Torah Reading
Emor (Leviticus 21:1 Adonai said to Moshe, “Speak to the cohanim, the sons of Aharon; tell them: ‘No cohen is to make himself unclean for any of his people who dies, 2 except for his close relatives — his mother, father, son, daughter and brother; 3 he may also make himself unclean for his virgin sister who has never married and is therefore dependent on him. 4 He may not make himself unclean, because he is a leader among his people; doing so would profane him. 5 Cohanim are not to make bald spots on their heads, mar the edges of their beards or cut gashes in their flesh. 6 Rather, they are to be holy for their God and not profane the name of their God. For they are the ones who present Adonai with offerings made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they must be holy.
Today's Laws & Customs:
7 “‘A cohen is not to marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has been profaned or who has been divorced; because he is holy for his God. 8 Rather, you are to set him apart as holy, because he offers the bread of your God; he is to be holy for you, because I, Adonai, who makes you holy, am holy. 9 The daughter of a cohen who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she is to be put to death by fire.
10 “‘The cohen who is ranked highest among his brothers, the one on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who is consecrated to put on the garments, is not to stop grooming his hair, tear his clothes, 11 go in to where any dead body is or make himself unclean, even when his father or mother dies. 12 He may not leave the sanctuary then or profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Adonai.
13 “‘He is to marry a virgin; 14 he may not marry a widow, divorcee, profaned woman or prostitute; but he must marry a virgin from among his own people 15 and not disqualify his descendants among his people; because I am Adonai, who makes him holy.’”
(ii) 16 Adonai said to Moshe, 17 “Tell Aharon, ‘None of your descendants who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 No one with a defect may approach — no one blind, lame, with a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 a broken foot or a broken arm, 20 a hunched back, stunted growth, a cataract in his eye, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles — 21 no one descended from Aharon the cohen who has such a defect may approach to present the offerings for Adonai made by fire; he has a defect and is not to approach to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both the especially holy and the holy; 23 only he is not to go in to the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a defect — so that he will not profane my holy places, because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”
24 Moshe said these things to Aharon, his sons and all the people of Isra’el.
22:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell Aharon and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Isra’el which they set apart as holy for me, so that they will not profane my holy name; I am Adonai. 3 Tell them, ‘Any descendant of yours through all your generations who approaches the holy things that the people of Isra’el consecrate to Adonai and is unclean will be cut off from before me; I am Adonai.
4 “‘Any descendant of Aharon with tzara‘at or a discharge is not to eat the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who has touched a person made unclean by a dead body, or who has had a seminal emission, 5 or who has touched a reptile or insect that can make him unclean, or a man who is unclean for any reason and who can transmit to him his uncleanness — 6 the person who touches any of these will be unclean until evening and is not to eat the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. 7 After sunset he will be clean; and afterwards, he may eat the holy things; because they are his food. 8 But he is not to eat anything that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals and thereby make himself unclean; I am Adonai. 9 The cohanim must observe this charge of mine; otherwise, if they profane it, they will bear the consequences of their sin for doing so and die in it; I am Adonai, who makes them holy.
10 “‘No one who is not a cohen may eat anything holy, nor may a tenant or employee of a cohen eat anything holy. 11 But if a cohen acquires a slave, either through purchase or through his being born in his household, he may share his food. 12 If the daughter of a cohen is married to a man who is not a cohen, she is not to have a share of the food set aside from the holy things. 13 But if the daughter of a cohen is a widow or divorcee and has no child, and she is sent back to her father’s house as when she was young, she may share in her father’s food; but no one not a cohen is to share in it. 14 If a person eats holy food by mistake, he must add one-fifth to it and give the holy food to the cohen. 15 They are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra’el that they have set apart for Adonai 16 and thus cause them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their holy things; because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”
(iii) 17 Adonai said to Moshe, 18 “Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Isra’el; tell them: ‘When anyone, whether a member of the house of Isra’el or a foreigner living in Isra’el, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to Adonai as a burnt offering, 19 in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats. 20 You are not to bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted from you. 21 Whoever brings a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai in fulfillment of a vow or as a voluntary offering, whether it come from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished and without defect in order to be accepted. 22 If it is blind, injured, mutilated, has an abnormal growth or has festering or running sores, you are not to offer it to Adonai or make such an offering by fire on the altar to Adonai. 23 If a bull or lamb has a limb which is too long or short, you may offer it as a voluntary offering; but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 An animal with bruised, crushed, torn or cut genitals you are not to offer to Adonai. You are not to do these things in your land, 25 and you are not to receive any of these from a foreigner for you to offer as bread for your God, because their deformity is a defect in them — they will not be accepted from you.’”
26 Adonai said to Moshe, 27 “When a bull, sheep or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days; but from the eighth day on, it may be accepted for an offering made by fire to Adonai. 28 However, no animal is to be slaughtered together with its young on the same day, neither cow nor ewe.
29 “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Adonai, you must do it in a way such that you will be accepted. 30 It must be eaten on the same day it is offered; leave none of it till morning; I am Adonai.
31 “You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am Adonai. 32 You are not to profane my holy name; on the contrary, I am to be regarded as holy among the people of Isra’el; I am Adonai, who makes you holy, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Adonai.”
23:1 (iv) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of Adonai which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.
3 “‘Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for Adonai, even in your homes.
4 “‘These are the designated times of Adonai, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times.
5 “‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for Adonai. 6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven days you are to eat matzah. 7 On the first day you are to have a holy convocation; don’t do any kind of ordinary work. 8 Bring an offering made by fire to Adonai for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.’”
9 Adonai said to Moshe, 10 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. 12 On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for Adonai. 13 Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to Adonai as a fragrant aroma; its drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. 14 You are not to eat bread, dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.
15 “‘From the day after the day of rest — that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving — you are to count seven full weeks, 16 until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to Adonai. 17 You must bring bread from your homes for waving — two loaves made with one gallon of fine flour, baked with leaven — as firstfruits for Adonai. 18 Along with the bread, present seven lambs without defect one year old, one young bull and two rams; these will be a burnt offering for Adonai, with their grain and drink offerings, an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. 19 Offer one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The cohen will wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before Adonai, with the two lambs; these will be holy for Adonai for the cohen. 21 On the same day, you are to call a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.
22 “‘When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don’t harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don’t gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God.’”
(v) 23 Adonai said to Moshe, 24 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. 25 Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai.’”
26 Adonai said to Moshe, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai. 28 You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before Adonai your God. 29 Anyone who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people; 30 and anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. 31 You are not to do any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. 32 It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”
(vi) 33 Adonai said to Moshe, 34 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to Adonai. 35 On the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. 36 For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work.
37 “‘These are the designated times of Adonai that you are to proclaim as holy convocations and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai — a burnt offering, a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, each on its own day — 38 besides the Shabbats of Adonai, your gifts, all your vows and all your voluntary offerings that you give to Adonai.
39 “‘But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. 40 On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days. 41 You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. 42 You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, 43 so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.’”
44 Thus Moshe announced to the people of Isra’el the designated times of Adonai.
24:1 (vii) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Order the people of Isra’el to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, to keep lamps burning always. 3 Outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aharon is to arrange for the light to be kept burning always from evening until morning before Adonai ; this is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations. 4 He is always to keep in order the lamps on the pure menorah before Adonai.
5 “You are to take fine flour and use it to bake twelve loaves, one gallon per loaf. 6 Arrange them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure table before Adonai. 7 Put frankincense with each row to be an offering made by fire to Adonai in place of the bread and as a reminder of it. 8 Regularly, every Shabbat, he is to arrange them before Adonai ; they are from the people of Isra’el, as a covenant forever. 9 They will belong to Aharon and his sons; and they are to eat them in a holy place; because for him they are, of the offerings for Adonai made by fire, especially holy. This is a permanent law.”
10 There was a man who was the son of a woman of Isra’el and an Egyptian father. He went out among the people of Isra’el, and this son of a woman of Isra’el had a fight in the camp with a man of Isra’el, 11 in the course of which the son of the woman of Isra’el uttered the Name [Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh] in a curse. So they brought him to Moshe. (His mother’s name was Shlomit the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 They put him under guard until Adonai would tell them what to do. 13 Adonai said to Moshe, 14 “Take the man who cursed outside the camp, have everyone who heard him lay their hands on his head, and have the entire community stone him. 15 Then tell the people of Isra’el, ‘Whoever curses his God will bear the consequences of his sin; 16 and whoever blasphemes the name of Adonai must be put to death; the entire community must stone him. The foreigner as well as the citizen is to be put to death if he blasphemes the Name.
17 “‘Anyone who strikes another person and kills him must be put to death. 18 Anyone who strikes an animal and kills it is to make restitution, life for life. 19 If someone injures his neighbor, what he did is to be done to him — 20 break for break, eye for eye, tooth for tooth — whatever injury he has caused the other person is to be rendered to him in return. (Maftir) 21 He who kills an animal is to make restitution, but he who kills another person is to be put to death. 22 You are to apply the same standard of judgment to the foreigner as to the citizen, because I am Adonai your God.”
23 So Moshe spoke to the people of Isra’el, and they took the man who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him to death. Thus the people of Isra’el did as Adonai had ordered Moshe.)
• Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter 4
In preparation for the festival of Shavuot, we study one of the six chapters of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") on the afternoon of each of the six Shabbatot between Passover and Shavuot; this week we study Chapter Four. (In many communities -- and such is the Chabad custom -- the study cycle is repeated through the summer, until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.)
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 4
• Count "Thirty-Six Days to the Omer" Tonight
Tomorrow is the thirty-sixth day of the Omer Count. Since, on the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall of the previous evening, we count the omer for tomorrow's date tonight, after nightfall: "Today is thirty-six days, which are five weeks and one day, to the Omer." (If you miss the count tonight, you can count the omer all day tomorrow, but without the preceding blessing).
The 49-day "Counting of the Omer" retraces our ancestors' seven-week spiritual journey from the Exodus to Sinai. Each evening we recite a special blessing and count the days and weeks that have passed since the Omer; the 50th day isShavuot, the festival celebrating the Giving of the Torah at Sinai.
Tonight's Sefirah: Chessed sheb'Yesod -- "Kindness in Connection"
The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are seven "Divine Attributes" --Sefirot -- that G-d assumes through which to relate to our existence: Chessed,Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut ("Love", "Strength", "Beauty", "Victory", "Splendor", "Foundation" and "Sovereignty"). In the human being, created in the "image of G-d," the seven sefirot are mirrored in the seven "emotional attributes" of the human soul: Kindness, Restraint, Harmony, Ambition, Humility, Connection and Receptiveness. Each of the seven attributes contain elements of all seven--i.e., "Kindness in Kindness", "Restraint in Kindness", "Harmony in Kindness", etc.--making for a total of forty-nine traits. The 49-day Omer Count is thus a 49-step process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection of one the forty-nine "sefirot."
Links:
How to count the Omer
The deeper significance of the Omer Count
Today in Jewish History:
• Journey From Mount Sinai (1312 BCE)
On the 20th of Iyar 2449 (1312 BCE)--nearly a year after the Giving of the Torahon Mount Sinai--the Children of Israel departed their encampment near the Mountain. They resumed their journey when the pillar of cloud rose for the first time from over the "Tabernacle--the divine sign that would signal the resumption of their travels throughout their encampments and journeys over the next 38 years, until they reached the eastern bank of the Jordan River on the eve of their entry into the Holy Land.
Links: The Israelites' Journey through the Desert
• Troyes Jews Burned at Stake (1288)
On the 20th of Iyar in 1288, thirteen Jews in Troyes, France, were burned at the stake by the Inquisition. They were accused, in a blood libel, of the supposed murder of a Christian child. The thirteen Jews were chosen from among the richer members of the community.
Jews were also killed in a blood libel in Neuchatel, Switzerland, on this date.
• Venice Jews Forbidden to Practice Law (1637)
The Jews of Venice, Italy, were forbidden to practice law or to act as advocates in the Courts of Venice on the 20th of Iyar of 1637.
