BSD

Shkolim -14a (2)

Elul 21, 5784. 09/24/2024

Some short notes:

1- The stories of בית גרמו who baked the לחם הפנים and בית אבטינס who ground and mixed the קטורת.

Both families refused to divulge the secret process of their crafts. The משנה in יומא states that they will be mentioned in a negative way.

וְאֵלּוּ לִגְנַאי שֶׁל בֵּית גַּרְמוּ לֹא רָצוּ לְלַמֵּד עַל מַעֲשֵׂה לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים שֶׁל בֵּית אַבְטִינָס לֹא רָצוּ לְלַמֵּד עַל מַעֲשֵׂה הַקְּטוֹרֶת.

MISHNA: Apropos the mention in the mishna of people who took action in the Temple and were mentioned favorably, the mishna lists those who took action in the Temple and were mentioned unfavorably. The craftsmen of the House of Garmu did not want to teach the secret of the preparation of the לחם הפנים  and sought to keep the secret within their family. The craftsmen of the House of Avtinas did not want to teach the secret of the preparation of the קטורת.

Our גמרא relates the attempts by the חכמים to use the ‘experts of Alexandria’ in Egypt to either bake the לחם הפנים or to prepare the קטורת.

Both experiments failed – the bread didn’t stay fresh and the smoke of their קטורת did not rise in a ‘solid stack’.

2- Why Alexandria? No other location anywhere in the world had professional bakers or ‘herb mixers’? Was it a coincidence that Alexandria had at that time, both artisan bakers and expert chemists?

A suggestion – looking for a source to base this on.

The tragic story of בית חוניו as per the גמרא מנחות קט, ב.

See here. Here. See below.

At the time of his death, שמעון הצדיק said to the Sages: חוניו , my son, will serve as High Priest in my stead. Shimi, חוניו’s brother, became jealous of him, as Shimi was two and a half years older than חוניו .

Shimi said to חוניו treacherously: Come and I will teach you the order of the service of the High Priest. Shimi dressed חוניו in a tunic [be’unkeli] and girded him with a ribbon [betziltzul] as a belt, i.e., not in the vestments of the High Priest, and stood him next to the altar.

Shimi then said to his fellow priests: Look what this man vowed and fulfilled for his beloved, that he had said to her: On the day that I serve in the High Priesthood I will wear your tunic and gird your ribbon.

The fellow priests of חוניו wanted to kill him because he had disgraced the Temple service with his garments. חוניו ran away from them and they ran after him. He went to Alexandria in Egypt and built an altar there, and sacrificed offerings upon it for the sake of idol worship. בית עבודה זרה

This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. According to Rabbi Meir, the temple of חוניו was built for idol worship.

 According to Reb Yehuda חוניו went to Alexandria in Egypt and built an altar there, and sacrificed offerings upon it for the sake of Heaven. לשם שמים.

 Can it be that the חכמים , who were looking for alternative bakers and mixers of קטורת , figured that since a ‘parallel’  בית המקדש exists in Alexandria, the local craftsmen (who who baked and mixed the incense for that  בית המקדש ) would be able to duplicate it for the בית המקדש in ירושלים?

As above, it’s only a suggestion.

Comments and sources are welcome.

3- We mentioned the Tosfos in Yuma as to why experts were needed to bake bread that would not go bad after 7 days when this was one of the 10 ניסים of the בית המקדש.

(ה) עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂוּ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ: לֹא הִפִּילָה אִשָּׁה מֵרֵיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְלֹא הִסְרִיחַ בְּשַׂר הַקֹּדֶשׁ מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִרְאָה זְבוּב בְּבֵית הַמִּטְבָּחַיִם, וְלֹא אֵרַע קֶרִי לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, וְלֹא כִבּוּ גְשָׁמִים אֵשׁ שֶׁל עֲצֵי הַמַּעֲרָכָה, וְלֹא נִצְּחָה הָרוּחַ אֶת עַמּוּד הֶעָשָׁן, וְלֹא נִמְצָא פְסוּל בָּעֹמֶר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם וּבְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים, עוֹמְדִים צְפוּפִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים רְוָחִים, וְלֹא הִזִּיק נָחָשׁ וְעַקְרָב בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם מֵעוֹלָם, וְלֹא אָמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ צַר לִי הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁאָלִין בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם.

4- So the secret of the herb מעלה עשן was closely held by the אבטינס family.

