Beitzah 14a — the Talmud in English

They laughed

—they mocked

what was said in the West

in the Land of Israel: This is so because

since he makes a change

by blowing with one hand—and he does not do this in the ordinary manner of winnowing, in which he blows on the ears of grain while they are in his two hands joined together—therefore

even with the entire hand

, including the palm of the hand,

also

he is permitted to blow!

Rather, Rabbi Elazar said: He blows

—he

with one hand ,

and this is the change,

and

he is permitted to blow in this manner even

with all his strength.

Mishna:

It is prohibited to grind wheat on Yom Tov and other types of food, even for the purpose of food, and even with a change.

In our Mishna, a permission was newly taught to pound or crush several types of spices. For some of them the pounding requires a change, and for some it does not; and the primary reason they were lenient with pounding, even though it is a derivative of grinding, is that it is not performed for an extended period as grinding is .

The “medukha” is a receptacle, and the “madokh” is the pestle with which the things found inside the medukha are crushed.

Salt and spices are crushed on weekdays in a pestle and mortar made of stone, and the issue in the Mishna is whether on Yom Tov one must make a change, and what the manner of the change is:

Beit Shammai say: Spices—

are crushed

on Yom Tov

with a wooden pestle,

in order to make a change from the usual manner, in which they are crushed with a stone pestle.

And the salt,

which is coarse sea salt — its crushing requires a greater change, and therefore it is crushed only

in an earthenware jug

and not in an ordinary stone mortar,

and

in place of the ordinary stone pestle, it is crushed with

a wooden stirring spoon,

a large spoon.

And Beit Hillel say:

with the kinds of

spices

the Sages did not decree a requirement of change; rather, they

are crushed in their usual manner, with a stone pestle,

and in a stone mortar.

And the salt

requires a change, but a minor change is sufficient, in that it is crushed

with a wooden pestle.

Gemara:

And we raise it as a question: It is evident from our Mishna

that everyone,

even Beit Hillel, who do not require a change for spices,

at least,

but

salt—

requires a change

in its crushing.

What is the reason?

Rav Huna and Rav Hisda

disagreed concerning the reason for this matter

One said:

because

all

the cooked dishes

all require salt,

and already on the previous day he knew that he would need to crush salt, and he should have done so on the previous day; and since he did not do so on the previous day, he must make a change in crushing it .

And not all pots require spices,

and since a person does not know on the eve of Yom Tov in which cooked dish he will wish to partake tomorrow, it follows that he cannot crush spices for himself on the eve of Yom Tov, because he does not know which type of spice he will need; therefore the Sages did not require him to make a change in crushing them on Yom Tov.

And one said: All spices lose

some of

their flavor

if they are crushed the day before, and therefore even if he knows which spice he needs, he cannot crush it the previous day,

and

whereas

salt does not lose its flavor.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the practical difference between them,

in practice, between the two reasons?

There is a practical difference between them

with regard to a consequence for stringency and for leniency according to each side:

a. Where

he knows what

which

pot he needs to cook,

and he knows the spice that he must prepare for it, but if he crushes it during the daytime beforehand, the flavor of the spice will fade.

Alternatively, with turmeric,

saffron, whose taste does not dissipate even if it remains for many days after being pounded; yet, on the other hand, a person does not know on the eve of the Festival whether he will need it tomorrow.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: All things that are pounded

in a mortar [which are salt and spices]—

are pounded

on the Festival

in their usual manner, even salt.

And we raise an objection:

But you said

that our Mishna explains that

salt,

according to everyone,

requires a change!

And we answer:

He,

Rav Yehuda, who said in the name of Shmuel,

said in accordance with this tanna:

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Meir said: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not disagree concerning

the spices

that are pounded—

that they are pounded in their usual manner, and

the

salt

is pounded together

with them

without a change.

They disagreed only concerning one who pounds

salt

by itself.

For Beit Shammai say: Salt

is pounded

in a flask

and not in a mortar,

and

instead of the stone pestle he must pound

with a

wooden

spoon.

And they permitted him to pound only a small amount of salt, the measure needed

for roasting, but not

a large amount of salt, in the quantity appropriate

for a

stew in a

pot.

And Beit Hillel say: With anything.