• Mt. Scopus Hospital (1939)
The Hadassah University Hospital and Medical Center was opened on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem. The hospital, designed by renowned Bauhaus architect Erich Mendelssohn, opened as a modern, 300-bed academic medical facility.
• Pregnant Women Sentenced to Death (1942)
In the ghetto of Kovno, the Nazis decreed the execution of all pregnant Jewish women.
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Emor, 7th Portion Leviticus 24:1-24:23 with Rashi
• Chapter 24
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, אוַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
2Command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually. בצַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית לַמָּאוֹר לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר תָּמִיד:
Command the children of Israel [and they shall take to you pure olive oil… to kindle the lamps continually]: This is the passage of the commandment of the lamps, and the passage [that begins with] “And you will command…” (Exod. 27:20-21) was stated only in context of describing the construction of the Mishkan, i.e., stating the necessity of the menorah. And the meaning [of that passage] is: “You will eventually command the children of Israel regarding this” [namely, here in our passage]. צו את בני ישראל: זו פרשת מצות הנרות. ופרשת ואתה תצוה לא נאמרה אלא על סדר מלאכת המשכן לפרש צורך המנורה. וכן משמע, ואתה סופך לצוות את בני ישראל על כך:
pure olive oil: Three [grades of] oil are extracted from an olive: The first [drop of oil that the olive issues after crushing] is called זָךְ, “pure,” [and is used for the menorah; the second and third oils that result from grinding are used for the meal offerings]. These [grades of oil] are enumerated in Tractate Men. (86a) and in Torath Kohanim (24: 210). שמן זית זך: שלשה שמנים יוצאים מן הזית, הראשון קרוי זך, והן מפורשים במנחות (פט א) ובתורת כהנים:
continually: Heb. תָּמִיד. From [one] night to the next [i.e., even though it was to burn only until the morning-see verse 3-it was continual (תָּמִיד) in that it was to be lit each night]. This is similar to the continual burnt offering (עוֹלַת תָּמִיד) which was only from day to day, [as in Num. 28:18]. תמיד: מלילה ללילה, כמו עולת תמיד שאינה אלא מיום ליום:
3Outside the dividing curtain of the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron shall set it up before the Lord from evening to morning continually. [This shall be] an eternal statute for your generations. גמִחוּץ לְפָרֹכֶת הָעֵדֻת בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד יַעֲרֹךְ אֹתוֹ אַהֲרֹן מֵעֶרֶב עַד בֹּקֶר לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה תָּמִיד חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם:
the dividing curtain of the testimony: which was situated in front of the ark, which was called “the Testimony (הָעֵדֻת).” And our Rabbis expounded [that the הָעֵדֻת alludes to] the western lamp, which was a “testimony (עֵדֻת)” to all the creatures on earth that the Shechinah rested upon Israel, for [the Kohen Gadol] would place into it the same amount of oil he placed into the other lamps, and from it he would begin [the kindling] and with it he would finish [the cleaning, since it continued to burn miraculously until the following evening]. — [Rashi Shab. 22b; Nachalath Ya’akov] לפרכת העדת: שלפני הארון, שהוא קרוי עדות. ורבותינו דרשו על נר מערבי, שהוא עדות לכל באי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל, שנותן בה שמן כמדת חברותיה וממנה היה מתחיל ובה היה מסיים:
Aaron shall set it up from evening to morning: He shall set it up in such a way that it has enough [oil] for it to burn for the entire night. And our Sages estimated [this amount to be] half a log for each lamp. This [amount] is sufficient even for the [long, winter] nights of the Teveth season. And this measure became fixed for them [i.e., for the lights even during the shorter, summer nights]. — [Mizrachi; Men. 89a] יערך אתו אהרן מערב עד בקר: יערוך אותו עריכה הראויה למדת כל הלילה, ושיערו חכמים חצי לוג לכל נר ונר, והן כדאי אף ללילי תקופת טבת, ומדה זו הוקבעה להם:
4Upon the pure menorah, he shall set up the lamps, before the Lord, continually. דעַל הַמְּנֹרָה הַטְּהֹרָה יַעֲרֹךְ אֶת הַנֵּרוֹת לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה תָּמִיד:
pure menorah: [The menorah] which was [made of] pure gold. Another explanation [for “Upon the pure menorah”] is: [He shall set up the lamps] upon the purity (טָהֳרָהּ) of the menorah, because [before kindling] he would first clean it up (מְטַהֵר) and clear it of ashes [from the previous night’s burning]. — [See Torath Kohanim 24:218] המנרה הטהרה: שהיא זהב טהור. דבר אחר על טהרה של מנורה, שמטהרה ומדשנה תחלה מן האפר:
5And you shall take fine flour and bake it [into] twelve loaves. Each loaf shall be [made from] two tenths [of an ephah of flour]. הוְלָקַחְתָּ סֹלֶת וְאָפִיתָ אֹתָהּ שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה חַלּוֹת שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים יִהְיֶה הַחַלָּה הָאֶחָת:
6And you place them in two stacks, six in each stack, upon the pure table, before the Lord. ווְשַׂמְתָּ אוֹתָם שְׁתַּיִם מַעֲרָכוֹת שֵׁשׁ הַמַּעֲרָכֶת עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן הַטָּהֹר לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה:
six in each stack: שֵׁשׁ הַמַּעֲרֶכֶת, lit. six the stack, six loaves in one stack. שש המערכת: שש חלות המערכה האחת:
upon the pure table: Heb. הַשֻׁלְחָן הַטָהֹר, [the table] of pure gold. Another explanation: upon the top surface (טָהָר) of the table [as in Arabic]. The loaves of bread were thin and thus fragile. Therefore, in order to prevent them from cracking when stacked upon each other, separating racks supported each loaf-except for the very bottom loaf in each stack, which must rest directly “upon the surface of the table (עַל הַשֻׁלְחָן הַטָהֹר),” without any rack intervening between the loaf and the table surface] so that the racks should not [intervene and] raise the [bottom loaf of] bread [in each stack] from [direct contact with] the surface of the table. — [Torath Kohanim 24:225] השלחן הטהר: של זהב טהור. דבר אחר על טהרו של שלחן, שלא יהיו הסניפין מגביהין את הלחם מעל גבי השלחן:
7And you shall place pure frankincense alongside each stack, and it shall be a reminder for the bread, a fire offering to the Lord. זוְנָתַתָּ עַל הַמַּעֲרֶכֶת לְבֹנָה זַכָּה וְהָיְתָה לַלֶּחֶם לְאַזְכָּרָה אִשֶּׁה לַיהֹוָה:
And you shall place…alongside each stack: Heb. וְנָתַתָּ עַל הַמַּעֲרֶכֶת, [lit., “And you shall place (pure frankincense) upon the stack.” Here, the meaning is: And you shall place pure frankincense] alongside each of the two stacks (Sifthei Chachamim, see also, Men. 62a, and 96a, Chok vol. 5, pg. 177, for the opinion of Abba Shaul and Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi). There were two bowls of frankincense, each bowl containing a fist-full (מְלֹא קֹמֶץ). - [See Rashi on Lev. 2:2; Torath Kohanim 24:228] ונתת על המערכת: על כל אחת משתי המערכות היו שני בזיכי לבונה, מלא קומץ לכל אחת:
shall be: [I.e.,] this frankincense [shall be]. והיתה: הלבונה הזאת:
a reminder for the bread: Because nothing of the bread [itself] was offered to the most High [on the altar]. Rather, the frankincense was burned when they removed it on every Sabbath. Thus, the frankincense was a “reminder” for the bread, by which it is “remembered” above, like the fist-full [of flour and oil] which is the reminder for the meal offering. - [see Lev. 2:13] ללחם לאזכרה: שאין מן הלחם לגבוה כלום, אלא הלבונה נקטרת כשמסלקין אותו בכל שבת ושבת. והיא לזכרון ללחם, שעל ידה הוא נזכר למעלה, כקומץ שהוא אזכרה למנחה:
8Each and every Sabbath day, he shall set it up before the Lord [to be there] continuously, from the children of Israel an eternal covenant. חבְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת יַעַרְכֶנּוּ לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה תָּמִיד מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִית עוֹלָם:
9And it shall belong to Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is holy of holies for him, among the fire offerings of the Lord, an eternal statute. טוְהָיְתָה לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו וַאֲכָלֻהוּ בְּמָקוֹם קָדשׁ כִּי קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הוּא לוֹ מֵאִשֵּׁי יְהֹוָה חָק עוֹלָם:
shall belong: Heb. וְהָיְתָה. This meal offering (מִנְחָה, which is feminine) [shall belong]. For [although, strictly speaking, the bread is not the usual “meal offering (מִנְחָה),” it is included in that category, because] any offering that comes from grain falls under the category of a meal offering. והיתה: המנחה הזאת, שכל דבר הבא מן התבואה בכלל מנחה הוא:
and they shall eat it: Heb. וַאֲכָלֻהוּ, [in the masculine gender] referring to the bread (לֶחֶם) , which is in the masculine gender. ואכלהו: מוסב על הלחם, שהוא לשון זכר:
10Now, the son of an Israelite woman and he was the son of an Egyptian man went out among the children of Israel, and they quarreled in the camp this son of the Israelite woman, and an Israelite man. יוַיֵּצֵא בֶּן אִשָּׁה יִשְׂרְאֵלִית וְהוּא בֶּן אִישׁ מִצְרִי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּנָּצוּ בַּמַּחֲנֶה בֶּן הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית וְאִישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִי:
the son of an Israelite woman…went out: From where did he go out? Rabbi Levi says: “He went out of his world” [i.e., he forfeited his share in the World to Come. See Be’er Basadeh , Maskil L’David]. Rabbi Berechiah says: “He went out of the above passage.” He mocked and said, “[Scripture says,] ‘Each… Sabbath day, he shall set it up.’ But surely it is the practice of kings to eat warm [fresh] bread every day! Perhaps cold bread, nine days old?” [he said] in astonishment. [In fact, the bread remained miraculously warm and fresh until it was removed the following week (Chag. 26b).] The Baraitha states: He “went out” of Moses’ tribunal [with a] guilty [verdict. How so?] He had come to pitch his tent within the encampment of the tribe of Dan. So [this tribe] said to him, “What right do you have to be here?” Said he, “I am of the descendants of Dan,” [claiming lineage through his mother, who was from the tribe of Dan (see verse 11)]. They said to him, “[But Scripture states (Num. 2:2): ‘The children of Israel shall encamp] each man by his grouping according to the insignias of his father’s household,’” [thereby refuting his maternal claim]. He entered Moses’ tribunal [where his case was tried], and came out guilty. Then, he arose and blasphemed. — [Vayikra Rabbah 32:3] ויצא בן אשה ישראלית: מהיכן יצא, רבי לוי אומר מעולמו יצא. רבי ברכיה אומר מפרשה שלמעלה יצא. לגלג ואמר ביום השבת יערכנו, דרך המלך לאכול פת חמה בכל יום, או שמא פת צוננת של תשעה ימים, בתמיה. ומתניתא אמרה מבית דינו של משה יצא מחוייב. בא ליטע אהלו בתוך מחנה דן, אמרו לו מה טיבך לכאן, אמר להם מבני דן אני. אמרו לו (במדבר ב) איש על דגלו באותות לבית אבותם כתיב. נכנס לבית דינו של משה ויצא מחוייב, עמד וגדף:
the son of an Egyptian man: the Egyptian whom Moses had slain, [uttering the Divine Name (see Rashi on Exod. 2:14). When the man heard this, he arose and began blaspheming against the Divine Name.]- [Sifthei Chachamim ; Vayikra Rabbah 32:4] בן איש מצרי: הוא המצרי שהרגו משה:
among the children of Israel: [This] teaches [us] that he converted. [Although he was halachically a Jew, since he was born to a Jewish mother, “he converted” here means that he immersed and was circumcised at Mount Sinai “among the children of Israel,” i.e., together with all the children of Israel.]- [Ramban; Torath Kohanim 24:235] בתוך בני ישראל: מלמד שנתגייר:
They…quarreled in the camp: regarding the encampment. [See Rashi on the beginning of this verse]. — [Torath Kohanim 24:235). וינצו במחנה: על עסקי המחנה:
an Israelite man: This was his opponent, the one who prevented him from pitching his tent [in the encampment of Dan]. — [Torath Kohanim 24:235] ואיש הישראלי: זה שכנגדו, שמיחה בו מטע אהלו:
