daf bit: Shabbat 92

[cellio]

One of the 39 categories of labor forbidden on Shabbat is carrying, that is carrying something between a private domain (like your house) and a public domain (like the street). A mishna on today's daf constrains this carrying: if one carries with either his right or left hand, in his lap or on his shoulder, he is culpable, because this is how the children of Kohat carried the tabernacle (and all Shabbat restrictions are derived from the tabernacle). But if he carries in a "backhanded" way -- with his foot, in his mouth, with his elbow, in his ear, in his belt with the opening downward, in his shoes (and several others), he is not culpable because these are not the usual ways of carrying. The g'mara then raises the question of carrying on his head -- is that permitted? Rab said on R. Hiyya's authority that he is culpable because this is what the people of Huzal do, but the g'mara objects: are the people of Huzal the majority, that they can dictate custom? Rather, if a Huzalite carries on his head he is culpable because that is his community's practice, but this doesn't apply to others who don't have that practice. (92a)
My impression is that we're a lot stricter about this today; if so, I'm not sure when and how that came about. (Perhaps I'll ask on Mi Yodeya. Update: asked, and it turns out we're talking about the difference between a biblical and rabbbinic prohibition. In these unusual cases you aren't liable to bring a sin-offering, but you still violated shabbat. I apparently missed a big general statement 89 days ago.)