[Avodah] Daf Yomi - Beitza Daf Beis

[Edward Chalk]

Hi,

This is a dvar torah on Beitza Daf beis in the sugya of hachonoh de'rabboh.

Any feedback or comments would be appreciated.

Pinchos

http://www.torahdownunder.org/dafyomi/BeitzaDafBeis-HachonohDeraboh.html


The first mishna in Beitza says

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 egg
Before 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 Rashba
The 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 Mekubetzes
The 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 Preparation
The 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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Pinchos Chalk

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