The Labor of Plowing - Rabbi Dror Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 With Hashem’s help, today we’re beginning the melacha of plowing. Of the 39 categories of melacha, the first one we’ll discuss is plowing. In the natural order of the work, plowing comes before sowing. Nevertheless, the Mishnah lists plowing after sowing: first “one who sows,” and then “one who plows.” Why? Because the Mishnah wanted to teach that a second plowing, done to cover the seeds, is also a primary category of melacha. That is why it lists plowing afterward. In practice, though, plowing comes first. Now, what is the melacha of plowing? It’s when someone improves the soil and prepares it for sowing or planting. In the language of our Sages, he loosens the soil, breaking it up into clods and making it friable. That is called plowing. In the Mishkan, they plowed the ground to sow the plants from which they produced dyes for the coverings. Making a furrow in the ground can make a person liable for plowing. The primary category includes digging or making a furrow in the ground in a way that makes it suitable for sowing—that point is important: it must be suitable for sowing. Anyone who performs one of these kinds of work has violated the melacha of plowing. The minimum amount of plowing for which one is liable by Torah law is any amount at all. In other words, even the tiniest bit of plowing makes a person liable. As the Rambam writes in the first halacha of chapter 8 of Hilchos Shabbos, a person is liable for plowing any amount. As I explained earlier, each melacha has its own definitions: what amount is prohibited, and what are its derivatives? Anything I do that improves the soil falls under the melacha of plowing. It changes the

02:33 Speaker 2 soil itself. If I fertilize the soil, it has now become more suitable for sowing, so that is a derivative of plowing. Let’s go through the actions prohibited by Torah law on Shabbos because of the melacha of plowing. There is plowing itself, which, as we said, means making a furrow. There is fertilizing, when I spread manure over the soil. There is clearing stones—or anything else that would interfere with a plant’s growth. There is leveling the ground, known in halacha as “leveling depressions.” A person makes the ground level so that it will be easier to sow there; sowing works better on level ground than on uneven ground. There is weeding, removing weeds to make the soil more suitable for receiving seeds. And there is watering. As we’ll learn, there are two approaches to watering: is it considered sowing, or is it prohibited as plowing? That depends on whether we view watering as an action that makes the soil looser, softer, and easier to sow, or as an action that later causes the plant to grow and flourish. Okay, now let’s discuss some practical halachos that arise from this subject of plowing. The Gemara says, “A person may drag a bed, chair, or bench, provided he does not intend to make a furrow.” The Shulchan Aruch rules this way too. But let’s talk about the conditions under which a person would not be liable; I’m speaking now even in terms of Torah law. Soft ground would be prohibited, because what is certain to happen on soft ground? You will certainly make a furrow. If a person intends to make a furrow, even though all he is doing right now is dragging a chair or table, that too is prohibited. When is it

04:40 Speaker 2 permitted? When the person does not intend to make a furrow and it is not certain that a furrow will be made. Then it is not a case of psik reisha, the concept we learned about. It is not certain: a furrow might be made, or it might not. So if, for example, the bench or table is very heavy, a furrow is more likely. If the ground is soft, a furrow is more likely. In that case, a person should lift the object with both hands, or several people should lift it, so as not to make a furrow. On the other hand, if the ground is hard in the summer and he does not intend to make a furrow, he may be lenient and drag the bench. That is permitted. Another practical point: someone wants to push a baby carriage over bare ground on Shabbos. This is permitted even if it leaves a groove in the ground. Why? The Gemara in Beitzah says, “Because it presses the ground down.” What does that mean? There is another important feature of a carriage that allows us to be lenient: it compresses the soil downward. It does not loosen it. Plowing means loosening the soil; here I am doing the opposite. I am compacting it. Although the carriage makes some sort of groove, that groove is not suitable for sowing, so pushing a carriage is permitted. The halachic authorities raised the question of whether moving in a zigzag, which also loosens the soil a little, is permitted. The principal halachic ruling is that this too is permitted, because ultimately it compacts the soil more than it loosens it, and the person has no intention whatsoever of plowing. It is permitted from the outset to push a carriage even over loose soil,

