DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction to Tractate Bikkurim

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Introduction to Tractate Bikkurim The Tractate explains the obligation of presenting First Fruits to the Temple, contained in Deut. 26:1-11. The first Chapter defines the obligation: who has to present his First Fruits and from where they can be presented. This leads to a discussion of the status of proselytes and the definition of the "Land flowing of milk and honey." Since there is a verse (Deut. 12:11) in which First Fruits are called "your hand's heave", the second Chapter is a general discussion of what is common to and what is different between First Fruits, heave, and second tithe The chapter also contains discussions of death as divine punishment and of criminal responsibility of juveniles. The third Chapter discusses the details of the Temple ceremony of communal presentation of First Fruits and includes a section on the signs of respect due elders. jwipi ps prao w ντ>·) ,ρ-|ίρ Ν'ϊη ρκ·>1>ρ ΡΎ>Ρ) ")VVD>3 ΥΡ :Ν n)Wtt (fol. 63c) -jin:i In -τ>η> -jiri} ^η^ίη -jiria yoian pis^p y\?i3D :ρπ> ^inp iN "Τ'Π'Ιρψ rpnp ρ·) .οη^ψ τη >ΊΓ) ysptfa cp^nn ΤΠ"! "ΡΓ^ΓΙ :Ι*ΠΊ ί^ψ ^ηιηι ί!?ψ rpn:i ,κ·>ΐ)ο -ΐΏίκ rmrp rn .unn Mishnah 1: Some people bring First Fruits and make the declaration1, some bring and do not make the declaration, and some do not bring. The following do not bring2: He who plants in his own but provines3 into a private or a public plot; and so he who provines from a private or a public plot into his own. If someone plants in his own and provines into his own but a private or public road is in the middle he cannot bring; Rebbi Jehudah says he brings. 1 The thanksgiving declaration offerings. Deut. 26:5-10. It is forbidden to bring 2 The reason is explained in profane food into the Temple. If there Mishnah 2. is no obligation to bring First Fruits 3 He bends a branch of a vine then there is a prohibition to bring. If down into the earth and has it reappear there is an obligation, a dedication elsewhere; cf. Kilaim 7:1, Note 1. must sanctify the First Fruits as Temple :pn:a inan") ί^ψ yoian ,'ino ρ-ήρ"! p-yD'a pwip Φ :n τχϊϊη :pnp Tjnian .N>2>? ro^n ip cpai_>V> :yiri> w τ^η^ψ HALAKHAH 1 545 Ν7Γ1 .N>np ni>»ri i>? ι!?'??* o>ai!?V> ^ρη» ΊΝ *ΡΓΡ>Ψ .n^n 1» γρπ ro>p^n in n>n ow? nnpN Halakhah 1: "Some people bring First Fruits and make the declaration," etc. He who plants in his own but provines into a private or a public plot cannot bring even from the old tree4; he who provines from a private or a public plot into his own cannot bring even from the new tree. That means that just as the new lives off the old5, so the old lives off the new. 4 The original one growing on his offshoot, the internal flow of sap own property. cannot be controlled. Since First Fruits 5 While the buried branch will have to be brought "from your land" grow new roots, as long as a connection (Deut. 26:2), any roots of the tree have exists between the original vine and its to be on the farmer's own property. >pi> >3*1 -ION .I^!? VT-P i!?nan DWI? iritis ijnv '3-1 nm .qjpniN n.133 ΓΡψΝΊ DWB Ν'ΙΟ O^O Π* 'NO ,p ΓΠ)?Ν Rebbi Johanan said, in all cases they judged by the rules of robbers. Rebbi Yose said, that is what the Mishnah6 means: "Why can he not bring? Because it was said {Deut. 26:2): 'the beginning of the First Fruits of your land.'" 6 Mishnah 1:2. 1£ΐ3ψ ΝΙΠ") >0'N '3") OW3 >Χ?ί> '11 .ίΟίρ"! Ν>30 nW")! rj>-pn ON η^»η ,ny\yi? i^sn wh >a-i own ηίν >a-i .Nb nywb νπ .obiyb ττινη .... *τ τ : ..... ... τ . *τ τ : τ τ ^ ·. o^yn·) inv"! ^ip rnjjpi η^νη -iia -i?in n>n ,Ν-τη ip nii> >a-n o^iy!? T>DLI> ο>νηψ ,·>ρί> rn rb -ray no ηη ny\y> N'b onon V^PO Ijnv 'a-fT iTri>'o Π30 >a*i -»ON .in o^iy> T>DLI> ΐ^-ιιψ ipso 546 BIKKURIM CHAPTER ONE Iva» INDI ."iD^ Ή*),? Ί^^Ο rn.in oivüö ")3nv -DSN·? •l^ia τη ny\j>> mvn ib ιτυψ It was stated: If he provined with permission7, he brings and makes the declaration. Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Ammi: Only if the permission was permanent, not temporary. Rebbi Jonah in the name of Rebbi Ammi: Even temporary. The force of Rebbi Jonah comes from the following8: "If somebody digs a cistern, a ditch, or a cave, he may cut down as he works and the wood is his." Is the wood not as if temporary? What does Rebbi Yose do with this? Roots always regrow; since roots do regrow it is as if permanent. Rebbi Mana said, the statement of Rebbi Johanan supports my father9, as Rebbi Johanan said in all cases they judged by the rules of robbers. In our case, if he gave permission to provine even temporarily, the proviner is not a robber10. 