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We are continuing in siman 11, regarding the halachos of melting ice and snow. We learned that the Gemara brings a few opinions as to why it is assur to to melt ice on Shabbos. The first explanation was that the issur is creating water, the second explanation is that it approximates squeezing, and the third explanation was that the issur is due to nolad. According to the third explanation, the issue is not the process, but the resulting item. We will clarify the third expanation further.
Regarding food prepared for Shabbos, the Torah says vehechinu es asher yavi’u, that food which is used for Shabbos must be prepared before Shabbos. Obviously, any potential issues of melacha must be taken care of before Shabbos, but in addition, Chazal understand that anything used for Shabbos must be designated before Shabbos. One way to understand this requirement is that anything planned for a king’s banquet is decided beforehand, and one does not wait until the last minute to prepare for it. For example, all of the various items which be used, silverware, plates, designs, etc., are all designated way in advance of the event. No last minutes decisions will be used. Thus, the items which will be used on Shabbos need to be decided upon, muchan, before Shabbos, and nothing can be inserted for shabbos use at the last minute, i.e., on shabbos.
The opposite of muchan is muktzeh, things which have not been designated for use before Shabbos. Rebbi Shimon is of the opinion that a person has in the back of their mind that most of their possessions may be used on Shabbos if needed, and are therefore muchan, so there are a minimal amount of items which will fall under the concerns of muktzeh. Rebbi Yehuda disagrees, and holds that one must actively designate his items for use before Shabbos, and only then can they be used on Shabbos. Yesterday, we used the example of a person who has a tallis store in their basement. According to Rebbi Shimon, one will always have in the back of their mind the possibility that they will use a tallis for themselves, so all of the tallesim are designated (muchan) for use on Shabbos. According to Rebbi Yehuda, unless one deliberately designates the tallesim before Shabbos, it was not planned for Shabbos use, so it is considered muktzeh.
There are certain types of muktzeh which were introduced by Chazal in order to avoid people interacting with certain types of items. There are also certain types of items which Chazal assume, by default, are not designated, such as rocks or sticks. And there are certain things, such as food, where both agree that a person has in mind to designate them for potential use on Shabbos. Here, we are discussing items which could, theoretically, be used, depending on the above machlokes between Rebbi Shimon and Rebbi Yehuda.
It could be argued that this machokes only applies to something which existed before the onset of Shabbos, where the question is whether one had it in mind or not. If something did not even exist before Shabbos, one cannot argue that they designated it before Shabbos, because it did not exist before Shabbos. If so, it will lack the status of muchan, and once it exists, will by default be considered muktzeh. This situation is known as nolad. Therefore, it can be argued that even according to Rebbi Shimon these items will be muktzeh, and in that sense, it is more stringent than regular muktzeh.
We will continue this concept in the upcoming shiur, be’ezras Hashem.
Summary
- There is a machlokes Rebbi Yehuda and Rebbi Shimon whether one’s items are by default designated for Shabbos use, or whether they must be deliberately designated.
- Arguably, all can agree that if the item did not exist before the onset of Shabbos, it is not possible to have designated it, so it will be muktzeh. This is known as nolad.
