The learning is dedicated le’iluy nishmas Menachem Mendel Ben Harav Yoel David Balk a”h.
This week we learned Gittin 54-60. The following are some highlights of the sugyot.
Gittin 54
Gittin 54 mentions that one may not separate Terumot and Maasros on Shabbos and Yom Tov. It is Biblically prohibited to repair a vessel on Shabbos. Food from which the tithes have yet to be donated is not allowed to be eaten. If on Shabbos or Yom Tov one would separate Terumot and Maasrot he would be permitting food that had heretofore been prohibited and it would look like fixing a vessel; therefore, the Sages prohibited separating tithes on Shabbos and Yom Tov. The same applies to the mitzvah of challah. If one prepares 5 pounds of flour as dough there is a mitzvah to separate challah from the mixture. If one did not separate challah the dough is prohibited. If one did not separate challah from the dough and baked the dough into loaves, one must link the loaves to each other by putting them into a single basket, and then take off one loaf and declare that it is challah for all the other loaves. Since Challah permits loaves and dough, one may not separate challah on Shabbos or Yom Tov. Many of us buy our bread from bakeries who separate the challah before we get the bread. However, for Pesach, in the land of Israel, many people bake matzot on their own and they might not be attentive to this law. They need to remember to separate challah from the group of matzot they bake before Yom Tov. Once Yom Tov arrives it will be too late. One will not fulfill the mitzvah of matzah if he eats a matzah that is prohibited to be eaten. And on Yom Tov one may not separate challah and permit the matzot.
The following story once occurred in Yerushalayim. That year Erev Pesach was on Shabbos. A person realized that he had not separated challah from his matzot. He came to the rabbi of Yerushalayim, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, with a problem. What could he do to eat his matzot that night? He did not have access to any matzah that was kosher.
Rav Yehoshua Leib suggested a brilliant solution. According to Halacha, a minor does not have enough intelligence to create an acquisition. However, once a child reaches the age of twelve, onat hapeutot, he can make a binding vow, a neder. Making dough, or a loaf, challah is accomplished by means of a verbal declaration that has the status of a neder. Gittin 65a teaches that a 12-year-old can create challah. Therefore, Rav Yehoshua Leib proposed that the man give a matzah to a 12-year-old child. Since he is a child he is not obligated in mitzvot; however, since he is a 12-year-old, his act of declaring something challah would be effective. Let the child declare challah, and that declaration will take effect and permit all the matzot. Even though usually an adult cannot encourage a child to perform a prohibited act, since separating challah is for the benefit of the child as well, Rav Yehoshua Leib allowed them to rely on the opinions that a parent need not stop a child from doing an act that is prohibited, when the act helps the child, as this act did, for it permitted the child’s food. (Meorot Daf Hayomi)
Gittin 55
Long Tzitzit?
Rama Mipanu wrote critically about people who made lengthy tzitzit garments and strings. He pointed out that some have strings that are so long they reach the floor. Such people, he argued, are degrading and mistreating an object of mitzvah. Better to have shorter strings and a garment that only covers the main frame of the body. However, Maharatz Chiyus argued that Gittin 55 teaches that it is a suitable adornment to the mitzvah to have lengthy tzitzit strings. Gittin 55 begins the story of Bar Kamtza and the destruction of Jerusalem. The Gemara relates that Jerusalem had three exceptionally wealthy individuals, Ben Kalba Savua, Ben Tzitzit Hakeset, and Nakdimon Ben Gurion. Ben Kalba Savua earned his name from the fact that when guests would enter his home hungry as dogs they would exit satiated and filled. Nakdimon Ben Gurion earned his name for the sun once penetrated the clouds and illuminated the world for his sake. Ben Tzitzit Hakeset earned his name because he had long tzitzit strings, and his slaves would put pillows down as he walked so the strings would rest on pillows and not on the floor. If he was a righteous man and complimented for his behaviors, clearly it is a good thing to have lengthy tzitzit strings. Be’er Moshe rejected this understanding of the Gemara. He argued that the Sages never complimented Ben Tzitzit for his practices about tzitzit strings. They merely pointed out that he was exceedingly wealthy and would spend his funds on pillows for his strings. (Heichalei HaTorah)
Gittin 56
Take a Stand
The Gemara relates the famous story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza was upset that he had been publicly humiliated and that rabbis had witnessed the injustice and had not protested to try and prevent the shaming. As a result, he decided to harm the entire Jewish nation. He went to Rome and told the authorities that the Jews had revolted. They asked him to prove his smear. He told them to send an offering and when the Jews would refuse to offer it as a sacrifice on the Altar it would prove that the Jews were in revolt against Rome. The Romans sent a calf. As it was being brought to Jerusalem, Bar Kamtza blemished it with a mum that the gentiles do not consider a disqualification. When the animal was presented to the Kohanim they wished to offer it despite its blemish since they knew the Romans would be upset if it would not be offered. Rabbi Zecharya Ben Avkulas protested. “If we offer such a sacrifice, people might think that a blemished animal can be offered as a korban.” The Kohanim then proposed to kill Bar Kamtza so that he would not report the Jews as rebels. Rabbi Zecharya Ben Avkulas again protested. “People will say that one who puts a blemish on a sacrifice is to be killed.” As a result, the Kohanim neither offered the sacrifice nor did they kill Bar Kamtza. Rav Yochanan taught, “anvatanuto shel Rabi Zecharya Ben Avkulas hechrivah et beiteinu vesarfah et heichaleinu vehiglitanu mei’artzeinu —The humility of Rabbi Zecharya Ben Avkulas destroyed our Temple, burned our sanctuary and exiled us from our land.” Why did Rav Yochanan characterize the behavior of Rabi Zecharya as humility? Isn’t humility a positive attribute of the righteous?
Maharitz Chayot explains that sometimes extreme circumstances demand a suspension of usual Jewish law. This is called Hora’at Sha’ah, a ruling for the moment. Suspending normal rules is fraught with danger. People might permanently forget the rules. Only the greatest giants of Torah are entitled to issue Hora’at Sha’ah rulings. Only the giants will correctly limit such dispensations and only giants can determine that the times call for extreme measures. Based on Hora’at Sha’ah calculations, there was room to either offer the blemished animal or to kill Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza could have been considered a pursuer who was endangering the nation. To maintain good relations with powerful gentile rulers, prohibitions, such as the law not to offer a blemished animal, may be violated. Rabbi Zecharya Ben Avkulas himself advanced these arguments. However, when it was time to actually decide, Rabbi Zecharya invoked humility. He argued that he was not a giant. He was not capable of carrying the burden of making a Hora’at Sha’ah. He did not believe in himself and his abilities. This humility was tragic. Since he refused to allow a Hora’at Sha’ah, the Temple was lost. When the stakes are high, we must make a decision; excess humility can destroy everything.
Rabbi Zev Reichman teaches Daf Yomi in his shul, East Hill Synagogue, 255 Walnut Street, Englewood, NJ, at 5:35 a.m. Monday and Thursday, at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 7:45 on Sunday mornings.
By Rabbi Zev Reichman
