Comentario sobre Beitzá 3:12

אין צדין דגים – even though slaughtering and baking and cooking are from the primary forms of [prohibited] work, they are permitted for the needs of the Festival day/Yom Tov, hunting is similar to reaping and reaping is not permitted on the Festival day. Vivarium of fish are pools of water where fish are raised there. Vivarium of wild beasts, enclosures (especially, an enclosed space outside for a settlement) surrounded by a fence all about and they bring there wild animals who give birth and who are raised there.

Introduction This mishnah deals with catching fish, fowl or game on Yom Tov. While slaughtering an animal is permitted on Yom Tov because it is done in the preparation of food, catching is not permitted because it could have been done the day before. Our mishnah defines what is considered “catching.” As an aside, the word in Hebrew for “catching” or “trapping” animals, fish or fowl is the same word as for hunting. However, I have translated the word as “catching” because hunting, that is killing the animal while catching it, is not allowed.

ואין נותנין – [they do not place] before the fish food, for it is possible for them [to survive] without food, and their feeding is not upon you.

One may not catch fish from a fishpond on Yom Tov nor give them food, While fish in a pond are already to a certain extent trapped in a small enclosure, they still must be caught in order to eat them. Since catching a fish from a fish pond is still considered catching it is therefore forbidden on Yom Tov. It is forbidden to feed these fish lest by doing so he come to catch one of them.

אבל צדין חיה ועוף – who are ready from yesterday.

But one may catch game or fowl from animal enclosures and one may put food before them. However, an animal which is trapped in a small enclosure is considered to already have been caught and hence one may “catch” such an animal or fowl on Yom Tov. Since it is permitted to catch them, he may also put food in front of them.

מן הביברין – the small vivarium, which do not lack some phase of the process of hunting. And Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel does not to argue against the first Tanna [of our Mishnah], but rather to explain [his reasoning].

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: not all enclosures are alike. This is the general rule: anything that still needs to be trapped is forbidden but anything that need not be trapped is permitted. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel points out that not all enclosures are alike. Fish in a bucket are basically already caught, whereas a deer in a very large pen is not caught. The general rule is that anything that still needs to be caught may not be caught on Yom Tov.

כל המחוסר צידה – that one needs to request a company of intriguers to catch him, and all the runners after it and reach it at once when the wild beast is not lacking some phase of the hunting process, and if not, it is lacking some phase of the hunting process.

ומעשה בנכרי – The Mishnah is deficient and should be read as follows: If it was doubtfully ready, it is prohibited, but Rabban Gamaliel permits it, and there was a story about one heathen, etc. But the Halakha is not according to Rabban Gamaliel, but rather, fruit and fish that were brought on Yom Tov/The Festival day, which was a doubt if they had been collected today or yesterday, [or] there was a doubt if they had been hunted today or yesterday, they are forbidden. And whatever is forbidden to eat is forbidden to carry. But if their form proves about them such as withered fruit that it is impossible that they were gathered today, and similarly, fish that were brought from a distant place that it is impossible that they had been hunted today, are permitted. And something that is prepared/ready that comes from outside the [Sabbath] limits (i.e., the marked off area around a town or place within which it is permitted to move on the Sabbath two-thousand cubits in every direction) for an Israelite, it is forbidden for that Israelite to be brought for him and for his household, but it is permitted for another Israelite. But fruit that had been plucked and fish that had been hunted on the first day of the Festival, are permitted for the evening of the Second Day of the Festival in order that they are made, except for the two days of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah in which they are prohibited until the conclusion of the Second Day of the Holiday in order that they are made. And the explanation of [the term] in order that they are made, in order that the fruit can be plucked/detached from the place where they are detached and are brought from the place that they are brought from. But a cities whose doors are locked at night must wait until they are made.

Introduction In yesterday’s mishnah we learned that one may not hunt (trap) animals on Yom Tov because he could do it the day before. Today we learn about taking animals out of traps on Yom Tov when the traps were set before Yom Tov.

אלא שאין רצונו לקבל ממנו – that I hate him.

