Responsa for Shabbat 4:1

בַּמֶּה טוֹמְנִין וּבַמָּה אֵין טוֹמְנִין. אֵין טוֹמְנִין לֹא בְגֶפֶת וְלֹא בְזֶבֶל, לֹא בְמֶלַח וְלֹא בְסִיד וְלֹא בְחֹל, בֵּין לַחִים בֵּין יְבֵשִׁים. לֹא בְתֶבֶן וְלֹא בְזָגִים וְלֹא בְמוֹכִים וְלֹא בַעֲשָׂבִים בִּזְמַן שֶׁהֵן לַחִים, אֲבָל טוֹמְנִין בָּהֶן כְּשֶׁהֵן יְבֵשִׁין. טוֹמְנִין בִּכְסוּת וּבְפֵרוֹת, בְּכַנְפֵי יוֹנָה וּבִנְסֹרֶת שֶׁל חָרָשִׁים וּבִנְעֹרֶת שֶׁל פִּשְׁתָּן דַּקָּה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹסֵר בְּדַקָּה וּמַתִּיר בְּגַסָּה:

In what may (foods) be stored, and in what may they not be stored? [If one wishes to remove a pot from the stove on Sabbath eve and store it elsewhere (And the sages have said: We may not store in something that adds heat, but only in something that preserves heat) — what is it that adds heat and is forbidden?] They may not be stored in gefeth [the residue of olives and sesame. When gathered together, it is very hot], or in dung, or in salt, or in lime, or in sand, whether wet (which generates more heat) or dry. (And they may not be stored) in straw, or in the husk of grapes, or in mochim [Every soft thing is called "mochim," e.g., cotton wool, the plucked soft wool of an animal, the tow of worn-out garments], or in grasses, when they are wet [This refers to all of them: straw, husks, mochim, and grasses. "Wet" here means wet in and of themselves, not through liquids fallen upon them after they have dried. "Mochim," wet in and of itself, obtains with wool near the tail or with wool between the animal's thighs]; but it is permitted to store in them when they are dry. It is permitted to store in garments, in fruits, in the wings of a dove, in the saw-shavings of carpenters, and in the thin chaff of (beaten) flax. R. Yehudah forbids it with thin [chaff], but permits it with thick. [But with shavings he concurs that it is permitted both with thin and with thick. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah. The reason they forbade storing while it was still day in something that adds heat — a decree, lest he store it in hot ashes and come to stir the coals after dark. And they forbade storing on the Sabbath (even) in something that does not add heat, even though it does not cook — a decree, lest he find his pot to have cooled, and he boil it on a fire on the Sabbath. And ben hashmashoth it is permitted to store in a thing that does not add heat, (Shabbath 34a), there being no need to decree lest he finds his pot to have cooled, and he boil it; for pots, in general, are boiling ben hashmashoth. And Rambam explains "pots, in general, are boiling ben hashmashoth" in a manner inconsistent with reason because of mistaken formulations and opposing versions in the gemara before him, where he read: "Why did they say that it is forbidden to store in a thing that does not add heat after dark? — a decree, lest he store it in hot ashes. And why did they say that it is forbidden to store in a thing that adds heat while it is still day? — a decree lest he come to boil it." It is not to be read thus, but: "Why did they say that it is forbidden to store in a thing that does not add heat after dark? — a decree lest he come to boil it. And it is forbidden to store in a thing that adds heat while it is still day — a decree, lest he store it in hot ashes."]

Explore responsa for Shabbat 4:1. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.