06:40 Speaker 2 including a double stroller, which is heavier or carries more weight. Walking in shoes is an even simpler case. Walking in shoes is permitted even on muddy, loose soil and the like, because there is no plowing here—only compacting and pressing down the ground. We move on to another very well-known example concerning the melacha of plowing: sweeping the house. Halacha makes a distinction here, and the Gemara discusses at length what happens when I sweep a house. In their time, many homes had dirt floors. When I sweep an unpaved floor, I level depressions and prepare the ground for plowing. The Sages were concerned that a person might come to smooth the ground intentionally—that while sweeping, he would intend not only to clean the house but also to level its depressions, and would thereby violate a Torah prohibition. Therefore, the Sages prohibited sweeping a house across the board. Now, because some places had paved floors and others did not, the Sages decreed that even paved places should not be swept, on account of the unpaved places. Why? So people would not get confused, see someone sweeping a paved floor, say, “Look, I see that sweeping on Shabbos is permitted,” and then sweep an unpaved floor. To prevent confusion, they made a blanket decree prohibiting sweeping everywhere. Now, broadly speaking, there are three approaches: those of the Baal Halachos Gedolos, the Ri as cited in Tosafos, and the Rambam. Some rule leniently and others are stringent. The Baal Halachos Gedolos is lenient, while the Ri and the Rambam are stringent. In practice, the Shulchan Aruch rules like the Rambam, prohibiting sweeping the house, though he also writes there that some permit it,

09:05 Speaker 2 This follows the opinion of the Baal Halachos Gedolos. We use this leniency, as we’ll soon see, for several reasons to be lenient in different situations. Now, regarding sweeping in general: the Gemara mentions sprinkling the floor of a house. Sprinkling means spraying water to settle the dust, so that people can walk through the house without stirring up dust and breathing it in. Halachah distinguishes between sweeping and sprinkling, because with sprinkling there is no concern that a person will level holes in the ground. When sweeping, by contrast, there is much more concern that he will level holes, making it much more like the melachah of plowing. So some authorities are lenient about sprinkling, but not about sweeping. In general, the Rema is stricter about this and holds that it is permitted only if done by a non-Jew. But the Mishnah Berurah already wrote, and this is also the accepted halachah, that the prohibition against sweeping the house applied only in their days, when many homes had dirt floors. Today, when 99.9 percent of homes, if not all of them, have tiled floors, this concern is not at all common. So even according to the Rema—that is, even for Ashkenazim—it is permitted to sweep the house. Why? Because sweeping the house is a significant need. A house tends to get dirty; there are guests in it. Therefore, sweeping is permitted. Washing the floor, on the other hand, which is the next subject we’ll learn about, is prohibited. Why? The main reason halachah gives is that washing is not as necessary as sweeping. When I sweep the house, there is a need for it: plenty of dirt, food, and other dry things get scattered across the floor, and simply walking amid that mess is very unpleasant. Washing, by contrast, is not so necessary, and therefore washing the floor on Shabbos is prohibited.

11:18 Speaker 2 When is it permitted? Only to clean a specific spot. The Sages permitted that. To be clear, I’m talking about washing the floor. I’m certainly not talking about washing it with a damp rag, which raises a concern of wringing, or with a squeegee made of absorbent rather than rigid plastic. Those are certainly prohibited. I’m talking even about using a rigid squeegee. Even then, halachah did not permit washing the floor, because there is no great need for it. It falls under the rabbinic decree made out of concern that a person might level holes in the ground; that is why the Sages prohibited sprinkling and washing the floor. We said there is a basis for leniency with sweeping. Why? Because there is a great need for it. Now suppose a child vomits in one spot. What should a person do? He may pour water on that specific spot. The proper way to deal with a substantial, localized mess, such as vomit or something repulsive, relates to what halachah calls a graf shel re’i. A graf shel re’i is something filthy that a person cannot bear to have around. The Sages instructed that Shabbos should be a delight, so a person does not have to put up with filth in his home and may remove it. He should take a dustpan, lift the bulk of the mess into it, pour water on the affected spot, and sweep the water into the dustpan as well. That way he can clean the spot. By the way, there is another concept I might mention in passing, called ha’aramah, which means using a device or stratagem. What is ha’aramah? For example, suppose there is dirt on the floor here, and I decide to wash my hands with a cup of water over that dirt, then use the water to wipe up and clean

