Mishnah Beitza

1 If an egg is laid on Yom Tov, Bet Shammai say: it may be eaten on the same day. But Bet Hillel say: it may not be eaten until the day is over. Bet Shammai say: the quantity of leaven is the size of an olive and leavened bread is the size of a date. But Bet Hillel say: both are the size of an olive.

2 If one slaughters a wild animal or a bird on a festival, Bet Shammai says: he may dig with a pronged tool and cover up the blood, but Bet Hillel says: he may not slaughter unless he has had earth made ready. But they agree that if he did slaughter he should dig with a pronged tool and cover up the blood, because the ashes of a stove count as prepared for the holiday.

3 Bet Shammai says: one may not carry a ladder on Yom Tov from one dovecote to another, but he may tilt it from one pigeonhole to another. But Bet Hillel permits this. Bet Shammai says: one may not take doves unless he has shaken them the day before Yom Tov. But Bet Hillel says: he stands and declares, “I am taking this one and that one.”

4 If he designated black doves but found on Yom Tov white ones, or white doves but found black ones, or two but found three, they are all forbidden. If he designated three but found two, they are permitted. If he designated doves inside the nest and found them in front of the nest, they are forbidden. But if no others were there except these, they are permitted.

5 Bet Shammai says: one may not remove shutters on Yom Tov. But Bet Hillel permits even returning them to their place. Bet Shammai says: one may not take a pestle even to cut up meat on it. But Bet Hillel permits it. Bet Shammai says: one may not place a hide in front of one who treads on it, nor may he even lift it up, unless there is an olive’s worth of flesh on it. But Bet Hillel permits it. Bet Shammai says: one may not carry out an infant or a lulav or a Torah scroll into the public domain. But Bet Hillel permits it.

6 Bet Shammai says: one may not take hallah or priestly gifts to a priest on Yom Tov, whether they were separated on the day before or on that day. But Bet Hillel permits it. Bet Shammai said to them: “An analogy supports our view: hallah and priestly gifts go to the priest and terumah likewise goes to the priest. Just as one may not take terumah to the priest, so one may not take priestly gifts to him.” Bet Hillel said to them: “No! If you say this of terumah, which he has no right to separate, will you say the same of priestly gifts, which he is permitted to separate?”

7 Bet Shammai says: spices may be crushed with a wooden pestle and salt in a small jar or with a wooden ladle. But Bet Hillel says: spices may be crushed in the usual way with a stone pestle and salt with a wooden pestle.

8 If one sorts beans on Yom Tov, Bet Shammai says: he must sort the edible parts and eat them immediately. But Bet Hillel says: he may sort as usual in his lap or in a basket or in a dish, but not with a board or in a sifter or a sieve. Rabban Gamaliel says: he may even rinse them in water and skim off the refuse.

9 Bet Shammai says: one may not send gifts to a neighbor on Yom Tov except portions of food, ready to be eaten. But Bet Hillel says: one may send cattle, game and poultry whether alive or slaughtered. One may also send wine, oil, flour or legumes, but not grain. And Rabbi Shimon permits even grain.

10 One may send clothes, whether they are sewn up or not sewn up, and even though they contain kilʾayim, a mixture of wool and linen, provided they are necessary for the festival. But one may not send nailed sandals or unfinished shoes. Rabbi Judah says: not even white shoes because they still require an artisan to blacken them. This is the general rule: whatever may be used on Yom Tov may also be sent on Yom Tov.

1 If Yom Tov falls on the eve of Shabbat, one should not begin to cook on Yom Tov for Shabbat. But he may cook for Yom Tov, and if any is left over it is left over for Shabbat. And he may prepare a dish on the eve of Yom Tov and rely on it to prepare food for Shabbat. Bet Shammai says: two dishes. But Bet Hillel says: one dish. Yet they both agree that a fish with an egg on it is considered as two dishes. If he ate it or it was lost, he may not begin to cook by relying on it. But if he left over any small portion of it, he may rely on it to cook for Shabbat.

2 If Yom Tov falls on the day after Shabbat, Bet Shammai says: one must immerse everything impure before Shabbat. But Bet Hillel says: vessels must be immersed before Shabbat but people may immerse on Shabbat.

3 They agree that one may effect surface contact for impure water in a stone vessel in order to purify it, but one may not immerse it. And one may immerse to change from one intention to another or from one company to another.

4 Bet Shammai says: one may bring peace offerings on Yom Tov but may not lay hands on them, and one may not bring burnt offerings on Yom Tov. Bet Hillel says: one may bring peace offerings and burnt offerings and also lay hands on them.

