The Shikker Dovid has started learning the first perek of Talmud Shabbat. The Mishna starts with a poor man standing outside of someone’s home. The poor man stretches out his hand and takes something from the homeowner; the homeowner puts something into the hand of the poor man- or vice versa. The Mishna goes through the combinations. (Its really complicated, even the big Talmud chacham I was learning with was scratching his head- or beard).

The Talmud and rashi explains that one has not transgressed the Sabbath of bringing or taking something from one domain to another, unless one picks up the AND puts down the object. In many of the cases of the Mishana, the acts are separate. One of the men is picking up and the other is putting down. It is called “akira”- picking up and “hanacha” -placing down. In the case where the actions are split amongst the men, neither has transgressed and needs to bring a sacrifice to atone. The transgression of transferring domains when both acts are done by one person.

This is really tough stuff. It is convuluted. But the Shikker Dovid sees a message. When two men work together, even if they do something wrong- at least they are working together. They are in harmony. Mabye Hashem does not care so much that we get it wrong, but at least we are in it together. Maybe this is over-simplyfing the whole point of this Mishna, but why else would Rashi point this out?