11And the son of the Israelite woman pronounced the [Divine] Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. יאוַיִּקֹּב בֶּן הָאִשָּׁה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית אֶת הַשֵּׁם וַיְקַלֵּל וַיָּבִיאוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל משֶׁה וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ שְׁלֹמִית בַּת דִּבְרִי לְמַטֵּה דָן:
blasphemously pronounced: Heb. וַיִּקֹּב. As the Targum [Onkelos] renders: וּפָרֵישׁ, “and he pronounced”-he pronounced the ineffable Divine Name and cursed. This [Name that must not be pronounced] was the explicit [four-letter] Divine Name that this man had heard from [the revelation at Mount] Sinai. — [Torath Kohanim 24:235] ויקב: כתרגומו ופריש, שנקב שם המיוחד וגדף, והוא שם המפורש ששמע מסיני:
His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri: [Why is her name mentioned? This teaches us] the praise of Israel, for Scripture publicizes this one, effectively telling us that she alone [among all the women of Israel] was [involved in an] illicit [relation (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5), albeit unwitting on her part. (See Rashi on Exod. 2:11.) Nevertheless, no other Israelite woman had even unwitting illicit relations]. — [Mizrachi] ושם אמו שלמית בת דברי: שבחן של ישראל שפרסמה הכתוב לזו, לומר, שהיא לבדה היתה זונה:
Shelomith: Heb. שְׁלוֹמִית. [Her name denotes that] she was a chatterbox, [always going about saying] “Peace (שָׁלוֹם) be with you! Peace be with you! Peace be with you [men]!” (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5). [She would] chatter about with words, greeting everyone. שלמית: דהות פטפטה שלם עלך, שלם עלך, שלם עליכון, מפטפטת בדברים שואלת בשלום הכל:
the daughter of Dibri: [This denotes that] she was very talkative, talking (מְדַבֶּרֶת) with every person. That is why she fell into sin. בת דברי: דברנית היתה מדברת עם כל אדם, לפיכך קלקלה:
of the tribe of Dan: [This] tells us that a wicked person brings disgrace to himself, disgrace to his father, and disgrace to his [entire] tribe. Likewise, [the converse is true regarding a righteous man,] “Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan” (Exod. 35:34), [for Oholiab brought about] praise to himself, praise to his father, and praise to his [entire] tribe. — [Torath Kohanim 24:237] למטה דן: מגיד שהרשע גורם גנאי לו גנאי לאביו גנאי לשבטו, כיוצא בו (שמות לא ו) אהליאב בן אחיסמך למטה דן, שבח לו שבח לאביו שבח לשבטו:
12They placed him in the guardhouse, [until his sentence would] be specified to them by the word of the Lord. יבוַיַּנִּיחֻהוּ בַּמִּשְׁמָר לִפְרשׁ לָהֶם עַל פִּי יְהֹוָה:
They placed him: [Since Scripture does not say, “they placed (וַיִּשִׂימוּ or וַיִּתְּנוּ) him in the guardhouse,” but rather, “they left him (וַיַּנִּיחֻהוּ) in the guardhouse,” which means that they left him] alone, and they did not leave the one who gathered wood [on the Sabbath] with him (see Num. 15:32-36), for these two [episodes, namely, of the wood gatherer and the blasphemer,] occurred at the same time. Now, they knew that the wood gatherer was liable to death, as is stated “those who profane it shall be put to death.” (Exod. 31:14) The mode of death, however, had not yet been specified to them [by God]. Thus it says (Num. 15:34), “for it had not [yet] been specified what should be done to him”-while in the case of the blasphemer [here], Scripture says לִפְרשׁ לָהֶם, [lit., “to specify for them,” namely to specify his sentence], for they did not know whether or not he was liable to the death penalty [at all, and if he would be placed together with the wood gatherer, it might have caused him unnecessary fear, since he could assume thereby that he was on death row. Therefore, at that point he had to be kept separately]. — [Be’er Basadeh, Torath Kohanim 24:237] ויניחהו: לבדו, ולא הניחו מקושש עמו, ששניהם היו בפרק אחד. ויודעים היו שהמקושש במיתה, שנאמר (שמות לא יד) מחלליה מות יומת אבל לא פורש להם באיזו מיתה, לכך נאמר (במדבר טו לד) כי לא פורש מה יעשה לו. אבל במקלל הוא אומר לפרוש להם, שלא היו יודעים אם חייב מיתה אם לאו:
13Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: יגוַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
14Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and all who heard [his blasphemy] shall lean their hands on his head. And the entire community shall stone him. ידהוֹצֵא אֶת הַמְקַלֵּל אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְסָמְכוּ כָל הַשֹּׁמְעִים אֶת יְדֵיהֶם עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וְרָגְמוּ אֹתוֹ כָּל הָעֵדָה:
who heard: These were the witnesses. - [Torath Kohanim 24:239] השמעים: אלו העדים:
all [who heard]: [The word “all” comes] to include the judges. — [Torath Kohanim 24:237] כל: להביא את הדיינים:
[shall lean] their hands [on his head]: They say to him: “Your blood is on your own head! We are not to be punished for your death, for you brought this upon yourself!” - [Torath Kohanim 24:239] את ידיהם: אומרים לו דמך בראשך ואין אנו נענשים במיתתך שאתה גרמת לך:
And the entire community [shall stone him]: [I.e., he is to be stoned by the witnesses] in the presence of the entire community (Torath Kohanim 24:240). From here [we learn] that an agent of a person is considered as [the person] himself, [for only the witnesses are to stone him, but since they are acting as agents of the entire community, Scripture considers it as if the entire community is stoning him]. כל העדה: במעמד כל העדה. מכאן ששלוחו של אדם כמותו:
15And to the children of Israel, you shall speak, saying: Any man who blasphemes his God shall bear his sin. טווְאֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תְּדַבֵּר לֵאמֹר אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי יְקַלֵּל אֱלֹהָיו וְנָשָׂא חֶטְאוֹ:
[Any man…who blasphemes his God] shall bear his sin: [He shall be punished] by excision, if there was no warning - [Torath Kohanim 24:243]. ונשא חטאו: בכרת, כשאין התראה:
16And one who blasphemously pronounces the Name of the Lord, shall be put to death; the entire community shall stone him; convert and resident alike if he pronounces the [Divine] Name, he shall be put to death. טזוְנֹקֵב שֵׁם יְהֹוָה מוֹת יוּמָת רָגוֹם יִרְגְּמוּ בוֹ כָּל הָעֵדָה כַּגֵּר כָּאֶזְרָח בְּנָקְבוֹ שֵׁם יוּמָת:
And one who blasphemously pronounces the Name: [This teaches us that] one is not liable [to the death penalty] unless he pronounces the [four-letter Divine] Name. However, one who curses using an ancillary Name [for God, rather than the explicit, four-letter Name], is not [liable to the death penalty]. — [Torath Kohanim 24:243] ונקב שם: אינו חייב עד שיפרש את השם, ולא המקלל בכינוי:
And one who blasphemously pronounces: Heb. וְנֹקֵב. [This term] denotes cursing, as in, “What can I curse (אֶקֹּב) …?” (Num. 23:8). - [Sanh. 56a] ונקב: לשון קללה, כמו (במדבר כג ח) מה אקב:
17And if a man strikes down any human being he shall be put to death. יזוְאִישׁ כִּי יַכֶּה כָּל נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם מוֹת יוּמָת:
And if a man strikes down [any human being]: Since Scripture states, “One who strikes a man so that he dies [shall surely be put to death]” (Exod. 21:12), I know only that [the death penalty applies to] one who kills a “man.” How do I know [that it applies also to one who kills] a woman or a minor? Therefore, Scripture says, “[If a man strikes down] any human being.” - [Torath Kohanim 24:245] ואיש כי יכה: לפי שנאמר (שמות כא יב) מכה איש ומת, אין לי אלא שהרג את האיש, אשה וקטן מנין, תלמוד לומר כל נפש אדם:
18And one who slays an animal shall pay for it [the value of] a life for the life [he took]. יחוּמַכֵּה נֶפֶשׁ בְּהֵמָה יְשַׁלְּמֶנָּה נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ:
19And a man who inflicts an injury upon his fellow man just as he did, so shall be done to him [namely,] יטוְאִישׁ כִּי יִתֵּן מוּם בַּעֲמִיתוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה כֵּן יֵעָשֶׂה לּוֹ:
20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he inflicted an injury upon a person, so shall it be inflicted upon him. כשֶׁבֶר תַּחַת שֶׁבֶר עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן שֵׁן תַּחַת שֵׁן כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתֵּן מוּם בָּאָדָם כֵּן יִנָּתֶן בּוֹ:
so shall be done to him: Heb. כֵּן יִנָּתֵן בּוֹ. Our Rabbis explained that this does not mean the actual infliction of a wound, but payment of money. [And how is an injury estimated? The victim] is evaluated as a slave [if he would not have had the injury, and how much with the injury, and the difference is the compensation]. This is why Scripture uses the expression נְתִינָה, “giving,” [thereby alluding to] something that is “handed over (הַנָתוּן)” from hand to hand. — [B.K. 84a] כן ינתן בו: פירשו רבותינו, שאינו נתינת מום ממש אלא תשלומי ממון, שמין אותו כעבד, לכך כתוב בו לשון נתינה, דבר הנתון מיד ליד:
21And one who injures an animal shall pay for it. And one who strikes a person shall be put to death. כאוּמַכֵּה בְהֵמָה יְשַׁלְּמֶנָּה וּמַכֵּה אָדָם יוּמָת:
And one who injures an animal shall pay for it: [Verse 18] above is speaking of one who kills an animal, whereas here it is speaking of one who inflicts an injury upon it. ומכה בהמה ישלמנה: למעלה דבר בהורג בהמה, וכאן דבר בעושה בה חבורה:
And one who strikes a person shall be put to death: even if he did not kill him, but just inflicted an injury upon him. For the term נֶפֶשׁ is not used here. Scripture is speaking here of someone who strikes his father or his mother. And Scripture places this case in juxtaposition to the case of someone who strikes an animal [in order to teach us that]: just as if someone strikes an animal [he is liable only if] it is alive, so is one who strikes his father [or mother liable only if] they are alive. This comes to exclude the case of one who strikes [his father or mother] after [their] death. [Why is this case excluded here?] Since we find that one who curses his [father or mother] after [their] death is liable [to the death penalty-see Rashi on Lev. 20:9 Scripture finds it necessary here to teach us that one who strikes [his parent after death] is exempt. And [this juxtaposition also teaches us that] just as in the case of [one who strikes] an animal, [he is liable only if he inflicted an] injury, but if there was no injury, there is no compensation-likewise, one who strikes his father is not liable [to the death penalty] unless he inflicts an injury upon him. — [Torath Kohanim 24:250] ומכה אדם יומת: אפילו לא הרגו אלא עשה בו חבורה, שלא נאמר כאן נפש ובמכה אביו ואמו דבר הכתוב ובא להקישו למכה בהמה מה מכה בהמה מחיים, אף מכה אביו ואמו מחיים, פרט למכה לאחר מיתה, לפי שמצינו שהמקללו לאחר מיתה חייב, הוצרך לומר במכה שפטור. ומה בבהמה בחבלה, שאם אין חבלה אין תשלומין, אף מכה אביו ואמו אינו חייב עד שיעשה בהם חבורה:
22One law shall be exacted for you, convert and resident alike, for I am the Lord, your God. כבמִשְׁפַּט אֶחָד יִהְיֶה לָכֶם כַּגֵּר כָּאֶזְרָח יִהְיֶה כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:
I am the Lord your God: the God of all of you. Just as I attach My Name uniquely upon you [native Jewish people], so do I attach it uniquely upon the converts [to Judaism]. אני ה' אלהיכם: אלהי כולכם, כשם שאני מיחד שמי עליכם כך אני מייחד שמי על הגרים:
23And Moses told [all this] to the children of Israel. So they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him, and the children of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. כגוַיְדַבֵּר משֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיּוֹצִיאוּ אֶת הַמְקַלֵּל אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וַיִּרְגְּמוּ אֹתוֹ אָבֶן וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת משֶׁה:
and the children of Israel did: the whole procedure of stoning, described elsewhere [in Scripture]-namely, “pushing” [him off a two-story building-see Rashi on Exod. 19:13 and Sanh. 45a] the actual “stoning” and “hanging” [him afterwards on a pole, taking him down before nightfall and burying him then-see Deut. 21:22-23 and Rashi there]. — [Torath Kohanim 24:252] ובני ישראל עשו: כל המצוה האמורה בסקילה במקום אחר דחייה, רגימה ותלייה:Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapters 97 - 103
