Rabotai (gentlemen), today is Motza'ei Yom Kippur (the evening after Yom Kippur). We’re at Hilchot Shevitat Yom Tov (Laws of Resting on Yom Tov). We’re starting Rambam. I know we’re in the middle of Hilchot Shabbat. I have the space marked, so we’ll go back to it, but since Yom Tov (festival) is coming up, and we have to learn the Rambam’s Hilchot Shevitat Yom Tov, which is so much shorter than Hilchot Shabbat—I’ll tell you that much: it’s only eight chapters—we’ll start it today, God willing, and maybe go through it on the chag (festival) as well, so we can learn as much as we can.
The Rambam, Hilchot Shevitat Yom Tov, Perek Rishon (first chapter), Halachah Alef (first law): Sheshet hayamim ha'elu she'asaran hakatuv ba'asiyat melachah (These are the six days that Scripture prohibited from performing labor), shehen: rishon veshvi'i shel Pesach (Passover), verishon ushmini shel Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), uvyom Chag haShavu'ot (Feast of Weeks), uve'echad lachodesh hashvi'i, hen hanikra'im yamim tovim. Veshvitat kulan shavah, shehem asurim bechol melechet avodah, chutz mimelachah shehi letzorech achilah, shene'emar, ach asher ye'achel lechol nefesh (except that which may be eaten by every person).
The Rambam starts with the six days on which it is asur (forbidden) to do melachah (prohibited labor): the first and last day of Pesach, the first and eighth day of Sukkot, Shavu'ot as well, and the one day of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) in the Torah. These are called yamim tovim (festival days), and their prohibition of melachah is equal in the sense that melechet avodah is forbidden. However, melachah that has to do with eating—we call that ochel nefesh—is permissible on these six days.
Halachah Bet: Kol hashovet mimelechet avodah be'echad mehen (Whoever rests from labor on one of them), harei kiyem mitzvat aseh (positive commandment), sheharei ne'emar bahem Shabbaton, kelomar, shevot. Vechol ha'oseh be'echad mehen melachah she'einah letzorech achilah, kegon shebanah o haras o arag vechayozei ba'elu, harei bitel mitzvat aseh, ve'avar al lo ta'aseh (negative commandment), shene'emar, kol melechet avodah lo ta'asu (You shall not perform any laborious work), kol melachah lo ye'aseh bahem (No labor shall be done on them). Ve'im asah be'edim vehatra'ah, lokeh min haTorah.
Anybody who refrains from work on Yom Tov is fulfilling a positive commandment, because the Torah calls Yom Tov Shabbaton. What does Shabbaton mean? Stop. Stop, shevot—stop. Stop from what? Stop from work. Anybody, God forbid, who does work on Yom Tov outside of cooking and things that have to do with achilah (eating)—for example, the Rambam gives the examples of building something, taking something apart, or weaving something—has done melachot that have nothing to do with eating. Building, destroying, and weaving have nothing to do with eating. So he went against the mitzvat aseh of Shabbaton, and he also transgresses a lo ta'aseh: “Kol melechet avodah lo ta'asu, kol melachah lo ye'aseh bahem.” “Lo ta'asu” is a negative commandment. If there were witnesses who saw him do the melachah, then he gets malkot (lashes). There’s no death penalty for melachah on Yom Tov, but there is malkot, and malkot is from the Torah. If a guy does melachah on Shabbat, there’s a death penalty, sekilah (stoning). On Yom Tov there’s no death penalty. Melachah on Yom Tov is forbidden by Torah law, with the punishment of malkot. Malkot.
Halachah Gimmel: Ha'oseh avot melachot harbeh beYom Tov behatra'ah achat, kegon shezara uvanah vesatar ve'arag behatra'ah achat, eino lokeh ela achat. Chiluk melachot (division of labors) leShabbat, ve'ein chiluk melachot leYom Tov.
Another big chiddush (novel point) he says. We learned already that on Shabbat there’s a separate malkot for each melachah. Each melachah has its own prohibition. However, on Yom Tov, if the person got one warning and did many melachot, he only gets one set of lashes. There’s no chiluk melachot on Yom Tov. “Ve'ein chiluk melachot leYom Tov”: they’re not separated with regard to liability. Therefore, if a person does many melachot in one clip, he will be liable for only one set of malkot. If a person did, let’s say, 39 melachot of Shabbat in one act of forgetting, he’s liable for 39 melachot, one for each. However, on Yom Tov he’s only going to be liable for one. So that’s one big difference between—
The reason Rashi explains is ta'am hachiluk bein Shabbat leYom Tov. It’s brought in Masechet Makkot, so we have to look back there. He doesn’t bring it down. It’s going to be in Makkot on page “Makkot sham”—that’s 21b. Rashi gives you the distinction. Obviously, it’s going to be based on pesukim (verses).
Now: Kol melachah she-chayavim aleha be-Shabbat, im asah oto otah be-Yom Tov she-lo le-tzorech achilah, lokeh, chutz me-hotza'ah me-reshut li-reshut ve-hav'arah, she-mitoch she-huterah hotza'ah be-Yom Tov le-tzorech achilah, huterah she-lo le-tzorech achilah. Lefichach, mutar be-Yom Tov lehotzi katan, o Sefer Torah, o mafte'ach, ve-chayotzeh ba-elu bi-reshut ha-rabim (public domain).
Anything that’s forbidden on Shabbat is also going to be forbidden on Yom Tov, as long as it has nothing to do with eating. If it has to do with eating on Yom Tov, it’s mutar (permitted). So now, seemingly, if you carry—carrying is asur on Shabbat, correct?—carrying should be forbidden on Yom Tov. No. Let’s go through the steps here first. We know it’s not, but according to the logic we’re presenting, it should be, because it has nothing to do with eating. Then the Gemara comes along, which brings us back to mitoch (since). Once we already allowed hotza'ah (carrying) for the purpose of eating, carrying, so therefore—exactly—they would permit it also when it’s not for the purpose of eating. That’s called the rule of mitoch.
