BSD

Shkolim 10a.

Iyor 13, 5784. 05/21/2024

We prefaced a few facts prior to learning the next Mishnah.

שׁוֹמְרֵי סְפִיחִים בַּשְּׁבִיעִית, נוֹטְלִין שְׂכָרָן מִתְּרוּמַת הַלִּשְׁכָּה. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, (אַף הָרוֹצֶה) מִתְנַדֵּב שׁוֹמֵר חִנָּם. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אַף אַתָּה אוֹמֵר, שֶׁאֵינָן בָּאִין אֶלָּא מִשֶּׁל צִבּוּר.

1 – Just as a person can donate an animal (עולה ותודה)  or flour (מנחה) to be brought as a קרבן, one can donate wood as well. Not just firewood for the מזבח, but wood as an actual קרבן.

שקלים 6, 1.   הָאוֹמֵר, הֲרֵי עָלַי עֵצִים, לֹא יִפְחוֹת מִשְּׁנֵי גִּזְרִין.

One who says “I obligate myself to bring wood” (as a donation) should not bring less than two logs…”

2 – In מנחות כ, א we find the opinion of Reb Yossi that this קרבן of עצים is just like any other קרבן מנחה  – it requires  קמיצה הגשה ומלח and was not used as firewood for other קרבנות.

The רבנן say that it is not actually a מנחה although it was placed on the מזבח.

[Whether this קרבן עצים was used as firewood for other  קרבנות or they were placed on the מזבח not at the center fire is another topic].

 

3 – The regular עצים for the מערכה were purchased with the funds of the מחצית השקל and are considered a קרבן ציבור.

4 – The grains for the מנחות were also acquired with the מחצית השקל fund.

In the year of שמיטה, this becomes an issue. Since plowing, sowing etc. is prohibited, there are no ‘new’ grains produced. One could use only produce that sprouted on their own (ספיחים) which is הפקר.

Since anyone can grab them, the only way to obtain grains for the מנחות would be to send שלוחים to these fields where there is תבואה – ספיחים to watch them until ripe and then collect these self-grown grains.

5 – The חכמים say that the salary of these שומרים also came from the מחצית השקל fund since the wheat they kept on on eye on were used for the קרבנות ציבור.

Our משנה quotes the opinion of רבי יוסי there was no need to pay for any שומרים. Anyone could volunteer to be a שומר of these fields.

6 – What is the basis for these different opinions? Paid security vs volunteers.

The גמרא in בבא מציעא 118א  suggests a few explanations. One is that the issue is: by just looking at an object of הפקר one is קונה. Being that this wheat is הפקר, a mere הבטה קני.

So if an individual volunteers to keep an eye on them (least someone else takes them) they become owners of this wheat and then must gift it to the בית המקדש.

The issue is that the חכמים do dot believe that such an individual gifts it 100% to the ציבור. Now since this wheat will be used a קרבן ציבור, using a volunteer is not advisable.

רבי יוסי says that an individual can indeed donate something 100% to the ציבור.

7- The גמרא continues on this topic: Paid security vs volunteers.

It begins with the famous story of the 9 families that donated wood for the מזבח at the beginning of the בית שני era. Each family chose a particular day to supply firewood at that time of great poverty.

תענית כו, א.

These were private holidays specific to certain families, on which their members would volunteer a wood offering for the altar. There were nine such days and families: On the first of Nisan, the descendants of Araḥ ben Yehuda; on the twentieth of Tammuz, the descendants of David ben Yehuda; on the fifth of Av, the descendants of Parosh ben Yehuda; on the seventh of Av, the descendants of Jonadab ben Rechab; on the tenth of Av, the descendants of Sena’a ben Binyamin; on the fifteenth of Av, the descendants of Zattu ben Yehuda…..

On the twentieth of Av, the descendants of Paḥat Moav ben Yehuda; on the twentieth of Elul, the descendants of Adin ben Yehuda

8 – We mentioned that the Rebbe writes that the only place he found in ש”ס a mention of כ אב is the above גמרא.  In the footnotes he added some other sources where this day is noted. See here.

LS 4, 1103

 

To be continued.

 

קרבן  קרבן עצים. מחלוקת חכמים ורבי. מנחות. כ, א. לרבי זה קרבן בכל הפרטים – כמו מנחה.  הגשה קמיצה שמן ועצים וכו’. לרבנן אין זה קרבן ממש. וראה שם קו, ב. וברבינו גרשום ובריטב”א תענית כו, א.

 

 

BS”D

Shkolim – 9b

6 Nisan 5784. 05/14/2024

1– Our גמרא quotes the famous ברייתא of Reb Pinchos ben Yo’ir.

וְכֵן הָיָה רִבִּי פִינְחָס בֶּן יָאִיר אוֹמֵר. זְרִיזוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי נְקִיּוּת. נְקִיּוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי טַהֳרָה. טַהֳרָה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי קְדוּשָּׁה. קְדוּשָּׁה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי עֲנָוָה. עֲנָוָה מְבִיאָה לִידֵי יִרְאַת חֵטְא. יִרְאַת חֵטְא מְבִיאָה לִידֵי חֲסִידוּת. חֲסִידוּת מְבִיאָה לִידֵי רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ. רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵבִיא לִידֵי תְחִייַת הַמֵּתִים. תְּחִייַת הַמֵּתִים מְבִיאָה לִידֵי אֵלִיָּהוּ זָכוּר לַטּוֹב.

We mentioned that this ברייתא is found in other places in ש”ס but with variations to the order.

We paused to discuss:

2– זְרִיזוּת 

The Alter Rebbe in אגרת הקודש כא discusses that אברהם אבינו ‘s virtue of the  עקידה  was primarily due to his  ,זריזות , not the עקידה  itself !

וּזְרִיזוּתֵיהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם הִיא הָעוֹמֶדֶת לָעַד, לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַד עוֹלָם,

כִּי הָעֲקֵדָה עַצְמָהּ אֵינָהּ נֶחְשָׁבָה כָּל כָּךְ לְנִסָּיוֹן גָּדוֹל לְעֵרֶךְ מַעֲלַת אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם,

בְּשֶׁגַּם, כִּי ה’ דִּיבֶּר בּוֹ: “קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ כוּ'”

וַהֲרֵי כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה קְדוֹשִׁים שֶׁמָּסְרוּ נַפְשָׁם עַל קְדוּשַּׁת ה’ גַּם כִּי לֹא דִיבֶּר ה’ בָּם.

רַק שֶׁאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם עָשָׂה זֹאת בִּזְרִיזוּת נִפְלָאָה,

לְהַרְאוֹת שִׂמְחָתוֹ וְחֶפְצוֹ לְמַלֹּאות רְצוֹן קוֹנוֹ וְלַעֲשׂוֹת נַחַת רוּחַ לְיוֹצְרוֹ.

וּמִמֶּנּוּ לָמְדוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה לְקִיּוּם כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת בִּכְלָל, וּבִפְרָט מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה הָעוֹלָה עַל כּוּלָּנָה

So, too, it is [the merit of] “the eager promptness of our father Abraham” (peace upon him), who hastened to the עקידה  , the binding of Isaac, that stands by us and our children, for ever.

For the akedah itself, which G‑d constantly recalls, is not really regarded as so great a test in relation to the stature of our father Abraham, peace upon him,

especially considering that G‑d Himself said to him, “Please take your son…[and bring him as an offering].”

After all, there have been numerous saintly individuals who gave their lives for the sanctification of G‑d, even though He did not speak to them.

How, then, can this be considered such a great test for Abraham when G‑d Himself commanded him to offer his son?

