Gemara Clarity

Shabbos 81a

שבת פ״א ע״א

Shabbat 81a

Learn Shabbos 81a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 81a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Carrying amounts for bone, glass, and stone on שבת, and the rules for bathroom stones on שבת

Overview

The משנה lists the minimum amounts of bone, glass, and stone that make a person liable for carrying them out on שבת, based on what each is useful for. The גמרא asks why רבי יהודה's 'key' seems bigger than the רבנן's 'spoon'. עולא answers that he means only the small teeth of a key, and a ברייתא follows about when key teeth and lock teeth can become טמא. The גמרא then gives another measure for glass and sets the stone thrown at an animal at ten זוז, big enough for the animal to feel it. Next it turns to stones carried into the bathroom on שבת. The חכמים, answering זונין, settle on 'a handful', and רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה argue over nut-sized or egg-sized stones, just as they do about an אתרוג. Further rules exclude crumbly פאייס, forbid using a stone in the normal weekday way, and allow a stone with marks of earlier use. A ברייתא warning that a used stone causes hemorrhoids is answered three ways. רב יוסף rules that a stone whose marks were blurred by rain is still allowed if the marks can be recognized, and a new question to רב begins that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳

MISHNAH:

עֶצֶם כְּדֵי לַעֲשׂוֹת תַּרְווֹד.

A bone: enough to make a spoon.

רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Yehuda says:

כְּדֵי לַעֲשׂוֹת מִמֶּנּוּ חָף.

Enough to make a key out of it.

The steps (35)

  1. Statementמשנה: the minimum amount for a bone
  2. Statementמשנה: the minimum amount for glass
  3. Statementמשנה: the minimum amount for a pebble or stone
  4. ChallengeWhy is רבי יהודה's amount larger here?
  5. Resolutionעולא: רבי יהודה means only the teeth of a key
  6. Statementברייתא: when key teeth can become impure
  7. Statementברייתא: lock teeth attached to a door stay pure
  8. StatementAnother version of the glass amount
  9. StatementThe animal must actually feel the stone
  10. QuestionHow heavy is that stone?
  11. ResponseThe stone weighs ten זוז
  12. Questionזונין asks the size of bathroom stones
  13. ResponseThe Sages answer with three exact sizes
  14. Challengeזונין objects: nobody brings scales to the bathroom
  15. ConclusionThe Sages vote: a handful
  16. ProofA ברייתא records both positions
  17. StatementThree sharpened stones: רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה disagree on size
  18. Statementרב חסדא: the same dispute as with אתרוג
  19. ChallengeThe comparison is backwards
  20. ResolutionThe corrected wording
  21. Statementרב יהודה: not the פאייס
  22. QuestionWhat is פאייס?
  23. Responseרבי זירא: Babylonian clods
  24. Statementרבא: no weekday-style use of a stone on שבת
  25. Challengeמר זוטרא: should he endanger himself?
  26. ResolutionDo it in an unusual way
  27. Statementרבי ינאי: fixed bathroom or not
  28. Statementרב ששת: a stone with signs of use is allowed
  29. ChallengeA used stone causes hemorrhoids
  30. ResolutionFirst answer: moist versus dry
  31. ResolutionSecond answer: same side versus other side
  32. ResolutionThird answer: his own stone versus his friend's
  33. QuestionWhat if rain blurred the marks on the stone?
  34. ResponseIf the marks are still visible, the stone is permitted
  35. QuestionA new question is asked of רב