בֵּית אַבְטִינָס הָיוּ בְקִיאִין בְפִיטּוּם הַקְּטוֹרֶת וּבְמַעֲלֶה עָשָׁן וְלֹא רָצוּ לְלַמֵּד. שָׁלְחוּ וְהֵבִיאוּ אוּמָנִים מֵאַלֶכְּסַנְדְרִיאָה וְהָיוּ בְקִיאִין בְפִיטּוּם הַקְּטוֹרֶת. וּבְמַעֲלֶה עָשָׁן לֹא הָיוּ בְקִיאִין. שֶׁלְבֵּית אַבְטִינָס הָיְתָה מְתַמֶּרֶת וְעוֹלָה וּפּוֹסָה וְיוֹרֶדֶת. וְשֶׁלְאֵילוּ הָיְתָה פוֹסָה מִיַּד.

The family אבטינס were experts in preparing the incense and the smoke-creating herb, but they did not want to teach. They sent and brought craftsmen from Alexandria who were experts in preparing the incense but were not experts in the smoke-creating herb. The family Eutinos’s was going straight up, and spread, and descended. But theirs was immediately spreading.

We mentioned the או”ח קלג  בית יוסף who derives from the above story that the rule of אם חסר אחד מכל סממניה חייב מיתה applies only to the 11 main ingredients of the קטורת. Not on the addition herbs such as מעלה עשן and בורית כרשינה.

For if the חכמים knew at the outset that the Alexandrian craftsmen didn’t know how to produce a proper מעלה עשן how would they even invite them to try it out?

However, see here from the  משנה למלך who disagrees.

5- In passing we mentioned the next piece of the בית יוסף where he writes due to the above, one should say קטורת only from a Siddur so not to unintentionally skip one of the קטורת.

See here from the רמ”א.

6 –

הוּגְדַּס בֶּן לֵוִי עַל הַשִּׁיר. אָמַר רִבִּי אָחָא. נְעִימָה יְתֵירָה הָיָה יוֹדֵעַ. וְאָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל הוּגְדַּס בֶּן לֵוִי שֶׁהָיָה מַנְעִים אֶת קוֹלוֹ בַזֶּמֶר. וּכְשֶׁהָיָה נוֹעֵץ גּוֹדְלוֹ לְתוֹךְ פִּיו הָיָה מוֹצִיא כַמָּה מִינֵי זֶמֶר והָיוּ אֶחָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים נִזְקָרִין לוֹ בַת רֹאשׁ.

“Hugdas ben Levi for the song.” (Choirmaster?) Rebbi Acḥa said, he knew a special melody. When he put his thumb in his mouth he produced all kinds of sounds and the heads of his fellow Levites were taken aback.

Story of the Gemach of various ‘Rebbishe Items’ for חתנים . Now this חתן took this all the way. He was wearing the dentures of the Rebbe of ……..

7- We finished with a question:

Reb Akiva realized that the בית אבטינס were genuine in their reasoning for not divulging the secret in the preparation of the קטורת and concludes that henceforth they should not be mentioned in a negative way.

אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן נוּרִי. פָּגַע בִּי זָקֵן [אֶחָד] מִשֶּׁלְבֵּית אַבְטִינָס [וּמְגִילַּת סַמָּנִים בְיָדוֹ.] אָמַר לִי. רִבִּי. לְשֶׁעָבַר הָיוּ בֵית אַבָּא צְנוּעִין וְהָיוּ מוֹסְרִין אֶת הַמְגִילָּה הַזֹּאת אֵילּוּ לָאֵילּוּ. וְעַכְשָׁיו שֶׁאֵינָן נֶאֱמָנִין הֵילָךְ אֶת הַמְגִילָּה והִיזָּהֵר בָּהּ. וּכְשֶׁבָּאתִי וְהִרְצֵאתִי אֶת הַדְּבָרִים לִפְנֵי רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה זָלְגוּ דְמָעָיו וְאָמַר. מֵעַתָּה אֵין אָנוּ צְרִיכִין לְהַזְכִּירָן לִגְנַאי

Rebbi Joḥanan ben Nuri said, I met an old man from the family Eutinos [who held a scroll about chemicals.]. He said to me, ‘Rabbi. In the past my family were humble, and transmitting this scroll one to the other. But now they are not trustworthy; here the scroll is yours and take care of it.’ When I came and repeated these words before Rebbi Akiva, his tears flowed and he said, from now on we do not have to mention them for shame.

So the question is why did Rebbi, when he wrote the משנה generations after the above story, mentioned this family not לשבח?

see Shiur on Sukkah 19b where this was discussed

 ———————————

 Google translation from Wikipedia to English.