Traps for wild animals, birds or fish which were set on the eve of Yom Tov, one may not take from them on Yom Tov unless he knows that they were [already] caught on the eve of Yom Tov. If the animals, birds or fish were caught in the traps the day before Yom Tov it would be permitted to take them out and slaughter them on Yom Tov. However, if they were trapped on Yom Tov then they are muktzeh because they could not have been used when Yom Tov began. When Yom Tov began he would have still had to trap them and trapping is prohibited on Yom Tov. If he finds them in the traps on Yom Tov he cannot use them unless he knows for certain that they were caught before Yom Tov. According to this opinion, something that is “doubtful muktzeh”, meaning it might or might not be muktzeh, it is prohibited.

It once happened that a certain non-Jew brought fish to Rabban Gamaliel [on Yom Tov] and he said: they are permitted, but I have no wish to accept [them] from him. In this story we see that Rabban Gamaliel disagrees with the previous clause. The non-Jew brings him a fish as a gift and we don’t know whether he caught the fish the day before or today. Rabban Gamaliel states that the fish is permitted because he holds that doubtful muktzeh is permitted. However, he adds that he himself acts more stringently and therefore he refuses to accept the fish. Note that we also saw in the previous chapter that Rabban Gamaliel acted strictly with regard to himself.

בהמה מסוכנת – which he is afraid lest it might die. And he has not need for it for he has already eaten his meal.

Introduction In this mishnah we learn two laws concerning slaughtering an animal on Yom Tov.

לא ישחוט – unless he knows that there is a delay during to day to eat an olive’s bulk roasted from it.

One may not slaughter [on Yom Tov] an animal which is about to die unless there is time enough on that day to eat from it as much as an olive of roasted flesh. Rabbi Akiva says: even [if there is only time to eat] as much as an olive of raw flesh [taken] from the place of slaughter. Slaughtering on Yom Tov is permitted as long as the person will have time left over in the day to eat some of the animal’s meat. If there is no time to eat any part of the animal then he can’t slaughter it because he would be doing so in order to eat it on another day. In the case in our mishnah it is clear that the person wants to slaughter the animal on Yom Tov because the animal is getting sick and if it dies he won’t be able to eat it. Even though it is clear that he is slaughtering it only in order to preserve some of its value, and that eating it is a sort of legal fiction, he still may do so, provided there is time left in the day for him to roast a small piece of meat and eat it. Roasting is the quickest form of cooking, hence the mishnah mentions roasting. Note that he does not actually have to roast and eat some of the meat, there just has to be time for him to do so. Rabbi Akiva is even more lenient and allows one to slaughter the animal even if there is only enough time to rip out a small piece of flesh from the animal’s throat (“the place of slaughter) and eat it raw. Rabbi Akiva mentions taking the meat out from the throat because to do this he wouldn’t even need to skin the animal. It seems even clearer here that this is not actually going to be done there just needs to be enough time so that it could have been done.

מבית טביחתה – which is ready at hand and stripped from its hide and standing. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiba.

If he slaughtered it in the field, he may not bring it in on a pole or a barrow, but he may bring it in piece by piece in his hand. The mishnah rules that if someone slaughters an animal in the field he should not hoist it up on a pole or put it in a wheelbarrow in order to bring it back into his courtyard or other living quarters. Doing so would look too much like ordinary weekday work and hence it should be avoided on Yom Tov. Rather he may carry it back home piece by piece, a more modest act that others will notice less. Note that in this case there are values competing against one another. Carrying it back piece by piece is more work for him and nevertheless the mishnah recommends doing so to avoid the act looking like weekday work. To put this otherwise, the mishnah preserves the overall communal character of the day as a day free from work at the expense of the individual’s own experience.

לא יביאנו במוט ובמטה – by two people, because the matter is noisy and disregards the honor of the Festival day.

בכור שנפל לבור – a firstling with a blemish, which had not been shown to a Sage from the eve of the Festival day while it is still daylight to [potentially] permit it, and it fell into a pit on the Festival day, and he is afraid that it might die there.

