Talmud - Beitza 12b ביצה י״ב ב׳

due to the prohibition of kindling a fire on a Festival.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to that tanna: Leave and teach it outside, i.e., this baraita is not fit for discussion in the study hall. The opinion that there is a prohibition against kindling and cooking on a Festival is not a mishna worthy of serious consideration. And if you say that it is a mishna rather than an error, this statement is still not in accordance with the halakha, as it is following the opinion of Beit Shammai, who say: We do not say: Since carrying out was permitted on a Festival for the purposes of food preparation, it was also permitted when performed not for these purposes. Here, too, we do not say: Since kindling was permitted on a Festival for the purposes of food preparation, it was also permitted when performed not for these purposes.

The Gemara explains why the baraita cannot be attributed to Beit Hillel. If one were to suggest that this baraita follows the opinion of Beit Hillel, this cannot be the case, as they say: Since carrying out was permitted for the purposes of food preparation, it was also permitted when performed not for these purposes. Here, too, since kindling was permitted for the purposes of food preparation, it was also permitted when performed not for these purposes. Therefore, according to the opinion of Beit Hillel, kindling cannot be included amongst those prohibitions for which one is liable on a Festival.

MISHNA: The separation of ḥalla is permitted on a Festival, as one is permitted to prepare dough and bake it on a Festival, and bread may not be eaten without first separating ḥalla. Beit Shammai say: One may not bring separated ḥalla or any of the other priestly gifts, i.e., the foreleg, the jaw, and the maw of a slaughtered animal, to a priest on a Festival, though it is permitted to separate them from an animal slaughtered on a Festival. This is prohibited regardless of whether they were separated last evening, i.e., before the Festival, or whether they were separated today. And Beit Hillel permit it.

Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: This halakha can be derived by an analogy: Ḥalla and the other gifts are both considered a gift to the priest, and likewise teruma separated from produce is also a gift to the priest. Just as you agree that one may not bring teruma to a priest on a Festival, so too, one may not bring the other gifts.

Beit Hillel said to them: No, this analogy is incorrect. If you said that you derive the halakha from teruma, where its separation is not allowed on the Festival, how will you say the same with regard to the gifts from an animal or ḥalla, concerning which their separation is allowed on the Festival? Since it is not prohibited to separate these gifts, they may likewise be brought to a priest.

GEMARA: It enters your mind to explain that when the mishna states: They were separated today, it means: From animals slaughtered today. And the phrase: They were separated last evening, is referring to animals slaughtered last evening. The Gemara asks: If so, whose opinion is expressed in the mishna? It is not Rabbi Yosei nor Rabbi Yehuda, but the opinion of Aḥerim, as it is taught in the Tosefta that Rabbi Yehuda said: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not dispute with regard to gifts separated on the eve of a Festival, that one may bring them to a priest on a Festival day itself along with gifts separated that day and from those animals slaughtered that day. They disputed only the halakha of bringing gifts separated the day before by themselves, as Beit Shammai say: One may not bring these gifts by themselves, and Beit Hillel say: One may bring them.

And Beit Shammai would reason as follows: Ḥalla and gifts from a slaughtered animal are a gift to the priest, and teruma is a gift to the priest. Just as one may not bring teruma to a priest on a Festival, so too, one may not bring the other gifts. Beit Hillel said to them: No, granted, if you said so with regard to teruma, the reason is that separation is not allowed on a Festival, but how will you say the same with regard to the other gifts, concerning which separation is allowed on the Festival? It is therefore permitted to bring these gifts to a priest as well. This is Rabbi Yehuda’s interpretation of the dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, according to which Beit Shammai prohibit bringing even gifts separated on the Festival itself.

Rabbi Yosei said: That is not the correct record of the dispute, as Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not dispute about the fact that one may bring the gifts from an animal to a priest on a Festival. They disputed only with regard to teruma, as Beit Shammai say: One may not bring it, and Beit Hillel say: One may even bring teruma. And Beit Hillel would reason as follows: Ḥalla and gifts are a gift to the priest, and teruma is a gift to the priest. Just as one may bring the other gifts on a Festival, so too, one may bring teruma. Beit Shammai said to them: No; if you said so with regard to the other gifts, concerning which their separation is allowed on the Festival, will you say the same with regard to teruma, whose separation is not allowed?

