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Moed Katan 11a

מועד קטן י״א ע״א

Learn Moed Katan 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Work on חול המועד: a layman's work versus a craftsman's work, repairs and preserving food in the משנה, preventing a loss, and the end of the first chapter.

Overview

This amud finishes the first chapter of מועד קטן, which is about work on חול המועד. It opens with the end of a ברייתא: buying at a gentile fair counts as rescuing property, so a chance you will lose is treated like a loss. Stories follow. רב allows simple traps, which are a layman's work (מעשה הדיוט), but not nets, which are a craftsman's work (מעשה אומן). רב יהודה allows building ovens, but only in summer, when the oven will be ready for the festival. A new משנה then allows simple repairs: a railing, oven cracks smoothed by hand or foot, broken door parts, and pickling food that can be eaten during the festival. The גמרא explains each line. To settle a clash with the hammering that stopped in ירושלים, it brings several answers and concludes that in practice we follow רבי יוסי, who allows normal work to prevent a loss. A story about רבא letting people salt fish leads to fish-eating tips from רב, and the chapter ends with הדרן.

Opening lines

לְיָרִיד שֶׁל גּוֹיִם,

to a fair of gentiles,

וְלוֹקְחִים בְּהֵמָה, עֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחוֹת,

and buy animals, slaves and maidservants,

בָּתִּים, שָׂדוֹת וּכְרָמִים,

houses, fields and vineyards,

וְכוֹתֵב וּמַעֲלֶה בָּעַרְכָּאוֹת שֶׁלָּהֶן,

and he may write [the deeds] and confirm [them] in their courts,

The steps (39)

  1. ProofBuying at a gentile fair counts as rescuing property
  2. Statementרב allows weaving simple traps on חול המועד
  3. StatementNets are forbidden because they are a craftsman's work
  4. Statementרב יהודה allows making ovens and sieves
  5. ChallengeChallenge from a ברייתא that forbids building an oven
  6. ResolutionSummer versus the rainy season
  7. Statementמשנה: a railing may be built only in a simple way
  8. Statementמשנה: smoothing oven cracks by hand or foot, not with a tool
  9. StatementFixing broken door parts on the holiday
  10. StatementPickling food that will be ready during the holiday
  11. QuestionWhat counts as a layman's railing?
  12. Responseרב יוסף: a railing of branches
  13. ResponseA ברייתא: stones without plaster
  14. ChallengeWhy mention hand and foot after a roller?
  15. ResolutionLike a roller, using hand or foot
  16. StatementOur משנה: broken door parts may be fixed
  17. ChallengeContradiction from the hammering in Jerusalem
  18. ResolutionSmiths versus carpenters
  19. Rejectionרב חסדא: people will think only noise matters
  20. Resolutionרב חסדא: sickles versus chisels
  21. Resolutionרב פפא: before and after the decree
  22. Resolutionרב אשי: a debate between רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי
  23. ProofSupport: רבי יוסי is lenient about a loss
  24. StatementOur practice of lifting the door lintel follows רבי יוסי
  25. StatementThe משנה's rule about pickling on the מועד
  26. Statementרבא allows salting the fish from the river
  27. Challengeאביי challenges רבא from the משנה
  28. ResolutionThe fish count as merchandise about to be lost
  29. StatementA second version: רבא allowed catching and salting
  30. Challengeאביי challenges the second version too
  31. ResolutionSalted fish can be eaten right away by pressing
  32. ProofProof from שמואל, who ate pressed fish
  33. Statementרבא ate pressed fish at the ריש גלותא's house
  34. Statementרב is served a fish made three ways
  35. StatementFish is best just before it spoils
  36. StatementBrother, father, and son: how to prepare fish
  37. StatementWalk, don't sleep, after fish, cress, and milk
  38. StatementWhat to drink after fish, cress, and milk
  39. ConclusionHadran — Closing משקין בית השלחין