Shabbat 3: How Many People to Transgress, Hands Vs.Bodies, Un/Witting Actions

Today's daf explores what is permitted and what is prohibited by Torah law verses what is permitted and what is prohibited by rabbinical law.  In order to go deeply into these differences, the rabbis speak about examples of one person lifting an object and throwing it, two people throwing and catching an object.  In Leviticus (4:27), we are told about "one person sinning unwittingly from the people of the land when he does it...".  This is taken to mean that one person must complete the entire prohibited action for the action to be a transgression.  Two people participating in the action will not count as a prohibited act.

The rabbis explain that a person who is carrying food and drink before Shabbat begins and then carries them out on Shabbat into the public domain is liable.  This is because one's body is generally fixed in one place and thus moving it is considered to be the same as lifting an object.  Lifting only one's hand is not the same, for the hand is not considered to be fixed in one place.  Moving it is not thought of as lifting.  

Abaye argues that when one's hand moves, it should not be thought of as inside or outside of the public or private domains.  This is taken from a Mishna regarding the hand of a poor person.  When a poor person reaches into the private domain of a homeowner, his hand is not considered to be part of his body.  Similarly, the hand of the homeowner who moves his hand carrying an object lifted from the private to the public domain, a poor person is not liable for taking the object from the homeowner's hand while it is in the public domain.  One's hand might be like a karmelit, an intermediate domain.

The rabbis also consider at what height one's hand is in the public domain.  They also consider the issue of what is done wittingly and what is done unwittingly on Shabbat.  The rabbis discuss whether or not one is penalized for an unintentional act, like removing bread that is still baking on the sides of an oven.  There are ways of understanding multiple opinions by calling on different interpretations.  Cases are shared that could be argued as transgressions or not depending on whether the rabbis use arguments about where one stands in a courtyard, etc.