Beitzah 34a — the Talmud in English

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Here

in our Mishna,

we are dealing with new roofing tiles, because

they must be tested

. They require testing to determine whether they are suitable for withstanding heating. It is possible that the tiles cannot withstand heating and will break when heated, in which case one will have exerted himself needlessly. Therefore, it is prohibited to heat new roofing tiles.

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

because they must be hardened, and during the first firing they harden and become a utensil. Therefore, although the firing is also for the needs of the Festival, since one roasts food on them, it is prohibited because the utensil is made during this firing.

The Gemara, the Talmudic discussion of the Mishna, now cites the words of the Mishna in tractate Ḥullin [56a] concerning the examination of an animal suspected of being non-kosher, and compares them with our matter:

We learned there

in the chapter “Those Rendered Non-Kosher”:

If a person trampled

a bird with his feet,

or if he hurled it

against a wall and injured it,

or if an animal crushed it

the bird,

and

the bird

was fluttering

but was unable to stand.

the bird

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

And

after one of these events occurred to it, if it remained for a full day

—one complete day—which is an indication that its limbs were not crushed,

and one slaughtered it,

the bird

is kosher.

And

Rabbi Elazar bar Yannai said

about this Mishna

that he said it in the name of

Rabbi Elazar ben Antigonus:

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

it requires

also

an examination

after slaughter, lest most of its ribs have broken, or its spine have broken and its spinal cord have been severed, or it have developed one of the other conditions that render an animal non-kosher as a result of what happened to it.

examination

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

a bird in this condition on a Festival?

The two sides of the question are:

Do we establish a presumption of a defect

in the bird, so that we must be concerned that it is non-kosher,

on the Festival,

because of the stringency applicable on a Festival?

on a Festival,

That is, should we say that since the bird requires an examination and a defect has arisen in it, we are concerned that it is non-kosher, and therefore one would be performing labor on the Festival not for the purpose of preparing food?

Or not: we do not establish a presumption of a defect, and it is permitted to slaughter it.

He said to him,

Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Yirmeya:

We learned

a solution to your question in our Mishna:

For we learned:

One may not heat roofing tiles in order to roast food on them.

And we raised this difficulty

earlier:

What labor is he performing?

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

and

because they must be tested,

lest they not be suitable to withstand heating, in which case he would be exerting himself needlessly.

You have therefore learned that we establish a presumption of a defect concerning roofing tiles, suspecting that they may not be suitable for heating, because of the stringency applicable on a Festival. The same should apply to establishing a presumption of a defect concerning the bird and suspecting that it is non-kosher.

He said to him,

Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Yirmeya: There is no proof from our Mishna, because

we

learn it as referring to “because they must be hardened”!

In my view, the reason for the Mishna is like the second explanation mentioned earlier in the Gemara: it is prohibited because the utensil is hardened, and not because of concern that it will break. Therefore, there is no proof from there.

It was taught

in a beraita, a tannaitic source not included in the Mishna, 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 the coal became more brightly lit from the air produced by his movement,

and one

was

bringing the wood

to place it on the burning coal and ignite it,

and

one placed

the pot

on the fire while it was still empty,

and one brought the water

and put it into the pot on the fire, where it was cooked,

and one put spices into it

and cooked them,

and one stirred

the food with a spoon,

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.

The Gemara asks:

But it was taught

in another beraita:

Only the last one

is

liable, whereas all the others are exempt!

It is not difficult:

This

first beraita, which holds all of them liable, deals with a case

where he brought the fire initially,

and afterward all the other actions were performed in the order stated in the beraita.

This

second beraita, which holds only the last one liable, deals with a case

where he brought the fire last.

In that case, only the one who brought the coal transgressed, both for kindling and for cooking; the others did nothing and are exempt.

The Gemara now discusses the words of the beraita that also holds liable the one who placed an empty pot on the fire: Why is the one who placed the pot liable?

For,

granted, all the others

mentioned in the beraita

performed an act

of labor.

But the one who placed the pot—

what did he do?

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

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 they raised it

as analogous to the heating of roofing tiles

in our Mishna,

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

And with regard to the firing of tiles

The Sages taught:

New ovens and stoves,

and all the more so old ones,

are like all utensils that may be moved in a courtyard. They are not set-aside objects, despite being designated for prohibited work, and one may move them on Shabbat like other utensils in the courtyard, since they can be used to hold some item.

But one may not oil them, nor rub

them

with a cloth.

It was customary to oil ovens while they were new and rub them in order to smooth and polish them. It is prohibited to do this on a Festival because it improves a utensil.

And one may not cool them

by

cold water

—after using them for their first firing

in order to harden them,

by means of the cold water.

But if

one cools the oven with cold water

in order

to bake

bread in it—because if he does not cool it, he is concerned that the bread will burn—

this is permitted.

The Sages taught: One may scald the head and 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 one may even sing[e] them over a fire

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

in order to remove the hair, since this is work performed for the preparation of food.

But one may not “coat

them”

with a spread

in order to remove their hair,

with clay,

a type of lime that removes hair when spread over it,

and not with earth, and not with lime,

because this is the manner of tanners and appears to be tanning.

And one may not cut them with scissors,

because this appears to be done for the sake of the hair.

And one may not cut the detached vegetables

in order to remove their withered leaves

with its haircut,

with the tool used to cut vegetation while it is attached, because this makes it appear as though he gathered them that day.

But one may prepare the kondas and the akaviyyot,

which are types of vegetables, even though preparing these vegetables involves extra effort.

And one may heat the large oven and bake in it

—a large oven whose opening is at its side—even though it requires a large fire and considerable effort, and one need not be concerned that people will say he is baking for an ordinary weekday, provided that he needs a large amount of bread, for example because guests happened to come, or that he does not have a small oven.

And

similarly,

one may heat water in a large boiler,

a large cauldron, as with a large oven.

But one may not bake in a new large oven, lest it split

from the firing because it is new, in which case he would be exerting himself needlessly.

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

The Sages taught:

One may not fan

the fire on a Festival with a bellows

because this resembles the work of a skilled craftsman,

but one may fan it with a tube.

And one may not repair the spit

used for roasting when its end broke on the Festival.

but one may fan it with a tube.

And one may not sharpen it.

The Sages taught: One may not split the reed

—remove strips from the reed—in order to roast salted fish

by placing them beneath the fish while it is roasting, so that it will not burn from the heat of the grill on which the fish is roasted, since anything prepared for use is considered the improvement of a utensil.

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,

and one need not be concerned lest it tear.

Even if it does tear, this is not tearing in order to sew, for which one is liable.

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

Mishna:

Furthermore,

in addition to Rabbi Eliezer’s leniency concerning set-aside objects in the previous Mishna, Rabbi Eliezer said

another leniency concerning the laws of set-aside objects:

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

A person may stand beside

the

set-aside produce, which is dried figs and raisins set aside for drying, which have dried but have not dried completely, and some people eat them as they are while others do not eat them. If he designates them on the eve of Shabbat and makes known that he intends to eat them, they are permitted, as explained above, 26b.

[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.