Beitzah 34a (לד.) — the Talmud in English

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Here

in our Mishna

we are dealing with new tiles, because

they require testing: they require examination to determine whether they are fit to withstand firing. For it is possible that the tiles will not withstand firing and will burst when they are fired, and it will emerge that he exerted himself unnecessarily. Therefore, it is prohibited to fire new tiles.

And some say that there is another reason why one may not heat new roofing tiles:

And some say

there is another reason why it is prohibited to fire new tiles:

because they require hardening

[to harden them], and in the first firing they become hardened and become a vessel. Therefore, although the firing is also for the sake of the festival, as he roasts on them, since this firing makes them into a vessel, it is prohibited.

The Gemara now cites the wording of the Mishna in tractate Ḥullin [56a] concerning the examination of an animal suspected of being a tereifa, and compares it to our matter:

We learned there

in the chapter “These Are the Tereifot”:

If a person trampled

a bird with his feet,

or if he hurled it

[threw a bird and struck it]

against a wall, or if an animal crushed it

the bird,

and

the bird

was fluttering

but was unable to stand.

In these three cases there is concern that the bird’s limbs may have been crushed [Rashi, Ḥullin].

And

after one of these events had occurred to it,

it remained for a full day

[one entire day], which is an indication that its limbs had not been crushed,

and he slaughtered it

the bird—then the bird

is kosher.

And

Rabbi Elazar

said concerning this Mishna,

in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Antigonus:

Even if it remained for a full day, that alone is insufficient to render it kosher; rather, it

requires

also

examination

after slaughter, lest most of its ribs have been broken, or its spine has been fractured and its spinal cord severed, or it has suffered another type of tereifa as a result of what happened.

Rabbi Yirmeya asked Rabbi Zeira: What is the ruling concerning slaughtering

such a bird

on a Festival?

The sides of the uncertainty are:

Do we presume a defect

in the bird, suspecting that it is a tereifa,

on a Festival,

that is, because of the stringency applicable on a Festival?

Shall we say that since it requires examination, and a defect has arisen in it, we are concerned that it may be a tereifa, and it will emerge that he performs labor on the Festival without the need of preparing food?

Or not

do we presume a defect, and it is permitted to slaughter it?

He said to him

Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Yirmeya:

We have learned

a resolution to your question in our Mishna:

For we learned:

One may not fire tiles in order to roast on them.

And we raised this objection

above:

What labor is he performing?

And Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Here we are dealing with new tiles,

and

because they require testing

lest they not be fit to withstand firing, and it will emerge that he exerts himself unnecessarily.

You have therefore learned that we presume a defect with regard to tiles, suspecting that they may not be fit for firing, because of the stringency applicable on a Festival. The same applies: We presume a defect and suspect that the bird may have become a tereifa.

He said to him

Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Yirmeya: I have no proof from our Mishna, because

we—

we learned it as: “Because they require hardening”!

For in my view, the reason for the Mishna is like the second explanation mentioned above in the Gemara: because the firing hardens the vessel, and not because of concern that it might burst. Therefore, there is no proof from there.

It was taught

in a beraita concerning cooking on Shabbat:

If several people agreed among themselves to cook on Shabbat,

and

one

of them

brought the fire

[a burning coal], and as he walked, the coal was fanned by the air created by his movement—

and one

was

bringing the wood

to place on the burning coal and ignite it—

and one placed

put

the pot

empty on the fire [the prohibition involved will be explained below]—

and one brought the water

and placed it in the pot on the fire, and it cooked—

and one put spices into it,

and cooked them—

and one stirred

[stirred with a spoon] the stew—

they are all liable!

Those who brought the fire and the wood are liable for kindling; the liability of the one who placed the pot will be explained below; and those who brought the water and spices, as well as the one who stirred, are liable for cooking.

And we raised a difficulty:

but it was taught

in another beraita:

only the last

one

is liable, while all the others are exempt?!

It is not difficult:

This

the first beraita, which makes them all liable, is dealing with a case where

he brought the fire initially

[the fire was brought first], and afterward all the others acted, in the order stated in the beraita.

