May these words of Torah serve as a merit le’iluy nishmat Menachem Mendel ben Harav Yoel David Balk, a”h, and Meirah Chayah Nechamah Brachah, a”h, bat David Mordechai Fishel sheyichyeh.
This week we learned Chullin 44. These are some highlights.
May a person observe two consecutive years of shemita as a stringency?
Due to a lesson on our daf, the sages of Tzfat excommunicated and put pressure on individuals who sought to keep the laws of shemita for two years in a row, as a stringency.
There is a dispute among the great Rishonim which year is really the seventh year and should be observed as shemita. Rambam (Hilchot Shemita V’yovel 10:6) writes that we are to follow the tradition of the Geonim to determine the year of shemita. According to this tradition, the Mikdash was destroyed in a year of shemita, and every seven years after that year is a shemita year. Rashi (Avodah Zarah 9b s.v. natfi) teaches that the Mikdash was destroyed in a year after shemita, and therefore if you want to know what year is shemita, calculate how many years it is from the loss of the Mikdash and subtract one from that number to get to what year we are in within the cycle of shemita. Sefer Chareidim (Chapter 53) writes that the year 5348 from the creation of the world was a shemita year according to the Rambam. He adds that 90 years before that someone had argued that perhaps there was a different way to interpret the words of the Rambam. The sages at the time sent missives to the rabbis of Damascus, Aleppo, and France. All agreed that we should follow the traditional interpretation of the Rambam and that we count seven years from the year of the Churban to discover the year of shemita. In the year of 5340 there were pious people in Tzfat who wished to be strict on themselves. They wanted to fulfill the view of Rashi and the view of Rambam and sought to keep the laws of the sabbatical year both in the years 5340 and 5341. The rabbis of Tzfat fought harshly against the attempt because of our Gemara.
Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel often argued about matters of law. Our Gemara teaches that one may choose to consistently follow the views of Beit Shammai, both their leniencies and their stringencies, or he can accept to follow all the rulings of Beit Hillel. One who utilizes all the leniencies of Beit Shammai and all the leniencies of Beit Hillel is a rasha, and a person who demands of himself to follow the stringencies of both schools is a fool who walks in the dark. This is a rule of practice; it is wrong to adopt the stringencies of both authorities who were arguing with each other. Rashi and Rambam hold mutually exclusive views about which year is shemita; the sages of Tzfat sought to ensure that no one would act as a fool, and they opposed those who wished to be exacting for both the view of Rambam and the view of Rashi. (Mesivta)
By Rabbi Zev Reichman
Rabbi Zev Reichman teaches Daf Yomi in his shul, East Hill Synagogue.
