Zoreia: Pouring Water on the Ground
THE LAWS OF SHABBAT
By Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon
Shiur
#28:
Zoreia, Part II
IV)
Pouring Water on the Ground
Watering a plant on Shabbat is forbidden by
Torah law. In Moed Katan
(2b), the Talmudic sages argue about the nature of the prohibition in terms of
the appropriate warning to give one who is about to violate the prohibition (in
which the relevant melakha must be specified):
What warning do we give to one who waters seeds on
Shabbat?
Rabba said: Because of choresh;
Rav Yosef said, Because of zoreia.
Rabba said: My view makes sense: just as the way of
choresh is to soften the ground, here too one softens the ground.
Rav Yosef said: My view makes sense: just as the way of
zoreia is to make produce grow, here
too one makes produce grow.
According to Rav Yosef, irrigation is
forbidden as a
tolada
(subcategory) of zoreia, since it is promoting plant growth, while according to
Rabba, watering is forbidden as a
tolada of choresh (plowing), since the water makes the ground softer. In the continuation of this passage,
the Gemara brings the view of Abbayei: watering is forbidden
because of both choresh and
zoreia.
The Rishonim have a dispute as to the
halakhic ruling here: according to the Rambam (8:2) and the Or Zarua
(Vol. II, Ch. 54), the prohibition falls under
zoreia, while according to the view of the Yereim (Ch. 274,
131a) and the Semag (Prohibition 65,
Choresh), the prohibition falls under
both zoreia and
choresh.
Unplanted Ground
The Or Zarua (ibid.) points out that
there is a practical difference that emerges between the two views:
Now, according to Rav Yosef, it is permitted to pour water on unsown ground,
and according to Rabba, it is forbidden
Therefore, now that we have explained that the law follows Rav Yosef, it
is permitted to pour water on unsown ground, and even on ground which is
normally plowed
and it is forbidden to pour water on sown ground and on top of
grass.
In other words, if irrigation is forbidden
because of zoreia, one is allowed to
water
ground which has no
plants on it, but if the irrigation is forbidden because
of choresh, one is forbidden to water
even ground such as this, since this softens the ground.
Halakhically, the Mishna Berura rules
(336:26) according to the view of the Yereim and the Semag, that
one is liable because of zoreia and
because of choresh; consequently, he
writes (Shaar ha-Tziyun, 18) that one
should be careful not to pour water even on ground which has no plants on it:
See the Or Zarua, whose view is in accordance with that of the
Rambam: one is not liable because of
zoreia, and he writes there that according to this, one is allowed to
urinate on unsown ground even though it is designated for threshing. Indeed, the views of the Semag
and the
Hagahot Maimoniyot follow the conclusion of Abbayei, and the
Rokeiach seems to
concur, for he cites this law under both the
melakha of choresh and the
melakha of
zoreia. It seems that the
Vilna Gaon also concurs in his commentary. Consequently, one should be careful
also about unsown ground, if it is destined for plowing.
However, it appears that
if the ground is unsown and not designated for
plowing (for example, one has no intent to sow it in
the future, and thus there is no reason to plow it), there is no prohibition to
pour water on it, since neither choresh nor zoreia is
applicable here. Nevertheless, sometimes
there is a problem of lash with pouring water on dirt, as we discussed in
our analysis of that melakha.
With No Intent of Propagation
The Yereim writes (ibid.) that one may
not wash ones hands over grass, as by doing so one causes the grass to grow. The
Shulchan Arukh
rules accordingly (336:3):
Those who eat in gardens may not wash their hands over grass, because they
irrigate it; even though they do not intend, it is a pesik reisheih. Yet,
one may urinate on it or pour out other liquids that are not conducive to
growth.
In other words, one cannot wash ones hands
over plants, even if one does not intend to make them grow, since this action
will certainly help them to do so.
Thus, it is included in the category of pesik reisha
or
pesik reisheih the inevitable
result of an unintentional action.[1]
However, the Shulchan Arukh adds
that if one is talking about a liquid which
damages plants, there is no problem in
pouring it on them, and therefore it is permissible to urinate on plants[2] or pour wine on them (but it is forbidden to pour
liquids which contain water).
Indirect Irrigation
May one use a sink from which water flows onto
plants?
