דף קכ"א

GEMARA: Rabbi Ami said: During a fire, the Sages permitted to say in the presence of gentiles: Anyone who extinguishes the fire will not lose, so that the gentiles will come and extinguish the fire; it is only prohibited to tell gentiles to do so explicitly. The Gemara suggests: Let us say that the mishna supports his statement: If a gentile comes to extinguish a Jew’s fire on Shabbat, one may not say to him: Extinguish, and: Do not extinguish, because responsibility for his rest is not incumbent upon the Jew. It can be inferred from the language of the mishna: It is a direct command, e.g., extinguish, that we may not say to him; however, anyone who extinguishes will not lose, we may tell him, which supports Rabbi Ami’s statement. The Gemara rejects this. Say the latter clause of the mishna: Do not extinguish, we do not tell him. It can be inferred that neither do we say to him: Anyone who extinguishes will not lose. Rather, nothing can be inferred from this mishna.

26. One is permitted to say in front of a non-Jew "Whoever puts out this fire won't lose!" Even if the non-Jew isn't there, he may be summoned, even though it is certain that he will put out the fire when he comes. This holds for all similar situations of damage, like if a wine barrel is cracked, one may call a non-Jew even though it is certain that he will fix it when he comes. Rem"a: All of the laws regarding a fire only apply to their day, but in our day when we live surrounded by non-Jews and there is potentially fatal danger, the Rishonim and Acharonim z"l wrote that one is permitted to extinguish a fire on Shabbat because lives are in danger, and one who hurries to do this is praised. In any event, everything is by the situation, for if it is certain that there is no danger, it is forbidden to extinguish. But if there is a chance of danger, it is permitted to put out even a fire in a non-Jew's house, and such is the practice (Trumat Hadeshen Chapter 58 and Hagahot Ashr"i Perek Mi SheHotziuhu in the name of the Or Zarua). This applies specifically to putting out the fire, which is work not done for the sake of the object on which the work is being done and there is danger if you do not put it out, but it is forbidden to desecrate Shabbat in order to save (money), and if one sinned and desecrated, he must fast forty days on Monday and Thursday, and he may not drink wine or eat meat, and he should give eighteen pshitim to charity in the place of a sin-ofering. If he wants to avoid the fast, he must give twelve pshitim to charity for each day (Piskei Mahara"i Chapter 60) and see the Tur Yoreh Deah from the Laws of Niddah Chapter 185.

MISHNA: One may overturn a bowl on top of a lamp so that fire will not take hold in the ceiling beam on Shabbat. And similarly, one may overturn a bowl on top of a child’s feces inside the house so he will not touch it and dirty himself, and on top of a scorpion so that it will not bite. Rabbi Yehuda said: An incident came before Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai in his village of Arav, where a person covered a scorpion on Shabbat, and Rabban Yoḥanan said: I am concerned that he is liable to bring a sin-offering because he might have violated a Torah prohibition.

And we also learned in the mishna that one may cover a scorpion with a bowl on Shabbat so that it will not bite. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: All harmful creatures are killed on Shabbat. Rav Yosef raised an objection to this from the following baraita: Five creatures may be killed even on Shabbat, and they are: The poisonous fly that is in the land of Egypt, and the hornet that is in Ninveh, and the scorpion that is in Ḥadyab, and the snake that is in Eretz Yisrael, and a mad dog in any place. The Gemara clarifies this: In accordance with whose opinion is this baraita? If you say it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, didn’t he say that one is liable for a prohibited labor that is not needed for its own sake, and it is therefore prohibited to kill even these creatures? Rather, is it not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, and these are those creatures that it is permitted to kill; others, no, it is not permitted to kill?