Shabbat 53 – Additional wear for the animals

A donkey may go into a public area on Shabbat with a saddle cloth, provided that it was tied onto it before Shabbat. Donkeys are always cold, and that is why they need the saddle cloth, which goes underneath the saddle. However, the saddle cloth needs to have been tied before Shabbat, for then it is a proof that the donkey indeed needs it, and that is it not for the needs of the owner. The reason that it has to be tied at all is this: if the saddle cloth falls off the donkey, the owner may come to carry it at least four steps himself, and thus violate the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat.

Rams may go attached (in pairs) – the same term is used in the Song of Songs, “You attached (captivated) my heart, my sister, my bride.” Ulla gives a different explanation: attached means with leather attached close to their hearts, next to the underbelly. When a wolf attacks, the ram gets up on its hind legs to fight the wolf, and the wolf then bites the underbelly. Do wolves then attack only male sheep, and not females? Females also need protection! – Rather, the males are attacked because they are fat. Are females then never fat? And furthermore, do wolves know the difference? – Rather, the male sheep are attacked because they hold their noses high and look from side to side when walking, so the wolves think that they are being attacked.

Art: Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski - Attack of Wolves

Shabbat 52 – What may an animal wear on Shabbat

The Torah prohibited one to work his animal on Shabbat, by saying “On Shabbat don’t do anything that constitutes work, you, your son, your daughter,… and your animal.“  Therefore, one cannot make his animal carry a load. If so, how can it graze, being that this is a prohibited labor of reaping? – The animal should be at ease, and restraining it would cause pain. Accordingly, the following rule tells us what constitutes not a burden, but normal animals’ wear and can therefore be worn by animals on Shabbat.

A camel may wear a halter – a rope that is used to control it. All animals that normally wear a collar may go into a public area on Shabbat while wearing.

Incidentally, if one needs to sprinkle the animal with the ashes of a red heifer, to remove the impurity of the dead, one needs not take the collar off. So too, if he needs to immerse the animal, he may keep the collar on.

However, we know that only humans can become ritually impure, and that the laws of ritual impurity do not apply to animals at all. – It is the collar that became impure and requires purification. But even so, it is an animal’s collar, not a utensil used by people, and the Torah talked about impurity only for utensils in people’s use!? – This collar was initially made for humans, and then re-used for an animal.

Art: Jean-Léon Gérôme - Camels at a Watering Trough

Shabbat 51 – Warm food on Shabbat

Earlier we saw that there is a prohibition to wrap, or insulate hot pot of food on Shabbat. Before it is night, one should not use materials that add heat, and on Shabbat itself – not even materials that don’t add heat.

However, that only applies if he did not wrap his pot while it was yet day. If he did, then even if the pot became uncovered, he can cover it again. Why? The whole reason for wrapping prohibition is so that he would not rake the coals and would not reheat the pot, if he finds that it has somewhat cooled off. If there is no such suspicion, accordingly, there is no prohibition.

Therefore, if he poured the food into another, different container, then he can wrap one. The logic here is that he already cooled the food off by pouring it into another container, so certainly he won’t reheat that new container.

In a similar vein, one may wrap cold food so that they stay cold, and even to take the chill off – again, for the reason that there is no prohibition to stop him from doing.

Art: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin - Leeks, a casserole with a cloth, a copper pot and cover, an onion and eggs with a pestle and mortar, on a stone ledge

Shabbat 50 – Are branches prepared to sit on them on Shabbat?

It happened once that Rav Chanina ben Akiva came to a certain place and found branches of date palms that were harvested for firewood. He told his students, “Go and mentally designate these branches for us, so that we may sit on them tomorrow (on Shabbat)." Zeiri, who was retelling this episode, added, “And I don’t know if it was for the house of feasting (wedding) or for the house of mourning.”

From these words of Zeiri we see that only in such a place where people are preoccupied did Rav Chanina permit a mental designation, but in a normal situation he would require a physical action - tying the bundles - in order to sit on them on Shabbat. Otherwise they would be considered muktzeh, set aside from Shabbat use. However, although the Talmud goes into details elucidating it, the law does not follow this strict view.

Ameimar, mar Zutra and Rav Ashi were sitting together one Shabbat, and they brought them “barda,” a mix of aloe, myrtle, and violets. Ameimar and Rav Ashi washed their faces and hands with it, but Mar Zutra did not. They asked him, “Are you afraid that you will accidentally remove some hair from your skin on Shabbat, through the use of aloe? – But the law is like Rabbi Shimon, that it is permitted, since the hair is removed only accidentally!” However, his reason was different – a man should not beautify himself as a woman does. Then what was their reason? – Just the opposite, one should clean and beautify himself, since this brings glory to God. In fact, one must say a blessing on a seeing handsome creature.

