Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Rambam Yomi with Rav Eytan

Perek כ: Rest for Animals and Servants
Shabbat rest extends beyond us: the Torah says your ox and donkey must rest too. This Perek covers why you can't load an animal or lend, rent, or sell it to a non-Jew who might work it, what equipment an animal may wear in the public domain, and the obligation to ensure your servants rest, including the status of the Ger Toshav.

Perek י״ט (ב): Amulets, Tefillin, and Tzitzit
What if you find Tefillin or a Torah scroll in the street on Shabbat? This section covers what you can wear out for protection or comfort, from proven amulets to raincoats, and why properly made Tzitzit count as part of the garment. It then explains how to bring Tefillin to safety by wearing them in pairs, and why a tailor shouldn't leave home with a needle in his hand as Shabbat approaches.

Perek י״ט (א): What You Can Wear Out on Shabbat
Where's the line between something you wear and something you carry? This section covers weapons, nailed sandals, and rings, and why the same ring can be jewelry for one person and a burden for another. It then lists the ornaments women may not wear out for fear they'll be removed and carried, along with a few things that are allowed, from hair threads to medical bandages.

Perek י״ח (ב): Hides, Living Things, and Half-Measures
We finish the list of Shiurim with parchment and paper, then ask whether carrying a living creature counts as carrying. Why is a live adult exempt, while an animal or a bound person is not? The section closes with the rules of intent and partial amounts: when something saved for planting or medicine needs no minimum, and what happens if you carry out half a Shiur twice.

Perek י״ח (א): How Much Is Enough to Be Liable?
Carrying only counts as a Torah violation if you carry out a minimum amount, and that amount depends on what's being carried. This section lists the Shiurim: a dried fig's worth of food, a quarter of a Revi'it of wine, enough ink to write two letters, and many more for animal feed, spices, dyes, building materials, and hides.

Perek י״ז (ג): Wells, Corners, and Measuring It All
How do you water animals at a well on Shabbat? This section shows how pairs of wall segments at the corners can turn the area around a well into a permitted enclosure, and where that leniency applies. It then covers a few more edge cases, including a breach at a corner, and closes with the Rambam's guide to the measurements (fingerbreadths, handbreadths, and amot) used throughout Hilchot Shabbat.

Perek י״ז (ב): The Fine Print of Lechi and Korah
What exactly makes a crossbeam or side post valid? This section sets the measurements: how wide and strong a Korah must be, how tall and wide an alley opening can be, and what to do with a breach in the wall. It also covers alleys with several openings, where to place the Lechi, and why a Korah must sit on top of the alley rather than beside it.

Perek י״ז (א): Permitting the Alley
How does a shared alley become a place where you can carry on Shabbat? This section distinguishes a dead-end alley from one open at both ends, and shows how a simple Lechi (side post) or Korah (crossbeam) can complete the missing “fourth wall.” We also cover which alleys qualify and what materials can serve as a Lechi.

Perek ט״ז (ב): What Makes a Wall a Wall?
This second half of this Perek finishes the case of the Shayara. The Rambam then turns to the Mechitza itself, the wall that creates a Halachic boundary. What must it withstand? How tall must it be? How many gaps can it have before it stops counting, and what is the difference between a breach and a doorway-shaped opening (Tzurat Petach)? We look at walls made of reeds and ropes, and even of people and animals. The Perek closes with the question of a wall that appears on Shabbat itself, and the shade of a low-hanging tree.

Perek ט״ז (א): Fenced Fields and the 'Beit Seatayim'
Can you carry in a walled garden or an enclosed field? It depends on why it was fenced and how big it is. This Perek introduces the key measurement of a Beit Seatayim. We look at how sowing, planting, and building pillars can change the size of an enclosed space, and at the proportions of the Mishkan’s courtyard as the model for a permitted enclosure. The Perek then moves to the case of a group of three or more travelers camping in an open field, who become a shayara and are allowed to carry throughout the area they’ve fenced off.

Perek ט״ו: Edge Cases of the Domains
This Perek rounds out the laws of carrying with a long series of borderline situations: a person straddling two domains while eating or drinking, ledges and window protrusions jutting into public space, filling a bucket from a water channel or the sea, and what happens when a scroll or a thorn drifts from one domain into another mid-Shabbat. Through these cases, the Rambam shows how the boundaries defined in the previous Perek actually play out in daily life.

Perek י״ד: The Four Domains Defined
This Perek lays out precisely what separates the four categories of space for the laws of carrying: Reshut HaYachid (a true private domain), Reshut HaRabim (the public domain), "Karmelit" (an intermediate space that is neither), and Makom Patur (an exempt area too small to count). Through a long series of real-world cases, walls, pits, boats, hills, and posts, the Rambam works out exactly where each boundary falls, and the resulting rules for what can and can't be thrown, passed, or carried between them.

Perek י״ג: The Mechanics of Carrying
Building on the domains established in the previous Perek, this Perek works through the detailed technical rules of Hota'ah: why a person's open hand counts as the four-handbreadth space that makes a transfer count, the many scenarios of throwing an object or passing it between people, and the fine distinctions around pausing, resting, or continuing mid-carry that determine whether liability applies.

