In three things R. Gamliel takes the stringent view, according to the words of Beth Shammai: Hot foods are not stored from Yom Tov to Shabbath. [Beth Shammai hold that one may not bake (from Yom Tov to Shabbath) unless he has made an eruv tavshilin with a loaf. And he may not cook unless he has made an eruv tavshilin with something cooked. And he may not store food (for warmth) unless he had stored something from the eve of Yom Tov). And Beth Hillel hold that one may bake and cook and store on an eruv of cooked food alone], and a menorah is not assembled on Yom Tov [i.e., a menorah whose parts have been disassembled may not be restored, this being like "building," which obtains with vessels. And Beth Hillel hold that "building" does not obtain with vessels], and thick loaves are not baked (on Yom Tov), but only thin ones. [Beth Shammai hold that much bread is not baked on Yom Tov because of "exertion." And Beth Hillel say that it is baked, for when there is more bread it bakes better.] R. Gamliel said: From the days of Beth Shammai they did not bake thick loaves but only thin ones. They said to him: What shall we do for your father's house, who were stringent with themselves and lenient with Israel, allowing them to bake thick breads and chari? [(ample dough baked over coals.) The halachah is not in accordance with R. Gamliel in all of his stringencies according to the words of Beth Shammai.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
אין טומנין את החמין מיום טובל לשבת – For the School of Shammai holds that we don’t bake other than if he created a symbolic continuity of action (i.e., Eruv) with the bread, and we don’t cook other than if he made the legal fiction with the cooked food (i.e. preparing a dish on Thursday and letting it lie over until the end of the Sabbath, by which fiction all the cooking for the Sabbath which he does on the Holy Day on Friday is merely a continuation of the preparation begun on Thursday), and we don’t keep dishes warm other than if they were kept warm from the eve of the Holy Day (Thursday). But the School of Hillel holds that we bake and cook and keep dishes warm with the legal fiction with cooked foods alone.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Introduction
Mishnah ten contains three cases in which Rabban Gamaliel ruled like Beth Shammai.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
אין זוקפין – a candelabrum of pieces when its pieces can be taken apart, we don’t restore them, for that is like [the prohibition of] building, and there is building with utensils and the School of Hillel holds that there is no [prohibition of] building with utensils.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
This mishnah lists three cases in which Rabban Gamaliel ruled strictly, as had Beth Shammai. Although later Sages generally ruled like Beth Hillel, there were some exceptions, and some of those are listed in our mishnah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
גריצין – thick loaves.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
In three cases Rabban Gamaliel was strict like the words of Beth Shammai. One may not wrap up hot food on a festival for the Sabbath; The Torah allows one to cook on the festival but not on the Sabbath. This rule has a limitation: one may cook on the festival only to eat that day, and not to prepare food for later. It is even forbidden to prepare food on a festival for the Sabbath, since that would be considered an insult to the honor of the festival. However, since this was necessary in cases where the Sabbath fell after the festival, the Sages developed something which is known as “eruv tavshilin”. A person would symbolically begin to cook a meal for the Sabbath on the day before the festival. Since he had already begun to cook for the Sabbath, he was allowed to cook other things on the festival for the Sabbath. This is a type of legal fiction still practiced today by halakhic Jews. According to Beth Shammai, if a person must create a separate type of “eruv tavshilin” for each type of cooking he wishes to do: if he wants to bake he must begin baking before the festival; if he wants to boil he must begin boiling before the festival. Rabban Gamaliel rules that it is forbidden to wrap food to make it retain its heat, since that is not part of the “eruv tavshilin” that he had made before the holiday. Beth Hillel would have allowed such an action, since Beth Hillel holds that all one must begin to do is cook a little bit, and that is sufficient to continue to do any cooking activities on the festival.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
אלא רקיקין – thin loaves, for the School of Shammai holds that one does not bake a large batch of bread on Holy Days because of the trouble. But the School of Hillel says that one bakes a large batch of bread on the Holy Day/Yom Tov, for at the time that there is a large batch of bread, it is baked well.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
And one may not join together a lamp on a festival; If a lamp made of several parts breaks on the festival, Rabban Gamaliel forbids one to fix it, since this is a type of “building” which is forbidden on the Sabbath. Beth Hillel holds that there is no prohibition of “building” with regards to erecting vessels, and therefore this is permitted.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
חרי – large dough that is baked on the coals. But the Halakha is not according to Rabban Gamaliel in all matters where is he stringent like the words of the School of Shammai.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
And one may not bake [on festivals] thick loaves but only wafer-cakes. Rabban Gamaliel said: “In all their days, my father’s house never baked large loaves but only wafer-cakes.” They said to him: “What can we do with regards to your father’s house, for they were strict in respect to themselves but were lenient towards Israel to let them bake both large loaves and even charcoal-roasted loaves.” Rabban Gamaliel holds that it is forbidden to bake large loaves on a festival, and that only thin loaves are permitted. This is meant to prevent one from making too much bread on the festival, lest he make some for after the festival. Beth Hillel holds that it is permitted to bake large loaves, since bread cooks better when the oven is full. The final section of the mishnah contains some interaction between Rabban Gamaliel and the other Sages, who hold like Beth Hillel. Rabban Gamaliel testifies that his father’s house indeed acted in this manner, and only baked wafer-cakes on the festival. The other Sages accept this testimony of Rabban Gamaliel as being an accurate description of what Rabban Gamaliel’s father’s house used to do, but they understand its significance differently. The Sages say that Rabban Gamaliel’s father’s house was strict upon themselves, but allowed the rest of Israel to cook large loaves, even charcoal roasted loaves which are very difficult to make. The strict actions of Rabban Gamaliel’s fathers house were only meant for themselves and were not meant to set precedent for everyone else.