• Chapter 97
1. When the Lord will reveal His kingship, the earth will exult; the multitudes of islands will rejoice.
2. Clouds and dense darkness will surround Him; justice and mercy will be the foundation of His throne.
3. Fire will go before Him and consume His foes all around.
4. His lightnings will illuminate the world; the earth will see and tremble.
5. The mountains will melt like wax before the Lord, before the Master of all the earth.
6. The heavens will declare His justice, and all the nations will behold His glory.
7. All who worship graven images, who take pride in idols, will be ashamed; all idol worshippers will prostrate themselves before Him.
8. Zion will hear and rejoice, the towns of Judah will exult, because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9. For You, Lord, transcend all the earth; You are exceedingly exalted above all the supernal beings.
10. You who love the Lord, hate evil; He watches over the souls of His pious ones, He saves them from the hand of the wicked.
11. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
12. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and extol His holy Name.
Chapter 98
This psalm describes how Israel will praise God for the Redemption.
1. A psalm. Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has performed wonders; His right hand and holy arm have wrought deliverance for Him.
2. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His justice before the eyes of the nations.
3. He has remembered His kindness and faithfulness to the House of Israel; all, from the farthest corners of the earth, witnessed the deliverance by our God.
4. Raise your voices in jubilation to the Lord, all the earth; burst into joyous song and chanting.
5. Sing to the Lord with a harp, with a harp and the sound of song.
6. With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, jubilate before the King, the Lord.
7. The sea and its fullness will roar in joy, the earth and its inhabitants.
8. The rivers will clap their hands, the mountains will sing together.
9. [They will rejoice] before the Lord, for He has come to judge the earth; He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with righteousness.
Chapter 99
This psalm refers to the wars of Gog and Magog, which will precede the Redemption.
1. When the Lord will reveal His kingship, the nations will tremble; the earth will quake before Him Who is enthroned upon the cherubim,
2. [before] the Lord Who is in Zion, Who is great and exalted above all the peoples.
3. They will extol Your Name which is great, awesome and holy.
4. And [they will praise] the might of the King Who loves justice. You have established uprightness; You have made [the laws of] justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5. Exalt the Lord our God, and bow down at His footstool; He is holy.
6. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who invoke His Name, would call upon the Lord and He would answer them.
7. He would speak to them from a pillar of cloud; they observed His testimonies and the decrees which He gave them.
8. Lord our God, You have answered them; You were a forgiving God for their sake, yet bringing retribution for their own misdeeds.
9. Exalt the Lord our God, and bow down at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
Chapter 100
This psalm inspires the hearts of those who suffer in this world. Let them, nevertheless, serve God with joy, for all is for their good, as in the verse: "He whom God loves does He chastise." The psalm also refers to the thanksgiving sacrifice-the only sacrifice to be offered in the Messianic era.
1. A psalm of thanksgiving. Let all the earth sing in jubilation to the Lord.
2. Serve the Lord with joy; come before Him with exultation.
3. Know that the Lord is God; He has made us and we are His, His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4. Enter His gates with gratitude, His courtyards with praise; give thanks to Him, bless His Name.
5. For the Lord is good; His kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness is for all generations.
Chapter 101
This psalm speaks of David's secluding himself from others, and of his virtuous conduct even in his own home.
1. By David, a psalm. I will sing of [Your] kindness and justice; to You, O Lord, will I chant praise!
2. I will pay heed to the path of integrity-O when will it come to me? I shall walk with the innocence of my heart [even] within my house.
3. I shall not place an evil thing before my eyes; I despise the doing of wayward deeds, it does not cling to me.
4. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I shall not know evil.
5. He who slanders his fellow in secret, him will I cut down; one with haughty eyes and a lustful heart, him I cannot suffer.
6. My eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the path of integrity, he shall minister to me.
7. He that practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; the speaker of lies shall have no place before my eyes.
8. Every morning I will cut down all the wicked of the land, to excise all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
Chapter 102
An awe-inspiring prayer for the exiled, and an appropriate prayer for anyone in distress.
1. A prayer of the poor man when he is faint [with affliction], and pours out his tale of woe before the Lord.
2. O Lord, hear my prayer, let my cry reach You!
3. Hide not Your face from me on the day of my distress; turn Your ear to me; on the day that I call, answer me quickly.
4. For my days have vanished with the smoke; my bones are dried up as a hearth.
5. Smitten like grass and withered is my heart, for I have forgotten to eat my bread.
6. From the voice of my sigh, my bone cleaves to my flesh.
7. I am like the bird of the wilderness; like the owl of the wasteland have I become.
8. In haste I fled; I was like a bird, alone on a roof.
9. All day my enemies disgrace me; those who ridicule me curse using my name.1
10. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
11. because of Your anger and Your wrath-for You have raised me up, then cast me down.
12. My days are like the fleeting shadow; I wither away like the grass.
13. But You, Lord, will be enthroned forever, and Your remembrance is for all generations.
14. You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her; the appointed time has come.
15. For Your servants cherish her stones, and love her dust.
16. Then the nations will fear the Name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory,
17. when [they see that] the Lord has built Zion, He has appeared in His glory.
18. He turned to the entreaty of the prayerful, and did not despise their prayer.
19. Let this be written for the last generation, so that the newborn nation will praise the Lord.
20. For He looked down from His holy heights; from heaven, the Lord gazed upon the earth,
21. to hear the cry of the bound, to untie those who are doomed to die,
22. so that the Name of the Lord be declared in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem,
23. when nations and kingdoms will gather together to serve the Lord.
24. He weakened my strength on the way; He shortened my days.
25. I would say: "My God, do not remove me in the midst of my days! You Whose years endure through all generations.”
26. In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
27. They will perish, but You will endure; all of them will wear out like a garment; You will exchange them like a robe, and they will vanish.
28. But You remain the same; Your years will not end.
29. The children of Your servants will abide; their seed shall be established before You.
Chapter 103
David's prayer when he was ill, this psalm is an appropriate prayer on behalf of the sick, especially when offered by the sick person himself while his soul is yet in his body. He can then bless God from his depths, body and soul. Read, and find repose for your soul.
1. By David. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, His holy Name.
2. My soul, bless the Lord; forget not all His favors:
3. Who forgives all your sins, Who heals all your illnesses;
4. Who redeems your life from the grave, Who crowns you with kindness and mercy;
5. Who satisfies your mouth with goodness; like the eagle, your youth is renewed.
6. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7. He made His ways known to Moses, His deeds to the Children of Israel.
8. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and of great kindness.
9. He will not contend for eternity, nor harbor ill will forever.
10. He has not dealt with us according to our transgressions, nor requited us according to our sins.
11. For as high as heaven is above the earth, so has His kindness been mighty over those who fear Him.
12. As far as the east is from the west, so has He distanced our transgressions from us.
13. As a father has compassion on his children, so has the Lord had compassion on those who fear Him.
14. For He knows our nature; He is mindful that we are but dust.
15. As for man, his days are like grass; like a flower of the field, so he sprouts.
16. When a wind passes over him, he is gone; his place recognizes him no more.
17. But the kindness of the Lord is forever and ever upon those who fear Him, and His righteousness is [secured] for children's children,
18. to those who keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commands to do them.
19. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingship has dominion over all.
20. Bless the Lord, you His angels who are mighty in strength, who do His bidding to obey the voice of His speech.
21. Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His servants who do His will.
22. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all the places of His dominion. My soul, bless the Lord!
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 49• Lessons in Tanya
• Shabbat, Iyar 20, 5775 · May 9, 2015
Today's Tanya Lesson
Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 49
והנה כאשר ישים המשכיל אלה הדברים אל עומקא דלבא ומוחא, אזי ממילא כמים הפנים לפנים
When the thinking person will reflect on these matters in the depths of his heart and brain, then as surely as water mirrors the image of a face,
When the love likened to “water mirroring the image of a face” takes effect in a person, so that G‑d’s manifest love for His people arouses in him a corresponding love towards Him, then:
תתלהט נפשו ותתלבש ברוח נדיבה, להתנדב להניח ולעזוב כל אשר לו מנגד, ורק לדבקה בו יתברך, וליכלל באורו בדביקה חשיקה וכו׳, בבחינת נשיקין ואתדבקות רוחא ברוחא כנ״ל
his soul will spontaneously be kindled with love for G‑d, and it will clothe itself in a spirit of benevolence, willingly to lay down and resolutely to abandon all he possesses, for it will no longer be of major importance to him, in order only to cleave unto Him, and to be absorbed into His light with an attachment and longing, and so forth, in a manner of “kissing”, and with an attachment of spirit to Spirit, as has been explained earlier.
Just as kissing involves not only the cleaving of mouths but also a communion of breaths, so too does spiritual unity involve the union of man’s spirit with G‑d’s: man’s spirit becomes one with G‑d’s.
אך איך היא בחינת אתדבקות רוחא ברוחא
But how does the attachment of spirit to Spirit take place? I.e., what measures are to be taken if one seeks to desire to “only cleave to Him”?
לזה אמר: והיו הדברים האלה גו׳ על לבבך, ודברת בם גו׳
To this end it is stated, soon after the phrase, “with all your heart,” and so on:1 “And these words shall be... upon your heart.... And you shall speak of them....” As will soon be explained, this refers to immersing oneself in the study of Torah and speaking words of Torah.
וכמו שכתוב בעץ חיים, שיחוד הנשיקין עיקרו הוא יחוד חב״ד בחב״ד, והוא עיון התורה
As is explained in Etz Chayim, the union of “kissing” which incorporates the union of the “attachment of spirit to Spirit” is essentially the union of ChaBaD withChaBaD — the union of man’s Chochmah, Binah and Daat with G‑d’s; that is, concentration in the Torah, which unites man’s ChaBaD with the intellect of above, i.e., Torah,
והפה הוא מוצא הרוח וגילויו בבחינת גילוי, והיינו בחינת הדבור בדברי תורה
while the mouth, as the outlet of the breath and its emergence into a revealed state, represents the category of speech engaged in words of the Torah,
By speaking words of Torah — as it is written, “And you shall speak of them” — the spirit emerges into a revealed state. Thus, the union of “spirit with Spirit” is mainly brought about by one’s immersion in Torah study. The reason for this follows:
כי על כל מוצא פי ה׳ יחיה האדם
for,2 “By every word that proceeds from G‑d’s mouth does man live.”
The mouth is thus the outlet of the breath. However, since what is crucial is understandingTorah, for through this the union of “spirit with Spirit” is effected, why must one utter the words in order to arrive at this love?
