Shabbos 99b

שבת צ״ט ע״ב

Shabbat 99b

Learn Shabbos 99b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Carrying between domains: passing through exempt air, narrow walls that create a רשות היחיד, and partitions created or removed at the moment of lifting or placing

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a teaching about a pit (בור) in the public domain. To draw from it on שבת you need a ten-טפחים partition, and to drink you must put your head and most of your body inside. Next, רב מרדכי asks whether a person is חייב for throwing an object onto a column ten high and four wide, since on its way up the object passes through the exempt air above ten טפחים. The sages point to the משנה that rules one who places on top of such a structure is חייב. רב מרדכי deflects this: the משנה may be about a needle slid in through a protrusion or groove below ten. רבי יוחנן then asks about a wall less than four wide that turns an enclosed כרמלית into a רשות היחיד. עולא and a report in רבי יוחנן's own name rule by קל וחומר that throwing onto that wall makes one חייב. רבי יוחנן also asks what happens when lifting or placing an object happens at the same moment that a pit's ten-טפחים partition is created or removed. A proof from the fig cake (דבילה שמינה) is rejected. רבא's question about a board thrown with an object riding on it ends in תיקו. Finally רבא begins discussing what counts as placement on water, a topic that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. StatementRules for using a pit in the public domain on שבת
2. Questionרב מרדכי asks about throwing onto a tall column
3. ResponseThree sages answer that the משנה already teaches this
4. Rejectionרב מרדכי rejects the repeated answer
5. ProofThe sages quote the משנה: placing on top makes one liable
6. Rejectionרב מרדכי: maybe the משנה is about a needle
7. ChallengeEven a needle must rise a little
8. ResolutionA protrusion or a groove below ten
9. QuestionA narrow wall that encloses a private domain
10. Responseעולא's קל וחומר
11. ProofA report confirms the ruling of חייב
12. QuestionDigging out earth that deepens a pit to ten
13. QuestionPutting earth into a pit and making it shallow
14. ProofProposed proof from the משנה about throwing at a wall
15. ProofThe fig cake shortens the distance, yet he is still liable
16. RejectionThe fig cake is not nullified, but the earth is
17. Questionרבא asks about a board landing on stakes
18. ChallengeThis seems to be the same as רבי יוחנן's question
19. Resolutionרבא's real question: a board with an object riding on top
20. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
21. Statementרבא: water poured onto water counts as placed