Beitzah 28b — the Talmud in English

Rav Nehemiah, son of Rav Yosef, said: I was standing before Rava, and he was ![](pamud.bmp "

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passing [the knife] over the mouth of the basket.

I saw him passing the knife over the mouth of the basket.

And I said to him,

and I asked him: Is it

in order to sharpen it that my master is doing this, or to remove its grease?

And he said to me: To remove its grease.

And I perceived his דעת,

I discerned that in truth

he was doing it in order to sharpen it.

Rather,

he reasoned: The halakha

is in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda, who permits implements needed for food preparation,

but one does not instruct this.

So that people should not treat lightly even implements needed for food preparation that can be made on the previous day; and Rabbi Yehuda permitted only implements needed for food preparation that cannot be made on the previous day.

And Abaye said: I was standing before my master

[Rabba],

and he was passing a knife over the edge of a mill,

on the edge of the mill.

And I said to him,

and I asked him: Is

my master seeking to sharpen it, or to remove its grease?

And he said to me: To remove its grease.

And I perceived his דעת, that he was doing it in order to sharpen it,

and he reasoned: The halakha is [thus], but one does not instruct this.

It was asked of them: What is the law concerning showing a knife to a sage on a Festival?

Every slaughterer is required to show his knife to a sage before slaughtering. And they were uncertain whether to show the knife to a sage also on a Festival, since perhaps, if he shows it to the sage, the matter will become public, and the matter will appear like a weekday activity, as though they were slaughtering intentionally in order to sell in a butcher shop?

Rav Mari, son of Rav Bizna, permits it,

and the Rabbis prohibit it.

And Rav Yosef said: A Torah scholar examines it for himself, and lends it to others.

And Rav Yosef said: A knife that has ceased

cutting sharply, but has not become nicked,

may be sharpened on a Festival.

And these words

that it is permitted to sharpen it

apply

in a manner

that it stops

cutting

only on account of pressure,

when cutting something that is pressed and difficult; but if it has stopped cutting altogether, it is prohibited to sharpen it, since such sharpening involves considerable exertion.

Rav Ḥisda expounded, and some say Rav Yosef: Both a knife

that has become nicked, and both a spit that has been bent,

whose head was broken and it does not enter the meat,

and both scraping out an oven or a stove on a Festival

of plaster that fell inside it and was not known about while it was still day—

we have arrived at the dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and the Rabbis

concerning the law of implements.

As it was taught in a beraita: The only difference between a Festival and Shabbat is

the labor of

food preparation alone.

Rabbi Yehuda permits even implements needed for food preparation.

What is the reason of the first tanna?

The verse says

[Exodus 12:16] “But whatever is eaten by every person

that alone may be done for you.”

“That”—

but not its implements.

And Rabbi Yehuda: The verse says, “for you”—

“for you”—

for all your needs.

And the first tanna: Is it not written, “for you”?

He can say to you: That “for you”

comes to exclude: “for you”

and not for gentiles.

And the other one,

Rabbi Yehuda,

also— is it not written, “that”!

He can say to you: “That” is written, and “for you” is written.

And it is not difficult:

Here—

with implements that can be made on the eve of the Festival, where “that” is stated to exclude,

“that” is stated to exclude.

Here—

with implements that cannot be made on the eve of the Festival, where “for you” is stated to include,

“for you” is stated to include.

Shmuel said: A spit that has been flattened

that has been crushed and bent but not broken, and can still be used—

it is prohibited to repair it on a Festival,

even according to Rabbi Yehuda.

And we challenge this:

Is it obvious!

For it can still be used, and exertion on a Festival when it is not necessary is prohibited !!

And we answer:

It is necessary

to teach this, to say that even a light repair is prohibited,

for even though he can straighten it with his hands,

and he does not need to repair it with a hammer, it is prohibited to do so.

And Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: A spit with which meat was roasted—

it is prohibited to move it on a Festival,

since it is repulsive, and it is muktzeh on account of repulsiveness.

Rav Adda bar Ahava said in the name of Rav Malkio: He removes it,

the spit, immediately by moving it from the side, but not by ordinary moving,

and places it in a corner.

Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said in the name of Rav Huna: And that is,

that he may move it, is when it is like

there is an olive-bulk of meat on it.

[See at length in Biur Halakha 518, the explanation of the matter and the version.]

Ravina said: Even though there is no meat on it, it is permitted to move it,

so that the members of his household should not be injured by it.

It is like

the law of

a thorn

that it is permitted to carry a thorn

in the public domain

less than four cubits, so that it should not cause harm.

Since a halakha was mentioned here in the name of Rav Malkio, and there is also an amora named Rav Malkiya,

Rav Ḥinnana, son of Rav Ika, said

the list, so that we should not exchange the names in each halakha stated in their names:

The halakhot concerning

a spit, a maidservant, and cavities—

Rav Malkio

stated them.

A forelock, alkali ash, and cheese—

Rav Malkiya

stated them.

Rav Pappa

came to dispute that Rav Malkio stated the halakha concerning maidservants, and therefore

said

a mnemonic instead of Rav Ḥinnana’s list:

Halakhot relating to matters mentioned in the

Mishna and the beraita,

in Mishnayot and beraitot—

Rav Malkiya

stated them.

A teaching,

independent teachings that do not relate to what is said in the Mishna or in the beraita—

Rav Malkio

stated them.

And your mnemonic is: Mishna—

queen.

For the Mishna is in the feminine grammatical form, and Rav Malkiya is likewise similar to a feminine name. [And the Mishna, which is the words of the tannaim, has authority like a queen, Rashi in Avoda Zara 29a.]

What is the difference between them?

There is a difference between them

concerning the teaching about

maidservants,

which relates to the words of the Mishna; therefore, according to Rav Pappa, it was not stated by Rav Malkio but by Rav Malkiya.

Mishna:

A person may not say to a butcher, “Give me meat for a dinar,”

since it is prohibited to mention the fixing of prices.

But

rather

he slaughters,

the butcher,

and divides it among them.

Gemara:

And the Gemara is uncertain:

How does he act,

how should a person who does not wish to take meat except for one or two dinars act?

And it explains: He should say, if he wants a piece or half a piece from the fixed pieces that the butchers used to cut [for it was their practice to cut the entire animal into equal pieces of meat], and in every place that piece had a different name.

And the Gemara brings the names of the pieces in several places, and how one must request them from the butcher on a Festival:

As here ![](pamud.bmp "

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in Sura they say,

they called the fixed piece:

a trata, and half

[or half]

a trata.