DOCSLIB.ORG

1 Mitzvat Asei 5: Prayer by David Silverberg Maimonides Lists As The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 Mitzvat Asei 5: Prayer by David Silverberg Maimonides Lists As The Mitzvat Asei 5: Prayer By David Silverberg Maimonides lists as the fifth of the affirmative commands the obligation he describes as le-ovdo – "to serve Him" or "to worship Him." He later explains that this refers to the obligation of daily prayer, and he cites two verses as the Biblical sources of this obligation: "You shall serve the Lord your God" (Shemot 23:25); "and Him shall you serve" (Devarim 10:20, 13:5). To demonstrate that the verb a.v.d. ("serve") refers to prayer, Maimonides enlists a famous comment of the Sifrei (Devarim 11:13) to this effect. He then invokes an even more explicit source from a passage in the Midrashic work Mishnat Rabbi Eliezer (12): "From where [do we extract] the essential mitzva of prayer? From here: 'The Lord your God you shall fear, and Him shall you serve'." The Biblical and Rabbinic Requirements of Prayer In introducing the laws of prayer in Mishneh Torah, Maimonides identifies more precisely the Torah obligation of prayer (Hilkhot Tefila 1:1-3): There is an affirmative command to pray each day, as it says, "You shall serve the Lord your God." It is learned from oral tradition that this "service" refers to prayer, as it says, "and to serve Him with all your heart." The Sages commented: Which is the "service of the heart"? This refers to prayer. But the number of prayers is not from the Torah, nor is the text of this prayer from the Torah. And prayer has no fixed time from the Torah… Rather, the obligation of this command is as follows: that a person plead and pray each day, and speak praise for the Almighty and then request his needs that he requires with petition and supplication, and then give praise and thanks to God for the goodness that He has bestowed upon him – each in accordance with his ability… Some pray once a day, others pray many times. And they should all pray towards the Temple, wherever one may be. And this is how it always was from Moshe Rabbenu until Ezra. Maimonides proceeds to explain that Ezra, rabbinic leader of the Jews who returned to Israel from the Babylonian exile, instituted the formal text and structure of prayer as we know it, in response to the confusion that resulted from the Jews' assimilation in exile. Thus, the Torah obligation of prayer requires just a single prayer at any point during the day, whereas the obligation established by Ezra requires the recitation of a specified text at specified times throughout the day (morning, afternoon and evening). The Kinat Sofrim commentary to Sefer Ha-mitzvot draws proof for Maimonides' position from a passage in the Tosefta (Berakhot, chapter 3), which Maimonides himself cites later in Sefer Ha-mitzvot (mitzvat asei 10). The Tosefta comments, "Just as the Torah established fixed [times] for the recitation of shema, so did the Sages establish a 1 time for prayer." This remark clearly suggests that the concept of daily prayer exists as a Torah obligation, and the Sages established the specific schedule and formal structure for the daily prayer services. This is the position of several other Medieval scholars, as well, including the Semag (mitzvat asei 19), the Semak (mitzvat asei 11) and the Ra'a (Rabbi Aharon Halevi of Barcelona, in his commentary to Masekhet Berakhot, 10b and elsewhere). This also appears to have been the position of the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, Berakhot 11b). Nachmanides' Objection Nachmanides, in his critique of Sefer Ha-mitzvot, objects to the inclusion of prayer as one of the 613 Biblical commands. In Nachmanides' view, "the entire concept of prayer is not an obligation at all, but rather a measure of the Creator's kindness towards us, that He listens and responds whenever we call to Him." Prayer, according to Nachmanides, is not – on the level of Torah law – an obligation, but rather a privilege. Before the Rabbis instituted the mandatory prayer services, a Jew was under no obligation to pray to the Almighty. Should he feel the need to turn to God in prayer, God would, in His infinite kindness and graciousness, listen and respond. But