14a: A Cry for Help

On 12b we learned that one is allowed to fast on Shabbat, and atone for that fast with another fast later in the week, if one had a bad dream. Contrast that with what we find at the bottom of this amud, where Rabbi Yossi holds in a later mishna (on 19a) that people in a besieged city, in a flood, or on a sinking ship at sea may call on other people to save them, but they are not allowed to call out to G-d. Rashi explains the reason for Rabbi Yossi's opinion that, since it is uncertain whether their prayer will be answered, they should not make a tefillat shav on Shabbat.

What's going on here? By calling to other people for help, one could assume that the help these people can provide would be breaking Shabbat, but Rabbi Yossi and the gemarra do not seemed worried about this--even though one would think that it should be of at least equal concern with a tefillat shav. Perhaps this is because it would fall under the "pikuah nefesh doche et hashabbat" category. But if you can bother people on Shabbat, why not bother G-d? It seems that Rabbi Yossi is making a theological point here: Even in the most dire of circumstances, G-d can't be relied upon to answer prayer--you have a better shot with human beings.