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Week 38 - Wednesday - 16 August 2000

BETZAH: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 2

If traps for game and fowl and fish were set before Yom Tov, one may not take from them on Yom Tov, unless he knows that they were caught before Yom Tov. It once happened that a certain non-Jew brought fish to Rabban Gamliel, and he said, They are permitted, but I do not wish to accept from him.

Kehati

We have already explained (in the introduction to the Tractate) that one is only permitted to eat on Yom Tov such food which was prepared before Yom Tov, but which was not prepared before Yom Tov is muktzeh, and may be neither eaten nor moved on Yom Tov. This mishnah discusses cases in which the timely preparation before Yom Tov is in doubt.]

If traps for game and fowl and fish were set before Yom Tov - if a person set traps for game or fowl or spread a net for fish before Yom Tov, one may not take from them on Yom Tov, unless he knows that they were caught before Yom Tov - that they were definitely caught before Yom Tov, but if he is not sure, he may not take them on Yom Tov, for if its timely preparation is in doubt it is forbidden. But Rabban Gamliel permits in such cases of doubt (according to the Gemara, this sentence is to be added to the mishnah).

It once happened that a certain non-Jew brought fish to Rabban Gamliel - on Yom Tov, and it was not known whether the fish had been caught the previous day or on Yom Tov, and he - Rabban Gamliel, said: They are permitted - these fish, over which there is doubt, are permitted, but I do not wish to accept from him - Some explain that he did not want to accept fish from him, because he hated him (Rashi); others explain, because he wanted to be more stringent with himself (Hameiri, quoting R. Yehonatan). Yet others explain (according to one opinion in the Gemara), that even Rabban Gamliel only permitted to handle but not to eat the fish (R. Nissim). The halakhah is not in accordance with Rabban Gamliel.

BETZAH: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 3

A dangerously ill animal may not be slaughtered, unless there is time enough in the day to eat of it an olive's bulk roasted. R. Akiva says, Even an olive's bulk raw from the slaughtering part. If he slaughtered it in the field, he may not bring it on a staff or a rod. But he brings it in his hand part by part.

Kehati

A dangerously ill animal - if on Yom Tov a person has an animal which is close to death and he wishes to slaughter it, for he fears that it may die and its meat will be forbidden as food, and he has already eaten and does not need the animal's meat for his meal, may not be slaughtered - on Yom Tov, unless there is time enough in the day to eat of it an olive's bulk roasted - even though there is not enough time to cook any of the meat and eat it, for roasting takes less time than cooking, and needs no preliminary soaking and salting, the Sages were lenient because of the possible great loss involved and permitted to slaughter the animal on Yom Tov even if there is only enough time to roast and eat an olive's bulk of the meat; some commentators infer from the text of the mishnah that even if the person does not eat the meat on Yom Tov, but would be able to do so, he may slaughter the animal.

R. Akiva says, Even an olive's bulk raw from the slaughtering part - R. Akiva is more lenient, ruling that even if there is only enough time to eat an olives' bulk of raw meat from the place where the animal's throat was cut, and there is no need to flay the carcass to get at the meat, one may slaughter it. The halakhah is not in accordance with R. Akiva (Rambam).

If he slaughtered it in the field - on Yom Tov - according to some commentators this refers only to an animal in danger of dying, but according to others, this refers to any animal, whether well or dangerously ill (Rambam), he may not bring it on a staff or a rod - with either a large or a small pole carried by two men on their shoulders or in their hands, because by so doing one publicizes what he is doing, and that degrades the Yom Tov, but he brings it in his hand part by part - even though this involves numerous trips, because then it is apparent that he is taking the parts home for Yom Tov.

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