Commentaire sur Makhshirin 2:5
עִיר שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל וְנָכְרִים דָּרִים בָּהּ וְהָיָה בָהּ מֶרְחָץ מַרְחֶצֶת בְּשַׁבָּת, אִם רֹב נָכְרִים, רוֹחֵץ מִיָּד. וְאִם רֹב יִשְׂרָאֵל, יַמְתִּין כְּדֵי שֶׁיֵּחַמּוּ הַחַמִּין. מֶחֱצָה לְמֶחֱצָה, יַמְתִּין כְּדֵי שֶׁיֵּחַמּוּ הַחַמִּין. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בְּאַמְבָּטִי קְטַנָּה, אִם יֶשׁ בָּהּ רָשׁוּת, רוֹחֵץ בָּהּ מִיָּד:
[S'il y a] une ville où vivent des Juifs et des Gentils et qu'il y a un bain public qui est utilisé le Shabbat: [Si] la plupart [des résidents] sont des Gentils, on peut s'y baigner immédiatement [après Shabbat]; et si la majorité est juive, il faut attendre [le temps qu'il faut pour] que l'eau soit chauffée; [et si] c'est la moitié et la moitié, il faut attendre [le temps qu'il faut pour] que l'eau soit chauffée. Le rabbin Yehudah dit: On peut se baigner immédiatement dans un petit bain public s'il y a des fonctionnaires [qui l'utilisent].
Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
רוחץ בה מיד – on Saturday night, and one does not need to wait until it warms up, for since that the majority are heathens, it was warmed with the knowledge of the heathens.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Introduction
A Jew is not permitted to benefit from work done for another Jew on Shabbat, but a Jew can benefit from work done for a non-Jew on Shabbat. If a Jew does forbidden work on Shabbat and another Jew wants to benefit from that work, he/she must wait after Shabbat however long it would take for that work to be done. For instance, if I make a roast on Shabbat (Heaven forbid!) and then my wife (who is Jewish) wants to eat it, she must wait after Shabbat however long it would take to make that roast.
Our mishnah deals with a case where we don't know whether the work that was done on Shabbat was done for Jews or non-Jews.
We should note that it doesn't matter who did the work Jew or non-Jew. What matters is whether the work was done for a Jew or for a non-Jew.
This mishnah begins a series of mishnayot, all of which deal with a city in which there are some Jewish and some non-Jewish inhabitants.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Makhshirin
אם יש בה רשות – the kingdom is called the authority/power (i.e., usually, it refers to the Roman government in Mishnaic times in the Land of Israel), because the license/permission/power is in its hand to do according to its will. But not specifically a king, but if there was there an important man, who has ten servants that warm up for him ten kettles of water at one time, it is permissible to wash in it immediately, and even though the majority of the city is Israelite. For we say, for the sake of that important person [the waters] were warmed up.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
A city in which Israelites and non-Jews dwell together and there was a bathhouse working on Shabbat: In this city there is a bathhouse that operates on Shabbat and the question is whether a Jew can go and bathe there immediately after Shabbat in water that was heated on Shabbat.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
If the majority [of the inhabitants] were non-Jews, one may bathe in it immediately [after the conclusion of the Shabbat]; If the majority were Israelites, one must wait until the water can be heated; If they were half and half, one must [also] wait until the water can be heated. If the majority of the residents of the city were non-Jews, then we can assume the water was heated on behalf of a non-Jew and one can bathe there right after Shabbat. If the majority were Jews then the water was probably heated for a Jew. In such a situation if the Jew bathed there immediately after Shabbat he would be deriving benefit from work done for a Jew on Shabbat. Therefore, he must wait a sufficient time after Shabbat for the water to have been heated. Then he can take a bath (always nice to take a bath after Shabbat). Again, if the amount of Jews and non-Jews is equivalent, the rule is strict.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Makhshirin
Rabbi Judah says: if the bathhouse was small and there was there a [non-Jewish] authority, one may bathe in it immediately [after the conclusion of Shabbat]. If there was a small bathhouse and there was a non-Jewish, probably Roman, government located there, we can assume the water was heated for them (it's good to be the king, or the king's messengers). In this case a Jew could bathe there immediately after Shabbat, even if the majority of the city were Jews.
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