The Alter Rebbe now addresses himself to this question and says, that while it is true that for “man” himself — i.e., the divine soul — cleaving to G‑d is attained chiefly through understanding Torah, yet this only suffices for the divine soul. In order for the divine plan to be realized, i.e., that G‑dliness be drawn down upon the animal soul as well and into the world as a whole, one must speak words of Torah. This is because physical words are uttered by the animal soul, which in turn is affected by them.
Since a person has the strength to speak because he receives physical nourishment, it follows that when he utters words of Torah, G‑d’s ultimate intent of drawing down holiness into this physical world is realized, and the “whole world is filled with His glory.”
(Understandably, this selfsame reason applies not only to speaking words of Torah, but also explains why mitzvot are to be performed with the physical body and utilizing objects of the material world, for it is through them that G‑dliness is manifest in the animal soul and in the material world as a whole. Here, however, the matter under discussion is Torah knowledge. In this instance, although nothing can unite the divine soul with its Source more completely than the contemplation of Torah, it is nevertheless necessary for one to utter the words of Torah as well, in order to draw down G‑dliness into one’s animal soul and, indeed, into the whole material world.)
ומכל מקום לא יצא ידי חובתו בהרהור ועיון לבדו
However, one does not fulfill one’s obligation by meditation and deliberation alone,
I.e., one’s obligation is not fulfilled thereby, even though such deliberation leads to the lofty union of his soul with G‑d in a manner of the cleaving of “spirit with Spirit.”
עד שיוציא בשפתיו, כדי להמשיך אור אין סוף ברוך הוא למטה עד נפש החיונית השוכנת בדם האדם, המתהוה מדומם צומח חי
unless one expresses the words with his lips, in order to draw the [infinite] light of the blessed Ein Sof downwards even unto the vivifying soul which dwells in the blood of man, which in turn is produced by the intake of food from the mineral, vegetable and animal [worlds].
That is to say: Eating and drinking produce the blood in which the vivifying soul is clothed, and G‑dliness is drawn down into all the above-mentioned worlds when one speaks words of Torah.
כדי להעלות כולן לה׳ עם כל העולם כולו, ולכללן ביחודו ואורו יתברך, אשר יאיר לארץ ולדרים עליה בבחינת גילוי, ונגלה כבוד ה׳ וראו כל בשר וגו׳
One thereby elevates them all — the vivifying soul, and the mineral, vegetable and animal worlds — to G‑d, together with the entire universe, and causes them to be absorbed in His blessed Unity and light, which will illumine the world and its inhabitants in a revealed manner, in the spirit of the verse that says:3 “And the glory of G‑d shall be revealed” — so much so, indeed, that “all flesh shall see it....”
שזהו תכלית השתלשלות כל העולמות, להיות כבוד ה׳ מלא כל הארץ הלזו דוקא בבחינת גילוי, לאהפכא חשוכא לנהורא ומרירא למיתקא, כנ״ל באריכות
For this is the purpose of the progressive descent of all the worlds — that the glory of G‑d may pervade this physical world especially, in a revealed manner, to change the darkness of kelipot into the light of holiness, and the bitterness of the world, whose life-force is from kelipat nogah, into the sweetness of goodness and holiness, as has been explained above in ch. 36 at length.
וזהו תכלית כוונת האדם בעבודתו: להמשיך אור אין סוף ברוך הוא למטה
And this is the essence of the intent of man’s service: to draw the [infinite] light of the blessed Ein Sof down below.
Therefore, although man’s spiritual service and deep understanding of Torah are able (through thought alone) to fulfill the objective of his love — to cleave to G‑d in a manner of the cleaving of “spirit with Spirit,” yet the intent of his service should not only be for the sake of his divine soul. It must also be in keeping with G‑d’s desire of drawing down G‑dliness into this material world. And this is accomplished through speaking words of Torah.
Now before commanding us to place “these words [of the Torah] upon your heart,” and continuing by saying that “you shall speak in them,” the Torah says: “You shall love the L‑rd your G‑d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” For before G‑dliness is drawn down through Torah, man must first initiate an arousal of love on his part. Only then will G‑dliness be drawn down through Torah and mitzvot. This is what the Alter Rebbe now says:
רק שצריך תחלה העלאת מ״ן
However, the initiative must come through the “elevation of mahn” (מן — an acronym of the words mayin nukvin, lit., “female waters,” which in Kabbalistic terminology signifies the arousal and elevation of the “female”, i.e., the recipient),
למסור לו נפשו ומאודו כנ״ל
surrendering to Him one’s soul and one’s all, as has been explained above.
In order for G‑dliness to be properly drawn down through Torah and mitzvot, it is first necessary that there be the “elevation of mahn,” emanating from man’s love of G‑d to the degree that he is ready to forgo everything for His sake.
* * *
With this the Alter Rebbe concludes the theme beginning in ch. 46 regarding the love likened to “water mirroring the image of a face,” and concerning which he had said that theShema and its introductory blessings are especially effective in awakening it.
Commentary of the Rebbe
On the Conclusion of Chapter Forty-Nine
“But how does... while the mouth.... However, one does not fulfill.... For this is the purpose....”
The Rebbe here asks six questions:
(1) What, in general terms, is the Alter Rebbe’s intent in introducing the passage that begins, “But how does the attachment of spirit to Spirit take place”?
(2) The section from “while the mouth” to “does man live” seems to be superfluous. Since the Alter Rebbe goes on to say that in Torah study deliberation alone does not suffice, and one must also express the words with his lips in order to draw down the light of Ein Sof into the world, nothing appears to be gained by adding, “while the mouth... does man live.”
(3) When the Alter Rebbe quotes the verse, “By every word that proceeds from G‑d’s mouth does man live,” and does not expound on it at all, he is evidently referring to the simple meaning of the text (and not as some would say, that it refers to ChaBaD, the source of Divine speech). What connection, then, is there between the simple textual meaning and the context?
(4) What is the meaning of the words “and its emergence into a revealed state” in the phrase, “as the outlet of the breath and its emergence into a revealed state?” Indeed, the Hebrew original here would appear to be repetitious.
(5) How is this all connected to what is being discussed at the end of ch. 49?
(6) Moreover: “For this is the purpose of the progressive descent of all the worlds” surely belongs in ch. 36, where this matter is discussed at length. Indeed, the Alter Rebbe refers here to that chapter when he says, “as has been explained above at length.” Here, it would seem, is not the place to treat this subject at all, even briefly.
* * *
In order to better understand the answers of the Rebbe to these questions, a brief introduction is in order.
The concept called the “unity of kissing” bespeaks the revelation of a level of love so inward that it cannot be revealed in speech. Thus, too, the verse that says, “He shall kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,” which alludes to Torah, indicates that through Torah a Jew is united with G‑d in a manner of “kissing”; i.e., there is revealed within him a manifestation of G‑dliness which is essentially removed from the realm of revelation. Only because of this inward love is it revealed at all.
This revelation comes about only through spirit and breath, and begins in “intelligence”; i.e., the revelation is drawn down to the Supernal ChaBaD. When the soul of a Jew understands the intellect of Torah, which is the Supernal ChaBaD, his spirit (intellect) is unified with the Spirit and Intellect Above. This unification of mortal ChaBaD with the Supernal ChaBaD is the highest existing form of unity (as explained in ch. 5).
Intellect itself, however, especially when it is involved in the stage of scholarly polemics, is found within a person in a concealed manner. Even after a debate crystallizes into a finalhalachic decision it is still concealed, when considered in relation to his soul at large, and especially in relation to his animal soul and body.
However, when the concept in question or its legal outcome is verbalized (and speech after all belongs to “the world of revelation”), then not only is there a revelation of the profound thinking that was involved in the stage of intellectual give and take, but even relative to therevelation of intellect as expressed in the final halachic decision, the Torah student’s speech constitutes a revelation.
From the above it becomes clear that the unity of “kissing” is effected chiefly at the level ofChaBaD; there it is able to reveal that which is essentially beyond revelation. This is also the meaning of the expression of the Sages, that “HaKadosh Baruch Hu sits and studies Torah.” This means that He who is essentially Kadosh — Holy, separate and apart — “sits” at (i.e., lowers Himself into) the level of Torah. And through Torah study it is granted to an individual to absorb this level within himself.
Nevertheless, the complete revelation of this connection both Above and below is accomplished through speech. When it is revealed in Supernal Speech and echoed in man’s speech, then it truly illuminates man’s soul.
* * *
Following this introduction, the commentary of the Rebbe will be better understood:
Until this point it has been explained that as a result of the blessings preceding the Shemaand of the Shema itself, “the intelligent person will reflect on these matters in the depth of his heart and brain,” and then “his soul will be kindled” and he will desire to cleave to G‑d. The direction taken by this form of divine service is elevation “from below to above,” i.e., the individual desires to leave the bounds and limitations of the world, and become one with G‑d.
This feeling can find expression in the “expiry of the soul” (klot hanefesh) in its love for G‑d. (This surely does not result in any obligation to study Torah or the like in order to draw G‑dliness down below. On the contrary, a person in this situation is in a state of longing and “expiry of his soul” in order to become united with G‑d as He is Above.)
The Alter Rebbe therefore begins this passage by saying, “But how does the attachment of spirit to Spirit take place?” — Not as we may have expected, as described above, but: “To this end it is stated, ‘And these words shall be... upon your heart.’*”
The Alter Rebbe is telling us something completely new: the cleaving of “spirit to Spirit” is accomplished not through the “expiry of the soul,” but through fulfilling the commandment that “these words shall be... upon your heart” — through applying one’s intellect to the study of Torah.
Moreover, it is accomplished through fulfilling the commandment that “you shall speak of them,” through speaking words of Torah — and the direction taken by this form of divine service is contrary to elevation “from below to above,” for speech signifies drawing down, andrevelation.
Since there must be a “cleaving of spirit to Spirit,” and Supernal Spirit is Supernal Wisdom, i.e., Torah, concentration in Torah therefore effects (as explained in ch. 5) the ultimate unity of man’s ChaBaD with G‑d’s — and this is the “cleaving of spirit to Spirit.”
However, one might think that uttering the words of Torah on which a person had already been deliberating only reveals the unification of ChaBaD with ChaBaD, and no more than this is accomplished by fulfilling the commandment that “you shall speak of them.” (In other words, we might think that speech merely relates that which has transpired in one’s intellect, namely, that his intellect is united with the Supernal Intellect.)
If this were so, it would contradict statements appearing in chs. 45 and 46, and also contradict the meaning of the verse, “He shall kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,” which as explained earlier signifies the unification of man’s speech with G‑d’s speech, G‑d’s speech being the Halachah.
The Alter Rebbe therefore goes on to state: “while the mouth,” i.e., the Supernal mouth as well as man’s mouth (kissing being from mouth to mouth), “is the outlet of the breath and its emergence into a revealed state.” He does not provide any additional explanation since he speaks of the simple meaning of these words, namely that the mouth emits the spirit and wisdom on which the person has previously concentrated. This is “its revelation,” the revelation of the spirit, which is the revelation of the thinking process and of its conclusion. All this is emitted by the mouth in a manner of revelation.
(This means the following: The “spirit” refers to intellectual concentration. Then there is “its revelation,” the revelation of the “spirit” being the intellectual conclusion. All this is emitted by the mouth in a manner of revelation. Before the words are uttered by the mouth, the conclusion existed only in the mind. Through speech, however, both the thinking process and its conceptual conclusion are revealed into actuality.)
The Alter Rebbe therefore concludes that “the mouth... represents the category of speechengaged in words of Torah.” It is necessary for the Torah concepts and conclusions of one’s study to be revealed within the spoken word. The reason for this is given in his next phrase: “for by every word that proceeds from G‑d’s mouth does man live.” The word that ultimatelyproceeds from G‑d’s mouth is not the preliminary stage of scholarly concentration and debate, but “the word of Halachah,” the final ruling on the question discussed. And on this does man live.
