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Week 18 - Tuesday - 28 March 2000

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 10: MISHNA 10

A bolt which has a knob on its top - Rabbi Eliezer forbids, but Rabbi Yose permits. Rabbi Eliezer said: It once happened in a synagogue in Tiberias that they treated it as permitted, until Rabban Gamliel and the Elders came and forbade them. Rabbi Yose says: They treated it as prohibited and Rabban Gamliel and the Elders came and permitted them.

Kahati

A bolt - or peg which is inserted in a wall or a threshold on order to lock the door which has a knob on its top - according to another version; kelostera, which is a type of thick ball. Because of the knob on its top, the bolt is fit for other uses as well, such as crushing peppers, Rabbi Eliezer forbids - locking the door with it on Shabbat, unless it is tied to and suspended from a strong rope which does not break and with which it can be carried (Shab. 17:7), but Rabbi Yose permits - locking the door with it on the Shabbat, even if it is tied only with a thin rope, which will break immediately if a person carries it by this rope. The Gemara explains that Rabbi Yose holds that since it has a knob on its top, it has the status of a utensil, and locking with it does not have the appearance of enlarging the building in the Shabbat. Rabbi Eliezer holds that if it is tied and suspended from the door by a durable rope, it is evident that it is for the purpose of locking the door, and he therefore may lack with it on the Shabbat, for it does not seem an act of building. If however, it is tied only with a thin rope, it is as if it were not tied at all, it is not evident that it is for the purpose of locking the door, and therefore locking with it on the Shabbat seems as act of enlarging the building (Rashi). Rambam explains that according to Rabbi Eliezer, this bolt does not have the status of a utensil, and it may not be moved on the Shabbat because it is muktzeh. According to Rabbi Yose, it has the status of a utensil owing to the knob on its top, and it may be moved on the Shabbat in order to lock the door. Rabbeinu Hananel (following the Jer. Talmud), elaborating on the Rambam's explanation states that according to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, the knob is an accessory of the bolt, and therefore it does not have the status of a utensil. According to Rabbi Yose, the bolt is an accessory of the knob, and it therefore has the status of a utensil.

Rabbi Eliezer said: It once happened in a synagogue in Tiberias that they treated it as permitted - to lock on the Shabbat with a bolt with a knob on its top, until Rabban Gamliel and the Elders came and forbade them - this proves Rabbi Eliezer's opinion, that it is forbidden to lock with it. Rabbi Yose says: They treated it as prohibited - i.e., the opposite was the case: they forbade locking the door on the Shabbat with a bolt with a knob on its top, Rabban Gamliel and the Elders came and permitted them - Although it was taught, "Things which are lawful, but others treat as prohibited, you may not permit them" (Pes. 51a), it is only when they know that something is lawful but is treated stringently by them that it is prohibited to sanction it, so that people should not become accustomed to be lenient and permit what is prohibited. If, however, their stringency is based on error it is allowed to permit it to them.

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 10: MISHNA 11

A bolt that is dragged - they may lock with it in the Temple, but not in the country; but if it is lying - it is prohibited there and there. Rabbi Yehudah says: That which lying is permitted in the Temple and that which is dragged, in the country.

Kahati

His mishnah continues to teach the law of the bolt; it teaches that since the prohibition to lack with the bolt is only on account of shevut, this prohibition does not apply in the Temple.

A bolt that is dragged - i.e., it is tied to the door, but is not suspended in the air, and the bolt is dragged in the ground, and it does not appear to be tied. The commetators explain that the mishnah is dealing with a bolt without a knob on its top (see Bartenura, Tosefot Yom Tov) - they may lock with it in the Temple - being only a Rabbinic prohibition (shevut), it does not apply in the Temple, but not in the country - outside the Temple. Since it is dragged, it is not noticeable that it is for the purpose of locking the door. The Sages prohibited locking with it on the Shabbat, because it has the semblance of building, or because it does not have the status of a utensil and is muktzeh. It may therefore not be moved (as explained in the preceding mishnah); but if it - the bolt - is lying - on the ground - it is prohibited - to lock with it because this is an act of actually building - there and there - in the Temple and in the country.

Rabbi Yehudah says: Even with - That - the bolt, which lying - down on the ground, and is not tied at all, it is permitted - to lock with it, in the Temple - for Rabbi Yehudah holds that even in this case, it is prohibited only because it has the semblance of building, and not because it is actually an act of building. Since this is only a Rabbinic prohibition (shevut), it is not in force in the Temple because the shevut laws do not apply - in the Temple and that - the bolt, which is - tied to the door by a long rope and - which is dragged - on the ground (see above), it is permitted to lock, even - in the country - outside the Temple for since it is tied, it is noticeable that it is for the purpose of locking the door. The law is in accordance with Rabbi Yehudah.

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