Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 8th, 2024

Continuing our study of the Gemara’s approach to contradictory statements, let us review the dispute between Ben Nanes and the Sages. If there is a discrepancy in the statements of a seller, where their first clause indicates approximation, and the second clause indicates specificity, or vice versa, Ben Nanes holds that we follow his last statement and the Sages hold that we choose the more conservative meaning within the contradiction. Tha …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 7th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses how to resolve discrepancies in the statements of a seller, where the seller’s first clause indicates approximation, and the second clause indicates specificity, or vice versa. For example, if the seller says to the buyer: “I am selling you a plot of land of a certain size measured precisely with a rope more or less”, thereby attaching to the sale two contradictory stipulations. Or if the seller …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 6th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes the verse that describes the Biblically mandated process of redeeming a field that one declared hekdesh (consecrating it for the Temple treasury). It is redeemed according to a standardized scale of fifty shekels of silver per an area fit to sow a ḥomer of barley.   Mei HaShiloach (Volume II, Leviticus, Bechukosai) wonders about the purpose of this process. Why would the Torah enshrine a process of the owner …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 4th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph and Tosafos discuss the restrictions on disinterring and disturbing the dead.   There are various reasons offered for this prohibition. The Gemara later on (154a) implies that exposing the decomposed body to viewing eyes is disrespectful of the body, and the person who once occupied it. Gesher Chaim (26:10), based on a Yerushalmi, rules that even if the body is fully decomposed and so there is no rot, it is inherentl …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 4th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis tries to figure out how to properly allocate and position the number of graves described in the Mishna, and reconcile it within the stated dimensions of this space. One idea that was considered was that some bodies were buried standing up. The Gemara firmly rejects this as absurd, since this would be a disgraceful manner to lay a corpse. The Gemara declares:   This is like a burial of donkeys and is disrespectful. &nb …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 3rd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis describes the right of a king to appropriate passageways through private property:   The Mishna teaches: A king’s thoroughfare has no maximum measure. The Gemara explains: This is because the halakha is that a king may breach (poretz) the fence of an individual in order to create a thoroughfare for himself, and none may protest his actions.   The Hebrew word for this domain expansion is “poretz” …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 2nd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud aleph discusses contradictory verses regarding where the Cherubs on the Holy Ark faced, acting as a bellwether of God’s pleasure or disappointment with the Jewish nation:    How were the cherubs standing? Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Elazar disagree about this. One says: Their faces were turned one toward the other. And one says: Their faces were turned toward the House, i.e., the Sanctuary. The Gemara asks: But ac …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

October 1st, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Alephs comments on the relational consequences of arrogance:   One who is haughty is not accepted even by the members of his household, as it is stated: “The haughty man abides not” (Habakkuk 2:5). What does the phrase “abides [yinveh] not” mean? It means that even in his abode [naveh], he is not accepted.   Pesach Einayim wonders: If so, why do we see women who are attracted to a man specifica …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 30th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses processes of wine production and sedimentation. According to some traditions, it was actually wine that was the forbidden fruit of theTree of Knowledge. Bereishis Rabbah (19:5) tells us that Chava squeezed a grape bunch and gave Adam to drink from it.   Note that the Midrash does not say, “gave him to eat from the grapes”, instead it says “squeezed the grapes and gave him to drink wine&rdqu …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 29th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses a principle of Oenology, which has halachic and metaphysical implications:   דאמר רבא: כל חמרא דלא דרי על חד תלת מיא – לאו חמרא הוא   Rava said: Any wine that does not contain three parts water to one part pure wine is not regarded as wine, as it is excessively strong.   In those days, the original wine mixture was so potent, that when they actually dran …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 27th, 2024

