Study Beitzah folio 15B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
יום טוב שחל להיות ערב שבת — לא יבשל בתחלה מיום טוב לשבת. אבל מבשל הוא ליום טוב, ואם הותיר — הותיר לשבת. ועושה תבשיל מערב יום טוב, וסומך עליו לשבת.
Mishnah: With regard to a Festival that occurs on Friday, one may not cook on the Festival with the initial intent to cook for Shabbat. However, he may cook on that day for the Festival itself, and if he left over any food, he left it over for Shabbat. The early rabbis also instituted an ordinance: The joining of cooked foods [eiruv tavshilin], which the Mishnah explains. One may prepare a cooked dish designated for Shabbat on a Festival eve and rely on it to cook on the Festival for Shabbat.
בית שמאי אומרים: שני תבשילין, ובית הלל אומרים: תבשיל אחד. ושוין בדג וביצה שעליו, שהן שני תבשילין.
The tanna’im disagreed with regard to the details of this ordinance: Beit Shammai say: For the purpose of the joining of cooked foods one must prepare two cooked dishes, and Beit Hillel say: One dish is sufficient. And they both agree with regard to a fish and the egg that is fried on it that these are considered two dishes for this purpose.
אכלו או שאבד — לא יבשל עליו בתחלה. ואם שייר ממנו כל שהוא, סומך עליו לשבת.
If one ate the food prepared before the Festival as an eiruv and none of it remained for Shabbat, or if it was lost, he may not rely on it and cook with the initial intent to cook for Shabbat. If he left any part of the eiruv, he may rely on it to cook for Shabbat.
גמ׳ מנא הני מילי? אמר שמואל, דאמר קרא: ״זכור את יום השבת לקדשו״, זכרהו — מאחר שבא להשכיחו.
Talmud: The Talmud asks: From where are these matters derived? What is the source of the halakha of the joining of cooked foods and of the halakha that one who failed to prepare such an eiruv may not cook on a Festival for Shabbat? Shmuel said that the source is as the verse states: “Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8); from which he infers: Remember it and safeguard it from another day that comes to make it forgotten. When a Festival occurs on Friday, preoccupation with the Festival and the preparation and enjoyment of its meals could lead one to overlook Shabbat. Therefore, the rabbis instituted an ordinance to ensure that Shabbat will be remembered even then.