Shabbat 117: Rescuing Food from Fire on Shabbat

The discussion comparing the inside and outside of an animal to be sacrificed with the inside and outside of the Torah scroll continues.  The rabbis describe the rules regarding eruvin and the public domain that they had described as an alley.  Does it require two walls and two posts at both entrances to be called an alley that is not open?

A new Mishna teaches that we may rescue food for three meals from a fire on Shabbat.  We can rescue food that is suitable for a person for a person, or suitable for an animal for an animal.  If a fire ignited on Friday night before the meal, we  may rescue food for three meals.  If the fire ignited in the morning, after the ever Shabbat meal but before the meal of Shabbat morning, one may only rescue food for two meals.  If the fire ignited in the afternoon, we can rescue food enough for one meal.  Rabbi Yosei says that we may always rescue food for three meals as the Sages permitted without naming different times of day.

The Gemara turns to the reality of losing one's property by fire.  Wouldn't a person put out the fire if we permit people to rescue food or other things?  Two examples share ways that we might be permitted to "employ artifice" to stretch the rules regarding using water from a broken barrel for guests and rescuing both a mother animal and its offspring from a pit in order to sacrifice one of them.  

The rabbis consider allowing a person to return to their burning property to retrieve better bread from an oven, especially if this is done in an atypical way, like with a knife.  Rav Chisda teaches that we should rise early on Friday to prepare for Shabbat (Exodus 16:5).  Rabbi Abba says that on Shabbat we are obligated to break bread in our meal over two loaves of bread - we hold the two together, but we only break one.  We don't need to worry that this might seem like gluttony because it is different from our typical way of eating bread.  

All of this discussion is derived from Exodus 16:25, where  Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is Shabbat for G-d, today you will not find it in the field".  Rabbi Chidka says that the word "today" was said three times to specify the number of meals on Shabbat besides the evening meal.