7 Of the owner of the lot on Batra 2:12, R. Assi in the name of R. which the original vine stood or into Johanan holds that (invisible) roots do which the new vine is drawn. not influence the rules of First Fruits. 8 Mishnah Baba Batra 2:12. If 9 R. Jonah. somebody digs a cistern on his own 10 First fruits can always be property and in digging he comes upon brought if the farmer does not make roots from a neighbor's tree, he may illegitimate use of public or other cut off these roots and keep the wood people's private property. of the roots. In the Yerushalmi, Baba πϊ pn pvny ion ^-»l .vav? .rryv* ^an >»ip Nya ^n^ vr> nisa (foi. 63d) ΓΡψίο rn>?N rninn ion !?3n nrr .n$>? .q^niNü D>!m>3in-i7D ιη'ψ ly ρρτΝ Rebbi Zeriqan asked before Rebbi Zeüra: Is the Mishnah Rebbi's since Rebbi said, all roots live off one another11? He said to him, it is HALAKHAH 1 547 everybody's opinion. Here, the Torah said (Deut. 26:2): "the beginning of the First Fruits of your land," that all growth be from your land. 11 Orlah 1:1, Note 39. •pi η>? ,T>n? -ρπ> tjn^ro toy rpn> ϋρύη pi no mv >ι-π γργιπ ty η-ι own ΝΠΝ 'i-) τη»η tp/ii ί!?ψ tjiJi!? T-arn ί!?ψ :pn> ^υύπ lib^p? iN >N iN Jijtefa ronrinyi .Νψ»ο ,rm> >!*•)> ron* rov >51 -ION .Νΐτρη N>I> N>I> VN οίπ^η ΊΧ IN "P? ΝΊΠ ηοητ οίρρ rvnrjb ϊ»ιψ -DIÖD Ν>Ι> N'T? .-»DO DIRMN ΙΟ>ΓΙ Ν* ·Ν*ΙΊΡΐ N>I>? -DÖ NT»-N oipr? η» .oin^n Ί?»ψ ή!? NO'vya piii ,ΝΊόρ ii'Ni N>in pat»« ΝΏΫ-^? >ΙΨ IB -Ι»ΝΗ NI'W TO -DÖ ON INIS .I*VIRTO Ϊ^ΙΨ -PI»? .P>TOA .•ini^n "TV to »-po In the opinion of Rebbi Jehudah, what is the difference between him who plants on his own property and provines into a private person's and him who plants on his own and provines into his own and a private road is in between12? Rebbi Aha in the name of Rebbi Miasha, when he provined through a gourd or a pipe13. If he provined through a gourd or a pipe he should bring and make the declaration! Even according to the rabbis he should bring and make the declaration14! Rebbi Jonah said, Rebbi Jehudah had a problem. If somebody sells a path to another person15, does he sell him the place where the foot treads or does he sell him down to the abyss? If you say, he sold the place where the foot treads, he brings and makes the declaration. If you say, he sold down to the abyss, he should not bring at all. Because of the doubt he brings but does not make the declaration16. For the rabbis it is obvious that he sold down to the abyss. 548 BIKKURIM CHAPTER ONE Where do they differ? When he sells a path to another person. But if he sold him a field and reserved a path for himself, everybody agrees that he reserved for himself down to the abyss17. 12 In the first case, R. Jehudah owner of the path and is not agrees that he cannot bring First Fruits disqualified as a robber. but in the second case he permits 14 R. Aha's solution is rejected. bringing. 15 But he retains ownership of the 13 He tunnels under the ground fields on both sides of the path. which is not his and shields the branch 16 Since R. Jehudah mentions only there either by a clay or metal pipe or bringing but not making the by threading it through a pumpkin declaration. serving as a pipe. Since no roots can 17 If he extends branches under grow there, he does not steal from the the path, it is still in his property. pi nn .o>:n>\j» :jiri> -ρΊΐίη Sty tjiri!? pi np mv rpriyi ty >0>N .V^PJS? D>inn TH"! ^ o'lnn Tiwn nnri ϊϊη ρψίν "ρκ ιαπ ·)3>3Γΐ7 .iw1? ^-ρ πιν 'ii"! ν>·>γιν rmyoi rp>n>3 Nrupw η3 > 'an .imypi ni-iia rm> >2-1 tjs .ity ο>ιίπ nivi-j nnri ·))3γι ί^ν ^"Π nos .o^iiN γπ in 11 !?Νΐηψ Sty o>inn nwn nnri Nin -»on pn^»> in ni iwioyj >in nay ->ιψ>)? >t>v >in don .Νηρη nVvy^b -vng Sty irr) i? nwyb -vn» nu»!? .nor ιοί Diipn-^D·) ·)? In the opinion of Rebbi Jehudah, what is the difference between him who plants on his own property and provines into the public domain and him who plants on his own and provines into his own and a public road is in between? Rebbi Ammi said, Rebbi Jehudah holds with Rebbi Eliezer18, as we have stated there19: "One may not make a cavity under the public HALAKHAH 2 549 domain, cisterns, ditches, or caverns.
Recommended publications
  • Shabbat Shalom

