Egyptian-Hebrew stream·Mishnah·Shabbat — Chapter XVII
Vessels and their lids on the Sabbath
Which vessels may be moved on the Sabbath together with their lids and detached parts; what is permitted to move with the hand vs. only with the body; the disputed cases of broken vessels and tools whose function has lapsed.
Source context
- Theme
- Halakhic classification of wooden vessels and their susceptibility to ritual impurity by measure and form
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Tannaitic legal method (Halakha)The chapter exemplifies the Tannaitic principle that ontological status (pure/impure) is determined by functional form and minimum measure, a structural parallel to Aristotelian hylomorphism in which the definition of a thing is given by its function rather than its matter alone.
- Egyptian Mystery stream (vessel symbolism)The sustained attention to vessel-form as the determinant of spiritual qualification — what can receive, what cannot — shows cross-tradition congruence with Egyptian sacral traditions in which containers and their precise dimensions bore cosmological significance in ritual preparation.
Chapter XVII
CHAPTER XVII.
§ 1. All [such] vessels [as may be] moved on the Sabbath, their doors [lids] may be moved with them, even though they have become
parted on the Sabbath; for they are not like house-doors, which are not [originally] prepared [to be moved].
§ 2. A man may take [use] a hammer to crack nuts, or a hatchet to chop fig-cake, or a handsaw to saw cheese, or a shovel to take up dry figs, or a fan or fork to give food thereon to a child, a spindle or a shuttle to pick up fruit, or a sewing-needle to pick a splinter out [of his skin], or a packing-needle to open [undo] the door.
§ 3. An olive-cane, 1 that has a knob at the top of it, is liable to contract uncleanness; but if [it has] none, it is not liable to contract uncleanness; in either case it may be moved on the Sabbath.
§ 4. R. Judah saith, "All vessels [utensils] may he moved except a large saw and a ploughshare; all vessels [utensils] may be moved, whether they are [wanted] for use [on the Sabbath], or not [wanted] for use." R. Nehemiah saith, "They are only to be moved if [actually wanted] for use."
§ 5. All [such] vessels as may be moved on the Sabbath, their fragments [should they be broke] may likewise be moved, provided they be fit to put to some use: [such as] the fragments of a kneading-trough, to cover the bunghole of a cask, or the fragments of a glass to cover a pitcher. R. Jehudah saith, "Provided they [the fragments] be fit to put to some use [analogous to] their [original] purpose: [such as] the fragments of a kneading-trough to hold pap [porridge], or the fragments of a glass to hold oil."
§ 6. If a stone be in a hollow pumpkin [gourd], should the stone not fall out when water is drawn, they may draw water therewith; if otherwise, they must not draw water therewith. Should a vine-branch be fastened to a pitcher [by way of a handle], water may be drawn therewith on the Sabbath.
§ 7. [Of a] window-blind, R. Eleazar saith, "If it be fastened, and hang down, it may be put before the window; if not, it must not be so used." But the sages hold, "That in either case, it may be put [before the window]."
§ 8. The lids of all such vessels as are fixed to the ground, may be moved on the Sabbath. R. José saith, "To what does this decision apply? To the lids of all such vessels [fixtures] as are sunk into the ground [as cisterns, &c]. What then [is the case] with respect to the lids of vessels fixed to the ground? Either kind may be moved on the Sabbath."
Footnotes
61:1 A hollow cane, used for the purpose of trying if the olives are sufficiently ripe for the press.