Perek י״ב: Fire and the First Laws of Carrying
This Perek opens with the two labors of fire: kindling even the smallest flame and extinguishing one, including when putting out a fire is permitted, such as to stop it from spreading. It then turns to an entirely new Melacha, Hotza'ah, the forbidden labor of carrying between domains, laying the foundation: what defines a private domain versus a public one, and the basic requirement of lifting an object in one domain and setting it down in another.

Perek י״א: From Hide to Parchment, Pen to Page
This Perek covers a cluster of Melachot tied to processing animal hides, trapping, slaughtering, skinning, and tanning, before turning to an entirely different pair: writing and erasing, where the Rambam defines the minimum of two letters that triggers liability either way.

Perek י: Tying, Writing, and Building
This Perek gathers a cluster of distinct Melachot: tying and untying knots, tearing, writing and erasing, and building and demolishing, defining exactly how much of each activity is needed to incur liability.

Perek ט: From Fleece to Thread
Continuing the theme, this Perek covers the labors involved in producing cloth: shearing wool, washing, combing, dyeing, spinning, and the early stages of weaving, along with a few additional cooking-related edge cases.

Perek ח: From Field to Loaf
This Perek works through the eleven labors involved in producing bread, plowing, sowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, selecting, sifting, grinding, kneading, and baking, along with the exact minimum measure of each that triggers liability.

Perek ז: The Full List of Thirty-Nine
Here the Rambam finally lays out the thirty-nine categories of forbidden labor themselves, along with the rules for liability: how many sin-offerings are owed when multiple labors are performed unknowingly, and the crucial distinction between a primary category (Av) and its derivative (Toladah).

Perek ו: Asking a Gentile to Help
Can a Jew ask a non-Jew to perform work on Shabbat on their behalf? This Perek covers the rules of Amirah L'Akum, when instructing a gentile to do prohibited labor is forbidden, when it's permitted, and the related question of benefiting from labor a gentile performs of their own accord

Perek ו: Asking a Gentile to Help
Can a Jew ask a non-Jew to perform work on Shabbat on their behalf? This Perek covers the rules of Amirah L'Akum, when instructing a gentile to do prohibited labor is forbidden, when it's permitted, and the related question of benefiting from labor a gentile performs of their own accord.

Perek ה: Kindling the Shabbat Lights
This Perek covers the definition of Bein HaShmashot, the twilight period whose status as day or night is deliberately left uncertain, and turns to the Mitzvah of kindling Shabbat candles: which oils and wicks are fit to use, and why the Chachamim placed this responsibility primarily on the woman of the house.

Perek ד: Wrapping Food for Warmth
A short but practical Perek on "Hatmana", insulating food to keep it hot. The Rambam explains why insulating with heat-retaining materials is restricted even before Shabbat begins, and the narrower rules for wrapping food once Shabbat itself has started.

Perek ג (ב): The Laws of Cooking
Today we continue Perek ג, which covers the Melacha of Bishul: what happens when food is left on or near a fire before Shabbat, when it may be returned to the flame, and the rabbinic safeguards against stirring coals or otherwise advancing the cooking process once Shabbat has begun.

Perek ג (א): The Laws of Cooking
The first part of this Perek covers the Melacha of Bishul: what happens when food is left on or near a fire before Shabbat, when it may be returned to the flame, and the rabbinic safeguards against stirring coals or otherwise advancing the cooking process once Shabbat has begun.

Perek ב: When Shabbat Gives Way to Life
Few principles in Halacha carry more weight than this one: danger to life overrides Shabbat. This Perek establishes the obligation to violate Shabbat to save a life, explains why hesitation in such moments is itself a failing, and works through the practical cases, illness, injury, childbirth, where this override applies.

Perek א: The Anatomy of a Forbidden Act
Before cataloguing what's forbidden on Shabbat, the Rambam lays down the legal framework itself: what counts as "labor," the difference between a Torah-level violation and a rabbinic safeguard, and the central principle that only purposeful, intentional labor is truly forbidden. This Perek works through the technical rules of intent, unintended side effects, partial actions, destructive versus constructive labor, and shared effort between two people, the toolkit needed to understand everything that follows.

Perek ג: How It's Done
This closing Perek walks through the Brachot recited by the father and the Mohel, and the Halachic questions that arise around doubtful cases and converts previously circumcised.

Perek ב: What's Permitted Around the Brit
Having established that the circumcision itself can override Shabbat, this Perek draws the line around it, what preparatory actions are and aren't permitted, from preparing tools to handling the aftercare, and where the leniency for the Mitzvah stops.

Perek א: A Brit That Overrides Shabbat
This opening Perek establishes circumcision as one of the most severe positive commandments in the Torah, carrying the penalty of Karet if left unfulfilled, and covers who is obligated, whether father, master, or court. It works through an extensive set of cases for exactly when circumcision overrides Shabbat, premature births, doubtful gestation, a sick or discolored infant, and when a family has already lost children to complications.

