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EIN YAAKOV

Shabbos 90a; later carrying discussion

How High Can You Carry Something on Shabbos?

Part of Ein Yaakov · 19:21

A Shabbos sugya on carrying a load above ten tefachim, a measurement debate over the Leviim's height, and when a live person on a bed is exempt from liability.

Audio Transcript
Opening: Holding Mamash at End of Ninth Perek

Holding mamash at the end here of the ninth perek, before the tenth. תנו רבנן, that's where we're holding. תנו רבנן. Right before that, the last piece before that. The last piece? Yeah. Okay, תנו רבנן. האומר הרי עלי ברזל, לשון הרי עלי is usually used when a person gives away for the בדק הבית, when a person promises to give money or something to the fund for the upkeep of the בית המקדש. That's hekdesh. So the guy says, \"I take upon myself to give metal.\" How much to give? Because if you say how much, then that's what you have to give. You're mekabel, it's a neder. But if you didn't say, אחרים אומרים, others say, לא יפחות מאמה על אמה. You have to give a piece of metal, at least an amah by an amah. Gemara, Gemara asks, מאי חזיא? Usually the seder is something that fits for something. What can you use for an אמה על אמה? אמר רב יוסף, לכליא עורב. Top of the בית המקדש, top of the בית המקדש, on the roof. So, besides the roof, they had like a wall around, and on top of the wall there was a little thin piece of metal, very, very sharp, so that the birds should not come and rest on it. That's called כליא עורב. Orev is the birds, כליא stops, stops the birds. So that, an amah by an amah, something that could be used for this. איכא דאמרי, some say the לשון, the same thing, but it worked differently. אחרים אומרים לא יפחות מכליא מכליא עורב. First they answered how much he give, at least something that could fit for that for that wall, and the Gemara asks, וכמה, how much is it? אמר רב יוסף אמה על אמה. So the question, did he say אמה על אמה then we explain that that's good for a כליא עורב, or it's the opposite, he said first כליא עורב then we explain אמה על אמה. Crow chaser. A what? Crow chaser. Crow chaser, okay, good. Huh? כליא עורב. It was very sharp, so they couldn't put their feet on, it would cut them. Zagt

Carrying Load Above Ten Teffachim – Rav Elazar’s Rule

di Gemara in the next perek: אמר רב אלעזר, רב אלעזר says, המוציא משא למעלה מעשרה טפחים חייב. A person that carries a load on Shabbos out higher than ten tefachim. This is נוגע הלכות שבת. We know like this: you're not allowed to carry from רשות היחיד to רשות הרבים, you're not allowed to carry ד' אמות in רשות הרבים. Now we know that the din of רשות הרבים is only up to ten טפחים. This from the floor, ten טפחים is a רשות הרבים. Anything higher than that is a is a, what am I saying, it's a מקום פטור or a כרמלית, it depends what it is. Mid'Oraita there is no מקום פטור or כרמלית, so it's mutar. And therefore, למשל, if someone would take and throw something from his house, from a רשות היחיד, and land on a tree which is on top of of higher than ten טפחים, you're not over, because this is not רשות הרבים. Chidush this din is, but if you carry with your hands a load and you hold it higher than ten טפחים, you are chayav! Because all the dinim of מלאכת שבת we learn out from the Mishkan. So we find שכן משא בני קהת. That's how the משא, when Bnei Kehat, they say they used to carry the stuff, and it says בכתף ישאו, they didn't carry it through wagons, but they carried on the shoulders. So we find that they carried it higher than ten טפחים off the ground. Just the aron or...? The Gemara asks, ומנלן? Where do we see by Bnei by Bnei Kehat that this how it was? So he says like this: דכתיב it says, על המשכן ועל המזבח סביב. It says נוגע the חצר that it should be on top of the מזבח חצר the the the קלעים, the the material of the Screen. Screen. Curtains. Curtains, whatever, that was outside that made was around the yard, in the pasuk it says should be five אמה high. We learn out that it wasn't five אמה high, it was fifteen אמה high. That means five אמה on top of the Mishkan, higher than the Mishkan. How was the משכן? So, we don't know, but the משכן and the מזבח סביב, it says you should do around the משכן and the מזבח. מקיש מזבח למשכן, so the פסוק puts the two together. The מזבח is like the משכן: מה משכן עשר אמות, the משכן was ten אמות high, אף מזבח עשר אמות, the מזבח is. Now how do we משכן גופיה מנלן? Where do we know the משכן was ten אמות high? Very simple, דכתיב it says, עשר אמות אורך הקרש. That the wood was ten אמות high, so when you put up the wood, the משכן was ten אמות. Huh? What about the foundations? So what? It was just stuck in. The אדנים? Sockets. Sockets. Stuck in the sockets, huh? They cut out pieces like this in the walls, in the woods, and then they stuck it in. Sockets didn't have a bottom? Right. It was still the the portion were on the ground. Still turn on the ground, but they were cut, for the sockets, yeah, they had the pieces. So the משכן was ten טפחים ten אמות high. וכתיב it says, ויפרוש את האהל על המשכן, that he spread out the אהל on the משכן, they put the top on the משכן, they put the the cover. Now who put it on? Who could get It doesn't say that he took a ladder and did it. אמר רב: משה רבינו פרסיה. משה רבינו was standing on the floor and he put it on. So how tall was משה? Ten אמות tall. Imagine, משה was 15 feet tall, ten אמות tall. Now the גמרא feels, מכאן אתה למד, we learn out from here, גובהן של לויים עשר אמות. All the לויים were ten אמות high. Giants of people. Okay. Now the