13:25 Speaker 2 the dirt. That is permitted. Why? Because the Sages said that ha’aramah is prohibited when you do it just to outsmart the rules, without acting in good faith or in the manner the Sages prescribed. But suppose that, rather than pour water directly on the floor, you are concerned about the prohibition against washing the floor and want to do it in a more permissible way. So you wash your hands, pouring water as though you are simply cleaning them, but you choose to pour it precisely over that dirt. That is a permitted form of ha’aramah. We’ll learn later that there are cases in which the Sages allowed us to do this, so it is not a negative sort of cunning but a positive stratagem. There are also cases in which the Sages prohibited ha’aramah, sometimes using the harsh expression “a scoundrel within the bounds of the Torah.” So that sums up the whole subject of sweeping the house. We concluded that according to the vast majority of opinions, sweeping is permitted today, and that is indeed the practice. Washing the floor is prohibited, but cleaning a specific spot is permitted where there is filth beyond what is reasonable or ordinary. Another detail concerning the melachah of plowing is playing marbles. A person wants to play marbles, and the game involves digging holes. Playing marbles is prohibited. Why? Because in doing so, a person levels holes in the ground. On a paved surface, however, it is permitted, just as with sweeping the house. As I explained there, most floors today are paved, so we apparently do not apply the decree to them. The decree does not apply here, right? Therefore, children may play marbles on a paved surface. Alternatively, if they put a rug, a mat, or something similar over the ground in the garden, they may play there as well. This is referring to young children below the age of chinuch. The age of chinuch ranges from

15:37 Speaker 2 six to nine, depending on the child’s understanding. For a more mature child, it begins at six; for a less mature child, at nine. So from the age of chinuch, the child is prohibited from doing this, but some are lenient for children below that age. Rubbing one’s feet on the ground: suppose there is saliva there, whether a person spat on the ground or the saliva was already there. One may not rub one’s foot over it. Why? Because of the decree against leveling holes in the ground. One may, however, step on it incidentally while walking. Now, we follow the custom cited by the Taz in the laws of idol worship: when a person spits at the words “vanity and emptiness” in Aleinu, it is a fine custom not even to benefit from saliva associated with the mention of idol worship. That is how he praises the custom there. But on Shabbos, we do not smear the saliva. Why? Because of the decree against leveling holes, even on a paved surface. You might ask, “Isn’t that far-fetched?” It makes no difference; it is a decree. With a decree, you do not look for your own logical reasoning. It is a decree of the Sages, and it was only for sweeping the house that we were lenient. Here, I merely set my foot down on the saliva as I walk; I do not rub my foot over it. That is the source of the prohibition. Incidentally, even though the saliva will be smeared anyway, I still do not deliberately smear it. Someone who wants to wipe mud or dirt off his shoes may wipe them against a wall or a stone, but not against the ground. Why? That, too, is a decree lest he level holes, as the Shulchan Aruch discusses at length in section 302, paragraph 6. One may not wipe one’s feet or the soles of one’s shoes on the ground, on soil, but only on stones. The last halachah before we summarize the melachah of plowing,

