Shabbat 127 – Judge Others As You Would Be Judged

The mitzvah of hachnasat orchim welcoming strangers (guests/wayfarers) is commended as a high honor and responsibility, based on this well known text:

Rab Judah said in Rab's name: Hospitality to wayfarers is greater than welcoming the presence of the Shechinah, for it is written, And he said, My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, etc. (Gen. 18: 3)

Abraham leaves off communing with G-d’s holy presence (Shechina) when he spies three strangers wandering past. The play on words is noted: He leaves his Lord and addresses the wayfarers as “my lord.”

This leads to a list of righteous acts:

R. Judah b. Shila said in R. Assi's name in R. Johanan's name: There are six things, the fruit of which man eats in this world, while the principal remains for him for the world to come, viz.: Hospitality to wayfarers, visiting the sick, meditation in prayer, early attendance at the study hall, rearing one's sons (!) to the study of the Torah, and judging one's neighbor in the scale of merit.

(Note that this runs counter to the better-known list from Mishnah Pe’ah which is in the daily prayers. But we’ll leave that for now.)

The text then focuses on the last item on the list and comments:

Our Rabbis taught: He who judges his neighbor in the scale of merit is himself judged favorably

In other words, one should judge another person’s motivations in the best possible light – the way we would want our own actions judged. A series of stories is told of individuals whose actions appear to imply immorality, but are in fact innocent or even based in higher values. For example an employer who appeared to be withholding wages when in fact he was upholding a vow, a righteous man who appeared to taking advantage of a young woman who he had rescued when in fact he was protecting her virtue.

In my experience, this is one of the hardest ethical ideals to uphold. We rush to judge others in the harshest light, while complaining that others judge us unfairly. We assign ourselves the purist of motivations while assuming the worst in others.

Judge others, the rabbis implore, the way you would wish to be judged.

Shabbat 126 - Bolt

We learned that a skylight can be propped open on Shabbat with a stick which had been set aside or fastened by a rope for that purpose – so long as this was done before Shabbat.

This leads to a discussion of door bolts. One in particular is interesting – a “dragging bolt” (neger hanagar) – that is attached to a door but with an arm which drags against the ground.

With a dragging bolt, one may lock [the door] in the Temple, but not in the country;

“The country” here is any location outside the Ancient Temple in Jerusalem. The bolt is allowed there, but nowhere else.

but one that is laid apart [on the ground] is forbidden in both places.

A non-attached bolt – one which is simply put in place through a door socket into the ground – is not allowed.

But there is controversy:

R. Judah said: That which is laid apart [is permitted] in the Temple; and that which is dragged, in the country.

Now it was taught: Which is a dragging bolt wherewith we may close [a door] in the Temple but not in the country? That which is fastened [to the door] and suspended — one end reaching the ground.

R. Judah said: Such is permitted even in the country. But which is forbidden in the country? That which is neither fastened nor suspended — but which one removes and places in a corner.

Interesting that the exception would even exist for the Temple doors exclusively. Also the attention to detail of the kind of bolt (attached or loose) used. Advance preparation (fastening - like the skylight prop) helps.

Shabbat 125 – Prepare for Shabbat

The story is told by R. Dimi (who visits the academy in Babylonia from Palestine) that Rabbi once went to certain place during the week and found a field of stones. He planned to meet there on Shabbat. So told his students to “Go out and intend [them]” – that is to express an intention to use them – so that they can be used on Shabbat. Now, is the declared intention enough, or did they have to do some act of labor to indicate that intention (and, to prevent an accidental labor on Shabbat)? For example, they might have been told to arrange the stones in some order, or to scrape them free of mortar, so that they would be more amenable for sitting.

Some argue that an act of labor is required for the Shabbat items to be indicated as such, other not. But the idea of really thinking ahead and preparing for Shabbat appeals to me. 

Shabbat 124 – Table the Argument

To give a sense of how these arguments go – I provide a handy-dandy set of tables based on this Mishnah:

ALL UTENSILS MAY BE HANDLED [ON SHABBAT] WHETHER REQUIRED OR NOT REQUIRED.

R. NEHEMIAH SAID: THEY MAY BE HANDLED ONLY WHEN REQUIRED

So, the rabbis ask:  what is meant by “required” or “not required”?

According to Rabbah, “required” means an article whose function is permitted and it’s movement is needed, and “not required” means that same article with a permitted function but which needs to be moved because something else needs to be moved into its space. However an article whose function is forbidden can only be moved if it is going to be used for a permitted function but not if its space is needed

Rabbah

	REQUIRED	NOT REQUIRED
Function Permitted	Can be moved if it is needed	Can be moved if its space is need
Function not permitted	Can be moved if being used for a permitted function	Can NOT be moved if its space is needed

Whereupon R. Nehemiah comes to say that even an article whose function is for a permitted purpose [may be handled] only when required itself, but not when its place [alone] is required.