Perek י״א: Brachot Before Doing a Mitzvah
The Rambam closes Hilchot Brachot with the category of Brachot recited before performing a commandment, Tefillin, Mezuzah, Sukkah, and more, along with the general principles for when such a Bracha is said and what happens when it's skipped.

Perek י: Gratitude for the Unexpected
This Perek turns to Brachot that mark life's turning points: Shehecheyanu for new and joyous occasions, Hatov VeHametiv when good news benefits others too, and the Bracha recited by someone who has survived danger.

Perek ט: The Brachot of Fragrance
Scent is a pleasure the soul enjoys without the body benefiting, and the Chachamim required a Bracha before enjoying it just as before food. This Perek details the specific Brachot for different sources of fragrance, wood, herbs, oils, and spice blends, and the conditions under which a pleasant smell requires a Bracha at all.

Perek ח: Getting the Bracha Right
This Perek tackles the finer points of food Brachot: the order of precedence when several Brachot could apply to what's in front of you, what happens if you recite the wrong blessing by mistake (and whether it still counts), and the rules for when foods eaten together need separate after-Brachot versus one that covers them all.

Perek ז: Setting the Table
From the etiquette of breaking bread to the order in which guests wash their hands before grace, this Perek captures the small rituals that structure a proper meal, why salt is served first, and the practice of Mayim Acharonim before Birkat HaMazon.

Perek ו: Washing & Eating
This Perek details the ritual handwashing required before eating bread, the method, the obligation both before and after the meal, and the Halachic reasoning the Chachamim gave for a practice that isn't really about cleanliness at all.

Perek ה: Benching Together, as a Group
When three or more people eat bread together, a formal invitation to bless, the Zimun, precedes Birkat HaMazon. This Perek defines who can be counted for a Zimun, how the responsive formula works, and the special version recited with a Minyan present.

Perek ד: The Choreography of a Meal
From the wine served before the meal to the wine that follows it, this Perek walks through the practical sequencing of Brachot across an entire meal, including when a single Bracha covers everyone at the table and when each guest must bless for themselves.

Perek ג: Bread, Grain, and Everything Between
Not all grain products are equal. This Perek works through the tricky cases, when something counts as bread requiring a full meal blessing, and when it's a 'lesser' Mezonot food, based on how it's prepared and eaten.

Perek ב: The Fine Print of Grace
When exactly does the biblical obligation to bless HaShem after eating kick in, and how much food triggers it? This Perek details the structure of Birkat HaMazon itself, its four blessings and their sources, and the special additions for Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem woven into the text.

Perek א: A World That Isn't Free
Everything we eat and drink belongs to HaShem, so partaking without a blessing is like taking something consecrated. This opening Perek establishes the biblical and rabbinic sources for blessings before and after eating, introduces the hierarchy of food blessings, and explains why a single blessing over the primary food can exempt everything served alongside it.

Perek ג: Who Wears Them, and On What

This closing Perek addresses who is obligated in Tzitzit and who is exempt, including the discussion around women’s obligation, the rules about mixing wool and linen (Shatnez) in a Tzitzit garment, and a parent’s duty to train their children in the Mitzvah from a young age.

Perek ב: The Dye of the Sky

What is Techelet, and why does its exact shade matter so much? This Perek explores the source and preparation of the sky-blue dye the Torah requires, the criteria for a Kosher batch, and what happens to Tzitzit when Techelet isn’t available.

Perek א: Making the Fringes

Every four-cornered garment carries a quiet reminder of the Mitzvot. This opening Perek explains how Tzitzit are constructed, the white strands and the strand of Techeilet wound around them, the required number of strands and knots, and the deeper purpose the Torah gives for wearing them.

Perek י: What Disqualifies a Scroll
This closing Perek gathers twenty distinct factors that can invalidate a Torah scroll, and turns to the deep respect owed to a Kosher scroll, how it must be handled, stored, and treated as an object of genuine holiness.

Perek ט: The Structure of the Scroll
Continuing the discussion of scribal form, this Perek addresses the broader architecture of a Kosher Torah scroll, its columns, its layout, and the conventions that give the scroll its unmistakable, unchanging shape across generations.

Perek ח: Open and Closed Passages
The Torah is divided into 669 sections, each written in one of two distinct forms. This Perek explains the difference between a Petucha and Setuma passage, the spacing rules that define them, and the exceptional layouts used for Az Yashir and Ha'azinu.

Perek ז: The Craft of a Torah Scroll
Writing a Torah scroll is an exacting art. This Perek covers the physical form the letters must take, the spacing of words and columns, and the artistry the Chachamim praised in a scroll written beautifully and precisely.

Perek ו: Fixing the Mezuzah in Place
Where exactly does a Mezuzah go, and why? This Perek details its placement on the doorpost, the height and positioning that Halacha requires, and closes with the deeper idea that the Mezuzah is meant to keep a person's awareness of HaShem at the entrance to daily life.

Perek ה: Writing a Mezuzah
This Perek turns to the Mezuzah: how the two passages of Shema and V'haya are written on a single parchment, the acceptable and unacceptable forms, and why a Mezuzah may not be repurposed from a worn Torah scroll or Tefillin.