That’s Not My Intention

Transcript

1. 0:01Okay, rabotai, chodesh tov u'mevorach. We're coming back to the halachot of Shabbat,
2. 0:06and we're talking about the concept of psik reisha, where we said,
3. 0:11psik reisha basically is building up on what we have learned already.
4. 0:16So, hearing this for the first time, go back to the audio from last week.
5. 0:21But psik reisha, we said, is basically when a person is doing something that's
6. 0:27mutar, but the action that he's doing will certainly cause something asur to happen.
7. 0:32This is known as
8. 0:35psik reisha. This, the Gemara says, and that's a halacha that everybody agrees that it's still asur.
9. 0:39What the issur is, the right or the Rabbanan,
10. 0:41there's machloket rishonim. We won't get into that right now. There's something that's very, very similar to
11. 0:47psik reisha, and it's a machloket in the Gemara. We'll tell you what the psak halacha is,
12. 0:50where a person is doing something, an action that is
13. 0:54mutar, and the action may cause an issur, it may not cause an
14. 0:59issur. In that case, if the person's intention is not for the issur at all,
15. 1:04he couldn't care less about the
16. 1:06issur, but it's possible that maybe the issur might happen,
17. 1:10this is called in halacha
18. 1:15davar she'eino mitkaven. Davar she'eino mitkaven means something that a person is not intending for,
19. 1:18and davar she'eino mitkaven is different in psik reisha in one small difference.
20. 1:23Psik reisha, for sure it's going to happen.
21. 1:25Davar she'eino mitkaven means it might happen, might not happen.
22. 1:29Even the odds of it happening are very high,
23. 1:32but there's a possibility that it's not going to happen.
24. 1:34There's a real possibility,
25. 1:36not like, you know, of course, you know, if an alien comes from Mars and he shoots missiles.
26. 1:39We're not talking about that.
27. 1:40We're talking about something that it's possible it's going to happen, it could not happen.
28. 1:43Let's give you an example of walking on grass,
29. 1:46okay?
30. 1:47Pulling out grass. Let's start with the simple.
31. 1:49Pulling out grass is the next melacha that we're going to learn, which is called kotzer.
32. 1:52You're not allowed to rip out grass from the ground,
33. 1:54okay.
34. 1:55Now, what about if a person is walking on grass?
35. 1:58So, if the grass is high and you're walking barefoot, you can be assured that as you're walking,
36. 2:03grass will get stuck in between your toes and it will rip out.
37. 2:07Now, what are you doing?
38. 2:08You're doing an act that's mutar, which is walking,
39. 2:10a lot of walk on
40. 2:11Shabbat. But walking on grass barefoot, when the grass is a little bit tall, is for sure going to cause the grass to come out.
41. 2:18This is called a
42. 2:20psik reisha. And even though my intention is just to walk from here to there, will be a problem.
43. 2:24Now let's take a different scenario where a person is walking on grass, grass is not so tall,
44. 2:29or, and he's wearing slippers, shoes, something else, where it's possible that as you go,
45. 2:35something might get stuck and get pulled out.
46. 2:37It's very possible,
47. 2:39but maybe not.
48. 2:40Maybe yes, maybe not.
49. 2:41It's not 100%.
50. 2:42In that case, if your kavanah is not to rip out the grass, so you're allowed to walk,
51. 2:47but it might be, and sometimes you're walking and say, Ah, look something
52. 2:50here. But again, it's not for sure going to happen.
53. 2:53Since it's not for sure going to happen,
54. 2:55that would be called davar she'eino mitkaven and
55. 2:58v'mutar. Let's bring it to something a little bit more practical that people ask all the time.
56. 3:03Rabbi, I have this water cooler in the house.
57. 3:07You press the cooler things and the machine goes on,
58. 3:11it doesn't go on.
59. 3:11Can I use it on Shabbat, basically?
60. 3:13You know, we're talking about the, they call it the cold spring, whatever.
61. 3:16Basically where the person is filling up a cold cup of water on Shabbat,
62. 3:19he wants to know, can I use it or not?
63. 3:21Or she wants to know also,
64. 3:23women also like to use it.
65. 3:24Okay,
66. 3:25so what's the
67. 3:26halacha? Halacha, it depends how the machine operates.
68. 3:28If every time you take any amount of water from the cooler, the machine goes back on, right?
69. 3:35So what's your act?
70. 3:36Your act is taking water, right?
71. 3:39There's no problem to take water.
72. 3:40It's a regular lever,
73. 3:41you're just taking out water.
74. 3:42There's no problem
75. 3:43taking out. But when you're taking out water, it's causing the machine to go on, even though you couldn't care less for it,
76. 3:48right?
77. 3:49That would be a psik reisha and would be a problem,
78. 3:51because every single time any amount of water goes out, the machine goes on,
79. 3:55the electric goes on.
80. 3:56So even though that's not your intention, but it's happening, psik reisha, it's a problem.
81. 4:00However, if when you pull out water... Sometimes maybe it might go on,
82. 4:05doesn't go on.
83. 4:05It all depends on what it reads and what's going on inside.
84. 4:08It's not for sure going to happen every time.
85. 4:10So that's not called a
86. 4:12psik reisha. That would be called
87. 4:14davar she'eino mitkaven. If your kavanah is really not, you couldn't care less if it goes on now, later
88. 4:18on, you couldn't care less, right?
89. 4:19So that's called
90. 4:21davar she'eino mitkaven. Davar she'eino mitkaven would be okay,
91. 4:23and that's the rule.
92. 4:24Again, we're giving rules over here of these rules, and it could be applicable, you know, in all different areas.