משנה דף ב, א; ביצה שנולדה ביום
טוב בית שמאי אומרים תאכל ובית הלל אומרים לא
תאכל
If an egg is laid on Yom Tov – Beis
Shamai say it may be eaten and Beis Hillel say that it may not be
eaten.
The gemara asks on the mishna:
במאי עסקינן, אילימא בתרנגולת העומדת לאכילה
מאי טעמייהו דבית הלל אוכלא דאפרת הוא אלא בתרנגולת העומדת לגדל ביצים מאי טעמייהו
דבית שמאי מוקצה היא
What is the case in the mishna? If you will
say that we are talking about a chicken that is meant to be eaten, then why do
Beis Hillel say that the egg is ossur – it is food that has seperated from
another food. Rather we must be talking about a chicken that is meant for laying
eggs, if so, what is the reason of Beis Shammai who say that the egg may be
eaten, it (the egg) is
muktzeh?
The explanation of the gemara
is as follows:
Muktzeh
There
are two types of
muktzeh, one type of
muktzeh is a prohibition of using the item, the second type of muktzeh is a
prohibition of moving the item. The term muktzeh when used in our gemara does
not refer to whether or not the item may be moved, although this is commonly
what people mean when they say that something is muktzeh on Yom Tov or Shabbos.
Here the term
muktzeh refers to whether
or not the item may be used, specifically whether the chicken and the egg may be
eaten.
The prohibition of using
muktzeh is more severe than the
prohibition of moving
muktzeh items.
Rashi on 'עמוד ב quotes a gemara in Pesachim where it is suggested
that the prohibition of using a
muktzeh item may even be
ossur mideoraisoh (forbidden by Torah law and
liable to
malkos - lashes). The second
type of muktzeh is definitely only
ossur
miderabonon (forbidden by Rabbinical Law).
The
Egg
The basis to consider the egg to
be muktzeh is becuase the egg is
nolad,
it has been created anew on Yom Tov. This is a very severe form of
muktzeh. Rainwater that falls on Shabbos or
Yom Tov has a similar
halachah of
muktzeh. The word
muktzeh means set aside. The opposite of
muktzeh is
muchan - prepared. If something only appears
on Yom Tov, such as an egg or rainwater, it was not possible for anyone to
intend to use it on Yom Tov or Shabbos because yesterday it did not exist, by
default it is
muktzeh.
Nevertheless, the gemara
states that halachah of the egg is dependant on the halachah of the
chicken that laid the egg:
Chicken
before the eggBefore we can
understand whether or not the egg is muktzeh, we have to consider if the chicken
that laid the egg is muktzeh. This depends on whether or not the chicken is used
for laying eggs or if the chicken has been designated to be eaten. On Yom Tov,
you are allowed to
shecht (slaughter)
animals and cook them. Therefore, if the chicken is set aside to be eaten, it is
not
muktzeh becuase it may be
shechted (slaughtered) and eaten today. The
egg that it lays is also not
muktzeh. We
do not consider the egg to be a new creation and
muktzeh becuase of
nolad, it is simply a part of the chicken that
has become detached. Both the chicken and the egg are food items, the egg is
simply a small piece of food that has seperated from a large piece of
food. This is similar to slicing a piece from a loaf of bread where we do
not say that the piece sliced from the loaf is
muktzeh because it is a new creation.
Therefore the
gemara asks; If the
chicken is designated to be eaten, why do Beis Hillel say that the egg may not
be eaten?
However, if the chicken is set aside for laying eggs, then the
owner does not want it to be slaughtered and the chicken is
muktzeh becuase it is not intended for use on
Yom Tov. The chicken is not classified as a food item. Therefore the status of
the chicken does not help the egg, and we return to the basic halacha of
nolad. The egg is a new creation, it was not
prepared from the weekday for Yom Tov, and everyone should agree that the egg is
muktzeh. Why do Beis Shammai say that
the egg may be eaten?