no obligation was involved before the enactments of Ezra. Addressing the verses cited by Maimonides as the Biblical sources of an obligation to pray, Nachmanides contends that these verses refer to something else entirely, a broader obligation "that all our service to the Almighty, may He be exalted, be with all our heart, meaning, with proper and complete intention for His Name." Namely, the obligation to "serve God" is an overarching imperative to carry out our religious duties out of a sense of sincere devotion, rather than with skepticism or indifference. Thus, these verses describe not a specific obligation to stand before God in prayer, but rather to observe all the Torah's laws with proper concentration and emotion. As for the Midrashic passages that extract the prayer obligation from these verses, Nachmanides presents two responses. First, he suggests reading these passages as referring to an asmakhta – a subtle allusion in the Biblical text for a law enacted later by the Sages. We find many instances in the Talmud where the Gemara proposes a creative, secondary reading of a verse whereby it alludes to a halakha that clearly had not applied at the time the Torah was given. Nachmanides raises the possibility that the interpretation of the term avoda in these verses as prayer should be viewed in this vein, as but an asmakhta. But Nachmanides then proposes a second theory, conceding that praying during times of crisis may, indeed, constitute a Torah obligation. When the Midrashim understand these verses as introducing an obligation of prayer, they perhaps speak specifically of times of potential danger, such as war, famine and the like, when petitioning the Almighty indeed becomes a Biblical imperative. It should be noted that Maimonides lists as a separate mitzva (mitzva asei 59) the obligation to pray to God during times of national crisis. Nachmanides was prepared at most to concede that prayer in these contexts constitutes a Torah obligation, while insisting that daily prayer is but a privilege, and not an obligation. Evidence from Masekhet Berakhot 2 Nachmanides advances a number of proofs against Maimonides' position, granting prayer the status of a Biblical imperative. The first stems from the Talmud's discussion in Masekhet Berakhot (21a) concerning a ba'al keri (man who experienced a semenal emission), whom the Rabbis forbade from engaging in prayer or Torah study until after immersion in a mikveh. (This halakha is no longer applicable, for reasons that lie beyond the purview of our discussion.) The Gemara states explicitly that despite this general prohibition, a ba'al keri must recite the daily shema as well as birkat ha-mazon after meals, because these two recitations are required by Torah law and thus cannot be overridden by rabbinic enactment. Prayer, the Gemara comments, constitutes but a rabbinic obligation, and therefore a ba'al keri must refrain from praying until after he immerses in a mikveh. Rabbi Yosef Karo, in his Kesef Mishneh commentary to Mishneh Torah, and Rabbi Yitzchak De Leon, in his Megilat Ester commentary to Sefer Ha-mitzvot, respond to Nachmanides' challenge by claiming that the Gemara refers only to the rabbinically- prescribed liturgical text, but not to prayer altogether. A ba'al keri must refrain from the formal prayer service established by Ezra, which is rabbinic in origin, but he remains under the Biblical obligation to offer some prayer to God over the course of the day. This obligation, like shema and birkat ha-mazon, cannot be overridden by the rabbinic decree concerning a ba'al keri, and he must therefore utter some brief prayer, even if he is barred from reciting the complete liturgical text composed by the Sages. Several later writers challenged this response, most prominently among them Rabbi Aryeh Leib Ginzburg (Russia-France, 1695-1785), in his legendary work Sha'agat Aryeh (14). The Sha'agat Aryeh's primary objection is the simple fact that the Gemara would presumably have clarified this critical distinction between the Torah and rabbinic obligations of prayer in explicating the laws relevant to a ba'al keri. If, indeed, a ba'al keri is barred only from the recitation of the full text, but bears a Biblical obligation to offer a brief