Lemonade on Shabbat

Shabbat 143b through 145a addresses sehitah, the prohibition against squeezing on Shabbat. This came up on this blog once before.

The posekim debate how this prohibition relates to making lemonade. At first glance, you might think that making lemonade is a straightforward example of squeezing. But God forbid that lemonade should be asur on Shabbat!

First, here are the basics that most rishonim learn from the give-and-take on these pages of Gemara. (It happens to be a relatively challenging give-and-take to follow, which is kind of unfair to Daf Yomi learners on Purim weekend.) There are three type of fruit: grapes and olives, which may not be squeezed mide-orayta; "tutim ve-rimonim," fruits which are commonly squeezed for juice, and may not be squeezed mide-rabbanan; and other fruits, which may be squeezed lekha-tehillah. That's most rishonim, including the Rif, Rambam, Semag and Rosh. and most Rashi, Tosafot, and the Semak are mahmir with that last one, and only allow squeezing a fruit if you do so to sweeten the fruit.

Nisht Shabbos geredt...

Today, Daf Yomi discusses appropriate conversation on Shabbat. The Gemara on 113a–b interprets the following verses from the end of Isaiah 58:

(יג) אִם תָּשִׁיב מִשַּׁבָּת רַגְלֶךָ עֲשׂוֹת חֲפָצֶיךָ בְּיוֹם קָדְשִׁי וְקָרָאתָ לַשַּׁבָּת עֹנֶג לִקְדוֹשׁ ה׳ מְכֻבָּד וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ מֵעֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכֶיךָ מִמְּצוֹא חֶפְצְךָ וְדַבֵּר דָּבָר:
(יד) אָז תִּתְעַנַּג עַל ה׳ וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ עַל <במותי> בָּמֳתֵי אָרֶץ וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ נַחֲלַת יַעֲקֹב אָבִיךָ כִּי פִּי ה׳ דִּבֵּר:

(13) If you restrain your foot on the Shabbat, and from doing business on My holy day; and you call the Shabbat a delight, and God's holy day honored; and you honor it from doing your own ways, seeking business, and speaking about things; (14) then you will feel delight in God, and I will have you ride upon the high places of the world, and I will feed you the portion of Jacob your father; for the mouth of God has spoken.

The Gemara learns something from each phrase in the second half of verse 13, including that “your speech on Shabbat should not be like your speech during the week.”

The sefek sefek sefeika in your shoelaces

The Gemara on 113a understands that there is a mahloket tanna'im about tying a bow on Shabbat. The Sages permit it and Rabbi Yehudah prohibits it:

משנה. קושרין דלי בפסקיא, אבל לא בחבל, רבי יהודה מתיר. כלל אמר רבי יהודה: כל קשר שאינו של קיימא - אין חייבין עליו.

גמרא. חבל דמאי? אי לימא חבל דעלמא - רבי יהודה מתיר? קשר של קיימא הוא! - אלא חבל דגרדי. למימרא, דרבנן סברי: גזרינן חבל דגרדי אטו חבל דעלמא, ורבי יהודה סבר: לא גזרינן? ורמינהו: חבל דלי שנפסק - לא יהא קושרו אלא עונבו, ורבי יהודה אומר: כורך עליו פונדא או פסקיא, ובלבד שלא יענבנו. קשיא דרבי יהודה אדרבי יהודה, קשיא דרבנן אדרבנן! - דרבנן אדרבנן לא קשיא: חבל בחבל - מיחלף, עניבה בקשירה - לא מיחלפא. דרבי יהודה אדרבי יהודה לא קשיא; התם - לא משום דמיחלפא עניבה בקשירה, אלא: עניבה גופה קשירה היא.

The obvious practical implication, as promised: can you tie your shoes on Shabbat?

Tying knots on Shabbat

Daf Yomi now begins the fifteenth perek of Shabbat, which starts by dealing with knots. Tying and untying knots are two of the thirty-nine melakhot.

Two mishnayot on 111b discuss the knots that are prohibited by the Torah and by the rabbis:

משנה. ואלו קשרים שחייבין עליהן: קשר הגמלין, וקשר הספנין. וכשם שהוא חייב על קישורן - כך הוא חייב על היתרן. רבי מאיר אומר: כל קשר שהוא יכול להתירו באחת מידיו אין חייבין עליו.