The point is that our father Abraham (peace upon him) did this with wondrous alacrity, (2:38) for, as the verse testifies, “Abraham rose very early and [himself] saddled his donkey,” in order to demonstrate—to others as well—his joy and eager desire to fulfill the will of his Master and to bring gratification to his Maker.

Indeed, it was from [the example of Abraham], and with the power that he vested within all his descendants, that our Sages (of blessed memory) learned [that alacrity is required] in the fulfillment of all the commandments in general, and in particular with respect to the act of charity, which is superior to them all,

עֲנָוָה – 3

 We mentioned an interesting explanation by the Tzemach Tzedek regarding humility and its opposite – haughtiness/boasting – גאוה וגסות רוח.

In Or Hatorah (ויקרא ג, תשעה) the Tzemach Tzedek poses the question as to why ירבעם בן נבט, who was an outstanding תלמיד חכם on par with אחיה השילוני ,  fell so low turning into an עובד עבודה זרה and convincing others to do the same to the extent that as a result  אין לו חלק לעולם הבא !

Human achievement (or regression) usually follows a path of a ‘step by step’ pattern. We find this in קדושה and the opposite as well. As we see from our גמרא’s enumeration by Reb Pinchos ben Yo’ir of the ‘level by level elevation system’  to achieve  גילוי אליהו.

So what caused  ירבעם בן נבט  to swoop to the lowest step without the usual gradual descent?

The Tzemach Tzedek explains that as the  גמרא  says in סנהדרין

גסות הרוח שהיתה בו בירבעם טרדתו מן העולם. The arrogance,  גאוה  and  גסות רוח  was the cause for his swift downfall.

גאוה  and גסות רוח   have the ability to cause a person to ‘leap’ over the usual degrading steps to hit rock bottom in one swing.

On the reverse end of this spectrum, in קדושה, the same holds true. Whereas the usual methodical step by step system is needed to reach higher and higher, humility ענוה is a ‘ticket’ to jump and leap to a higher plane, bypassing the established route.

See there for more on this.

[We mentioned parenthetically that perhaps this is the reason why in Chumash, when mentioning the נבואה of משה רבינו, which was the highest form of G-D to man communication, פֶּה אֶל פֶּה אֲדַבֶּר בּוֹ,  the פסוק inserts the words   וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה עָנָיו מְאֹד מִכֹּל הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.]

4 – In relation the fellow כהן  who entered the לשכה  to withdraw the שקלים,  fill up 3 קופות and all the precautions taken to ascertain that there is no pilfering or pocketing any of the שקלים – we mentioned an interesting  תשובה  on this topic. שו”ת תורה לשמה סימן תז. (and referenced here)

Someone wanted to test the honesty of his house servant and came up with the following idea: He would place some cash in one of the rooms in a way that to his servant it would seem that this cash fell out of the owner’s pocket. He would then send this houseboy to fetch something from this room and see if the houseboy pocketed the money!

The question is: by doing so, he would perhaps cause his servant to stealת and that would constitute  לפני עור לא תתן מכשול .

The פסק of the  שו”ת תורה לשמה is that is indeed prohibited.

More so – he prohibits even if one uses the following scheme: He will gift the cash to his servant without telling him. So in case the houseboy does ‘steal’ it, it is not גניבה since it was his to take.

However sat the שו”ת תורה לשמה  even that would constitute  לפני עור לא תתן מכשול since the intention of the houseboy would be to steal it!

ומסיימין בטוב.

A gezunten zummer to all.

 

 

BSD

Shkolim – 9a (2)

29 Nisan 5784. 05/07/2024

A few short notes:

1 – Having discussed the שיעור רביעית our גמרא diverged to discuss some הלכות pertaining to הלכות טומאה.

2 – Story of the ‘mule belonging to רבי’.

In general, a Kosher and Non Kosher בהמה or חיה that died is טמא. The שיעור is a minimum of a כזית.

A Kosher animal that went thru שחיטה is not טמא.

The issue with this famous mule was the blood of this נבילה.

Is דם נבילה in general טמא, like its flesh? If yes – what is the shiur?

3 – רבי had a רב in his court that ruled on שאלות. Interestingly his name was like רבי!

רבי יהודה.

So the Rov ruled that this דם נבילה of this mule was טהור. But that was ambiguous (to the next generation) as to why he ruled as such.

Either because his opinion was that דם נבילה in general is טהור, or דם נבילה in general is טמא but in this particular case it lacked a שיעור- which is a רביעית.

That was the topic of our גמרא.

4 – The next section discussed an incident when one אמורא asked another about the above topic. Instead of answering the question he shrugged him off. Or worse -בעט ביה. When asked why he acted in this non תלמיד חכם fashion he had a very interesting reply:

‘I can’t think straight as I am penniless and have no clue where I’ll get some breakfast tomorrow’.

The גמרא talks about this phenomena and how it’s hinted to in the תוכחה.

The רבונו של עולם needs to give us wealth so that we should be able to think clearly!

5 – In relation to this we mentioned the אבות דרבי נתן that states (אדר״נ פל״א ה״א)

רבי אחאי בן יאשיה אומר ……זמן שאדם אוכל משלו דעתו מיושבת עליו ואפילו אוכל אדם משל אביו ומשל אמו ומשל בניו אין דעתו מיושבת עליו ואין צריך לומר משל אחרים:

Rabbi Ahai ben Yoshaya would say: When a person eats from his own farm, his mind is calm. However,  when a person eats food from his father’s or mother’s farm, or from his children’s farm, his mind is not calm – not to mention when he eats food from a stranger’s farm.

6 – On the above vein, the בנין יהושע  make a reference to an interesting ירושלמי in ערלה.

Very briefly:

There is מרכיב- Grafting. Which is actually splicing a twig from a selected tree to a root stock of the same or different species.

Then there is מבריך – Layering. One takes a branch of a bush or some low growing plant and buries it into the soil, waits for a few months and then, after it has rooted, cuts it off and plants it somewhere else.

Now, when layering, the branch develops roots in the ground. Before it is cut off from the tree it is receiving ‘life’ from both – the tree and the new roots.

Question: Which is the primary source of nourishment? Is it from the old tree or, because of its own roots- meaning it is a stand alone ‘new tree’. The answer manifest itself in הלכה in regards to ערלה.

If it is a new tree then the count for ערלה begins anew.

The ירושלמי  says that there is a simple way to tell where the main source of nourishment to this new branch is coming from.

Look at the leaves that are growing on this new branch. Where is it facing?

If it is facing away from the old tree, it means that it is still receiving חיות from the tree. It is facing away because ‘one cannot look in the face of the one that is feeding you’!

However if the leaves are facing the old ‘mother’ tree, then it is living from the new roots….

That is the meaning of

וְנָא אַל תַּצְרִיכֵנוּ ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ לא לִידֵי מַתְּנַת בָּשָׂר וָדָם וְלא לִידֵי הַלְוָאָתָם, כִּי אִם לְיָדְךָ הַמְּלֵאָה, הַפְּתוּחָה, הַקְּדוֹשָׁה וְהָרְחָבָה, שֶׁלּא נֵבוֹשׁ וְלא נִכָּלֵם לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

7 – The גמרא says that the person who entered the שקלים chamber would be constantly talking the his friend on the outside. This was to ensure that he would not try to place some coins in his mouth. The גמרא asks that we could also accomplish this by having him enter with a mouth full of water…..

The גמרא responds that it would create an issue with a ברכה.

What ברכה? Some suggest that he may swallow some of the water with out making a ברכה.

