Moed Katan 13b — the Talmud in English

And it was taught

in a beraita as support for this distinction:

They bring vessels from the house of the craftsman

if they are needed for the festival,

such as a jug from the house of the jug-maker

[who makes jugs],

and a cup from the house of the glassmaker.

But not

do they bring

wool from the house of the dyer,

because there is no need for the festival.

And

also

not

do they bring

vessels from the house of the craftsman,

when they are not for the needs of the festival.

And if he has nothing

for the craftsman

to eat—

he gives him his wages

, and leaves it

the vessel

with him

in the craftsman’s house.

And if he does not trust him

the craftsman—

he leaves it in the adjacent house.

And if he is concerned for them, lest they be stolen

from the place adjacent to the craftsman—

he brings them discreetly inside his house .

And it is clear from this beraita that the distinction as to whether it is permitted to bring them or not depends on the craftsman’s trustworthiness.

And we still ask: Indeed,

you have answered

the question why in the Mishna in Pesahim they said that

they bring

vessels from the house of the craftsman, whereas we learned in our Mishna that they do not bring them.

But still, at the beginning of that Mishna, where we learned:

They lead

vessels to the house of the craftsman—

it is difficult!

For

in our Mishna

it teaches

that

they do not bring

from the house of the craftsman,

and all the more so they do not lead

to the craftsman, for they will certainly suspect him that he will perform work, and leading it to him is not a need of the festival!

And therefore the Gemara retracts the distinction dependent on the craftsman’s trustworthiness.

Rather, it is clear

that the distinction is

as we answered initially,

that on the festival it is prohibited, whereas on the eve of Passover it is permitted, even to lead them.

Mishna:

a.

They cover the dried figs with straw.

Figs that they spread out in the field to dry may be covered with straw because of the rains .

Rabbi Judah says: They may also thicken them

by covering them with much straw, a thick covering.

b.

Sellers of produce, garments, and vessels sell discreetly for the needs of the festival .

c.

The hunters

of animals and birds,

and the threshers,

people who thresh wheat for porridge,

and the splitters,

people who grind beans into groats—

perform

their work

discreetly,

even when they perform it only

for the needs of the festival .

And the reason for the obligation to perform it discreetly is that, since they perform it in a large quantity for many people, they will say that he is occupied with his work not for the needs of the festival.

But one who is not a craftsman is permitted to perform it even publicly, since it is evident that he is doing it for the needs of the festival.

Rabbi Yose says: They,

the craftsmen,

were stringent upon themselves,

and do not perform their work on the festival even discreetly.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: They cover dried figs.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Asi disagree about it.

And both of them

each stated his position

in the name of Hezekiah and Rabbi Yohanan.

One said: “They cover”

means

making sparse,

covering it with stalks of straw distant from one another, so that the covering is sparse and incomplete.

Whereas that which Rabbi Judah said,

“they thicken,”

means

making dense,

a thick covering, with dense stalks.

And one said: “They cover”

means

both making sparse and making dense.

Whereas

“they thicken”

means that they gather all the dried figs into one place and

make it like a heap.

And the Gemara brings proof for the second explanation:

It was taught likewise: “They thicken”—he makes it like a heap; these are the words of Rabbi Judah.

We learned in the Mishna:

Sellers of produce, garments, and vessels sell discreetly.

Rabbi Yose says: They were stringent upon themselves.

It was asked of them:

In what way

were they stringent upon themselves?

Did they act more stringently than what the Sages said, namely,

that they did not perform at all?

Or perhaps,

Rabbi Yose disagrees with the first tanna and says that all this,

that they performed discreetly,

is a stringency of the craftsmen, and if they wish they may perform it even publicly. And Rabbi Yose comes to be lenient.

Come and hear,

that Rabbi Yose said that they were more stringent than their obligation, from what we learned:

a.

Sellers of produce, garments, and vessels

on the festival

sell discreetly for the needs of the festival.

Rabbi Yose says: The merchants of Tiberias—

they were stringent upon themselves not to sell at all .

b.

Hunters of animals, birds, and fish

, hunt discreetly for the needs of the festival .

Rabbi Yose says: The hunters of Akko—they were stringent upon themselves not to hunt at all.

c.

The threshers of hulka, targis, and tisani—

which will be explained below—

thresh discreetly for the needs of the festival.

Rabbi Yose says: The threshers of Sepphoris—they were stringent upon themselves not to thresh at all.

And it is explained in the beraita that Rabbi Yose did not come to be lenient, but rather to say that the craftsmen were more stringent upon themselves than what the Sages permitted them to perform discreetly, and they did not work at all on the festival.

Abaye said,

what are the types of threshers mentioned in the beraita?

Hulka—

they break one wheat kernel

into two.

Targis—

one

kernel they break

into three.

Tisani—

one into four.

When Rav Dimi came

from the Land of Israel to Babylonia,

he said:

Hulka is

kunta,

buckwheat.

He raised an objection

to Rav Dimi from the Mishna in Tractate Makhshirin [chapter 6, Mishna 2]:

Food does not become impure with “food impurity” unless it has been “prepared” [become fit] to receive impurity through liquids coming upon it.

