BS”D

Suka 51b (2)

Sivan 10, 5783. May 30, 2023

1- The Gemara continues to explain the Mishnah:

במוצאי יום טוב הראשון של חג ירדו לעזרת נשים ומתקנין שם תיקון גדול

What exactly was this תיקון גדול? The גמרא describes the historical process of the effort to create a separation between the men and the women at the בית השואבה

After different arrangements were tried, they finally built a balcony overlooking the עזרת ישראל.

2 – We touched briefly on the controversy about the height of the מחיצה in a Shul.

On the one hand we have Reb Moshe Feinstein who claimed that the מחיצה is not intended to block the men’s view of the women. The sole purpose is to avoid the mingling and talking. He derives this primarily from the Rambam who writes in Beis Habechirah 5, 9:

עזרת הנשים היתה מוקפת גזוזטרא כדי שיהיו הנשים רואות מלמעלן והאנשים מלמטן

כדי שלא יהיו מעורבבין.

To avoid mingling one needs only shoulder height, or 18 טפחים. If the עזרת נשים is elevated and no mingling is possible, there is no need for a מחיצה.

See here. Here.

We need to point out that Reb Moshe’s היתר for a low מחיצה is only as to the laws of בית הכנסת and as it pertains to תפילה based on what occurred on the בית המקדש. He is מחמיר to say that his minimum מחיצה is מן התורה!

However, as he write in his responsa, the prohibition to gaze at women is universal and outside a Shul as well.

View from the Ezras Nashim, 770.

On the other side of this topic are most Orthodox Rabbanim. Beginning with the מהר”ם שיק to Reb Yoelish of Satmar.

They base their opinion on the פירוש המשניות of the Rambam on our Mishnah, where he states that the purpose of the מחיצה is for men not to gaze at the women. Thus, the מחיצה needs to go above the heads of the tallest מתפלל.

3- We mentioned the quip of when Reb Moshe and Reb Yoelish met in a בית האבל, or as Reb Yoelish stated, they were in different houses…

Reb Moshe at microphone, R Yoel at the right side of the table

We spoke of the admission of a reform rabbi in 1965 that the orthodox warriors against their movement, at its inception, were correct in saying that the reformers were, deep in their hearts, אפיקורסים.

The reform leaders expounding excuses about their changing Halacha, that it was supposedly ‘based’ on Chazal, was just a front to their total lack of belief ….even in the ריבונו של עולם. R”L

Also discussed the famous (or infamous) book מענה לאגרות by Reb Yom Tov Schwarts who contested many of Reb Moshe’s rulings.

See here.

4- The גמרא has an issue with the building of this מחיצה structure as it changes the configuration of the בית המקדש which is very problematic. The exact measurements and layout were described by the נביאים. Any deviation is forbidden.

5 – The source for a מחיצה in general – The ‘Great funeral and eulogy’ for משיח בן יוסף which will occur right before משיח בן דוד  arrives. Our גמרא  says that even at this somber occasion men and women will sit separately. How much more so in a time of joy, such as שמחת בית השואבה, there needs to be a separation via a מחיצה.  And from there to the מחיצות in a Shul.

 

6 – We discussed briefly what חז”ל say about משיח בן יוסף. While mentioned in גמרא once, right here on our Daf, the Zohar writes much about him.

Here is a good synopsis and sources. Hebrew. English.

We mentioned the Tosfos in Eiruvin (43, b) that places his revelation right before the appearance of משיח בן דוד.

7- The topic of the above Sugya in Eiruvin is the discussion as to what days of the week משיח and אליהו הנביא can reappear in this world.

The issue is their arrival on Shabbos being that משיח will need to arrive from חוץ לתחום.

8- We concluded with an interesting letter of the Rebbe to Reb Avrohom Hecht in 1947. Igros 2. #288.

From the letter it seems Reb Avrohom asked the Rebbe how we say on Shabbos

אני מאמין בביאת המשיח ואע”פ שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא

when the גמרא above says that משיח will not arrive on Shabbos!

The letter touches on many points. In the last 2 paragraphs, the Rebbe suggests that when we say בביאת  המשיח, we are referring not only to משיח בן דוד, who will not arrive on שבת, as above.

The belief of imminent daily גאולה encompasses the entire גאולה process that also includes the arrival of משיח בן יוסף – who can indeed arrive on Shabbos since he will surely be a human living amongst us and not have the limitations of חוץ לתחום.

So when we say אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא it also means משיח בן יוסף.

9- In a post script the Rebbe writes that ‘Rabbi Quint just told me that some have the מנהג of not saying the above passage on Shabbos because of the above issue’.

We spent a few minutes talking about this interesting non Chabad secretary that worked in מרכז for many years,

(and his son Emmanuel).

Emanuel, son of R’ Eli Quint

His signature is found on many letters the Rebbe wrote as ‘A Quint, Secretary’.

