Kommentar zu Shabbat 3:13

כירה – a place made on the ground open to two pots and fire passes underneath the two pots.

Introduction Yesterday’s mishnah ended with a halakhah concerning covering hot food before Shabbat so that it would stay hot during Shabbat. Our mishnah continues to discuss halakhot of a similar nature. This mishnah refers to leaving a dish of cooked food on a stove during Shabbat in a case where it was put there before Shabbat. The potential problem here is not the prohibited labor of cooking, since the dish is already cooked. Rather the problem is that he might rake the coals to make them get hotter and raking coals is prohibited because it lights a fire.

בגבבא – thin wood like straw that they gather/rake in from the field.

If a double stove was heated with stubble or straw, they may put a cooked dish on it. If a dish of cooked food was put on a stove before Shabbat it is permitted to leave it on the stove during Shabbat as long as the stove was heated with stubble or straw. Since stubble and straw do not become coals, there is no fear that a person may come to rake coals.

נותנים עליה תבשיל – from the eve of the Sabbath (i.e., Friday) to tarry there on Shabbat.

If it was heated with peat or wood, one may not place [a dish on it] until he sweeps it out or covers it with ashes. If the stove was heated with peat or wood, then the dish may not be left on it during Shabbat. Peat is refuse left over from olive production and it was used in cooking. Both peat and wood turn into coals and therefore if she doesn’t do some sort of preparation to the stove before Shabbat we are concerned lest she come to rake them on Shabbat, a prohibited act. What she needs to do is either remove the coals or cover them with ashes so that they will cool down and she will not come to rake them on Shabbat.

גפת – refuse of olives and sesame (see Talmud Shabbat 47b) after the oil is pressed out.

Bet Shammai says: hot water, but not a dish; And Bet Hillel says: both hot water and a dish. The debates in this section and in the next refer to cases where it is permitted to leave food on the stove. Bet Shammai says it is permitted to leave only hot water but not a dish of cooked food. Bet Shammai holds that since people really want their food to be cooked the halakhah is more stringent for food than it is for water. Bet Hillel says that the halakhah is the same for both food and water.

לא יתן – from the eve of the Sabbath in order to have it tarry there on Shabbat.

Bet Shammai says: one may remove it, but not put it back; But Bet Hillel says: one may even put it back. Bet Shammai says that it is permitted to leave the water on the stove but if she takes it off she may not put it back. Bet Shammai thinks that putting it back on the stove looks too much like cooking. Bet Hillel holds that it is permitted even to put the water or food back.

עד שיגרוף – the coals and remove them from the double oven.

או שיתן האפר – on top of the coals to cover them and cool them off and the reason for the decree is lest he rake the coals under the ashes (Talmud Shabbat 34b) to speed up its cooking. And specifically, for a cooked dish that was not completely cooked, or even if it was completely cooked, and it reduced in size and it is improved by it, for they decreed lest he rake but the a dish that was not properly cooked at all or was completely cooked and which is deteriorated by boiling down (Talmud Shabbat 37b), it is permissible to have it tarry on the double oven even though it was not raked and folded, we don’t fear lest he rake it since he has removed it from his mind and similarly, a dish that was cooked completely and he cast into it a living limb near the slaughter house, everything was made like a dish that had not been cooked at all for he had completely removed it from his mind.

בש"א – they put hot water on top of the double stove after he has raked it for it is not necessary to cook it and there is no need to decree lest he stir it/rake [the coals underneath the ashes].

אבל לא תבשיל – even though he had removed the ashes and coals from the stove for it is impossible to remove all of the ashes/coals until there no longer remains even one spark and one would come to stir the embers after he is pleased with the cooking.

בש"א נוטלים וכו' – even hot foods for we are permitted to have them tarry on top of the double stone that has been cleared of ashes and when he placed the ashes after he removed them, he doesn’t return them/put them back because it appears like cooking on the Sabbath.

וב"ה אומרים – whether hot or cooked, one can put them (i.e., the ashes) back after having removed them, but the School of Hillel did not permit returning them other than while they are still in his hand that he had not placed them on another thing, but after he placed them in the ground or on another thing, it is forbidden to return them, even according to the School of Hillel because it is like hiding something ab initio on Shabbat.

תנור – because it is narrow above and wide below, it absorbs its heat into it more than a double stove and even if he heated it with straw and rakings, we fear that he might rake the coals under the ashes, for he never removes it from his mind.

Introduction In yesterday’s mishnah we learned about leaving a cooked dish on a double stove during Shabbat. Today’s mishnah discusses ovens and single stoves. To understand these mishnayot we need to understand a little bit about how these things were made. Double stoves are as wide on top as they are below and therefore they do not preserve heat particularly well. Ovens are wider below than they are up top and are the best at preserving heat. Single stoves have only one opening up top they are hotter than double stoves but cooler than ovens.