Levites Height and the Mizbeach Carrying Proportions

לויים had to carry the מזבח. We just learned out that the מזבח was ten אמות high, but the לויים were ten amot high. So when the Levi'im carried on the shoulder, how much where where the mizbeach, which is ten amot high, how much elevated was it from the ground? גמירי, we have a klal, we have דכל טעונא דמדליא במוטות, any load that you carry with poles, תילתא מלעיל ותרתי תילתי מלתחת. So under the pole you have two-thirds, and over the pole a third. Now if this was ten amot high, so it's 33 and a third was on top, and six and a sixth and and and two-thirds, I mean, were on on the bottom. Now if the Levi'im were ten amot high, so where did the bottom of the aron of the mizbeach come? אשתכח דעבידי ליה טובא. So it was much higher than ten tefachim. Because if he was ten amot high, and from here was 6.6, from here to here, amot, so you're still left with a few amot high, and ten tefachim, it's just an amah and a half about. So this was elevated from the ground more than ten tefachim. So we see that they carried more than ten tefachim. איבעית אימא מארון. Some say, learn out from the aron.

Iba'it Ima Debate on Levi'im Height Measurements

According to the איבעית אימא, we don't say that the Levi'im were ten amot high. Moshe Rabbeinu was, but it doesn't mean all the Levi'im. But still, אמר מר, we know, aron, to show that the aron was nine tefachim high, because the aron was high one one and a half amah, which is nine tefachim, an amah is six tefachim, so an amah and a half is nine tefachim. כפורת טפח, and the כפורת was a טפח. So altogether from the bottom of the aron till the top was ten tefachim. הרי כאן עשרה, it's ten. גמירי, the same re'iyah we have, דכל טעונא דמדליא במוטות, any load that we carry with poles, תילתא מלעיל ותרתי תילתי מלתחת, so one-third on top and one-third on the bottom. So it comes out that from the ten tefachim, so there two-thirds on the bottom, so there was 6.6 tefachim on the bottom, but the a person, an average person, Rashi says, is three amot high. They weren't tall, but three amot high. So if you're three amot high, so the bottom of the aron was still higher than ten tefachim. Because if a tefach is six, so it's it's 3 * 6 is, three three amot is 18 tefachim. So it comes out that still it was higher than ten tefachim. אשתכח, so it comes out, דלעילא מעשרה הוה קאי, if it's higher than ten. And since they carried higher than ten, this is the way it was in the making of the Mishkan, and all the dinim of Shabbos and the melachot we learn out from the Mishkan, וממילא we learn out from here that even if you carry a load higher than ten tefachim, which normally would not be considered רשות הרבים, so you could carry. If it's רשות הרבים, you can't, but if you're carrying it in your hands, it's no good. Didn't it say in a Haggadah that the aron carried itself? Yeah. All the time or only when they By the Yarden, when they crossed the Yarden. Oh, just the Yarden, it wasn't all the time? What about the other things that they carried? They only carried the aron on the on their shoulders? The mizbeach. The big mizbeach, is that The little one was was carried. The big mizbeach also. We got the first What about the the the menorah? the shulchan Yeah, but they didn't carry with poles. The only re'aya is from those things that they carried with poles. The shulchan, how'd they carry it? Maybe they were holding like this, I don't know. But this, we're carrying the poles and Wait, the poles