    Shabbat Shalom

    " SHABBAT SHALOM. Today is 9 Sivan 5777. We say relationship of a person who sins that the road of sin Kiddush Levanah tonight. multiplies and breeds more sins. In essence the Torah is teaching us the necessity to structure our lives properly in Mazel Tov to Avichai Shekhter upon today’s all dimensions in order to purify our life and the lives of celebration of his Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov to Avichai’s those around us. parents Ilya & Hanna Shekhter, and to the entire 3. The emotional response of the husband is described family. as Kin’ah, which we normally translate as jealousy. The negative tension that exists between the husband and wife TORAH DIALOGUE can only come to a bad result. The halachah is that the (p. 586 Hz) (p. 814 S) (p. 527 Hi) (p. 748 AS) entire process of the investigation, denial, and the drinking NASO of the special, potentially lethal waters, cannot begin unless Numbers 4:21 the husband warns his wife and expresses to her his [Compiled by Rabbi Edward Davis (RED) suspicions. This must be done in front of two witnesses. Young Israel of Hollywood-Ft. Lauderdale] Rashi on the Torah and the Rambam (Sotah 1:1) say that the Kin’ah that the Torah refers to is …. that he will say to 1. After completing the description of each of the jobs her in front of witnesses: “Do not be in a secluded place required of the Levitical families, the Torah goes on to with Ploni (a specific-named person)”. The process begins describe what is necessary to purify the Camp of Israel.
  • Source Sheet on Prohibitions on Loshon Ha-Ra and Motzi Shem Ra and Disclosing Another’S Confidential Secrets and Proper Etiquette for Speech

