Beitzah 23b — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

A machine

of pepper mills

is composed of three parts, and each of the parts has the designation of a vessel in its own right.

And therefore it is

impure

with three designations of vessel impurity,

because of

the designations of

three vessels.

That is, when the mill becomes impure, it does not become pure through the nullification of one of the designations, but only when all three designations of its parts are nullified from it.

And these are the designations of its three parts, by virtue of which it is impure:

Because of a “vessel with a receptacle,” and because of a “metal vessel,”

and because of a “sieve vessel.”

As will be explained in the Gemara.

Gemara:

The tanna

in a beraita taught:

The

lower

vessel of the mill, which is made of wood and receives within it the dust of the ground peppers, is impure

because of the impurity of a

wooden

vessel

that have

a receptacle.

For the impurity of wooden vessels applies only to vessels that have a receptacle, and not to “simple wooden vessels” without a receptacle.

The

middle

vessel, which is also made of wood, and in which the sieve is found, through which the ground pepper grains are filtered, is impure with rabbinic impurity, since it does not have a receptacle; rather, the Sages decreed that it become impure

because of a “sieve vessel,”

since the sieve resembles a woven fabric, which is impure by Torah law.

But the

upper

vessel, in which the peppers are pounded, is also made of wood, except that the coating of the wooden bottom, with which the peppers are pounded, is made of metal, and that is the principal part, because through the metal coating the peppers are pounded; therefore it becomes impure

because of

the impurity of a

metal vessel,

which conveys impurity even when it does not have a receptacle.

Mishna:

A cart

made for the play

of a minor,

in which he is seated for amusement and in which he is led—

it is

impure

with “the impurity of

midras.”

And this is a severe impurity of vessels designated for the sitting of a zav [and likewise of a menstruating woman and a zavah] or for his lying down, if the zav sat upon them or lay upon them. But a vessel that is not designated for lying down or sitting— even if the zav sat upon it, he does not convey impurity to it.

And our Mishna teaches something new: that a child’s play cart is also considered a place of sitting, and is not merely a cart of amusement; therefore, if the child sat upon it while he was a zav, or leaned upon it, he conveys to it the impurity of midras.

And

it is

taken on Shabbat,

for its status is like that of all vessels that are not muktzeh.

And the novelty is that we do not say that it is not a vessel because it is made only for the child’s amusement, and that it should be prohibited because of the general decree that the Sages decreed in the days of Nehemiah [Shabbat 123b] concerning every object that is not a vessel whose use is permitted on Shabbat, that it not be moved.

And it is not dragged

on Shabbat over the ground, so that it should not make a furrow in it and one become liable because of plowing,

but

it is dragged

over vessels,

garments that are lying on the ground; and thus it does not make a furrow in the ground when it is dragged.

Rabbi Yehuda says: All vessels may not be dragged

over the ground, because the furrow made by dragging them is considered plowing,

except for the cart,

which it is permitted to drag over the ground

because it compacts

the ground through its dragging: the furrow that it makes in the ground does not move earth and loosen the ground in the manner of plowing, but only compresses it, and this is not the manner of plowing.

Gemara:

And the Gemara explains the reasons for the laws in our Mishna:

A child’s cart is impure with the impurity of midras—

for he leans upon it

the zav-child.

And it is taken on Shabbat—

because it has the status of a vessel.

And it is dragged only over vessels.

And the Gemara deduces:

Over vessels—

yes,

it is permitted to drag it. But

over the ground—

no.

What is the reason

that it is forbidden to drag it over the ground?—Because

he makes a furrow,

even though he does not intend this.

Who is it,

according to whom does our Mishna proceed?—

It is Rabbi Yehuda, who says: An act whose consequence one does not intend is forbidden.

For if it were Rabbi Shimon—

he says: An act whose consequence one does not intend is permitted.

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon says: A person may drag a bed, a chair, or a bench,

over the ground on Shabbat,

provided that he does not intend to make a furrow.

And their dispute was explained on the previous page.

And one should challenge: If so, that the first clause of our Mishna is Rabbi Yehuda—

say the latter clause

of the Mishna:

Rabbi Yehuda says: Everything may not be dragged on Shabbat

since they make a furrow, and it is forbidden to do so because of plowing,

except for the cart,

which does not involve the labor of plowing

because it compacts.

And we have to deduce from the words of Rabbi Yehuda in the latter clause:

Because

the cart

compacts—

yes,

it contains only the compacting of the ground, and for that reason it is permitted to drag it; and it follows:

But a furrow

of plowing—

it does not make

the cart by its dragging, according to Rabbi Yehuda.

But according to what we established concerning the first clause of our Mishna, as Rabbi Yehuda, and deduced that the cart may not be dragged over the ground because it makes a furrow, it follows oppositely!

And we answer: They are disputing this matter,

two tannaim, and according to Rabbi Yehuda.

And the first clause and the latter clause are two tannaim who disagree concerning Rabbi Yehuda’s view regarding dragging a cart: according to the tanna in the first clause, the furrow must be prohibited, because at times the cart’s wheel does not roll properly and compact, but is dragged and digs. Whereas according to the tanna in the latter clause, the wheel always rolls and compacts, and is not dragged and digs.

We shall return to you, chapter Yom Tov

Mishna:

One may not trap fish from fishponds

the pools of water in which the fish grow

on a Festival,

since it is possible to trap them on the eve of the Festival and place them in water in a place from which it is possible to take them without trapping.

And

likewise

one may not place before them

of the fish

food

on a Festival, since they can find their food themselves.

But one may trap wild animals and birds from enclosures,

places in which they are gathered and in which they are already trapped and standing.

And

so

one places food before them,

since they do not find food for themselves in the winter days, or even in the summer days, in places where people tread, and in which grasses do not grow for them to eat.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Not all enclosures are alike

with regard to permitting the trapping of wild animals and birds on a Festival.