Therefore, it’s mutar on Yom Tov to carry a child who cannot walk, or a Sefer Torah (a Sefer Torah you need to read), or a key. All these things have nothing to do with eating, but you’re allowed to carry them in the reshut ha-rabim. Now the Rambam continues: “Ve-chen mutar lehav'ir af al pi she-eino le-tzorech achilah.” Cigars? Right, “mutar lehav'ir.” It’s permissible—well, cigars aren’t a good example, but there would be other examples where you’re allowed to make a fire even though it’s not for the purpose of eating. That’s another item they would permit even though it’s not for the purpose of eating. That’s another mitoch. “Af al pi she-eino le-tzorech achilah”: it’s going to be mutar. For example, you want to heat something for warmth, make a fire to warm yourself. On Sukkot it’s cold, and you want to make a fire to get warm. That’s not for the purpose of eating, but the Chachamim (Sages) permitted it, or the Torah permitted kindling not for the purpose of eating.
“U-she'ar melachot”—the other melachot, the Rambam concludes—“kol she-yesh bo tzorech achilah,” if it’s for the purpose of eating, such as shechitah (ritual slaughter), baking, and kneading. Slaughtering is for eating; kneading the dough is for eating; baking is for eating. “Ve-chol she-ein bahem tzorech achilah asur, kegon arigah, ketivah, binyan, ve-chayotzeh.” So basically, we have three categories: eating, which is permissible; things that are not for eating, which are forbidden; and then the two exceptions, hotza'ah and hav'arah, which, even though they’re not for the purpose of eating, are permitted because “mitoch she-huterah le-tzorech achilah, huterah gam ken she-lo le-tzorech achilah.”
Then the Rambam writes—right, and HaRaavad, by the way, adds: “Amar Avraham, zehu lecham chamin le-raglav.” Right, to heat water to put his feet in. “Ve-hidlik ner shel batalah kegon ha-madlik ner lichvod bi-Yerushalmi.” He wants to light a ner (lamp) for honor. “Amru lo ta'aseh ve-lo tishneh.” Okay, so HaRaavad is giving you examples of what was permitted. He writes here that HaRaavad is limiting the Rambam’s position, or arguing with the Rambam, because the Rambam sounded as if you could use hav'arah for anything you want. HaRaavad limited it to one case: heating water to put your feet in.
He says: “HaRaavad nechelak al Rabbeinu ve-chatav ki ein lehatir hav'arah ela al menat lecham mayim li-rechitzat raglav ve-chayotzeh bi-Yerushalmi, she-huva sham machloket Amora'im im mutar lehadlik ner she-lo le-tzorech, ve-le-Rabbi Yochanan amar she-ein le'esor ve-ein lehatir, ve-shitat Rabbeinu she-nitba'er kan be-Magid Mishneh she-histamech al ha-Gemara she-... she-Rabbi Yochanan hitir hav'arah she-lo le-tzorech.” So basically, we have a machloket (disagreement) between the Rambam and HaRaavad about the extent to which they permitted it. HaRaavad limits it to one specific case, but the Rambam is lenient about any type of hav'arah.
Halachah Heh: “Kol melachah she-efshar lah la'asot me-erev Yom Tov, ve-lo yihyeh bah hefsed (loss) ve-lo chisaron im na'aset ba-erev, asru Chachamim la'asot otah be-Yom Tov, af al pi shehi letzorech achilah. Velamah asru davar zeh? Gezerah shema yaniach adam melachot she'efshar la'asotam me'erev Yom Tov, venimtza Yom Tov kulo holech ba'asiyat otam melachot, veyimana misimchat Yom Tov, velo yihyeh lo pnai leechol velishtot.”
This is one of the very important rules that apply: any melachah that you would be able to do before Yom Tov, and there would be no loss or deficiency if you did it before, the Chachamim forbade you to do on Yom Tov, even if it’s for the purpose of eating. Let’s say doing it beforehand would not make the food less good. The Chachamim told you to do it before. Why? We said eating is mutar on Yom Tov, but we don’t want you to leave all that stuff for Yom Tov, spend the whole day cooking, and not have time to make Yom Tov joyful. “Venimtza Yom Tov kulo holech ba'asiyat otam melachot, veyimana misimchat Yom Tov, velo yihyeh lo pnai leechol velishtot.”
As a result, I can make a roast two days before; that’s fine. But a barbecue, you’ve got to make the same day. “Why did you say it’s fine?” Why? Are you asking, or are you saying? “I would think.” You’re thinking? Not so. Not so. You cannot—you’re not an aficionado. I’m surprised; you’re in the food business. A guy can tell the difference between a fresh roast and a roast that was in the refrigerator for three days. “Actually, it tastes better when it sits.” In the freezer? Not in the freezer. Where are you going to put it, honey? You’re not going to leave it on the counter for three days. “I’m saying, you make a ribeye; if you don’t have it fresh, it’s no good.” Right, fresh is better.
That’s why they’re telling us this. Not only that: the halachah is that you make shechitah on Yom Tov. I agree. Of course, you can’t compare freshly slaughtered meat with meat that you slaughtered the day before. Bread is the same thing. You cannot compare yesterday’s bread to today’s bread. I mean, we’re not aficionados. Today we eat anything, because everything is processed. But in the olden days, a guy like the Japanese—with the tuna, what’s the story I told you? They can tell the difference.
Halachah Vav: “Umizeh hata'am atzmo, lo asru hotza'ah beYom Tov, ve'af al pi shekol hotza'ah hi melachah she'efshar la'asotah me'erev Yom Tov. Velamah lo asruha? Kedei leharbot besimchat Yom Tov, veyolich veyavi kol mah sheyirtzeh, veyashlim chafatzav, velo yihyeh kemi sheyadav asurot. Aval she'ar melachot she'efshar la'asotan miba'erev veyesh bahem esek, ein osim otam beYom Tov.”
That’s an amazing Rambam. You hear people talk like this, but really, the Rambam is saying that for this reason the Chachamim wanted you to have simchat Yom Tov (festival joy). They wanted you to have simchat Yom Tov. If you can’t carry, you can’t have simchat Yom Tov because you’re locked in; you can’t carry your items. So he writes that this is why they did not prohibit hotza'ah on Yom Tov. He says, “Af al pi shekol hotza'ah hi melachah she'efshar la'asotah me'erev Yom Tov”—which means, bring the thing before Yom Tov and put everything where it’s supposed to be. He says, “No. Velamah lo asruha? Kedei leharbot besimchat Yom Tov, veyolich veyavi kol mah sheyirtzeh, veyashlim chafatzav, velo yihyeh kemi sheyadav asurot.” Otherwise, his hands are like tied up.
