Today’s daf
TB Shabbat 103 introduces and discusses two new avot melakhah, plowing and
writing two consecutive letters. Since tomorrow’s daf continues the discussion
about writing two letters until the end of the chapter, I thought I will
concentrate on the prohibited labor of plowing and its subcategories.
“MISHNA: One
who plows is liable for plowing any amount of land on Shabbat. One
who weeds and removes grass on Shabbat, and one who removes dry branches
and who prunes any amount is liable. With regard to one who gathers
wood, if he did so to enhance the tree or the land, he is liable for
any amount; if he did so for fuel, he is liable for collecting a
measure equivalent to that which is used to cook an easily cooked
egg. With regard to one who gathers grass, if he did so to
enhance the plants or the land, he is liable for any amount; if he
did so to feed an animal, he is liable for collecting a measure equivalent
to a goat’s mouthful.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
As
we have learned in a previous chapter, the tipping point measurement when a
person is obligated to bring a sin offering if he accidentally transgresses
depends on the person’s intention. We see how this intentionality plays out in
our Mishna. If a person weeds his garden to enhance it, he is liable for any
amount of grass he pulled. But if a person plucks the grass to feed an animal, the
amount must be equivalent to a goat’s mouthful.
When
it comes to plowing why does our tradition demands such an absolute measurement
of “any amount?” Norman E. Frimer answers our question in his article “Law as Living
Discipline: the Sabbath as Paradigm.”
“The
stark fact is that for six-sevenths of every week man struggles to master his
natural environment, to draw substance from its resources, and to bended to his
will for his enjoyment or advantage. This is good, for creative labor is good.
It is a mitzvah commanded by God Himself[1].
“Yet
several dangers work in the shadows of human productivity. First, man
paradoxically tends to become dependent upon the very instruments he has
fashioned to free and serve him. Gilbert Murray emphasizes this point in his
analysis of Five Stages of Greek Religion
‘On us the power of the material world has, through our very mastery of it,
and the dependence which results from the mastery, both inwardly and outwardly
increases its hold. Capta ferit victorem
cepit. We have taken possession of it and now we cannot move without it.’[2]
Second, the danger is very real in modern industrial society that man, as
worker, becomes depersonalized and functions merely as a human cog in a vast
assembly line. (This has to be true too when comes to industrial farming that
provides most of the food on our tables.gg) above all, however, there is the
opposite danger-the danger that man, aware of his power and success in
dominating nature will begin to regard himself as the measure of what is right
and the artistic of the good. ‘Beware,’ warned Moses 30 centuries ago, ‘… Last
when thou hast eaten an art satisfied, and has built goodly homes (probably
split-level ones), and dwelt therein and thy silver and my gold is multiplied (when
thy industrial plants and commercial enterprises have multiplied)… Then the
heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God… and thou say in thy heart:
My power and the might of my hand had gotten me this wealth.’[3] Men
are singularly susceptible to the spiritual foibles.
“Consequently,
Jewish law stepped in with boldness and uncompromising demand… Make the whole
machine community come to a dead stop. Let inner man take over. Only the
safety, security, and survival of an individual or the group can justify an
exemption.
“…
Close down the assembly line. This is Shabbat! Even if you represent
management, you too must cease and desist. From this day there are no employers
and no employees. There are none to be exploited and no exploited, no
manipulators and no manipulated, no freeman and no slaves, no citizens and no
strangers. On the Shabbat all are to stand equal in one human family before
their one divine parent.” (From A Shabbat Reader: Universe of Cosmic Joy
edited by Dov Peretz Elkins, pages 54-55)
As
my friend Bonnie Cramer has taught me, we stop being a human doer on Shabbat so
we can become a human being.
[1]
M.M. Kasher, TorahSheleymah, 16:69,
section 240Cf. also note 240 an addendum, pp. 242 ff.
[2]
Page 114
[3] Deuteronomy
8:11ff
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