Yet, something still requires clarification: The need for “attachment of spirit to Spirit” through concentration in Torah is understandable. However, what impels us to say that the resulting desire to be absorbed in G‑d’s light must find expression in speaking words of Torah? — For speech draws downward: its direction in divine service is exactly opposite to the desire of being absorbed in G‑d.
The Alter Rebbe therefore says that were it only a matter of a person’s desire to be absorbed in G‑d, then it really would not be necessary for him to speak words of Torah; meditation would suffice. However, were he not to speak words of Torah he would be shirking an obligation. As the Alter Rebbe goes on to say: “However, one does not fulfill one’s obligation by meditation and deliberation alone.”
A Jew is obliged to draw down the infinite light of the Ein Sof even unto the vivifying soul and the world as a whole. This obligation cannot be fulfilled through meditation and contemplation, but only through speaking words of Torah.
It would seem, however, that this is a distinct and separate obligation, quite unconnected with the love which results in the cleaving of “spirit to Spirit,” a level attained through the divine service involved in the blessings preceding the Shema as well as through the Shemaitself.
The Alter Rebbe therefore explains that there indeed does exist a connection between the two. By speaking words of Torah and thereby causing G‑dliness to descend upon his vivifying soul and the mineral, vegetable and animal worlds, the individual will thereby also cause their elevation; they will all be raised to G‑d, and absorbed in His light. Thus, the selfsame thing the person effects within himself through meditating on Torah, he also effects in his vivifying soul and in the world at large by speaking words of Torah.
There still remains to be understood the connection between (a) elevating the world to G‑dliness and (b) the contents of the blessings preceding the Shema, as well as the beginning of the Shema itself (until “And these words...”). Seemingly they are separate and distinct manners of service.
Even the purpose of uniting man’s speech with G‑d’s lies not in his being “kindled with love,” but is rather intended to achieve an opposite effect (as mentioned previously). All the more so with regard to the elevation of the material world to G‑d. How is this connected with the blessings preceding the Shema, the Shema itself, and its resulting love?
This is explained by the Alter Rebbe when he goes on to say: “For this is the purpose of the progressive descent of all the worlds...,” and “this is the essence of the intent of man’s service.” Man’s purpose is to serve G‑d, and the purpose of all worlds is for G‑d’s glory to pervade them. This is the general content and the ultimate conclusion of the blessings preceding the Shema(for the purpose of the divine service of Jewish souls and indeed the purpose of all the Worlds is to draw down G‑dliness below, as mentioned in the previous chapters regarding the meditation that should accompany the recitation of these blessings).
Thus there is a strong and direct connection between the ultimate purpose of these blessings and the elevation of the vivifying soul and the whole world to G‑dliness.
But how is this connected to the love of G‑d through the “cleaving of spirit to Spirit”? The Alter Rebbe explains this connection by concluding: “However, [one must take the step of] surrendering to Him his soul and his all.” This means to say that unless one first takes the initiative of surrendering himself to G‑d, G‑dliness will not be manifest in the world.
* * *
According to the exposition of the Rebbe, all six above-mentioned questions are now answered; we understand the need for each and every phrase in the text. Additionally, many points found in other chapters of Tanya are now understood as well.
In ch. 5, for example, the Alter Rebbe speaks of the union of man’s ChaBaD with G‑d’s through a deep comprehension of the Torah. He begins the chapter by giving an example of a person who understands a halachah. At the end of that chapter, however, when he is not intent on stressing the kind of unity that exists “from every side and angle,” he speaks of the knowledge of Torah in general, not specifically of the Halachah.
The reason for this is that in order to achieve unity “from every side and angle” through understanding Torah, it is necessary that this knowledge be revealed within one’s soul. This revelation is achieved specifically through the final decision of the Halachah, and is lacking in the intellectual give and take which precedes it, as has been explained earlier.
In chs. 45 and 46, likewise, where the Alter Rebbe speaks of the unity of “kissing”, he emphasizes “the Word of G‑d, which is the Halachah,” and not the intellectual debate preceding it. For only within the “Word of G‑d,” the halachic ruling, is there to be found the intense degree of revelation which is called the “kisses of His mouth.” This serves to explain other sections of Tanya as well.
The Rebbe here solves an additional knotty problem: In chs. 45 and 46 the Alter Rebbe explains that “kissing” means speaking words of Torah. This is puzzling, for the distinctive quality of the degree of union called “kissing” lies in the fact that it transcends speech: it cannot be distilled in speech.
However, this will be understood in light of a statement of the Alter Rebbe in Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim (p. 1d), where he explains that the love described in the verse, “He shall kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,” which refers to Torah, is similar to the love of a father for his only child. The love felt by the father for his child is so great that it cannot be expressed in any spiritual manner, but must be contracted, ultimately finding expression in the form of a physical kiss. The same is true with regard to Torah.
It is thus evident that the extremely exalted revelation of the love called “kissing” can find expression only when it is contracted and condensed in the breath, spirit and speech of Torah.
The concept alluded to there (in Likkutei Torah), and discussed more elaborately by the Alter Rebbe in the maamar on Shir HaShirim in Sefer HaMaamarim: Hanachot HaRap zal (p. 142), enables us to appreciate more fully what is actually achieved by fulfilling the commandment that “you shall speak of them.” For we see from the discourses cited above, that speaking words of Torah is no mere verbal description of what is occurring in the person’sChaBaD (namely, that his ChaBaD is connected to G‑d’s); rather, the very contraction represented by the descent of Torah into his speech is the vehicle through which the intense divine love termed “kissing” is expressed.
We also understand from those discourses why the union of “kissing” must be preceded by the person loving G‑d through giving Him “his all.”
When the mode of divine illumination that does not normally descend to the point of revelation, leaps over the bounds of divine self-limitation, and is in fact revealed by means oftzimtzum (“contraction”, “condensation”), this transcending revelation is called dilug (lit., a “leap”). In order to trigger off such a “leap” in the Worlds Above, it is necessary for the individual below to make a corresponding leap — by loving G‑d to the point of giving Him “his all.”
It now also becomes clear that the great merit of speech notwithstanding, “kissing” is primarily expressed in the unification of ChaBaD with ChaBaD. To borrow the phrase of the Sages: G‑d, who is essentially transcendent, i.e., HaKadosh Baruch Hu — the Holy (lit.,separate) One, blessed be He — “*’sits‘ (i.e., descends) and studies Torah”: the illumination descends below.
The Rebbe also answers another vexing question. Generally, whenever unification of the level of “kissing” is discussed in Chassidut, the explanation is given that “kissing” results from the great love of the one who gives the “kiss”. This being so, what connection can this possibly have to ChaBaD, which is, after all, a manifestation of intellect, not of love?
According to the explanations in the above-mentioned discourses, this too becomes clear. The inner love transforms or creates the faculties of ChaBaD, so that by virtue of this inner love an illumination which is essentially beyond revelation is drawn down into ChaBaD. As this is expressed in Tanya: “His great Name” is drawn down to the Jewish people because of His great love for them. In similar vein, the Rebbe cites the Siddur of the Alter Rebbe, Derushei Chanukah, p. 273a, which states that “kissing” derives from the “internal aspect of heart and mind,” for it is by virtue of the inward love of the heart that revelation occurs in the mind.
To sum up: According to the commentary of the Rebbe on the explanation given in ch. 49 by the Alter Rebbe about the level of unification called “kissing”, we come to understand that it denotes the revelation of an illumination which essentially is beyond the pale of revelation. This love is “holy” (i.e., apart), and is revealed only because of G‑d’s great inner love for the Jewish people. Concerning this love it is written, “He shall kiss me with the kisses of His mouth,” which refers to Torah.
Through studying Torah, a Jew is united with G‑d in a manner of “kissing”, and of the “cleaving of spirit to Spirit.” This love is first manifested in the intellectual faculties ofChaBaD, the illumination first descending into Supernal Intellect. The Rabbis express it thus: “The Holy One sits and studies Torah” — G‑d Who is “holy” (i.e., detached) “sits” and descends into Torah.
The intellect of Torah — Supernal Intellect — is the “Spirit” as it is found above. When a Jew thoroughly comprehends the Supernal Intellect that is vested in the Torah, then his spirit — his intellect — is united with the Supernal Intellect and Spirit, this being the “cleaving of spirit to Spirit.”
“Kissing”, however, takes place from mouth to mouth, for it is through one’s mouth that the inner spirit and breath is revealed, and it is through the mouth that the inner love is expressed. So, too, regarding Torah. When someone fulfills the commandment that “you shall speak of them,” this not only tells us that his ChaBaD (intellect) is unified with the Supernal ChaBaDand Intellect, but it also serves to reveal the halachic conclusion, the “spirit”, of Torah.
When one’s intellect is immersed in the depths of debate, the “spirit” is in a state of concealment. Only when it is fully revealed, when one articulates the crystallized halachah,does it reach its most complete state — the “kisses of the mouth.”
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Devarim 6:6-7. |
| 2. | Devarim 8:3. |
| 3. | Yeshayahu 40:5. |
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
Shabbat, Iyar 20, 5775 · May 9, 2015
Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work
Positive Commandment 138
The Return of Hereditary Property during the Jubilee Year
"Throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption for the land"—Leviticus 25:24.
During the Jubilee Year, all acquired land must be returned – free of charge – to its original owner, as explained in the Torah.
This mitzvah applies only to real estate that is not within a walled city, and is only practiced in the Land of Israel, and only when all of the tribes are settled therein, each in their ancestral portion of the Land.
The Return of Hereditary Property during the Jubilee Year
Positive Commandment 138
Translated by Berel Bell
The 138th mitzvah is that we are commanded in this [Jubilee] Year to return all property which has been purchased to its original owners. It is released from the buyer's possession without payment.
The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,1 "[Since the land is Mine, no land shall be sold permanently. You are foreigners and resident aliens as far as I am concerned,] and therefore, there shall be a time of redemption for all your hereditary lands." It is specifically explained for us that the redemption takes place in this particular year in G‑d's statement,2 "In this Jubilee Year, every man shall return to his hereditary property."
Scripture goes into the various details of this mitzvah and explains how the seller settles with the buyer if, before the Jubilee Year, he wants to repurchase the land he sold. It is also explained that this mitzvah applies only to land which is outside the wall of the city.3 Courtyards and houses built in villages are treated like fields and gardens since they were not built within walls.4 They are the batei hachatzerim referred to in the verse,5 "[Batei hachatzerim that do not have walls around them] shall be considered the same as open land; they shall thus be redeemable, and shall be released by the Jubilee."6
The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Erachin.7
It too applies only in Eretz Yisrael and only when the Jubilee Year is in effect.
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 25:24.
2.Ibid., 25:13.
3.Houses which are built within walled cities are governed by P139.
4.And they are therefore also governed by this mitzvah.
5.Lev. 25:31.
6.Since they are mentioned in a separate verse, one might think that batei hechatzerim constitute a separate mitzvah. The Rambam explains here that batei hachatzerim are included in this mitzvah, and that they are not counted separately. There are only two categories: houses within a wall and everything else.
7.29b.
_________________________________________________________
Negative Commandment 227
• Shabbat, Iyar 20, 5775 · 0 May /2015
Iyar 20, 35th day of the omer
Torah lessons: Chumash: B'chukotai, Shlishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 97-103.
Tanya: When the intelligent (p. 261)...words of the Torah, (p. 261).
There is no one for whom to pride oneself. We must toil strenuously. With patience and friendliness we can prevail in all things, with G-d's help. With a denigrating attitude toward others and inflating our own importance we lose everything, G-d forbid.
Selling Land in Israel for Perpetuity
"The land shall not be sold forever"—Leviticus 25:23.
It is forbidden to sell real estate in the Land of Israel for perpetuity. [Instead, land must be sold with the understanding that it will return to its original owner during the Jubilee Year.]
Positive Commandment 139
Redeeming Property in Walled Cities
"And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city..."—Leviticus 25:29.