The חכם צבי writes that is incorrect since one can make שהכל on water prior to entering! He suggest that it is a ברכה of על הפרשת תרומה.

We discussed as there is no particular  מצוה  for this stage of מחצית השקל.

But see here an interesting idea from the  שו”ת פני מבין. OC 1, 5. 31.

The Chamber of the Shekels

The final act of removing the coins from the chamber into the קופות is the culmination of the מצות מחצית השקל. Indeed t is only then that a ברכה can be made.

BSD

Shkolim – 9a

8 Nisan 5784. 04/16/2024

It’s Erev Pesach…so just some brief notes:

1- Our גמרא states the size of a cup that contains a רביעית.

We briefly mentioned the basic issue with שיעורים.

How much is a רביעית?

The גמרא states that there are two ways of measuring it.

1- A רביעית is a ¼ of a לוג. A לוג is the size of 6 eggs. Therefore a רביעית would be 1.5 eggs.

A לוג is the size of 6 eggs.

2- A רביעית takes up a square cup of 2 thumbs x 2 thumbs x 2.7 thumbs.

[Our גמרא ירושלמי has it as 2 thumbs x 2 thumbs x 1.83333 thumbs. However the above 2.7  is the accepted number as per the בבלי in פסחים קט, א .  See Tosfos there].

In theory, using these two measuring systems the result should equal the same, The problem is that, at least in our days, these two methods do not match at all.

By using method 1, we arrive at 2.92 oz. [The average egg today  is 57.6 ml x 1.5 = 86.4ml]

By using method 2, we arrive at 5.04 oz. [The average thumb today is 2.4 cm. So 4.8 x 4.8 x 6.48 = 149.3 Ml].

2- Either our thumbs grew or the eggs shrunk. נתקטנו הביצים.

So which method is correct today?

Reb Chaim Naeh’s opinion is that we should follow method 1.

הגר”ח נאה

The Noda B’Yehuda’s opinion is that we should be מחמיר and use method 2.

There is a third option as per the Rambam  – רמב”ם עדיות א:ב – who used the weight of the Dirham to calculate the amount of a רביעית.

ומצאתי הרביעית הנזכרת בכל התורה תכיל מן היין קרוב כ”ו כספים הנקראים דרה”ם בערבי

He writes that the weight of 26+- Dirhams equals the weight of a רביעית of wine.

A  Dirham weighs 3.205 grams, so the weight of 26 Dirhams equals the weight of  78-80 ml of wine. That would make the רביעית   only 2.7 oz!

Dirham Coin – reads: “Kasbah Arcade, one game per coin only”

We discussed the Dirham and if its weight remained constant throughout the ages.

More contemporary opinions say the Dirham the Rambam used weighed only 3 grams (or less) resulting in an even smaller רביעית.

Modern Dirham

3- We discussed an interesting explanation by Reb Reuven Margolis on a special חודש ניסן in the time of חזקיהו  המלך.

Briefly:

1- We do not say מזמור לתודה on פסח and ערב פסח since a תודה contained חמץ.

שו”ע אדה”ז או”ח תכט, יג.

ונוהגין במדינות אלו שלא לאומרה בשבת ויום טוב^כג מפני שאין תודה קריבה בהן^כד וכן בימי הפסח^כה אין תודה קריבה^כו משום חמץ שבה וכן בערב פסח כמו שיתבאר בסי’ תכ”ט^כז

2- However, we find in תנ”ך , when describing the types  of קרבנות brought upon the rededication of the בית המקדש in the time of חזקיהו, the קרבן תודה.

This was on the 16th day of the first month which is טו ניסן! The first day Chol HaMoed.

Chometz in middle of פסח?

דברי הימים  ב  כט טז

וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ הַ֠כֹּהֲנִ֠ים לִפְנִ֣ימָה בֵית־יְהֹוָה֮ לְטַהֵר֒ וַיּוֹצִ֗יאוּ אֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַטֻּמְאָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר מָֽצְאוּ֙ בְּהֵיכַ֣ל יְהֹוָ֔ה לַחֲצַ֖ר בֵּ֣ית יְהֹוָ֑ה וַֽיְקַבְּלוּ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם לְהוֹצִ֥יא לְנַחַל־קִדְר֖וֹן חֽוּצָה׃

And the priests went in to the inner part of the house of Hashem, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Hashem into the court of the house of Hashem.

Chizkiyahu cleans the Temple…

And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad to the brook Kidron.

יז וַ֠יָּחֵ֠לּוּ בְּאֶחָ֞ד לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן֮ לְקַדֵּשׁ֒ וּבְי֧וֹם שְׁמוֹנָ֣ה לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ בָּ֚אוּ לְאוּלָ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיְקַדְּשׁ֥וּ אֶת־בֵּית־יְהֹוָ֖ה לְיָמִ֣ים שְׁמוֹנָ֑ה וּבְי֨וֹם שִׁשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר לַחֹ֥דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן כִּלּֽוּ׃

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the chamber of Hashem; and they sanctified the house of Hashem in eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

לא יַּ֨עַן יְחִזְקִיָּ֜הוּ וַיֹּ֗אמֶר עַתָּה֙ מִלֵּאתֶ֤ם יֶדְכֶם֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה גֹּ֧שׁוּ וְהָבִ֛יאוּ זְבָחִ֥ים וְתוֹד֖וֹת לְבֵ֣ית יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיָּבִ֤יאוּ הַקָּהָל֙ זְבָחִ֣ים וְתוֹד֔וֹת וְכׇל־נְדִ֥יב לֵ֖ב עֹלֽוֹת׃

Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to Hashem, come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of Hashem.” And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt-offerings.

3- What follows is even more perplexing. It describes what occurred the next month when they brought a פסח שני.

Having realized that the פסח ראשון was not observed, they brought the קרבן פסח in the second month חודש אייר.

ל א וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח יְחִזְקִיָּ֜הוּ עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל וִיהוּדָ֗ה וְגַֽם־אִגְּרוֹת֙ כָּתַב֙ עַל־אֶפְרַ֣יִם וּמְנַשֶּׁ֔ה לָב֥וֹא לְבֵית־יְהֹוָ֖ה בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם

לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת פֶּ֔סַח לַיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Hashem at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Hashem, the God of Israel.

ב וַיִּוָּעַ֨ץ הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ וְשָׂרָ֛יו וְכׇל־הַקָּהָ֖ל בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת הַפֶּ֖סַח בַּחֹ֥דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִֽי׃

For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and the entire congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.

ג כִּ֣י לֹ֧א יָכְל֛וּ לַעֲשֹׂת֖וֹ בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֑יא כִּ֤י הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ לֹֽא־הִתְקַדְּשׁ֣וּ לְמַדַּ֔י וְהָעָ֖ם לֹא־נֶאֶסְפ֥וּ לִירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

ה וַיַּעֲמִ֣ידוּ דָבָ֗ר לְהַעֲבִ֨יר ק֤וֹל בְּכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִבְּאֵֽר־שֶׁ֣בַע וְעַד־דָּ֔ן לָב֞וֹא לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּ֛סַח לַיהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם כִּ֣י לֹ֥א לָרֹ֛ב עָשׂ֖וּ כַּכָּתֽוּב׃

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-Sheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Hashem, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; for they had not kept it in great numbers according as it is written.

יג וַיֵּאָסְפ֤וּ יְרוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ עַם־רָ֔ב לַעֲשׂ֛וֹת אֶת־חַ֥ג הַמַּצּ֖וֹת בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֑י קָהָ֖ל לָרֹ֥ב מְאֹֽד׃

And many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

4 – So far so good. פסח שני in the second month. יד אייר.

