Shabbat 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

As we learned:

Every

cooked dish

that was placed in hot water before Shabbat,

and was fully cooked, cannot undergo cooking after cooking; therefore,

it may be soaked in hot water on Shabbat,

even in a first vessel.

And every

cooked dish

that was not placed in hot water before Shabbat,

and is not cooked at all, may not be soaked in a first vessel, since a first vessel cooks; rather,

it may be rinsed with hot water on Shabbat,

because rinsing does not bring it to the point of cooking.

Except for an old salted item and the kolyas ha-ispanin,

which are salted fish and are very easy to cook; those may not be rinsed with hot water, because

this rinsing completes their preparation.

For even merely pouring hot water over them cooks them and thereby makes them fit for eating.

Infer from this

that from what was stated concerning an old fish and the kolyas ha-ispanin—that “this rinsing completes their preparation”—it follows that even minor cooking is called cooking, and one is liable for it by Torah law.

We learned in the Mishna:

And one may not crack it

an egg

in cloths

that were heated by the sun, but Rabbi Yosei permits it.

And the Gemara understands that according to the Rabbis it is prohibited to cook both in the sun and in something heated through the derivatives of the sun, whereas according to Rabbi Yosei both are permitted.

The Gemara asks:

But we learned: One may place a cooked dish in a pit

that contains no water

so that it will be protected

there from the heat and will not spoil [and they did not decree lest he come to level the ground].

And clean water

that is placed in a vessel may be placed

in inferior water,

inside a pool of dirty water,

so that it will cool

[and they did not decree lest he come to insulate it in ashes and come to stoke the coals].

And cold water

may be placed

in the sun so that it will become warm

from the sun.

Shall we say

that this Mishna, which permits warming cold water in the sun,

is Rabbi Yosei and not the Rabbis!?

The Gemara rejects this:

Rav Naḥman said:

With regard to cooking

in the sun

itself,

everyone,

both the first tanna and Rabbi Yosei,

agrees that it is permitted,

because there is no concern that people will mistakenly come to permit cooking with fire just as cooking in the sun was permitted.

And likewise with regard to cooking

through the derivatives of fire,

an item heated by fire,

everyone agrees that it is prohibited,

just as it is prohibited to cook on the fire itself, because this is its normal manner of cooking.

When do they disagree?

The first tanna and Rabbi Yosei disagree concerning cooking

through the derivatives of the sun,

in cloths heated by the sun, which is permitted by law, just as it is permitted to cook in the sun itself.

One master,

the first tanna,

holds

that cooking through the derivatives of the sun is prohibited because

we decree against the derivatives of the sun on account of the derivatives of fire,

since a cloth heated by the sun does not reveal whether it was heated by the sun or by fire, and one who sees him cooking in the cloth may think that cooking through the derivatives of fire is permitted.

And one master,

Rabbi Yosei,

holds: We do not decree.

Accordingly, the Mishna that permits warming a cold item in the sun itself is also in accordance with the first tanna.

We learned in the Mishna:

And one may not bury it in sand

and in road dust, so that it will roast.

The Gemara assumed that the prohibition against burying an egg in sand follows from the same law stated in the first clause—“and one may not crack it in cloths heated by the sun”: we decree against the derivatives of the sun on account of the derivatives of fire.

The Gemara therefore asks:

And let Rabbi Yosei also disagree with this!

Just as Rabbi Yosei permits cracking an egg in cloths heated by the sun, so too he should permit burying the egg in sand heated by the sun!?

The Gemara answers that the reason for prohibiting burial in sand and road dust is not the prohibition against cooking through the derivatives of the sun, but another reason, with which Rabbi Yosei agrees; the amoraim disagree concerning what that reason is.

Rabba said:

The reason it is prohibited to bury it in sand and road dust on Shabbat is

a decree lest he insulate it in ashes.

Since he is not roasting the egg in the usual manner, but by insulating it in sand, people may mistakenly infer that cooking by insulation is not the normal manner of cooking, and they will also come to insulate in ashes on Shabbat.

Rav Yosef said:

The reason Rabbi Yosei prohibits burying it in sand and road dust is

because he moves earth from its place.

If he does not have enough sand in which to bury the egg, there is concern that he will come to dig in the ground to obtain sand, and making a cavity on Shabbat is prohibited because of building.

What is the difference between them,

what is the practical difference between the reasons given by the amoraim for Rabbi Yosei’s position?