Properties within a walled city in the Land of Israel [walled since the times of Joshua] can be redeemed (i.e. repurchased) by the seller for an entire year following the sale. If the seller did not redeem the property within that window of time, the sold property remains permanently in the property of the buyer—it does not revert to the seller during the Jubilee Year.
"The land shall not be sold forever"—Leviticus 25:23.
It is forbidden to sell real estate in the Land of Israel for perpetuity. [Instead, land must be sold with the understanding that it will return to its original owner during the Jubilee Year.]
Selling Land in Israel for Perpetuity
Selling Land in Israel for Perpetuity
Negative Commandment 227
Translated by Berel Bell
The 227th prohibition is that we are forbidden from permanently selling land in Eretz Canaan.1
The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,2 "And no land shall be sold permanently."
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the end of tractate Erachin.3
FOOTNOTES
1.I.e. Eretz Yisrael. In Hilchos Shemittah V'Yovel 11:1, the Rambam rules that even if one violates this prohibition and sells the land, the transaction has no legal value and the land remains in the possession of the previous owner. Both the buyer and the seller nevertheless transgress this prohibition.
2.Lev. 25:23.
3.29ff.
Positive Commandment 139
Redeeming Property in Walled Cities
"And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city..."—Leviticus 25:29.
Properties within a walled city in the Land of Israel [walled since the times of Joshua] can be redeemed (i.e. repurchased) by the seller for an entire year following the sale. If the seller did not redeem the property within that window of time, the sold property remains permanently in the property of the buyer—it does not revert to the seller during the Jubilee Year.
Redeeming Property in Walled Cities
Positive Commandment 139
Translated by Berel Bell
The 139th mitzvah is that we are commanded that if one has possessions1 which are located within the walls of a city and they were sold, one has the right to redeem them only for one year. After the year has passed, the buyer becomes the full owner, and remains so even after the Jubilee Year.
The source of this mitzvah is G‑d's statement,2 "When a man sells a residential house in a walled city [he shall be able to redeem it until the end of one year after he has sold it]."
This mitzvah is known as "the law of batei arei chomah."
The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Erachin.3 It applies only in Eretz Yisrael.
FOOTNOTES
1.This includes houses and their adjacent land. Other fields, even if they are within the city's wall, are included in P138 above. See Rambam, ibid., 12:11.
2.Lev. 25:29.
3.31a.
• 1 Chapter: Eruvin Eruvin - Chapter Eight
Eruvin - Chapter Eight
Halacha 1
One may not deposit two eruvin - one in the west and one in the east - so that one will be able to walk for a portion of the day [in the direction of] one of theeruvin, and to rely on the second eruv for the remainder of the day. [The rationale is that] one may not make two eruvin for a single day.1
If a person erred, and established two eruvin in two different directions, because he thought that this was permitted, or he told two people to establish an eruv for him, and one established an eruv to the north and one established an eruv to the south, he may walk only in the area common to both of them.
Halacha 2
What is meant [by the expression], "he may walk only in the area common to both of them"? That he may walk only in the area that is within [the Sabbath limits] of both of these locations. [For example,] if one [of his agents] deposited an eruv 1000 cubits to the east [of his city's periphery] and the other deposited an eruv 500 cubits to the west, the person for whom the eruvin were deposited may walk only 1000 cubits to the west, as would be permitted [the agent] who established the eruv in the east, and 1500 cubits to the east, as would be permitted [the agent] who established the eruv in the west.
Therefore, if one established an eruv 2000 cubits to the east and the other established an eruv 2000 cubits to the west, the person may not move from his place.
Halacha 3
It is permissible for a person to establish two eruvin in two opposite directions and make the [following] stipulation: "If tomorrow there is a mitzvah or a necessity that arises and requires me to walk in this direction, then it is this eruvthat I am relying upon, and the other eruv is of no consequence. If, by contrast, it is necessary that I go to the other direction, the eruv [in that direction] is the one on which I will rely, and the first eruv is of no significance.2
"If I am required to go in both directions, I may rely on whichever of the eruvin I desire, and thus go in whichever direction I desire. If nothing [out of the ordinary] arises, and I am not required to go in either direction, neither of theeruvin is of consequence, nor do I rely on them. Instead, my situation is the same as that of any other inhabitant of my city, and I may proceed two thousand cubits in all directions from the city's wall."
Halacha 4
Just as it is forbidden to proceed beyond a city's [Sabbath] limits on the Sabbath, so too, it is forbidden to proceed beyond those limits on the holidays and on Yom Kippur.3
Just as a person who transfers an article from one domain to another on the Sabbath is liable, so too, a person who transfers an article from one domain to another on Yom Kippur is liable.4 On the holidays, by contrast, it is permitted to transfer articles from one domain to another.5
Therefore, eruvin should be established in courtyards and shitufim should be established in lanes for Yom Kippur, as they are established for the Sabbath.6Similarly, eruvei t'chumin may be established for Yom Kippur and the holidays as they are established for the Sabbath.
Halacha 5
[The following rules apply to] a holiday that occurs next to the Sabbath - whether before it or after it - or to the two days of a holiday as observed in the diaspora: A person may establish two eruvin in two opposite directions and rely on either for the first day, and the other for the second day.7 Similarly, he may establish a single eruv in one direction and rely on it for one of the two days, and on the other day consider himself like the other inhabitants of the city8 - i.e., it is as if he did not made an eruv, and thus he is entitled to proceed two thousand cubits in all directions [from the city's periphery].
Halacha 6
Similarly, a person who [deposits] an eruv [t'chumin] may make [any of the following] stipulations: "On this Sabbath, my eruv shall be in effect, but not on another Sabbath," or "On another Sabbath [my eruv shall be in effect],11 but not on this Sabbath."
[Similarly, he may stipulate that the eruv shall be in effect] on the Sabbaths but not on holidays, or on holidays and not on Sabbaths.
Halacha 7
When a person tells five others, "I am establishing an eruv on behalf of one of you, whom I will choose [later]. If I choose, that person will be able to go. If I do not choose, he will not be able to go." Even if this person chooses [a companion] after nightfall, he may go. For the principle of b'reirahapplies12regarding a matter of Rabbinic law.13
Similarly, a person may establish an eruv for all the Sabbaths of the year and stipulate, "If I desire [to rely on the eruv], I may go, and if I do not desire [to rely on it], I may not go - and I will be [governed by the same rules] as the other inhabitants of my city." He may go on whichever Sabbaths he desires, even if he does not make the decision to go until after nightfall.
Halacha 8
[The following rule applies] when a person establishes an eruv for the two days of a holiday as observed in the diaspora or for a Sabbath and a holiday [that are celebrated consecutively]: Even when the person establishes a single eruvin one direction for both days, the eruv must be accessible14 in its [designated] location on both the first and second nights throughout [the period of] beyn hash'mashot.
What should he do? He should take [the eruv to the desired place] on the eve of the Sabbath or on the eve of the holiday, and wait until nightfall. He may then take it in his hand and carry it away, if it is a holiday.15 On the following day, he should take it16 to the same location,17 deposit it there until nightfall and eat it18if it is Friday night, or take it with him if it is the night of a holiday.
[This is necessary, for] they are two different expressions of holiness, and are not considered to be a single [extended] day with regard to which it would be possible to say on the first night that one established the eruv for both days.19
Halacha 9
[In the situation described in the previous halachah,] were the eruv to be eaten on the first day, it is effective for the first day, but the person [may not establish] an eruv [with food] for the second day.
If he established an eruv by walking [to the desired location] on the first day, he may establish an eruv for the second day only by walking to the same location20and making the resolution21 that he is establishing this as his "place" for the day.
If he established an eruv with bread on the first day [he has two options]: If he desires to establish an eruv by walking [to the desired location] on the second day, the eruv is acceptable. If he desires to establish an eruv by depositing a loaf of bread, [he may,] provided he uses the same loaf of bread that he used the first day.22
Halacha 10
Halacha 11
The statement made previously27 that a person may establish two differenteruvin in two directions for two days applies only when it is possible for the person to reach both of the eruvin on the first day [without departing from his Sabbath limits]. If, however, it is impossible on the first day for him to reach theeruv for the second day, the eruv for the second day is invalid.28
[The rationale is that] the mitzvah of eruv [can be fulfilled only] with a meal that is fit to be eaten while it is still day. Since the person may not reach the eruv[intended for the second day] on the first day [because it is beyond his Sabbath limits], it is not considered to be a meal that is fit to be eaten while it is still day.
Halacha 12
What is implied? If a person deposited an eruv two thousand cubits eastward of his home and relied on it for the first day [he is forbidden to walk westward at all].29 [Therefore,] if he deposited an eruv one cubit, one hundred cubits, or one thousand cubits to the west and relied on it for the second day, the second eruvis invalid.
[The rationale is that] the second eruv is not fit for him on the first day, for he may not reach it, since he is not able to proceed toward the west at all.
Halacha 13
If, however, he deposited his eruv one thousand five hundred cubits eastward of his home and relied on it for the first day, and deposited a second eruv within five hundred cubits to the west of his house and relied upon it for the second day, the eruv is valid. For it is possible for him to reach it on the first day.
Halacha 14
When a holiday falls on a Friday, it is forbidden to establish an eruv [for the Sabbath] on the holiday: neither an eruv chatzerot nor an eruv t'chumin.30Instead, one should establish the eruv on Thursday, the day prior to the holiday.
If the two days celebrated as a holiday in the diaspora fall on a Thursday and a Friday, one should establish both an eruv chatzerot and an eruv t'chumin on Wednesday. If a person forgot, and did not establish an eruv beforehand, he may establish an eruv chatzerot in a conditional manner on Thursday and Friday.31 He may not, however, do this with regard to an eruv t'chumin.32
Halacha 15
What is implied? On Thursday, the person should make the following stipulation:33 "If today is a holiday, my statements are of no consequence. But if not, this should be [accepted as] an eruv."
On the following day, he should again establish the eruv34and say, "If today is a holiday, I have established my eruv yesterday, and my statements today are of no consequence. If, however, yesterday was the holiday, this should be [accepted as] an eruv."
When does the above apply? To the two days observed as holidays in the diaspora. The two days of Rosh HaShanah, by contrast, are considered to be one [extended] day. Therefore, with regard to them, it is possible to establish aneruv only on the day prior to the holiday.
(Blessed be God who grants assistance.)
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. |
This principle is based on the following concept: Since an eruv t'chumin establishes a particular location as a person's place for the Sabbath, only one such place can be established, and not two.
|
| 2. |
As the Maggid Mishneh mentions, this halachah is dependent on the concept that in cases of Rabbinic law, the principle of b'reirah applies. Thus, retroactively it is considered that at the commencement of the Sabbath, the person had the intent of establishing an eruv in the direction that he was eventually required to proceed.
|
| 3. |
See Tzafenat Paneach (in his gloss on Hilchot Shabbat 27:1), who states that the Rambam considers the limits on travel on the holidays and on Yom Kippur as Rabbinic in origin. In support, he cites the Rambam's statements in Hilchot Sanhedrin, Chapter 19, regarding the negative commandments punishable by lashing: "A person who goes beyond the [Sabbath] limits on the Sabbath, a person who performs a forbidden labor on a holiday."
|
| 4. |
The liability incurred by the violator is somewhat different. A person who willfully performs any of the Sabbath labors is liable for execution, while one who violates a forbidden labor on Yom Kippur is liable only for karet. (See Hilchot Sh'vitat Asor 1:2.)
|
| 5. |
See Hilchot Sh'vitat Yom Tov 1:4, which states that since the prohibition against the forbidden labor of transferring articles was lifted on the holidays regarding the preparation of food, it was lifted entirely.
|
| 6. |
See Maggid Mishneh and the Mishnah Berurah 416:31, which mention opinions that see a benefit in the establishment of eruvin in courtyards on the holidays as well.
|
| 7. |
Although for a single Sabbath one may not establish eruvin in two opposite directions, this rule does not apply when the Sabbath and a holiday follow one another. The Sabbath and the holidays represent two different expressions of holiness (Eruvin 38b). Therefore, the location defined as one's "place" - and thus an eruv established - for one does not necessarily apply regarding the other.
