Today's Learning Ketubot 7:8-9 Sponsored by O.C. 178:5-7 Marcia Goodman Sanhedrin 40 and family Yerushalmi-- in memory of father and grandfather Yevamot 28 Yehuda Zvi ben Shalom Halevi A"H Rabbi and Mrs. Sam Vogel on the engagement of their daughter Yonina to Danny Kaplan Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Behar Vol. IX, No. 32 (416), 20 Iyar 5755, May 20, 1995 In this week's parashah we read that if an impoverished person sells himself as a slave, his family has the right--indeed, the obligation--to buy his freedom. Rav Yitzchak Blazer ("Reb Itzele Peterburger") zatz'l writes that if one is obligated to redeem another from physical slavery, how much more so must one help one who is the slave of his yetzer hara, the "evil inclination." Of course, Reb Itzele notes, there is a difference between these two mitzvot. If you buy a slave's freedom, he is free. Not so is freeing someone from his yetzer hara; there, only the "slave" himself can take that final step. Regarding that step, Rabbenu Yonah writes in Sha'arei Teshuvah that failure to repent is an immense sin. The midrash likens this to a prisoner who is placed in a cell which has a tunnel dug to the outside world. The stupidity of the prisoner who does not flee is beyond description. (Kochvei Ohr) ************************************ "And I shall direct My blessing to you in the sixth year. . ." (25:21) The Torah promises an extra abundance in the produce of the sixth year in order to aid in observing shemittah (the sabbatical year). Yet Chazal tell us that the mitzvah of shemittah was neglected during most of the first Temple era. How, Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman zatz'l asks, could people have failed to see the sign which G-d sent every year before the shemittah? The very last pasuk in the Torah refers to the miracles "which Moshe did before the eyes of Yisrael." Ramban states that not all of Moshe's miracles were done in the presence of the Jewish people. However, because Moshe had prepared the people and taught them how to recognize a miracle, everything he did subsequently was "before the eyes of Yisrael." Rav Ruderman explains based on this Ramban that if you do not look for the miracle or the sign, you will not see it. This is why the miracle of the "sixth year" did not move the Jews to observe the shemittah. We see, similarly, that Yehoshua cursed the man who would rebuild the city of Yericho that he would "pay" for the foundation with the life of his oldest son and he would complete the construction with the death of his youngest son, and although this curse was fulfilled to the last detail, one man persisted in building and never realized that Yehoshua's curse was being fulfilled before his eyes. He just was not looking. (Sichot Levi) ************************************ Thirty three hundred six years ago today, our ancestors left Har Sinai, where they had camped for almost 12 months, and where they had received the Torah. Strangely, the Midrash Yelamdenu criticizes Bnei Yisrael, saying that they left Har Sinai like children running from school. Can this be? Doesn't the Torah tell us (Bemidbar 10:11) that G-d commanded Bnei Yisrael to travel? Rav Noson Zvi Finkel (the "Alter" of Slobodka) zatz'l suggests that Chazal's criticism of Bnei Yisrael was not for the act of traveling but for the feelings with which they traveled. Although they left Har Sinai for the noblest of reasons, they should have felt some regret over leaving Har Sinai. However, they did not; in some measure, however small, they were glad to leave the place where they had learned so much Torah. Bnei Yisrael's experience is relevant to each of us: Few people are able to study Torah all day; livelihoods must be earned and families raised. However, when one must close his sefarim (books) and devote time to other endeavors, it should be done with regret, not like a child fleeing from school. (Ohr Haztafun; Lekav Tov, p.93) ************************************ Pirkei Avot The following thoughts on Pirkei Avot are from the recently published Katit La'maor, by Rav Avraham Pinso (see page 4): "Rabbi Meir said: 'Minimize your involvement in commerce ("esek") and study Torah'." (4:6) This can be understood in light of the gemara (Avodah Zarah 19b) which promises that if one studies Torah with the proper intentions, his investments will prosper on their own. It does appear superficially that this is not the case, but we cannot gage a person's inner motivations, and we therefore do not know whether he really deserves this blessing. Also, a person may study Torah with the purest of intentions, but forfeit this promise because of his sins. This is the likely explanation any time we see that a promise of the Torah is not fulfilled. "Do not focus on the pitcher but on its contents." (4:20) This is an allusion to the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. It looks like an earthenware jar, something of little value. In fact, however, it is filled with the sweetest wine. How so? We think of the yetzer hara as a pest. We are constantly fighting with the yetzer hara, trying to do good and to please Hashem. For doing so, we earn our places in the World-to-Come. But without the challenge which the yetzer hara presents, we would never earn that reward. ************************************ "Rabbi Shimon says, 'There are three crowns--the crown of Torah, the crown of royalty, and the crown of the priesthood--and the crown of a good name is above all of them'." (4:13) Then aren't there four crowns? asks Rav Nachum Mordechai Friedman (the "Tchortkover Rebbe") zatz'l. He explains that the "crown of a good name" is not a separate distinction, but is the "crown jewel" of the other crowns. All of the Torah, royalty, and priestliness in the world are worthless if their master does not earn a good name as well. (Doreish Tov p. 197) ************************************ Gedolim of Bosnia The 22nd of Iyar this week marks the 154th yahrzeit of Rav Chaim Daniel Shlomo (known by the acronym "Chadash"). He was one of several distinguished rabbis to came out of Bosnia in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rav Chadash was the author of Shem Chadash, a commentary on the Sefer Yereim of Rav Eliezer of Metz. Rav Chadash settled in Yerushalayim in 1801, and was one of the leading rabbis and kabbalists of the city for four decades. The father of Rav Chadash was Rav Avraham Pinso, Chief Rabbi of Sarajevo at the end of the 18th century. He was the author of several works on halachah, derashot (sermons), and aggadah. Rav Avraham also conducted a yeshiva in Sarajevo, until he too settled in Yerushalayim in 1801. During a trip to Livorno, Italy, Rav Avraham became acquainted with the Chida (Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai), and he quotes Chida extensively in his work Katit La'maor, which was published for the first time this year. During Rav Avraham's tenure as rabbi--as so often in Bosnia's history--that land was ravaged by war. This was part of a long- standing rivalry between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire for control of the Balkan peninsula. As is so often the case, the Jews were among the primary victims of the frustration of the retreating armies. Not until 1790, when the Austrian Emperor died (and thus, the war ended), did the Jews find some peace. Rav Avraham's teacher was the famous Rav David Pardo, author of numerous works, of which the best known probably is Maskil L'david. Rav David also ended his days in Yerushalayim. An earlier rabbi of Sarajevo was Rav Zvi Ashkenazi (died 5 Iyar 1718), whose biography has appeared previously in Hamaayan. He is known as the Chacham Zvi, and was the father of Rav Yaakov Emden. Rav Zvi was a native of Budapest, and he found himself in Sarajevo as a refugee from an earlier Austrian-Turkish war. In his responsa (ch. 168), he addresses a question which came before him when he visited Belgrade (the capital of neighboring Serbia) in 1679. (The question was whether a nazirite may lead birkat hamazon, since he should not hold the cup of wine.) ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible.