Komentarz do Szabbat 7:8

כלל גדול. השוכח עיקר שבת– since he thought that Shabbat is not in the Torah, and even though that from the beginning, he had heard [about Shabbat] but now had forgotten it.

Introduction In the introduction to Shabbat we explained that a person who performs a forbidden labor on Shabbat intentionally is liable for the death penalty (if they warned him) and for karet extirpation (if unwarned). For accidental performance of a forbidden labor, one must bring a sin-offering. Our mishnah asks a frequently-asked rabbinic question: how do we know how many sin-offerings a person is liable for? Asked another way, what constitutes one performance of a forbidden labor?

אינו חייב אלא חטאת – on all the Sabbaths that he had desecrated for all of it is one [inadvertent] error as it is written (Exodus 31:13): “you must keep my Sabbaths,” and which implies one observance for any Sabbaths.

A great principle they stated in respect to Shabbat: anyone who forgets the fundamental law of Shabbat and performs many labors on many Shabbatot, is liable for only one sin-offering. The mishnah begins by referring to a person who doesn’t remember that work is prohibited on Shabbat. Such a person has in essence only transgressed once, no matter how many Shabbatot she performed the forbidden labor and no matter how many labors she performed. For instance, a person who never learned about Shabbat and then later in life learned that it was forbidden to work on Shabbat, would only be liable for one sin-offering.

היודע עיקר שבת – that is Shabbat in the Torah and creative work was forbidden on it, but he did many forms of creative work on many Sabbaths via the inadvertent error on Shabbat for he does not know that Shabbat is today, he is liable for each and every Shabbat one sin, and on this, it is stated (Exodus 31:16): “The Israelite people shall keep the Sabbath” that implies that observance of each and every Shabbat, that is to say that he is liable for a sin-offering on each and every Sabbath and even though that it was not known to him in the meantime and it is one act of forgetfulness, we say that the days that are in-between that is a knowledge that is impossible that he hadn’t heard [about Shabbat] in the meanwhile that this day was Shabbat but he was not reminded of the creative works that he did on it. Therefore, each and every Shabbat is one error.

One who knows the fundamental law of Shabbat and performs many labors on many Shabbatot is liable for a sin-offering for each and every Shabbat. This section refers to a person who knows that it is forbidden to work on Shabbat but doesn’t know which day of the week is Shabbat. All of the forbidden labors which she performs on any given Shabbat are considered one transgression. Therefore she brings one sin-offering for every Shabbat which she forgot was Shabbat, no matter how many forbidden labors she performed.

היודע שהוא שבת ועשה מלאכות הרבה – that he did not know that the forms of creative work were forbidden and he performed them several times on several Sabbaths, he is liable for each of the chief labors that are forbidden on the Sabbath one sin-offering and even though he went back and repeated them (i.e., the forbidden labors) on several Sabbaths, each principal form of labor is one error and he was not informed about it in the interim and here one cannot say that the days in-between are considered knowledge [of them] to differentiate, for the days in-between he would not know which chief labor is forbidden and which is permitted other than if he sat and engaged before Sages in the laws of Shabbat. And the same law applies that he is liable on two derivatives of two primary forbidden forms of labor whereby each one is divided into one sin-offering apiece, but if he had done a principal form of forbidden labor and its derivative or two derivatives of one principal forbidden labor, he is not liable other than for one [sin-offering] as it is taught at the end of the Mishnah: A person who performs many forbidden actions of one prohibited labor [on the Sabbath], he is not liable for other than for one [sin-offering] such as two derivatives of one primary forbidden labor because it is like a person who performed an action and repeated it in one act of forgetfulness and there is no separation/division of sin-offerings with one act of forgetfulness but other than the actual transgression which is not similar or distinguished on [many] Sabbaths for the matter of an error on Shabbat.