You hear the ladies talk about Shabbat: “I can’t, on Shabbat, I can’t have Shabbat; I can’t go anywhere.” But when Yom Tov comes, they love Yom Tov. They can carry the stroller; they go with their kids, and so on. So the Rambam is telling you they permitted hotza'ah because that’s part of simchat Yom Tov. Your hands are untied.
“Aval she'ar melachot”: the other melachot that you can do before—it’s only tirchah (effort). Why are you doing them today? Do them yesterday. Things that are tirchah, they put on the day before. But hotza'ah, which you could do before, they didn’t say to do before. Why? Because doing it on Yom Tov itself brings you simchah (joy), because you have mobility. Other things are tirchah. Hotza'ah is not tirchah. Hotza'ah gives a person mobility, the ability to move things around, and that’s a simchah for him.
Halachah Zayin: “Keitzad? Ein kotzrin, velo dashin, velo zorin, velo borerin, velo tochanin et hachitin, velo merakedin beYom Tov, shekol elu vechayotze bahen efshar la'asotan miba'erev, ve'ein bekach hefsed velo chisaron.”
We just said you have to do food-related things, but he’s saying you can’t cut the wheat. Cut it before Yom Tov. Who said you could cut it on Yom Tov? And for that matter, threshing, winnowing, and selecting the wheat from the chaff. “Velo tochan”—grinding. You can grind the wheat the day before; it’s not going to make a difference. “Merakedin” is also a form of sifting the flour. All these things could be done beforehand. So even though somebody might think, “Oh, I can do melachah for ochel nefesh,” if you take a sickle—no, that’s asur. Do that beforehand.
Halachah Chet: “Avel lashin, ve'ofin, veshochatin, umevashlin beyom tov, she'im asa elu meba'erev, yesh bekach hefsed, o chisaron, she'ein lechem cham, o tavshil shebishel hayom, kelechem shene'efah me'emesh, uchetavshil shenitbashel me'emesh, velo basar shenishchat hayom, kevasar shenishchat me'emesh, vechen kol kayotzeh ba'elu. Vechen machshirei ochel nefesh, sheyesh bahem chisaron, im na'asu meba'erev, osin otan beyom tov, kegon shechikat tavlin, vechen kayotzeh bahen.”
So here the Rambam says you can knead the dough on Yom Tov and bake the chalah (portion of dough). You can do shechitah on Yom Tov. You can’t compare fresh bread with yesterday’s bread. You can’t compare meat slaughtered today with meat slaughtered yesterday. Look how much they wanted you to have simchat Yom Tov. I would have said, “You know what? The difference is going to be really minimal to guys like us, and the tirchah of shechitah is obviously a big tirchah. I would say, for the little difference, do it the day before.” And they say, “No. For simchat Yom Tov, we want you to have the best simchat Yom Tov possible, so we’ll let you do it.”
Not only that, but even grinding certain spices: if you grind certain spices yesterday, they lose their strength. So he tells you that you can grind the spices on Yom Tov.
Halachah Tet: “Ein ofin, umevashlin beyom tov, mah sheye'achel bechol, velo huterah melachah shehi letzorech achilah, ela kedei lehanot bah beyom tov. Asa kedei leechol beyom tov vehotir, mutar leechol hamutar bechol.”
You’re not allowed to cook for chol (the weekday). You can only cook on Yom Tov for Yom Tov. They didn’t permit eating, or things for the purpose of eating, for tomorrow. Now, if you cooked and there are leftovers—which is normal; you don’t have to count exactly how many grains of rice each person is going to eat—you’re allowed to eat the leftover rice during the week. The Rabbis didn’t prohibit its benefit, because your kavanah (intention) wasn’t specifically to make it for the week. You made it for Yom Tov, and there was some left over, so there’s no kenas (penalty), and there’s no problem.
Halachah Yud: “Memale'ah ishah kederah basar, af pi she'einah tzrichah ela lechatichah achat. Umemale nachtom chavit shel mayim, af pi she'eino tzarich ela lekiton echad. Umemale'ah ishah tanur pat, af pi she'einah tzrichah ela lekikar echad, shebizman shehapat merubah, hi ne'efet yafeh. Umole'ach adam kamah chatichot bevat achat, af pi she'eino tzarich ela lechatichah achat, vechen kol kayotzeh bazeh.”
A woman is allowed to take a lot of pieces of meat and put them in the pot, even though she only needs one piece, because that’s not extra tirchah. I’m putting the pot on the fire, so what’s the difference if I put one, two, or three pieces in? And not only that: in this case, I’m doing it in one go. What’s the difference if I put the pot on with one piece of meat or three? It’s not an extra action.
The other heter (permission) the chacham is going to give is when using more makes the food come out better. The Rambam tells you that if you fill the oven with bread, all the bread comes out better. So you’re allowed to put a lot of loaves in, even though you’re not eating all of them, because the other loaves will bake better. “Shebizman shehapat merubah, hi ne'efet yafeh.” That’s a rule.
A person can salt many pieces of meat at once to take out the blood. If I have salt in my hand, all I have to do is this. What’s the difference if there’s one piece of meat or three pieces in front of me? I’m not doing anything extra. No, I’m not cutting anything! I’m just doing the melichah (salting). So since it’s one action, the Rambam says it’s okay to do many pieces, “af pi she'eino tzarich ela lechatichah achat,” because I’m not adding tirchah. The rule the Rambam is telling me is that either the food you’re cooking comes out better, or you don’t have to add tirchah, and therefore it’s permissible.
Okay, that’s—now, obviously, we’re not talking about the barbecue, because you have to put each piece of meat on separately; that’s extra tirchah. We’re talking about putting 10 pieces of meat in the pot. It goes in all at once. So since it’s not extra tirchah, the Rambam didn’t prohibit it.
“What about if you have to cut it? You have a big piece and you’ve got to keep cutting it? You’re not even eating this piece.” Before you cook it? Well, cut it before you put it in the pot? “Yeah, so maybe then you can’t do it.” We’re talking about where they’re pre-cut.