בין מגביו – for support near its walls.

If an oven was heated with stubble or straw, one may not place [a dish] either inside or on top. Since the heat of an oven is greater than that of a stove, it is forbidden to leave anything in or on top of an oven. Even if there is only a little fire, we are concerned lest she come to rake the coals on Shabbat. The mishnah states that this is prohibited when the oven is lit with stubble or straw; all the more so it is prohibited if the oven is lit with peat or wood.

כופח – it is made like a double stove but its length is like its width and is stove which only has room for one pot (Tractate Shabbat 38b), and the fire passes underneath it and its vapor is greater than that of the double stove for the double stove is open above for two pots and the brazier/small stove is not open other than for the measure of one pot and has less than the vapor of an oven.

If a single stove was heated with stubble or straws, it is like a double stove; With peat or wood, it is like an oven. If a single stove is heated with stubble or straw then we can treat it like the double stove and leave a dish on it on Shabbat. However, if it was heated with peat or wood then it is like an oven and it is forbidden to leave dishes both on top and inside. The Talmud adds that even if the coals had been removed or covered with ash it is still prohibited.

One cannot give on Shabbat

Introduction This mishnah discusses cooking eggs in ways that might not be considered to really be cooking.

ביצה בצד המיחם – a copper kettle in which they heat up water on top of the fire.

They may not place an egg at the side of a boiler for it to be lightly roasted and one must not break it into a [hot] cloth. And Rabbi Yose permits it. Placing an egg next to a hot boiler will not suffice to really cook the egg, but it can lightly roast it, perhaps like a soft-boiled egg. Similarly, putting the egg into a hot cloth can make it lightly cooked. The first opinion in the mishnah holds that these actions are considered cooking and are therefore prohibited. Rabbi Yose holds that this is not cooking and is hence permitted.

שתתגלגל – that it will roast a bit until it becomes roasted/rounded, that is to say, mixed.

And one may not put it away in hot sand or road dust for it to be roasted. Burying the egg in hot sand or dust will really cook it and hence even Rabbi Yose agrees that it is prohibited.

ולא יפקיענה בסודרין – he should not crack it on wrapping that was warmed by the sun in order that it be roasted by it, for we decreed that derivatives of the sun are because of the derivatives of the heat.

ור"י מתיר – for he holds that we do not make the decree that the derivatives of the sun are because of the derivatives of the heat and the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yosi.

לא יטמיננה בחול ובאבק דרכים – that were warmed by the power of the sun and in that, Rabbi Yosi did not permit, for he decreed that the sand are because of the hot ashes/embers for since both of them were through putting a dish in a warm place or under covers to keep it warm for the Sabbath (Talmud Shabbat 39a), they will come to say – what is the difference between hot ashes and sand. Alternatively, Rabbi Yosi decreed lest he move the ashes dust from its place lest the sand there will not be removed according to its need, and he will come to move the attached dust and that is a derivative of ploughing.

סלון – a pipe that conducts the water in it and this pipe/duct was sunk in the hot springs of Tiberias and warmed from the power of those warm waters, and when the cold waters were drawn into it, they are warmed by that pipe/duct that was warmed by the hot springs of Tiberias, and the Sages said that the waters that were drawn into it that pipe on Shabbat, there law is like the law of waters that were warmed on Shabbat – that it is forbidden to bathe in them even a small limb and it is forbidden even for drinking, but the waters that pass through them on a Jewish holy day/Yom Tov, their law is like the law of hot waters that were heated on Yom Tov – that is forbidden to bathe one’s entire body in them, but it is permitted to wash one’s face, hands and feet in them, but drinking is permitted, and the Halakha is according to the Sages. The men of Tiberias retracted and broke the duct/pipe.

Introduction This mishnah discusses heating water on Shabbat.

מוליאר – They explained in the Gemara (Tractate Shabbat 41a and Rashi’s commentary) – water from inside and coals from outside and it is a utensil that has a small receptacle near its wall from the outside which is attached to it, and they place there the coals and water in the large receptable on the Sabbath, and even though it warmed a bit from the warmth of the utensil, because it does not add vapor, but preserves and maintains their heat that it not become cold.