    Source Sheet on Prohibitions on Loshon Ha-Ra and Motzi Shem Ra and Disclosing Another’S Confidential Secrets and Proper Etiquette for Speech

    Source Sheet on Prohibitions on Loshon ha-ra and motzi shem ra and disclosing another’s confidential secrets and Proper Etiquette for Speech Deut. 24:9 - "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did unto Miriam by the way as you came forth out of Egypt." Specifically, she spoke against her brother Moses. Yerushalmi Berachos 1:2 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, “Had I been at Mount Sinai at the moment when the torah was given to Yisrael I would have demanded that man should have been created with two mouths- one for Torah and prayer and other for mundane matters. But then I retracted and exclaimed that if we fail and speak lashon hara with only one mouth, how much more so would we fail with two mouths Bavli Arakhin15b R. Yochanan said in the name of R.Yosi ben Zimra: He who speaks slander, is as though he denied the existence of the Lord: With out tongue will we prevail our lips are our own; who is lord over us? (Ps.12:5) Gen R. 65:1 and Lev.R. 13:5 The company of those who speak slander cannot greet the Presence Sotah 5a R. Hisda said in the name of Mar Ukba: When a man speaks slander, the holy one says, “I and he cannot live together in the world.” So scripture: “He who slanders his neighbor in secret…. Him I cannot endure” (Ps. 101:5).Read not OTO “him’ but ITTO “with him [I cannot live] Deut.Rabbah 5:10 R.Mana said: He who speaks slander causes the Presence to depart from the earth below to heaven above: you may see foryourselfthat this is so.Consider what David said: “My soul is among lions; I do lie down among them that are aflame; even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword” (Ps.57:5).What follows directly ? Be Thou exalted O God above the heavens (Ps.57:6) .For David said: Master of the Universe what can the presence do on the earth below? Remove the Presence from the firmament.
  • THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 2019-20 – HISTORICAL, MEDICAL and HALAKHIC PERSPECTIVES Second Edition Rabbi Prof

    THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 2019-20 – HISTORICAL, MEDICAL and HALAKHIC PERSPECTIVES Second Edition Rabbi Prof

    THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RABBI PROF. AVRAHAM STEINBERG, MD THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 2019-20 – HISTORICAL, MEDICAL AND HALAKHIC PERSPECTIVES Second Edition Rabbi Prof. Avraham Steinberg, MD Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. Historical Background 3 a. Pandemics in the past b. The Coronavirus pandemic 3. Medical Background 5 4. Specific rulings and Halakhot 7 a. General behavior and the obligation to listen to the government and experts during a plague b. Defining plague c. Prayers, fasts and charity d. Self-endangerment of the healthcare providers – doctors, nurses, lab personnel, technicians e. Self-endangerment for experimental treatment and discovering a vaccine f. Prayer with a minyan, nesiyat kapayim, Torah reading, yeshivot g. Ha'gomel Blessing h. Shabbat and festivals i. Passover j. Sefirat Ha'omer k. Rosh Hashanah l. Yom Kippur m. Purim n. Immersion in the mikvah o. Immersion of utensils p. Visiting the sick q. Circumcision r. Marriage s. Burial t. Mourning 5. Triage in treating coronavirus patients during severe shortage 32 a. Introduction b. Determining triage priority in various situations when there are insufficient resources I am greatly indebted to Rabbi Dr. Jason Weiner for the English translation & to Dr. Lazar Friedman for his editorial work. 1 THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RABBI PROF. AVRAHAM STEINBERG, MD c. Halakhic sources on determining lifesaving triage d. Halakhic guidelines on determining priority 6. Miscellaneous 40 7. Conclusion 41 1. Introduction In the modern era, the coronavirus1 pandemic2 has been the most shocking pandemic to the entire world, including experts and scientists, since the Spanish influenza pandemic 100 years ago.3 In recent decades many scientists have arrogantly claimed that in the modern and technologically advanced world there will be no more global pandemics of this sort.
  • The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿavoda Zara By