“So barbecue is okay or not okay?” Barbecue’s great. What do you mean? We do it. What do you mean, what do we do? I’ve had it on Yom Tov—on Yom Tov, on Sukkot they have barbecue. Mm-hmm. You’re allowed to cook on Yom Tov. My point is, you’re not allowed to put extra meat in for tomorrow. “Oh.” That’s what he’s saying.
Halachah Yud-Alef: “Ha-mevashel o ha-ofeh beYom Tov kedei le'echol bo bayom, o shezimen orchim velo ba'u, venish'ar ha-tavshil veha-pat, harei zeh mutar le'ochlo lemachar, bein bechol bein beShabbat, uvilvad shelo ya'arim, ve'im he'erim, harei zeh asur, va'afilu beShabbat she'achar Yom Tov, mipenei shehechmiru bema'arim yoter min ha-mezid.”
A guy cooked on Yom Tov to eat it that day, or let’s say he invited guests and they didn’t show up. Now he has all this food he cooked and nobody’s eating it. No problem; you can eat it the next day, on a weekday. We’re not going to say, “You made it on Yom Tov for a weekday.” “I didn’t make it for a weekday; I made it for today. The guy didn’t show up.” But you’re not allowed to be a wise guy and cook extra. Exactly. He knows he doesn’t need all this food, so he says, “You know what? I’m going to cook extra, because guests are going to come,” and things like that.
“Ve'im he'erim”: if he did this trickery, “harei zeh asur”—you cannot eat the food. “Va'afilu beShabbat she'achar Yom Tov”: he says you cannot even eat it on Shabbat. I would say, maybe it’s for the purpose of a mitzvah? No. “Lo rak im he'erim letzorech chol”—not only if he used trickery to make food from Yom Tov for the weekday, but even if he used trickery to make it from Yom Tov for Shabbat, it’s still going to be asur here.
And even though if a person intentionally prepared food that wasn’t needed for Yom Tov, he’d be allowed to eat it—that’s a classic case. If he did it bemezid (intentionally), he’d be allowed to eat it. Here they treated the trickster worse than the intentional offender. He says, “Mipenei shehechmiru bema'arim yoter min ha-mezid.” That’s a classic case. The logic is simple. We don’t have to make a gezerah (decree) about someone acting intentionally, because people aren’t going to do that. But people do use tricks! So you don’t have to make a gezerah about people who will act intentionally. A mezid—the guy—right, because people aren’t going to be mezid. But ma'arim, they’ll do it, because they don’t want to make it prohibited, so they say, “Okay, they’ll use trickery.” Therefore, you have to be stricter about the tricks. Put it this way: you have to be strict about loopholes, because a guy will take the loophole. So you have to close up the loophole more than you have to guard against the mezid.
Halachah Yud-Bet: “Mi shehayetah lo behemah mesukenet, lo yishchot otah beYom Tov, ela im ken yode'a sheyachol le'echol mimenah kezayit (olive-sized portion) tzali mibe'od yom, kedei shelo yishchot beYom Tov mah sheyochal bachol, vechen kol kayotzei bazeh.”
You have an animal—it’s going to die. If you don’t slaughter it on Yom Tov, it’s going to die, and you’ll lose the animal. Understand what’s going on here? “Why are you going to lose the animal if it dies?” It’s sick. “Why are you going to lose it? After it dies, you’ll eat it.” Again: you have an animal; it’s sick. The Rambam says that if you don’t slaughter it on Yom Tov, it’s going to die. “So let it die! You’ll eat it after Yom Tov anyway.” Oh, after it’s dead? Yeah, what’s the problem? Because you can’t eat an animal that’s dead; you have to do shechitah.
So the Rambam is telling you that a behemah mesukenet (dangerously ill animal) can be slaughtered on Yom Tov to save the animal, as long as you eat a kezayit from it. You have to cook it, then eat the rest. Why a kezayit? Because to slaughter an animal, even if you want to eat a kezayit, you have to do shechitah. So as long as you eat a kezayit from it, it’s permissible. Otherwise, you lose the animal. As long as you can eat a kezayit of the animal roasted, it’s permissible.
Halachah Yud-Gimmel: “Ein ofin u-mevashlin beYom Tov lehachil goyim (non-Jews) o kelavim, shene'emar: Hu levado ye'aseh lachem (He alone shall be done for you). Lachem, velo legoyim. Lachem, velo lebehemah. Lefichach, mezamnim et hagoy beShabbat, ve'ein mezamnim oto beyom tov, gezerah shema yarbeh bishvilo. Ve'afilu im ba goy me'elav, ochel imahem mah shehem ochlim, shekvar hechinuhu.”
You’re not allowed to prepare food on Yom Tov for goyim or for dogs. Only for Jews, because it says, “Hu levado ye'aseh lachem.” For Jews, not for goyim, and not for dogs. Therefore, you’re allowed to invite a goy on Shabbat to eat with you. Why? Because you’re not cooking on Shabbat; you cooked beforehand. Whatever you cook is already prepared. But on Yom Tov you cannot invite the goy because we’re worried you might add food. The goy walks in, and you’re going to tell your wife, “Oh, he’s here. Antonio’s here. Throw another steak on the barbecue.” You’re not allowed to throw on a steak.
“Okay, you want to tell us a story?” No, that’s a different story. His son blew it because he didn’t want a goy in the sukkah (booth). This is a different story, not because of cooking. Correct. He didn’t know this inyan (matter). He got caught up on the chumrah (stringency), so he got angry about the secondary point. What he should really have gotten angry about is the first point: why you cannot invite a goy. Don’t forget about the sukkah; it’s because you might come to cook for him. However, if the goy came on his own, that’s another story. “Ochel imahem”: he eats whatever they prepared.
Halachah Yud-Daled: “Behemah shechetzyah shel goy vechetzyah shel Yisrael, mutar leshachatah beyom tov, she'i efshar le'echol mimenah kezayit basar belo shechitah. Aval isah shechetzyah legoy vechetzyah leYisrael, asur le'efot otah, mipnei sheyachol lachalok habatzek. Benei hachayil shenatnu kemach leYisrael la'asot lahem pat beyom tov, im keshenotnin mimenah pat letinok ein makpidin, mutar le'efot lahem beyom tov, shekol pat upat re'uyah letinok. Isat hakelavim, bizman sheharo'im ochlim mimenah, ne'effet beyom tov.”
