Monday, July 23, 2007

Yevamos 83b - Removing Someone else's Pot From The Fire

Tosafos 83b says that the rule of "ein adam mekadesh davar sheino shelo" applies only to issurim where the machshava - thought, plays a role in creating the issur such as kelaim and avoda zarah, but issurim that are purely based on ma'aseh are not bound by this rule. R' Akiva Eiger (O.C 253) points out that the Ra'sh (kelayim perek 7) argues on Tosafos since we find that if one does melacha with para aduma of someone else, it passuls even though it is dependent on machshava (as we see from the case of bringing it into barn and threshing...). The Ra'sh maintains that really one can assur even davar sheino shelo, except by kelayim where there is a gezeiras hakasuv that it must be yours, and avodah zara where the issur is completely bound by the intent of the owner (since that is the definition of avoda zara - intent). R' Akiva Eiger explains the point of argument: Tosafos holds that whenever machshava plays a role we implement the rule that one cannot assur something which doesn't belong to him. But the Ra'sh holds that any situation where the issur is dependent on an action, just that a thought can prevent the issur, such as kelayim and parah aduma where the machashava can prevent the issur, so long as the one doing it is interested in doing the melacha or planting the kelayim, it becomes assur even though the owner was not interested.
Now R' Akiva Eiger explains, the issur of chazarah - returning a pot to the "blech" on shabbos requires 2 conditions: 1. it is still in your hand. 2. his intent was to return it when he took it off. If someone else removed my pot and was still holding it in his hand but did not have intent to put it back, according to tosafos since the machshava plays a role one cannot assur the pot of someone else, but according to Ra'sh since the primary problem is the act of removing and the machshava merely prevents the act from assuring the return of the pot, we regard the thought of someone else to consider it an act of removing so the pot cannot be returned to the fire.

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