    The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿavoda Zara By

    The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿAvoda Zara By Mira Beth Wasserman A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley in Jewish Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Daniel Boyarin, chair Professor Chana Kronfeld Professor Naomi Seidman Professor Kenneth Bamberger Spring 2014 Abstract The Humanity of the Talmud: Reading for Ethics in Bavli ʿAvoda Zara by Mira Beth Wasserman Joint Doctor of Philosophy with Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel Boyarin, chair In this dissertation, I argue that there is an ethical dimension to the Babylonian Talmud, and that literary analysis is the approach best suited to uncover it. Paying special attention to the discursive forms of the Talmud, I show how juxtapositions of narrative and legal dialectics cooperate in generating the Talmud's distinctive ethics, which I characterize as an attentiveness to the “exceptional particulars” of life. To demonstrate the features and rewards of a literary approach, I offer a sustained reading of a single tractate from the Babylonian Talmud, ʿAvoda Zara (AZ). AZ and other talmudic discussions about non-Jews offer a rich resource for considerations of ethics because they are centrally concerned with constituting social relationships and with examining aspects of human experience that exceed the domain of Jewish law. AZ investigates what distinguishes Jews from non-Jews, what Jews and non- Jews share in common, and what it means to be a human being. I read AZ as a cohesive literary work unified by the overarching project of examining the place of humanity in the cosmos.
  • Nazir" Legislation

    Nazir" Legislation

    266 JOURNA.i.. OP BIBLICAL ·LITERATURE The "Nazir" Legislation. MORRIS JASTROW, JR. UNIVBBSlTY Oll' PDNSYLV.ANU. I. TN a paper which I read before the Society at its meeting ~last year, on Leviticus, Chapters 13-14,1 the so-called "Le­ prosy" Laws, I endeavored to show that in these two cbapten we may detect the same process of steady amplification of an original stock of regulations by means of comments and glosses and illustrative instances which we may observe in the great compilation of Rabbinical Judaism known as the Talmud, where a condensed and a comparatively simple Mishna develops into an elaborate and intricate Gemara. The importance of the thesis-if correct-lies in the possibility thns afforded ofseparat­ ing between older and later layers in the regulations of the Pentateuchal Codes, but more particularly in furnishing the proof that these codes in which old and new have been com­ bined-precisely as in the narrative sections of the Pentateuch and in the historical books proper, older and later documents (with all manner of additions) have been dovetailed into one another-reflect an extended and uninterrupted process of growth, covering a long period of time and keeping pace with the tendency to adapt older regulations to later conditions. It is my intention to test the thesis by its application to other little groups of laws within the Codes, recognized by scholan as representing distinct units, and I choose as an example for presentation at this meeting Numbers 61-21, containing the laws of the so-called "Nazir". 1 Published in the Jewilh Quarter~y Review, New Series, IV, 357-418.
  • TRANSGENDER JEWS and HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A