Archaeology

Leontopolis, Heliopolis

Over the years, various archaeologists have tried to identify and discover the place of Beit Hanio. At the end of the 19th century, Edward Neville (n.), a Swiss Egyptologist and biblical scholar, identified Jewish graves in his excavations at a place called Tel al-Yehudiah, located about 35 kilometers north of Cairo.

The graves that Neville found were built in a manner similar to burial caves known from the Land of Israel. The inscriptions found in these tombs were engraved, in Greek, on simple tablets, without any decoration.

The identification of the graves as Jewish was based on the multitude of biblical names in these inscriptions and also on the name of the site – Tel HaJewids. Among the inscriptions, one inscription was found that specifically mentions ‘Aretz Khunio’.

  At the beginning of the 20th century, archaeological excavations were conducted in the mound near the cemetery under the direction of the Egyptologist and father of biblical archeology William Flinders-Petrie.

He thought he had discovered the Leontopolis of his charioteers and it contained a city, a citadel and a temple. In Petri’s excavation, an ostracon was found written in Demotic (Late Egyptian) in which a man (probably Jewish) named Abram, perhaps one of the builders who built the site, is mentioned. From the time of Petri’s discovery until the last few years, this claim, or the identification of the site with ‘Eretz Hanio’, has not been doubted

BSD

Shkolim -14a

Elul 14, 5784. 09/18/2024

Some of the topics touched upon.

1- Not all people are judged the same. The holier one is, the more exact the One Above scrutinizes him.

“נחוניה  the digger of ditches.” He was digging ditches and caves and knew which rock cools the water and which rock was dry and how far its dryness extended. Rebbi Aḥa said, but his son died of thirst.

Rebbi Ḥanina said, anybody who says that the All-Merciful is indulgent (ignores small infractions) , his intestines shall dissolve themselves; for He is forbearing (he collects all the data) and then collects His due.

Rebbi Aḥa said, it is written, His surroundings are very ‘hairy’. Meaning that He is exact with them like a hair’s width. Rebbi Yose said, not because of this reason, but because what is written, He is awesome on His surroundings, His fear on those near Him is greater than those far away.

2- We mentioned the story told by the Arizal about a צדיק that passed away generations ago.

When this person was about to be ‘elevated’ to a higher level in Gan Eden, they redid an ‘audit’ of his life. At this stage, this new ‘audit’ picked up on minute issues that were not brought up before.

What they focused on was ‘some sand that totally unintentionally entered his shoe on Shabbos and he carried it ד’ אמות ברשות הרבים  !!!

שער הכוונות, שחרית שבת,  ק, ב.

3- Spoke about the אגרת הקודש סימן יא where the Alter Rebbe addresses the issue of pain and suffering.

Here is an overall synopsis from Chabad.org

https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=9/7/2024.

In this letter, the Alter Rebbe demands spiritual service of a caliber so seemingly formidable as to be attainable only by a chosen few. For in it he calls upon the reader not to desire physical things, even those things that are essential for his well-being and utilized in his service of G-d.

Even such essentials, states the Alter Rebbe, should not be desired for their physicality but for their spirituality, for the spark of G-dliness found within them. So much so that even if a person finds that he is lacking (G-d forbid) life’s essentials, he should not be pained by their absence; rather, he should rejoice in his belief that this is indeed for his good, as shall soon be explained. Such a lofty response to deprivation would seem to be within the reach of only a very restricted elite.

The Alter Rebbe therefore begins this letter in the singular, indicating that every single individual can attain this level of divine service. For it requires only an absolute faith in G-d, and this lies hidden within every Jew; let him but unveil this faith, and he will be able to live by it.

We discussed a phrase at the end of this letter where the Alter Rebbe concludes that everything that occurs to humans is from Above and definitely for the good. One needs to believe that is by Divine Intention all that occurs to him. He quotes a פסוק-.

מֵה’ מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ.

The Rebbe explains the choice of this פסוק alluding to the גמרא  in Chulin 7b, that even a small wound ח”ו on the toe of of a person is מהשם.

And the גמרא uses this particular פסוק to prove this point.

וְאָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא אֵין אָדָם נוֹקֵף אֶצְבָּעוֹ מִלְּמַטָּה אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן מַכְרִיזִין עָלָיו מִלְּמַעְלָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {תהלים ל״ז:כ״ג} מֵה׳ מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ {משלי כ׳:כ״ד}

Rebbi Yose went up to Kufra and wanted to appoint leaders there, but they did not accept. He came and said before them: “Ben Bavai was ‘only’ an appointee on the wicks of the בית המקדש. Now if he, who was appointed over the wicks and merited to be counted with the ‘leaders’ of his generation, you who are being appointed over the lives of people, so much more.

