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Why does the Rambam (רמב"ם) rule that one may not violate even a shvus (rabbinic prohibition) on Yom Tov to obtain a shofar, yet permit shofar blowing on Shabbos (שבת) Rosh Hashanah despite the gezeirah of carrying it to an expert? The Lechem Mishneh wrestles with an apparent contradiction: in Hilchos Shofar 1:4 the Rambam treats shvus like a full lav vis-à-vis the mitzvah (מצוה) of shofar, but in 2:6 he allows shofar on Shabbos even though it involves overriding both a lav and an asei.
This shiur examines a fundamental question in the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s treatment of the principle of asei docheh lo taaseh (a positive commandment overrides a negative one) as applied to the mitzvah (מצוה) of shofar on Rosh Hashanah when it falls on Shabbos (שבת) or Yom Tov. The Rambam rules in Hilchos Shofar, Perek Alef halacha (הלכה) Dalet, that one may not prepare a shofar for Rosh Hashanah by violating even a shvus of Yom Tov—for example, climbing a tree to retrieve a shofar, or floating it across water, both rabbinic prohibitions. The Rambam explains that blowing shofar is merely an asei (positive commandment), while Yom Tov involves both a lav (negative commandment) and an asei. Therefore the mitzvah of shofar cannot override the prohibition. The Kesef Mishneh notes that the Rambam gave this reasoning only for actual melachah (Torah (תורה)-level prohibition), not for the shvus. He explains that the Rambam must be extending the principle: just as an asei cannot override a lav, the Chachamim strengthened their rabbinic decrees (shvus) by treating them as though they were Torah-level prohibitions (lav), at least in this context.
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Hilchos Shofar 1:4, 2:6
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