Introduction Mishnah ten contains three cases in which Rabban Gamaliel ruled like Beth Shammai.
This mishnah lists three cases in which Rabban Gamaliel ruled strictly, as had Beth Shammai. Although later Sages generally ruled like Beth Hillel, there were some exceptions, and some of those are listed in our mishnah.
In three cases Rabban Gamaliel was strict like the words of Beth Shammai.
One may not wrap up hot food on a festival for the Sabbath; The Torah allows one to cook on the festival but not on the Sabbath. This rule has a limitation: one may cook on the festival only to eat that day, and not to prepare food for later. It is even forbidden to prepare food on a festival for the Sabbath, since that would be considered an insult to the honor of the festival. However, since this was necessary in cases where the Sabbath fell after the festival, the Sages developed something which is known as “eruv tavshilin”. A person would symbolically begin to cook a meal for the Sabbath on the day before the festival. Since he had already begun to cook for the Sabbath, he was allowed to cook other things on the festival for the Sabbath. This is a type of legal fiction still practiced today by halakhic Jews. According to Beth Shammai, if a person must create a separate type of “eruv tavshilin” for each type of cooking he wishes to do: if he wants to bake he must begin baking before the festival; if he wants to boil he must begin boiling before the festival. Rabban Gamaliel rules that it is forbidden to wrap food to make it retain its heat, since that is not part of the “eruv tavshilin” that he had made before the holiday. Beth Hillel would have allowed such an action, since Beth Hillel holds that all one must begin to do is cook a little bit, and that is sufficient to continue to do any cooking activities on the festival.
And one may not join together a lamp on a festival; If a lamp made of several parts breaks on the festival, Rabban Gamaliel forbids one to fix it, since this is a type of “building” which is forbidden on the Sabbath. Beth Hillel holds that there is no prohibition of “building” with regards to erecting vessels, and therefore this is permitted.
And one may not bake [on festivals] thick loaves but only wafer-cakes. Rabban Gamaliel said: “In all their days, my father’s house never baked large loaves but only wafer-cakes.” They said to him: “What can we do with regards to your father’s house, for they were strict in respect to themselves but were lenient towards Israel to let them bake both large loaves and even charcoal-roasted loaves.” Rabban Gamaliel holds that it is forbidden to bake large loaves on a festival, and that only thin loaves are permitted. This is meant to prevent one from making too much bread on the festival, lest he make some for after the festival. Beth Hillel holds that it is permitted to bake large loaves, since bread cooks better when the oven is full. The final section of the mishnah contains some interaction between Rabban Gamaliel and the other Sages, who hold like Beth Hillel. Rabban Gamaliel testifies that his father’s house indeed acted in this manner, and only baked wafer-cakes on the festival. The other Sages accept this testimony of Rabban Gamaliel as being an accurate description of what Rabban Gamaliel’s father’s house used to do, but they understand its significance differently. The Sages say that Rabban Gamaliel’s father’s house was strict upon themselves, but allowed the rest of Israel to cook large loaves, even charcoal roasted loaves which are very difficult to make. The strict actions of Rabban Gamaliel’s fathers house were only meant for themselves and were not meant to set precedent for everyone else.