Study Yevamot folio 114A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
דבר טלי וטליא וליטיילו התם, דאי משכחי להו, מייתי להו. אלמא קסבר: קטן אוכל נבלות — אין בית דין מצווין להפרישו. לימא מסייע ליה: לא יאמר אדם לתינוק ״הבא לי מפתח״, ״הבא לי חותם״, אלא מניחו תולש, מניחו זורק.
and lead boys and girls and let them walk there where the keys were lost, and if they find the keys they will bring them to you of their own accord, without you saying anything to them. The Talmud comments: Apparently, R' Pedat maintains that with regard to a minor who eats meat from unslaughtered animals or violates other prohibitions, the court is not commanded to prevent him from doing so. The Talmud comments: Let us say that the following source supports his opinion: A person may not tell a child on Shabbat: Bring me a key, or: Bring me my seal from the public domain. However, he may allow the child to detach plants and allow him to throw in the public domain. This shows that one need not be strict with a child who transgresses a prohibition, but one may not tell a child to transgress a prohibition.
אמר אביי: ״תולש״ — בעציץ שאינו נקוב, ״זורק״ — בכרמלית דרבנן.
The Talmud rejects this suggestion: Abaye said that this is no proof, as it is possible that detaching plants is referring to an unperforated flowerpot, as the prohibition against detaching plants from a vessel of this kind applies by rabbinic law. Similar, when it states: Throw, this can be referring to throwing in a karmelit rather than the public domain. A karmelit is an intermediate domain between public and private domains, which has the status of a public domain by rabbinic law. However, perhaps one is obligated to stop the child if he is transgressing a Torah prohibition.
תא שמע: גוי שבא לכבות — אין אומרים לו ״כבה״ ו״אל תכבה״, מפני שאין שביתתו עליהם. קטן הבא לכבות — אומרים לו ״אל תכבה״, ששביתתו עליהם.
The Talmud further suggests: Come and hear the following statement (Shabbat 121a): If a non-Jew comes to extinguish a Jew’s fire on Shabbat, one may not say to him: Extinguish, or: Do not extinguish, because responsibility for his rest is not incumbent upon the Jew. However, if a Jewish child comes to extinguish a fire on Shabbat, they do say to him: Do not extinguish, despite the fact that he is not yet obligated in mitzva observance, because responsibility for his rest is incumbent upon the Jew. This shows that one must prevent a minor from violating a Torah prohibition.