prayer to the Almighty, the Gemara should have given some clear indication to this effect. The Gemara's silence in this regard strongly suggests that a ba'al keri is exempt and barred from prayer altogether. The Kesef Mishneh very briefly proposes a second refutation, as well, invoking the principle known as yeish ko'ach be-yad chakhamim la-akor davar min ha-Torah, empowering the Sages to enact decrees to safeguard the Torah even by suspending a given Torah obligation. The most famous application of this rule, perhaps, is the Rabbinic decree forbidding blowing shofar if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, or taking the lulav when Sukkot falls on Shabbat, as a safeguard against possible Shabbat violation. Similarly, the Kesef Mishneh suggests, Chazal perhaps applied the prohibition against a ba'al keri's involvement in prayer and study even at the expense of the Torah obligation of prayer. Thus, that a ba'al keri is barred from even offering a brief prayer to fulfill the Biblical requirement does not disprove Maimonides' position ascribing to prayer the status of Torah law. But the Kesef Mishneh's contention is very difficult to understand. As Nachmanides noted, the Gemara explicitly distinguished between prayer on the one hand, and birkat ha-mazon and shema on the other, in terms of the origin of the given obligation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • R' Yehudah Position
    5 Elul 5772 Brachos Daf 22 August 23, 2012 Daf Notes is currently being dedicated to the neshamah of Tzvi Gershon Ben Yoel (Harvey Felsen) o”h May the studying of the Daf Notes be a zechus for his neshamah and may his soul find peace in Gan Eden and be bound up in the Bond of life R’ Yehudah Position remain tamei anyway); but an ordinary person who has an emission (without first being a zav) requires immersion (in order to recite words of Torah)! [Evidently, R’ Yehudah holds by Ezra’s 1 We have learned in a Mishna: A zav who had a seminal emission decree regarding an ordinary ba’al keri!?] (where normally, one who experienced a seminal emission immerses in a mikvah to become tahor, here, he would remain And you cannot answer that Rabbi Yehudah exempts an ordinary tamei anyway), a niddah (who is also tamei for seven days) from ba’al keri (from immersion) as well, and the reason why he and the whom semen has emitted (where normally, a woman who emits Sages disagreed over the case of zav who became a ba’al keri was semen is tamei to the same degree as a man who discharged an in order to demonstrate the extent that the Sages are prepared to emission, she immerses in a mikvah to become tahor, here, she go (that a ba’al keri requires immersion before reciting Torah – would remain tamei anyway), and a woman who had intercourse even if after the immersion, he will remain tamei on account of (and is treated automatically as a man who discharged an being a zav), for (if that would be correct) then, let us consider the emission) and then became a niddah – they all require immersion latter clause: A woman who had intercourse and then became a (in a mikvah in order to recite words of Torah – the novelty is that niddah requires immersion.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • A Clergy Resource Guide
    When Every Need is Special: NAVIGATING SPECIAL NEEDS IN A CONGREGATIONAL SETTING A Clergy Resource Guide For the best in child, family and senior services...Think JSSA Jewish Social Service Agency Rockville (Wood Hill Road), 301.838.4200 • Rockville (Montrose Road), 301.881.3700 • Fairfax, 703.204.9100 www.jssa.org - [email protected] WHEN EVERY NEED IS SPECIAL – NAVIGATING SPECIAL NEEDS IN A CONGREGATIONAL SETTING PREFACE This February, JSSA was privileged to welcome 17 rabbis and cantors to our Clergy Training Program – When Every Need is Special: Navigating Special Needs in the Synagogue Environment. Participants spanned the denominational spectrum, representing communities serving thousands throughout the Washington region. Recognizing that many area clergy who wished to attend were unable to do so, JSSA has made the accompanying Clergy Resource Guide available in a digital format. Inside you will find slides from the presentation made by JSSA social workers, lists of services and