One who knows that it is Shabbat and performs many labors on many Shabbatot, is liable for every primary labor. This person knows which day is Shabbat and knows that it is forbidden to perform work on Shabbat but doesn’t know which labors are prohibited. Such a person is liable for every primary labor. As we shall see in tomorrow’s mishnah, there are thirty-nine categories of prohibited labor. Each category is a “primary labor.” Within each category there are derived labors, prohibitions which are similar enough to the primary labor to also be prohibited. Derived labors” are as prohibited as “primary labors” (they are all in the category of “deoraita” toraitic prohibitions.) The only difference is that if one performs several different “primary labors” she is liable for a sin-offering for each primary labor. However, if she performs a primary labor and several derived labors from the same category, she is only liable for one sin-offering. Furthermore, in the case in this section since the person didn’t know that such a labor was prohibited on Shabbat, she is only liable for one sin-offering no matter how many Shabbatot she performed the labor.

One who performs many labors belonging to the same category is obligated for only one sin-offering. In this case the person knows pretty much everything (that labor is prohibited on Shabbat, which labor is prohibited and which day is Shabbat). She is liable for every primary labor she performs on each Shabbat. However, if she also performs derived labors that are under the same category, she is liable for only one sin-offering for each category of labor she performs.

הזורע החורש - the fact that “ploughing” is not taught at the beginning and the Mishnah and afterwards “sowing” like the way of the whole world is to inform us that if the land was hard and they ploughed and then sewed and then afterwards ploughed, he is liable for the second ploughing because of “ploughing.”

Introduction This mishnah lists the thirty-nine primary labors. As can be easily seen there are three main lists in the mishnah: 1) the work involved in baking bread; 2) the work involved in making clothing; 3) the work involved in writing. These are the first three lists. The fourth section contains six more labors that are also prohibited but do not easily fit into the other lists. The Talmud states that these labors were all learned from the juxtaposition of the laws of building the Tabernacle with the prohibition of work on Shabbat (Exodus 31:35). Since the Torah had to state not to break Shabbat to build the Temple, it must be that any work which was done in building the Temple is prohibited on Shabbat. Much of the rest of the tractate will explain these labors, so we will be brief here.

הקוצר – seeds and one gleans/harvests the trees, he is liable because of “reaping.” (Tractate Shabbat 73 b).

The primary labors are forty less one:
sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, These are the labors involved in making bread, from the beginning to the very end. Personally, I am happy that for me baking bread involves going to the store, plunking down a few shekels and taking a loaf home.

המעמר – collecting detached seeds and collects them in one place.

shearing wool, bleaching, hackling, dyeing, spinning, weaving, the making of two loops, weaving two threads, dividing two threads, tying and untying, sewing two stitches, tearing in order to sew two stitches, These are all of the labors involved in making clothing. One interesting thing to note is that many commentators hold that tearing is prohibited only if the tear is made in order to sew new stitches. Only constructive, purposeful work is prohibited “deoraita” on Shabbat. Tearing in a destructive manner with no other purpose is still prohibited but only “derabbanan” a rabbinic prohibition. “Hackling” refers to separating strands of wool.

הזורה – passing through to the wind.

capturing a deer, slaughtering, or flaying, or salting it, curing its hide, scraping it [of its hair], cutting it up, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters [over the erasure], These are the labors involved in writing a scroll. Most of the work is making the parchment on which to write the scroll.

הבורר – the refuse in his hand or in the basket used as a sieve.

building, tearing down, extinguishing, kindling, striking with a hammer, These are all labors which are involved in building and in creating the material needed to build. We should make a couple of important notes. Tearing down is only considered a primary labor if it is performed with the intent of rebuilding. Extinguishing is also only prohibited deoraita if it makes charcoal (like extinguishing a candle.) “Striking with a hammer” is sort of a code-name for the completion of any piece of work. When finished with a metal project the silversmith would strike it with a hammer to complete it. That is why it is called “striking with a hammer.”

והמרקד – in a winnow/sieve, and even though that they are similar to each other, each one is considered separately; alternatively, they are not at the same time, but rather one after another.

