Shabbat 148: Managing Borrowing and Casting Lots on Shabbat

Our last Mishna shared information about smearing and rubbing oil on one's body during Shabbat in addition to other things that might be done on Shabbat but in unusual ways.  Today the rabbis their discussion of that Mishna by teaching about different types of healing that may or may not be done on Shabbat, including setting a broken bone.

A new Mishna teaches that people may borrow jugs of wine and jugs of oil from another on Shabbat as long as these aren't loans.  The same applies to loaves of bread.  A cloak may be left as colateral.  On erev Pesach one may leave a cloak with another while securing a Paschal lamb and then pay him after the Festival.  

The Gemara suggests that we should not be put in a situation where we might write down information about a loan.  The rabbis speak about other atypical situations that may or may not protect people from transgressions on Shabbat.  Rava bar Rav Chanan tells Abaye that we may not clap hands, clap a hand against our bodies, or dance on a Festival, but we do not stop other s from this.  The  principle is that Jews should not be warned, for they would complete their actions anyway and then be liable as intentional sinners.  One example is women who only fast from nightfall on Yom Kippur when we are told to begin the fast while it is still daytime.  

Much of the rabbis' conversations have to do with how to manage loans or other monetary details around repaying debts.  They even consider the Sabbatical Year.  

Our daf ends with a new Mishna: we may count our guests and our appetizers by memory but not with a written list.  We may draw lots with our children and family members at the table to determine who will eat which portion of food as long as all portions are similar sizes.  We may cast lots among the priests for sanctified foods on Festivals but not for specific portions of food.