contacts selected for their relevance to local clergy, and tachlis items, like an ‘Inclusion Check‐list’, Jewish source material and divrei Torah on Special Needs and Disabilities. The feedback we have received indicates that this has been a valuable resource for all clergy. Please contact Rabbi James Kahn or Natalie Merkur Rose with any questions, comments or for additional resources. L’shalom, Rabbi James Q. Kahn, Director of Jewish Engagement & Chaplaincy Services Email [email protected]; Phone 301.610.8356 Natalie Merkur Rose, LCSW‐C, LICSW, Director of Jewish Community Outreach Email [email protected]; Phone 301.610.8319 WHEN EVERY NEED IS SPECIAL – NAVIGATING SPECIAL NEEDS IN A CONGREGATIONAL SETTING RESOURCE GUIDE: TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: SESSION MATERIALS FOR REVIEW PAGE Program Agenda .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • CCAR Journal the Reform Jewish Quarterly
    CCAR Journal The Reform Jewish Quarterly Halachah and Reform Judaism Contents FROM THE EDITOR At the Gates — ohrgJc: The Redemption of Halachah . 1 A. Brian Stoller, Guest Editor ARTICLES HALACHIC THEORY What Do We Mean When We Say, “We Are Not Halachic”? . 9 Leon A. Morris Halachah in Reform Theology from Leo Baeck to Eugene B . Borowitz: Authority, Autonomy, and Covenantal Commandments . 17 Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi The CCAR Responsa Committee: A History . 40 Joan S. Friedman Reform Halachah and the Claim of Authority: From Theory to Practice and Back Again . 54 Mark Washofsky Is a Reform Shulchan Aruch Possible? . 74 Alona Lisitsa An Evolving Israeli Reform Judaism: The Roles of Halachah and Civil Religion as Seen in the Writings of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism . 92 David Ellenson and Michael Rosen Aggadic Judaism . 113 Edwin Goldberg Spring 2020 i CONTENTS Talmudic Aggadah: Illustrations, Warnings, and Counterarguments to Halachah . 120 Amy Scheinerman Halachah for Hedgehogs: Legal Interpretivism and Reform Philosophy of Halachah . 140 Benjamin C. M. Gurin The Halachic Canon as Literature: Reading for Jewish Ideas and Values . 155 Alyssa M. Gray APPLIED HALACHAH Communal Halachic Decision-Making . 174 Erica Asch Growing More Than Vegetables: A Case Study in the Use of CCAR Responsa in Planting the Tri-Faith Community Garden . 186 Deana Sussman Berezin Yoga as a Jewish Worship Practice: Chukat Hagoyim or Spiritual Innovation? . 200 Liz P. G. Hirsch and Yael Rapport Nursing in Shul: A Halachically Informed Perspective . 208 Michal Loving Can We Say Mourner’s Kaddish in Cases of Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Nefel? . 215 Jeremy R.
    [Show full text]
  • Maimonides' Highest Level of Tzedakah: Loans, Jobs and Business Partnerships
    Maimonides' Highest Level of Tzedakah: Loans, Jobs and Business Partnerships Noam Zion Hartman Institute – excerpted from: Jewish Giving in Comparative Perspectives: History and Story, Law and Theology, Anthropology and Psychology Book Two: To Each according to one’s Social Needs: The Dignity of the Needy from Talmudic Tzedakah to Human Rights Previous Books: A DIFFERENT NIGHT: The Family Participation Haggadah By Noam Zion and David Dishon LEADER'S GUIDE to "A DIFFERENT NIGHT" By Noam Zion and David Dishon A DIFFERENT LIGHT: Hanukkah Seder and Anthology including Profiles in Contemporary Jewish Courage By Noam Zion A Day Apart: Shabbat at Home By Noam Zion and Shawn Fields-Meyer A Night to Remember: Haggadah of Contemporary Voices Mishael and Noam Zion [email protected] www.haggadahsrus.com "If the people can be educated to help themselves, we strike at the root of many of the evils of the world. ... Men who are studying the problem of disease tell us that it is becoming more and more evident that the forces which conquer sickness are within the body itself and that it is only when these are reduced below the normal that disease can get a foothold. The way to ward off disease, therefore, is to tone up the body."i (John D. Rockefeller) "In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves; to provide part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give those, who desire to rise, the aids by which they may rise; to assist, but rarely or never to do all.
