If two people do a single melacha (act of forbidden work) together on Shabbat, are they both liable?

We learned that a person is only liable on Shabbat if he does "Melechet Machshevet" - that is, what he intended to do in the first place. If so, if a person intends to write a document on Shabbat but only finishes half of it, why is he liable?

In this shiur, we see more details of the Rambam's understanding of Melechet Machshevet, along with his definition of "mitasek" - that is, doing forbidden work in the context of doing something innocuous and permitted.

The Rambam explains that if, on Shabbat, a person gathered white figs while intending to gather black figs, he is exempt. But the Rambam also says that if he intended to light one candle and mistakenly lit another, he is liable. Why do two seemingly identical scenarios not have the same law?

In honor of Israel's Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut), today's shiur continues to explore the Rambam's view of the ultimate Redemption.

In honor of Israel's Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) and Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut) our next two episodes deal with the Rambam's view of the ultimate Redemption.

In today's episode, we look at the concepts of Melacha She'eina Tzricha L'Gufa (a Torah prohibition that is done for a reason different than the usual reason a person performs that action), and Melechet Machshevet (intending to do one thing but mistakenly doing something else).

In this shiur, the Rambam explains the Halachic concepts of Davar She'eino Mitkaven (the performance of a permitted action which may or may not cause a prohibited action as a consequence)and Pesik Reisha (the performance of a permitted action which certainly will cause a prohibited action to occur).

In this shiur, the Rambam explains what he means throughout Hilchot Shabbat when he uses terms such as "chayav," "patur," mutar," and more.

Welcome to the first episode of the Maimonides Minute series on Hilchot Shabbat! Today's shiur presents the Rambam's opening list of the five Torah commandments involving Shabbat, as well as the series of punishments incurred for doing forbidden work on Shabbat.