Beitzah 15b — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

a.

When Yom Tov occurs on the eve of Shabbat -

He may not cook initially,

he may not designate the main purpose of his cooking to prepare

from Yom Tov for Shabbat.

But,

rather

he cooks

the main part of his cooking

for Yom Tov,

without subterfuge.

And if he left over

from his cooking -

he left it over for Shabbat.

And this permission applies in itself, without the need to resort to the enactment of the “cooking eruv.”

b.

And

one who wishes to make the main part of his cooking on Yom Tov for Shabbat:

He

makes a cooked dish

for the purpose of a “cooking eruv”

on the eve of Yom Tov, and relies upon it,

upon the cooking eruv that he placed, in order to cook the main part of his cooking from Yom Tov

for Shabbat.

c. What is the cooking eruv?

The School of Shammai says: Two cooked dishes.

And the School of Hillel says:

It is sufficient for him

[to use] one cooked dish.

And they agree,

the School of Shammai acknowledges the School of Hillel,

with regard to a fish

roasted

and the egg upon it,

which is roasted together with the fish, after it has been “smeared” upon the fish -

that they

are considered

two cooked dishes,

and one fulfills through them the obligation of a cooking eruv with two cooked dishes, even though they are roasted together and eaten as one cooked dish.

d. And if

they ate

the eruv on Yom Tov before he cooked for Shabbat,

or it was lost

the eruv -

he may not cook relying upon it

on Yom Tov

initially

for Shabbat.

And if he left any amount of it -

he relies upon it

to cook on Yom Tov

for Shabbat.

Gemara:

And we raise it as a question:

From where are these words?

Upon what did the Sages base the enactment of the cooking eruv, by virtue of which they permitted cooking from Yom Tov for Shabbat?

Shmuel said:

The Sages based it upon that which

the verse says

Exodus 20]

“Remember the day of Shabbat, to sanctify it.” -

And one may learn from here only as an “allusion”:

Remember it,

make a remembrance for the day of Shabbat,

from

the force of one day

other -

which has come to make one forget it!

For if Yom Tov occurs on the eve of Shabbat, and a person increases his preparation of the Yom Tov meal then, he may forget Shabbat and will not prepare for the honor of the Shabbat meal in accordance with the honor of Shabbat.

Therefore, it is implied [as a mere allusion] from the verse that one must make a remembrance for Shabbat by means of a “cooking eruv,” which they prepare and set aside specifically for Shabbat, and do not eat it on Yom Tov. And through the cooking eruv, which is, as stated, preparation for the Shabbat meal, a person remembers Shabbat also on Yom Tov.

And below the Gemara will bring a beraita with another allusion.

And now the Gemara explains:

What is the reason?

What is the reason that the Sages came to enact a “cooking eruv”?

For from Shmuel’s words only the allusion from the verse is explained: that a person should remember Shabbat also on Yom Tov by preparing a cooking eruv. But the verse itself does not deal with a cooking eruv, which is only an enactment of the Sages, but rather with the mitzva of remembering the day over wine.

However, it does not follow from this allusion whether the reason for the enactment is on account of the honor of Shabbat, or on account of preserving the law of Yom Tov, and they enacted that he should remember Shabbat, and through this come to preserve Yom Tov, as will be explained below.

Rava and Rav Ashi disputed the reason for the enactment.

Rava said:

The Sages enacted a cooking eruv

so that he would choose

for himself on Yom Tov

a fine portion for Shabbat, and a fine portion for Yom Tov.

That is, the Sages required one to make a cooking eruv so that he would remember Shabbat, and a person would not forget on Yom Tov his duty to prepare the Shabbat meal, but would ensure that a fine portion of the dish that he cooks on Yom Tov would remain also for Shabbat.

Rav Ashi said:

The reason for the enactment is not on account of the honor of Shabbat, but on account of Yom Tov; and they enacted that a person should remember Shabbat on Yom Tov by means of a cooking eruv,

so that people would say

the following:

If

one does not bake from Yom Tov for Shabbat,

except if he placed a cooking eruv, that is, one may not begin cooking for the needs of Shabbat unless he began to engage in preparing the needs of Shabbat already on the eve of Yom Tov [for the cooking eruv is the beginning of preparing the needs of Shabbat on the eve of Yom Tov].

