Torah Community Connections

Week 5 - WEDNESDAY - 29 Dec. 1999

SHABBAT: CHAPTER 8: MISHNA 6

Bone - enough to make a spoon. Rabbi Yehudah says: “Enough to make from it part of a key.” Glass - enough to scrape with it the top of the shuttle; a pebble or a stone - enough to throw at a bird. Rabbi Eliezer bar Yaakov says: “Enough to throw at a beast.”

Kehati

Bone - if one carries bone on Shabbat its measure is enough to make a spoon.

Rabbi Yehudah says: Enough to make from it part of a key - tooth of a key. The halakhah does not follow Rabbi Yehudah.

Glass - enough to scrape with it the top of the shuttle [Heb. karkar}. There is a variant reading, karkad, which is a type of wooden needle, with which the weaver strikes and straightens the warp threads, so that one thread does not fold over another. From time to time it was necessary to scrape and sharpen its end with glass:

a pebble or a stone - enough to throw at a bird - to chase it away.

Rabbi Eliezer bar Yaakov says, Enough to throw at a beast - One need not pick up a pebble in order to cause the bird to fly away, it is sufficient to shout at the bird. Accordingly, the measure for a pebble and a stone is enough to throw at a beast to cause it to go away. A baraita quoted in the Gemara states that this measure is the weight of ten zuz (c. 40 grams).

SHABBAT: CHAPTER 8: MISHNA 7

A potsherd - enough to put between one patzirn and another, so Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Meir says: "Enough to take with it fire". Rabbi Yose says: "Enough to hold a revi'it". Rabbi Meir said: "Although there is no proof for the matter, there is an indication of the matter: `So that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd to take fire from the hearth' (Isa. 30:14)". Rabbi Yose said to him: "From there a proof? `Or to take water out of the cistern'.”

Kehati

A potsherd, if one carries a potsherd on Shabbat,its measure is enough to put between one patzirn - a board or a beam, and another - When boards or beams are placed next to each other (or one on top of the other), and there is a gap, potsherds are placed between them so that they will not become crooked (Rashi). According to another opinion, patzirn is a half-brick: when there is a gape between half-bricks, they fill it with potsherds and small stones (Rambarn)', so Rabbi Yehudah - his measure is a small one;

Rabbi Meir says: Enough to take with it fire - to transfer burning coals from one place to another with it; this is done only with a large potsherd (Hameiri);

Rabbi Yose says: Enough to hold a revi'it - one quarter of a log of water; this is a smaller measure than that of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Meir said: Although there is no decisive proof for the matter in the following text, there is an indication of the matter in the passage: “So that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd to take fire from the hearth” - it follows that potsherds were used for transferring Fire, and the carrying of this measure therefore incurs liability.

Rabbi Yose said to him - Rabbi Meir, From there - this text, you want to bring somewhat of a proof for your opinion? But this verse concludes: “or to take water out of the cistern” - in which the water had collected; it follows that apotsherd is also of significant size if water may be collected in it. The halakhah follows Rabbi Yose.

Return to Mishna Yomit Index

Visit the Mishna Yomit Archives