    TRANSGENDER JEWS and HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A

    TRANSGENDER JEWS AND HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A. Sharzer MD This teshuvah was adopted by the CJLS on June 7, 2017, by a vote of 11 in favor, 8 abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Aaron Alexander, Pamela Barmash, Elliot Dorff, Susan Grossman, Reuven Hammer, Jan Kaufman, Gail Labovitz, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Avram Reisner, and Iscah Waldman. Members abstaining: Rabbis Noah Bickart, Baruch Frydman- Kohl, Joshua Heller, David Hoffman, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Jonathan Lubliner, Micah Peltz, and Paul Plotkin. שאלות 1. What are the appropriate rituals for conversion to Judaism of transgender individuals? 2. What are the appropriate rituals for solemnizing a marriage in which one or both parties are transgender? 3. How is the marriage of a transgender person (which was entered into before transition) to be dissolved (after transition). 4. Are there any requirements for continuing a marriage entered into before transition after one of the partners transitions? 5. Are hormonal therapy and gender confirming surgery permissible for people with gender dysphoria? 6. Are trans men permitted to become pregnant? 7. How must healthcare professionals interact with transgender people? 8. Who should prepare the body of a transgender person for burial? 9. Are preoperative2 trans men obligated for tohorat ha-mishpahah? 10. Are preoperative trans women obligated for brit milah? 11. At what point in the process of transition is the person recognized as the new gender? 12. Is a ritual necessary to effect the transition of a trans person? The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halkhhah for the Conservative movement.
  • 1 Parashat Ki Tavo Rabbi David Silverberg Parashat Ki-Tavo Begins

    1 Parashat Ki Tavo Rabbi David Silverberg Parashat Ki-Tavo Begins

    Parashat Ki Tavo Rabbi David Silverberg Parashat Ki-Tavo begins by discussing the mitzva of bikkurim, which requires a farmer to bring his first fruits each year to Jerusalem as a gift to the officiating kohen. Among the unique features of this mitzva, as the Torah describes, is the mikra bikkurim declaration which the farmer must recite as part of the bikkurim ceremony. This declaration, which the Torah dictates in our parasha (26:5-10), briefly recounts the story of the Exodus, from the time of Yaakov until Benei Yisrael’s departure from Egypt, and then tells of the nation’s entry into the land. Maimonides introduces this obligation in Mishneh Torah (Hilkhot Bikkurim 3:10) by writing, “There is an affirmative command to confess in the Temple over the bikkurim” (“Mitzvat asei le-hitvadot be-Midkash al ha-bikkurim…”). Curiously, Maimonides defines this declaration as a viduy, a “confession.” This term is familiar to us from two other contexts, most obviously the mitzva of teshuva, which Maimonides, in the beginning of Hilkhot Teshuva, defines as essentially an obligation to verbally confess. Additionally, the Sages employed the term viduy also in reference to the second mitzva presented in Parashat Ki-Tavo, a halakha known as viduy ma’aser. This obligation requires a farmer to pronounce a declaration every three years affirming his compliance with the laws of terumot and ma’aserot (the required tithes and other gifts from his agricultural yield). Maimonides, interestingly enough, applies the term viduy also to mikra bikkurim. Many writers have addressed the question as to how the concept of “confession” relates to viduy ma’aser, in which a farmer announces that he has faithfully observed all the laws applying to his agricultural produce.
  • CONGREGATION BETH YESHURUN INVITATION to JUDAISM COURSE CURRICULUM – 5781 (2020 – 2021) (As of 08-17-20)

    CONGREGATION BETH YESHURUN INVITATION to JUDAISM COURSE CURRICULUM – 5781 (2020 – 2021) (As of 08-17-20)