Introduction A first-born animal may not be eaten until it becomes blemished (Deuteronomy 15:21-22). Experts would determine whether an animal was blemished. Our mishnah deals with a first-born that fell into a pit on Yom Tov and may have been blemished there. The debate is over whether they may send down an expert to see if the animal had become blemished and if so, bring it up and slaughter it on Yom Tov.

ירד מומחה – who is a specialist to distinguish between a fixed blemish and a passing blemish.

A first-born beast that fell into a pit:
Rabbi Judah says: let an expert go down and inspect [it]. If it had a blemish he may bring it up and slaughter it, but if not, he may not slaughter it. Rabbi Judah allows the expert to go down into the pit to examine the animal. If the animal is blemished they may bring the animal out of the pit and slaughter it on Yom Tov. But if there is no blemish he may not slaughter it nor may he even bring it up from the pit.

ויראה – a blemish that it had [acquired] yesterday, if it is a fixed blemish.

Rabbi Shimon says: any animals whose blemish was not observed on the day before the Yom Tov, it is not prepared (. Rabbi Shimon holds that even if the animal should be found to have a blemish, they still may not bring it out of the pit and slaughter it on Yom Tov because when Yom Tov began that animal could not be slaughtered. The animal was not “mukhan”, or ready. Mukhan is the opposite muktzeh. The animal is muktzeh because when Yom Tov began it could not be used for food because it was still a first-born on whom no blemish had been found.

יעלה וישחט – because there is no prohibition for use or handling [on Yom Tov] (or set aside in a shed for a sacrifice), and from yesterday, his mind was upon it.

ואם לאו לא ישחוט – this is how it should be understood, and if not, that this blemish that was upon it from the eve of the Festival was not a fixed [blemish] but rather on that day, it became a fixed blemish, even if it had passed and he brought it up, he should not slaughter it. And we don’t say that from yesterday, his mind was upon it and since it now has a fixed blemish, let’s slaughter it, for since yesterday’s blemish was not fixed, it is set aside in consequence of its being ritually forbidden.

אין זה מן המוכן – not because it was forbidden for use or handling did he prohibit it, for Rabbi Shimon does not have [the concept of] Muktzeh/something set aside, but because he permits its use on the Festival day, it is like he repairs it, and it appears that he made a legal decision that was decreed upon it because of it is forbidden by the Rabbis as being out of harmony with the celebration of the day. And this is how it should be state: His making it permissible is not a permit, and it is not prepared to be acceptable.

בהמה שמתה – we are speaking of the Holy Animals [for use in the Temple], as it is taught regarding it and on the Hallah that was defiled. For the Holy Animals that died it is forbidden to derive benefit from it and it requires burial, therefore, one should not move it from its place. But a secular/non-holy animal, we cut it up before the dogs. And these words [apply] when it was in danger from yesterday, when his mind was upon it, but if it was not endangered from yesterday, even a non-holy/secular animal, he should not move it from its place.

Introduction This mishnah deals with what may be done with a beast (a cow, sheep, goat or bull) that has died on Yom Tov.

החלה שנטמאת – which is not appropriate for the Kohen on the Festival day, even to burn it or to give it to his dog, we don’t remove out of existence holy things form the world on Yom Tov, and even through animals eating it, as it is the decree of a Biblical verse that we do not remove ritually impure Holy Things from the world on Yom Tov.

If a beast died [on Yom Tov] it may not be moved from its place. Since the beast died and was not slaughtered, it cannot be eaten. Since it cannot be eaten there is nothing that one may do with it on Yom Tov. Hence, it is muktzeh. All that he can do is leave it in its place and then when Yom Tov is over he can cut it up, use its hide and feed dogs with its meat.

And it happened that they once asked Rabbi Tarfon concerning this and concerning hallah that had become defiled. He went into the bet midrash and inquired, and they answered him: they may not be moved from their place. The mishnah now relates that this halakhah was asked of Rabbi Tarfon and he didn’t know the answer until he went and asked the question in the study house, the bet midrash. He also was asked about hallah, the part of the dough that is given to the priest, that had become impure on Yom Tov. Impure hallah, like an animal that died without being slaughtered, cannot be eaten and hence it is also muktzeh on Yom Tov. The answer therefore to both questions was that both are muktzeh and that neither can be moved until Yom Tov is over.