Our Gemara on this daf discussed wine that begins to become vinegary, and at what point does it lose its status of wine. In such a case, the blessing might revert from “Hagafen - He who creates the fruit of the vine” back to “Shehakol”, the universal blessing that one makes for foods that do not grow or have a specific status, drinks, meat, and other items.  Food items that have distinction or unique status tend to ge …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 27th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses an interesting psychological and legal phenomenon. There are certain thresholds of defects or deficiencies in a purchased item which are tolerated, if not expected. Therefore, while one is not allowed to deliberately adulterate grains or beans, if a minor and typical amount of dirt, sediment or pebbles etc are found in the mixture, the buyer has no recourse. Furthermore, if he finds the product to have an amount …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 26th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses an interesting protocol from Talmudic times:   עוד מנהג גדול היה בירושלים – מפה פרוסה על גבי הפתח; כל זמן שמפה פרוסה – אורחין נכנסין. נסתלקה המפה – אין האורחין נכנסין.   The baraisa continues: Another great custom that was followed in Jerusalem was that when one made a feast, there would be a clo …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 25th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses a case in which a buyer and seller are in dispute over if the purchased ox was sold for labor purposes or for slaughter. The difference being, that if it was found to be an unruly ox known to gore, the purchase would be deemed under false pretenses and be refunded. However, the seller maintains that he sold the ox under the presumption that it was for slaughter, thus the ox’s nature is irrelevant, and the p …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 24th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses famine conditions that could allow a person to leave Eretz Yisroel:   תנו רבנן: אין יוצאין מארץ לחוץ לארץ, אלא אם כן עמדו סאתים בסלע. אמר רבי שמעון: אימתי – בזמן שאינו מוצא ליקח, אבל בזמן שמוצא ליקח – אפילו עמדה סאה בסלע, לא יצא.   The Sages taught: One may not leave Eretz Y …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 23rd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the different efforts of the Amoraim, Shmuel’s father and Shmuel himself to prevent hoarding, price manipulation and gouging in the marketplace. Interestingly, with good intentions, they employed opposite strategies. The Gemara also commented on whose intervention was more effective:   אבוה דשמואל מזבין להו לפירי בתרעא חרפא, כתרעא חרפא. שמואל בריה, מש …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 22nd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the moral obligation to be absolutely scrupulous when it comes to honest weights and measures. This obligation and prohibition extends to the degree that one is not even allowed to have an accurate measures around the house, despite using them for other purposes, with no intention to defraud anybody:   A person may not keep in his house a measure that is too small or too large, even if it is used as a chambe …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 20th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the extraordinary integrity of Rabbi Safrah. His standard of honesty was so high, that even if he only resolved in his mind to make a sale at a certain price, he would stick with his inner resolution, despite the buyer revealing that he would be willing to pay more. This kind of practice is considered one of many ways that a person “speaks the truth in his heart.”   The idea of “speaking t …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 20th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the practice of making sure that no significant amount of liquid is left behind in the seller’s vessel, to be scrupulously honest:   Anyone who sells wine, oil, or similar liquids is obligated, after he transfers the liquid into the buyer’s vessel, to drip for him three extra drops from the measure.    There is also an aggadic instance of three drops in the Talmud (Menachos 29a):  …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 19th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the principle of Kim Ley Bederabbah Mineh. If one violates two prohibitions simultaneously, he is only liable for the more severe penalty of the two, but not both. For example:   If one stole a wallet on shabbos but did not lift the purse but instead dragged it on the ground, exiting the private domain and going into a public domain, he is exempt from financial penalty. The prohibition of performing labor o …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 18th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph continues discussing rules of acquisitions. An animal that can be acquired by pulling it into an area that is in his possession, but not by merely pulling it into an area that is not under his ownership. Panim Yafos (Matos) uses this Halacha to explain an anomalous feature of the spoils of war from the Biblical battle with Midyan (Bamidbar 31). In other Biblical wars, the soldiers were allowed to keep the booty, unless de …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 17th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses that during the day, the Sun appears white, while in the morning and evening it has a reddish hue. What are the suggested causes?   In the morning it becomes red as it passes over the site of the roses of the Garden of Eden, whose reflections give the light a red hue. In the evening the Sun turns red because it passes over the entrance of Gehenna, whose fires redden the light. And there are those who say th …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 16th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses various forms of overcharging and undercharging, and thresholds that would invalidate the sale. The Chofetz Chaim in Laws of Rechilus (9) discusses conditions under which it would be permitted to alert a purchaser who might have been taken advantage of by an unscrupulous merchant. One of the key criteria is that the disparaging information should serve a constructive and concrete purpose. Therefore, it would neve …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 15th, 2024

Our Gemara on amud aleph discusses the conundrum of declaring bikkurim and reciting the appropriate ritual, even if those particular offerings may not actually be first fruits:   What is objectionable about reciting verses from the Torah even if they aren’t bikkurim? Rav Ashi said to him: The problem is due to the fact that this practice has the appearance of falsehood, because he issues a declaration before God that is possibly untrue …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 13th, 2024

Our Gemara on amud beis reports that one sage rebuked another for asking him a question about a subject that he was not familiar with, as this causes unnecessary embarrassment. Rambam (Laws of Sales14:14) codifies this as a form of ona’as devarim hurtful speech. Magid Mishna (ibid) refers to our Gemara as the source. Sefer Chassidim (972) takes this moral sensitivity even further: If someone knows himself to be renowned as sharp-minded, he …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 13th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the sale of pigeons produced from a dove coop: The buyer must leave the first pair of doves from the brood for the seller. The reason that an extra pair of doves must be left behind is to ensure that the first brood will not fly away. The Gemara also rules that the buyer must also leave a second pair from the brood of the children. The Gemara questions this logic: If the reason is that she is attached to her dau …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 12th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph uses a play on words from a verse (Numbers 21:30) to describe the fate of the sinner who denies that God will hold him accountable: ונשים עד־נפח אשר עד־מידבא  We have wrought desolation at Nophah, which is by Medva The name of this place, Medva, also is a pun indicating that God will eventually bring justice and “do as He pleases.” (“Ad De-Baiy”, in Aramaic means “w …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 11th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes a certain saddle used for women, known as a Kumni, which presumably functioned in a manner that allowed a woman to ride side-saddle and more modestly.  This brings to mind the famous Rashi (Shemos 28:4) that describes the form of the Ephod. The Ephod was one of the garments that the high priest wore, composed of cloth and had the breastplate attached to it. Apparently, there is no explicit teaching about wh …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 10th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis rules that ein matbeya nikneh be-chalifin coinage cannot be acquired via chalifin (a legal symbol exchange of a minor object, that in Jewish law, affirms an agreement or acquisition of property or goods.) We can intuitively understand why this might be so. Money is symbolic, especially paper money, as it has no intrinsic worth. In ancient times, when a precious metal was used, there was some actual value to the coin, based …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 9th, 2024

