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Shabbos 117b

שבת קי״ז ע״ב

Shabbat 117b

Learn Shabbos 117b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Saving food from a fire on שבת: the three-meal limit and its reason, the broken-barrel ברייתא and הערמה, bread customs learned from the מן, and the number of שבת meals

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a discussion from the previous משנה. רב אשי defines a closed alley and an open alley for bringing כתבי הקודש there during a fire, and he explains that even רבי אליעזר agrees one לחי is enough for a ספר תורה. A new משנה then teaches that during a fire on שבת one may save food only for the meals still left, while רבי יוסי says one may always save three meals' worth. רבא explains the limit: a panicked owner might come to put out the fire. אביי challenges this from a ברייתא about a broken barrel on a roof, and רבא answers that the barrel case has its own decree about carrying through רשות הרבים. The גמרא then studies that ברייתא in full, including the rule about guests and a dispute over הערמה. It asks whether that dispute matches the argument of רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע about an animal and its offspring in a pit, and it rejects the comparison. More ברייתות follow about which bread may be saved and about bread left in the oven, which must be removed with a knife to make a change on שבת. Next come teachings learned from the מן: rising early on Friday, לחם משנה, and customs about breaking the שבת bread. Last, the גמרא returns to the משנה, brings the dispute over whether there are three or four שבת meals, and begins checking whose view the משנה follows, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֶלָּא אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי:

Rather, Rav Ashi said:

שָׁלֹשׁ מְחִיצּוֹת וְלֶחִי אֶחָד —

Three walls and one side-post —

זֶה מָבוֹי שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְפוּלָּשׁ.

this is the alley that is not open (closed).

שָׁלֹשׁ מְחִיצּוֹת בְּלֹא לֶחִי —

Three walls without a side-post —

The steps (33)

  1. Resolutionרב אשי defines a closed alley and an open alley
  2. ConclusionEven רבי אליעזר agrees that one post is enough for a ספר תורה
  3. StatementNew משנה: how much food may be saved from a fire on שבת
  4. Statementרבי יוסי: always three meals
  5. ChallengeWhy limit saving permitted food at all?
  6. Resolutionרבא: a panicked person might put out the fire
  7. Challengeאביי's challenge from the broken barrel
  8. Resolutionרבא: the barrel case has its own decree
  9. StatementThe גמרא quotes the full barrel ברייתא
  10. StatementWhen guests arrive, extra vessels are allowed
  11. StatementInvite first, then catch
  12. StatementMay one use a trick by inviting guests just to save the wine?
  13. QuestionIs this the same as an older dispute?
  14. StatementThe animal and its offspring in a pit
  15. Rejectionרבי אליעזר may have had a special reason
  16. Rejectionרבי יהושע may have had a special reason
  17. StatementWhich bread you may save
  18. StatementFor which day you may save food
  19. StatementBread forgotten in the oven
  20. StatementTake it out with a knife, not a paddle
  21. ChallengeRemoving bread is not a forbidden labor
  22. ResolutionChange whatever can be changed
  23. StatementRise early on Friday to prepare for שבת
  24. StatementBreaking bread over two loaves on שבת
  25. Statementרב כהנא held two loaves but cut only one
  26. Statementרבי זירא cut a piece large enough for his whole meal
  27. ChallengeDoesn't a huge piece look like gluttony?
  28. ResolutionNot gluttony, because he only does it on שבת
  29. StatementUsing the ערוב bread for the שבת blessing
  30. StatementBack to the משנה: how the fire case works
  31. StatementHow many שבת meals: three or four
  32. StatementBoth views come from the three times 'today' appears in one verse
  33. ChallengeQuoting the משנה to test רבי חידקא