themselves, why why do you have why do you care how long the thing was that they were carrying if the poles themselves were on their shoulders? Yeah, but it's all one thing. If the bottom of the thing was in ten tefachim, you could say then it's all The poles were separate, but No, they were in it. together, yeah So good, so that's not such a re'aya. But here, the whole thing was up. And they always made it that the poles would be situated one-third from the top? That's Standard? גמירי, the klal, he says, that's what I am doing. Standard, it wasn't That's how they carried it. Yes. Yeah. That's how they carry it. And the מזבח הפנימי, poles were near the top, huh? Who says? No, no, it's nothing According to this, anything that's carried with poles Anything that's carried with poles, there is proportion of how you carry that shouldn't topple over, so you put it by a third. Because they had a crown next to the crown. Except the מזבח, מזבח, I thought. Does it say where it was? look in the picture Ah, pictures. Not that the pictures are correct. Rabbi Kaplan knows what he's doing. You might need to ask fact here, we are. Especially we had his son here for seudah shelishit. His son was here Ari Kaplan's son-in-law, yeah. See, that wasn't that long ago. What do you want? That looks lower than one-third. I know, it's 11 and a half. That's kind of I don't know if he's medayek where to put it, that's just to show that it revolves around that. Zogt di Gemara weiter, אין השכינה שורה אלא על חכם, the שכינה only rests, meaning נבואה, השכינה only rests on a person who is a חכם, גיבור, ועשיר, if they're smart, and they're strong, and they're rich, ובעל קומה, very tall. I don't know if he gets along with his wife. Huh? I don't know if he gets along with his wife. Rich, what was that? Rich, tall, and what else? Smart, did you say anything about smart? Yes we did. Strong. חכם, how do we know חכם? רוח הקודש is 48? How many is that? Only 48? Aren't there 48 things, it's quite a number? Yeah, but these are the main ones. These are the main ones. It's all high order. Yeah. חכם, דכתיב it says עיר גבורים עלה עיר גבורים עלה, that it goes on Moshe Rabbeinu, the גבורים went up, חכם, וירד עז מבטחה, and he came down, and brought down the תורה, עז מבטחה is the Torah. So here we see that he is a חכם. גיבור ובעל קומה, how do we know he has to be בעל קומה, דאמר מר, דאמר רב, רב said משה רבינו עשר אמות הוה קומתו, he was 10 אמות high, he was tall. שנאמר it says we said before ויפרוש את האוהל על המשכן, he put it on top of the משכן. עשיר, how do we know עשיר? דכתיב it says פסל לך, משלך. The Eibershter told him to make the second לוחות and he told him chop out from this sapphire, and whatever the פסולת from the side, that you can keep. So Moshe became very rich, so from there we see that he has to be rich. What does it mean פסל לך משלך, what does it mean? משלך means it becomes yours. There it says from your own stuff? No, no, no, that's what Eibershter made sapphire in the backyard of his house, and he said this is yours now. So carve out the לוחות, and the rest is yours. Oh, so this was this was מתנה? Yeah, but that's what that's what it means. Carve out the לוחות משלך does mean it's from his own, what belongs to him. Yeah, but because Eibershter gave it to him. And he gave it to him to make the לוחות, so most of it was taken up for the לוחות, but the leftovers was enough. פסל לך, בשבילך, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Then there's another piece, המוציא חי במטה פטור. If you

Live Person on a Bed – When Is One Patur?

carry a live person in a bed, you're פטור אף על המטה. You're פטור. And live person you're פטור, the Gemara will say why, because חי נושא את עצמו, a living person carries itself. But the bed, the bed is טפל to the person. You didn't need to take the bed, the bed is not a מציאות for itself. So if you're פטור on the person, you're also patur on the bed. זאגט די Gemara, לימא He's speaking about carrying? Carrying, yeah, I'm saying carrying on Shabbos. לימא מתניתין דלא כרבי נתן אלא כרבנן? Could it come out that this Mishnah goes according to Rabbi Natan only, not according to the Rabbanan? Where do we have a machloket? תניא, it says in a Beraita like this: המוציא בהמה חיה ועוף לרשות הרבים, if you carry a בהמה or a חיה or a bird out into the street, בין חיין בין שחוטין, whether they're alive or dead or געשאכטן, chayav. Because you carry it. רבי נתן אומר, Rabbi Natan says על שחוטין חייב, if they're געשאכטן, they're חייב, על חיין פטור, but if they're alive you're patur. Why? שהחי נושא את עצמו, because a living thing carries itself. And this is what the Mishnah said, that if you carry a live person or a live thing while in the bed you're patur. Obviously it goes according to Rabbi Natan, because the Rabbanan, they say you're chayav in both. So this must go according to Rabbi Natan. How how how a חי carries itself? You pick up somebody, you pick I know you're picking him up, but לפועל he weighs much more. The same person, Rachmana litzlan, who's dead, the same person, the minute, the moment he dies, you can't pick him up. He's very heavy. The same person, a lot of air in the person. It means like it's the weight is carried, it's like it carries itself. But also at night, when somebody sleeps, the hands is more heavier and Because it's similar to dead, because you're a little bit dead, it's אחד מששים במיתה, so yes, you have more weight. אמר רבא, Rabba said אפילו תימא רבנן. It could be even according to the Rabbanan. עד כאן לא פליגי רבנן עליה דרבי נתן, where did the Rabbanan argue on Rabbi Natan and say that if you carry a live thing you're still chayav? אלא בבהמה חיה ועוף, only by animals, דמשמטי נפשייהו, when you try to carry them they push themselves down. So ממילא you have to pick, push it up. אבל אדם, חי נושא את עצמו, the רבנן מודו. But a living person, a human being, obviously if he lets himself be carried, if he pushes down also, but if he lets himself be carried, then automatically his life carries him a little bit. Yochanan ben Zakkai בשעת המצור מירושלים by the Romans. Yeah. The Romans, they're going to see from the weight. That's right, that's right. They would know that he's alive, that's right. That's why they put rocks in. The stones. See about little children, when they don't want Oh, that is hard, yeah, they don't want you to hold them. It's heavy, but if they want, they're light. אמר רבי יוחנן, Rabbi Yochanan said ומודה רבי נתן בכפות. Rabbi Natan admits if the live person is tied up, then also his weigh- he doesn't carry himself, his weight is heavy. אמר ליה רב אדא בר מתנא לאביי, Rav Ada bar Matna said to אביי, והא הני פרסאי, we have these guys from Pers, Persians, דכמאן דכפיתי דמו, they're so big and so heavy and so that they're mamash as if they're tied up. They can't move! They pashut can't move. What's pshat if you're tied up, why is it that you don't you you're not considered חי נושא את עצמו? Because you can't move. These guys can't move! And nevertheless, אמר רבי יוחנן, רבי יוחנן בן בתירא said, Rabbi Yochanan ben Beteira and רב נתן אמרו דבר אחד. Rabbi Yochanan said that the two Tannaim said one thing. And the nafka mina is, the din is like this, what's the, why does the Gemara bring it here? It says you're not allowed to sell to a goy any animals that's going to do a melacha on Shabbos. The reason is why? Cuz if it's your animal, not allowed to do a melacha on Shabbos. But if you're selling it, there's no problem, but it's a gezeira derabbanan, they made. If we're