5 Bet Shammai says: a man may not heat water for his feet unless it is also fit for drinking. But Bet Hillel permits it. A man may make a fire and warm himself at it.

6 In three cases Rabban Gamaliel followed the strict rulings of Bet Shammai: one may not cover up hot food on Yom Tov for Shabbat, one may not join together a lamp on a festival, and one may not bake thick loaves on Yom Tov but only wafers. Rabban Gamaliel said: “In all their days, my father’s house never baked large loaves but only wafers.” They said to him: “What can we do about your father’s house? They were strict with themselves but lenient toward Israel, to let them bake both large loaves and even charcoal-roasted loaves.”

7 He also gave three lenient rulings: one may sweep up on a festival between the couches, put spices on the coals on a festival, and roast a kid whole on the night of Passover. But the sages forbid them.

8 Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah permits three things that the sages forbid: his cow used to go out with the strap it had between its horns, one may curry cattle on a festival, and one may grind pepper in its own mill. Rabbi Judah says: one may not curry cattle on a festival, because it may cause a wound, but one may comb them. But the sages say: one may not curry them, and one may not even comb them.

9 A pepper mill is susceptible to impurity on account of its consisting of three separate utensils: on account of a receptacle, on account of a metal utensil, and on account of a sifting utensil.

10 A child’s cart is susceptible to the impurity of midras, it may be handled on Shabbat, and it may be dragged along only on matting. Rabbi Judah says: no vessels may be dragged along the ground except a wagon because it only presses the earth down.

1 One may not catch fish from a fishpond on Yom Tov or give them food, but one may catch game or fowl from animal enclosures and one may put food before them. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: not all enclosures are alike. This is the general rule: anything that still needs to be trapped is forbidden but anything that need not be trapped is permitted.

2 If traps for wild animals, birds or fish were set on the eve of Yom Tov, one may not take from them on Yom Tov unless he knows that they were already caught on the eve of Yom Tov. It once happened that a certain non-Jew brought fish to Rabban Gamaliel on Yom Tov and he said: they are permitted, but I do not wish to accept them from him.

3 One may not slaughter on Yom Tov an animal that is about to die unless there is enough time on that day to eat from it as much as an olive of roasted flesh. Rabbi Akiva says: even if there is only time to eat as much as an olive of raw flesh taken from the place of slaughter. If he slaughtered it in the field, he may not bring it in on a pole or in a wheelbarrow, but he may bring it in piece by piece in his hand.

4 If a firstborn animal fell into a pit, Rabbi Judah says: let an expert go down and inspect it. If it had a blemish he may bring it up and slaughter it, but if not, he may not slaughter it. Rabbi Shimon says: any animal whose blemish was not observed on the day before Yom Tov is not prepared, mukhan.

5 If an animal died on Yom Tov it may not be moved from its place. They once asked Rabbi Tarfon about this and about hallah that had become impure. He went into the study house and inquired, and they answered him: they may not be moved from their place.

6 They may not be counted as having a share in an animal at the outset on Yom Tov, but they may be counted as having a share in an animal on the eve of Yom Tov, and they may then slaughter it and divide it between them on Yom Tov. Rabbi Judah says: a man may weigh meat on Yom Tov against a utensil or against a butcher’s chopper. But the sages say: one may not pay attention to the scales at all.

7 One may not sharpen a knife on a festival, but one may draw it over another knife. A man may not say to a butcher, “Weigh out a dinar’s worth of meat for me,” but he may slaughter the animal and share it among them.

8 A man may say on Yom Tov to another, “Fill this vessel for me,” but not in a specific measure. Rabbi Judah says: if it was a measuring vessel he may not fill it. It once happened that Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to fill up his measures on the eve of Yom Tov and give them to his customers on Yom Tov. Abba Shaul says: he used to do so even during hol hamoed, the intermediate days of the festival, so that the measures would be clear. But the sages say: he also used to do so on ordinary days, so that the measures would drain fully. A man may go to the shopkeeper he usually goes to and say to him, “Give me so many eggs and nuts,” since this is how a householder counts in his own home.

1 One who carries jars of wine from place to place may not carry them in a basket or in a large basket, but he may carry them on his shoulder or in front of him. Similarly, one who brings straw may not drape a large basket over his back, but must carry it in his hand. And one may start using a heap of straw, but one may not start using wood from the backyard.

