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Week 38 - Tuesday - 15 August 2000

BETZAH: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 10

A child's cart is susceptible to midras uncleanness, and may be carried the Sabbath, but may not be dragged except over articles. R. Yehudah says, No object may be dragged, except for the cart, because it presses.

Kehati

A child's cart - which is made to teach him to walk - the infant leans on it and it rolls before him (Tosafot), is susceptible to midras uncleanness - if the infant is a zav - i.e., has a flux or genital issue - which makes him an av ha'tum'ah (lit. a "father," i.e., direct cause of uncleanness), he makes any object used specifically for sitting, lying or riding on, an av ha'tum'ah if he treads, sits, or lies or leans on it, and that tum'ah is known as tum'at midras. This cart is also susceptible to midras uncleanness because it is designed for the child to lean on it.

And may be carried on the Sabbath - for it is considered a utensil and is not muktzeh. But may be dragged - on the Sabbath and Yom Tov, except over articles - on top of fabric, such as carpets, but not directly on the ground, because it causes furrows in the earth, and that is like digging.

R. Yehudah says, No object may be dragged - on the ground on the Sabbath and Yom Tov, except for the cart - which may be dragged on the ground, because it presses - the earth down, but does not move the earth from its place. The Gemara explains that the author of the first part of this mishnah is also R. Yehudah, who holds that it is forbidden to do anything on the Sabbath and Yom Tov that may result in an unintended forbidden act, but there are two tanna'im in our mishnah who differ on R. Yehudah's view. The first tanna holds that according to R. Yehudah the cart can only be pulled along on top of fabric, for since it makes a furrow, one may not drag it on the ground, because of the prohibition of digging; the second tanna, though, holds that R. Yehudah did not forbid dragging such a cart on the ground, because it merely compresses the ground. We have already mentioned that the halakhah does not follow R. Yehudah, but R. Shimon, who says: "A person may drag a bed, a chair or a bench on the Sabbath provided he does not have the intention of making a furrow" (Shabbat 22a; Rambam, Hil. Shabbat, 1:5).

BETZAH: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 1

One may not catch fish from a vivarium on Yom Tov, and one may not put food before them; but one may hunt game and fowl from a vivarium, and one may place food before them. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, Not all the vivaria are alike. This is the rule: whatever needs to be hunted is forbidden, and whatever does not need to be hunted is permitted.

Kehati

We have already mentioned (in the introduction to the Tractate), that though work needed for the preparation of food is permitted on Yom Tov, there are certain categories of work which are forbidden, even though they relate to food preparation, such as harvesting, threshing or grinding. Various reasons are given by the commentators for this (see in our introduction to the Tractate, the quotation from Rambam's Mishneh Torah). In the Jerusalem Talmud Resh Lakish states: (Ex. 12:16), 'That which every man must eat, that only may be done by you,' is immediately followed by, 'You shall observe the matzot' (Ex. 12:16-17). Any kind of work performed from the observing of the matzot onward - i.e., kneading and all subsequent work - may be performed on Yom Tov for the needs of one's food, but those kinds of work which precede the kneading are forbidden." Hameiri explains that kneading and all subsequent work are categories of direct-food preparatory work, whereas harvesting, threshing and similar types of work do not prepare food, and come under the category of melekhet avodah - "servile work" - which is forbidden on Yom Tov, for one performs these types of work on one day for many days ahead, whereas one kneads and bakes for one's immediate needs. Rosh writes that the Sages forbade harvesting, grinding and so on, because a person normally harvests an entire field or picks all the grapes on his vineyard at one time, grinds his wheat and treads his grapes in large quantities. The Sages therefore forbade these acts for being weekday-like activities (see R. Nissim). This mishnah teaches that hunting is forbidden on Yom Tov, even if needed for one's food.

One may not catch fish from a vivarium on Yom Tov - for as they can be caught before Yom Tov, it is forbidden on Yom Tov (Rashi). According to some commentators this is forbidden because it has a resemblance to harvesting, in that it entails the uprooting of something from its place of growth. (Tosafot; Hameiri) According to Rosh (v. introduction to this mishnah), the Sages forbade hunting on Yom Tov for the same reason they forbade harvesting and grinding, for sometimes a large number of fish is caught in the net, and the work becomes weekday-like (v. R. Nissim). And one may not put food before them - before the fish on Yom Tov, lest he come to catch them (Tosafot); moreover, the fish find their own food in the pond, and there is no need to feed them.

But one may hunt game and fowl from a vivarium - fenced in open spaces, where the game or fowl are raised for food. As they are meant for eating and easy to catch, one may hunt them on Yom Tov (Hameiri). Some explain that this mishnah refers to game or fowl one prepared before Yom Tov for slaughtering on Yom Tov (Rashi; Bartenura), and one may place food before them - for as it is permitted to take them, one must feed them.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, Not all the vivaria are alike - According to some commentators, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel does not disagree with the First Tanna, but merely explains what he said (Bartenura; Hameiri),

This is the rule: whatever needs to be hunted - that requires great effort to be caught; and the Gemara explains: Whenever a person says, "bring a trap and we will catch it," is forbidden - on Yom Tov, for the reasons outlined above, and whatever does not need to be hunted - that can be caught with a single lunge, is permitted - to be caught on Yom Tov. Rambam explains that anything that needs to be hunted in muktzeh, and may not be caught on Yom Tov, and whatever can be caught with one lunge is considered - "prepared" - and may be caught and eaten on Yom Tov (Hil. Yom Tov 2:7). It appears from Rambam (ibid.) that the statement, "this is the rule," refers to the entire mishnah, i.e., including fish. In Ravad's view, however, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel only refers to game and fowl, but it is never permitted to catch fish on Yom Tov, not even in small ponds, because they are hidden from view and an effort is needed to catch them.

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