Beitzah

The same is true also of an egg, a pot, a bed and a jug.1 NOR MAY ONE PROP UP A POT WITH A WOODEN WEDGE AND LIKEWISE WITH A DOOR. Can you possibly mean WITH A DOOR.2 — Say rather: And the same applies to a door.3 Our Rabbis taught: One may not prop up a pot with a wooden wedge and the same applies to a door, for wood is meant [as a rule] only for heating;4 but R. Simeon permits it. Nor may one drive cattle with a staff on a Festival, but R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon permits it. Shall it be said that R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon agrees with his father in rejecting [the prohibition of] mukzeh? — No; in this case even R. Simeon agrees,5 for it looks as though he were going to market.6 Bamboo-cane, R. Nahman forbids7 and R. Shesheth permits. When it is moist none dispute that it is forbidden;8 they [only] dispute when it is dry; he who forbids it says: Wood is made to serve only for kindling;9 he who permits it says, It is one and the same thing whether roasting with it [used as a spit] or whether roasting with its coal.10 Some say: When it is dry none dispute that it is permitted; they [only] dispute when it is moist; he who forbids [it,] it is because it is not fit for fuel,11 and he who permits [it] says, It is fit for a big fire. And the law is: When it is dry it is permitted, when it is moist it is forbidden. Raba lectured: A woman may not go into a wood-shed to fetch therefrom a brand;12 and a log of wood that was broken [on a Festival] may not be burnt on the Festival, for one may heat with utensils but one may not heat with broken utensils. Shall it be said that Raba is of the same opinion as R. Judah who holds the rule of mukzeh? But surely Raba said to his attendant: Roast me a duck and throw its inwards to the cat!13 — There [it is different]; since they [the inwards] turn putrid, he had intended them [for the cat] from the day before.14 MISHNAH. R. ELIEZER SAYS: A MAN MAY TAKE A CHIP FROM THAT WHICH IS LYING BEFORE HIM15 TO PICK HIS TEETH WITH IT, AND HE MAY COLLECT [CHIPS] FROM THE COURT YARD AND MAKE A FIRE, FOR EVERYTHING IN A COURT IS MUKAN. BUT THE SAGES SAY: HE MAY COLLECT ONLY FROM THAT WHICH IS BEFORE HIM AND MAKE A FIRE. ONE MAY NOT PRODUCE FIRE EITHER FROM WOOD,16 OR FROM STONES,17 OR FROM EARTH,18 OR FROM TILES,19 OR FROM WATER;20 NOR MAY ONE MAKE TILES RED-HOT IN ORDER TO ROAST ON THEM. GEMARA. Rab Judah said: must be held in the hand, the egg placed on it, and then the whole on the fire. — A pot was placed on two barrels with a fire burning underneath. These barrels, however, must not be placed in position first, but the pot must be held in the air and then the barrels put underneath. — Folding beds are likewise: instead of the supports being placed first and then the canvas or skin overlay, as usual, the canvas must be stretched out first and the supports fitted in to it. Finally, when barrels are being stored away, One on top of two, the top one must be held and the other two pushed under it. In each case the usual mode of setting would constitute making a tent. the case of a door. intended before the Festival. made.