Selling vs. Renting Animals on Shabbat – The Horse Issue

going to allow you to sell it, you're allowed, you're going to rent it, or lend it to him and then he'll do a melacha with it. But a horse, you're allowed. Why? Because a horse is usually not made to carry a load, made to carry a person. And a person is not called carrying, so the horse will carry a person will not be doing a melacha, that you're allowed. And this is even by the Persim. So, we see that even though these guys were like tied, they were not tied, like tied, which means they couldn't walk, they're heavy and they couldn't and that's, and nevertheless he says you're allowed to, cuz even by them we say החי נושא את עצמו, even by these guys we say. So, how could you say that they agree, they admit, Rav Natan admits by tied? Because if they're tied, they can't rent them or No, no. You're not allowed to rent it, not allowed even to sell it, but the horse, you think only It's like a gezeira legezeira The goyim are going to use it just to ride on it. Jews might rent or borrow from them. No, no. Not a safek sfeika, no. You cannot rent a not, that starts all the beginning. Your animal is not allowed to do a melacha, not only a person, and your animal, it says, שורך וחמורך. So, your animal is not allowed to carry. Not allowed to carry, not allowed to put a load on it to carry, not allowed to. So, if you lend a beheima to a goy, and the goy is going to, you're over on an aveira. Right, if you lend it. If you lend it, you rent it. But if you sell it, there's no problem. However, they made a gezeira, if we're going to allow you to sell it, you might rent it also, and when you rent, there's a problem. But a horse there's no problem, because what could be the worst thing he'll do? He'll use it. Even if you rented it to him, what will he use it for? Riding! Riding is not an issur, so the beheima will not, the horse will not be over issur, because it's not called carrying. Why is it not called carrying? Mid'oraita. So, it's mid'oraita, yeah, so it's כולו דרבנן אז. They might use it for for labor. No, but that's what he said, a horse is not what you you'll use for it. So, the Gemara says, even if it's Persim, so we see even these guys who are similar to being tied, and nevertheless there's not no problem carrying them, so the Gemara answers: התם רמי שרוחא דלא מקטל. Not because they can't walk, and they they're such בעלי גאווה, they they won't, they don't move. Not the horses! The people! The פרסים! The horses are not בעלי גאווה. We're בעלי גאווה, the horses are okay. דההוא, we see a story דההוא פרשתכא דרוגז מלכא עליה, there was one of these פרסים, he's an officer, and the king was angry at him, ורהט תלתא פרסי בכרעיה, he ran three פרסאות! He could run, they just don't want to do it. Okay, then the Gemara says, הגודלת והכוחלת, משום בונה, if you braid, you're over on which melachah? Building. Then the Gemara says, וכי דרך בנין בכך? Is building?

Braiding Creation – Rabbi Shimon ben Menasia’s Building Analogy

גמרא, אין, yes, כדדרש רבי שמעון בן מנסיא, רבי שמעון בן מנסיא ויבן ה' אלקים את הצלע, took the sides of אדם and he built it. What did he do? מלמד שקילעה הקב\"ה לחוה, he braided חוה, והביאה אל אדם, and he brought it to אדם הראשון. Why? Where does it see braiding? שכן בכרכי הים קורין לקלעיתא בנייתא, עבדיתא, in this far out places, they call braiding, building. What do you mean braid? He formed him, shaped him? No, no, no. Braided her hair. That's cute. Hashem braided her hair. That's a sofer She should look nice, yeah. She should look nice. Yeah, you braid, like you braid challah. Challah, challah! So, because he wanted her to look nice when she brought, when he brought her A tress. Like a challah. Like a challah, right. For Friday evening, you do church? I don't know, but I I know I I was in a whole shock

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