Gemara Clarity

Shabbos 153b

שבת קנ״ג ע״ב

Shabbat 153b

Learn Shabbos 153b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 153b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The traveler's pouch on שבת: חרש or קטן, the hidden method of carrying less than four אמות, the eighteen גזירות, putting the pouch on a donkey, and liability for מחמר

Overview

The amud continues the משנה about a traveler whose money pouch is with him when שבת begins. First the גמרא asks whether the pouch should go to a חרש or a קטן. According to רבי אליעזר it goes to the קטן, since a חרש may have some understanding. According to the רבנן the two are equal, and two traditions are recorded without a decision. If nobody at all is available, רבי יצחק reveals a method the חכמים kept hidden: carry it less than four אמות at a time. They hid it so people would not slip into carrying a full four אמות in a רשות הרבים. A ברייתא then records רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע disagreeing over whether the eighteen גזירות strengthened the תורה or overloaded the people, each with a parable. Back to the משנה: placing the pouch on a donkey seems to be the forbidden act of מחמר. רב אדא בר אהבה answers that the pouch is put on and taken off only while the donkey walks. רב פפא then explains why a donkey is allowed but a fellow Jew is not. רב אדא בר אהבה also rules that a person may run home with a package already on his shoulder. Finally, רמי בר חמא says מחמר brings חטאת or סקילה, and רבא offers two refutations. The second refutation is pushed aside, while the first, a comparison to עבודה זרה, stands.

Opening lines

לֹא תֵּצֵא לְחוּלִּין,

it does not go out to non-sacred status,

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא סָפֵק.

because he is a doubtful case.

כִּי תִּיבְּעֵי לָךְ אַלִּיבָּא דְּרַבָּנַן,

When you raise this question, it is according to the Rabbis,

דִּתְנַן: חֲמִשָּׁה לֹא יִתְרוֹמוּ,

as we learned: five may not separate teruma,

The steps (32)

  1. ProofEnd of the source: a חרש's תרומה stays in doubt
  2. StatementThe question really applies according to the רבנן
  3. QuestionDeaf-mute or minor: two competing reasons
  4. ResponseTwo traditions, no final decision
  5. QuestionWhat if nobody is available at all?
  6. Responseרבי יצחק: there was a hidden method
  7. QuestionWhat was the hidden method?
  8. ResponseCarry it in steps of less than four cubits
  9. QuestionWhy did the חכמים hide it?
  10. ResponseBecause of the verse about concealing for God's honor
  11. ChallengeHow is God's honor involved here?
  12. ResolutionThe concern: he may carry a full four cubits
  13. Statementרבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע disagree about the eighteen decrees
  14. StatementThe parable for רבי אליעזר's view: a basket that still holds mustard
  15. StatementThe parable for רבי יהושע's view: a bowl of honey that overflows
  16. ChallengeIsn't placing the pouch on the donkey forbidden as driving a loaded animal?
  17. ResolutionPlace it on the donkey while it is already walking
  18. ChallengeBut the donkey will have to stop at some point
  19. ResolutionRemove the pouch whenever the donkey stops
  20. ChallengeIf so, he could use a fellow Jew the same way
  21. Resolutionרב פפא's three-level scale: yourself, your fellow, your donkey
  22. StatementRunning home with a package on one's shoulder
  23. QuestionWhy only running?
  24. ResponseRunning acts as a reminder
  25. ChallengeHe must stop when he arrives home
  26. ResolutionHe throws the package in an unusual way
  27. StatementDriving a loaded animal brings full liability
  28. QuestionWhat is the source for this severity?
  29. Responseרבא: 'You and your animal' are compared
  30. Challengeרבא's first refutation: the whole Torah is compared to idolatry
  31. Challengeרבא's second refutation: an inference from the משנה about stoning
  32. RejectionRejecting the second refutation: the משנה may mean תחומין or הבערה