Study Pesachim folio 47B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ושביעית, ביום טוב, כהן ונזיר אבית הטומאה. ואי אמרינן ״הואיל״ — אחרישה לא ליחייב, הואיל וחזי לכיסוי דם ציפור.
And he is plowing during the Sabbatical year, when agricultural labor is prohibited, on a Festival. Additionally, the person plowing is a priest and a nazirite, and he is plowing a place of ritual impurity, i.e., a burial site. It is prohibited for a priest and a nazirite to become impure by walking over the burial spot of a corpse. Therefore, the one plowing commits two transgressions simply by traversing the field. And if we say the principle: Since, etc., he should not be liable for plowing on a Festival, since the dirt he loosens is fit for covering the blood of a bird. One who slaughters a bird or a wild animal is required by Torah law to cover the blood. Since it is possible that one will need to slaughter many such animals or birds and will not have enough dirt to cover their blood, his plowing may end up facilitating covering the blood. Therefore, it should not be considered a prohibited labor on the Festival.
אמר רב פפא בר שמואל: באבנים מקורזלות.
The Talmud answers that Rav Pappa bar Shmuel said: The case is one in which a person plowed sharp stones, i.e., clods of dirt that have hardened and are unfit to be used to cover blood.
ראויות לכותשן! וכתישה ביום טוב מי שרי?! ראויות לכותשן כלאחר יד! בצונמא.
The Talmud asks: Aren’t these clods of dirt fit to be crushed and used to cover blood? The Talmud responds: Is crushing permitted on a Festival? The Talmud counters: But they are fit to be crushed in an unusual manner, which is not prohibited by Torah law. The Talmud answers: The case is one in which a person plowed hard, rocky soil, which cannot be crushed.