אין נמנין – fix a price so that two or three people would say that this animal is for three Zuzim, one per person.

Introduction As we have learned many times, it is permitted to slaughter an animal on Yom Tov. In the mishnaic times most people would have bought shares in an animal from a butcher before the day the animal was slaughtered and then paid for it on the day it was slaughtered. Our mishnah teaches how this arrangement may be worked out so that people may buy freshly slaughtered meat on Yom Tov without it looking as if they are conducting business as usual.

ושוחטין ומחלקים ביניהן – at one half, one third or one-fourth, and for one does not mention the fixing of the price.

They may not be counted as having a share in an animal at the outset on Yom Tov, but they may be counted [as having a share in an animal] on the eve of Yom Tov, and they may then slaughter it and divide it between them [on Yom Tov]. People may not go to a butcher on Yom Tov and decide how to divide up and pay for an animal that is to be slaughtered on that day. The problem with this is that it looks too much like one is engaging in business as usual. Hence it is prohibited. Rather what they may do is divvy up the various parts of the animal before Yom Tov before it is slaughtered and set a price for each part. Then on Yom Tov they may come have the butcher slaughter the animal and collect the parts which they reserved and pay for them at a later date. Since there is no verbal give and take on Yom Tov, it does not look as much like business as usual.

שוקל אדם בשר – even though it is prohibited to weigh a pound, for it is the activity of a weekday, it is permissible to weigh meat in the place with a utensil in the balance with a chopper, and on the next day, they will see the chopper and the utensil as to their [combined] weight.

Rabbi Judah says: a man may weigh meat [on Yom Tov] against a utensil or against a butcher's chopper. But the sages say: one may not pay attention to the scales at all. The debate here is concerning weighing out meat at the butcher’s on Yom Tov. All agree that the butcher cannot just weigh out meat as usual, using weights on the scale, because that looks too much like conducting business as usual. They also all agree that one can go to a butcher and get meat on Yom Tov. This is necessary to ensure that the average person has access to fresh meat so that he can enjoy his Yom Tov to the fullest extent. As a solution to the problem of the butcher weighing out the meat, Rabbi Judah says that the butcher may use other utensils on the other side of the scales. For instance, if he knows that his chopping knife weighs 2 kilo, he can weigh out meat according to the weight of his knife. This looks different enough that everyone will know that he is not engaging in business as usual. The sages say that this is still too much like business as usual. The sages forbid any use of the scales on Yom Tov. All that the butcher and client may do is estimate the weight of the meat and then hope that it turns out to be fair.

וחכ"א אין משגיחין – do not investigate.

בכף מאזנים כל עיקר – even to preserve the meat from the mice, it is prohibited to place them on the weighing scale. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

אין משחיזין את הסכין – with a millstone or with a whetting implement (of stone or wood)

Introduction This mishnah continues to deal with the laws of slaughtering and divvying up meat on Yom Tov.

אבל משיאה על גבי חברתה – as he makes a change from the manner of the weekday.

One may not sharpen a knife on a festival, but one may draw it over another knife. He shouldn’t sharpen a knife with a sharpening stone on Yom Tov because this is similar to completing work on a vessel which is forbidden on Yom Tov. Furthermore, he could have sharpened the knife before Yom Tov. However, if he sharpens it in an unusual manner, by using another knife, then it is permitted.

A man may not say to a butcher, “Weigh me a dinar’s worth of meat” but he may slaughter [the animal] and shares it among them. This section returns to discussing the problem discussed in yesterday’s mishnah, the problem of buying meat on Yom Tov. One cannot tell a butcher to give him a piece of meat worth a certain amount of money because this is considered conducting business as usual on Yom Tov, which is forbidden. This is forbidden even if he weighs the meat out in a manner that is usually permitted, as we learned in yesterday’s mishnah. Merely mentioning the price seems to be forbidden. However, the butcher may slaughter the animal and divide it up among his clients keeping in mind how much each owes him.

