Devar/5771/Vayakhel
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< Devar | 5771
עברית
English
You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day (Ex 35:3)
We might think that this verse comes to forbid lighting a fire on shabbat. That is incorrect, rather the prohibition of lighting a fire stems from the prohibition of "burning" and "extinguishing", which are among the thirty-nine archetypical activities prohibited on shabbat.
Our verse comes rather to forbid the court from punishing on shabbat one who deserves punishment. On shabbat we may not punish; even though punishing is a positive commandment, it does not set aside shabbat. How so? If one were found by the court liable for lashes or death, we may not lash him nor kill him on shabbat, as the verse states: "you shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day". This is a warning to the court that they not burn on shabbat one who is liable for death by burning; and the same ruling applies for all other punishments. (Laws of Shabbat 24:7)
From this we can understand that we may not derive laws for ourselves only from the written Torah, but rather from the words of our sages of blessed memory -- they who received the tradition one from the other back to the giving of the Torah as Sinai, as explained in the introduction to the Mishne Torah (here). And too, regarding our subject matter here, it must be clarified that none of the punishments listed in the Torah are capable of being effected so long as we have no Sanhedrin nor judges who have been properly appointed. But "stripes for rebelliousness", for example, which are still in effect today -- they too are forbidden to be inflicted on shabbat. May it be His will that we merit to be in the state where there is no need either to punish nor to be punished!
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