17:54 Speaker 2 The last halachah deals with clearing out a storeroom, called an otzar in halachah. An otzar is a storeroom where supplies, food, and the like are kept. Say someone has a large storeroom where he keeps heavy boxes, baskets of grain, as the halachah calls them, or barrels of wine, and he wants to take some of that food on Shabbos. Rabbi Shimon holds that it is permitted to take food from the storeroom on Shabbos. The Gemara discusses this at length, and we rule like him. But clearing out the storeroom itself on Shabbos can be a problem. I cannot clear it out for an ordinary purpose, only for a mitzvah. In other words, if I need the space for a large number of guests who have arrived, or I need the food itself for the guests, it is permitted. Even then, halachah limits how much I may remove. I cannot empty the entire storeroom; that is certainly forbidden. Halachah distinguishes between a large storeroom, containing fifteen se’ah, from which one may remove five baskets—that is, 124 kilos—and one that contains only five baskets, from which one may remove four baskets. That is four quarters, or ninety-nine and a half kilos. But in simpler terms, he cannot empty the entire storeroom. He must always leave something in it. Why? Halachah says he might level out holes in the ground. That is, he must leave some boxes on the ground, so that dragging the boxes does not lead him to level out holes. There is also a prohibition against excessive exertion on Shabbos. So, in practice, someone who wants to clear out a storeroom on Shabbos must be mindful of two prohibitions: first, excessive exertion, and second, leveling out holes. Therefore, even a person

19:57 Speaker 2 nowadays, when most storerooms have paved floors, must still be careful. Although there is no concern about leveling out holes, there is a concern about excessive exertion. So a person can never take everything out of the storeroom; he must always leave some boxes in it. And not only must he leave some boxes: he may clear it out only for a mitzvah, such as welcoming guests or feeding them. That concludes our detailed discussion of the melachah of plowing. Now we will review and reinforce its halachos. We spoke about dragging an object and said that it is forbidden only if the ground is soft and the object will inevitably make a furrow. But if the ground is hard, a furrow is not inevitable, the object is not so heavy, and he does not intend to plow, it is permitted. We said that one may push a stroller whether it is light or heavy, even in a zigzag or slalom pattern. We also discussed walking in shoes on loose soil, which is permitted because that is not the way plowing is done. Sweeping unpaved ground: I cannot use a broom to sweep the earth outside a ground-floor apartment; that is forbidden. We discussed sweeping a paved surface, which is permitted. For Ashkenazim, we explained the Rema’s view: it is permitted only where most homes in the city have paved floors, as they do nowadays. That is why I mentioned this halachah—it is relevant today. But if someone lives in India or somewhere similar, where most floors are not paved, the ruling is different for him, and he cannot sweep the house. Washing the floor with water—

21:54 Speaker 2 we mentioned that this is forbidden. Certainly one may not apply oil, wax, or similar substances to it; they have the same ruling as water. Only when there is a specific need may we wash a particular spot by pouring water on that spot. We mentioned that squeegeeing is also permitted in that case. Drying it, incidentally, is permitted with a cloth, provided I only lay the cloth down and do not wring it out. I let it absorb the water and carefully lift it into the bucket. Any activity on the ground that raises a concern that I might level out holes or smooth the ground—such as playing marbles, playing with nuts, or anything similar—is forbidden. We said that, according to some opinions, one may be lenient with a young child below the age of chinuch. We mentioned that rubbing spit into the ground is forbidden even on a paved surface, but one may step on it in the course of walking. Mud may be wiped off using stones, but not earth. And the last halachah we mentioned concerned a storeroom. Someone who has a storeroom may not clear it out for an ordinary purpose. He may clear it out for a mitzvah, to accommodate guests or feed them, or to make room for people to sit there, but he may not clear it out entirely. One more detail I did not mention earlier: he may not clear out the whole storeroom himself, because that would involve excessive exertion. Instead, he should clear out a little; another guest should clear out a little more, and another guest a little more. That way the storeroom can be emptied without anyone violating the prohibition against excessive exertion. That concludes our review of the melachah of plowing. May you be blessed by Hashem.