Beitza 22a.
1- We began with the Gemara: Aba bar Marta asked Abaye if one may extinguish a flame on Yom Tov for the sake of “Davar Acher“
Abaye first replied that one should use another house (or room) and not extinguish a flame.
If no other house is available, then one may set up a partition (Mechitzah) in his room.
If no partition is available, then he should place a utensil over the candle.
Utensil over candle
If none of these alternatives are available, one may not extinguish the flame.
We discussed as to why if Abaye maintained that one may not extinguish a flame for the sake of “Davar Acher,” then why did he not say so in the first place?
2- We tried to give a general overview of one of the fundamental (and difficult) issues in our Mesechtah.
Briefly:
1- The Torah only permits work on Yom Tov that is ‘for the purpose of eating’.
2- The principle of “Mitoch” teaches that any Melachah permitted for the sake of Ochel Nefesh is also permitted for other purposes. Such as carrying a siddur to Shul.
3- Extinguishing a flame is prohibited according to the Chachamim who prohibit ‘machshirim’ – or preliminaries – and permitted according to Rebi Yehuda who permits ‘machshirim’.
So far so good.
The problem is the ruling in our Gemara where it concludes that one is not permitted to extinguish a candle for “Davar Acher” because it is ‘machshirim’!
How is extinguishing a flame ‘machshirim’?
The Melachah of Mechabeh- כיבוי ,extinguishing, is clearly permitted for the sake of Ochel Nefesh, as the Gemara teaches on the next Daf, when it says that one is permitted to grill meat on top of burning coals on Yom Tov even though the fat that drips from the meat extinguishes the coals. This is even according to the Chachamim!
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Since “Mitoch” permits one to extinguish for any purpose, why does the Gemara here question whether one is permitted to extinguish a fire on Yom Tov? Moreover, why does the Gemara conclude that one is not permitted to extinguish a fire in our case?
Similarly, the Gemara teaches that the act of Mechabeh is permitted for other forms of Ochel Nefesh: When a flame is smoking and is going to ruin the food, one is permitted to extinguish the flame in order to save the food.
Since Mechabeh is permitted in that case because of Ochel Nefesh, why is it not permitted for other purposes because of “Mitoch”?
We spoke about the long Kuntres Achron of the Alter Rebbe that tackles this issue. We the comments of the Sfas Emes and the Avnei Neizer on the Alter Rebbe.
3- We had a brief farbrengen in honor of Avrohom Niyazof’s yom Holedes.
We spoke about the famous ‘Perek Shira’ which is an ancient Jewish pamphlet that contains 85 sections, in each, elements of creation beginning with the sun and moon and ending with animals, use various verses in order to sing God’s praises.
See here in Hebrew.
The Alter Rebbe mentions this composition in a few places. See here.
We mentioned the sharp words of the Miteler Rebbe utilizing the verse said by the mule.