We discussed both sides of the coin; should a person strive to assume leadership and responsibilities and use the position to help others, or perhaps stay ‘closeted’ and not involve himself with communal affairs?

We mentioned that the above was a discussion between Alexander the Great and the Jewish Scholars.

:מסכת תמיד לא

5- Also mentioned the fact that leaders are best when they have ‘a questionable history’. Lacking that, the power they assume can get to their heads and abuse others ח”ו.

https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Yoma/22b.18#e0n6

אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל מִפְּנֵי מָה לֹא נִמְשְׁכָה מַלְכוּת בֵּית שָׁאוּל מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה בּוֹ שׁוּם דּוֹפִי דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יְהוֹצָדָק אֵין מַעֲמִידִין פַּרְנָס עַל הַצִּיבּוּר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן קוּפָּה שֶׁל שְׁרָצִים תְּלוּיָה לוֹ מֵאֲחוֹרָיו שֶׁאִם תָּזוּחַ דַּעְתּוֹ עָלָיו אוֹמְרִין לוֹ חֲזוֹר לַאֲחוֹרֶיךָ.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: One appoints a leader over the community only if he has a box full of creeping animals hanging behind him, i.e., he has something inappropriate in his ancestry that preceded him. Why is that? It is so that if he exhibits a haughty attitude toward the community, one can say to him: Turn and look behind you and be reminded of your humble roots. This is why David’s kingdom lasted while Saul’s did not, as David descended from a family with problematic ancestry, namely Tamar (see Genesis, chapter 38) and Ruth the Moabite (see Ruth 4:18–22).

6- Mentioned the humorous קהילה down under that for the past fifty years has no name, no Rov or any leadership. Here.

From Zev Sero:

Katanga has an official name, Caulfield Beis Hamedrash, but nobody uses it.

https://www.facebook.com/katanga.caulfieldbethhamedrash/

Katanga Today:

On bar mitzvah invitations it says Caulfield Beis Hamedrash, and people have to ask where that is. The answer is, it means Katanga/ 

~~~

7- Berel brought a model of the מזבח made to scale. Spoke about Reb Levik’s explanation on a difficult passage in the  זהר concerning the יסוד. Will continue next week bl”n.

Thanks to YM:

When Dov Levnoni brought a model of the Beis Hamikdash to the Rebbe.

v

Watch here, and here

Amazingly, the Rebbe at a glance  noticed the ramp needed to be longer  – by three millimeters! model of the Mizbeach:

BSD

Shkolim -13b(2)

Menachem Av 30, 5784. 09/3/2024

1- Our גמרא  discusses מרדכי ,פתחיה and בלשון. All being the same person.

2- Story of the 2 mutes, during a famine or war, pointing to various objects indicating where  תבואה was available for the עומר and שתי הלחם.

גגות צריפין

In בבלי it relates this story occurring at the time of the civil war between הורקנוס and אריסטובולוס.

”כשצרו מלכי בית חשמונאי זה על זה היה הורקנוס מבחוץ ואריסטובלוס מבפנים. בכל יום היו משלשלין (אנשי אריסטובולוס) דינרים בקופה ומעלים (אנשי הורקנוס) להם תמידים (קורבנות). היה שם זקן אחד… אמר להם (לאנשי הורקנוס):”כל זמן שעוסקים בעבודה אינם נמסרים בידכם”. למחרת שלשלו להם דינרים בקופה – והעלו להם חזיר. כיוון שהגיע לחצי החומה נעץ ציפורניו בחומה ונזדעזעה ארץ ישראל ארבע מאות פרסה על ארבע מאות פרסה”

When the kings of the Hasmonean monarchy besieged each other in their civil war, Hyrcanus was outside of Jerusalem, besieging it, and Aristoblus was inside. On each and every day they would lower dinars in a box from inside the city, and those on the outside would send up animals for them to bring the daily offerings in the Temple.

DIscussed the מהרש”א who says that these mutes were actually spies sent by the אריסטובולוס loyalists that were far away from  ירושלים to make their way into the בית המקדש to advise the כהנים  where wheat is available.

Using mutes was a ploy to fool the הורקנוס  faction that laid siege to ירושלים.

מרדכי was the one that deciphered that the ‘hand signals’ gestured by the mutes were clues to the locations of the fields where תבואה was available.

3- מנחות סד, ב. Spoke about the תוספות asking as how could מרדכי have been alive at that time (era of  הורקנוס and אריסטובולוס) when he was present at the beginning of בית שני and this civil war occurred over 200 years later! (Rambam Megillah 3, 1).

Their answer is that after the original מרדכי , this particular position (ruling on the קינים) was called ‘מרדכי’, signifying and pointing to an intelligent person. So the actual name of this appointee may have been different but he was called the ‘מרדכי’.

So it wasn’t the original מרדכי that deciphered the mutes’ gestures, but an appointed person to the  מרדכי  position.

4- Story of the 3 women who spoke in code. The people of the בית המקדש understood them as inquiring as to ‘what type of bird Korban (קינין) does זבה or יולדות need to bring’

מרדכי deciphered their true story that it had nothing to do with any of the above. Rather, they each meant to say that they had experienced a נס and are inquiring about offering a  קרבן תודה.

מרדכי advised them that the bird is to be brought as a תודה קרבן.

Famous question: A קרבן תודה is brought from an animal not a bird and 40 loaves of bread. So why didn’t מרדכי advise them of their full obligation?

5- We spoke briefly about the two illustrious brothers: Reb Pinchos and Reb Shmelke Horowitz who were students of the Maggid of Mezritch.

The Alter Rebbe’s sons mention their names in the הקדמה to the Shulchan Aruch describing the times they all spent in Mezritch and the brothers’ urging the Alter Rebbe to complete his שלחן ערוך.  .

Reb Pinchos, who was a Rov in Frankfurt, authored many popular ספרים. The one on Chumash is the פנים יפות.

Discussed the observation by many in that Reb Pinchos does not mention his Rebbe, the מגיד ממזריץ  in all of his books.

Some great Chasidisher Rebbes strongly suggested that the printers were מתנגדים and simply deleted any mention of the מגיד!

It’s a big topic amongst historians.

See here:

https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=13109&st=&pgnum=138

6- In the above ספר פנים יפות Reb Pinchos writes a big chidush. ויקרא ז, יג

A קרבן תודה is not obligatory! It’s only optional for one who experienced a נס,  such as traveling across an ocean. The thanking to ה’  is a must, but to bring a קרבן is only a נדבה.

Some want to bring proof from our גמרא that although מרדכי heard their stories about the ניסים they experienced, he didn’t tell them to bring a proper  בהמה  – animal   תודה קרבן. It seems that the birds they brought sufficed. Unless, as the פנים יפות says, it’s optional and the חכמים did not enact this for women.

כלי חמדה ויקרא, קונטרס המילואים ויקרא ג.

7- We mentioned this last week in relation to כ”ף מנחם אב.

בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וַיִּשָּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק.

וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו שְׁבוּ לָכֶם פֹּה עִם הַחֲמוֹר וַאֲנִי וְהַנַּעַר נֵלְכָה עַד כֹּה וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם.

On day 3 אברהם אבינו tell his two ‘consultants’ wait ‘here’ and I with יצחק will go till ‘there’ we will do a השתחווה and return to you both.

These instructions beg for an explanation. What is he telling them exactly? We will go till ‘there’- where is there? How far is it? When is he coming back? It seems like very ambiguous information.

Says Reb Levik: Avrohom was actually very precise. He told them exactly how far they are going and when they will return.

How is that?

Based on a פסוק in משלי ד, יח:

וְאֹרַח צַדִּיקִים כְּאוֹר נֹגַהּ הוֹלֵךְ וָאוֹר עַד נְכוֹן הַיּוֹם.

שהולך ומאיר מעמוד השחר “עד נכון היום” – עד ,חצות היום שהוא בירורו של יום- רש”י

A צדיק will arrive a midday.

Reb Levik derives from the פסוק that the עקידה was to take place upon arrival, at חצות.

Now, a person can walk 10 פרסאות a day. (approximately 24 miles or 38 km). מהלך אדם בינוני ביום עשר פרסאות-

פסחים צד, א.

So, on day one and two they all covered 20 פרסאות.

On the morning of day three, אברהם אבינו tells them that he will walk alone with יצחק until midday. Meaning that in total he will have walked 25 פרסאות.

10+10+5=25.

Where is the number 25 in אברהם’s words?

וַאֲנִי וְהַנַּעַר נֵלְכָה עַד כֹּה  –

כֹּה equals 25!

He’s telling them: We’ll walk another 5 פרסאות, – for a total of 25 פרסאות,

וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם.

כוח”ט