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Shabbos 113

1) THE WEAVER'S UTENSILS

QUESTION: Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel that the rods of a weaver may be handled and moved on Shabbos. Rav Yehudah was in doubt whether one may also move the beams of the loom (which hold the warp threads). The Gemara concludes that Shmuel also permitted moving the beams of the loom.

RASHI (DH Mutar l'Taltelan) explains that handling the rods of the weaver is permitted because they are not utensils which are designated for a forbidden labor ("Melachtan l'Isur"). He explains (DH Mahu) that the reason Rav Yehudah doubted whether one may handle the beams of the loom is because perhaps they are objects which *are* designated for a forbidden labor. Rashi points out that if the weaver is strict not to use the utensil for any other purpose, then it is considered an object designated for a forbidden labor. But if the weaver does not care if someone uses it for another purpose, it is not considered designated for a forbidden labor.

(a) Rashi's explanation is difficult to understand. First, even if the weaver allows these utensils to be used for other purposes, their *primary use* is for weaving, which is a forbidden labor. Therefore, these utensils should still be considered to be utensils designated for a forbidden labor, regardless of whether the weaver *also* uses it for other purposes! (REBBI AKIVA EIGER)

(b) Second, the Gemara says that one is allowed to move these items. Rashi explains that they may be moved because they are not utensils designated for a forbidden labor. But even if they were designated for a forbidden labor, they should still be permitted to be moved if one needs to use them for a permitted purpose or if one needs the place on which they are standing ("l'Tzorech Gufan u'Mekoman")! Shmuel should have said, then, that these items are allowed to be moved from the sun into the shade, since the weaver is not strict about using them for other purposes!

ANSWER: It seems that when Rashi uses the term "designated for a forbidden labor," he is not referring to the normal concept of utensils that are used for a Melachah that is Asur (Kle she'Melachto l'Isur). Rather, Rashi is referring to what the Gemara later (123a) describes as a utensil which is Muktzah due to its precious value ("Muktzah Machmas Chisaron Kis"), which a person uses exclusively for the purpose for which it was made and he is careful not to use it for any other purpose. Since the owner designates a place to store the utensil so that it should not become dirty or ruined, and he actively sets it aside from being used on Shabbos, it becomes Muktzah due to its precious value. *This* is the type of utensil which Rashi is describing when he says "Melachtan l'Isur;" that is, a utensil which a person designated to use *only for a prohibited purpose*. Such a utensil becomes Muktzah according to everyone (even Rebbi Shimon), and it may not be moved even l'Tzorech Gufo u'Mekomo.

When Rashi here says that the weaver is not particular about using his rods for other purposes and they are "not designated for a forbidden labor," he does not mean that they are not a *Kli sh'Melachto l'Isur*. Rather, Rashi means that we might have thought that the item no longer has any use whatsoever, since it was set aside not to be used at all on Shabbos. This type of Muktzah may not be moved *at all*.

Rashi uses the term "Kli she'Melachto l'Isur" to refer to a utensil that is set aside not to be used for *any* purpose on Shabbos in other Gemaras as well. The Gemara later (123a) discusses items which are Muktzah due to their precious value, because they are set aside from being used for any purpose. Rashi says that a slaughterer's cutting board and a mortar also fall into this category. However, Rashi earlier (81a, DH Madochah Ketanah) says that a mortar is a *utensil designated for a forbidden labor* ("Kli she'Melachto l'Isur"). Apparently, Rashi uses the term "Kli she'Melachto l'Isur" to refer to a utensil which was set aside from being used for *any* purpose on Shabbos.

113b

QUESTION: The Beraisa teaches that one should not walk on Shabbos the same way one walks during the week. The Gemara asks what type of walking is permitted during the week but is not permitted on Shabbos. The Gemara answers by citing a dialogue between Rebbi and Rebbi Yishmael bar Rebbi Yosi, who were discussing whether it is permitted to walk Pesi'ah Gasah (with large steps) on Shabbos. When Rebbi asked whether one may walk Pesi'ah Gasah on Shabbos, Rebbi Yishmael responded that it is not only forbidden on Shabbos, but it is also forbidden during the week, because Pesi'ah Gasah takes away 1/500th of a person's eyesight.

How does the Gemara answer its original question of what form of walking is permitted during the week but prohibited on Shabbos? The Gemara concludes that it is prohibited to walk Pesi'ah Gasah even during the week, so there is no difference between Shabbos and the weekdays!

ANSWERS:

(a) Rebbi Yishmael bar Rebbi Yosi said that the reason one may not walk Pesi'ah Gasah during the week is because it is dangerous to one's health; there is no prohibition or enactment per se forbidding it. On Shabbos, though, there is an *enactment* which prohibits walking Pesi'ah Gasah, in addition to the health risk that it poses. The prohibition is from Divrei Kabalah as derived from the verse in Yeshayah. (MAHARSHA)

(b) The SEFAS EMES explains that when Rebbi questioned whether Pesi'ah Gasah is permitted on Shabbos, he was not referring to the normal form of Pesi'ah Gasah; walking with large steps are certainly forbidden on Shabbos as well as during the week. Rather, he was asking whether *normal-sized* steps are permissible on Shabbos or must one walk with *smaller than usual* steps on Shabbos. When the Beraisa says that one should walk differently on Shabbos, it meant that one should take smaller steps than one takes during the week. Rebbi Yishmael bar Rebbi Yosi apparently misunderstood Rebbi's question and thought that he was referring to taking larger than normal steps on Shabbos, and that is why he responded that even during the week such steps are prohibited.

This may be the meaning of the phrase, "Pos'im Bo Pesi'ah Ketanah" -- "We walk on [Shabbos] with small steps," which we say in the Shabbos song, "Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i." On Shabbos we must walk differently than we walk during the week, and we must take smaller steps than usual (like Rebbi's ruling).

(c) TOSFOS in Ta'anis (10b, DH Pesi'ah Gasah) concludes that it is only the first step of Pesi'ah Gasah that takes away a fraction of one's eyesight. The subsequent steps have no effect. If so, the Gemara here may be saying that even after one has already walked one Pesi'ah Gasah, it is still prohibited to walk another Pesi'ah Gasah on Shabbos even though it is no longer harmful to one's eyesight. Rebbi Yishmael bar Rebbi Yosi is merely saying that one should not be brought to a situation in which it is permissible to walk Pesi'ah Gasah in the first place; that is, one should be careful not to take the first step of Pesi'ah Gasah, ever.