Siman - Shabbos Daf 157
- Summation of hilchos muktzeh
The Gemara brings a machlokes Amoraim between Rav Acha and Ravina regarding the final halacha of muktzeh.
- One said, בכל השבת כולה הלכה כרבי שמעון לבר ממוקצה מחמת מיאוס – Regarding all of hilchos Shabbos, the law is like Rebbe Shimon (that there is no prohibition of muktzeh) except in regard to “muktzeh due to repugnance,” such as using a נר ישן - a used clay lamp.
- The other said, במוקצה מחמת מיאוס נמי הלכה כרבי שמעון לבר ממוקצה מחמת איסור – Even in regard to “muktzeh due to repugnance” the law is like Rebbe Shimon. The halacha does not follow Rebbe Shimon only in regard to “muktzeh due to prohibition,” such as a lamp in which a flame had been lit on Shabbos.
Everyone agrees though that מוקצה מחמת חסרון כיס אפילו רבי שמעון מודה – with regard to something that is “muktzeh for fear of monetary loss,” even Rebbe Shimon concedes that it is muktzeh. Examples are מסר הגדול ויתד של מחרשה – a large saw and a plow blade.
- Annulling vows on Shabbos
The last Mishnah in the Masechta states, מפירין נדרים בשבת – We may annul vows on Shabbos, which Rashi explains is referring to a husband annulling his wife’s vow, ונשאלין לנדרים שהן לצורך השבת – and we may seek release from vows (from a Chochom) made to abstain from things that are necessary for Shabbos. Rashi provides the example of one who makes a neder not to eat on Shabbos.
The Gemara asks if the Mishnah permits one to seek release from nedarim, כשלא היה לו פנאי – in a case when he had no opportunity to do so before Shabbos, או דילמא אפילו היה לו פנאי – or does it refer even to a case in which he did have an opportunity to do so before Shabbos? A proof is brought from an incident in which the Rabbanon released Rav Zutra the son of Rav Zeira from a neder even though he had the opportunity to seek release from it before Shabbos.
- Determining tumah status in a narrow alley
The Mishnah brought an incident in which they shuttered a window with a טפיח- an earthenware flask, and they tied an earthenware vessel with a strand of reed-grass in order to determine whether or not there was an opening the size of a tefach in a certain barrel. The Mishnah concludes that we learn from this incident that, פוקקין, ומודדין וקושרין בשבת – we may shutter, measure and tie on Shabbos.
Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav that the incident involved a corpse in a narrow alley, where a cracked barrel rested upon the two houses sheltering the corpse, and before the person died they had shuttered the window with the flask to prevent tumah from entering the house. They then tied the earthenware vessel with a strand of reed-grass to see if they could pass it through the crack in the barrel to see if there was a tefach sized hole in it. If the hole was the size of a tefach, then the tumah would escape through the crack, and the barrel would not serve as a roof of an ohel. This would permit them to take out the flask from the window since the tumah would not spread into the houses.