Here is the letter

BS”D

Suka 51b

Iyor 25, 5783. May 16, 2023

1- The גמרא relates a fascinating story, albeit with a tragic ending ר”ל.

This ‘fully loaded story’ is a basis for many Halachik and historical topics.

We touched on a few of them.

Here is the first part, Sukkah 51b followed by some topics we discussed.

The Great Shul of Alexandria 

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: One who did not see the great synagogue [deyofloston] of Alexandria of Egypt never saw the glory of Israel. They said that its structure was like a large basilica [basileki], with a colonnade within a colonnade. At times there were six hundred thousand men and another six hundred thousand men in it, twice the number of those who left Egypt. In it there were seventy-one golden chairs [katedraot], corresponding to the 71 members of the סנהדרין, each of which consisted of no less than 21,000 talents of gold. And there was a wooden platform at the center. The שמש\חזן of the synagogue would stand on it, with the flags in his hand. And because the synagogue was so large and the people could not hear the communal prayer, when the חזן  reached the conclusion of a blessing requiring the people to answer amen, the חזן הכנסת waved the scarf and all the people would answer אמן.

2–  In it there were seventy-one golden chairs, corresponding to the 71  members of the Great  סנהדרין.

70 or 71?

We discussed Tosfos’s question about the number 71. In גמרא סנהדרין,  there is the opinion of Reb Yehuda that the סנהדרין consisted of just 70 (not 71). This story, about the Shul in Alexandria and the 71 chairs, is told by Reb Yehuda! So how does he reconcile his opinion of 70 (in the סנהדרין)  with the 71 (chairs)  in the story?

They answer that according to Reb Yehuda, in addition to the 70 there was also a מופלא שבסנהדרין. He was a person that stood above the 70 and thus not counted as one of the 70. So the סנהדרין was 70 plus 1.

In the Shul of Alexandria they set up 70 chairs corresponding to the 70 members of the Sanhedrin. Additionally, they added another chair for the מופלא שבסנהדרין.

We mentioned the anecdote of the גר”א, that explains the last few words of Tosfos. This concerns the way people express numbers. How does one say the number 21?

Twenty seven  or seven twenty. זיבען און צוואנציק or צוואנציק זיבען?

 3- And there was a wooden platform at the center.

Does this mean that a בימה must be in the center of the Shul?

This seemingly ‘unimportant’ mention of the location of the בימה in the Shul of Alexandria  was a much contested topic 200 years ago. One of the first deviations introduced by the reform/משכילים was to move the בימה towards the front of the Shul. It eventually evolved into creating a one-platform system, where the ארון הקודש, בימה  and עמוד were all at the מזרח of their temples.

There was only one rationale for this change: to copy the set up of the churches ר”ל.

We mentioned the famous תשובה of the חתם סופר (OC 28) where he discusses this issue. He quotes our Gemara where the placement of the בימה in the great Shul of Alexandria is mentioned. Additionally he suggests that our בימה is like the מזבח that was in the center of the בית המקדש and for this reason we make הקפות around it on Sukkos זכר למקדש. Thus the location of the בימה should not be changed.

He concludes with a line that has been a mantra for Orthodoxy for many years-  not to introduce any new ideas –

והכלל – חדש אסור מן התורה בכל מקום.

 

 

4- The שמש\חזן of the synagogue would stand on the בימה, with flags in his hand to advise the people when to answer amen.

Can one answer אמן when he has not heard the ברכה?

 The general rule is that one should not say a אמן יתומה – an ‘orphaned אמן’. Brechos 47,a.

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אֵין עוֹנִין לֹא ״אָמֵן״ חֲטוּפָה, וְלֹא ״אָמֵן״ קְטוּפָה, וְלֹא ״אָמֵן״ יְתוֹמָה, וְלֹא יִזְרוֹק בְּרָכָה מִפִּיו.

Simple meaning is that one should not answer אמן on a ברכה that he has not heard. This also includes when one is in a Shul and doesn’t hear the חזן but he hears the crowd saying אמן.

Rashi and Tosfos ask from our גמרא  that in Shul in Alexandria, due to its huge size, a flag was waved for the crowd to know when to say אמן. So they did answer אמן despite not hearing the חזן.

They answer that it was not considered an אמן יתומה since the crowd kept track as to which ברכה was being said by the חזן. They actually knew what ברכה they were saying אמן to.

This implies that the opinion of Rashi and Tosfos is:

1. As long as one knows which ברכה it is, one can be יוצא even if it is a ברכה that one is מחוייב to make (as opposed to say חזרת הש”ץ).
2. If one does (hear the חזן and does) not know know what ברכה it is one should not answer אמן.

Practically this means that, say someone is by the כותל or in 770, and is far from the חזן and is not keeping track as to what ברכה he is up to, he should not answer אמן.

On the other hand, if for example, one is aware that the בעל תוקע is making the ברכה on the Shofar,  he can be יוצא even if he does not hear him say it.