It would seem that this should be forbidden,
since there is a pesik
reisha here; the plants will
inevitably benefit from the sink water.
However, Rav S.Z. Auerbach (cited in
Shemirat Shabbat Ke-hilkhata, Ch. 12,
18) allows this:
If a sink has a pipe which transports the wastewater and empties it onto sown
land, one may nevertheless wash ones hands in this sink on Shabbat. Thus, it is permissible to pour water
into it for any other reason, and there is no concern of irrigating plants by
doing this, as long as one has no intent for it.
In a note there (51), he explains his view:
Here one may be lenient even more so, since one does not intend to remove
water in order to irrigate with it.
Even though it is a pesik
reisha, in any case, since one does so
only by a secondary action, it is also considered a gerama, and there is
no need to forbid it even in this case of
pesik reisha.
In other words, since the water does not
directly reach the plants, but rather travels initially through a pipe, and this
is done through
gerama (causation), it is allowed one may be lenient with a
pesik
reisha accomplished through gerama. Naturally, all of this applies when
there is a pipe, but if the water empties directly onto the plants, one may not
use such a sink on Shabbat.
Similarly, one may wash ones hands over a
stone or tile surface, even if the water will flow from the stone to the plants,
since this is considered to be gerama;
thus, in this case, they allow it if one does not intend to cause the plants to
grow. However, if one owns the yard,
and one benefits from its being watered, one should find another way to wash
ones hands, because this is a pesik
reisha
de-neicha leih (which benefits
the person doing it). However, if
there is no other way, one may wash ones hands in this manner, since one may be
lenient in a case of gerama even for a
pesik
reisha de-neicha
leih.[3]
During the rainy season, when the ground is
saturated with water, one may be more lenient in spilling water on plants (for
example, by sweeping rainwater into the yard), since this exercise does not seem
to encourage additional growth of the plants, and the person does not intend to
make them grow (see Rav Karelitzs Chut Shani, Vol. I, p. 89). In any case, one should take care to
ensure that the water hits the tiles first and then reaches the yard (not
watering as a direct result of ones actions).
Summary
To conclude, one may not wash ones hands over plants, even if one
does not intend to make them grow.
One may not wash ones hands over land which does not have plants in it if it is
designated for plowing. However, one
may urinate on plants, and it is permissible to pour regular water on plants
(when one does not intend to make plants grow), if one pours it on stone or
tiles and the water gets to the plants on its own. Similarly, it is permissible to use a
sink which has a pipe which empties out over plants.
V) The Laws of Flowerpots on Shabbat
An atzitz (literally,
flowerpot) is a vessel which contains a growing plant in soil. Halakha differentiates between a
perforated pot and an unperforated pot: the former is considered to be attached
to the ground on a Torah level if it sitting on the ground, since it
draws nourishment through the holes, while the latter is considered attached to
the ground on a rabbinic level.
This is what the Mishna (95a) states:
One who detaches
from a perforated pot is liable; from an unperforated [pot], one is not liable.[4]
While there is much discussion as to the
defining characteristics of what makes an
atzitz perforated or not, this debate is more significant for questions of
tithes, shemitta (the sabbatical year) and the like, so we will not
elaborate in this context.
Suffice it to say that the above source makes
it clear that one may not plant in an
atzitz on Shabbat, whether it is perforated or not. Similarly, if the
atzitz falls on Shabbat and the soil
spills out, there is no way to allow putting the soil back in it.
Lifting a Flowerpot
May one pick up a flowerpot on Shabbat?
If an
atzitz is perforated, one may not lift it up off the ground, since this
interrupts its nourishment, and this entails a violation of the
melakha of kotzer
(harvesting).[5] Similarly, if an
atzitz is suspended in the air or
sitting on a table, etc., one may not take it and put it down in the ground,
since one brings it to a place where it can draw nourishment from the ground,
and thus the matter is forbidden because of
zoreia (Shulchan Arukh, OC 336:8).
The language of the Shulchan
Arukh (ibid.) suggests that one should be stringent even when it comes to an
unperforated pot, i.e., one should not pick it up off the ground or put it down
on the ground. However, the
Acharonim explain (Beiur Halakha
ibid., s.v. Afillu; Shaar ha-Tziyun,
37, in the name of the Vilna Gaon;
Rabbi Akiva Eger, ibid.) that the
Shulchan Arukhs stringency applies to an
atzitz made from earthenware or wood,
because there are Rishonim who believe that it is always considered
perforated (due to its porous nature).
