Today we begin the seventh chapter of messechet TB Shabbat with daf 68. This chapter will discuss the 39
different categories of melakhah, מלכאה, labors. Its definition will be helpful as we continue our
journey in this massechet.
“In arriving at his interpretation of ‘melakhah,’ Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch starts with the basic idea
that the Sabbath testifies to God as the supreme Creator of heaven and earth
and all they contain. Man, however, is engaged in a constant struggle to gain
mastery over God’s creation, to bring nature under his control. By the use of
his God-given intelligence, skill and energy, he has in large measure succeeded
in this. He is thus constantly in danger of forgetting his own creaturehood-his
utter and complete dependence on the Lord of all things. He tends to forget
that the very powers he used in his conquest of nature are derived from his Creator,
and who service his life and work should be conducted… God willed therefore
that the Jew, whilst subduing and controlling his environment like every other
human being, must recognize, and show
that he recognizes, that his powers are derived from one higher than
himself. This recognition is to express by dedicating one day in every week to
God, and by refraining on this day from every activity which signifies human
power over nature… We have thus arrived at the definition we have been
searching for. A Melakhah is an act
that shows man’s mastery over the world by the constructive exercise of his
intelligence and skill.” (The Sabbath by Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, pages 16-19) The
Mishnah on daf TB Shabbat 73a list the 39 different melakhot (the plural of melakhah)
According to the Torah the punishment for one who is warned that the
impending act will violate the Sabbath and he intentionally violates the
Sabbath is death by stoning. The punishment for one who intentionally violates
the Sabbath but is not warned is kareit,
a punishment implemented by God alone. A person is obligated to bring a sin
offering, a chatat חטאת, when the punishment is kareit.
Then there is a category of a shogag,
שוגג. A shogag knew what
he was doing was a melakhah, but was
in a state of unawareness that the day was Shabbat. Afterwards he became aware that
the day was Shabbat. He too is obligated to offer a chatat.
The Mishnah states “One who
forgets the essence of Shabbat, i.e.,
one who is entirely ignorant of the mitzva of Shabbat according to Torah law, and
performed numerous prohibited labors on multiple Shabbatot, is liable
to bring only one sin-offering for all those labors when he becomes
aware that those actions were prohibited… (In the Gemara) Rav and Shmuel
who both said: Even a child who was taken captive among the gentiles and a
convert who converted among the gentiles (and never learned the halakhot of Shabbat) have the same legal
status as one who knew and ultimately forgot, and they are liable
to bring a sin-offering for their unwitting transgression, even though they
never learned about Shabbat.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish both
disagreed with Rav and Shmuel’s understanding who is liable to bring a chatat. “And it was Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish
who both said: He is liable to bring a sin-offering specifically if he
knew of the essence of Shabbat and ultimately forgot. However, a child
who was taken captive among the gentiles and a convert who converted among the
gentiles are exempt from bringing a sin-offering. They have the
legal status of one who performed the prohibited labor due to circumstances
beyond his control.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
What does this disagreement boils down to? Rav and Shmuel believe that
these types of people ultimately have the responsibility to learn about the
Sabbath. When one doesn’t, he is obligated to bring a sin offering. Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi
Shimon ben Lakish holds that these types of people are exempt because they fall
into the category of an unavoidable interference (meaning they had no way of
knowing about the laws Shabbat), אונס. Perhaps they are looking at
the purpose of a chatat differently.
If the chatat’s purpose is to bring
atonement, Rav and Shmuel argue that the child who was taken captive among the
gentiles and a convert who converted among the gentiles still need atonement
for violating the Sabbath. If the chatat’s
purpose is one of punishment, Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish would
argue that these two types of people are exempt from punishment because it was
not their fault they never learned about the Sabbath.
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