001: Beis Shammai: Se’or [anything capable of leavening] is forbidden on Pesach in the shiur of a kezayis, Chametz is forbidden in the shiur of a date. Beis Hillel: Both are in the shiur of a kezayis.
Beis Shammai explains: If the shiur would be identical, why mention se’or at all? If chametz - whose leavening is not so strong - is a kezayis, surely se’or is a kezayis as well. Since the Torah specifies se’or, we understand that its shiur is different.
Beis Hillel: Both se’or and chametz are necessary. If the Torah would only mention se’or, we would think that only an advanced stage of leavening is forbidden by the Torah. If the Torah would only mention chametz, we would think the prohibition only applies to chametz that is edible but not to se’or which has so soured as to render it inedible. Both are thus necessary and do not indicate a difference in shiur.
Question: Does Beis Shammai disagree with the basic premise expressed by Rabbi Zeira?
Rabbi Zeira: The verse [Chametz shall not be found and se’or shall not be found on your property] begins with chametz and continues with se’or to teach that their law is identical.
Response: Everyone agrees that the law of consuming chametz is identical to se’or. Beis Shammai only disagrees with regard to beiur chametz [-destroying chametz]. Beis Shammai doesn’t hold that the law of beiur can be deduced from the law of consuming, while Beis Hillel does not differentiate.
We also learned [from a very early Amora]: Rabbi Yosi bar Chanina: Their disagreement is only with regard to beiur chametz, but with regard to consuming chametz, all agree that the shiur is a kzayis.
We learned in a Beraisa also thus: “Chametz shall not be found and se’or shall not be found on your property” - this [beiur and not consumption] is the matter of dispute between Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai. Beis Shammai: Se’or is forbidden on Pesach in the shiur of a kezayis, Chametz is forbidden in the shiur of a date. Beis Hillel: Both are in the shiur of a kezayis.
An introduction to tomorrow’s lesson (031):
The Mishna (001) discussed kisui hadam. When earth was not prepared before Yom Tov, there are three questions involved: 1. Digging. The Melacha of choreish, plowing in a field, or the Melacha of boneh, building - when digging inside a home. 2. Clods of earth cannot be used for kisui hadam, it must be broken up. This involves the Melacha of tochein. 3. Earth is muktzeh. The question is, since eating meat on Yom Tov is a mitzvah, how far do we go to permit these prohibitions?