טו וַיִּשְׁחֲט֣וּ הַפֶּ֔סַח בְּאַרְבָּעָ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֑י וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֨ים וְהַלְוִיִּ֤ם נִכְלְמוּ֙ וַיִּֽתְקַדְּשׁ֔וּ וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ עֹל֖וֹת בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃

Then they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt-offerings into the house of Hashem.

Now פסח שני is observed only one day. But they feasted for 7 days!

כא וַיַּעֲשׂ֣וּ בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵ֠ל הַנִּמְצְאִ֨ים בִּירוּשָׁלַ֜͏ִם אֶת־חַ֧ג הַמַּצּ֛וֹת שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים בְּשִׂמְחָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֑ה וּֽמְהַלְלִ֣ים לַ֠יהֹוָ֠ה י֣וֹם ׀ בְּי֞וֹם הַלְוִיִּ֧ם וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֛ים בִּכְלֵי־עֹ֖ז לַיהֹוָֽה׃

And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of מצות  seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised Hashem day by day, singing with loud instruments to Hashem.

5 – So how do we answer these 2 questions? Bringing a קרבן תודה on פסח and having a 7 day פסח on פסח שני?

Reb Reuven suggests the following based on the story of  חזקיהו who added  an אדר שני  that particular year.

חזקיהו waited until ראש חודש ניסן and only then added an additional Adar II.

The חכמים accepted this added month based on the principle of

אתם אפילו מזידין אתם אפילו מוטעין

But were not pleased with this. They cited the rule that a second Adar can only be added prior to the start of חודש ניסן.

So in reality the ‘first month’, when they brought the קרבן תודה on the 16th of the month was not טו ניסן but טו אדר שני! Thus there was no problem bringin a Chometz קרבן.

And when they brought the פסח שני on the 14th of the ‘second month’ it was not טו אייר but טו ניסן!

That is why they celebrated a full 7 days,  as it was the real  פסח ראשון.

6 – If the ‘first month’ was actually אדר שני (the 13th month) and the second month’ was really ניסן (the first month) why didn’t they write is as such?

Good question.

The answer, concludes Reb Reuven, is that the חכמים wanted to record their disapproval on what חזקיהו did!

Therefore they recorded the months they way it should have been!

נפש חיה סימן תכט.

 

A Kosher and Happy Pesach to all.

BSD

Shkolim – 8b (2)

1 Nisan 5784. 04/09/2024

1- We continued on the topic of a רביעית and the dilution of wine. Will discuss שיעורים of a רביעית next shiur bl”n.

2- Our גמרא discusses the ארבע כוסות and the proper way to drink them.

Can one drink all 4 cups one after the other?

From our גמרא it seems that one would be יוצא. However the בבלי states that one would not and that is the הלכה.

תעב דיני הסיבה וד‘ כוסות ובו ל“א סעיפים

טז. צריך לשתות הד’ כוסות על הסדר^קכב שיתבאר^קכג דהיינו שבין כוס ראשון לשני ובין שלישי לרביעי יפסיק באמירת ההגדה^קכד וההלל ובין שני לשלישי יפסיק באכילת מצה וברכת המזון ואם לא הפסיק ביניהם בדברים הללו אלא שתה ד’ כוסות זה אחר זה לא יצא ידי ד’ כוסות^קכה אלא כולן נחשבין לו לכוס אחד וחייב לשתות עוד [ג]’ כוסות על הסדר^קכו שיתבאר^קכז:

3- The basis for the above is the based on the topic of saying הלל in Shul on the first two nights of פסח.

If we follow the opinion that if one recites הלל in Shul he does not necessarily need to say הלל at the סדר the result would be that between the 3rd and the 4th cup there would be no הפסק.

4- We discussed the opinions of reciting הלל and the מנהג of the ספרדים and חסידים.

The מחבר writes that we do say הלל in Shul while the רמ”א say we (the Ashkenazim) do not.

5- We mentioned the story, from a non Lubavitcher source, told about the Alter Rebbe.

Reb Meir Shapiro (Daf haYomi) related:

In the early days of Chassidus the Alter Rebbe was once in Vilna for פסח.   No one knew who he was except for אנ”ש. After Davening with the Shul מנין , the Alter Rebbe and his Chassidim locked themselves inside the Shul to recite   הלל with great שמחה.

The next morning, the שמש raised a commotion for this ‘great sin’ and the Shul Rov shouted at them “how did you act against the ruling of the רמ”א who says that our מנהג is not to say הלל!”

The Alter Rebbe responded to the Rov:

Please do not be angry. Were you present to witness the  רמ”א banging on the table saying emphatically, ‘our מנהג is not to say הלל’??

Perhaps the רמ”א was lamenting that unfortunately we don’t have this beautiful מנהג….

6 – Another story from a non Lubavitcher source concerning ‘the search for אתרוגים in an armored vehicle in the forests of Italy amongst the wild tribes’.

Nu nu.

7- Speaking of הלל on ליל פסח we mentioned the interesting תשובה  of the Ragatchover concerning the מנהג of Anash to say  הלל on the first two nights of פסח. Here. Part 2, #8

We will discuss it more next week.

In middle of the תשובה he writes to the Rov that asked him the question about saying הלל:

And Anash that do say הלל have no clue as to why, but they are right and ‘they prophesied without knowing it is a prophecy’, to say הלל….

‘Now, if you were a חסיד like us, I would add some more esoteric insights on הלל but for a מתנגד like you this will suffice…..especially as you are also  ‘preacher’ of Mussar   רחמנא ליצלן…..so I’ll be short….. Yosef Rozin

He concludes by asking this Rov to pray for him as he has a bad cold…..

8- Our גמרא asks if one drank the ארבע כוסות with פסקן if he is יוצא.

The conclusion is that the תקנה of the  ארבע כוסות was not enacted to get people drunk!

What is פסקן?

Most מפרשים translate it as ‘sipping’ as opposed to plain drinking.

The question is what causes more intoxication?  sipping (spacing out the drinking) or gulping it down in one shot.

9 – There is an interesting explanation that פסקן means an extremely  large goblet. שבות יעקב או”ח א, כב.

In a letter written to the שבות יעקב a fellow suggest this idea:

He quotes an interesting מדרש, that at the time of the Persian Kings, those attending his feasts were (occasionally?) forced to drink an entire פסקן. It caused either death or psychosis.

The famous party of אחשוורוש was the exception:

וְהַשְּׁתִיָּה כַדָּת אֵין אֹנֵס כִּי כֵן יִסַּד הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל כָּל רַב בֵּיתוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן אִישׁ וָאִישׁ.

No one was forced to drink.

So our ירושלמי’s question here is as follows: Based on the opinion that at the סדר one must drink רוב כוס (as opposed to רוב רביעית thru out the year) if one uses a פסקן that contains a large amount of wine – does he also need to drink רוב כוס?

 

The שבות יעקב responds:

 

BSD

Shkolim 8a (2) – 8b

16 Adar II  5784. 03/26/2024

1- The משנה describes the next stage of the מחצית השקל process.

בשלש קופות של שלש שלש סאין תורמין את הלשכה

From the office or לשכה , where all the coins would be kept, they filled three קופות or buckets, with each bucket containing three סאה  for a total of nine  סאה.  By doing this 3 times a year, they would transfer from the לשכה to the buckets a total of 27 סאה.

This is the opinion of most ראשונים.

 

The Rambam (שקלים ב, ד)  however has it a bit different. All the שקלים were placed in  one לשכה  and in this לשכה there were 3 large  קופות each containing 9 סאה. The לשכה would be locked and sealed until ראש חודש ניסן when the first of the three transferred occurred.