It once happened that the people of Tiberias conducted a pipe of cold water through an arm of the hot springs. The sages said to them: if this happened on the Shabbat, it is like hot water heated on the Shabbat, and is forbidden both for washing and for drinking; If on a festival, it is like water heated on a festival, which is forbidden for washing but permitted for drinking. In Tiberias before Shabbat the people set up a pipe of cold water to flow through the hot springs so that the water in the pipe would heat up on Shabbat and they would have hot water for drinking and bathing. This is not actually cooking because there is no fire, but it is similar enough to cooking such that this is prohibited on Shabbat. Therefore on Shabbat it is forbidden to use this water for either cooking or washing. On festivals (Yom Tov) it is permitted to cook in order to eat. Therefore, if they did this on the festival they may use the water for drinking, but not for washing. It is not permitted to heat water for washing on a festival.

אנטיכי – it is a copper utensil which has two rims/saucers [at the bottom of the vessel and they place the water above and the fire below between the two saucers and since the fire is below between the two rims/saucers, the heat remains more and even though the coals were raked from the eve of the Sabbath, the water is heated up in it on the Sabbath – therefore we don’t drink from them on Shabbat.

A miliarum which is cleared of its ashes--they may drink from it on Shabbat. A miliarum is a clay vessel for water which has a pipe in it in which they would put hot coals to heat water. One can drink the water from a milarium only if the coals were removed before Shabbat.

An antiki even if its ashes have been cleared--they may not drink from it. An antiki is a copper pot which has a large place to put coals in it so that the water would get very hot. It retains its heat better than a mililarum. Since it retains its heat so well, it is forbidden to use it on Shabbat even if the coals have been removed before Shabbat.

המימם – the copper kettle that they place on top of the fire to heat the water that is in it.

Introduction The previous mishnayot dealt with leaving things on the fire. Today’s mishnah deals with things that are prohibited because they are considered cooking, even if the dish has been taken off the fire.

שפינהו – [that they removed it] from on top of the double stove and there is within it hot water.

A kettle which was removed [from the fire]: one may not pour cold water into it so that it should warm up, but one may pour it [water] into or into a cup in order to temper it. This section discusses a hot water kettle which has been removed from the fire. It is forbidden to pour a small amount of water into the kettle because the hot water that it is in the kettle will cook the water which is put in. However, she may put a large quantity of cold water into the kettle because this will not cause the cold water to be cooked but rather the hot water to be cooled down. If the water from the hot water kettle has been poured into a cup she may also put in cold water in order to cool the hot water down.

לא יתן לתוכו – a bit of [cold] water in order that it can be heated from the water that remained within the vessel for heating water for this is like cooking on Shabbat.

The pan or pot which was removed [from the fire] while it is boiling, one must not put spices into it, but one may put [spices] into a dish or a tureen. This section discusses a pan or pot with boiling hot contents which was removed from the fire right before Shabbat began. On Shabbat it is forbidden to put spices directly into the pan or pot because in this way the spices will be cooked. However, if she moves the contents of the pan into a dish or tureen which is not on the fire, then she may put into the dish anything she wants. Once the contents have been moved from their original pan, they will not cook any spices put into them.

אבל נותן לתוכו – a lot of water until everything returns to be lukewarm/tepid.

Rabbi Judah says: he may put [spices] into anything except what contains vinegar or brine. Rabbi Judah holds that she may put spices into any dish, even one that is boiling and was just removed from the fire. The only thing that is prohibited is putting something into a dish with vinegar or brine. According to Rabbi Judah, the spiciness of the vinegar and brine aid in cooking the food in the dish. [I must admit that I have a wish to say fish in dish, but that is probably because I have been reading Dr. Seuss to my children.]

או לתוך הכוס – even though it is a second-degree utensil, especially to make them tepid, it is permitted, but not a little bit of [cold] water in order to heat them, for the Tanna/teacher of this Mishnah holds a that a second-degree utensil cooks and further on [in this Mishnah] we are taught that he may put them into a tureen or a plate, which implies that a second-degree utensil does not cook and the Halakha is that a second-degree utensil does not cook.

שהעבירן – from the fire.

מרותחין – at twilight.

לא יתן לתוכן תבלין – from after it gets dark for a first-degree utensil – all the time that it boils, it cooks.

אבל נותן הוא בתוך הקערה – for a second-degree utensil does not cook.

תמחוי – a kind of large plate that stirs up the entire tightly-covered stew pot into it and from there, stirs it into the plate.

לכל הוא נותן – even into a first-degree utensil.

חוץ מדבר שיש בו חומץ או ציר – that drips from the saltiness of the fish and they cook the spices, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda. But especially spices that are prohibited to place in a first-degree utensil even after they have removed it from the fire, but salt, even in a first-degree utensil does not cook, other than over the fire alone. Therefore, it is permissible to put salt, even in a first-degree utensil, after they have removed it from the fire.

אין נותנין – on the Sabbath.