    CONGREGATION BETH YESHURUN INVITATION TO JUDAISM COURSE CURRICULUM – 5781 (2020 – 2021) (As of 08-17-20) # and Date TOPIC for 1st Hr. (9:00-10:00) [2nd Hr. (10:00-11:00) is Hebrew class] 1 Sept. 6 Conversion to Judaism - Overview [No Hebrew class] 2 Sept 13 High Holy Days and Sukkot [No Hebrew class] ⁂ Sept. 19-20 Rosh Hashanah begins Friday night Sept. 18 – Sunday night Sept. 20 ⁂ Sept. 28 Yom Kippur starts Sunday night Sept. 27 - Monday night Sept. 28 3 Sept. 29 Sukkot and the Jewish Calendar (Tuesday evening at 7:00) ⁂ Oct. 3 Sukkot begins Friday night Oct. 2 through Friday Oct. 9. Then Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah Friday night Oct. 9 – Sunday night Oct. 11 4 Oct. 18 Introduction to Prayers – Structure of Siddur, overview of services [Hebrew class starts this week at 10:00-11:00] 5 Oct. 25 Shabbat 6 Nov. 1 Overview of J. History, Classic J. Texts, J. Book List [visit ERJCC website] ⁂ Nov. 1 - Nov. 19 Virtual Book and Arts Festival at JCC 7 Nov. 8 Beliefs: God, Revelation, Torah, Mitzvot (cf Christianity) 8 Nov. 15 Beliefs: Life After Death/Messiah/Resurrection (cf Christianity) 9 Nov. 22 Beliefs: The Problem of Evil & Reward and Punishment (cf Christianty) 10 Dec. 6 Hanukkah (cf Christmas) ⁂ Dec. 10 - Dec. 18 Hanukkah (1st candle Dec. 10, 8th candle Dec. 17) 11 Dec. 13 Prayers: Shema & its Blessings (incl. Mezuzah/tzitzit/tefillin) 12 Dec. 20 Prayers – Amidah 13 Jan. 10 Kashrut 14 Jan. 17 Ethics – Tzedakah/Gemilut Hasadim 15 Jan. 24 Ethics – Honoring Parents/Aged, Bikur Holim 16 Jan.
  • Pesachim 036.Pub

    Pesachim 036.Pub

    י"ב טבת תשפא“ Sun, Dec 27 2020 OVERVIEW of the Daf Distinctive INSIGHT 1) Fulfilling the mitzvah of matzah with tevel (cont.) Matzah cannot be made from Bikkurim אוציא חיטין ושעורין שיש במין ביכורים Ravina offers an alternative explanation to the Baraisa but the Gemara demonstrates that the explanation offered by R’ Sheishes is clearer. T he Gemara brings a Baraisa which teaches that mat- 2) Matzah made from ma’aser sheni grain zah cannot be made from fruits which are brought to A Baraisa is cited that records different sources that do Yerushalayim as Bikkurim. Rabbi Yosi HaGalili learns this not permit the use of ma’aser sheni grain for the mitzvah of from the verse which describes matzah as something that is in all your communities,” which— בכל מושבותיכם “ matzah. eaten An apparent contradiction is noted regarding R’ Akiva’s excludes Bikkurim fruits which can only be eaten in position concerning matzah that was kneaded with liquids Yerushalayim. Rabbi Akiva also determines that the mitz- other than water. vah of matzah cannot be fulfilled from Bikkurim, and he The Gemara resolves the contradiction by distinguishing learns this from the association between matzah and mar- between the first day of Pesach and the remaining days of ror (in the verse Bemidbar 9:11). We know that a person Pesach. cannot fulfill his obligation to eat marror with Bikkurim. 3) Kneading dough in lukewarm water So too, claims Rabbi Akiva, matzah cannot be performed The Gemara questions why the previous Baraisa does not with Bikkurim. permit the use of lukewarm water to make matzah whereas The Gemara then clarifies the analysis of Rabbi Akiva.
  • The Decline of the Generations (Haazinu)

    The Decline of the Generations (Haazinu)