The תורם would then enter the לשכה and take 3 סאה from  the large (9 סאה) containers and fill each of 3 of the smaller קופות.

והכל מתקבצין למקדש ומניחין אותן בלשכה אחת מן הלשכות במקדש וסוגרין כל דלתותיה במפתחות וחותמין עליה חותמות וממלאין מכל השקלים שיקבצו שם שלש קופות גדולות שיעור כל

קופה כדי שתכיל תשע סאין והשאר מניחין אותו בלשכה.

We discussed the תוספות יום טוב who suggests as to where the Rambam derived this from our גמרא.

2- וְכָתוּב בָּהֶן אָל״ף בֵי״ת גִימ״ל.

רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, יְוָנִית כָּתוּב בָּהֶן אָלפ״א בֵית״א גָמל״א

The 3 קופות were numbered with  א ב ג or the three first letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamla. (Gama)

 

We discussed why they used the Greek alphabet.

3- In a previous Shiur (Suka 16b (2) Shvat 20, 5781, February 3, 2021) we mentioned the רבי מנוח who says that in general לשון הקודש was used only for קדושה and not for counting. וזה מהפלגת הגדולים קדושת התורה וכבודה

Does this apply here perhaps?

We also mentioned in the past the interesting  חתם סופר that when we were exiled to בבל we stopped speaking לשון הקודש because of the טומאה of חוץ לארץ.  That explains why within 70 short years many forgot their לשון הקודש.

חת”ס עה”ת ויגש, כג

4- Speaking of non לשון הקודש languages we mentioned briefly the big topic of inscribing on מצבות  in a foreign language in general and writing a ‘goyishe’ date in particular. מצבה.

The חתם סופר, the מהר”ם שיק and others.

שו״ת מהר״ם שיק יו״ד סי׳ קע״א

A major issue is when writing a date such as 2024 are we mentioning a date associated with עבודה זרה? Are we causing others to thing about this individual?

The months are also an issue discussed as some of them too are associated with עבודה זרה.

We suggested (half jokingly) that perhaps when we, who generally write from right to left, 2024 means that it is year 4202…..

5 –  The משנה describes the precautions the חכמים established to remove any suspicion of the תורם. Thus when the תורם who enters the  לשכה he does so in a manner that he cannot be suspected in pocketing CV any of the שקלים.

When entering the לשכה his clothing would not have any pockets or hems. Neither would he be wearing תפילין or a קמיע.

אֵין הַתּוֹרֵם נִכְנָס לֹא בְּפַרְגּוֹד חָפוּת, וְלֹא בְּמִנְעָל, וְלֹא בְּסַנְדָּל, וְלֹא בִּתְפִלִּין, וְלֹא בְּקָמִיעַ, שֶׁמָּא יַעֲנִי, וְיֹאמְרוּ מֵעֲוֹן הַלִּשְׁכָּה הֶעֱנִי, אוֹ שֶׁמָּא יַעֲשִׁיר, וְיֹאמְרוּ מִתְּרוּמַת הַלִּשְׁכָּה הֶעֱשִׁיר. לְפִי שֶׁאָדָם צָרִיךְ לָצֵאת יְדֵי הַבְּרִיּוֹת כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לָצֵאת יְדֵי הַמָּקוֹם, שְׁנֶּאֱמַר: וִהְיִיתֶם נְקִיִים מֵיְיָ וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל (במדבר ל״ב:כ״ב), וְאוֹמֵר: וּמְצָא חֵן וְשֵׂכֶל טוֹב בְּעֵינֵי אֱלֹהִים וְאָדָם.

The one who made the appropriation did not enter the chamber wearing a bordered cloak, or shoes, or sandals, or tefillin, or an amulet, lest he become poor and [people] say that he became poor because of a sin committed in the chamber, or lest he become rich and [people] say that he became rich from the appropriation in the chamber.

For one must be free of blame before others as he must be free of blame before God, as it is said: “And you shall be guiltless before the Lord and before Israel” (Numbers 32:22), and it says: “And you will find favor and good understanding in the eyes of God and man” (Proverbs 3:4).

This rule of not acting in a way that will cause others to be suspicious of you is applied in many הלכות.

The issue of being a respected person by all by not acting in a queer and suspicious way is quite logical. It is beneficial to yourself when others are not חושד you in any wrongdoing.

6 – We mentioned the novel explanation of the  ספר חסידים about וִהְיִיתֶם נְקִיִים מֵיְיָ וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.

ספר חסידים  מ”ד.

שהוא מביא עצמו לידי חשד שנאמר (במדבר לב כב) והייתם נקיים מה’ ומישראל ועוד שהוא מכשיל את החושדים אותו ונענשים על ידו שכל החושד בכשרים לוקה בגופו

By acting in a manner that is מעורר חשד upon yourself by others is harmful to others. The ones that suspect in (in error) are hurt.

How?

The rule is החושד בכשרים לוקה בגופו. Someone that suspects others, without any merit or basis, literally suffers CV in his גוף.

So by acting in a way that cause others to be חושד you, you are causing them to suffer the consequences of suspecting you.

The ספר חסידים was printed many times. A very popular and accepted edition with many footnotes etc., was published by Reb Reuven Margolis.

 

R’ Reuven Margolis as a young man

We spoke a bit about this extraordinary תלמיד חכם, Reb Reuven Margolis ע”ה and his vast works, especially the ones that bridge the gap between נגלה ונסתר. See here. His ספרים.

Chabad connection here.

 

7 – The topic of diluting wine at a ratio of one part wine to three parts of water.

The sommelier, laboring at his craft

Was it because wine in ancient times was stronger than the wine we currently consume? Or perhaps it was a way not to get intoxicated?

To be continued.

 

 

BSD

Shkolim 8a

16 Adar II  5784. 03/26/24

1- To start with: דברים שאמרתי לכם טעות הן בידי

Correction to what we said and posted last week.

מן התורה all בהמות born within one year are considered one lot. Meaning that when corralling the animals and then herding them thru the gate to be מקדיש each tenth, one can include only בהמות that were born with in this particular year.

Mixing animals from one year with others born in a different year is not allowed as we learnt at the beginning of מסכת ראש השנה.

When exactly is this ‘one year’ מן התורה? Three opinions which we discussed this week. See below. All of the above is at the דאורייתא level. A one year cycle.

2- Unlike תורמות ומעשרות that prior to destination of the  תרו”מ , the produce is non edible as it is טבל, animals prior to passing thru the מעשר בהמה process, are not אבל . One can shecht and eat them as long as he eventually gives  מעשר בהמה – 1 from 10.

Ramabam Bechoros Chapter 7, 7.

אין הטלאים הנולדים כמו הטבל שאסור לאכול ממנו עד שיעשר כמו שביארנו במקומו אלא מותר למכור ולשחוט כל מה שירצה עד שיעשר ויהיה המעשר קדש ויאכל כהלכתו כמו שביארנו:

When he decides  to be מקיים the מצוה of מעשר בהמה, he passes them thru the gate, designates every 10th as מעשר and brings it up as a קרבן to ירושלים.

3- However, the חכמים noticed a pattern with the cattle ranchers.

They would hesitate to perform the מעשר בהמה process until the herds were very large. The ranchers reasoned that it’s in their best interest to do it in large batches so that all מעשר of every 10 are grouped together. It made it easier to bring them all up to ירושלים and avoid the בל תאחר.

So the  חכמים established within the year 3 cycles or cut-off dates. When these dates arrived it was prohibited to eat any animal in one’s herd that has not gone through the מעשר process.