If so,

a kal va-chomer

one does not bake

from Yom Tov for an ordinary weekday!

And the Gemara raises an objection to Rava’s words from our Mishna:

We learned: He makes a cooked dish on the eve of Yom Tov -

and relies upon it for Shabbat.

Granted, according to Rav Ashi, who says

that they enacted a cooking eruv for the honor of Yom Tov,

so that people would say

if

one does not bake

the beginning of the baking and cooking

from Yom Tov for Shabbat,

except if they began cooking and baking on the eve of Yom Tov, in preparing the cooking eruv -

that is,

the matter is understood,

that

only

on the eve of Yom Tov -

no, one must prepare the cooking eruv, for thereby it will be demonstrated to people that one may not begin the cooking and baking for Shabbat on Yom Tov.

But

on

Yom Tov -

no, he does not place a cooking eruv, for the entire essence of the cooking eruv is to begin cooking for Shabbat on the eve of Yom Tov.

But according to Rava,

the Sages enacted cooking eruvin for the honor of Shabbat, so that he would not forget to choose a fine portion also for Shabbat,

why specifically

why specifically should he place a cooking eruv

on the eve of Yom Tov?

And after all,

even on Yom Tov itself

he could also make it, before preparing the meal, so that he would choose through it a fine portion for Shabbat!

And we answer:

Indeed, this is so,

it would indeed be possible according to Rava to say that he should place the cooking eruv on Yom Tov itself. And that they enacted that he should prepare the eruv on the eve of Yom Tov is

only a decree, lest he be negligent

and forget to make the eruv on Yom Tov because of his preoccupation.

And the Gemara now brings the other allusion for the cooking eruv:

And a tanna

in a beraita

brings it,

the allusion for the cooking eruv,

from here:

It is written in the portion of Beshalah [Exodus 16]:

“That which you will bake, bake, and that which you will cook, cook.”

And we learn from the repetition of the wording “that which you will bake, bake,” and likewise “that which you will cook, cook”:

From here Rabbi Elazar said: One does not bake

on Yom Tov for Shabbat

except

only as an addition

upon

the beginning of

that which was baked

on the eve of Yom Tov for Shabbat.

And one does not cook

from Yom Tov for Shabbat

except

as an addition

upon that which was cooked

on the eve of Yom Tov for Shabbat.

From here the Sages based the cooking eruvin upon the Torah.

The Sages taught: An incident involving Rabbi Eliezer, who was sitting

on Yom Tov in the beit-midrash

and expounding

to his students

the laws of Yom Tov throughout the entire day.

While he was sitting and expounding,

the first group went out

of students in order to eat the Yom Tov meal in their homes.

He said

Rabbi Eliezer about them:

These -

owners of

large wine vats

they are. For they had prepared large barrels of wine for themselves to drink, and the desire to drink draws them away from hearing words of Torah, and they are not prepared to toil in it.

The second

group

went out.

Rabbi Eliezer said:

These -

owners of small barrels

they are.

The third

group went out.

He said: These are owners of jugs

which are smaller than barrels.

The fourth

group went out.

He said: These are owners of laginim.

Small receptacles, smaller than jugs.

The fifth

group went out.

He said: These are owners of cups.

He said: These are owners of cups.

The sixth group began to go out.

Rabbi Eliezer said about them:

These are accursed ones

They are accursed because of the emptying that they are now causing in the beit-midrash, for it is disgraceful to the beit-midrash that it is now becoming so empty. And the matter was painful in Rabbi Eliezer’s eyes.

Rabbi Eliezer cast

his

eyes upon the students

with an angry gaze!

The faces began

of the students who remained

to change.

For they were frightened of him, but this was in error, as they thought that he was looking at them angrily because they were not going to eat the Yom Tov meal.