Hachonoh De'Rabboh -
Rabbah's halachah of preparing
The gemara gives four explanations
for the machlokes between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel. We will deal here with
the second explanation that is given by Rabbah on the second amud:
אלא אמר רבה לעולם בתרנגולת העומדת לאכילה וביום
טוב שחל להיות אחר השבת עסקינן ומשום הכנה וקסבר רבה כל ביצה דמתילדא האידנא מאתמול
גמרה לה
"Rabbah says, really we are talking about a chicken that
is meant to be eaten (if so, the question is, why is the egg assur according to
Beis Hillel?) and we are talking about a case where Yom Tov falls (on Sunday,
the day) after Shabbos. The reason that the egg is forbidden is because of
“preparation” and Rabbah is of the opinion that an egg that is laid today is
finished within the chicken on the previous day."
Rashi explains:
"Every egg that was laid today was completed
yesterday: And even altough this was done by Hashem [so there is no
prohibition in the preparation, just as Hashem cases rain to fall and plants to
grow on Shabbos, nevertheless] the egg is still forbidden because we require
that all Shabbos meals and Yom Tov meals should be readied and prepared from the
previous ordinary weekday."
The reason that the egg is forbidden
is not becuase there was anything wrong done when it was created on Shabbos, but
is rather because it lacks [verbal] preparation from the weekday. Rabboh is of
the opinion that not only must food be physically prepared from the weekday for
Shabbos but also that the food must be verbally or mentally prepared in honour
of Shabbos from a weekday.
The gemara continues to explain that
Rabbah learns this halachah from a passuk in the Torah:
ורבה לטעמיה דאמר רבה מאי דכתיב והיה ביום הששי
והכינו את אשר יביאו חול מכין לשבת וחול מכין ליום טוב ואין יו"ט מכין לשבת ואין
שבת מכינה ליום טוב
Rabbah goes according to his own reasoning
because Rabbah said, what does the passuk mean when it says “And it will be on
the sixth day and they will prepare that which they will bring” - Weekday
prepares for Shabbas, and weekday prepares for Yom Tov, Yom Tov cannot prepare
for Shabbos and Shabbos cannot prepare for Yom Tov.
Rashi
explains:
"Rabbah who says that
preparation [from Shabbos to Yom Tov] is
ossur even if it was not actually done by
hand."
"Goes according to his own
reasoning, because Rabbah said in Pesachim - and he learns from here that
the prohibition of muktzeh is mideoraisoh (a Torah Law)."
"Veheichinu – and they
should prepare – for example the person says from here I will eat tomorrow –
because if you will say that the possuk is refering to physical food
preparation and that the possuk is saying that they should bake and cook from
the previous day, this is already stated in a different passuk - "That which you
will want to bake, you should bake" - rather the passuk is talking about
preparing the food verbally - and the passuk says והיה ביום הששי - and it
will be on the sixth day - and a normal sixth day of the week is not Yom Tov. So
you see that Hashem made the Shabbos meal important so that he should prepare it
verbally from the previous day and from a weekday (not Shabbos or Yom
Tov)."
The explanation that Rabbah gives in the mishna is dependant on
three facts:
1) An
ukimtah
- A circumstance: The source of the halachah is a case when Yom Tov falls
on Sunday.
2) A biological fact: If an egg is laid today, it was
finished inside the chicken yesterday.
The egg was laid on Yom Tov that
fell on a Sunday, therefore the formation of the egg was completed on
Shabbos.
3) A
halacha: Food that
is eaten on Shabbos or Yom Tov must have been intended to be eaten on Yom Tov or
Shabbos from a weekday becuase Shabbos and Yom Tov are important and meals eaten
on Shabbos or Yom Tov have to be readied to be eaten from a
weekday.
Therefore, if an egg was laid on Yom Tov that fell on a Sunday,
and we know that the formation of the egg was completed on Shabbos, then the egg
may not be eaten on Yom Tov because it did not exist during an ordinary weekday
and could never have been prepared for Yom Tov on a weekday.