Now they could have chosen any 3 dates in the calendar year. The reason they chose dates before the שלש רגלים was that the above תקנה would cause the ranchers to give the מעשר just prior to these dates.

(since after these dates these dates arrived eating the animals would be prohibited unless מעשר was given).

So by designating the date before the שלש רגלים it ensured a stock of plenty of animals available for the עולי רגל.

 

4 – The משנה then states various opinions as to the exact 3 days of the beginning of a new cycle established by the חכמים.

Reb Akiva –

• 15 days before Pesach,
• 15 days before שבועות and
• 15 days before ראש השנה.

Ben Azzai –

• 29th of Adar,
• 1st of Sivan and
• 20th of Av.

Reb Elozor and Reb Shimon –

• 1st of Nissan,
• 1st of Sivan and
• 29th of Elul

5 –  The 3 opinions of the דאורייתא year above in paragraph #1.

Reb Meir – from ראש חודש אלול  to ראש חודש אלול.

Reb Elozor and Reb Shimon – from one ראש השנה to the next.

בן עזאי – From ראש השנה until ראש חודש אלול. And another separate ‘year’ for the entire חודש אלול!

Ben Azzai says he is unsure who is right and his opinion is a compromise.

6- From the expression of בן עזאי about his compromise, our גמרא derives that בן עזאי was a תלמיד חבר of Reb Akiva.

A colleague and a student.

[Speaking of חבר- a friend- we mentioned in passing the שו”ת יהודה יעלה of R’ Yehdua Aszod that discusses משלוח מנות איש לרעהו.  Does giving to a teacher who is not an exactly a ‘friend’ of his student constitute רעהו?

חלק א, או”ח רד]

We discussed this a bit and mentioned the famous book by Malachi Hakohen from Livorno, Italy. (Tuscany region).

Livorno, Tuscany, Italy

יד מלאכי

His ספר was quickly accepted by many as the authority on how and whom to follow when we find in ש”ס or פוסקים two or more opinions without a definitive ruling.

For example – In ש”ס –  different opinions with not clear הלכה למעשה. What’s the bottom line?

If the Shulchan Aruch says יש אומרים and ויש אומרים. Whose opinion do we follow?

The יד מלאכי has much to say as to the definition of תלמיד חבר.

Is it חבר in that they are  equal but one learnt one or two ideas from his equal?

Or perhaps that originally they were equal but now one surpassed the other, and that the other is now a his תלמיד!

7 – We went back to discuss the famous saying of בן עזאי:

כל חכמי ישראל דומין עלי כקליפת השום, חוץ מן הקרח הזה

“The knowledge all the חכמי ישראל , in comparison to mine, is like the skin of a garlic! Except for this קרח”.

Not R Akiva

Most opinions identify the קרח ‘Baldy’ as Reb Akiva. See last week’s Shiur.

We mentioned the opinion of רבינו ניסים that בן עזאי meant (not Reb Akiva, but)  אליעזר בן עזריה רבי who was appointed נשיא at a very young age before he had a beard.  Thus he is the ‘bald’ fellow here!

8- Some explanations of the בן עזאי saying:  “The knowledge all the חכמי ישראל , in comparison to mine, is like the skin of a garlic! Except for this קרח”.

כל חכמי ישראל דומין עלי כקליפת השום, חוץ מן הקרח הזה

A  – The של”ה מסכת שבועות, נר מצוה.

If we understand it right:

בן עזאי is saying that all the חכמי ישראל are indeed smarter than him. He is just sharper than them.

By nature, people that are sharp occasionally come up with ideas that are not grounded in reality. Their suggestions need direction to keep it in line.

He, בן עזאי is the sharp garlic, but they are the skin that keeps and protects this sharpness.

So בן עזאי is actually complimenting the חכמי ישראל by admitting their superior intelligence and thanking them for keeping him on track.

חוץ מן הקרח הזה– Reb Akiva however is greater than all, as he has both qualities. Sharpness and structure.

B – Reb Tzadok HaKohen. דברי אמת פרשת קרח.

The גמרא says that Reb Akiva used to derive ‘piles and piles’ of הלכות based on the תגין that adorn the letters of a ספר תורה. These תגין are likened to hair on the head (the letters).

We look at these תגין and see a mumble jumble of incomprehensible lines. Reb Akiva, by explaining each תג he is ‘untangling’ these hairs. He is giving them a ‘haircut’.

So by calling Reb Akiva a ‘baldy’, he is not degrading Reb Akiva (as Tosfos points out- Last week’s shiur). He is giving him the highest accolades, as only Reb Akiva knew the meaning hidden in the תגין.

——

ומסיימין בצחוק….

6,000,013 years old……

 

BSD

Shkolim 7b (2)

9 Adar II  5784. 03/19/24

Brief notes.

1 – We began a new משנה that takes us to the next step of the שקלים process.

As the שקלים came into the בית המקדש, they were all placed in an ‘office’- לשכה.

3 times a year, a portion of the שקלים were removed from this לשכה and placed into 3 large jugs or vats. קופות.

The 3 dates are:

• 15 days before פסח,
• 15 days before שבועות and
• 15 days before ראש השנה.

2 – The משנה then diverges to מעשר בהמה and suggests that these 3 dates (for the placing the שקלים into the קופות) correspond to the three cut-off dates for מעשר בהמה.

To clarify:

מן התורה all בהמות born within one year are considered one lot. Meaning that when herding them thru the gate to be מקדיש each tenth, one can include only בהמות that were born within this particular year.

Mixing animals from one year with others born in a different year is not allowed as we learnt at the beginning of מסכת ראש השנה.

3 – When exactly is this ‘one year’ מן התורה?

Three opinions:

Reb Meir – from ראש חודש אלול  to ראש חודש אלול.

Reb Elozor and Reb Shimon – from one ראש השנה to the next.

Ben Azzai – From ראש השנה until ראש חודש אלול. And another separate ‘year’ for the entire חודש אלול!

We will delve into the explanation of the 3 opinions at the next Shiur IY”H.

All of the above is at the דאורייתא level. A one full year cycle.

4 – {This paragraph was corrected on 03/28/2024]

However, the חכמים noticed a pattern with the cattle ranchers.

They would hesitate to perform the מעשר בהמה process until the herds were very large. The ranchers reasoned that it’s in their best interest to do it in large batches so that all מעשר of every 10 are grouped together. It made it easier to bring them all up to ירושלים and avoid the בל תאחר.

 

So the חכמים  established within the year 3 cycles or cut-off dates. When these dates arrived it was prohibited to eat any animal in one’s herd that has not gone through the מעשר process.

Now they could have chosen any 3 dates in the calendar year. The reason they chose dates before the שלש רגלים was that the above תקנה would cause the ranchers to give the מעשר just prior to these dates.

(since after these dates these dates arrived eating the animals would be prohibited unless מעשר was given).

So by designating the date before the שלש רגלים it ensured a stock of plenty of animals available for the עולי רגל.

Our משנה then states various opinions as to the exact 3 days of the beginning of a new cycle established by the חכמים.

Reb Akiva –

• 15 days before פסח, until
• 15 days before שבועות, until
• and 15 days before ראש השנה, until 15 days before פסח.

Reb Elozor and Reb Shimon –

• 1st of Nissan,
• 1st of Sivan and
• 29th of Elul.

Ben Azzai – 29th of Adar, 1st of Sivan and 20th of Av.

The reasoning behind these 3 opinions will also be discussed at the next Shiur IYH.

5 – As a preface to the גמרא further on, explaining the opinion of Ben Azai,  we discussed his life in short including him being a son-in-law of Reb Akiva.

