Beitzah 29a — the Talmud in English

In Narash they say: half a halak, and half of a half-halak.

In Pumbedita they say: an uzya, and half of an uzya.

In Nehar Pakkod and Mata Meḥasya they say: a quarter, and half of a quarter.

Mishna:

One may not measure on a Festival; the details of this prohibition will be explained below.

A person may say to another: “Fill this vessel for me, but not with a measuring vessel.”

This will be explained in the Gemara, as will the dispute with Rabbi Yehuda below.

Rabbi Yehuda says: If it was a measuring vessel—

he may not fill it.

An incident occurred involving Abba Shaul ben Bateinit, who would fill his measuring vessels on the eve of the Festival and give them to his customers on the Festival.

In this way, he avoided measuring on the Festival.

Abba Shaul says: He does this even on

the intermediate days of the Festival,

because of the clarification of the measures,

as he would fill his measures beforehand,

because of the foam in the measures.

This was in order to avoid theft: when a seller sells the liquid immediately after pouring it into the measure, the foam causes the measurement to be inaccurate to the customer’s disadvantage.

And the Sages say: He does this even on

an ordinary

weekday,

when he was selling oil, as he would pour the oil into the customer’s vessel and wait a long time until all the oil had drained from the measure into the customer’s vessel,

because of the draining of the measures,

as all the oil does not descend from the measure into the customer’s vessel until the measuring vessel has remained over the customer’s vessel for an extended period.

Gemara:

The Gemara explains:

What does the phrase

“Fill this vessel for me,

but not with a measuring vessel” mean?

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said:

This is what it means:

but he may not

fill it for him

with a vessel designated for measuring.

But a vessel

that has not yet been used for measuring, but is merely a vessel

intended for measuring,

designated for use if the measuring vessel should break—

he may fill it.

And Rabbi Yehuda came to say: Even a vessel intended for measuring, he may not fill.

The Gemara infers:

Apparently, with regard to the joy of the Festival,

Rabbi Yehuda is stringent, and the Rabbis are lenient.

And they raise an objection:

But we have heard the opposite from them!

As we learned in a Mishna: Rabbi Yehuda says: A person may weigh meat against a vessel or against a cleaver.

And the Sages say: One may not take any notice whatsoever of the pan of a balance scale.

Apparently, Rabbi Yehuda is lenient and the Rabbis are stringent.

There is a difficulty between one statement of Rabbi Yehuda and another statement of Rabbi Yehuda.

There is also a difficulty between one statement of the Rabbis and another statement of the Rabbis!

And the Gemara answers:

The apparent contradiction between one statement of Rabbi Yehuda and another statement of Rabbi Yehuda is not difficult:

there, it is referring

to a case where

the vessel and the cleaver

are not intended for measuring.

Here, however, the vessel

is intended for measuring.

The apparent contradiction between one statement of the Rabbis and another statement of the Rabbis is likewise not difficult.

There,

when one weighs with a balance scale, he

is acting as people act on an ordinary weekday,

since people sometimes weigh in that manner.

Here,

he is not acting as people act on an ordinary weekday,

as this vessel is merely designated for measuring, but has not yet been used for measuring.

Rava said: What does the phrase “but not with a measuring vessel” mean?

He may not mention a measure by name,

such as a log or the like.

But a vessel designated for measuring,

without mentioning its name—

he may fill it.

And Rabbi Yehuda came to say: A vessel designated for measuring—

he may not fill it.

The Gemara infers:

Apparently,

according to Rava’s explanation,

with regard to the joy of the Festival, Rabbi Yehuda is stringent and the Rabbis are lenient.

But we have heard the opposite from them:

As we learned in a Mishna: Rabbi Yehuda says: A person may weigh meat against a vessel or against a cleaver, and the Sages say: One may not take any notice whatsoever of the pan of a balance scale.

Apparently, Rabbi Yehuda is lenient and the Rabbis are stringent.

There is a difficulty between one statement of Rabbi Yehuda and another statement of Rabbi Yehuda, and there is a difficulty between one statement of the Rabbis and another statement of the Rabbis!

And the Gemara answers:

The apparent contradiction between one statement of Rabbi Yehuda and another statement of Rabbi Yehuda is not difficult.

There, it is

a vessel not designated for measuring.

Here, it is

designated for measuring.

The apparent contradiction between one statement of the Rabbis and another statement of the Rabbis is likewise not difficult:

There,

he is acting as people act on an ordinary weekday.

Here,

when the customer comes with a measuring vessel and says, “Fill this vessel for me,”

he is not acting as people act on an ordinary weekday,

as customers do not ordinarily come to the seller with a measuring vessel; rather, this is the practice of people lending to one another.

Since

people do

customarily

give wine

to their friends without charge

in a vessel that measures,

in a measuring vessel,

and drink it.

We learned in the Mishna:

An incident occurred involving Abba Shaul ben Bateinit.

A tanna taught: He did this even on the

intermediate days of the

Festival,

as he

would do so

by filling the measures the previous evening,

because this prevented the interruption of the house of study,

as he was a great Sage and people would ask him questions of halakha, and he did not want to waste his time during the day waiting for the foam to settle while pouring for customers.

The Sages taught: He accumulated three hundred jugs of wine from the clarification of the measures,

calculating that this was the amount he had gained over time because of the foam during measurement.

And his colleagues accumulated three hundred jugs of oil from the draining of the measures,

as they poured oil and it remained with them because the oil had not completely drained into the customers’ vessels.

And they brought them before the treasurers in Jerusalem

to hand them over to the sacred funds, because they did not want to benefit from money that did not belong to them.

They said to them,

the treasurers of the sacred funds:

You do not need to do this,

since the customers waive their claim against you.

They said to them: We too do not want this.

They said to them: Since you have been stringent with yourselves—

use them for public needs.

As it was taught in a beraita: If one robbed another and does not know whom he robbed—

he should use the money for public needs.

What are these public needs?

Rav Ḥisda said: Wells, ditches, and caves

for drinking water.

He appointed

the itinerant preacher

Rav Ḥisda

and directed him

to Rabban Ukva,

in the city’s passageways,

and he taught: A person may not measure barley and place it before his animal on a Festival.

But he may scoop it

with a measuring vessel,

a kav or several kavim,

into the barley,

and place it before his animal, and need not be concerned.

And a baker may measure spices and place them into his pot—

so that his dish will not burn.

Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that Rav said: A woman may measure flour on a Festival and place it into her dough, so that she can take the portion of dough set aside as ḥalla generously.

For if she does not know the amount of dough, she will reduce the amount she gives as ḥalla, because she will estimate that the quantity of the dough is smaller.

And Shmuel said: It is prohibited

to measure.

And they raise an objection:

But the tanna of the school of Shmuel says that it is permitted

to measure!

Abaye said: Now that Shmuel has said that it is prohibited,