Now you have a case of an animal that’s half owned by a goy and half by a Yisrael (Jew). How do you have an animal that’s half and half? That’s my question. How could that be? It’s either all the goy’s or all the Yisrael’s. How could you have an animal that’s half the goy’s and half the Yisrael’s? Chazak uvaruch (well done). So it’s not talking about the religion of the animal; it’s about ownership. You have an animal with a partner who is a goy and a partner who is a Yisrael. The Jew wants to eat his chelek (share) on Yom Tov. He can do shechitah, because the only way to get the kezayit is to slaughter it. So there’s no problem.
However, if you have a piece of dough that’s half the goy’s and half the Yisrael’s, you cannot put the whole dough in the oven. There, you can split the dough in half and put your part in, but you can’t split an animal and do shechitah on half an animal. So when it’s a partnership in an animal, you can slaughter the whole animal. Mah she'ein ken (by contrast), with dough, you’re not allowed to put all the dough in the oven. You’re cooking the goy’s part. We said you’re not allowed to cook for a goy. So you split the dough, take your chelek, and then bake it and eat it.
The Rambam now talks about another case: let’s say you have soldiers. In the olden days, the soldiers would come to the house, and the king would give each house a certain amount of flour. Your job was to bake bread for the soldiers when they came to town. Now the problem is that you’re baking bread for goyim on Yom Tov. So how are you going to feed the soldiers? “Im keshenotnin mimenah pat letinok ein makpidin”: if the soldiers let you give some of that bread to the children, and they don’t mind, then “mutar le'efot lahem beyom tov,” because each loaf you bake could have been given to your own child. So really, you’re cooking it for the Yisrael, and therefore it’s okay.
“Isat hakelavim”: sometimes you have dough made from inferior flour, which you usually give to the dogs or other animals. “Bizman sheharo'im ochlim mimenah”: if the shepherds eat from that dough, because sometimes that’s what they have, then you can bake it on Yom Tov. As long as a Jew will eat from it, even though ultimately he’s going to give it to the goy or the dog, it’s permissible. Havantem (understood)?
Halachah Tet-Vav: “Hamvashel beyom tov legoyim o lebehemah o lehani'ach lechol, eino lokeh. She'ilu ba'u orchim, hayah oto tavshil ra'ui lahem. Asah lenafsho vehotir, mutar leha'achil mimenu leGoyim veliVhemah.”
A guy cooked on Yom Tov. He did something wrong: he cooked for goyim or for animals. Or he cooked on Yom Tov for chol, clearly for the next day. He did it bemezid? Bemezid. “Eino lokeh”: you don’t get malkot for this, even though he did an issur (prohibition). Why? Because he can answer and say, “If guests had come, this food would have been fit for them.” So you can’t say conclusively that what he did was prohibited. If Jewish guests had come, he could have fed them this food. So you can still call this ochel nefesh; you can’t call it conclusively prohibited.
Now, let’s say he did it for himself. Of course you can feed the food he made for himself to the goyim, because he made it for himself. You’re eating it, and then the goy comes, so there’s no problem here. Okay, so this is a big chiddush here. “Nechleku hamfareshim bevi'ur divrei Rabbeinu kan.” There’s a disagreement among the commentators about the Rambam. “Yesh omrim shemechamat hasvara shel ho'il.” Ho'il means that guests could have come, and therefore that makes what you did permissible. “Ho'il ve'ilu hayu mizdamnim lo orchim hayah hatavshil ra'ui, ach ein bevishul avur nochri uvehemah o Yom Tov chal issur rak miDerabbanan.” Some want to say it’s prohibited by rabbinic law, but you’re not going to get malkot.
“That’s only if he did it by accident.” No, no, no, he did it bemezid. “But didn’t we say before it’s trickery if the guy says guests might come?” He’s not tricking here; he’s doing it bemezid. Not tricking—doing it bemezid, the guy.
Halachah Tet-Zayin. Sounds like a Hatzalah call. Okay, Tet-Zayin: “Rechitzah vesichah, harei hen bikhlal achilah ushtiyah, ve'osin otan beYom Tov, shene'emar, ach asher ye'akhel lechol nefesh, lechol shebetzorkhei haguf. Lefichach mechamin chamin beYom Tov, verochetz bahen panav yadav veraglav, aval kol gufo asur, mishum gezerat merchatz. Vechamin shehuchmu me'erev Yom Tov, rochetz bahen kol gufo beYom Tov, shelo gazru al davar zeh ela beShabbat bilvad.”
Now the Rambam comes along and says there’s another thing permissible on Yom Tov: bathing. There are certain things we removed from the prohibition of Yom Tov. We removed eating; we also removed carrying and making a fire. Now we’re going to remove bathing as well, because that too is “lechol nefesh”—for every person. The nefesh needs to bathe. Anything your body needs—bodily needs like eating, drinking, and bathing—is permissible.
Therefore, a person can heat water on Yom Tov to wash his face, hands, and legs, but not his whole body. That means you could turn on the water on Yom Tov, even though new water is coming in and you’re heating new water on Yom Tov. It’s okay to heat water. I could even take cold water, put it on a fire, heat it, and use it to wash my hands. However, you’re not allowed to heat water on Yom Tov to wash your whole body, because that’s not considered necessary.
Chazak uvaruch—that’s not considered necessary. Necessary is your face and—yes, maybe finicky people, but a regular guy can go without a shower for a day. So: “panav yadav veraglav.” “Vechamin shehuchmu me'erev Yom Tov”: if you heated the water before Yom Tov, “rochetz bahen kol gufo beYom Tov”—then you can wash your whole body on Yom Tov. On Shabbat, you can’t. On Shabbat, we said that even if you heated the water beforehand, you still cannot wash your whole body. But on Yom Tov it’s permissible to—
But there’s one opinion of Korban Netanel. “Kevodo baki beKorban Netanel, anachnu bekoshi lomdim Rambam, mah zeh Korban Netanel?” Okay, Halachah Yod-Zayin. “Korban Netanel, elu yodim Korban Netanel, eifo Korban Netanel? Be- be- bitziyonim?”