[and] carrying out from one domain to another, These are the forty primary labors less one. Carrying from one domain to another is a labor unlike any of the others for instead of altering the nature of an object, it alters its location.

והאופה – there was no [baking] in the Tabernacle for there is no baking other than with bread and bread does not belong in the labors of the Tabernacle but rather, it (i.e., the Mishnah) taught that the arrangement of bread was taken; however, cooking which is considered like the [forbidden] labor of baking was in the Tabernacle with the spices of the color of bluish, purple-dye and scarlet-dyed. If he stirs the pot and places a covering on top of the pot that is standing on the fire, he is liable because of [the prohibition of] cooking and all of these above are considered in our Mishnah: “One who sews, ploughs, threshes, etc., all of these are with spices of color in the building of the Tabernacle.

הגוזז צמר – and all the rest of these labors belong with wool of blue of the labors of the Tabernacle.

המלבנו – laundering it in the river.

המנפצו – beat it with a rod; alternatively, comb it with a comb.

המיסך - “ordir” in the foreign language.

בתי נירין - takes two threads in the midst of the portion of the web produed by pasing the spool with the woof across the warp.

הפוצע – he removes the threads of the woof that are above the warp, or the warp that are above the woof for the purpose of weaving.

והקושר והמתיר – for such are the sides of the snail for from it they produce the bluish-dye, they tie and untie for sometimes it is necessary to take threads from this net to add on to the other and untie from here and tie there.

והתופר – and tearing also that are in the curtain for a curtain that a moth ate and made a small and round hole must tear downwards and upwards so that the sewing of the hole does not have wrinkles/folds.

והתופר שתי תפירות – that he tied them up, for had he not tied them, they would not exist and he would be liable for [violating] two [principal forms of labor] because of tying and because of sewing.

הצד צבי – and all of the labors concerning its hides apply which were used to cover the Tabernacle.

המולחו והמעבדו – The Gemara (Tractate Shabbat 75b) that salting the skin is the same as curing the skin, but they exclude one of them and place marking lines in its place, for placing marking lines is one of the primary prohibited forms of labor.

הממחקו – to scrape his hair.

מחתכו – to trim and cut straps and sandals.

וכותב ומוחק – they were in the Tabernacle that they would mark on boards to know which would be its pair and he would write a letter on this one and a letter one that one and sometimes he would err and erase it.

מכבה ומבעיר – with fire that was under the symbols of the scholars.

מכה בפטיש – the completion of work for so the artisan strikes the block with the completion of the work and the striking with a hammer is not liable until the end of the work [has been reached]. But the number of the first teacher of the Mishnah who counts primary forms of work as forty minus one, even though he returns and considers each one individually comes to teach us that even if a person did all the work in the world on one Shabbat in one act of forgetfulness, it is impossible that he would be liable for more than forty sin-offerings for all of them the rest of the labors are derivatives to these primary forms of work and it is found that he performs a primary form of work and its derivative and is not liable for anything other than one.

כל הכשר להצניע – which is something that is made for usage by a human being.

Introduction From here until the beginning of chapter eleven the mishnah discusses the labor of carrying. Our mishnah introduces a general principle related to carrying.

ומצניעו כמוהו – that has the appropriate measurements to be stored/hidden away.

They also stated another general principle: whatever is fit to store and people generally store things like it, and one carries it out on Shabbat, he is liable for a sin-offering on its account. But whatever is not fit to store and people do not [generally] store things like it, and one carries it out on Shabbat, only he that stores it is liable. A person is only obligated for carrying something from one domain to another if the object which she carries is one that is important enough that people store it and guard it. The object has to be one put to use by people. For instance keys are something that people are generally careful about, whereas a pebble is not. It also has to be of the size that people are generally careful with and will store. A loaf of bread would have such a size but a few small crumbs would not. If one carries something from one domain to another that has this size and is of a nature that people store it to protect it, then the person is obligated to bring a sin-offering. If it is not something about which people generally care, then only a person who does care about it is liable for it. For instance if most people are not careful with a tiny piece of bread and a person who is not careful with such a piece of bread carries it from one domain to another, she is not liable. However, if a person is careful with a small piece of bread and does take care of it, she would be liable for carrying it from one domain to another.

