פירוש על שבת 24:1

מי שהחשיך. נותן כיסו לנכרי – while it is still daylight, and even though he is the agent of an Israelite to carry his money-bag on the Sabbath, the Rabbis have established that a person will not restrain himself from defending his property (see Talmud Shabbat 72a), for if they don’t permit him, he will come to carry four cubits in the public domain [on Shabbat].

Introduction This mishnah discusses a person who was traveling on Friday and did not arrive at her destination before Shabbat.

ואם אין עמו נכרי כו' – but if he has a heathen with him, he will give it to the heathen. What is the reason? A donkey, you are commanded to let his animals rest; but a heathen, you are not commanded to let him rest. For when he places his money-bag on the donkey when it gets dark [on Friday], he leaves it on her while she is walking, that is to say, after she has uprooted her leg to walk, she has not performed “uprooting” and when the animal wishes to stand, he takes it from upon her, but after she resumes and uproots her leg to walk, he places it upon her, in order that the animal not perform uprooting and placing down, for if he left her to perform uprooting and placing down, and he loads her or leads her, it is found that he is loading his animal on Shabbat and that is prohibited even though she is not loaded other than with something [minimal] , as it is written (Exodus 20:10): “You shall not do [any] work, you, [your son or daughter, your male or female slave,] or your cattle…” What is the work that is done whether by a person or the animal? One could say that it is loading/piling on.

One for whom it becomes dark while on the road, he may give his purse to a non-Jew; And if there is no non-Jew with him, he places it on a donkey. Once it becomes dark the Jew must not carry her purse, since it is prohibited to carry in the public domain. However, she may give the purse to a non-Jew. The rabbis permitted this because if they had been strict a person may be so attached to her possessions that she would herself carry on Shabbat. Since it is less problematic to give the purse to the non-Jew than for the Jew herself to carry, giving it away is preferable. However, we should remember that generally it is forbidden to ask a non-Jew to do work on Shabbat on behalf of a Jew. If there is no non-Jew with her, then she may place the purse on a donkey and allow the donkey to carry it back to the city. However it is preferable to give the purse to the non-Jew because Jews are supposed to let their animals rest on Shabbat as well, but a Jew is not commanded to ensure that the non-Jew rest on Shabbat.

הגיע לחצר החיצונה – it is thing that is taught separately for itself, and the law of his money-bag that we are speaking of.

When he reaches the outermost courtyard, he removes the objects which may be handled on Shabbat. As for those which may not be handled on Shabbat, he unties the cords and the sacks fall off automatically. When the traveler who has put her purse (or other goods) on a donkey reaches the outermost courtyard of the city, she may no longer allow them to remain on the donkey, since they have now reached a safe point. Therefore, those objects that she may handle on Shabbat, she must remove and stow them somewhere safe. Those objects that may not be handled, she must undo the straps which attach them to the donkey and they will fall to the ground on their own. We should note that the “city” to which the mishnah refers is one in which everybody knows each other, and therefore people can leave their private belongings in a public area without much fear of their being stolen. This reminds me of the situation in a kibbutz, or perhaps a summer camp, but it is certainly different from the situation in our cities.

לחצר החיצונה – of the city which a place where it will be guarded first when he comes to unload the donkey, he takes by his hand from it utensils that are handled on the Sabbath.

ושאינם ניטלים מתיר את החבלים – of the saddle which are tied up and the sacks fall.