There is a difference between them

when there is a large amount of

loose earth,

which is not attached to the ground. According to Rabba, it is prohibited to bury it even in loose earth, lest he insulate it in ashes; but according to Rav Yosef, Rabbi Yosei permits burying it in loose earth, since there is no concern that he will uproot earth from the ground for the purpose of insulation, as the earth is already detached and is not attached to the ground.

The Gemara raises an objection to Rav Yosef, who explained that Rabbi Yosei prohibits insulating an egg in sand lest one insulate it in embers, from a beraita:

to Rav Yosef, who explained that Rabbi Yosei forbids covering an egg with sand lest one cover it with hot ashes, from a

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: One may roll

roast

an egg on a roof

that is

hot

because of the sun, since a roof is an offshoot of the sun, in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, who holds that the Sages did not decree against the offshoots of the sun due to the offshoots of fire.

But one may not roll an egg on hot lime,

because lime is an offshoot of fire.

Granted, according to the one who says [Rabba]

that insulating an egg in sand and road dust is prohibited according to Rabbi Yosei because of

a decree lest one insulate it in embers,

it is well that one may roast an egg on a hot roof, because the decree applies only to something in which it is possible to insulate, such as sand and road dust; but with regard to a hot roof,

there is no basis for such a decree,

because one cooks upon it, rather than insulating something in it.

And since Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, that the offshoots of the sun were not prohibited due to the offshoots of fire, it is permitted to roast an egg on a hot roof.

But according to the one who says [Rav Yosef]

that it is prohibited to insulate an egg in sand

because one moves earth from its place,

if so,

let us decree

that it should be prohibited to roll an egg on a hot roof, lest he wish to cover it with earth, in which case he would uproot earth from the ground and form a hole? The Gemara answers:

An ordinary roof

has no earth on it,

and since there is no earth on it, we do not decree lest he take earth from another place in order to make a hole. Therefore, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel permitted roasting an egg on the roof.

Come and hear

an objection to Rav Yosef, who explains that Rabbi Yosei agrees that it is prohibited to insulate an egg in sand that was heated by the sun, because of a decree lest one move earth from its place.

The latter clause of the Mishna states:

There was an incident involving the people of Tiberias, who brought a cold-water pipe into a channel of hot water, etc.,

and the Sages prohibited the water that had been heated on Shabbat both for drinking and for bathing.

Granted, according to the one who says [Rabba]

that it is prohibited to insulate an egg in sand and road dust

because of a decree lest one insulate it in embers,

it can be explained that this is why the Mishna cites in its latter clause the incident involving the hot springs of Tiberias, because

that is analogous to insulating

—he insulates the pipe containing the cold water within the hot waters of Tiberias—and it is universally prohibited lest one insulate something in embers.

But according to the one who says

that Rabbi Yosei agrees that it is prohibited to insulate an egg

because one moves earth from its place, what is there to say?

Why did the Mishna cite the incident involving the hot springs of Tiberias, given that there is no concern there lest one move earth?

The Gemara answers:

Do you maintain that the incident involving Tiberias belongs to the latter clause!?

Do you maintain that the tanna cited it as a continuation of the prohibition against insulating an egg in sand and road dust, which everyone agrees is prohibited?

The incident involving the hot springs of Tiberias

belongs to the first clause!

And this is how the Mishna is to be understood:

One may not remove it from its covering with cloths. And Rabbi Yosei permits it.

The first tanna brought support for his view that it is prohibited to heat something with the offshoots of the sun from the incident involving the hot springs of Tiberias.

And this is what the Rabbis said to him,

who prohibited cooking with the offshoots of the sun,

to Rabbi Yosei,

who permitted it:

Was there not the incident involving the people of Tiberias, which involved an offshoot of the sun,

since the hot springs of Tiberias are not heated by fire, and therefore the cold water in the pipe was heated by hot water that had not been heated through the offshoots of fire

; and the Rabbis prohibited it,

which demonstrates that the offshoots of the sun are prohibited, as we decree against the offshoots of the sun due to the offshoots of fire.

Rabbi Yosei said to them:

There is no proof from this incident that the offshoots of the sun are prohibited, since

that

—the hot springs of Tiberias—

is an offshoot of fire,

as the water becomes heated because

it passes over the entrance to Gehinnom,

and the offshoots of fire are prohibited by Torah law according to everyone.