אין חייב אלא המצניעו -if something was done that was beloved by one person and he stored it away, he is liable for his removal of it if he took it out but another individual is not liable on it for concerning him it is not a [forbidden] form of work.

עצה – straw of kinds of pulse/peas (Tractate Shabbat 76a).

Introduction This mishnah discusses how much food a person must carry on Shabbat to be liable for carrying. The mishnah is divided into two sections: the first half deals with animal food and the second half deals with human food.

כמלוא פי גמל – its measurement is larger than that of a cow’s mouthful and the mouthful of a cow is not obligated for straw, for it is not appropriate for a cow.

He who carries out a cow’s mouthful of straw, a camel’s mouthful of bean stalks, a lamb’s mouthful of clover, a goat’s mouthful of grasses, moist leaves of garlic or moist leaves of onion the size of a dried fig, [or] a goat’s mouthful of dry [leaves], [is liable]. And they do not combine with each other, because they are not alike in their standards. The general rule is that a person is liable for carrying an amount of animal food equal to a mouthful of the animal that eats that type of food. Cows eat straw, so if he carries a mouthful of straw he is liable. Moist leaves of garlic and onion are fit for human consumption. Therefore one who carries an amount the size of a dried fig is liable. Goats eat dried leaves of onion and garlic, therefore to be liable for carrying these he must carry a goat’s mouthful. These are listed in this section probably because they are more normally eaten by goats. If a person carries a combination of these things each of which is less than the prohibited amount, they do not add up to create a prohibited amount. For instance, if he carries half a cow’s mouthful of straw and half a camel’s mouthful of bean stubble he is not liable. Since all of the amounts are different and one is for one type of animal and another for other types of animal, they do not add up together.

He who carries out [human] food the size of a dried fig is liable, And they combine with each other, because they are equal in their standards, except their shells, kernels, stalks, husks and coarse bran. Rabbi Judah said: excluding the shells of lentils, because they are boiled together with them. To be liable for carrying human food the amount need only be the size of a dried fig. If a person carries two different types of food, they add up. So if one carries half a fig’s worth of raisins and half a fig’s worth of peanuts, she is liable for carrying. This is because there is one standard amount for all human food. When figuring out the size of a piece of food, the non-edible parts are not considered. Rabbi Judah says that the shells of lentils are edible and hence they count in considering how much is being carried.

פי טלה – it is larger than the mouth of a kid (i.e., goat), therefore, ears of corn which are not appropriate for a kid, one is not liable for the mouthful of a kid until there is enough for the mouthful of a lamb, but grasses since they are appropriate for a kid and a lamb one is liable even for the mouthful of a kid.

לחין – that are appropriate for humans

like dried figs, for this is the measure for all human food on Shabbat but not for the mouthful of a kid for moist foods are not appropriate for kids.

מצטרפין – all of the foods of a human – these with those.

חוץ מקליפיהן – which are not [considered] food and do not complete the measure.

ועוקציהן – the tail of the fruit which is a mere tree.

וסובן – husk of wheat that falls off because of crushing/pounding.

ומורסנן – that remains in the winnow but Maimonides explains the opposite that their fine flour is thicker and worse than bran flour.

חוץ מקליפי עדשים – [that combine/are included together].

שהן מתבשלות עמהן – to exclude the outer husks which fall off when it is harvested and the husks of the beans at the time that they are moist and cooked with their husks; for Rabbi Yehuda they are included together with foods for the measurement of dry figs but not dried foods which are not consumed with their husks because they appear like flies in a bowl, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.