Resources for Moed Katan 10

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. The גמרא says that חול המועד you can fix the nails of the horse you ride on. See תוספותin ד"ה סוס who says that one cannot ride "בחנם"(for no good reason). See the רא"ש who says that one can only be מתקן צורכי רכיבה if one is not used to walking. See the בית יוסף in סימן תקל"ו who understands the רא"ש to be saying that if one is only riding on the horse, then it’s מותר even בחנם. However, if one needs to fix the horseshoe then it’s only מותר if one isn’t used to walking. However, the בית יוסף himself says that if you are riding for pleasure (לטייל), then it is not called בחנם and you can ride the horse and even fix the horseshoe. According to this, it should be permissible to drive a car for pleasure, but not for no reason.  However, a car is potentially a מלאכה דאורייתא, in which case you could argue that driving it would be like תיקון צורכי רכיבה where it would only be allowed if you weren’t used to walking. However,Rav Moshe Feinstein in the ספר הזכרון מבקשי תורה חול המועד is quoting as saying that the difference between riding vs. walking and driving vs. walking is not the same, and even if you were used to walking you could drive. Also, see the שמירת שבת כהלכתא in פּרק ס"ו הערה רכ"ד who says that driving a car is only הבערה and הבערה is מותר on חוה"מ. Rav Moshe did not seem to agree with that.

2. The גמרא says that פּרקמטיא is אסור. There is a מחלוקת ראשונים as to why that is. The נימוקי יוסףsays it is the same reason as on Shabbos—you might come to write. However, the רא"ש in תשובות הרא"ש, כלל כ"ג אות ד says that חז"ל forbade it because it involves a lot of טירחא in that you have to weigh the item, haggle the price, etc. He also says it may involve צער if you feel you got ripped off or sold too low. Based on his reasoning, he suggests that you might be able to lend with ריבית to a נכרי on חול המועד because there is no טריחא or צער. It seems the רא"ש understood that generally speaking חז"ל did not אסור things on חול המועד that are only אסור on Shabbos מדרבנן. See the מגן אברהם and משנה ברורה in סימן תקל"ט who only quote the reason of טירחא.

The גמרא says that you can do פּרקמטיא if it’s a דבר האבד .See the בית יוסף in סימן תקל"ט who brings the רוקח who says that you can do business for profit on חול המועד as long as it’s בצנעה. He seems to hold that losing the ability to make a profit is considered a דבר האבד. The רא"ש in סימן כ"ד says that if there is an annual trade show during חול המועד and you won’t be able to sell your goods at a profit without going to the show, then you can attend and buy and sell at the show(even בפרהסיא). The reason this is allowed is because it is considered a דבר האבד since the show won’t come back for a long while. However, if the market day takes place every week, then you could not sell it on חול המועד since the possibility of not making a profit is not considered a loss. However, see the נימוקי יוסף who quotes the רמב"ן who says that even if there is an unusual trade show that may not come by again, you cannot sell your items there just to make a profit since the profit is not something you possess that you can say you are losing. It comes out that there are three definitions of דבר האבד: the רוקח says lack of making a profit, the רא"ש says a passing show, and the רמב"ן says only if you lose money out of your pocket. See the בית יוסף also brings a ירושלמי brought by many of the ראשונים that says that if you give some of the money you earn to spend on buying more food for חול המועד, then you can do the sales. The שולחן ערוך relies on this in some cases.