Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Shabbath

Folio 157a

One may not chop up wood from planks,¹  nor from a plank that is broken on a Festival?²  R. Johanan recited that as [the ruling of] R. Jose b. Judah.³  Come and hear: One may commence with a heap of straw [for fuel supplies] but not with the timber stored in the shed?⁴  — The reference there is to cedar and ashuhe⁵  planks, for in the case of mukzeh on account of monetary loss even R Simeon agrees.⁶

Come and hear: Pasture animals may not be watered and killed, but home animals may be watered and killed?⁷  — R. Johanan found another [opposing] anonymous [Mishnah]: Beth Shammai say: One may remove bones and nutshells from the table; but Beth Hillel rule: One must take away the whole board and shake it. Whereon R. Nahman said: As for us, we have no other [view] but that Beth Shammai agree with R. Judah, and Beth Hillel with R. Simeon.⁸

R. Aha and Rabina differ therein: One maintains: In all [discussions on] the Sabbath the halachah is as R. Simeon, save in mukzeh on account of repulsiveness: and what is that? An old lamp.⁹  While the other maintains: In respect of mukzeh on account of repulsiveness too the halachah is as R. Simeon, the exception being mukzeh on account of an interdict, and what is that? A lamp wherein a light had been lit on that self-same Sabbath.¹⁰  But in the case of mukzeh on account of monetary loss even R. Simeon agrees, for we learnt: All utensils may be handled on the Sabbath, except a large saw and the pin of a plough.¹¹

MISHNAH. VOWS CAN BE ANNULLED BY A HUSBAND ON THE SABBATH, AND ABSOLUTION MAY BE GRANTED¹²  FOR VOWS WHEN THESE ARE NECESSARY FOR THE SABBATH. A SKYLIGHT MAY BE CLOSED UP,¹³  AND A RAG MAY BE MEASURED,¹⁴  AND A MIKWEH MAY BE MEASURED.¹⁵  AND IT ONCE HAPPENED IN THE DAYS OF R. ZADOK'S FATHER AND THE DAYS OF ABBA SAUL THE SON OF BOTNITH THAT THEY CLOSED UP THE WINDOW WITH A PITCHER AND TIED AN [EARTHENWARE] POT TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER THERE WAS THE OPENING OF A HANDBREADTH OR NOT IN THE BARREL.¹⁶  AND FROM THEIR WORDS WE LEARN THAT WE MAY CLOSE [A SKYLIGHT] AND MEASURE AND TIE ON THE SABBATH.

GEMARA. The scholars asked: Is annulment [permitted] whether it is required [for the Sabbath] or not, whereas absolution [may be granted] only when it is necessary, but not otherwise, and for that reason they are divided from each other;¹⁷  or perhaps annulment too [is permitted] only when it is necessary [for the Sabbath] but not otherwise; the reason that they are divided being that annulment does not require a Beth din, whereas absolution requires a Beth din?¹⁸  — Come and hear: For Zuti, of the School of R. Papa, recited: Vows may be annulled on the Sabbath when they are required for the Sabbath: thus, only when required for the Sabbath, but not otherwise.

Another version: The scholars asked: Does WHEN THESE ARE NECESSARY relate to both, but not when they are unnecessary. which proves that [for] the annulment of vows a period of twenty-four hours is given; or perhaps WHEN THESE ARE NECESSARY is stated in reference to absolution only, but the annulment of vows [is permitted] even when it is unnecessary, which proves that [for] the annulment of vows the whole day [only] is given?¹⁹  — Come and hear: For Zuti of the School of R. Papa recited: Vows may be annulled on the Sabbath when they are required for the Sabbath — Only 'when required for the Sabbath', but not otherwise, which proves that [for] the annulment of vows a period of twenty-four hours is given. Said R. Ashi, But we learnt: [The period allowed for] annulment of vows is the whole day: this may result in greater stringency or greater leniency.²⁰  E.g., if she vows on Sabbath eve [Friday night], he can annul on the Sabbath eve and the Sabbath day; if she vows just before nightfall, he can annul only until the night, for if darkness falls and he has not annulled it, he can no longer do so? — It is dependent on Tannaim: [The period for] the annulling of vows is all day; R. Jose son of R. Judah and R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon maintain: Twenty-four hours.

AND ABSOLUTION MAY BE GRANTED FOR VOWS, etc. The scholars asked: Is that only if one had no time [before the Sabbath to seek absolution], or perhaps it holds good even if one had time? — Come and hear: For the Rabbis gave a hearing to R. Zutra b. R. Zera and absolved him of his vow, though he did have time.

THEY CLOSED UP THE WINDOW WITH A PITCHER AND TIED A POT WITH A REED ROPE. Rab Judah said in Rab's name: There was a small passage between two houses and an unclean object lay there,

1. Arranged in piles for building.
2. Because they are mukzeh, v. Bez. 31a.
3. But not as an anonymous Mishnah.
4. It is stored there for winter use and is mukzeh, Bez. 29b. This Mishnah is anonymous and agrees with R. Judah.'
5. A genus of weak (female) cedar. Aliter: cypress.
6. Cf. p. 610, n. 12.
7. V. supra 45b. This prohibits mukzeh.
8. V. supra 143a, p. 724, n. 5. Beth Hillel's view is the same as an anonymous Mishnah, because it is always halachah.
9. V. supra 44a.
10. V. p. 202, n. 9.
11. These are delicate tools that require careful handling and are not used for any purpose but their own, v. supra 123b.
12. Lit., 'may be sought'; sc, from a Sage or court of three laymen.
13. Cf. supra 125b.
14. Whether it is large enough to be defiled; v. supra 26b. E.g., if it came into contact with a sherez (q.v. Glos.) and then touched food.
15. To see whether it has the minimum size for validity, i.e., one cubit square by three in breadth or its cubic equivalent.
16. This is discussed infra.
17. In the Mishnah, instead of stating. Vows may be annulled and absolution granted. etc.
18. A husband annuls his wife's vows and a father his daughter's, while a Sage or Beth din of three laymen can grant absolution to all.
19. A husband or a father can annul vows only on the day he hears them (Num. XXX, 5, 8, q.v.); and the question is whether 'day' means a calendar day, i.e., until the evening only, no matter when the vow is made, or full twenty-four hours? Now, where he hears of her vow first on Sabbath day, if annulment is permitted on the Sabbath only when it is necessary, it follows that full twenty-four hours are allowed so that he can annul after the termination of the Sabbath; for otherwise we deprive him of the right to annul at all.
20. By fixing a calender day, i.e., a night and a day, the period may be shorter or longer, as the case may be.

and a split barrel[-shaped defective roofing] rested over them, — then they closed the window with a pitcher and tied a fire pot with a reed rope to ascertain whether the barrel[-shaped roofing] had an opening of a handbreadth or not.¹

AND FROM THEIR WORDS WE LEARN THAT WE MAY STOP UP [A SKYLIGHT] AND MEASURE AND TIE ON THE SABBATH. 'Ulla visited the home of the Resh Galutha and saw Rabbah b. R. Huna Sitting in a bath-tub of water and measuring it. Said he to him: Say that the Rabbis spoke thus of measuring in connection with a precept;²  did they rule [thus] when it is not in connection with a precept? — I was merely occupying myself, he replied.³

1. The 'unclean object' was a corpse, which lay in the passage beneath the roofing under its split. Before the person died the window was closed up with the pitcher, for fear that the split was less than a handbreadth in width, in which case the corpse would be lying under a covering which contained no opening through which the uncleanness could pass out, and so it would spread to the rooms on its side through the window opening into the passage. Hence it was closed with an earthen pitcher, the back of which faced the passage; it then bars the progress of defilement. In order to know whether the split was a handbreadth in width they tied a fire-shard of that width with a reed, to see whether it could enter the split (Rashi). Tosaf, explains it differently.
2. Sc. the measuring of a mikweh.
3. But had no intention of actually measuring.