Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts

Sunday, March 1, 2009

BK 62 - Watching haystacks

What does Rashi mean (ד"ה חטין וחיפן בשעורים) when he says that when a person is supposed to protect a haystack, and it seems to be made of barley, that he will not watch it well?

One possiblity is that barley does not get burned as easily, thus it requires less carefullness.

Another possibility is that since the barley is not as significant, it does not give the same impetus to the one who is supposed to watch it to take care of it properly.

ונראה לי פשט שני

In either pshat, if he would have known there was wheat to be watched there, he would have taken better care not to create this destruction through his fire.

Friday, February 27, 2009

BK 61 - Water obviating fire's responsibility

What is the pshat in the statement of the gemara that according to the one who says that the river we are talking about here is an irrigation ditch, it has to have water in it?

The hint is in Tosfos where he says that according to the one who says we are talking about a literal river, there will be an exemption even if there is no water in the river because it is deep. So despite the fact that it is not as wide as the public area, it is less likely the fire will pass over that wadi.

The irrigation ditch we are talking about is only one cubit deep, as Rashi told us earlier - this is the reason it is called an אמת המים. Thus, the depth doesn't help us, and the prevention must be because of the water itself.