Other ראשונים namely the ערוך, argue and say that:

1. One needs to hear and know what ברכה to be יוצא, like שופ
2. If he does not need to be יוצא, like חזרת הש”ץ, even if one does not hear the חזן and does not know know what ברכה it is one should answer אמן.

The Alter Rebbe (OC 124, 11)  rules that one should follow both opinions לחומרא.

So for שופר, one needs to know and hear it from the בעל תוקע. For חזרת הש”ץ one should not answer if he doesn’t keep track as to what ברכה it is.

See there for more details and opinions.

The story and topics continue. Next Shiur IY”H.

 

 

 

 

BS”D

Suka 51a (2) – 51b

Iyor 11, 5783. May 2, 2023

Some short notes. 

1- We concluded the סוגיא of עיקר שירה בפה או עיקר שירה בכלי with discussing where exactly the לווים stood during their שירה.  

As mentioned last week, between the first courtyard -עזרת נשים ,  and the 2nd courtyard- עזרת ישראל , there were 15 stairs. 

Between the 2nd courtyard -עזרת ישראל ,and the 3nd courtyard- עזרת כהנים there were 3 stairs.

 

2- During the daily שירה the לווים would stand on the 3 stairs that went from עזרת ישראל to the עזרת כהנים. 

רמב”ם בית הבחירה 6,6,

The musical procession of שמחת בית השואבה that greeted the water arriving  from the שילוח began on the 15 steps between the  2nd courtyard – עזרת ישראל and the first courtyard -עזרת נשים. 

3- We moved on to  the משנה that describes the happenings before and during שמחת בית השואבה. 

שער ניקנור

בְּמוֹצָאֵי יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל חָג, יָרְדוּ לְעֶזְרַת נָשִׁים, וּמְתַקְּנִין שָׁם תִּקּוּן גָּדוֹל.

This תִּקּוּן גָּדוֹל, basically creating a women’s balcony, will be explained at the next shiur.

וּמְנוֹרוֹת שֶׁל זָהָב הָיוּ שָׁם

Tall candelabras. How tall? The Yerushalmi says they were 100 Amos or about 150’ high. The Yerushalmi concludes that absent a very wide base to support such tall structures they could not stand upright. Being that עזרה was limited in space to allow such a wide base for these candelabras, we must say that they stood upright miraculously. נס! 

How many candelabras? The בעל הטורים says 4 corresponding to the 4 times the word מנורה appears in פרשת בהעלותך. במדבר ח

כן עשה. כ”ן נרות עשה שלמה בי’ המנורות. עשה. בגימ’ שלמה. ד’ פעמים הזכיר מנורה שהיא כשרה מד’ מינין כדאיתא במנחות דף כ”ח ע”ש. ורמז לארבע מנורות בשמחת בית השואבה:

וְאַרְבָּעָה סְפָלִים שֶׁל זָהָב בְּרָאשֵׁיהֶן, וְאַרְבָּעָה סֻלָּמוֹת לְכָל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד, וְאַרְבָּעָה יְלָדִים מִפִּרְחֵי כְהֻנָּה וּבִידֵיהֶם כַּדִּים שֶׁל שֶׁמֶן שֶׁל מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים לֹג, שֶׁהֵן מַטִּילִין לְכָל סֵפֶל וָסֵפֶל:

We tried to figure out the weight of the buckets full of oil and how the young כהנים carried them up 150’ to reach the top of the candelabras. 

Each Lug is 0.091298 of a US Gallon

Olive oil is 7.6lbs per gallon.

So:

Lug	Gallons	Pounds
120	10.96	83.29

מִבְּלָאֵי מִכְנְסֵי כֹהֲנִים וּמֵהֶמְיָנֵיהֶן מֵהֶן הָיוּ מַפְקִיעִין, וּבָהֶן הָיוּ מַדְלִיקִין, 

So the wicks were made from the remnants of the trousers and ‘gartlach’ of the כהנים. 

Tosfos asks ‘why not from their shirts’ as well? The Tosfos Yom Tov asks why Tosfos doesn’t ask ‘why not from their hats’ as well? All the בגדי כהן הדיוט were made from flax which is suitable for wicks. 

כתבו התוספות תימה דלא קא חשיב כתונת. שגם היא היתה של שש ע”כ. ולי קשה גם מצנפת.

See כסף משנה כלי כלי המקדש 8 , 6. 

 ומצנפת וצריך טעם למה השמיט רבינו מצנפת ואפשר דתנא כתנות והוא הדין למצנפות אי נמי משום דמצנפות דקות ביותר ולא חזו לפתילות לכך השמיטם

וְלֹא הָיְתָה חָצֵר בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁאֵינָהּ מְאִירָה מֵאוֹר בֵּית הַשּׁוֹאֵבָה

We discussed as to why there was no issue with  מעילה by using the light and brightness of the שמן that shinned in from the בית המקדש. 

 

To be continued.