A poem about a woman and a work that does not need a body
Hello Rabbi Michael,
In the Mishnah Torah, the Rambam writes:
- All those who cause damage are exempt. How: If he harms his friend or an animal through damage, and if he tears clothes or burns or breaks utensils through damage – this is exempt; if he digs a hole and only needs it for the ore, then this is a damage and exempt. Even though he did a job, since his intention was to cause damage, he is exempt.
Regarding the above Halacha, the following questions arise:
- Why does Maimonides compare digging a hole to damaging a friend or an animal through destruction? In digging a hole, it doesn't seem to me that there is any resemblance to spoilage or destruction.
- Even if we follow the Rambam's method that there is an aspect of spoilage in digging the hole, and it only requires gravel, why doesn't this seem like a likely case of a Risha ruling, an act that, by the way, is certainly performed in another way, which according to the Rambam requires a keret, and not just forbidden by the rabbis as the Rambam notes in the introduction (the intention of being forbidden by the rabbis is exempt).
Best regards,
לגלות עוד מהאתר הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
0 Answers
1. First, digging the hole involves spoiling the soil. If you need the hole, then of course it is a repair, but if it is done for the dirt, then there is spoiling the soil.
But I think that without the words of Maimonides, in principle, there is no need for this. Both a work that does not require a body (digging a hole for dirt) and a spoiling are works that are done for a purpose other than the usual, and this is their exemption. According to the Shatzlag, the intended result does not have to be spoiling, and there is a rabbinical prohibition on this (and in one opinion even from the Torah without punishment). There is an exemption for a spoiling not only because the purpose is different from the usual, but because the purpose is spoiling. I will only point out that it is clear that a spoiling is exempt even if there is no other ordinary purpose for which this action is done. The exemption is because of the spoiling. If this is also not the usual purpose, then there is another exemption from the Shatzlag.
But all of this is only according to the majority of the Rishonim (and so is the Halacha), who is exempt from it (Karach). But Maimonides is the only one who rules like Rabbi Yehuda who is obligated, and therefore he is exempt from digging a hole only when there is a spoilage in it, and the exemption is from the spoilage rule, not from the Shatzlag rule (whose opinion is that it is not exempt at all).
2. Pesik Risha is only said about a situation in which two actions are performed, and the one I intend to do necessarily entails the other that I do not intend to do. For example, dragging a bench and creating a groove in the ground. I intend to move a bench, but a groove will inevitably be created. On the other hand, in cases such as digging a hole in the dirt, the halakhic definition is as a shatzlag and not as an unintended one. In a shatzlag, the question of pesik Risha is irrelevant, because it is always a pesik Risha. The difference between not intending to do something and not intending to do something is very, very subtle, and difficult to define. But the Maga, following Rabbi ben Maimonides, explains that not intending to do something is doing two things (when I intend to do something permissible and do something forbidden with it) and that from the Maga to do something is doing one thing with two results (when I intend to do something unusual). Digging a hole is one action that has two results (a pit and dirt). Dragging a bench and making a groove are two different actions. This is one of the most difficult issues in the laws of Shabbat, and one of the most subtle and vague definitions.
Happy New Year and happy writing and signing,
Michi
לגלות עוד מהאתר הרב מיכאל אברהם
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
השאר תגובה
Please login or Register to submit your answer