Talmud - Beitza 14a ביצה י״ד א׳

from the joints of his fingers and above, i.e., he does not place the kernels mixed with chaff in his palm but on his fingers, which is an unusual way to hold them.

They laughed at this explanation in the West, Eretz Yisrael, saying: Since he alters his behavior from the usual method, doing so even with his entire hand should be permitted as well. Rather, the halakha is as Rav Elazar said: One may blow while holding the grain with one hand but not two, and he may even do so with all his strength, as this is not considered similar to a prohibited labor at all.

MISHNA: Beit Shammai say: Spices may be pounded on a Festival in a slightly unusual manner, with a wooden pestle, and salt may be pounded only with an earthenware flask or with a wooden pot ladle, in a manner very different from that of a weekday. And Beit Hillel say: Spices may be pounded in their usual manner, even with a stone pestle, and as for salt, although it must be pounded in an irregular manner, a slight modification such as pounding it with a wooden pestle is enough to render the act permitted.

GEMARA: In any event, everyone, both Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, agrees that the pounding of salt requires a change; it may not be performed in the regular weekday manner. What is the reason for this? Rav Huna and Rav Ḥisda disputed this issue. One of them said: Everyone knows that all dishes require salt, and therefore one should prepare salt the day before the Festival. Since he failed to do so, this task may be performed on the Festival only in an unusual manner. But not all dishes require spices, and therefore it is possible that on the day prior to the Festival, one was not aware that he would require spices on the Festival.

And the other one said a different reason: All spices lose their flavor and cannot be prepared ahead of time, and salt does not lose its flavor, which means one could have prepared it the day before. Since he neglected to do so, he may prepare salt on the Festival only in an unusual manner.

The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between these two reasons? The Gemara answers: The practical difference between them is in a case where one knew beforehand which type of dish he wants to cook on the Festival. Since he knew which spices he would require, he could have prepared them the day before, in which case spices are no different from salt, and one should be required to prepare them in an unusual manner. However, if the reason is that spices lose their flavor, the fact that he knew which dishes he planned to prepare is of no relevance. Alternatively, there is a practical difference in the case of saffron, whose flavor does not dissipate over the course of a single day. Consequently, one who knows what dish he will prepare on the Festival could have prepared the saffron the day before.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: All foods that must be pounded before being eaten may be pounded in their usual manner, and this applies even to salt. The Gemara challenges this: But didn’t you say that everyone agrees that salt requires a change in its manner of preparation? The Gemara answers: He said this halakha in accordance with the opinion of that tanna, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir said: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel did not disagree in the case of foods that are regularly pounded. They both maintain that they may be pounded in their usual manner, and salt can be pounded together with them.

They disagreed only about whether it is permitted to pound salt by itself, as Beit Shammai say: Salt may be pounded with a flask and with a wooden pot ladle for roasting, i.e., in small quantities, as one does not require much salt for roasting meat, but it may not be pounded in the large quantities required to salt meat for a cooked pot. And Beit Hillel say: It may be pounded by anything. The Gemara expresses surprise at this last statement: By anything? Can this enter your mind? How can Beit Hillel say that one may pound salt in any manner, when it has been established that everyone agrees that this may be performed only in an unusual manner? Rather, say: Salt may be pounded for anything, whether it is a small quantity for roasting or a large quantity for salting meat.

Rav Aḥa Bardela said to his son: When you pound salt, tilt it a little to the side and then pound, so that it will at least be performed in a slightly different manner on a Festival. The Gemara similarly relates: Rav Sheshet heard the sound of a pestle pounding salt on a Festival. He said to himself: This sound is not coming from inside my house, as I have instructed the members of my household not to do so.

The Gemara asks: But perhaps they tilted it and pounded in a permitted manner? The Gemara answers: This could not have been the case, as Rav Sheshet heard that it was a clear sound, unlike the one produced when a pestle is tilted. The Gemara asks: But perhaps they were pounding spices, which may be pounded in the regular fashion on a Festival? The Gemara answers: The sound produced by pounding spices is distinctive, like a bark, which he would have recognized.

§ The Sages taught in a baraita: On a Festival one may not prepare groats [tisanei], a dish comprised of grains of wheat crushed into quarters, which involves great effort, nor may one grind grain with a mortar and pestle. The Gemara expresses puzzlement: These are two contradictory rulings. The tanna first stated that groats alone may not be prepared, as this involves hard work, implying that other items may be ground. He subsequently states that one may not grind with a mortar and pestle at all. The Gemara answers: This is what he said: The baraita should be amended to read as follows: What is the reason that one may not prepare groats? Because one may not grind with a mortar and pestle.

And let the tanna simply say: One may not grind with a mortar and pestle, from which it can be inferred that groats may not be prepared. The Gemara explains that if he teaches only: One may not grind with a mortar and pestle, I would have said that this applies only to a large mortar and pestle, whose use has the appearance of a weekday activity; but with a small mortar and pestle, one might say it seems well, and one may prepare even groats with this mortar and pestle. The tanna therefore teaches us that groats may not be prepared in any manner.

The Gemara challenges this: But isn’t it taught explicitly in a baraita that one may not grind with a large mortar and pestle, but one may grind with a small mortar and pestle? Abaye said: Also, when the first baraita was taught, it was taught with regard to a large mortar and pestle, not a small one. In other words, the baraita is stating two halakhot, not one, as claimed previously. The tanna first rules that one may not prepare groats even with a small mortar and pestle, and he subsequently states that one may not use a large mortar and pestle for any purpose.

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

Beitza 14a explores the debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel on how spices and salt may be pounded on a Festival using altered methods.