Aḥerim say that the dispute was as follows: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not dispute with regard to teruma, that one may not bring it to a priest on a Festival. They disputed only the case of the other gifts, as Beit Shammai say: One may not bring the other gifts, and Beit Hillel say: One may bring them. The Gemara proposes: Let us say that the mishna is only in accordance with the opinion of Aḥerim, and not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda. The Gemara does not even suggest that the mishna might be in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, as it is clear that it cannot be reconciled with his explanation.

Rava said: Is it taught in the mishna: They were separated that day and were slaughtered that day? No; it teaches: They were separated, and actually the mishna should be explained as follows: They were slaughtered last evening and separated today, which is exactly what Rabbi Yehuda said. The Gemara asks: If so, let us say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda and not in accordance with the opinion of Aḥerim? The Gemara rejects this: Even if you say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Aḥerim, it can still be claimed that, in their opinion, Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disputed the case of these animals that were slaughtered last evening, not those slaughtered on the Festival.

The Gemara asks: If so, this is the same opinion as that of Rabbi Yehuda. What, then, is the difference between the opinions of Rabbi Yehuda and Aḥerim? The Gemara answers: The practical difference between them is with regard to secondary gifts. If one has gifts separated before a Festival, is he permitted to join them as secondary gifts along with others separated on the Festival and transport them together to a priest? Rabbi Yehuda maintains that secondary gifts may be brought to a priest, according to the opinion of Beit Hillel, whereas Aḥerim prohibit it.

With regard to the dispute cited in the Tosefta, Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei. The Gemara relates: Rav Tovi, son of Rabbi Neḥemya, had a bottle of teruma wine. He came before Rav Yosef and said to him: What is the halakha with regard to bringing this wine to a priest now, on a Festival? Rav Yosef said to him: That is what Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, who maintains that Beit Hillel permit one to bring teruma to a priest on a Festival, and the halakha is in accordance with their opinion.

§ The Gemara relates: The host of Rava, son of Rav Ḥanan, had bundles of unprocessed mustard, whose seeds remained in their stems. He said to his guest, the Sage: What is the halakha with regard to crushing these mustard stalks and eating from them on a Festival? Rava, son of Rav Ḥanan, did not have an answer readily available, so he came before Rava to ask his opinion. Rava said to him that it was taught: One may husk kernels by rubbing them between one’s fingers, and one may likewise crush legumes on a Festival. This statement indicates that it is permitted to crush mustard stalks.

Abaye raised an objection to Rava from a baraita: In the case of one who husks kernels of grain on Shabbat eve, on the following day, on Shabbat itself, he may winnow the chaff in an irregular manner by passing the kernels from hand to hand and then eat them. However, one may not do so, neither by means of a basket [kanon] that is occasionally used for sorting and separating the chaff nor with a large vessel.

With regard to one who husks kernels of grain on a Festival eve, on the following day, he may winnow a little grain at a time and eat, even with a tray or a large vessel. However, he may not do so with a tablet, nor with a winnow, nor with a sieve. Since these vessels are designed for winnowing, they are used only for large quantities, and therefore it will appear as though he were preparing for after the Festival, which is certainly prohibited. In any case, the wording of the baraita indicates: On a Festival eve, yes, one may husk or crush legumes; on the Festival itself, no, it is prohibited to do so.

The Gemara refutes this: Even if you say that it is permitted on a Festival, the baraita can be understood. The reason is as follows: Since he taught in the first clause of the baraita: On Shabbat eve, as husking grain may not be performed on Shabbat itself, for it might lead to a prohibited labor on Shabbat, he also taught in the latter clause: On a Festival eve. However, this does not mean that rubbing or crushing legumes is prohibited on the Festival itself.

Abaye raises a difficulty against the opinion of Rava from a different angle: If you say so, we have thereby found a case of teruma for which separation is allowed on a Festival. Before being rubbed, the grains of wheat were certainly not fit to be eaten, and therefore there was no obligation to separate teruma from them. Now that one has prepared them as food by rubbing them, he is obligated to separate teruma from them, and if one is permitted to eat them, he must be permitted to separate teruma from them first. And we learned explicitly in the mishna: No, if you said that you derive the halakha from teruma, where its separation is not allowed on the Festival. This statement indicates that even Beit Hillel agree that one may not separate teruma of any kind on a Festival.

The Gemara refutes this challenge: This is not difficult.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Beitza 12b examines the debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel on kindling fire during a Festival and the rules for separating challah and priestly gifts.