Beth Shammai say: Ink [i.e., dyes from which ink is made], dyes [for paints] and karshinim [an animal food, which they would first soak], are not soaked (on Sabbath eve), unless they be soaked (i.e., fully softened) while it is yet day. [Beth Shammai hold that one is exhorted in respect to the resting of his vessels (on the Sabbath), just as he is exhorted in respect to the resting of his beast. And this is, likewise, the reason for (1:6) "Bundles of flax are not placed into the oven," and (Ibid.): "Nets are not spread." As to a lamp burning on the Sabbath and a pot on the stove, where Beth Shammai concede (that it is permitted), this is where he renounces ownership of the vessels, in which instance he is not commanded in respect to their resting.] And Beth Hillel permit it [when the water was put in while it was still day, even though they undergo soaking on the Sabbath, Beth Hillel holding that a man was exhorted in respect to the resting of his beast on the Sabbath, where there is distress for the animal (in not resting), but not in respect to the resting of vessels.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
אין שורין דיו – dyes that they make for them ink for writing.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
The next four mishnayot contain disputes between Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel over things that can be done before the Sabbath.
Most of the disputes revolve around one central issue: can a person’s vessels perform work for them on the Sabbath? It is clear that a person herself cannot perform a forbidden act of work on the Sabbath; the debate is whether a person can set in motion a process which will cause work to be done on the Sabbath. Today it is clear to us that this is permitted. For instance, I can set a timer on my clock and it can go on on Shabbat and light my house. Bet Shammai, however, would say that such an act is forbidden.
We should note, the it seems that the sect of Jews who lived in Qumran and produced the Dead Sea Scrolls probably held like Bet Shammai. According to this understanding, work may not be done for a Jew on the Sabbath. The verse from the Ten Commandments which reads, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (Exodus 20:9) is interpreted to mean that all of a person’s work must be done within six day. In contrast, the Hillelites would hold that a Jew may not perform work on the Sabbath. They interpret the verse to mean that a person can do work for only six days, not that all of a person’s work must be done in six days. Although these positions might seem similar, they are based on different understandings of the Sabbath and indeed of halakhah in general.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
וסממנים – to dye.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Beth Shammai says: ink, dyes and vetch may not be soaked [on Friday afternoon] unless they can be fully soaked while it is yet day; And Bet Hillel permits it. Inks, dyes and vetch (a legume soaked and then used as animal food) are all processed by soaking a plant in water to soften it. According to Bet Shammai it is forbidden to start such a process on Friday unless the person can sure that she can complete the process before Shabbat. As we learned above in the introduction, Bet Shammai forbids a person from having her “things” work for her on Shabbat. Bet Hillel permits this.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
וכרשינים – food for cattle, and it is customary to soak them in water first, and we call them in Arabic “Karsena” and in the foreign tongue “vetch.” And the School of Shammai holds that a person is careful concerning observing the Sabbath abstention from labor with his utensils like the abstention form labor on the Sabbath of his animal, and it is for the same reason that we don’t give him bundles of wet flax, and that is the reason that we don’t spread out nets for traps. But the candle that burns on Shabbat and the pot that is on top of the portable stove on feet (with caves for two pots) that the School of Shammai admits to, since [he has renounced] ownership for the utensils, he furthermore is not commanded concerning their abstention from labor on the Sabbath.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
וב"ה מתירין – from when he placed water in them while it was still day (i.e., on Friday), even though they are continuing to soak on the Sabbath, as they (i.e., the School of Hillel) hold that a person is warned regarding the Sabbath rest of the animals because there is the suffering of animals connected with the case (which must be relieved).
