Topics covered: We MAY wear a mechanical, automatic watch on Shabbos. We may use a tool – normally designed for a labor that is prohibited on Shabbos – to perform a different, permitted labor. Objection is raised to this …

  Topics covered: Closing Ch. 16, opening Ch. 17. Basic principle is that we may only benefit from the labor of a gentile on Shabbos if he performed it for his own benefit and not for ours, otherwise he’s our …

  Topics covered: Ch. 16, Mishnas 6: If a non-Jew comes to extinguish a fire that broke on on a Jew’s property on Shabbos, we neither encourage nor dissuade him. He should be rewarded after the fact, but we must …

  Topics covered: Today we distinguish the law as it was in Talmudic times when we were not permitted to extinguish a fire that broke out on Shabbos from today when we can, and why it changed in the medieval …

  Topics covered: How the sages honored Shabbos! This page has too many great, classic teachings in one place, so it’s really worth reviewing and studying. Welcoming the Shabbat bride – source for the 16th century song Lecha Dodi which …

  Topics covered: Involve yourself in Shabbos prep! How many meals are we obligated to eat on Shabbos? Three. How do we know that? We may wash Friday night plates for Shabbos lunch, but we may not wash the plates …

  Topics covered: Drawing the connection between saving a Torah, its casing and whatever else is inside the casing from a fire on Shabbos, and flaying a Passover lamb on Shabbos when Passover falls on Sunday. If saving a Torah …

  Topics covered: Why do the verses of Numbers 10:35-36 constitute their own book of the Torah? Do we rescue blank folios that were once part of a Torah scroll from a fire on Shabbos? What about the sacred books …

  Topics covered: Opening Chapter 16, and emotional, counter-instinctual laws regarding a fire that breaks out on Shabbos. Life must of course be saved, but most property cannot due to extinguishing, carrying, and preparation-for-use restrictions on Shabbos. The Sages, however, …