The analysis to this daf writes-
"It should be noted that when the Rambam and Ra'avad say that the Rabanan prohibited a Melachah of Ochel Nefesh which could have been done before Yom Tov without diminishing the food's quality, they refer to the general category of Melachah. That is, in order to determine whether a certain Melachah is one which could have been done before Yom Tov without diminishing the food's quality, the Rabanan inquired whether the general category of Melachah is one which usually needs to be done on the same day the food will be consumed, or whether the Melachah can be done a day earlier without impairing the quality of the food. The Rabanan did not judge the specific act that one wants to do. Therefore, if a Melachah usually can be done a day earlier without diminishing the quality of the food, then even if this specific act must be done today it is still prohibited."
However, R' Simcha Bunim Cohen notes in his sefer on yuntif (The Laws of Yom Tov, pg 10) that "according to Rashi and Rambam, each individual action must be analyzed to determine whether it can be done with equal results before Yom Tov."
Is this merely a difference in approach in reading the Rambam? How do you read the Rambam and reach your conclusion?
Thank you very much.
Daniel Small, Teaneck, NJ, USA
I will try to nd explain what the Kollel has written on this topic.
1) First, if we look closely at what the Rambam writes, even before we look at the commentaries on the Rambam, we can observe that it appears to depend on the general Melachah being discussed, not on the specific action being carried out in each individual example.
2) There is a slight hint that the Rambam is going in this direction at the very beginning of Hilchos Yom Tov 1:5, when he writes, "Every Melachah that can be done...." The Rambam does not write, "Every action...," which already suggests that it depends on general Melachos, not on individual actions.
3) A stronger indication is in the way the Rambam continues. He always mentions particular Melachos which are either permitted or prohibited. In 1:6 he writes that carrying articles in the public domain is always permitted. Then, in 1:7, he lists the Melachos which are forbidden on Yom Tov even for Ochel Nefesh. The implication is that these are always prohibited, even if one could find a scenario where the food is fresher if the Melachah is done on Yom Tov. So even though, clearly, some vegetables are fresher if plucked from the ground on the same day, nevertheless the implication in the Rambam is that there would be no Heter for this. Then the Rambam continues and writes that kneading, baking, slaughtering, and cooking are permitted Melachos, and this appears to be a general Heter.
4) The Magid Mishneh writes this more explicitly and states that, according to the Rambam, if generally a particular Melachah does not carry loss with it, even though with certain aspects of the Melachah a loss is involved, nevertheless Chazal prohibited this. Therefore, since no loss is involved if wheat, or similar produce, is harvested before Yom Tov, even though some vegetables or fruits do deteriorate if plucked the day before, Chazal did not wish to permit plucking, which is a Toldah (secondary Melachah) of harvesting "l'Chatza'in" -- halfway.
5) This word "l'Chatza'in, halfway, used by the Magid Mishneh defines an important rule. Chazal did not do things by half measures. If "Ketzirah," reaping, is forbidden, then all kinds of reaping are prohibited, even if the fruits or vegetables would have been fresher if plucked on Yom Tov.
6) This is our source that it depends on the general category of Melachah, not on the specific act.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom