Shabbos 5a

שבת ה׳ ע״א

Shabbat 5a

Learn Shabbos 5a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 5a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Does a person's hand count as a place of four by four טפחים for עקירה and הנחה on שבת? The amud then turns to related rulings about catching, throwing, and gathering rainwater.

Overview

The גמרא wants to know how the משנה can make someone liable when an object is lifted from a hand or placed into one, since עקירה and הנחה normally need a place of four by four טפחים. It tries to match the משנה to רבי and then to אחרים, but rejects both. רבי אבא says the object was really in a basket held in the hand. רבי אבהו objects to adding a basket and says the hand was held within three טפחים of the ground. רבא rejects these forced cases and gives a simple rule: a person's hand counts as four by four, and רבי יוחנן said the same. רבי יוחנן adds that a hand counts even when its owner did not choose to use it, and that the thrower is liable only if the catcher stood still. He asks what happens if the thrower runs and catches the object himself, and the question ends with תיקו. Finally, the גמרא discusses catching rainwater in a friend's חצר and explains it as actively gathering the water from a sloped wall. It then starts to quote the משנה where רבא first spoke about a sloped wall, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (39)

1. Rejectionרבי's leniency only applies in a covered private domain
2. ChallengeCould the משנה also be about a covered area?
3. Proofרב: no liability in a covered public domain
4. Resolutionרבי זירא: the משנה follows אחרים
5. ProofProof that אחרים do not require a four-טפחים area
6. RejectionMaybe only placing doesn't need four handbreadths, not lifting
7. RejectionMaybe he caught it in his spread-out garment
8. Resolutionרבי אבא: the object moved from basket to basket
9. ChallengeBut the משנה says his hand
10. ResolutionReread it as the basket in his hand
11. ChallengeA basket in the public domain counts as a private domain
12. ResolutionThe משנה does not follow רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה
13. ProofThe ברייתא of the basket on a pole
14. ProofAccording to him the homeowner moves private to private
15. ResolutionThe basket reading works even for רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה
16. Challengeרבי אבהו objects: the משנה says 'his hand,' not 'basket'
17. Resolutionרבי אבהו: the hand was lowered within three טפחים of the ground
18. ChallengeBut the משנה says the poor man is standing
19. ResolutionThree ways a standing man's hand can be near the ground
20. Rejectionרבא rejects the forced cases
21. Resolutionרבא: a person's hand counts as four by four
22. Proofרבין reports the same rule from רבי יוחנן
23. StatementThrowing an object into a friend's hand makes the thrower liable
24. ChallengeWhy repeat a rule רבי יוחנן already taught?
25. ResolutionThe hand counts even when its owner did not choose to use it
26. StatementThe catcher must stay in place for the thrower to be liable
27. ProofA ברייתא supports this ruling
28. QuestionWhat if a person throws an object and runs to catch it himself?
29. QuestionWhat exactly is the doubt?
30. ResponseTwo forces in one person: one person or two?
31. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
32. StatementCatching rainwater in another's courtyard and carrying it out
33. Challengeרבי זירא: the person did no lifting at all
34. ResolutionRead 'gathered' instead of 'received'
35. ChallengeLifting must be from a place of four handbreadths
36. ResolutionHe gathered the water from the wall
37. ChallengeThe water never rested on the wall
38. ResolutionThe wall was sloped
39. QuestionWhere did רבא say this?