However, if an unperforated pot is made from plastic or metal (or has a
bottom made from these materials), there is no prohibition to lift it off the
ground or put it down on the ground, since in any case it does not draw
sustenance from the ground.[6]
However, there are those who hold that even if the
atzitz itself is not perforated or has
a solid bottom, if there is overhanging vegetation (nof) which protrudes beyond the perimeter of the
atzitz, it is drawing sustenance from
the ground through the air, and thus the receptacle is considered to be a
perforated pot.[7]
However, when the
atzitz is on a tile floor and has a bottom, one may be lenient and
consider it like an unperforated pot, even if the
nof goes beyond the perimeter of the receptacle. While it is true that some do not
consider flooring to be an interruption, by the letter of the law we are lenient
about this, certainly when one is not talking about the ground floor, and
particularly when the atzitz itself
has a bottom and the problem is only relevant to the
nof.[8]
There are some who are stringent and do not raise any
atzitz on Shabbat, unless it has a
solid bottom (made of something other than wood or earthenware) and has no
protruding nof (see Orechot Shabbat,
Ch. 18, 26-27). However, even
according to this view, it is permitted to move the
atzitz on the floor without picking it
up, since this act does not interrupt the nourishment (ibid., 28).
Aside from issues of sowing and harvesting, one must analyze lifting an
atzitz because of the rabbinic
prohibition of muktzeh (that which
set aside as unfit for Shabbat use).
The Sages banned the moving of items which are considered not necessary or
appropriate for Shabbat. Without
getting into all the detail of muktzeh here, there are three possible
muktzeh classifications for an atzitz.
Some believe that an atzitz is
muktzeh mechamat gufo (set
aside by its very nature, like sticks and stones) and should not be moved by
hand at all. Others believe that it
a keli
she-melakhto le-issur (utensil
designed for prohibited use, like a hammer), and one may move it
le-tzorekh gufo (to utilize the
item itself for a permitted use, such as to weigh down a tablecloth) or
le-tzorekh mekomo (to use its
place, to sit in the place where it is placed). Finally,
there are those who believe it is a keli
she-melakhto le-hetter (a utensil
designed for permitted use, like a challa knife) in which case it may be
moved as necessary.
Summary
To conclude, it is best not to pick up flowerpots or planters on
Shabbat, because of the issues of kotzer
(or zoreia) and
muktzeh. However, one may
move an atzitz with ones foot to
another place, and there is no issue of
zoreia, kotzer or
muktzeh in this action. If
the atzitz has a solid bottom (made of
something other than earthenware or wood) and it is on a tiled floor, there are
sources upon which one may rely to allow lifting it from the ground or putting
it down on the ground (even if the nof
protrudes beyond the atzitz).
Moving
Flowers
We should note that all of these rules apply
to an atzitz, but
there is no prohibition to move flowers that are in
water on Shabbat, and it is permissible to
move even a vase full of flowers on Shabbat (Shemirat Shabbat Ke-hilkhata 26:25,
following Rema 336:11). One
is also allowed
to remove
the flowers from the vase
(Rav S.Z.
Auerbach, cited in Shemirat Shabbat
Ke-hilkhata 26:26) as long as they have not taken root in the water, and
there is no problem of kotzer. The prohibition which we have
mentioned in the previous shiur is limited only to putting flowers
into water.
[1] Therefore, it is
forbidden to wash ones hands even in his neighbors field, since a pesik
reisha that is unwanted is still
forbidden, certainly when the resulting action violates a Torah prohibition. (See
Mishna Berura 336:27, according to
Tosafot 103a, s.v. Lo, et al.) We
have dealt with the general rules of pesik
reisha in our analysis of the concept of melakha on Shabbat.
[2] The
Yereim (Ch. 274, 131a) forbids
urinating on plants. The Sefer
ha-Teruma (end of Ch. 235) disputes this, since urine damages plants; as
mentioned above, the Shulchan Arukh rules in accordance with this position. However, the Tiferet Yisrael (Kalkalat Shabbat, Kelalei Lamed-Tet Melakhot,
Zoreia) writes that today agronomists are of the opinion that urine is
excellent for fertilizing agricultural land, and therefore it should be
forbidden. The
Beiur Halakha (336:3, s.v. Oh)
cites the Tiferet Yisraels view, but he writes that people are not
concerned about this at all.
