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Shabbos 38b

שבת ל״ח ע״ב

Shabbat 38b

Learn Shabbos 38b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 38b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Cooking-related rules on שבת: returning a pot to the כירה, the תנור and כופח, and heating with indirect heat (an egg by the urn, the טבריה water pipe)

Overview

The amud first finishes the point that בית הלל allow returning a pot to the כירה even on שבת. It supports this with רבי חייא רבה's silence when a kettle was returned in front of him. It then asks whether this applies only while the pot is still in hand or even after it was set on the ground. רבי תדאי, רבי יוחנן, and two reports of רבי אלעזר disagree, and חזקיה in the name of אביי adds the factor of intention (דעתו להחזיר) in two versions. Questions about a stick, a bed, and pouring into another urn end in תיקו. A new משנה then contrasts the תנור with the כופח. רב יוסף and אביי argue over whether leaning a pot against a תנור is allowed, and a ברייתא backs אביי. The גמרא explains that a כופח holds an in-between amount of heat and has room for only one pot. A third משנה forbids cooking an egg with indirect heat and tells the story of the טבריה water pipe. The amud ends with רב יוסף ruling that roasting the egg makes one liable for a חטאת, and a proof that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַחְזִירִין, אֲפִילּוּ בְּשַׁבָּת.

one may (even) return it, even on Shabbat.

וְאַף רַבִּי אוֹשַׁעְיָא סָבַר

And Rabbi Oshaya also holds

״אַף מַחְזִירִין״ — אֲפִילּוּ בְּשַׁבָּת.

'one may even return' — even on Shabbat.

דְּאָמַר רַבִּי אוֹשַׁעְיָא:

As Rabbi Oshaya said:

The steps (29)

  1. ConclusionReturning the pot is allowed even on שבת
  2. Statementרבי אושעיא holds the same view
  3. ProofThe story of the kettle before רבי חייא
  4. Statementרבי תדאי: only while still in his hand
  5. Rejectionרבי אמי: רבי תדאי's view was his own
  6. Statementרבי יוחנן: even after setting it on the ground
  7. Statementרב דימי and רב שמואל בר יהודה disagree
  8. Statementחזקיה (version 1): intention matters even while in hand
  9. Statementחזקיה (version 2): intention can save even the ground case
  10. Questionרבי ירמיה asks about a stick or a bed
  11. Questionרב אשי asks about pouring into another urn
  12. ConclusionThe questions remain unresolved
  13. Statementמשנה: an oven is forbidden, and a כופח depends on its fuel
  14. Statementרב יוסף: only inside and on top are forbidden; leaning is allowed
  15. Challengeאביי quotes the משנה and draws an inference
  16. Challengeאביי proves the משנה must be about leaning
  17. Resolutionרב אדא בר אהבה: the case is a swept and covered device
  18. ProofA ברייתא supports אביי: leaning against an oven is forbidden
  19. Questionרב אחא asks: is a כופח like a stove or like an oven?
  20. Responseרב אשי: a כופח's heat is in-between
  21. QuestionWhat exactly is a כופח and what is a כירה?
  22. ResponseOne pot space versus two pot spaces
  23. ProofProof from a broken stove in the laws of purity
  24. Statementמשנה: no cooking an egg with indirect heat
  25. StatementThe story of the טבריה water pipe
  26. StatementThe ruling of חכמים on the טבריה water
  27. QuestionWhat if someone did roast the egg?
  28. Responseרב יוסף: liable for a חטאת
  29. Proofמר בריה דרבינא begins a proof