משנה. יש לך קשרין שאין חייבין עליהן כקשר הגמלין וכקשר הספנין. קושרת אשה מפתח חלוקה, וחוטי סבכה, ושל פסקיא, ורצועות מנעל וסנדל, ונודות יין ושמן, וקדירה של בשר. רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר: קושרין לפני הבהמה בשביל שלא תצא.

Vitamins on Shabbat

Sorry for the long break in posting. Things got hot for a while at my other blog.

Daf Yomi is now dealing with medical treatments on Shabbat. The Mishnah on 109b gives a general principle:

משנה. אין אוכלין איזביון בשבת, לפי שאינו מאכל בריאים. אבל אוכל הוא את יועזר, ושותה אבוברואה. כל האוכלין אוכל אדם לרפואה וכל המשקין שותה, חוץ ממי דקלים וכוס עיקרין, מפני שהן לירוקה. אבל שותה הוא מי דקלים לצמאו, וסך שמן עיקרין שלא לרפואה.

The relevant part in English:

One may eat any food for healing purposes, or drink any liquid, except for palm tree water and root drink, which are for jaundice. But one may drink palm tree water for thirst, or apply root oil for purposes other than healing.

In other words, foods that are normally eaten by healthy people are exempt from the rabbinic decree against medicine on Shabbat, even when they eat those foods specifically for medicinal benefits. Foods that are normally eaten only for medicinal benefit may also be eaten by healthy people, but only if they don't specifically want the medicinal benefit.

A practical case today would be vitamins, which healthy people eat, but only for the health benefits.

How does this law view vitamins? Are they medicine? If so, are they prohibited to healthy people?

How far does borer go?

One of the 39 melakhot in the mishnah on 73a is borer, “separating” a mixture of waste and food. This is one of the melakhot in siddura de-pat, the process of making bread.

In general, as the rishonim learn from Shabbat 74a–b, you may only select from a mixture under three conditions: (1) you remove the food from the waste, and not vice versa; (2) you remove the food by hand; (3) you remove it for immediate eating. When any of these conditions are missing, a penalty of karet is at stake. Each condition is very detailed, and I don't plan to cover them here.

One of the major questions with borer is how far its application goes. What kinds of mixed items are included in the prohibition? Just waste from food? Or even forks from knives?

At one extreme, there is the Talmud Yerushalmi, Shabbat 7:2, which quotes Rabbi Yudan's limited view of borer:

אמר רבי יודן יש שהוא בורר צרורות כל היום ואינו מתחייב יש שהוא נוטל כגרוגרת ומיד מתחייב היך עבידה היה יושב על גבי כרי וברר צרורות כל היום אינו מתחייב נטל לתוך ידו כגרוגרת ובירר חייב

It sounds like the only way to transgress borer is to clear the very last stone from a pile of grain. You have to entirely purify the food from its waste. Unlike what happened with zoreh, this is a case where you'd be happy for the Rema to pick up the Yerushalmi, at least if you like kulot.

At the other extreme, we have the “great question” of Rabbi Yehiel Michel Epstein, in Arukh ha-Shulkhan, O"H 319:8. He assumes that borer applies to literally “everything,” even a collection of non-food items. Were it indeed so, he objects, “we could not find our hands and feet!”

Leaving a pot right on the coals

The third perek of Shabbat starts by discussing a pot left on the stove as Shabbat begins (Shabbat 36b):

משנה. כירה שהסיקוה בקש ובגבבא - נותנים עליה תבשיל. בגפת ובעצים - לא יתן עד שיגרוף, או עד שיתן את האפר. בית שמאי אומרים, חמין אבל לא תבשיל ובית הלל אומרים, חמין ותבשיל. בית שמאי אומרים, נוטלין אבל לא מחזירין ובית הלל אומרים, אף מחזירין.

You may not “place” a pot on a stove fueled by peat/marc/pomace (Soncino/ArtScroll/Steinsaltz) or wood, unless you sweep away the coals (gerifah) or cover them with ash (ketimah). Rashi explains the reason as the general rabbinic prohibition against insulating, hatmanah, with something that adds heat. Rabbeinu Hananel and others disagree, and say that the shehiyyah in this mishnah is a unique decree distinct from hatmanah. To this latter opinion, hatmanah applies to a pot resting directly on top of the coals, whereas shehiyyah applies to a pot with legs so it stands above the coals.