Furthermore, he brings a proof to allow it from Shabbat 81b. In any case, if one can choose a
place from which the urine will not land directly on the plants, it is
preferable to do this, though by the letter of the law, we rule that it is
permissible to urinate even directly onto plants.
[3] In order to avoid a
question of irrigation, it is preferable for one who is eating outside, and is
also interested in drinking, to be careful to eat only on paved stones or in a
place which has no plants (one must especially careful to avoid such action in
ones own garden, which one has a vested interest in seeing irrigated). The
Rema writes (336:3): And therefore
it is good to be stringent and not to eat in gardens if one will use water
there, because it is difficult to be careful that water will not fall there.
However, in terms of the letter of the law, it is permissible to eat even on
ones own grass, even if drinks are served during the meal.
[4] Whatever grows in an
unperforated flowerpot is subject to tithes on a rabbinic level (Rambam, Hilkhot Terumot
5:16), and the prohibition of crossbreeding is also applicable on a rabbinic
level (Rambam, Kilayim 1:2). As for application of the issue of
shemita to potted plants, see my book, Shemita:
From the Sources to Practical Halakha, pp. 106-110.
[5] The Rishonim
(Shabbat 81b) argue about raising a perforated pot from the ground to the
air above: does this involve a prohibition of
kotzer from the Torah, or is the
prohibition is only rabbinic, since the perforated pot continues feeding off the
ground even when it is in the air.
The Shulchan Arukh (312:3), seems to
rule that the prohibition in this case is rabbinic (see
Magen Avraham ibid., 3). In any case, if one raises the pot
from the ground and puts it on a table and the like, one is liable on a Torah
level according to all views.
[6] Indeed, with regard
to many areas of Halakha, the Sages decreed that an unperforated pot should be
treated as stringently as a perforated pot. However,
when it comes to lifting up a pot, the
Shulchan Arukh holds that even for a perforated pot, the prohibition is only
rabbinic, as explained in the previous note; therefore, the Sages did not ban
moving an unperforated pot at all.
[7] This arises from the
Mishna in Uktzin (2:9) as explained by
Rashi (Chullin 128a), the
Rash, the Rosh and most Rishonim.
According to the view of the
Rambam (Commentary to the Mishna ad loc., as well as Hilkhot Tumat
Okhalin 2:9), it appears that the nof
does not give the plant the status of being attached to the ground.
[8] In his Responsa
(Vol. VI, Ch. 167), the Shevet ha-Levi writes that the
Chazon Ish rules that modern flooring
is not considered a barrier.
According to him, a perforated pot which stands on the floor is considered a
perforated pot even on the upper floors (Shevet ha-Levi, Vol. VII, Ch. 184). However, we must analyze whether the
Chazon Ish is talking about todays
reality, in which the tiles do not sit on dirt, but rather over a concrete
foundation, and
there is full isolation from
the floor to the
ground. The simple
approach is that our modern floors do constitute a barrier, and a perforated pot
upon them is not considered to be in contact with the ground. However, to determine this question
requires clarifying the rationale for the stringency regarding a pot on the
floor. If those who are stringent
floor believe that there is some sustenance from the ground, it stands to
reason that this would not be applicable to the floor of today where there is no
sustenance derived at all.
Alternatively, if they see the floor and the ground as legally contiguous
regardless of sustenance, then one would have to be stringent nowadays as well,
at least regarding the ground floor.
This topic deserves elaboration at great length on in light of the words of the
Rosh (Responsa 2:4, and see
Chiddushim U-vei'urim, Demai, 9:8), but in any case the simple understanding is that modern floors
are considered a barrier and turn the pot into an unperforated one. Particularly, one may be lenient in a
case in which the pot is unperforated and only the
nof protrudes, because the notion that the
nof gives the plant the status of being attached to the ground is subject to
dispute.
This website is constantly being improved. We would appreciate hearing from you. Questions and comments on the classes are welcome, as is help in tagging, categorizing, and creating brief summaries of the classes. Thank you for being part of the Torat Har Etzion community!