    21 Sep 2020 – 3 Tishri 5781 B”H Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi Congregation Adat Reyim Torah discussion on Haazinu The Decline of the Generations Introduction In this week’s Torah portion, Haazinu, Moses tells the Israelites to remember their people’s past: זְכֹר֙יְמֹ֣ות םעֹולָָ֔ ב ִּ֖ ינּו נ֣ שְ ֹותּדֹור־וָד֑ ֹור שְאַַ֤ ל אָב ֙יך֙ וְ יַגֵָ֔דְ ךזְקֵנ ִּ֖יך וְ יֹֹ֥אמְ רּו לְָָֽך Remember the days of old. Consider the years of generation after generation. Ask your father and he will inform you; your elders, and they will tell you. [Deut. 32:7] He then warns them that prosperity (growing “fat, thick and rotund”) and contact with idolaters will cause them to fall away from their faith, so they should keep alive their connection with their past. Yeridat HaDorot Strong rabbinic doctrine: Yeridat HaDorot – the decline of the generations. Successive generations are further and further away from the revelation at Sinai, and so their spirituality and ability to understand the Torah weakens steadily. Also, errors of transmission may have been introduced, especially considering a lot of the Law was oral: מש הק בֵלּתֹורָ ה מ סינַי, ּומְ סָרָ ּהל יהֹושֻׁעַ , ו יהֹושֻׁעַ ל זְקֵנים, ּוזְקֵנים ל נְב יאים, ּונְב יא ים מְ סָ רּוהָ ילְאַנְשֵ נכְ ס ת הַגְדֹולָה Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. [Avot 1:1] The Mishnah mourns the Sages of ages past and the fact that they will never be replaced: When Rabbi Meir died, the composers of parables ceased.
  • In 1000 Words Shavuot

    In 1000 Words Shavuot

    Reform Judaism: In 1000 Words Shavuot Context Celebrating the giving of Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai may not sound like the most Reform friendly festival of the year, and across the Jewish community it has, as Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers writes below, been one of the most neglected festivals of the year. Yet it has seen a resurgence of observance in the last 10-20 years, with Tikkun Leyl Shavuot (all night learning events) gaining in popularity, and could just be the perfect chance for communities to explore the long tradition of diverse Torah interpretation that makes up the colourful weave of Jewish tradition through the centuries, and encourages us to add our voices too. Content Shavuot could be seen as the big loser in the Jewish calendar: It is not nearly as well-known as festivals like Chanukah (a relatively minor festival that isn’t even mentioned in Tanakh) despite being one of the most important festivals of the year. As one of the Biblically mandated Pilgrim festivals when all of Israel would flock to the Temple to offer their first fruits (bikkurim), Shavuot represents a major moment in the Jewish calendar, and is clearly tied into the agricultural cycles of the Land of Israel. Perhaps the problem began when the Temple was destroyed in 70CE, and people could no longer take their offerings to the Temple. There was a need to discover new meaning in the ancient festivals and customs which up until that point had been very much focussed on the produce of the land and the wheat harvest.
  • Talmudic Metrology IV: Halakhic Currency

    Talmudic Metrology IV: Halakhic Currency

    Talmudic Metrology IV: The Halakhic Currency Abstract. In 66 B.C.E. Palestine entered under Roman protection and from 6 C.E. on it would be under Roman administration. This situation persisted until the conquest by the Persians in the beginning of the seventh century. The Jerusalem Talmud was thus completely elaborated under Roman rule. Therefore, as for the other units of measure, the Halakhik coinage and the Jerusalem Talmudic monetary denominations are completely dependent on Roman coinage of the time and Roman economic history. Indeed, during the first century Tyrian coinage was similar to the imperial Roman coinage. Nevertheless, during the third century the debasement of Roman money became significant and the Rabbis had difficulty finding the Roman equivalents of the shekel, in which the Torah obligations are expressed and of the prutah, the least amount in Jewish law. In this article we describe the Halakhik coinage, originally based on the Tyrian coinage, and examine the history of the Shekel and the Prutah. We then examine the exegesis of different Talmudic passages related to monetary problems and to the Halakhic coinage, which cannot be correctly understood without referring to Roman economic history and to numismatic data that was unknown to the traditional commentators of the Talmud. Differences between parallel passages of both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud can then be explained by referring to the economical situation prevailing in Palestine and Babylonia. For example, the notion of Kessef Medina, worth one eighth of the silver denomination, is a Babylonian reality that was unknown to Palestinian Tanaïm and Amoraïm.