Study Shabbat folio 74A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אף על גב דאיכא דדמיא לה — חשיב לה. וליחשב נמי כותש! אמר אביי: שכן עני אוכל פתו בלא כתישה. רבא אמר: הא מני — רבי היא, דאמר אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת, ואי חשיב כותש הויא ליה ארבעים. וליפיק חדא מהנך ולעייל כותש! אלא מחוורתא כדאביי.
even though there is a different labor that is similar to it, the Mishnah enumerated it. Every labor that was performed in the Tabernacle is significant. The Talmud asks: And let him enumerate the labor of pounding as well, as wheat was pounded to remove its outer kernel in the Tabernacle. Abaye said: The labor of pounding is not one of the essential stages in the baking of bread, as paupers eat their bread without pounding the wheat to remove the bran. Therefore, since the tanna enumerated threshing, there was no need to include pounding among the labors enumerated in the breadmaking process. Rava said a different explanation: Who is the tanna of this Mishnah? It is R' Yehuda HaNasi, who said: The primary categories of labor are 40-less-one, a number derived from a textual allusion. Therefore, the list cannot be expanded. And had the tanna enumerated pounding, there would be 40 labors rather than 39. The Talmud asks: And let him take out one of these, selecting or winnowing, and insert pounding, thereby leaving the number intact. Rather, the reason that the tanna did not include pounding is clear, according to the explanation of Abaye.
תנו רבנן: היו לפניו מיני אוכלין — בורר ואוכל, בורר ומניח. ולא יברור, ואם בירר — חייב חטאת. מאי קאמר? אמר עולא, הכי קאמר: בורר ואוכל לבו ביום, ובורר ומניח לבו ביום. ולמחר לא יברור, ואם בירר — חייב חטאת. מתקיף לה רב חסדא: וכי מותר לאפות לבו ביום? וכי מותר לבשל לבו ביום?
A baraita states with regard to the laws of selecting: If there were several types of food before him, and he wants to remove one or more from the mixture, one selects and eats, selects and puts aside. And one may not select, and if one did select, he is liable to bring a sin-offering. The Talmud asks: What is the baraita saying? The end of this baraita contradicts the beginning. Ulla said: It is saying as follows: One selects and eats if he is doing so for the purpose of that day, Shabbat. And he selects and puts aside food for the purpose of that day. And one may not select for the purpose of the next day. And if one did select for the next day, he is liable to bring a sin-offering. Rav Ḥisda strongly objects to this explanation: And is it permitted to bake for that day, and is it permitted to cook for that day? No other labor prohibited on Shabbat may be performed for the purpose of Shabbat, and the same should hold true for selecting.