There are certain conventions in the Talmud that are difficult for the new learner to comprehend. Frankly, they would be difficult for many seasoned lamdanim as well, but after years and years of seeing the same phrase being used, I suspect that some have ceased to become curious or troubled by it. Yet, I am unsure if they became particularly wiser as to what it means and how it works – just more accepting of it. One of the most troubling c …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 8th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph teaches us about the end times:   וְאָמַר רַבָּה אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: עָתִיד הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַעֲשׂוֹת סוּכָּה לַצַּדִּיקִים מֵעוֹרוֹ שֶׁל לִוְיָתָן,    And Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will prepare a sukka for the righteous from the sk …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 6th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes the visions of Rabbah Bar Hanna. In one of them he sees Mount Sinai and scorpions were encircling it. He heard a Divine Voice saying: Woe is Me that I took an oath; and now that I took the oath, who will nullify it for me? When he reported this vision to the sages, they rebuked him: You should have said to God: Your oath is nullified. The Gemara explains: Rabba bar bar Ḥana did not nullify the oath because he …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 5th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph delineates the parts of a boat that are included, and those not included in a sale. One part is the anchor, in Hebrew the word is igun. The Mishna gives a proof text from what Na’ami told Rus and Arpah, to discourage them from a quixotic return with her. She says (Rus 1:13): הלהן תשברנה עד אשר יגדלו הלהן תעגנה לבלתי היות לאיש  [Even if I had children in old age] should …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 5th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph continues the sugya of ayin yaffa, that certain sales and/or gifts are done with a generous spirit which implies that certain extras may be included in the sale or gift. As we have seen in other blogposts, the idea of a gift of being given generously with extras also applies to spiritual gifts. Siach Sarfei Kodesh (Erev Shabbos Kodesh) uses this principal to explain an unusual phrase in the Shabbos morning Amidah. We say: …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 4th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph continues the sugya of ayin yaffa, that certain sales and/or gifts are done with a generous spirit which implies that certain extras may be included in the sale or gift. As we have seen in other blogposts, the idea of a gift of being given generously with extras also applies to spiritual gifts.   Siach Sarfei Kodesh (Erev Shabbos Kodesh) uses this principal to explain an unusual phrase in the Shabbos morning Amidah. …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 3rd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis describes a legal loophole, that allows for something akin to charging interest, which is normally forbidden. It is the framework on which modern day heterei iskas are formulated. Without going into the legal technicalities, we must ask ourselves is it moral to take advantage of a loophole. But in order to answer that, we must ask ourselves what is the function of a loophole.   Law is confining and constricting. It do …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 2nd, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis offers a proof text for the concept of field boundaries within a sale  from the biblical story of Avraham’s purchase of the Ma’aras Hamachpela cave from Efron (Bereishis 23:17). וַיָּ֣קׇם  שְׂדֵ֣ה עֶפְר֗וֹן אֲשֶׁר֙ בַּמַּכְפֵּלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י מַמְרֵ֑א הַשָּׂדֶה֙ וְהַמְּעָרָ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־בּ֔וֹ ו …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

September 1st, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Beis quotes a verse in Iyov to prove the definition of a particular word known as “Shelachim”, which seems to be certain kinds of fields irrigated by water.   Who gives rain upon the earth and sends [sholeaḥ] waters upon the fields” (Job 5:10)   The Gemara (Ta’anis 10a) uses the same verse to draw a distinction between how the land of Israel is supported by rain versus other lands:   Ere …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

August 30th, 2024

Our Gemara on on Amud Aleph discusses circumstances, under which an act to  signify acquisition and legal title of one field that is being sold automatically enacts an acquisition of other fields within the sale as well.   If one sold another ten fields in ten different regions, all in a single bill of sale, once he takes possession of one of them, he has acquired them all; and the two cases seem to be analogous.    The Gemara …
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Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

August 30th, 2024

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes a series of verses that describe the unfortunate and complex situation of Yonasan, who due to the deprivations of battle, was starving and took a taste from honey he had found in the forest. Unbeknownst to him, his father King Shaul, had decreed a Fast upon the troops so that they repent and merit divine assistance. Effectively, he had violated his command and was subject to the death penalty. King Shaul, under tre …
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