At the very least he was engaged to Reb Akiva’s daughter – קידושין without נישואין – but then divorced her.

בן עזאי  explained why did didn’t remain married:

ומה אעשה, שנפשי חשקה בתורה, אפשר לעולם שיתקיים על ידי אחרים

 

6 – Ben Azzai used to say “the knowledge all the חכמי ישראל , in comparison to mine, is like the skin of a garlic!

Except for this קרח”.

כל חכמי ישראל דומין עלי כקליפת השום, חוץ מן הקרח הזה

 If קרח is a person, then who is this mysterious Reb קרח? Or perhaps קרח means something else?

 It’s a long and interesting story.

Rashi in a few places explains that קרח here means bald and Ben Azzai meant Reb Akiva – who was bald. Meaning that the only person equal to my knowledge is this baldy!

Ouch.

That’s not very respectful especially in light that בן עזאי was a student of Reb Akiva…. And his future or former father-in-law….

[We can assume (as per Tosfos below) that it was said half in jest, as it fits in the context of Ben Azzai’s talking about his brain prowess].

Rashi continues. We know that Reb Akiva had a son Reb Yehoshua. רבי יהושע בן רבי עקיבא.

We also find in many places in Sha”s a תנא with the name Reb Yehoshua son of Korcho. רבי יהושע בן קרחה.

So concludes Rashi, since the קרח in Ben Azzai’s saying refers to Reb Akiva then  רבי יהושע בן רבי עקיבא is רבי יהושע בן קרחה. They are the same person.

רבינו תם in Tosfos (בכורות נח, א. ב”ב קיג, א ) does not accept it. Assume, says Tosfos, that one time Ben Azai was joking when he nicknamed Reb Akiva ‘the baldy’, but for the entire Sha”s to call his son רבי יהושע בן קרחה the ‘son of the bald Rabbi’?
Tosfos presents additional chronological proof that רבי יהושע בן קרחה is not Reb Akiva’s son.

רבינו תם concludes that surely רבי יהושע בן רבי עקיבא and  רבי יהושע בן קרחה are two separate people.
קרחה the father of רבי יהושע is the name of a person called קרחה similar to the original קֹרַח.

מסכת בכורות
דף נח ע”א

7 – We concluded with the amazing words of Reb Chaim Vital in

שער הגלגולים – הקדמה לו.

“My master [The AriZa”l] told me that he saw with his eyes, both,

רבי יהושע בן  קרחה and יהושע the son of רבי עקיבא and they are not the same person, as Rashi writes.

גם אמר לי מורי ז”ל, כי הוא ראה בעיניו את ר’ יהושע בן קרחה, ואת ר’ יהושע בנו של ר’ עקיבא, ואינם איש אחד, הפך מה שכתב רש”י ז”ל בפ”ק דשבועות בסוגיא דבהרת ששניהם אחד:

 

 

 

 

 

 

BSD

Shkolim 7b

2 Adar II  5784. 03/12/2024

One major topic this week with many sub-topics.

1-  Repeating the Torah of another and giving the originator credit.

a –  If the originator has passed away – שפתותיו דובבות בקבר .

b –  כל האומר דבר בשם אומרו מביא גאולה לעולם.

c  –  The איסור גזילה if one plagiarizes. מגן אברהם קנו, ב

2- In relation to ‘c’ above, we mentioned the dialogue between the Tzanzer Rebbe, דברי חיים, Reb Chiam Halbesrstam and his contemporary the מהר”ם שי”ק. YD 156.

Mahara”m – Moshe Shick

The issue was if one copies ideas from a source, then prints it in his own  book without giving the originator credit. Is that גזילה?

(others have noted that surprisingly, neither mention the מגן אברהם).

3- We mentioned that, as the Rebbe points out, the Alter Rebbe omits ruling of the מגן אברהם. LS 36 Ki Siso 2.

 

4 – In regards to plagiarism, we mentioned the somewhat humorous Din Torah that occurred about 3 hundred years ago between siblings that inherited from their wealthy father a nice fortune. In addition to the allotted sum for every son, the father inserted in his will the stipulation that if any of his sons ‘will say a דרשה in public’ he will earn an additional sum from the estate.

One son took up the challenge and actually delivered a דרשה in public and requested the promised (additional) חלק from the his brothers.

The brothers refused to pay for various reasons.

Firstly they said ‘you call that a דרשה? You would have done better not speaking at all!’

Secondly, what he did say was plagiarized! It was not his חידושים but either he read it somewhere or heard it from someone and that’s not what our father meant!

They approached the famous פוסק of the time, Reb Yakov Reisher.

Hebrew. 

His response is in שו”ת שבות יעקב ב, יו”ד קמו.

5 – We spoke a bit about this illustrious רב who penned many books,  amongst them the עיון יעקב which the basic פירוש on the עין יעקב. Additionally, he wrote the חק יעקב on אורח חיים which is printed inside the שולחן ערוך.

We mentioned him here.

In the past we spoke about a particular ruling of his and the Alter Rebbe who wrote a lengthy rebuttal on his פסק. This was regarding a person whose father didn’t sell his חמץ and passed away in middle of פסח. The issue is that despite the fact that the son automatically received a ירושה of the חמץ in middle of פסח it is אסור בהנאה and therefore perhaps he never ‘inherited’ it to begin with.

 

‘

 

Reb Yakov responded that as to the first complaint that the son said ‘nothing’, well, that’s subjective. The brothers didn’t think it had value but others may differ and who’s to judge?

‘Occasionally a דרשן presents a דרשה that has merit and yet the listeners were not excited because the דרשן is not a polished orator, he lacks the talent to explain things well or his vocabulary is limited. Or the reverse’.

[We paused on the last words ‘Or the reverse’. Did Reb Yaakov mean that the opposite is also true…..Sometimes a דרשן presents a דרשה that excites the listeners because the דרשן is a polished and talented orator with a rich vocabulary…. But says nothing of value….?]

Additionally, the father never stipulated that this דרשה by any of his sons needs to be knocked out of the park.

As to the second complaint that the son just repeated what he heard or read, if that can be proven beyond doubt, says Reb Yaakov it is a valid טענה.

For surely the father’s intent was for his sons ‘to be diligent in their learning’ and come up with something original.

He didn’t mean for them to just ‘clothe themselves with a טלית not of their own… as is the custom with some תלמידים that lack in their diligence and yet  pride themselves and taunt others… ’.

In short, that is not what the father had in mind.

He goes on that even if the father would be ok with such a דרשה there is the issue of plagiarism which is not allowed על פי הלכה and the צוואה does not apply is such a עבירה! .

He concludes that one of the famous local לומדים should give this son a perplexing  מדרש, place him in a quiet room for a while and see if he can decipher it on his own. If what he comes up with is worthy to deliver in a public  דרשה he would then truly earn his fee as per his father’s will.

5 – We continued from last week the Rebbes’s letter (אגרות קודש רה)  to Reb Berel Rivkin on topic ‘a’ above.  שפתותיו דובבות בקבר

The Rebbe writes that we find 4 people that requested that students of theirs should always repeat his תורה and state that they heard it from their רבי.

דוד המלך, רבי יוחנן, רבי יצחק ורב ששת.

Why these particular 4?

Additionally perplexing is that if repeating someone’s תורה causes שפתותיו דובבות בקבר then even if their name is not mentioned (or even plagiarized as one’s own תורה) G-D knows whose תורה it is, so why would that affect the שפתותיו דובבות בקבר? What does giving credit to the originator add to the שפתותיו דובבות בקבר?