And it is demonstrated that according to Beit Hillel no change at all is necessary when pounding salt, for it is pounded by itself in a mortar and with a pestle.

Rather, the Gemara now assumed that according to Beit Hillel one may pound with anything, even with a muktze utensil that may not be moved on Shabbat.

And we inquire into it:

“With anything”—can you entertain such a thought?

Would it enter your mind to say that Beit Hillel permitted pounding with it on the Festival?

And we answer:

Rather, say:

Beit Hillel say that salt is pounded in its usual manner

for everything,

that is, not specifically for roasting, but even for a stew.

Rav Aḥa bar Dela said to his son:

Indeed, my view is like Shmuel, that salt is pounded in its usual manner; nevertheless, one must make a slight change. Therefore,

when you pound

salt,

tilt it to the side,

tilt the mortar onto its side, as a change,

and pound.

Rav Sheshet heard

on the Festival

the sound of the pestle,

the sound of the pestle with which salt was being pounded in a stone mortar.

He said,

Rav Sheshet:

This

sound

is not from inside my house.

It does not come from inside my house, because I was stringent with them not to pound salt in a stone mortar in its usual manner.

And we object: How did Rav Sheshet know that this sound did not come from his house?

Perhaps

they pounded the salt with a change, that

they tilted it to the side,

that they tilted the mortar onto its side, and thus pounding salt is permitted!? And we answer:

He heard it,

since Rav Sheshet heard

that its sound was clear—

the sound was clear, and he understood from this that they had not tilted the mortar, because when one pounds while tilting, the sound is not clear.

And we raise another objection:

Perhaps they were spices,

which are permitted to be pounded without a change !? And we answer:

Spices—

their sound barks.

The sound of pounding spice seeds is heard like barking, and since he did not hear such a sound, he understood that they had pounded salt and not spices .

The Sages taught: One does not make

on the Festival

tissni—

a dish made from wheat that has been pounded many times, until each grain in it is divided into four parts; they prohibited making it because of the great exertion involved in pounding it.

And one does not pound

wheat at all

in a mortar.

And we inquire into it:

Two [statements]!?

Two contradictory laws were taught here! For from the first law it is implied that they prohibited only pounding tissni, because it involves great exertion, but did not prohibit limited pounding to prepare porridge. Whereas from the second law it is implied that one does not pound at all, even with limited exertion.

And we explain: It is one law, and

this is what the tanna is saying

the tanna:

For what reason does one not make tissni?—

Because one does not pound in a mortar!

And we object:

Let him say, “One does not pound in a mortar,”

and the prohibition of pounding for every dish would be included; for what purpose was the matter of tissni stated!?

And we explain:

Had he taught

only the general rule that

one does not pound in a mortar, I would have said

that

this applies

to not pounding tissni

in a large mortar,

because ordinarily a “mortar” is large.

But in a small mortar

that is, a spice mortar—

say that it is entirely well permitted

to pound tissni in it.

It teaches us

the tanna, by saying that one does not pound tissni because one does not perform any pounding in a mortar, that it is prohibited to pound tissni even in a small mortar. For the rule that one does not pound tissni says that one does not pound it at all; therefore, the mortar mentioned in it is even a small one.

And we object: Does one not perform any pounding in a mortar?

But it was taught in a beraita: One does not pound in a large mortar, but one does pound in a small mortar [because the change in pounding wheat in a small mortar causes it to be considered pounding in an unusual manner], and if so, we find pounding in a mortar on the Festival!?

[поскольку изменение при толчении пшеницы в маленькой ступе превращает это в толчение необычным способом], — значит, в праздничный день всё же существует разрешённое толчение в ступе!?

And we answer:

Abaye said: When this teaching was also taught, it was taught

[the first beraita, “one does not pound in a mortar”]

concerning a large mortar.

And in fact, two matters were stated in that beraita, and it is not one matter, as we sought to establish. Rather, this is what the tanna said:

A. One does not make tissni at all, neither in a large mortar nor in a small one.

B. As for other poundings, which do not involve great exertion, such as pounding spices or wheat kernels for porridge, one does not pound them in a mortar. And since an ordinary mortar is a large mortar, it follows that in a small mortar it is permitted to pound for porridge.

Since an unspecified mortar is a large mortar, it follows that pounding for porridge is permitted in a small mortar.