Halachah Yod-Zayin: “Kol she'asur beShabbat, bein mishum shehu domeh limlachah, o mevi lidei melachah, bein shehu mishum shevut, harei asur beYom Tov, ela im ken hayah bo tzorech achilah vechayotze bah, o devarim shehem mutarin beYom Tov, kemo sheyitba'er bahalachot elu. Vechol she'asur letaltelo beShabbat, asur letaltelo beYom Tov, ela letzorech achilah vechayotze bah. Vekhen kol shemutar beShabbat, mutar beYom Tov. Veyesh beYom Tov mah she'ein beShabbat, issur muktzeh, shehamuktzeh asur beYom Tov, umutar beShabbat.” “Mipnei sheYom Tov kal miShabbat asru vo hamuktzeh shema yavo lezalzel bo.”
Now the Rambam introduces another very important principle. Whatever is asur on Shabbat, whether it’s asur because it resembles melachah or could lead to melachah, or whether it’s because of shevut—rabbinic rest—is asur on Yom Tov. Finished. Unless it’s for ochel nefesh, or it falls into the ochel nefesh category, or it’s one of the things that are permissible on Yom Tov, as we’ll explain in these laws. Outside of eating, there are certain things that will be mutar on Yom Tov.
Now, whatever is muktzeh (set-aside) on Shabbat is muktzeh on Yom Tov. And now the Rambam comes along and says that the prohibition of muktzeh is more stringent on Yom Tov. Why? Because since Yom Tov is lighter than Shabbat, the Chachamim were worried that you might come to treat Yom Tov lightly. So to prevent you from doing that, they were stricter about the laws of muktzeh than on Shabbat. That’s a trivia question.
Now the Rambam explains in Yod-Chet. “Keitzad? Tarnegolet ha'omedet legadel beitzim, veshor ha'omed lacharis ha, veyonei shovach, upeirot ha'omdim lischorah, kol elu vechayotze bahen muktzeh, ve'asur le'echol mehen beYom Tov, ad sheyachin otam mebe'erev, veyachshov aleihem la'achilah. Aval beShabbat hakol muchan etzel Shabbat, ve'eino tzarich hachanah. Ucheshem shehamuktzeh asur beYom Tov, kach hanolad asur.”
Now he’s going to give you the case where muktzeh is more stringent on Yom Tov than Shabbat. You have a tarnegolet (chicken). “What’s a tarnegolet?” Chicken. Chazak uvaruch. A rooster or a hen. The hen is used for laying eggs, and really, if it’s for eggs, you don’t have in mind to slaughter it to eat it. Now what happens? On Yom Tov you decide you want to eat it. Or let’s say you have an ox. An ox is used for plowing. Now, on Yom Tov, you want to change your mind and say, “You know what? I want to slaughter it.” Or let’s say you have birds that you use in your dovecotes. They’re really not for shechitah; they have to protect the area. Or let’s say you have peirot (fruit) that are usually earmarked for merchandise.
All these things, on Shabbat, the halachah says that even though they went into Shabbat as merchandise, it’s mutar to eat from the merchandise on Shabbat, because we say it’s muchan (prepared). The guy will take from it. Mah she'ein ken: on Yom Tov, you actually have to designate it beferush (explicitly) and say so in advance. Chazak uvaruch. Therefore, we see that Yom Tov is more stringent than—Yom Tov regarding this case. Obviously, on Shabbat you don’t have the case of animals, because you can’t use animals on Shabbat. The only case similar to Shabbat and Yom Tov would be fruit. For merchandise fruit before Yom Tov, you have to designate it if you want to eat from it, but on Shabbat you can take from the fruit without a problem.
Okay, Rabotai, we go to Halachah Yud-Tet. Let’s see. Yeah, we should try to finish the perek (chapter) today, then we can get it done. “Chol mechin leShabbat vechol mechin leYom Tov, aval ein Yom Tov mechin leShabbat velo Shabbat mechinah leYom Tov. Lefichach beitzah shenoldah beYom Tov achar haShabbat asurah. Af al pi shehatarnegolet omedet la'achilah, ho'il ume'emesh nigmerah habeitzah, nimtza Shabbat mechin otah leYom Tov, ve'asruha bechol Yom Tov gezerah mishum Yom Tov she'achar Shabbat. Vechen beitzah shenoldah bechol Shabbat asruha gezerah mishum Shabbat she'achar Yom Tov.”
Now, Rabotai, we read a famous Rambam. “Chol mechin leShabbat”—a weekday prepares for Shabbat. We know that. Don’t we prepare food on the weekday for Shabbat? “Vechol mechin leYom Tov”—a weekday prepares for Yom Tov. Don’t we prepare on the weekday for Yom Tov? There’s no problem there. This is hachanah (preparation) that’s mutar. “Aval ein Yom Tov mechin leShabbat”: that means if the food became permissible, edible, on Yom Tov—the Yom Tov that came before Shabbat, say Yom Tov is Friday—exactly. Let’s say the food was prepared on Friday and you want it for Shabbat. No, Yom Tov cannot prepare food for Shabbat.
“Velo Shabbat mechinah leYom Tov”: not Shabbat preparing for Yom Tov, either. Let’s say Shabbat, and Yom Tov is Sunday. “How about an eruv (communal boundary)?” Let’s go slowly before we get to how about an eruv. Let’s go back to Shabbat. Shabbat cannot prepare for Yom Tov. That means, let’s say the food became ready—obviously you can’t cook—but let’s say the food became ready on its own on Shabbat. It doesn’t matter; Shabbat cannot prepare for Yom Tov, and therefore it’s going to be asur.
Now we give the example: “Lefichach, beitzah shenoldah beYom Tov achar haShabbat.” Let’s say you have a case of a beitzah (egg) that was born on Yom Tov that comes after Shabbat. Yom Tov is Sunday. So you say, seemingly, if it came out on Yom Tov, Yom Tov prepared it for itself. He says, “No. Af al pi shehatarnegolet omedet la'achilah”: even though the chicken, or hen, itself isn’t muktzeh and is designated for eating, the egg itself is muktzeh. Why? “Ho'il ume'emesh nigmerah habeitzah.” We have a rule: the day before the egg comes out, it’s already prepared to eat, while it’s still in the—chazak uvaruch—in the womb. It’s ripe, exactly. That means its development is already finished the day before. So the food was prepared on Shabbat. This egg was basically prepared on Shabbat, and Shabbat cannot prepare for Yom Tov. Even though it came out on Yom Tov, since it was prepared on Shabbat, it’s forbidden.