    [Show full text]
  • Stem Cell Meat
    Self driving cars- Staying Kosher on business trips- Stem cell meat Show# 127 | July 21st 2017 Dovid Lichtenstein: Ayin Tova- Look the total picture ייטב לב פרשת בלק Self driving cars תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת תרומות פרק ח הלכה ד תני סיעות בני אדם שהיו מהלכין בדרך פגעו להן גוים ואמרו תנו לנו אחד מכם ונהרוג אותו ואם לאו הרי אנו הורגים את כולכם אפי' כולן נהרגים לא ימסרו נפש אחת מישראל ייחדו להן אחד כגון שבע בן בכרי ימסרו אותו ואל ייהרגו א"ר שמעון בן לקיש והוא שיהא חייב מיתה כשבע בן בכרי ורבי יוחנן אמר אף על פי שאינו חייב מיתה כשבע בן בכרי. רמב"ם הלכות יסודי התורה פרק ה הלכה ה נשים שאמרו להם עובדי כוכבים תנו לנו אחת מכן ונטמא אותה ואם לאו נטמא את כולכן יטמאו כולן ואל ימסרו להם נפש אחת מישראל, וכן אם אמרו להם עובדי כוכבים תנו לנו אחד מכם ונהרגנו ואם לאו נהרוג כולכם, יהרגו כולם ואל ימסרו להם נפש אחת מישראל, ואם יחדוהו להם ואמרו תנו לנו פלוני או נהרוג את כולכם, ו אם היה מחוייב מיתה כשבע בן בכרי יתנו אותו להם, ואין מורין להם כן לכתחלה, ואם אינו חייב מיתה יהרגו כולן ואל ימסרו להם נפש אחת מישראל. תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף כה עמוד ב ושפיכות דמים גופיה מנלן סברא הוא, כי ההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבא אמר ליה מרי דוראי אמר לי זיל קטליה לפלניא, ואי לא קטלינא לך. אמר ליה: ליקטלוך ולא תיקטול. מאי חזית דדמא דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דההוא גברא סומק טפי. ותוס' שם אף נערה המאורסה יהרג ואל יעבור - פי' הבועל אבל היא תיבעל ולא תיהרג דקרקע עולם היא כדאמר בבן סורר ומורה )סנהדרין עד:( ובריש כתובות )דף ג:( נמי פריך ולידרוש להו דאונס שרי ור"י אומר דשפיר גר' תיהרג דהא דמשמע בבן סורר ומורה ובריש כתובות דאונס שרי היינו היכא שהיא קרקע עולם ולא עבדה מעשה אבל לעשות מעשה כגון שאומר לה שתביא הערוה עליה תיהרג ואל תעשה מעשה דמרוצח ילפינן ורוצח לא מיחייב למימסר נפשיה אלא כשאומר לו להרוג בידים אבל אם אומר הנח לזרוק עצמך על התינוק או תיהרג אינו חייב למסור עצמו כדי להציל חבירו דאדרבה איכא למימר מאי חזית דדמיה דחבריה סומק טפי דילמא דמא דידי סומק טפי ומיהו לדידיה אם אומרים לו הנח לתקוע אותך בערוה יהרג ואל יעבור דלא מצי למימר לא עבידנא מעשה דכיון שתוקעין אותו ואין קישוי אלא לדעת כדאמרי' בריש הבא על יבמתו )יבמות נג.( ומה שהוא מתקשה הוי מעשה.
    [Show full text]
  • Parshat Mishpatim 5773
    Written by: Dina Rivka Michaels Editor: David Michaels TAZRIA-METZORAH can be hard for a mother to experience the feeling of losing that which was once inside her. This week’s double parsha of Tazriah-Metzorah explores the topic of Tumah and Tahara. The Torah doesn't seem to define either of 2. At first look, the Metzora, someone who contracts Tzaraat, these concepts, so what actually is Tumah? doesn’t seem to have an encounter with death. However, if we Let’s look at some of the cases that are considered Tamei and see look at the rules relating to the Metzorah we can see how they what they have in common: connect to the concept of death. First, if a Metzora is in a room, 1. A Yoledet, a woman who becomes Tamei after having just everything inside that room becomes Tamei. This is the case given birth regarding a dead body as well (our fifth case). Second, a Metzora 2. A Metzora, one who contracts spiritual leprosy is obligated to tear his garments and grow his hair. The only other 3. A woman who is Niddah person in Halacha required to do this is an avel, someone 4. A non-kosher animal, whose corpse transfers tumah to those mourning the deceased. A stark example of the connection that it contacts between the Metzora and mortality is when Aaron describes his 5. A dead body, which transfers tumah to those who come into sister Miriam during the period of time she had tzara'at. He says: .let her not, I pray, be as a dead person–אל נא תהי כמת contact with it On the face of it, there seems to be no connection between all 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Mikveh and the Sanctity of Being Created Human