The Rebbe writes that the son of the דברי נחמיה dwells on this latter question ‘and we can comment on his answer  ואכ”מ’.

6 – We digressed to talk about this famous חסיד and his life style who was a businessman and a respected פוסק.

הגאון הצדיק רבי נחמיה הלוי בירך גינזבורג מדוברובנה

• Story told by Rabbi Shvay of the דברי נחמיה playing chess as a ‘breather’ after leaning for many hours non-stop. Right before he had a ‘check mate’ move, he would switch positions with his opponent and still win the game!
• 
• The reluctance of his son to publish his תורה and the threat of the צמח צדק that he will not allow him to יחידות!
• The criticism he claimed he received from ‘hot headed’ Chasudim for not printing the responses of the צמח צדק to his father’s letters.
• His name is mentioned in every volume of the Vilna Sha”s.

7- The Rebbe’s explanation to question in 5 above:

True, even if one does not give credit (and says תורה not mentioning the name of the original person who said it) it still causes שפתותיו דובבות בקבר.

However, these 4 individuals have a separate reason for insisting that either their name be mentioned or they had a special reason in general that their תורה be repeated.

1- דוד המלך

We find that דוד המלך who was a ‘בעל תשובה’ wanted that people should know that his תשובה was accepted by ה’.

Now, in general, one should learn תורה only from a righteous person. Thus, the best way to fullfil דוד’s wish that his sin was totally forgiven is by people repeating his תורה!

[If we understood it correctly- דוד regardless whether his name is mentioned would have the זכות of שפתותיו דובבות בקבר.

But he wanted more than that. He wanted people today to say ‘this is the תהילים of  דוד המלך’.  This proclaims that he was righteous and we can and do repeat his תורה.

2- רבי יוחנן

The גמרא describes the tragic and sad life of רבי יוחנן. He had ten children that passed away during his lifetime.

Now the גמרא says that one who leaves this world leaving behind no sons, הקב”ה is’ full of anger at him’. However, if he leaves behind proper תלמידים this anger dissipates.

So here again, רבי יוחנן wanted not only to have the זכות of שפתותיו דובבות בקבר with his תורה being repeated. He had an additional motive for his request to say his תורה in his name. ‘Say it in my name – proclaim to the world that I left behind תלמידים!’

שהתלמידים קרוים בנים

3 – רבי יצחק

As quoted in זהר, he too asked (in addition to repeating his words) to be mentioned as the author of his תורה.

For as the גמרא states, even if one leaves a son (and there is no ‘anger’ as above) if this son does not reach the level of his father, it casts the father in a negative light. נאמר על האב מיתה אם אין הבן כמותו

The זהר says that at that time רבי יצחק’s son has not reached his father’s lever and רבי יצחק asked others to teach his son after his passing.

So Reb Yitzchok too had a special reason to ask that when repeating his תורות that people should say-’this תורה is from רבי יצחק’.

4 – רבי ששת

The Ariza”l in שער הגלגולים writes about the נשמה of רב ששת some interesting ideas.

Briefly, רב ששת, who was blind was a גלגול of  רבי בבא בן בוטא, who was also blind.

[We mentioned the topic about רב ששת and רב יוסף emulating רב and  if they were born or became blind ר”ל]

The reason for this גלגול was that רבי בבא בן בוטא, despite being a great צדיק, needed to return to this world to complete some ‘unfinished תיקונים’.

To accomplish this his נשמה reincarnated in the body of רב ששת.

This is symbolized by their names. בבא – using the א”ת ב”ש method is ששת!

Now, when a נשמה returns in a גלגול in a different גוף, its primary objective is for the purpose of it’s original נשמה; not the current גוף.

That is why רב ששת would say (פסחים ע”ז? )  ”Be happy my soul – it is for you (only)  that I have learnt”. For his learning was only for the נשמה of רבי בבא. [See also Tanya chapter 37].

רב ששת therefore realized that his גוף is somewhat sad because when תחיית המתים comes around his נשמה will go back to the גוף of רבי בבא.

[That touches on a different topic since all גופים will be resurrected].

The Arizal stops right there – with  רב ששת’s גוף being sad.

The Rebbe concludes the story to come full circle.

רב ששת wants to bring joy to his גוף. The only thing left for his גוף is for it for eternity speak דברי תורה.

How can that be accomplished after his passing? By causing others to repeat his words of תורה.  Therefore רב ששת in particular asked his students ‘please repeat my words’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BSD

Shkolim 7a (2)

25 Adar I, 5784. 03/05/2024

Many topics covered. Here are some short notes:

1- Our גמרא relates a story of Reb Yochanan when walking along notices that  Reb Eliezer, a student of his, going out of his way to hide himself so not meet Reb Yochanan.

Reb Yochanan expresses his sharp displeasure on the conduct of this Babylonian student who does not greet him with a שלום עליך רבי and additionally, hides himself from his רבי.

Some of his students try to calm down Reb Yochanan but that irks Reb Yochanan even more.

He continues: ‘This Reb Eliezer also goes around in the בית מדרש and says הלכות that he heard from me and does not give me credit’. Pure plagiarism.

2- We discussed the noticeable difference as this story is in our גמרא  – which is in ירושלמי versus how this same story is quotes in בבלי.

.יבמות צו , ב 

In בבלי, only the second part of Reb Yochanan’s complaint against Reb Eliezer, of not attributing הלכות to his teacher, is stated. The first part about the not greeting and hiding is omitted.

As per the רא”ש this difference is crucial as to what the הלכה is when a students encounters his רבי.

Does a student greet his teacher with a “Hello רבי” or not?

According to the ירושלמי – it is a definite no!

The בבלי, however, omits that part of the story, and with good reason says the רא”ש. For how can you say that greeting a רבי is not honorable and respectful when we find in multiple places in ש”ס the concepts of תוך כדי דיבור, which is a measurement of time in regards to many Halachik rules.

How long is תוך כדי דיבור? As long as it takes to say שלום עליך רבי!

3- Practically- what is the הלכה למעשה?

See here in Shulchan Aruch. YD 242, 16

The הלכה and the מנהג in indeed to great one’s teacher in a humble and respectable fashion.

The Ram”o quotes our ירושלמי which is of a different opinion; not to greet one’s teacher at all!

3 – The story continues. The גמרא explains why Reb Yochanan insisted that his תורה should be cited in his name.

‘When a person’s Torah is recited in his name (after he passes away) his lips speak these words in his grave’.

שפתותיו דובבות בקבר

Thus Reb Yochanan was adamant for his students to quote his Torah always citing him as the source. He wanted ‘his lips’ to move forever!

4- We briefly mentioned some of the explanation of this מאמר חז”ל

whether this is בגשמיות or in a spiritual realm?  מהרש”א ביבמות שם.

In  addition to the above

A – שפתותיו דובבות בקבר, there are two other topics when citing the source.

B  –  כל האומר דבר בשם אומרו מביא גאולה לעולם.

C  –  the איסור גזילה when one plagiarizes.

מגן אברהם קנו, ב.

See at length the Sicha of the Rebbe in LS 36 Ki Siso 2.

5 – So here is the obvious question. If the idea of repeating someone’s Torah after he passes away is to cause the reaction of שפתותיו דובבות בקבר, why is there a need to give him credit?

In other words, even if someone would repeat this Torah without the proper attribution to the originator, כלפי שמיא גליא that this originated with the originator. And thus it would still result in שפתותיו דובבות בקבר.

So why would Reb Yochanon insist that his students always give him credit when repeating what they heard from him?

6 – We began to discuss the letter of the Rebbe on this topic. Will continue next week BL”N and post it here.