“Nimtza Shabbat mechinah...” Let’s continue. “Ve'asruha bechol Yom Tov.” They prohibited an egg born on any Yom Tov, even on a Wednesday, like Chaimie said. Why? “Gezerah mishum Yom Tov achar Shabbat.” It’s a gezerah. After Shabbat, it’s going to be forbidden, so we prohibit it on all Yom Tov days. Seemingly, what’s the difference? If an egg is born on a Wednesday, it was prepared on Tuesday. Tuesday can prepare for Yom Tov. But we prohibit it on all Yom Tov days.
“Vechen beitzah shenoldah bechol Shabbat”: an egg born on any Shabbat is going to be asur. Why? A gezerah, because maybe Yom Tov will be on Friday. If Yom Tov is on Friday, the egg is asur on Shabbat. So we prohibit all eggs on Shabbat and all eggs born on Yom Tov.
Halachah Chaf: “Ucheshem she'asur le'ochlah, kach asur letaltelah. Ve'afilu nit'arvah be'elef, kulan asurot, sheharei lemachar yutru hakol. Vechol davar sheyesh lo matirin, afilu be'elef alafim, eino batel. Hashochet tarnegolet beYom Tov, umatza bah beitzim gemurot, harei elu mutarot, she'ein zeh davar matzuy tamid, vedavar she'eino matzuy, ela keri, lo gazru vo.”
So now we have another chiddush. Just as the egg is forbidden to eat in the cases we mentioned, it’s also muktzeh. Even if this egg got mixed up in 60, or 600, or 960, or a million, is it batel (nullified)? No, because this is called davar sheyesh lo matirin (an item that will become permitted). Any item that will eventually become permissible cannot become permissible through bitul (nullification). This egg will become permissible; just wait until tomorrow, after the holiday is over. It’s not like a piece of pig that will never become mutar. If it will never become mutar, you can rely on bitul to permit it. But if it will become mutar over time, just wait it out. Why rely on bitul? So even if this egg gets mixed up with 10,000 eggs, “davar sheyesh lo matirin, afilu be'elef alafim, lo batel.”
Now, let’s say a person slaughtered a hen on Yom Tov, which is permissible, and found eggs in the shidrah—in the spine. You found eggs on Yom Tov, before they were hatched, in the womb. “Harei elu mutarot.” Now, you might come along and say, “What do you mean? Maybe you should forbid these eggs, because if they had hatched, they would be forbidden, and now I’m catching them before they hatch, while they’re still in the mother’s womb.” Mutar. Why? It’s very rare that when you slaughter a hen, you’ll find a finished product in the womb. Therefore, on something that isn’t so common, the Rabbis didn’t make a geze—geze—geze—finish the word, Gary. He can’t even finish that. Okay, gezerah. I was looking for the word gezerah. What? He went into his own—
Baruch haba, Gary, welcome back. Halachah Chaf-Alef. Woke up too early. It’s not easy being a congregant on Yom Kippur. The congregant has to answer back and forth, standing, sitting. Chazzan— Okay, Chaf-Alef. Now, Rabotai, famous Rambam, Chaf-Alef. John, this is for your friends now. “Zeh she'anu osim bechutzah la'aretz kol Yom Tov me'elu shenei yamim minhag hu. Veyom Tov sheni midivrei soferim hu, umidevarim shenitchadshu bagalut. Ve'ein osim benei Eretz Yisrael shenei yamim ela beRosh Hashanah bilvad. Uvehilchot kiddush hachodesh besefer zeh neva'er ikar minhag zeh, umei'eizeh ta'am osim Rosh Hashanah shenei yamim bechol makom.”
The Rambam tells us here that if you’re in galut (exile), you have to observe two days of Yom Tov. He says it’s a minhag (custom), “minhag avoteihem biyedeihem,” and it’s miDerabbanan (rabbinic). It’s one of these things that became established for the galut. He says, “I’m not explaining to you now why.” So “ayein sham”—he tells us where to look. He says, “But on Rosh Hashanah, even in Eretz Yisrael they observe two days.”
So how are you going to get away from the second day of Yom Tov, as many people want to do? They want to say, “Well, it’s only a minhag,” and this and that. So they want to use this as a reason to get rid of a minhag. How can you do away with a minhag? The Rambam didn’t say, “Since it’s a minhag, if you have three rabbis or a committee of amei ha'aretz (ignorant people) vote by majority to get rid of the second day, you can.” He didn’t say that. The Rambam did not tell you that you have a way to get rid of the second day of Yom Tov.
Although the Conservative and Reform movements made that one of their early emendations to the religion and got rid of the second day of Yom Tov—well, guess what happened, Rabotai? They got rid of the first day. Chazak uvaruch! Once they got rid of the second day, getting rid of the first day was a small jump, a small skip, and they got rid of the first day as well, and a lot of other things. Once you take the binding out of the book, and your intention is only that one page should fall out, usually when you take the binding out, all the pages fall out. You know, “right and big”—except the prayer for the State of Israel; that’s the only one that stays in.
Now we go to Halachah Chaf-Bet: “Yom Tov sheni, af al pi shehu midivrei soferim, kol she'asur barishon asur basheni. Vechol hamechallel Yom Tov sheni, afilu shel Rosh Hashanah, bein bedavar shehu shevut, bein bimelachah, bein sheyatza chutz lat'chum, makin oto makat mardut, o menaddin oto, im lo hayah min hatalmidim. Ucheshem sheharishon asur behesped veta'anit vechayyav besimchah, kach hasheni, ve'ein beineihem hefresh ela le'inyan hamet bilvad.”
The Rambam now tells you: whatever is forbidden on the first day is forbidden on the second day by rabbinic law. Anybody who is mechallel (violates) the second day, even the second day of Rosh Hashanah—what does he mean, even the second day? The second day of Rosh Hashanah is already established—“You’re right. He’s saying, ‘afilu beYom Tov sheni shel Rosh Hashanah shehu chamur yoter.’” He’s just saying that even though the second day of Rosh Hashanah is more stringent, you don’t get malkot from the Torah; you only get malkot from the Rabbis. That’s his point.
