Shabbos 94 – שבת צד

The Mishna says if one carries a Meis he is chayav.  Why isn’t a kezayis sufficient due to the burial obligation – similar to mekek sefarim (90a)?

We learn that pulling even one white hair from amongst black ones is considered a significant melacha, although it is assur (for a man) to do.  We learned earlier (79b) that halacha determines the norm for the melacha of hotza’a (see Rashi D”H Lemitzva) – why in our case do we reckon with something prohibited?

2 thoughts on “Shabbos 94 – שבת צד

  1. From the fact that the Gemara adds that Rebbe Shimon would hold the same when the Meis is being carried out to be buried, we see that the Mishna is not talking about that scenario. We see from the last Gemara on this Mishna that the Mishna deals with carrying the Meis for the purpose of ridding the house of Tuma. That is only achieved when you carry out the whole Meis.

  2. What must be determined, when deciding the Shiur of a Melacha, is if what was done is significant. If Klaf won’t be used for a certain use — even if Bidi’eved it would be Kosher — the person is not doing anything significant when carrying it out, since in his mind nothing is being accomplished.

    On the other hand, when the fact is that something is significant, being Assur doesn’t erase the fact. If an Issur would mean it is not a Shiur, then the fact that the Melacha was done on Shabbos would be cause enough for one to be Pattur. In fact, on the contrary, when setting out to do an Issur — or that which is Assur — we might look precisely at the Shiur of the Issur to determine the Melacha.

    To put it another way, when you are accomplishing a Mitzva, the Shiur is based on what the Mitzva is. When accomplishing worldly tasks, we look at the worldly value of that task.

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