Q&A: A Question on the Talmud in Pesachim
A Question on the Talmud in Pesachim
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In Pesachim 2b I came across something puzzling. It says there:
“From when on the fourteenth is it forbidden to do labor? Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: from first light. Rabbi Yehuda says: from sunrise. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said to Rabbi Yehuda: Where do we ever find a day where part of it is forbidden for labor and part of it is permitted for labor? He replied: That very day proves it, since part of it is permitted for eating leavened food and part of it is forbidden for eating leavened food.”
Regarding the highlighted question: after all, we do find that on Sabbath eves it is forbidden to do labor from minchah time and onward, and Rabbi Eliezer seems to assume quite simply that nowhere is there a prohibition of labor that begins in the middle of the day. Even more puzzling is that Tosafot address this question of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, but do not mention at all the prohibition of labor on Friday afternoon.
I thought perhaps one could answer that according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov there is no actual prohibition of labor on Sabbath eve at all, only that one who does labor on Sabbath eve will not see a sign of blessing from it. But when I looked again at Pesachim 50b, it seems that according to everyone there is a prohibition of labor on Sabbath eve (and that is also how it is ruled by Maimonides and the Shulchan Arukh).
Answer
The prohibition against doing labor on Sabbath eve is not a festival-type prohibition of labor, but a prohibition meant as preparation for the Sabbath. But the prohibition of labor on the fourteenth, although it is indeed rabbinic, was modeled on the prohibition of labor on the intermediate days of a festival (see, for example, Maimonides, Laws of Festivals 8:18). So the two are not comparable. A prohibition of labor because of the character of the day has to apply to the entire day, since the whole day has the same status. But the prohibition of labor on Sabbath eve is only to ensure proper entry into the Sabbath, so why should the entire day be forbidden?