Nehemiah

	REQUIRED	NOT REQUIRED
Function Permitted	Can be moved if it is needed	Can NOT be moved if its space is need
Function not permitted	Can be moved if being used for a permitted function	Can NOT be moved if its space is needed

Said Raba to him: If its place is required — do you call it: NOT REQUIRED! Rather said Raba:

REQUIRED: an article whose function is for a permitted purpose [may be handled] whether required itself or its place is required:

NOT REQUIRED [means] even from the sun to the shade; whilst an article whose function is for a forbidden purpose [may be moved] only when required itself or its place is required but not from the sun to the shade.

Rabbah Counters

	REQUIRED	NOT REQUIRED
Function Permitted	Can be moved if it is needed - Can be moved if its space is need	Even from sun to shade
Function not permitted	Can be moved if being used for a permitted function - Can NOT be moved if its space is needed	NOT from sun to shade

Whereupon R. Nehemiah comes to say that even an article whose function is for a permitted purpose [may be moved] only when required itself or its place is required — but not from the sun to the shade.

Nehemiah counters back

	REQUIRED	NOT REQUIRED
Function Permitted	Can be moved if it is needed - Can be moved if its space is need	NOT from sun to shade
Function not permitted	Can be moved if being used for a permitted function - Can NOT be moved if its space is needed	NOT from sun to shade

This is just one paragraph, people!

Shabbat 123 – The Right Tool for the Job

The use of certain tools on Shabbat is discussed. The Mishnah, for example permitted several, for example:

A MAN MAY TAKE A HAMMER TO SPLIT NUTS. . .

Now, the Rabbis argue that what is being referred to is a specific tool:

Rab Judah said: [This means,] a nut hammer to split nuts therewith, but not a smith's [hammer]

Because, he argues, a smith’s hammer has a function which is forbidden on Shabbat – therefore it cannot be used even for something permitted. Others argue that it is the function, not the tool, which is forbidden, therefore a tool normally used for a forbidden function can be used for a permitted one.

The next Mishnah is far more general:

R. JOSE SAID: ALL UTENSILS (including tools) MAY BE HANDLED, EXCEPT A LARGE SAW AND THE PIN OF A PLOUGH

What’s going on? Couldn’t that have been stated before?

Our Rabbis taught: At first they [the Sages] ruled, Three utensils may be handled on the Sabbath. . .Then they permitted [other articles], and they permitted again [still more], and they permitted still further, until they ruled: All utensils may be handled on the Sabbath except a large saw and the pin of a plough.

There seems to be some evolution in the text. The Rabbis explain it this way:

R. Hanina said: This Mishnah [permitting only three specific utensils] was taught in the days of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah, for it is written (Neh 13:15), In those days I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves.

In other words, in a time when people were lax about the laws, the rabbis enacted more restrictions. They were eventually loosened.

This counters those who think that the law is and always was. Jewish law is, in fact, responsive to its time. It is intended as the tool for the job at hand.

Shabbat 122 – For His Own Use – Others Benefit

The Mishnah states that if a non-Jew lights a lamp or lantern on Shabbat for his or her own use, an Israelite can make use of it. But not if the non-Jew lights it exclusively for the Israelite. Similarly an Israelite can make use of a ship’s gangway built on Shabbat, so long as the non-Jew didn’t build it exclusively for the Israelite.

Why is this permissible? Because “a lamp for one is a lamp for a hundred” – that is, nothing is diminished by the Israelite’s use of a lamp already lit.

The rabbis investigate this concept further:

Come and hear: If a city inhabited by Israelites and Gentiles contains baths where there is bathing on the Sabbath, if the majority are Gentiles, [an Israelite] may bathe there immediately;

if the majority are Israelites, one must wait until [after the Sabbath when] hot water could be heated

Water heated for the benefit of a Gentile majority may be enjoyed by Israelites. But not if it is heated for the sake of the Israelites.

Shabbat 121 – Implied for Reward

With all the potential saving of goods one may do if a fire breaks out on Shabbat, the one thing you cannot do is put the fire out. However, the Mishnah states that if a non-Jew comes to put out the fire, a Jew is not to say “extinguish it” or “do not extinguish it” – because he is not obligated to rest on Shabbat and we are not obligated to make a non-Jew rest.

However, the rabbis allow an implication:

R. Ammi said: In the case of a conflagration they [the Rabbis] permitted one to announce, 'Whoever extinguishes [it] will not lose [thereby].'

Suggesting, but not stating, that a reward will be forthcoming after the Shabbat (of course, one DOES have to fulfill the implied reward!)

A story illustrates:

Our Rabbis taught: It once happened that a fire broke out in the courtyard of Joseph b. Simai in Shihin, and the men of the garrison at Sepphoris came to extinguish it, because he was a steward of the king. But he did not permit them, in honour of the Sabbath, and a miracle happened on his behalf, rain descended and extinguished [it].

In the evening he sent two sela' to each of them, and fifty to their captain.

Now, according to our Mishana, he did not have to tell them not to extinguish it – he could have remained silent. But he is rewarded by heaven for piety. And the soldiers are rewarded Joseph b. Simai for dedication.