The gemara
continues to explain that even if an egg is born on Yom Tov that did not fall on
Sunday, the egg is still ossur, because of a
gezeiroh onto a case when Yom Tov was on
Sunday.
The RashbaThe Rashba asks a number of
questions on Rashi's explanation of the
gemara. One of the questions is as
follows:
Rashi explains that the halcaha of Rabbah is a new stringency in
muktzeh. If so, even if the egg is
laid on Yom Tov during the week it should still be
muktzah becuase it was not prepared to be
eaten on Yom Tov? The owner did not say "
mikaan
ani ochel lemochor" - "I will eat from this tomorrow." Why does the
gemara say that the only reason that the egg is ossur if it is laid on a
Yom Tov that is not Sunday is because of a
gezeiroh?
If an egg is laid on Yom Tov
that falls on Wednesday, for example, then owner of the egg never knew about the
existence of the egg within the chicken on Tuesday. Therefore the egg was never
prepared to be eaten for Yom Tov. Every food that is eaten on Shabbos or Yom Tov
must have been intended to be eaten because the meals on Yom Tov and Shabbos are
important and require that the food be readied for the occasion.
The egg
was never readied and it should be ossur to eat even on a Yom Tov which is not
Sunday? Why does the gemara say that this is only ossur becuase of a
gezeiroh?
The Shitah
MekubetzesThe
Shitah Mekubetzes answers as
follows:
If an egg is laid on Yom Tov that falls during the week and not
on Sunday, the reason that the egg may be eaten is because of the halachah of
"
uchla de'afras" - "food that has
seperated." Rabbah explains that the mishna is referring to an chicken that is
meant to be eaten. The chicken may be shechted on Yom Tov and is a type of food.
Therefore, even although the egg itself was not prepared to be eaten, because it
is a part of a chicken that was, it acquires the prepared status of the chicken
and may be eaten.
If so, asks the
Shitah
Mekubetzes on himself, even if the egg is laid on Sunday on Yom Tov, it
should still be permissible becuase of the halachah of "
uchla de'afras" - "food that has
seperated"?
Three Types of
PreparationThe
Shitah
Mekubetzes explains that the
halacha of
Hachana De'Rabbah states that
all food preparation must be prepared for Yom
Tov or Shabbos from a weekday. This applies to three types of
preparation:
1)
Hachana beyadayim
- physical preparation such as cooking and baking. Food may not be cooked on Yom
Tov for Shabbos.
2)
Hachanah
be'peh - verbal preparation - the person who is going to eat the food
must say "
mikaan ani ochel lemochor" - I
am going to eat from this food tomorrow
3)
Hachanah biyedei shamayim - Preparation that
is done by Hashem.
Explains the
shitah, Rabbah states that not only
hachana beyadayim, physically cooking and
preparing food is significant, but also that
hachana bepeh, verbal preparation is ossur.
You must prepare food verbally for Yom Tov, if this is done on Shabbos it simply
does not work, the food is unprepared. Shabbos is a day of rest, any preparation
that is done on Shabbos does not work. The Torah does not recognise any change
in state or development with regards to food preparation that is performed on
Shabbos.
By the same reasoning, we discount
Hachana Biyedei Shamayim is done on Shabbos,
it is "
kemaan delesoh" - it is as if it
isn't. Just as if food was verbally prepared on Shabbos for Yom Tov the
preparation is invalid and the food is un-prepared because Shabbos is a day of
rest and not a day of preparation, so too if the food is physically created
Biyedei Shamayim on Shabbos, the
preparation does not work and it is as if the egg was not made into an
egg.
Therefore, when the egg is laid on Sunday, we cannot say the
halachah of '
uchla de'afras' - food that
has seperated. The egg is not considered to be part of the chicken. The chicken
is food but the egg is not, it is not
tofel - secondary - to the chicken and remains
muktzeh.
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