Art: Francisco De Goya y Lucientes

Shabbat 49 – Elisha with the dove's wings

Continuing with the list of materials that may be used to wrap, or insulate hot food before Shabbat – one can use clothing, produce (such as wheat or beans), dove's feathers, carpenter's sawdust, and flax combings – because all these don't add heat, an thus there is no danger that using them one can also start using ashes and then even rake the coals.

Actually, any feathers can be used, but dove's feathers are mentioned because they were more common and because of a story that follows. What was Elisha's relationship with dove's wings? Once the Roman government passed an edict that anyone who dons tefillin will have his brain under tefillin taken out. Nevertheless, this person named Elisha was wearing them in the marketplace. A certain Roman quaestor saw him; Elisha fled from him, and the officer pursued. As the officer caught up, Elisha took the tefillin off and held them in his hand. “What is in your hand?” – asked the officer. Elisha answered, “Dove's wings”. He opened his hand, and indeed they were found to be dove's wings, and that is how Elisha got his nickname.

Why did Elisha refer specifically to a dove? – Because of its connection to the Jewish people, who is protected with good deeds just as the dove is protected with wings. Why was Elisha not required to sacrifice his life, and on the other hand, how was he allowed to put his life in danger in the first place – these questions are also discussed.

One may insulate the food with hides, and even move them, because even unprocessed hives can be used for reclining. However, there is still a question about the hides of a craftstman, who plans to sell them – perhaps they are not designated for use on Shabbat and may not be handled, as muktzeh.

Art: Franz Werner von Tamm - Doves

Shabbat 48 – Wrap the food

On Friday afternoon before Shabbat, when one takes hot food off the stove, he may want to wrap, or insulate it, in order to keep it warm. That is allowed, as long as the material he uses does not add heat on its own. The reason is that if he were allowed to put his pot into heating substance, he might come to put it into hot ash mixed with live coals, and that in turn could lead him to rake the coals.

Therefore, one should not put the hot pot into olive pulp, manure, salt, lime, or sand, whether wet or dry, because all these add heat. He also may not use straw or grape skins if they are moist, but the dry ones are safe. He may use dry flocking (tufts of unprocessed cotton or soft wool).

Rav Adda bar Matnah asked, “Granted that one may insulate his food with flocking, but can he then move that flocking? Is it not set aside, and not fit for Shabbat use?” Abaye answered with a question, “Just because he does not have a box of straw and uses expensive material, does he renounce his use if it for later? – Of course not, he will do something with it later, and therefore he should not move it on Shabbat!” The Talmud answers, “It could be that this logic only applies if he did not use flocking for insulation, and he is not going to lie down on it, so indeed it has no use on Shabbat, but if he used it as insulation, that's exactly its use!” The question thus remains not completely resolved.

Art: Gustave Caillebotte - Interior Of A Studio With Stove

Shabbat 47 – Ash

Rabbi Assi stated that Rabbi Yehudah the Prince permitted moving a censer on Shabbat, along with its ashes. Rabbi Zeira said to him, “How could this be? Granted that one may move a basket with a stone inside, but that is only because this basket also has fruit in it; censer has only ashes, and they are not fit for use on Shabbat, and therefore muktzeh!”

Rabbi Assi was confounded for a moment, and then said, “Here too we are dealing with a censer that has granules of unburned incense! They are not muktzeh, and the censer can be carried because of them.” However, Abaye rejected this explanation: “Granules are not considered as anything in the household of Rabbi Yehudah the Prince. Rather, Rabbi Yehudah wanted the unpleasant censer moved away.” Rava, in turn, rejected this: “Censer is not repugnant, and besides, the ashes in a censer are covered. Rather, the ashes themselves were planned to be used on Shabbat, for covering dirt, and that is why they were not muktzeh, in fact, they were the important part, even if the rest was muktzeh.”

We thus see the rule: a muktzeh object may be moved together with another, permitted object, if they are together in one container, and if the permitted object is the more important one.

Going back to the Shabbat lamp, one may put a vessel under it, to catch the falling sparks, but not place water in that vessel. How is this different from a plate to collect dripping oil, which was forbidden? – Sparks are insignificant. Then why not put water? – Because that would be too close to actively extinguishing them.

Art: Wolfgang Heimbach - Young woman with an oil lamp