…as people commonly speak.^[1]

כדאמרי אינשי - One first names a small number, and if more is needed he clears more; that is why the Mishnah says four first and then five, and the same applies even to many more:

And if he wishes, he may clear even many more.

And what then is meant by “but not the storehouse”?

That he may not finish all of it,

שלא יגמור - Because of leveling the depressions in the floor:

lest he come to level the depressions in the floor.^[2]

But he may begin on it.

And whose view is this?

It is Rabbi Shimon’s, who does not hold of muktzeh.^[3]

The Rabbis taught: One may not begin on a storehouse for the first time, but one may make a path in it so that he can go in and out.

He may make a path in it? But you said one may not begin on it?!

This is what it means: he makes a path in it with his feet as he goes in and out.

ברגלו - He pushes the produce aside with his foot this way and that as he walks, which is not moving it:

The Rabbis taught: Piled-up grain —

תבואה צבורה - It is evident that it was set aside for storage:

if he began on it before Shabbos, it is permitted to take from it on Shabbos;

and if not, it is forbidden to take from it on Shabbos —

להסתפק - To feed his animal. It is forbidden — these are the words of Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Acha etc.:

these are the words of Rabbi Shimon; Rabbi Acha permits.

Which way is this facing?!

כלפי לייא - Toward where is this statement turned? It is stated backwards: Rabbi Shimon permits muktzeh everywhere, and here he is stringent:

לייא - “Where”; as in the expression חצבי לנהרא כגני לייא in Berachos (58a):

Rather, say: these are the words of Rabbi Acha, and Rabbi Shimon permits.

It was taught: What is the measure of piled-up grain?

A lesech.

לתך - But less than this is not a storehouse:

Rav Nechumi bar Zecharyah asked Abaye: How much is the measure of piled-up grain?

He said to him: They have said that the measure of piled-up grain is a lesech.

לתך - It is half a kor, which is fifteen se’ah:

A question was asked of them: These four or five baskets that the Mishnah mentions — with four or five baskets, yes; more than that, no,

בד' וה' קופות אין טפי לא - He clears with the baskets themselves, filling them if he wishes, or with a sack on his shoulder holding a basket’s measure at one time; but more — walking more than five times, such as clearing with small vessels and multiplying the walking — no:

which would show that reducing the walking is preferable;

למעוטי בהילוכא עדיף - Even though that means increasing the load:

or perhaps reducing the load is preferable?

או דילמא מעוטי משוי עדיף - If he comes to clear the measure of five baskets with small vessels, it is permitted. The question is asked according to Rav Chisda, who said that five is exact:^[4]

Come and hear: One beraisa teaches: One may clear even four or five baskets of jugs of oil and jugs of wine,

and another beraisa teaches: ten or fifteen.

בי' ובט"ו - It was presently assumed that this refers to baskets, meaning that he clears with small baskets and multiplies the walking:

Is it not that they disagree about this — one Master holds that reducing the walking is preferable, and the other Master holds that reducing the load is preferable?

No — everyone agrees that reducing the walking is preferable.

And do you think “ten or fifteen” refers to baskets?

It refers to jugs.

אכדין קאי - They do not disagree, and this is what it means: ten or fifteen jugs he clears in those same five baskets:

And there is no difficulty: this one speaks where they are carried one to a basket, and that one where they are carried two at a time, and that one where they are carried three at a time

הא דמשתקלי חדא חדא בקופה - The beraisa that teaches four or five, without coming to the number of jugs, speaks of large jugs, which are carried one to a basket; the one that teaches ten or fifteen speaks of medium and small jugs — ten where they are carried two to a basket, fifteen where they are carried three to a basket, the small ones:

like the jugs of Harpanya.^[5]

כי דקורי דהרפניא - In the jugs of Harpanya.

A question was asked of them: These four or five that the Mishnah mentions — do they hold even when he has a great many guests, or perhaps everything depends on the guests?

איבעיא להו - According to Rav Chisda:

And if you say everything depends on the guests — does one man clear for all of them, or perhaps each man clears for himself?

Come and hear: For Rabbah said in the name of Rabbi Chiya: Once Rebbi went to a certain place and saw that the place was cramped for the students,^[6]

דחוק לתלמידים - There was no room to seat the students:

and he went out to a field and found a field full of sheaves, and Rebbi cleared the sheaves from the entire field.

ועימר - He cleared away the sheaves. The field was a karmelis, and they were moved less than four amos at a time:^[7]

(Learn from this: everything depends on the guests.)