2 One may not take wood from a sukkah but only from what is next to it. One may bring in wood from the field if it is gathered together, and from a karpef, an enclosure, even if it is scattered about. What is a karpef? Any enclosure next to the town, the words of Rabbi Judah. Rabbi Yose says: Any enclosure which one enters with a key, even if it is only just within the Shabbat boundary.

3 One may not chop up wood, either from beams or from a beam that broke on Yom Tov. And one may not chop with an ax or with a saw or with a sickle but only with a butcher’s chopper. If a closed room full of produce burst open on Yom Tov, he may take produce out through the breach. Rabbi Meir says: he may make a hole at the outset and bring out the produce.

4 One may not make a hole in a lump of clay for use as a lamp because that is making a vessel. One may not make charcoal on Yom Tov. And one may not cut a wick in two. Rabbi Judah says: he may cut it with fire for two lamps.

5 One may not break up a potsherd or cut paper in order to roast a salted fish on it. And one may not rake out an oven or a range, but one may press the ashes down. And one may not place two jars side by side in order to balance a saucepan on them. And one may not prop up a pot with a wooden wedge, and the same applies to a door. And one may not drive cattle with a staff on a festival. But Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon permits it.

6 Rabbi Eliezer says: a man may take a chip from what is lying in front of him to pick his teeth with it, and he may collect chips from the courtyard and make a fire, for everything in a courtyard is prepared for use on Yom Tov. But the sages say: he may collect only from what is in front of him and make a fire.

7 One may not produce fire either from wood, or from stones, or from dirt, or from water. And one may not make tiles red-hot in order to roast on them. Rabbi Eliezer further said: A man may stand near his muktzeh on the eve of Shabbat in the Sabbatical Year and say, “From here I will eat tomorrow.” But the sages say: This does not work unless he marks it out and says, “From here to there.”

1 One may let down fruit through a trapdoor on Yom Tov but not on Shabbat. And one may cover up fruit with vessels because of the rain, and likewise jars of wine and jars of oil. And one may place a vessel under the drops of rain even on Shabbat.

2 Every act for which one is liable on Shabbat because of mandated rest, shevut, or because it is only optional, reshut, or even though it is a religious act, mitzvah, he is also liable on Yom Tov. For the following acts he is liable because of shevut: one may not climb a tree, ride on an animal, swim in water, clap hands, slap thighs or dance. For the following acts he is liable because they are only optional: one may not judge, betroth a wife, perform halitzah or perform yibbum, consummate a levirate marriage. And for the following acts one is liable even though it is a religious act: one may not dedicate anything to the Temple, nor vow a personal valuation, nor make a vow of herem, nor set aside terumah or tithes. All these things they the rabbis said are forbidden on Yom Tov, and how much more so are they forbidden on Shabbat. There is no difference between Yom Tov and Shabbat except the preparation of food alone.

3 An animal and utensils are restricted to the same limits as the feet of the owners. If one gives his cow over to his son or to a cowherd to tend, it is restricted to the same limits as the feet of the owner. Vessels that have been set apart for the use of one of the brothers in a house are restricted to the same limits as his feet, but those utensils that have not been set apart in this way can be taken only to a place where all the brothers may go.

4 If one borrows a vessel from his neighbor on the eve of Yom Tov, it is restricted to the same limits as the feet of the borrower. But if he borrowed it on Yom Tov, it is as the feet of the lender. If a woman borrowed from her neighbor spices, water or salt for her dough, these are restricted to the same limits as the feet of both of them. Rabbi Judah exempts water, because it is not substantial.

5 A live coal is restricted to the same limits as its owner, but a flame can be taken anywhere. With a live coal of sanctified property, one who makes use of it is considered to have committed sacrilege, but as for a flame of sanctified property, one may not derive benefit from it, but one who does has not committed sacrilege. If one carries out a live coal into the public domain on Shabbat he is liable, but if he carries out a flame he is exempt. The water from a private well is restricted to the same limits as its owner, the water from a well belonging to the inhabitants of that town is restricted to the same limits as the people of that town, and the water from a well belonging to those who came up from Babylonia is restricted to the same limits as the one who draws the water.

6 If one has his produce in another town, and the inhabitants of that city made an eruv in order to bring him some of his produce, they may not bring it to him. But if he himself made an eruv, his produce is like himself.

7 If one invited guests to his home, they may not take away with them any portions unless he the host had assigned for them their portions on the eve of Yom Tov. One may not give drink to and then slaughter pasture animals, but one may give drink to and slaughter household animals. The following are household animals: those that spend the night in town. Pasture animals are those that spend the night in the pasture.