    chapter 3 Mikveh and the Sanctity of Being Created Human Susan Grossman This paper was approved by the CJLS on September 13, 2006 by a vote of four- teen in favor, one opposed and four abstaining (14-1-4). Members voting in favor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Elliot Dorff, Aaron Mackler, Robert Harris, Robert Fine, David Wise, Daniel Nevins, Alan Lucas, Joel Roth, Myron Geller, Pamela Barmash, Gordon Tucker, Vernon Kurtz, and Susan Grossman. Members voting against: Rabbi Leonard Levy. Members abstaining: Rabbis Joseph Prouser, Loel Weiss, Paul Plotkin, and Avram Reisner. Sheilah How should we, as modern Conservative Jews, observe the laws tradition- ally referred to under the rubric Tohorat HaMishpahah (The Laws of Family Purity)?1 Teshuvah Introduction Judaism is our path to holy living, for turning the world as it is into the world as it can be. The Torah is our guide for such an ambitious aspiration, sanctified by the efforts of hundreds of generations of rabbis and their communities to 1 The author wishes to express appreciation to all the following who at different stages com- mented on this work: Dr. David Kraemer, Dr. Shaye Cohen, Dr. Seth Schwartz, Dr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky, z”l, Rabbi James Michaels, Annette Muffs Botnick, Karen Barth, and the mem- bers of the CJLS Sub-Committee on Human Sexuality. I particularly want to express my appreciation to Dr. Joel Roth. Though he never published his halakhic decisions on tohorat mishpahah (“family purity”), his lectures and teaching guided countless rabbinical students and rabbinic colleagues on this subject. In personal communication with me, he confirmed that the below psak (legal decision) and reasoning offered in his name accurately reflects his teaching.
    [Show full text]
  • Bal Tashchit : the Jewish Prohibition Against Needless Destruction Wolff, K.A
    Bal Tashchit : the Jewish prohibition against needless destruction Wolff, K.A. Citation Wolff, K. A. (2009, December 1). Bal Tashchit : the Jewish prohibition against needless destruction. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14448 Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the License: Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/14448 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). BAL TASHCHIT: THE JEWISH PROHIBITION AGAINST NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION Copyright © 2009 by K. A. Wolff All rights reserved Printed in Jerusalem BAL TASHCHIT: THE JEWISH PROHIBITION AGAINST NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. mr P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op dinsdag 1 december 2009 klokke 15:00 uur door Keith A. Wolff geboren te Fort Lauderdale (Verenigde Staten) in 1957 Promotiecommissie Promotores: Prof. Dr F.A. de Wolff Prof. Dr A. Wijler, Rabbijn, Jerusalem College of Technology Overige leden: Prof. Dr J.J. Boersema, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. Dr A. Ellian Prof. Dr R.W. Munk, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Prof. Dr I.E. Zwiep, Universiteit van Amsterdam To my wife, our children, and our parents Preface This is an interdisciplinary thesis. The second and third chapters focus on classic Jewish texts, commentary and legal responsa, including the original Hebrew and Aramaic, along with translations into English. The remainder of the thesis seeks to integrate principles derived from these Jewish sources with contemporary Western thought, particularly on what might be called 'environmental' themes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anonymous Author of Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘Ya Mehemna: an Antinomian Or a Radical Maimonidean?