And it is established for us that fine flour, when it has not been mixed with water, receives impurity only if it belongs to city-dwellers, since city-dwellers soak it in water in order to clean it, and it then received “preparation” to receive impurity.

But villagers are not particular that the fine flour be clean, and for them it does not receive impurity, since it was not prepared to receive impurity through liquids coming upon it.

But

hulka, targis, and tisani—

are impure everywhere.

For it is impossible to make hulka, targis, and tisani without prior soaking in water, and therefore they receive impurity even in the villages.

And now the Gemara explains its objection to Rav Dimi:

Granted, according to the one who says,

Abaye above, that hulka, targis, and tisani are the division of a kernel

one into two, into three, and into four

parts—it is understandable that

for this reason they are impure everywhere,

since

they were prepared,

for they were soaked in water for the purpose of dividing them into parts.

But according to the one who says,

Rav Dimi, that hulka is

kunta

[buckwheat], the difficulty is:

Why are they impure—

the ground kernels of buckwheat—

everywhere?

They were not prepared!

For buckwheat is threshed even without soaking in water!

And we answer: Indeed, hulka is buckwheat.

And this need to soak it in water, and its receiving impurity, applies

for example, when it has been peeled,

with buckwheat whose husk was peeled from the kernels, in which case the buckwheat kernels were certainly prepared through water coming upon them,

for if he had not soaked them

the buckwheat kernels

in water—

they would not have been peeled.

And why does he call it

the buckwheat

“hulka”?

After all, the buckwheat is not broken and divided, but rather threshed!

Because he removes their husks,

taking away the husks, and the kernels become smooth.

He raised an objection

to Rav Dimi, who said that hulka is buckwheat, from what we learned in Tractate Nedarim [55b]:

One who vows from grain—

is prohibited even from dry Egyptian bean, and is permitted with

Egyptian bean

wet, and is permitted with rice, hulka, targis, and tisani.

Granted, according to the one who says,

Abaye, who said above that hulka, targis, and tisani are the division of a kernel

one into two, one into three, and one into four—

it is well

that they were permitted to one who vows from grain.

For

since they were divided and changed,

they departed from the status of grain

from which he vowed, and they are permitted to him.

But according to the one who says,

Rav Dimi, that hulka is

kunta—

why is it permitted to him after threshing? After all,

it is genuine grain,

for buckwheat is one of the five species of grain!?

And we conclude:

It is difficult.

Rav Huna permitted those sellers of perfumes

to

go to sell

on the festival

in their usual manner, in the marketplace.

Rav Kahana raised an objection

to Rav Huna: How is it permitted to sell publicly? Did we not learn a beraita in the Tosefta:

A shop

that is

open onto the colonnade,

toward the corner of the street, at the sides of the public domain—

he opens and closes

his shop on the festival

as usual,

because it is not like all shops that are open onto the public domain.

But a shop that is

open onto the public domain—

he opens

one door

and closes one

, so that opening the shop will not be as usual on weekdays.

And on the eve of the last festival day

of Sukkot —

he takes out produce and adorns the city marketplaces, for the honor of the last festival day.

And Rav Kahana infers: Only

because of the honor of the last festival day, yes,

they permitted taking out, adorning, and selling publicly. But

when it is not because of the honor of the festival day, no,

they did not permit it! And this is difficult for Rav Huna, who permitted selling publicly on the festival .

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

that they prohibited selling in the ordinary manner applies

to produce,

for there is concern that people will suspect that he is buying for the needs of the rest of the year.

Whereas

this

that they permitted refers

to spices,

for everyone knows that they are for the needs of the festival, since they are not fit to remain for a long time; therefore, he may sell them publicly.

And this is the reason for Rav Huna’s permission also regarding spices, since it is apparent that they are for the festival.

We will return to you, chapter “One whose [produce] was turned over.”

It is forbidden to shave during the festival, even if the shaving is in order to beautify himself during the festival.

And this matter is a decree of the Sages: that a person should not enter the festival when he is “disgraced,” that is, unshaven. For the Sages were concerned that a person might postpone the shaving until the intermediate days of the festival, when he is free from work, and it would turn out that he entered the festival unshaven.

Therefore the Sages decreed that they should not shave during the festival.

However, they excluded from their decree people who were prevented by circumstances and could not shave on the eve of the festival.

Mishna:

And these may shave during the festival:

One who comes

from the road,

from overseas ,

and was unable to shave while he was on the road .

And

one who comes

from captivity, and one who leaves prison,

who were unable to shave there .

And one who was ostracized and whose ostracism the Sages released

during the festival, and an ostracized person is forbidden to shave .

And likewise one who asked a sage

during the festival about his vow by which he vowed not to shave,

and his vow was released

for him during the festival .

And the nazirite

who became impure,

and

likewise

the leper

who was healed, and now he is ascending

from his impurity to his purity,

and must shave, is permitted to shave during the festival, since he did not have leisure to do so before the festival .

The Sages also decreed concerning laundering, even for the needs of the festival, and permitted it only to one who was unable to launder before the festival:

And these may launder during the festival: one who comes from overseas and from captivity, and one who leaves prison