BEITZAH - 002b – ביצה – פרק ראשון – ביצה, ב ע”ב

But with regard to Yom Tov, where the Tanna taught us anonymously like Rabbi Yehudah.

As we learned: one may not chop wood from beams,

דתנן אין מבקעין עצים - on Yom Tov — not from beams stacked one upon another on the ground and standing ready for building.

nor from a beam that broke on Yom Tov.

ולא מן הקורה שנשברה בי"ט - even though from now on it stands to be burnt — since at twilight it did not stand for that, once it was set aside at twilight it is set aside for the whole day. So we see that we do hold of muktzeh on Yom Tov. Rav Nachman therefore establishes our Mishnah as speaking of Yom Tov, with Beis Hillel following Rabbi Yehudah, about a hen standing for laying eggs, and on account of muktzeh.^[1]

he establishes Beis Hillel as holding like Rabbi Yehudah.

Now, who taught our Mishnah anonymously? Rabbi.

מאן סתם לן למתני' ר' - He is the one who arranged the Mishnah. When he saw the words of a sage and they were right in his eyes, he taught them anonymously and did not mention the name of their author, so that they should not be taught in the name of an individual but should look as though taught by the many, and be acted upon accordingly.^[2]

What is different about Shabbos, that he taught us anonymously like Rabbi Shimon, and what is different about Yom Tov, that he taught us anonymously like Rabbi Yehudah?

They said: Shabbos, which is weighty and in which one will not come to be lax —

ולא אתי לזלזולי ביה - if we are lenient with it in one leniency, one will not come to be more lenient with it.

he taught us anonymously like Rabbi Shimon, who is lenient.

Yom Tov, which is light and in which one will come to be lax — he taught us anonymously like Rabbi Yehudah, who is stringent.^[3]

In what did you establish it? With a hen that stands for laying eggs, and on account of muktzeh.

If so, rather than disputing about the egg, let them dispute about the hen itself!

It is to make known to you the strength of Beis Shammai, that they permit even nolad.

Then let them dispute about the hen, to make known to you the strength of Beis Hillel, that they forbid even muktzeh!

And if you say that the strength of the permissive ruling is preferable —

דהתירא עדיף ליה - It is better for him to teach us the strength of the one who permits, for he relies on his tradition and is not afraid to permit. But the strength of those who forbid is no proof, for anyone can be stringent, even in a matter that is permitted.^[4]

then let them dispute about both!

A hen that stands for laying eggs, it and its egg — Beis Shammai say: it may be eaten, and Beis Hillel say: it may not be eaten!

Rather, Rabbah said: in truth it is with a hen that stands to be eaten, and we are dealing with a Yom Tov that fell after Shabbos, and on account of preparation.^[5]

ומשום הכנה - for which Beis Hillel forbid it, as he goes on to explain.

And Rabbah holds: every egg laid today was completed yesterday.

דכל ביצה דמתילדא האידנא מאתמול גמרה לה - and even though it came about by the hand of Heaven, it is forbidden. For we require that all the meals of Shabbos and the meals of Yom Tov be designated and prepared while it is still day on a weekday.^[6]

And Rabbah

ורבה - who forbids where the preparation was not literally by hand.

follows his own reasoning, for Rabbah said:

לטעמיה דאמר רבה - in Pesachim (47b); and he derives from here that muktzeh is from the Torah.

What is the meaning of the verse (Shemos 16): and it shall be on the sixth day, and they shall prepare what they bring —

והכינו - and they shall designate — as in, from this I shall eat tomorrow. For if it meant preparation by hand, that they should bake and cook while it is still day, that is stated explicitly: what you would bake, bake. Rather, it speaks of designation by word. And it is written on the sixth day, and an unqualified sixth day is a weekday; the Torah thus deemed it of consequence that the Shabbos meal be designated while it is still day, and on a weekday.

a weekday prepares for Shabbos, and a weekday prepares for Yom Tov,

but Yom Tov does not prepare for Shabbos,

ואין יום טוב מכין לשבת - Yom Tov too is called a Shabbos, and its meal requires designation, and its designation must be on a weekday. But a weekday meal is not of consequence and designation does not apply to it. Therefore on an ordinary Sunday we have no reason to forbid an egg laid on it on the ground that it was prepared by the hand of Heaven, for the Torah did not require a weekday meal to be designated while it was still day, and muktzeh does not apply to it.

and Shabbos does not prepare for Yom Tov.^[7]

ואין י"ט מכין לחברו - we do not read this in Rabbah's statement, for he is expounding a verse, and we do not find two consecutive days of Yom Tov in the Torah — we keep them only out of doubt.

Abaye said to him: if so, an ordinary Yom Tov should be permitted!

יום טוב בעלמא - one that does not follow Shabbos.

It is a decree on account of a Yom Tov that follows Shabbos.

An ordinary Shabbos

שבת דעלמא - one that does not follow Yom Tov.

should be permitted!

תשתרי - to swallow a raw egg laid on it.

It is a decree on account of a Shabbos that follows Yom Tov.

And do we really decree?

ומי גזרינן - Did the Rabbis really rule so stringently about an egg as to decree on what is permitted on account of what is forbidden?

But it was taught:

one who slaughters a hen and finds in it fully formed eggs — they are permitted to be eaten on Yom Tov.^[8]

And if it were so, let it be decreed on account of those that are laid on their own day!

He said to him: fully formed eggs in their mother's belly are an uncommon matter,

and in an uncommon matter the Rabbis did not decree.

Rav Yosef said: it is a decree on account of fruit that falls.