Then he says that if the Rabbis see that people are being lenient on the second day of Yom Tov, they put them in niddui (communal ban). So if they saw people being lenient on the second day of Yom Tov, they would put them in niddui. What’s niddui? Like cherem (ban). Yeah, today we don’t put people in cherem. You know, unless a guy does something. Even if he does something, we don’t put him in; truth of the matter is, he did it already, and we still didn’t put him in. “Im lo hayah min hatalmidim”—unless he was one of the talmidim. Why? Unless he’s a talmid chacham (Torah scholar). Okay, a talmid chacham gets a little more leniency: they don’t give him niddui; they just give him malkot.
Just as the first day is asur for eulogies, you’re not allowed to fast, and you have to have simchah, so too the second day. The only difference is going to be with regard to the deceased, God forbid. Chazak uvaruch. And that’s Halachah Chaf-Gimmel: “Keitzad hamet beyom tov rishon yitasku bikvurato goyim, uveyom tov sheni yitasku bo yisrael, ve'osim lo kol tzorko kegon asiyat hamitah utefirat tachrichin (burial shrouds) uktzitzat habesamim vechol kayotzei bazeh, sheyom tov sheni legabei hamet kechol hu chashuv, va'afilu bishnei yamim tovim shel Rosh Hashanah.”
So the Rambam says that on the first day of Yom Tov, if somebody dies, the goyim take care of him. We don’t even do that. The original halachah is: on the first day, the goyim do everything; on the second day, Yisrael. The basic rule here is that the second day of Yom Tov with regard to the deceased is considered like a weekday. Therefore, they can make the coffin, weave the tachrichin, and cut the hadas (myrtle), which is the besamim they need. All the required melachot are done.
Chaf-Dalet: “Shnei yamim tovim elu shel galuyot shtei kedushot hen ve'einam keyom echad, lefichach davar shehayah muktzeh beyom tov rishon o shenolad barishon, im hechino oto lasheni harei zeh mutar. Keitzad? Beitzah shenoldah barishon te'achel basheni, chayah va'of shenitzodu barishon ye'achlu basheni, davar hamechubar lekarka shenekar barishon ye'achel basheni, vechen mutar lichlol et ha'ayin beyom tov sheni af al pi she'ein sham choli. Bameh devarim amurim? Bishnei yamim tovim shel galuyot, aval shnei yamim tovim shel Rosh Hashanah kedushah achat hen ucheyom echad hen chashuvin lechol elu hadevarim ela le'inyan hamet bilvad, aval beitzah shenoldah barishon shel Rosh Hashanah asurah basheni vechen kol kayotzei bah. Shabbat hasemuchah leyom tov venoldah beitzah be'achat mehen asurah basheni, vechen kol kayotzei bazeh beveitzah, va'afilu noldah beyom tov sheni lo te'achel beshabbat hasemuchah lo.”
Now we get to the last halachah of this perek. The two days of galuyot are considered two separate days. What does it mean, two separate days? It’s not considered one long Yom Tov day; it’s considered two separate days. Therefore, let’s say something was muktzeh on the first day, or was forbidden on the first day, “o hechino oto lasheni”—if you prepared it for the second day—“im hechino oto lasheni”—if your kavanah was to use it on the second day—“harei zeh mutar.” That means we don’t say it’s one long day, so because it was asur on the first day it’s asur on the second day. Rosh Hashanah is one long day. Rosh Hashanah is the exception.
For example, let’s say you have an egg that was born on the first day of Yom Tov. Didn’t we say that if an egg is born on Yom Tov it’s asur? “Te'achel basheni”: you’re allowed to have it on the second day, because we don’t consider it one long day. An egg born on the first day is obviously forbidden to move, and is only asur on the first day because of the prohibition of hachanah, as we said. We’re not allowed to prepare from before Yom Tov for Yom Tov. But here that applies only on the first day, not with regard to the second day.
“Chayah va'of”: let’s say an animal was trapped. “Rosh Hashanah, that’s what—Rosh Hashanah’s the exception.” On a regular Yom Tov, if you trapped an animal on the first day, it’s muktzeh, but you’re allowed to eat it on the second day. “Davar hamechubar lekarka”: let’s say it was pulled out of the ground on the first day, nolad (newly created), and you’re allowed to eat it on the second day.
Furthermore, Yom Tov sheni is a little more lenient. It’s permissible to put a certain coloring on the eye on the second day, even if the person isn’t sick. Normally, they only allow it for illness on Yom Tov. However, on the second day of Yom Tov, they’re lenient even about putting this mascara on the eye, although it has nothing to do with sickness. It makes the eye a little better, but it’s not an illness. So they were lenient in one area: putting this item on the eye on Yom Tov sheni. “That’s for a woman also, or for men?” But it’s not cosmetics. This has to do with benefiting him, but he’s not sick. That’s one leniency on Yom Tov sheni: putting this ointment on the eye.
“Bameh devarim amurim”—to your point, gentlemen, when do we say all this? That’s on a regular Yom Tov sheni, but not the two days of Rosh Hashanah. The two days of Rosh Hashanah are considered one long day, and therefore whatever is asur on the first day is asur on the second day, except that we’re lenient for the deceased. As we said, the second day of Rosh Hashanah is also lenient with regard to the deceased. “Aval beitzah shenoldah barishon shel Rosh Hashanah asurah basheni.” That’s yoma arichta (one long day).
Now the last point of the Rambam here is Shabbat adjacent to Yom Tov: “Shabbat hasemuchah leyom tov.” Let’s say Friday is Yom Tov and Shabbat, or Shabbat and Sunday. When that happens, “venoldah beitzah be'achat mehen”—let’s say the egg was born on Friday—so we already said it’s asur on Shabbat. Or if it was born on—actually, I take it back: it was born on Shabbat, and it’s asur on Yom Tov. “Vechen kayotzei bazeh.” Why? “Va'afilu noldah beyom tov sheni”: even if it was born on the second day of Yom Tov and Shabbat follows the second day, it’s still going to be asur.
“That’s for Yom Tov sheni?” So therefore, yes. Whereas Yom Tov to Yom Tov is okay, but Yom Tov to Shabbat is another story; it’s going to be asur. Okay, Rabotai? We’ll stop here. Baruch Hashem le'olam amen ve'amen.