Resources for Moed Katan 11

Daf A Week

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

  1. The גמרא says that you can make a net for trapping fish but only in a way that is not a מעשה אומן. The גמרא in the very next line says that you can build an oven on חול המועד as long as you can use it on חול המועד It seems one can build an oven even though it is a מעשה אומן, and that it is because it is מכשירי אוכל נפש. The מגן אברהםin סימן תקמ"א ס"ק א asks why can one not make a fish net as a מעשה אומן for the same reason—it is מכשירי אוכל נפש!? He answers that something is only called מכשירי אוכל נפש if it directly prepares the food like an oven. However, fish nets do not prepare the food, they just catch it so it doesn’t count.
  1. The גמרא says that when making a מעקה for a מרפּסת, one can only make it in a way that is a מעשה הדיוט. There is a מחלוקת ראשונים as to what type of מעקה we are referring to. Theמאיריunderstands that we are referring to the regular מצות מעקה, and one is still only allowed to do it in a way that is a מעשה הדיוט. The ריטב"א understands that our גמרא is referring to a מרפּסת that is not חייב in מעקה, because if it was, why couldn’t you make it even as a מעשה אומן? The ראשונים quote the ספרי that says a מרפּסת is not חייב in מעקה, but the מאירי just says there are different types of porches and some are חייב and some are not. See the שבט הלוי in חלק ז סימן רכ"ט who says that the rule in the mitzvah of מעקה is that if it’s a place where people normally frequent and it is a בית דירה as well, then it’s חייב במעקה מן התורה. However, if it isn’t a בית דירה but people still walk there, then you need to make a type of protection there, but it isn’t the official mitzvah of מעקה. This is the מרפּסת that the ריטב"א was referring to. However, our porches nowadays fit both requirements and would be חייב מן התורה. Theחזון אי"ש in חו"מ ליקוטים סימן י"ח ס"ק ו disagrees and says that if there is no בית דירה under the porch it is not חייב in the mitzvah of מעקה even nowadays, but still should be protected to prevent any damages.
  2. The גמרא brings the case of the people who went and caught fish from a closed-up stream. רבא allowed them to pickle the extra fish that they ended up not using for יו"ט, or according to the second לשון allowed them to pickle all of the fish. According to the second לשון, it sounds like they could catch as many fish as they wanted, even though they knew they were taking more than they could use on יו"ט. The נימוקי יוסףexplains that this is allowed because of a הערמה where one says that for each fish that one catches or salts one can say “perhaps this one will be better, and I’ll eat this one.” See the רא"ש who brings the ראב"ד who asks why the case of the fish is different than a case of דבר האבד? After all, the ירושלמי famously says that if you have an unusual opportunity to buy or sell on חול המועד like a traveling caravan that is passing through, it is considered a דבר האבד and you are allowed to buy from them. Consequently, even if you can’t use the fish during the holiday it should be ok to catch and pickle them since you will lose the opportunity if you don’t? He gives two answers: One is that not getting free fish isn’t comparable to a loss of a real business opportunity. The second answer is that the ירושלמי only allowed doing business which is just an איסור דרבנן with minimal טירחא. However, it would never allow כבישה which involves a lot of טירחא. It is a big מחלוקת אחרונים in סימן תקל"ג סעיף ג as to which answer we Pasken like.

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