The potential punishment for an av melacha on Shabbos is stoning (ch"v). (Obviously, only under certain circumstances and after repeated attempts to dissuade the sinner.) However, I learned here that the potential punishment for doing an [av] melacha on Yom Kippur is only kareit. Kareit is the fifth of Rambam's eight levels of punishment, whereas death by stoning is the first. This is a big difference in strictness.
I understand that in practice in modern times, this doesn't change anything. However, if Yom Kippur is the Shabbas Shabbason and overrides Shabbat in almost every other way(1), why would the punishment for melacha on Yom Kippur be so much less severe?
Related: Melachas on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur falling out on Shabbos
REFERENCES
- Lopatin, Rabbi Asher. "Celebrating a Conflicted Relationship with God." In Naming God: Avinu Malkeinu— Our Father, Our King, edited by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, 231-35. Prayers of Awe. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2015.
Answer
The Gemara in Megila 22b inform us:
נקוט האי כללא בידך כל דטפי ליה מילתא מחבריה טפי ליה גברא יתירא הלכך בר''ח ומועד דאיכא קרבן מוסף קורין ארבעה ביו''ט דאסור בעשיית מלאכה חמשה ביוה''כ דענוש כרת ששה שבת דאיכא איסור סקילה שבעה
In English:
The holier (Lit. better) a day, the more people get called up to the Torah. Therefore, on Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed where there's a Mussaf sacrifice, we call up 4. On Yom Tov when work is forbidden, we call up 5. On Yom Kippur 6, because its punishment is Karet. On Shabbat, since its punishment is stoning, we call up 7.
So we see that Shabbat is considered superior to Yom Kippur according to the Gemara. Your question is used as a proof of this.
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