommen. Danach mussten sie das Fenster öffnen und den Stopfen herausnehmen, und sie wollten feststellen, ob die Spalte im Gigith eine Handbreite (oder mehr) war.— In diesem Fall würde es auf diesem Weg kein Zelt für die Leitung der Tumah geben, denn die Tumah würde den Weg über die Spalte im Gigith nach oben verlassen —oder ob es weniger als eine Handbreite wäre, in welchem Fall der Weg als "Zelt" fungieren und die Tumah von Haus zu Haus führen würde. Sie maßen daher eine Mekeida, banden sie mit Gemi zusammen und dehnten sie bis zur Spitze (des Gigith) aus, um zu sehen, ob die Spalte eine Handbreite war oder nicht.] Und aus dem, was sie vorschrieben, lernten wir, dass wir aufhören und messen und binde am Schabbat [solange es kein dauerhafter Knoten ist und das Maß für die Mizwa oder bis zum Ende einer halachischen Entscheidung gilt.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
מפירין – a husband to his wife and/or a a father to his daughter.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
The final mishnah of Shabbat begins by discussing annulling and releasing vows and continues with a story about measuring things on Shabbat to see if they are pure or impure, fit or not fit.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ונשאלין – to a Sage.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
They may annul vows on Shabbat, and they may be asked [to release vows] when these are necessary for Shabbat. It is permitted for a husband to annul his wife’s vows and for a father to annul his daughter’s vow on Shabbat, since these vows may only be annulled on the day upon which they are heard (Numbers 30: 6, 9). If they had to wait until after Shabbat was over to annul them, the vows could no longer be annulled. Similarly, sages may be asked to release a vow on Shabbat, but only if there is some reason to release the vow on Shabbat itself and not wait until Shabbat is over. Such would be the case if for instance the vow was not to eat on Shabbat. If the vow was not going to impact Shabbat, then they must wait until Shabbat is over. For more on how Sages release vows and how husbands and fathers annul vows see Nedarim 9-11.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שהן לצורך השבת – such as that he vowed that he would not eat today and if made enquiry it specifically speaks of, for if it were a husband or a father annulling [a vow], whether they are for vows for the needs of the Sabbath, or whether they are for vows that are not for the needs of the Sabbath, for since he cannot to annual other than during the day of it being heard alone, and vows which are for the needs of the Sabbath, even if he had the free time to enquire about them before the [onset of] Shabbat, he enquires about them on Shabbat.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
One may close up a skylight, and measure a rag and a ritual bath. The issue of closing up a skylight/window was discussed above in 17:7. There we saw that the sages allowed one to put a board back into a window frame to close out the light. One is allowed to measure a rag on Shabbat to see if it is three handbreadths by three handbreadths, the minimum measurement required for it to be susceptible to impurity. It is also permissible to measure a ritual bath to see if it contains the required 40 seah of water. These two measurements are allowed because they are connected to mitzvot. Other measurements would be forbidden.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ופוקקי את המאור – [he plugs/stops up] the window that from which the light enters he closes it up with a board or with the rest of anything that it is customary to stop it up with.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
And it once happened in the days of Rabbi Zadok’s father and the days of Abba Shaul ben Botnit that they closed up the window with a small clay vessel and tied a [clay] pot to a string to ascertain whether there was the opening of a handbreadth or not in the barrel. And from their words we learn that we may close [a skylight] and measure and tie on Shabbat. The Talmud explains what exactly happened in this story. There were two houses which shared a wall and there was a window in the wall. In the window was a cracked barrel with a large hole in it. On a certain Shabbat a person died in one of the houses and they wanted to know if there was a handbreadth’s gap in the pitcher, such that the impurity from one house would be transmitted to the other house. First they closed up the skylight with a small clay vessel so that the priests could go up to the roof without becoming impure. They then wanted to measure the crack in the barrel but couldn’t reach it from the roof. So they tied an earthenware pot the size of one handbreadth by one handbreadth to a string and lowered it to the hole of the barrel. From these actions (which were certainly creative) we learn that it is permitted to close up a gap, to measure things to know whether they are impure and to make certain types of knots on Shabbat. Congratulations! We have finished Shabbat. It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us to finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Shabbat was the longest tractate we have covered so far, so an extra “yasher koah” to all who stuck it through. Admittedly, many of the details were quite difficult and the halakhot truly dictated exactly what is and is not permitted on Shabbat. I hope that learning this tractate will enrich your own Shabbat experience, and that you will find in the details of halakhah a system which forces a person to examine each and everyone one of her actions and to withdraw somewhat from the hustle bustle of the world for one day a week. Shabbat is a day dedicated to holy activities, worship of God, study, reflection, eating and drinking and non-creativity. The halakhot of Shabbat are meant to ensure that these lofty ideals can be achieved. May you have the strength and time to keep on learning more Mishnah! Tomorrow we begin Eruvin, a tractate which is actually quite connected to Shabbat.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ומודדין את המטלית – it if was ritually impure and came into contact with something ritually pure, we measure it [to see] if it has three fingers by three fingers to know if it the ritually pure things were defiled or not for a strip/patch that is less than three by three does not defile nor becomes defiled.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ואת המקוה – to know if it has a cubit by a cubit at a depth of thee cubits, for it they are measurements of a Mitzvah, therefore, it is permissible to measure them on Shabbat.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
שפקקו את המאור – the window and it is called – "מאור" – for through it the light enters.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
בטפיח – an earthenware pitcher.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
מקדה – an earthenware utensil.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
בגמי – for this reason, it (i.e., the Mishnah) took גמי/bulrush or reed-grass which is appropriate for the food of cattle and is not eliminated from being a permanent knot.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
לידע אם יש בגיגית פותח טפח – a sort of small passageway that was between two houses so was not natural but rather that the barrel was placed on top of it, and their windows were open from the houses to the passageway, and they were worried lest someone die in one house and that the ritual impurity would come from the window to the passageway and from the passageway to the other house via the open window, therefore, they stopped up the open window to the house where the ritual defilement was inside with an earthenware pitcher and its back was to the side of the passageway for the earthenware utensil does not become defiled from its back and leaves a space between the two partitions, but they were concerned lest there wasn’t in the slit of the barrel an opening of a handbreadth, and it would be found that the barrel overshadows on the passageway and the ritual defilement comes through the passageway from one house to the other house. After that, it is was necessary to open the window and ot take that stopped up pitcher in the window and they came to know if there was in that slit of the barrel an opening of a handbreadth, and if there wasn’t a tent in that passageway to bring in the ritual defilement. For the ritual defilement goes out from the passageway via the slit in the barrel towards above, or if the slit in the barrel is not open one handbreadth, and it was found that the passageway itself was like a tent and brought the ritual defilement from one house to the other. And they measured the earthenware fire pot/potsherd for carrying fire and tied it with bulrushes and stretched it towards above to see if there was in the slit of the barrel opened a handbreadth or not.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ומדבריהם למדנו שפוקקין וקושרין ומודדין בשבת – as long as it was not a permanent knot, for the measurement would be for a Mitzvah or to practice on what is a decision/instruction.
