Talmud Thoughts - Weekly Summary of Daf Yomi - Shabbat 2a-7b

This week we began a new "ma-se-chet" (tractate) and like the last one it begins with assuming we know what the rabbis are talking about. Instead of discussing the day of rest, the basic law of work or what is defined as work, or any other basic concept of Shabbat, the rabbis begin with an intricate dilemma. Can an item be transferred from a home owner in his home to a poor person outside his door? We are supposed to understand the concepts of private and public property and that one is not allowed to transfer items from one to the other on Shabbat. 
My teacher, Eliezer Diamond of JTS, suggests that the rabbis began this way to teach how we are supposed to treat the poor in the community. Are we supposed to keep them outside our homes (which would then require these legal maneuverings) or should we invite them inside and treat them as honored guests? Clearly we are supposed to be taken aback by the harshness of the legal example and the rabbis hoped we - the reader - would see how necessary it is to ensure that the poor have a place at our tables. 
The Talmud goes on to describe the 4 kinds of domains (public, karmelit, private and exempt) with great detail and raises several outlandish questions of whether property can be transferred from one to the other. In the course of these discussions the rabbis explain that transferring or carrying property involves picking up and putting down and they describe other very minute details that are involved in carrying or transferring property. 
As the pages continue we will get back to the basics and we will begin learning essential elements involved in observing shabbat.

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