אבל לא במדה – a designated/special utensil for measuring that he measures and sells [produce] with it. But if it is not designated for this, even though it stands for the measurement, when this one that he measures with breaks, the other stands in its place, and he is permitted to fill with it.

Introduction After having dealt with how one may get meat from a butcher on Yom Tov, our mishnah deals with how one can buy other food supplies from others or from a storekeeper. We will see again that the mishnah is very concerned with protecting the atmosphere of Yom Tov. Cooking is permitted and therefore we must allow people to get things at the store (remember they had no refrigeration and probably stored very little food at home), but when they do so they should refrain from any action that would send the message that business is being conducted as usual.

אם היה כלי של מדה – even though it has yet been designated for this purpose, he should not fill it up. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

A man may say [on Yom Tov] to his fellow, “Fill me this vessel,” but not in a specific measure. A person can bring a vessel to his friend or to a storekeeper and ask him to fill it up for him on Yom Tov with wine or oil but he may not mention to him a specific amount. Since this is not the way that business is usually conducted it is permitted on Yom Tov.

ממלא מדותיו מעיו"ט – for we don’t measure on the Festival day.

Rabbi Judah says: if it was a measuring-vessel he may not fill it. Rabbi Judah says that this is not permitted if the vessel is one used for measuring. Although the person does not mention a specific amount, in other words, he does not say, “fill up this ten liter jug”, it is still forbidden because both he and the person giving him the wine or oil know exactly how much is being given.

אף בחול המועד עושה כן – because of being idle from being in the House of Study, for many people would come to ask of him during the Intermediate Days when they are not busy with work and he would fill his measures at night which is not the time of study in the House of Study in order that he can be free during the daytime.

It happened that Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to fill up his measures on the eve of Yom Tov and give them to his customers on Yom Tov. Abba Shaul says: he used to do so even during hol hamoed (the intermediate days of the, on account of clarifying the measures. But the sages say: he used also to do so on an ordinary day for the sake of the draining of the measures. In order to avoid the problem of measuring out wine or oil when giving it out on Yom Tov, Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to fill his measuring vessels before Yom Tov and then just give them out on Yom Tov. Abba Shaul says that Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to do the same thing on the intermediate days of the festival, hol hamoed. During these days people were not supposed to be doing work (we will learn this in Tractate Moed Katan) and so they had time to learn how to measure things out. Because there were so many people who came to him, he didn’t have time to fill up all of the measuring vessels that they should be completely full without any froth. Therefore he filled them up at night. Good manuscripts of the Mishnah do not contain the words “on account of clarifying the measures.” Indeed there is another explanation in the Talmud. There it says “on account of not attending the Bet Midrash.” Abba Shaul ben Batnit filled up his measuring vessels early so that he could spend all of hol hamoed teaching Torah. Rashi explains that many people would come to see him on hol hamoed because they were free from doing work, and hence he didn’t want to waste any time filling up his measures. Notice Abba Shaul ben Batnit was a businessman he just made sure that he conducted his business in a manner in which he could still teach and learn Torah. The sages say that Abba Shaul ben Batnit always filled up his measuring vessels ahead of time, even on ordinary weekdays. He would then pour from his vessels into his customers’ vessels and then wait overnight and fill them up more, depending upon how much the clay vessel had soaked up into its walls. This was his way of making sure that his customers received the full amount that they paid for.

מפני מצוי המדות – when he would sell oil, he had many measurements, and the purchasers would bring their utensils and he would measure for each and every person with his own measuring utensil, and they would empty out everything into their utensils all night long, in order that there would be no remaining oil attached to the sides of the measuring device or on its walls and as a result he would be stealing from the purchasers.

A man may go to a shopkeeper to whom he generally goes and say to him, “Give me [so many] eggs and nuts” since this is the way of a householder to reckon in his own home. A person can go to a storekeeper with whom he is familiar, one that will give him food now and not make him pay back until a later day. To this storekeeper he may even tell the number of eggs or nuts that he wants. This does not look like “business as usual” because the customer does not usually count the eggs or nuts until he goes home.