He said to them: My sons, I am not speaking to you

this, that those who went out are accursed.

Rather, to those who went out

before you. Because

they

abandon eternal life

the study of Torah

and engage in the life of the hour

of eating on Yom Tov.

At the time of their departure

from him,

he said to them

Rabbi Eliezer the verse in Nehemiah [8:10]:

“Go, eat rich foods, and drink sweet drinks, and send portions

to the one for whom nothing is prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord. And do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.”

“Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and send portions

The Master said

in the beraita:

They abandon eternal life and engage in the life of the hour.

And we raise it as a question:

But the joy of Yom Tov -

is a mitzva,

and is it engagement in the “life of the hour”?

And we answer:

Rabbi Eliezer

goes

according to his reasoning, for he said: The joy of Yom Tov

is not an obligatory mitzva, but a mitzva of

discretion.

For it was taught: Rabbi Eliezer says: A person has nothing on Yom Tov except

to fulfill the mitzva of the joy of Yom Tov throughout the entire day, in one of two forms:

Either

he should spend the entire day

eating and drinking,

and rejoicing in his eating and drinking.

Or

he should

sit and study

throughout the entire day, and rejoice in words of Torah study.

Rabbi Yehoshua says: Divide it

for Yom Tov:

half for the Lord,

for the synagogue and the beit-midrash,

and half for you

for eating and drinking.

Rabbi Yohanan said: And both of them -

expounded one verse.

One verse says

Deuteronomy 16]

“A solemn assembly

for the Lord your God.”

And one verse says

Numbers 29]

“It shall be a solemn assembly

for you.”

How is this so?

Rabbi Eliezer holds:

the choice of the form of joy is in a person’s hands, and he may do

either all of it for the Lord, or all of it for you.

And Rabbi Yehoshua holds:

the mitzva of joy is:

divide it

for Yom Tov into two parts, and rejoice in it in both forms of joy -

half for the Lord, and half for you.

And the Gemara explains the verse in the Book of Nehemiah brought in the beraita:

What is “send portions”

to the one for whom nothing is prepared?

Rav Hisda said: To one who did not place a cooking eruv,

and cannot prepare for the Shabbat after Yom Tov.

Some say:

To

one who was unable to place a cooking eruv,

because he was preoccupied, for example, a lost object had been lost to him and he searched for it in order to find it.

But one who was able to place a cooking eruv and did not place it -

he is negligent,

and one should not assist him.

And what is “for the joy of the Lord” -

is your stronghold”?

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Shimon: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My sons! Borrow from Me

for the needs of the joy of Yom Tov

and sanctify the sanctity of the day, and believe in Me, and I will repay.

That is, the joy with which you rejoice for the sake of the Lord is your stronghold, for through this the Lord will help you repay your debt.

And Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Shimon: One who wishes that his possessions endure -

let him plant an adar tree

which is an important tree, and because of the importance of the tree, its existence within his possessions publicizes his ownership of them; everyone knows that the place where the adar grows belongs to him, and they will not come to seize it when he goes to a foreign country.

And an allusion that adar is an expression of strength and endurance is from the wording of the verse:

as it is stated

Psalms 93]

“Mighty in the heights is the Lord.”

Alternatively, “adra” -

according to its name,

as people explain the name of this tree called adar.

As people say: What is

the meaning of the name of the tree adar, which is called in Aramaic

adra? -

For it endures for generations of generations.

It endures for generation after generation. And through the publicity that it grows within his possessions, they will endure for generations, for him and for his heirs.

It was taught likewise

that an adar establishes the field for its owners:

For it was taught:

A field in which there is an adar -

is neither stolen nor robbed

from its owners by force [through payment], because it is publicized that it belongs to its owners.

And its produce is guarded

See two explanations in Rashi. One of them is that here the reference is to a grass and not to a tree, and the scent of this grass drives away the pests of the grain].

is neither stolen nor forcibly taken

from its owners [through payment], because its presence publicizes that it belongs to its owners.

And its produce is protected .