Study Shabbat folio 38A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שכח קדירה על גבי כירה ובשלה בשבת, מהו? אישתיק ולא אמר ליה ולא מידי. למחר נפק דרש להו: המבשל בשבת, בשוגג — יאכל, במזיד — לא יאכל, ולא שנא.
If one forgot a pot on Friday atop a stove and it cooked on Shabbat, what is the ruling in that case? Is one permitted to eat that food, or not? He was silent and did not say a thing to him. The next day, he emerged and publicly taught them the following halakha: With regard to one who cooks on Shabbat, if he did so unwittingly, he may eat it, and if he cooked intentionally, he may not eat it; and the halakha is no different.
מאי ״ולא שנא״? רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרווייהו להיתירא: מבשל הוא דקא עביד מעשה במזיד — לא יאכל, אבל האי דלא קא עביד מעשה — במזיד נמי יאכל. רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר לאיסורא: מבשל הוא דלא אתי לאיערומי, בשוגג יאכל, אבל האי דאתי לאיערומי — בשוגג נמי לא יאכל.
The last part of R' Ḥiyya bar Abba’s statement is unclear. The Talmud asks: What is the practical halakhic meaning of the phrase: And it is no different? Rabba and Rav Yosef both said to interpret the phrase permissively in the following manner: One who cooks is one who performs an action. If he did so intentionally, he may not eat what he cooked. However, this one who forgot the pot on the stove, who does not perform an action, even if he intentionally left the pot on Friday, he may also eat the food. However, Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that the phrase: And it is no different, should be interpreted restrictively in the following manner: It is one who cooks who will not come to deceive, as there is no room for suspicion that a person will intentionally cook on Shabbat. Therefore, if one cooks unwittingly, he may eat it. However, one who would come to deceive, intentionally leaving the pot on the stove and saying: I forgot it, the rabbis penalize him and decree that if he did so unwittingly as well, he may not eat it.