רב יוסף אמר - the reason for the egg is with a hen that stands to be eaten, as we established; and Beis Hillel forbid it on account of fruit that falls from a tree on Shabbos. It enters your mind now that it is a decree on account of fallen fruit, that we should not eat them — for this too resembles fruit that falls from a tree, since it also is a fruit that has fallen.^[9]

Abaye said to him: what is the reason for fruit that falls?

תוספות

גבי שבת דסתם לן תנא כרבי שמעון - Tosfos asks how the halachah can follow the anonymous Mishnah here, since Rabbi Yehudah disputes it and that counts as an anonymous ruling followed by a dispute, as the Gemara objects in the chapter Yesh Nochalin (Bava Basra 122b). He answers that the objection there rests on the further challenge that follows it, and that in any case the anonymous teaching makes Rabbi Shimon's view that of the many against Rabbi Yehudah as an individual, and the halachah follows the many. He then asks that Shabbos too has an anonymous Mishnah like Rabbi Yehudah — one may handle a new lamp but not an old one — and answers that the anonymous teaching at the end of the chapter Mi SheHechshich (156b) carries more weight, since it was taught anonymously last.

מוקים לב"ה כר"ש - Tosfos asks what makes one anonymous Mishnah stronger than the other, and answers that in Eduyos this case is not listed among the leniencies of Beis Shammai and the stringencies of Beis Hillel.

אין מבקעין עצים לא מן הקורות וכו' - The proof is not taken from the opening clause about a stack of beams, which is muktzeh because of monetary loss and where everyone agrees, even Rabbi Shimon, but from the closing clause about a beam that broke. Tosfos asks that Rabbi Shimon permits only where one sits and waits for it, and answers that since it broke on Shabbos it was presumably already unsound from the day before, which is like sitting and waiting for the beam to break and become fit for burning.

וכ"ת כח דהתירא עדיף - Rashi explained that the strength of the permissive ruling is preferable because one who permits relies on his tradition and must bring proof for his words, whereas a person can be stringent upon himself with no reason at all.

ונפלוג בתרוייהו - Tosfos asks that this objection could be raised wherever the Gemara says the strength of the permissive ruling is preferable, and answers that the objection here is particular: let them dispute about both, since it would not lengthen the Mishnah — it would simply say it and its egg.

והיה ביום הששי וגו' - Tosfos cites Rashi that the verse comes to teach that even preparation by the hand of Heaven renders an egg forbidden, since preparation by hand is already stated explicitly; and that since Yom Tov does not prepare for Shabbos, all the more so Shabbos does not prepare for Yom Tov. He raises Rashi's own difficulty about an egg laid on a Sunday or after Yom Tov, and the answer that a weekday meal needs no preparation. He then asks how one may bake and cook from Yom Tov for Shabbos if preparation is from the Torah, and whether a rabbinic arrangement of cooked foods can uproot it; and answers in Rabbah's own terms, and further that cooked food is never subject to preparation since it was already fit and merely wanted finishing, unlike an egg, which is a new thing that was not in the world at all. He closes with the difficulty of whether the manna fell on Yom Tov, and gives two answers.

נגזר משום הנך דמתילדן ביומיהן - This is not a decree upon a decree, for they are permitted to be eaten on Yom Tov implies even a Yom Tov that follows Shabbos.

מלתא דלא שכיחא היא - Tosfos asks that perhaps had he not slaughtered her the egg would have been laid today, in which case it was completed yesterday and should be forbidden out of doubt without any decree at all; and answers that since it was not in fact laid, it is not considered complete. The Yerushalmi disagrees on this point.

Notes

1. 1. Muktzeh at twilight — anything that was not fit for use when the day came in is set aside for the whole of that day, even if it later becomes fit.
2. 2. An anonymous Mishnah — Rabbi, who arranged the Mishnah, taught a sage's words with no name attached wherever he agreed with them, so that they should read as the words of the many and the halachah follow them.
3. 3. Shabbos is weighty, Yom Tov light — because the prohibitions of Shabbos are weighty in people's eyes, one leniency will not lead to further ones; but Yom Tov is light in their eyes, so there was concern that people would come to treat it lightly, and the Tanna therefore taught anonymously in the stringent direction.
4. 4. The strength of the permissive ruling is preferable — it is better to teach the strength of the one who permits, for he relies on his tradition and is not afraid to permit. The strength of the one who forbids proves nothing, since anyone can be stringent, even about what is permitted.
5. 5. A Yom Tov that falls after Shabbos — for example Yom Tov on a Sunday. An egg laid on that Yom Tov was completed on Shabbos, so it turns out that Shabbos prepared it for Yom Tov.
6. 6. Preparation — the meals of Shabbos and Yom Tov must be designated and ready from a weekday while it is still day, which is learned from the verse and they shall prepare what they bring. In Rabbah's view even preparation by the hand of Heaven, such as an egg that completed of itself, renders it forbidden.
7. 7. A weekday prepares for Shabbos — a weekday prepares for Shabbos and for Yom Tov, but one holy day does not prepare for another. Hence an egg laid on a Yom Tov that follows Shabbos is forbidden, while an egg laid on a weekday is permitted, since a weekday meal needs no designation.
8. 8. Fully formed eggs in their mother's belly — eggs that were already complete inside the hen and are found in it after slaughter. Because this is not a common occurrence, the Rabbis did not decree about it.
9. 9. Fruit that falls — fruit that fell from a tree on Shabbos or Yom Tov, which the Rabbis forbade as a decree lest a person climb the tree and pick. The egg resembles them, since it too is a fruit that has fallen.