And Rav Yosef said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: Once Rabbi Chiya went to a certain place and saw that the place was cramped for the students, and he went out to a field and found a field full of sheaves, and Rabbi Chiya cleared the sheaves from the entire field.

Learn from this: everything depends on the guests.

And still you should ask: does one man clear it all, or perhaps each and every man clears for himself?

Come and hear: “and Rebbi cleared.”

ת"ש ועימר רבי - This shows that one man cleared them all:

And according to your reasoning, did Rebbi clear it himself?!

רבי בנפשיה עימר - Said in astonishment: is that the way of the Nasi?

Rather, he gave instructions and it was cleared.

And in truth, each and every one clears for himself.

Due to the guests etc.:

Rabbi Yochanan said: Hospitality to guests is as great as coming early to the beis midrash,

כהשכמת ביהמ"ד - Since the Mishnah set them side by side as equals:

since the Mishnah teaches: due to the guests and due to the suspension of study in the beis midrash.

And Rav Dimi of Neharde’a said: It is greater than coming early to the beis midrash,

מהשכמת בית המדרש - For our Tanna put it first:

since it teaches “due to the guests” and only afterwards “and due to the suspension of study in the beis midrash.”

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Hospitality to guests is greater than receiving the Shechinah,

as it is written (Bereishis 18:3): And he said, “L‑rd, if now I have found favor in Your eyes, please do not pass on…”^[8]

אל נא תעבור - And he left Him and went to receive the guests:

Rabbi Elazar said: Come and see that the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the way of flesh and blood.

The way of flesh and blood: a lesser person cannot say to a greater one, “Wait until I come to you,”

whereas of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written: And he said, “L‑rd, if now I have found…”

Rav Yehudah bar Shila said in the name of Rabbi Assi in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: There are six things whose fruits a person eats in this world while the principal remains for him in the World to Come, and these are they: hospitality to guests, visiting the sick, concentration in prayer,

ועיון תפלה - To direct his mind in his prayer:

coming early to the beis midrash, raising one’s sons to Torah study, and judging one’s fellow favorably.

Is that so? But we learned in a Mishnah: These are the things a person does and eats their fruits in this world while the principal remains for him in the World to Come, and these are they: honoring father and mother, acts of kindness, bringing peace between a person and his fellow — and Torah study is equal to them all.^[9]

These, yes, and nothing else?^[10]

Notes

1. 1. This line completes a sentence begun on the previous amud. The Mishnah allowed clearing away “four or five baskets” of straw or grain on Shabbos to make room for guests or for the beis midrash (house of study). The Gemara explains that “four or five” is simply the loose way people speak, not a fixed limit.
2. 2. Filling in the depressions of a floor to make it even is a form of building, one of the labors forbidden on Shabbos. Once a storehouse is emptied down to the floor, a person may come to level it, so the Sages forbade finishing it; beginning on it is permitted.
3. 3. Muktzeh (set aside) is the category of things not designated for use on Shabbos, which the Sages forbade handling. Produce stored away in a storehouse is set aside from use, so only Rabbi Shimon, who is lenient about muktzeh in general, would allow taking from it.
4. 4. Rav Chisda’s view, stated earlier in this sugya, is that the Mishnah’s number is exact: five baskets and no more. The question of whether fewer trips or lighter loads are preferred is framed according to him.
5. 5. Harpanya was a town in Bavel. The Gemara resolves the two beraisos by jug size: large jugs go one to a basket, medium ones two, and small ones such as those of Harpanya three — so four or five baskets carry four or five, ten, or fifteen jugs. The number of trips never changes.
6. 6. Rebbi is Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah; Rabbi Chiya was his disciple and colleague. The two versions of the story differ over who cleared the field, and only the first version is used for the next proof.
7. 7. A karmelis is an area that is neither a private nor a public domain, such as an open field. The Sages forbade carrying four amos in it on Shabbos, which is why the sheaves were moved in stages of less than four amos.
8. 8. Hashem had appeared to Avraham at the entrance of his tent (Bereishis 18:1); when three travelers approached, Avraham asked the Shechinah to wait while he went to receive them. The Gemara reads the word here as addressed to Hashem, not to the guests.
9. 9. The Mishnah is Peah 1:1, recited daily in the morning blessings. It lists four things, while Rabbi Yochanan counted six, which is the difficulty the Gemara now raises.
10. 10. The Gemara answers on the next amud that the items in Rabbi Yochanan’s list also fall under acts of kindness.