    The Anonymous Author of Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna: An Antinomian or a Radical Maimonidean? The Anonymous Author of Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna: An Antinomian or a Radical Maimonidean? By Bezalel Naor Today, it is an accepted fact in scholarly circles that Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna form a single unit that postdates the main body of Zohar.[1] More than one reader has been scandalized by statements in Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna likening the Mishnah to a shifhah or maidservant.[2] Predictably, in response, there grew an apologetic literature that attempts to justify how such shocking statements are compatible with normative Halakhah.[3] One cannot rule out altogether the assertion by various secular historians that these pejorative statements betray an antinomian streak,[4] though to be certain, such statements of Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna are not situated in the present but deferred to the future. With this proviso, they are no more “antinomian” than the statement of Rav Yosef in the Talmud: “Mitsvot (commandments) are nullified in the future.”[5] I wish to present a hitherto unexplored possibility. It seems likely that the anonymous author of Tikkunei Zohar and Ra‘ya Mehemna (which surfaced in Spain in the first decades of the fourteenth century)[6] was not so much an antinomian as a radical Maimonidean. It is in this light that we should understand negative statements issuing from the author regarding the study of Mishnah or those comparing the various Talmudic exercises and mental gymnastics to the backbreaking labor to which the Children of Israel were subjected in Egyptian exile.[7] These do not spring from an anti-halakhic mindset but rather from taking at face value Maimonides’ syllabus as laid out in his introduction toMishneh Torah: Hence, I have entitled this work Mishneh Torah (Review of the Law), for the reason that a person, who first reads the Written Law and then this [compilation], will know from it the whole of the Oral Law, without having need to read any other book between them [italics mine—BN].
    [Show full text]
  • Making Every Day Count
    4 Chayei Sarah Making Every Day Count Sarah’s Blueprint for Meaningful Living Dedicated in loving memory of Susan Moses on the occasion of her yahrtzeit, 16 Cheshvan לזכרון ולעילוי נשמת זמירה לאה בת צבי הלוי PARSHA OVERVIEW Chayei Sarah Sarah dies at age 127 and is buried in the Machpelah Cave in Hebron, which Abraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver. Abraham’s servant Eliezer is sent, laden with gifts, to Charan, to find a wife for Isaac. At the village well, Eliezer asks G‑d for a sign: when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well shall be the one destined for his master’s son. Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham’s nephew Bethuel, appears at the well and passes the “test.” Eliezer is invited to their home, where he repeats the story of the day’s events. Rebecca returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan, where they encounter Isaac praying in the field. Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother. Abraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar), and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Abraham dies at age 175 and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael. 62 Torah Studies Season One 5779 Isaac and Rebecca endure twenty childless years, until their prayers are answered and Rebecca conceives. She experiences a difficult pregnancy as the “children struggle inside her”; G‑d tells her that “there are two nations in your womb,” and that the younger will prevail over the elder.
    [Show full text]
  • Vetaval Bemayim”, a Collection of Teachings of Our Rebbeim Concerning the Importance of Immersing Oneself in a Mikveh Before Davening
    Kovetz Mikvah - Cover 2/1/2012 3:42 PM Page 1 קונטרס לעילוי נשמת הרה"ח הרה"ת ר' מאיר ב"ר וטבל במים אליהו ז"ל ליקוט דברי רבותינו נשיאנו נלב"ע ז"ך כסלו, נר ג' דחנוכה ה'תשנ"ט בעניני טבילה במקוה ת' נ' צ' ב' ה' ולזכות משפחתו שיחי' Teachings of our Rebbeim about the Importance of going to the Mikveh ניתן להוריד את הקונטרס באתר: This booklet is available at: mikvah.info Forward It is with great joy that we present to you the Kuntres “Vetaval Bemayim”, a collection of teachings of our Rebbeim concerning the importance of immersing oneself in a Mikveh before davening. Immersing in the Mikveh before davening is a fundamental practice of Chassidim, and we find many places where the Rebbeim speak about its necessity and importance. This English version is an abridged digest of all those Maamorim, Sichos and letters; presenting the different facets and highlighting the essential themes of going to the Mikveh. May we merit to the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days. Yud Shvat, 5772 Vetaval Bemayim • 3 Takanas Ezra Ezra Hasofer decreed that men who are in state of impurity are prohibited from learning Torah unless they first purify themselves1. A later Beis Din extended the decree to prohibit davening as well without prior purification2. This decree is called “Takanas Ezra.” The act of immersing oneself in keeping with this Takana is called Tevilas Ezra. At a later date, the Chachamim abolished the Takana completely, on the basis of the following two things: First of all, the Takana had never been accepted by the general public, and secondly, it caused Bittul Torah, for people would not learn Torah if they had not gone to the mikvah.3 There is a dispute among Rishonim which part, or perhaps all, of the Takanah was abolished.
    [Show full text]