Introduction This mishnah deals with the concept of “muktzeh” things set aside that cannot be used on Shabbat. It is forbidden to move anything that is muktzeh on Shabbat. The opposite of muktzeh is “mukhan”, things which are prepared to be used on Shabbat. As an aside, we should note that the laws of Shabbat are intimately connected with the intentions of the person performing the act. The same activity has different consequences depending on what intention the activity was performed with. This also shows us that these mishnayot are addressed to audiences who already “buy into the system” that is to say they are not looking to get away with things that are actually forbidden on Shabbat. Otherwise, a person could always lie about her intention or about what actually happened. This is an important point that in my opinion applies to a large percentage of halakhah.

כלי תחת הנר לקבל בו את השמן – that drips because the oil is Muktzeh/set aside and designated for a special purpose, and forbidden for any other use or handling and it is forbidden to nullify a utensil from its place, that is to say, to restore a utensil in a place that it is not able anymore to take it from there, for it is like he establishing for it a place and attaching it with plaster, and it is similar to creative work and this utensil, when the oil falls into it becomes Muktzeh and it is forbidden to handle it.

They may not place a vessel under a lamp to catch the oil. But if it was placed there before sunset it is permitted. Yet one may not benefit from it because it is not prepared (. The oil that was in the lamp is “muktzeh” since it had been set aside for lighting the lamp. While the oil is in the lamp she could not take any. Once the muktzeh oil falls into the vessel the vessel itself also becomes muktzeh. Anything that holds something that is muktzeh is itself muktzeh. Hence putting the vessel there to catch the oil is forbidden for she will be holding something which is muktzeh. However, she may put the vessel there before Shabbat and we are not concerned lest she take oil from the vessel or move the vessel itself on Shabbat. Even in a case where it was permitted to put the vessel under the lamp it is still forbidden to use the oil on Shabbat because the oil itself is always muktzeh.

אין ניאותין – we don’t benefit from the dripping oil from the candle on the Sabbath because it is not from something prepared for it was designated for kindling.

They may handle a new lamp but not an old one. Rabbi Shimon says: all lamps may be handled, except a lamp [actually] burning on Shabbat. It is permitted to handle a new, unused lamp on Shabbat. Such a lamp is not muktzeh. However, an old lamp may not be handled on Shabbat even if it is not lit because it is muktzeh. The reason that it is muktzeh is that it is repulsive. An old lamp may be caked with oil and shmutz and hence people will not like handling it. Repulsive things are muktzeh on Shabbat because people don’t intend to handle them. Rabbi Shimon does not hold that things which are “muktzeh” may not be handled on Shabbat. Therefore in his opinion an old lamp may be handled. The only type of lamp that may not be handled is one that it is already lit lest by carrying it he causes it to go out.

מטלטלין נר חדש – which is not repulsive, and it appropriate to use it.

A vessel may be placed under a lamp to catch the sparks, but one must not pour water into it, because he extinguishes [them]. Above we learned that it is forbidden to put a vessel under a lamp to catch the oil. Here we learn that it is permitted to put a vessel under a lamp to catch the sparks that might fly out of the lamp. The rabbis considered the sparks to not be “material” and therefore they are not muktzeh and they do not make the vessel muktzeh. However, it is forbidden to put water into the vessel since this extinguishes the sparks and extinguishing is prohibited on Shabbat.

אבל לא ישן – not counted on (and therefore forbidden to handle) on account of its repulsiveness (see Talmud Shabbat 44a).

חוץ מן הנר הדולק – while it is still burning, it is prohibited, as a decree lest one extinguish it. But Rabbi Shimon does not agree with Muktzeh on account of its repulsiveness nor Muktzeh in consequence of a ritual prohibition (e.g., a candlestick which on the entrance of the Sabbath could not be moved because a light was burning on it), and the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon who permits carrying all candles except from the candle that is burning for the candle, once it was kindled for the Sabbath evening, even though it is that it was extinguished, it is prohibited to carry it all the entire Shabbat, because once it became Muktzeh at twilight, it became Muktzeh for the entire [Sabbath] day, but [regarding] the other candles, the Halakha is according to him, for there is no Muktzeh on the Sabbath other than Muktzeh because the object is too expensive for a use for which it is not originally made, which Rabbi Shimon agrees with.

נותנים כלי תחת הנר – on Shabbat to receive the sparks of the flame that is dripping from the candle in order that it will not kindle what is below it, for the sparks have nothing of substance and the utensil is not canceled out from its use by this.

לא יתן בתוכו מים – even from the Eve of the Sabbath, for they (i.e., the Rabbis) decreed the Eve of the Sabbath on account of the Sabbath, and on the Sabbath if they did it in such a manner, it would be considered extinguishing and one would be liable. Therefore, it is prohibited on the Eve of the Sabbath.