This

the second beraita, which makes only the last one liable, is dealing with a case where

he brought the fire last,

so that only the one who brought the coal transgresses—both because of kindling and because of cooking—while the others did nothing and are exempt.

The Gemara now discusses the wording of the beraita, which also makes the one who placed an empty pot liable: Why is the one who placed the pot liable?

But

granted, all the others

mentioned in the beraita

perform an act

of labor.

But the one who places the pot—

what labor does he perform,

and what prohibition is there in placing an empty pot on the fire?!

He said

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish

explained: Here we are dealing with a new pot,

which is placed empty on the fire in order to harden it.

And with regard to the firing of tiles

in our Mishna,

they addressed it,

to say: Just as this is prohibited, so too is that prohibited.

The Sages taught: New ovens and stoves,

and all the more so old ones,

are like all vessels that may be moved in the courtyard.

They are not muktzeh, despite being designated for prohibited use, and it is permitted to move them on Shabbat like the other vessels in the courtyard, since they are fit for placing something in them.

But one may not oil them with oil, nor rub

[polish]

them with a cloth.

For it was customary to oil ovens with oil while they were still new, and to rub them in order to smooth and polish them. It is prohibited to do so on a Festival because of improving a vessel [Mishna Berura].

And one may not cool them

[remove their heat]

with cold water—

after they were fired for the first time

in order to harden them,

by hardening them with the cold water.

And if

he cools the oven with cold water

in order

to bake

bread in it—for if he does not cool it, he fears that the bread will burn—

this is permitted.

The Sages taught: One may scald the head and the feet

of an animal slaughtered on a Festival.

That is, one removes the hair and fine feathers by pouring boiling water over them after salting, in order to remove the hair.

And

even

one may singe them over a fire

in order to remove the hair, since this is labor performed for the sake of preparing food [Mishna Berura].

But one may not “apply

[cover by smearing]

to them

in order to remove their hair,

with earthenware,

a type of lime that removes the hair when smeared on it,

nor with earth, nor with lime,

because this is the manner of tanners, and it appears like tanning.

And one may not cut them with scissors

because it appears that he is doing so for the sake of the hair.

And one may not cut detached greens

to remove the wilted leaves

with its haircut

with the tool used to cut things growing in the ground, because it appears as though he picked them that day.

But one may prepare the kundes and the akaviyot

[they are types of vegetables], even though preparing these vegetables involves extra effort.

And one may fire and bake in a purni

[a large oven whose opening is on its side], even though it requires a large fire and considerable effort, and one need not fear that people will say he is baking for an ordinary weekday; provided that he needs a great deal of bread because guests happened to come, or the like, or that he does not have a small oven [Mishna Berura].

And

likewise

one may heat hot water in an antikhi

[a large cauldron], as with a large oven.

And one may not bake in a new purni, lest it collapse

because of the firing, since it is new, and it will emerge that he exerted himself unnecessarily.

The Sages taught:

One may not fan

the fire on a Festival

with a bellows

because it resembles the work of a craftsman,

but one may fan it with a tube.

And one may not repair the spit

on which one roasts, whose tip broke on the Festival.

And one may not sharpen it.

The Sages taught: One may not split a reed

[cut strips from the reed] in order

to roast salted fish on it,

placing them beneath the fish while it is being roasted so that it will not burn from the heat of the grill on which the fish is being roasted, since anything prepared for use is considered improvement of a vessel [Rashi].

But one may split

[break]

a nut with a cloth

between his teeth, so that his teeth will not feel the hardness of the nut [Meiri],

and one need not fear that it will tear

the cloth. For even if it tears, this is not tearing with the intention of sewing, for which one is liable [Rashi].

Mishna:

And furthermore

[in addition to Rabbi Eliezer’s leniency concerning muktzeh in the previous Mishna],

Rabbi Eliezer said

another leniency concerning the laws of muktzeh:

A person may stand by

[near]

the muktzeh,

which consists of dried figs and raisins set aside for drying, which have dried but not completely, and some people eat them as they are while others do not eat them. If he designated them on the eve of Shabbat and indicated that he intended to eat them, they are permitted, as explained above, 26b.