Similarly, regarding the two days of the holidays observed in the diaspora: in essence, the holidays were to be observed for only one day. The observance of a second day was instituted only because of uncertainty regarding the calendar. (See Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 5:4-5.) Therefore, the two days are also considered to be separate entities.
The Ra'avad suggests qualifying the Rambam's statements. The Rambam, however, appreciated the problem that he raised and clarified the issue in Halachah 12.
|
| 8. |
This also involves a redefinition of one's place. Instead of its being considered to be the location of the eruv, it is considered to be one's home.
|
| 9. |
Since these two days were observed as a holiday even in Eretz Yisrael when the moon was sanctified on the basis of the testimony of witnesses (Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 5:7), they are considered to be a single expression of holiness. Eruvin 39b refers to them as "one long day," and the halachic requirements that apply to one day apply also to the other.
|
| 10. |
See the notes on Halachah 8 with regard to whether or not it is necessary for the eruv to remain in its place for both nights of the holiday.
|
| 11. |
The food deposited for the eruv must exist at beyn hash'mashot and be fit to eat. This is particularly important in the summer months, when it is possible that the eruv has become stale or has been eaten by vermin (Mishnah Berurah 416:9).
|
| 12. |
Ordinarily, a person must establish his eruv before nightfall. Nevertheless, since he made a stipulation beforehand, we rely on the principle of b'reirah, and we say that retroactively it is considered to be as if he decided to rely on the eruv before nightfall (Maggid Mishneh).
|
| 13. |
For other examples of the Rambam's rulings concerning this matter, see Hilchot Sh'vitat Yom Tov5:20, Hilchot Terumah 1:21, Hilchot Ma'aser 7:1, and Hilchot Ma'aser Sheni 4:15.
|
| 14. |
If the eruv is not accessible - even if it is present in its designated location - it is not acceptable, as stated in Chapter 6, Halachot 8 and 12.
|
| 15. |
The Maggid Mishneh explains that the removal of the eruv is merely a suggestion offered, lest a person leave the eruv in its place, and it be destroyed by vermin or the like. In a place where theeruv will surely be preserved, there is no point in removing it. Needless to say, on the Sabbath, when it is forbidden to carry, and it is forbidden to remove the eruv, this suggestion does not apply.
If one leaves the eruv in the designated place and there is a possibility that it will be destroyed, one is required to go to that place on the following day to check that it still exists (Mishnah Berurah416:14).
|
| 16. |
The Be'ur Halachah 416 asks: Since it is possible to establish the eruv by walking to the designated location (as stated in the following halachah), of what value is it that the person carried the food with him? The Be'ur Halachah explains that in this instance, we are speaking about a person who has an agent establish the eruv for him. Therefore, it is necessary for him to use food.
|
| 17. |
The eruv must be deposited in the same location; otherwise, this is forbidden. Were one to change either the location (or the food used for the eruv), one would have been considered as either preparing on the Sabbath for a holiday, or on a holiday for the Sabbath (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 416:2).
|
| 18. |
There is no obligation to eat it. The Rambam's intent is merely that from this time onward, there is no obligation that the eruv remain intact (Mishneh Berurah 416:15).
|
| 19. |
The Rambam's statement implies that on Rosh HaShanah, it is necessary to establish an eruvonly on the first night of the holiday. Even if the eruv is consumed before the beginning of the second day, it is acceptable, just as it would be acceptable for the entire Sabbath, even if it had been consumed after beyn hash'mashot.
The Ra'avad objects to this ruling. He maintains that the distinction of the two days of Rosh HaShanah as a single "extended" day applies only as a stringency, but not as a leniency. Therefore, the eruv established before the first night must remain in its place on the second night as well.
The Maggid Mishneh justifies the Rambam's view, bringing supports that indicate that our Sages' definition of these two days as "one long day" brings about a leniency as well as a stringency. TheMishnah Berurah 416:11 follows the Rambam's ruling.
|
| 20. |
He may not establish the eruv by depositing food, for this would involve the performance of an activity on either the Sabbath or the holiday for the benefit of the other. As mentioned, it is forbidden to prepare on the Sabbath for a holiday or on a holiday for the Sabbath (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 416:2).
|
| 21. |
He may not make a verbal statement, for this would be considered to be preparation for the coming day (ibid.).
|
| 22. |
Since he uses the same loaf, he is not considered to be performing a new activity; this location had already been established as his "place," and he is merely perpetuating the existing situation. If he brought a different loaf, it would be considered to be preparing for the coming day (ibid.).
|
| 23. |
According to the fixed calendar we follow at present, it is impossible for Yom Kippur to fall on either Sunday or Friday. (See Rosh HaShanah 20a.)
|
| 24. |
This expression implies a ruling for which the Rambam has no explicit source in the Talmud, but which he arrived at through a process of deduction.
|
| 25. |
Rabbi Akiva Eiger explains that this also implies a leniency. As indicated by the conclusion of Halachah 8, there is no need to establish an eruv on the second day.
|
| 26. |
The rationale is that all the prohibitions that apply on the Sabbath also apply on Yom Kippur (Maggid Mishneh).
|
| 27. |
In Halachah 5.
|
| 28. |
Note the gloss of the Sefer HaKovetz on Halachah 5, which discusses whether the law in this halachah applies only with regard to a holiday and a Sabbath that follow consecutively, or also with regard to the two days of a holiday that are observed in the diaspora. The Magen Avraham 416:3 rules that the restrictions apply with regard to the two days observed in the diaspora as well.
|
| 29. |
See Chapter 6, Halachah 4.
|
| 30. |
For it is forbidden to prepare for the Sabbath on a holiday. (See the Mishnah Berurah 393:1, which questions whether or not an eruv established on a holiday in error is acceptable.)
Note also the Or Sameach, which explains that, according to the Rambam, it is forbidden to establish an eruv t'chumin on the first day of a holiday for the second day. (This ruling runs contrary to a decision of the Noda BiY'hudah (Vol. II, Responsum 48).
|
| 31. |
In Hilchot Sh'vitat Yom Tov 6:14-15, when discussing the establishment of an eruv tavshilin and other similar matters, the Rambam states that in the present era, we may not make such a conditional arrangement. This leniency was granted only in the era when the establishment of the calendar was dependent on the testimony of witnesses, and the second day of a holiday was observed because of a doubt concerning the day on which the holiday should be celebrated. At present, there is no such doubt, and the second day is celebrated because of a Rabbinic decree requiring us to preserve the previous custom. (See Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 5:5.)
Other authorities (see the gloss of the Ra'avad on Hilchot Sh'vitat Yom Tov) take issue with the Rambam on this point; it is their view that is accepted as halachah in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 393:1).
|
| 32. |
Beitzah 17a explains why a distinction is made between these two types of eruvin. By establishing an eruv t'chumin, a person designates a place as his home for the Sabbath, and our Sages would not permit this to be done on a holiday. In contrast, the establishment of an eruv chatzerotnegates one's ownership. Therefore, greater leniency is shown.
|
| 33. |
Note the Birkei Yosef (Orach Chayim 528), which states that a blessing should not be recited.
|
| 34. |
The Mishnah Berurah 393:6 suggests using the same loaf of bread. Otherwise, it would be necessary to keep both loaves until the Sabbath.
|
Shemita - Chapter 9
Halacha 1
It is a positive commandment1 to nullify a loan in the Sabbatical year, as [Deuteronomy 15:2] states: "All of those who bear debt must release their hold." A person who demands payment of a debt after the Sabbatical year passed2violates a negative commandment,3 as it is stated [ibid.]: "One shall not demand [payment] from his friend and his brother."
Halacha 2
The nullification of debts applies according to Scriptural Law only in the era when the Jubilee year is observed4 and [the sale of] land is also nullified, for the land [that has been sold] returns to its original owners without financial payment.5 This matter was conveyed through the chain of tradition. Our Sages declared:6 In the era when you nullify [the sale of] land, you nullify debts everywhere, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in the Diaspora. In the era when you do not nullify [the sale of] land, you do not nullify debts anywhere, even in Eretz Yisrael.
Halacha 3
Halacha 4
The Sabbatical year does not nullify debts until its conclusion. [This is derived as follows: Deuteronomy 15:1-2] states: "At the end of seven years, you shall effect a remission. This is the matter of the remission." And [Deuteronomy 31:10] states:9 "At the end of seven years, at the time of the Sabbatical year, during the holiday of Sukkot." Just as in that instance, [the event takes place] after the seven [years], so too, the nullification of the debts takes place after the seven [years].
Halacha 5
Halacha 6
The Sabbatical year nullifies a loan, even a loan supported by a promissory note which creates a lien on one's possessions.16 If, however, the borrower designated a field [to serve as payment] for the loan, it is not nullified.17 The Sabbatical year also nullifies the obligation to take an oath,18 for [the prooftext] states: "He shall not demand," i.e., neither payment, nor an oath.
Halacha 7
When does the above apply? With regard to an oath imposed by the judges19and the like, i.e., obligations that were he to accept them, the Sabbatical year would nullify them. But oaths taken by watchmen or partners20and the like, i.e., oaths that were he to admit [the obligation], he would be required to pay [after the Sabbatical year],21 he is required to take the oath after the Sabbatical year.
Halacha 8
If a person gave a colleague a loan and then demanded payment, [the colleague] denied the obligation and remained in denial when [the conclusion of] the Sabbatical year arrived and then he admitted his obligation or witnesses came [and testified to that effect] after the Sabbatical year [was concluded], the obligation is not nullified.22
Halacha 9
When a person lends money to a colleague and sets [the time of payment] in ten years time, it is not nullified [by the Sabbatical year. The rationale is that] although [ultimately, the command,] "Do not demand [payment]" will apply,23 at present, he may not demand payment.24 If he stipulated that he would not demand payment, [the debt] is nullified by the Sabbatical year.25
Halacha 10
When a person lends money to a colleague and he stipulates with [the borrower] that [the debt] will not be nullified by the Sabbatical year, it is nullified, for he cannot negate the law of the Sabbatical year.26 If [the borrower] stipulates that he will not nullify this debt, even in the Sabbatical year, the stipulation is binding, for any stipulation made regarding financial matters is binding. Thus this person took on a financial obligation which the Torah did not obligate him in.27
Halacha 11
Halacha 12
Halacha 13
Halacha 14
Halacha 15
When a person hands over42 his promissory notes to the court, telling [the judges]: "Collect my debt for me," the debts are not nullified by the Sabbatical year. [This is derived from Deuteronomy 15:3]: "[a debt] that you have from your brother."[Implied is that debts demanded by "your brother," a private individual, are nullified by the Sabbatical year. [Payment for] these [debts, by contrast,] is being demanded by the court.
Similarly, if the court rendered a judgment, writing: "So-and-so, you are obligated to give this person this-and-this amount," [the debt] is not nullified. Such [a debt] is considered as if it has already been collected and entered [the creditor's] possession. It does not resemble a loan.
Halacha 16
When Hillel the Elder saw that the people would refrain from lending to each other and thus violated the Scriptural charge [Deuteronomy 15:9]: "Lest there be a wicked thought in your heart,"43 he ordained a pruzbol44 so that debts would not be nullified and people would lend to each other.
Halacha 17
Halacha 18
Halacha 19
A pruzbol may be composed only when [the borrower possesses] land.55 If the borrower does not possess land, the lender should grant56 the borrower even the slightest amount of land - even enough to grow a cabbage stalk57- in his field. [Even if] he lent him place for an oven or a range, a pruzbol may be composed.58 If [the borrower] owns a field that was given as security, a pruzbolmay be composed on that basis.
Halacha 20
[A pruzbol] may be composed against a man59 based on property owned by his wife60 or against orphans on property owned by their guardian.61 If [the borrower] does not possess land, but the guarantor does, we can compose apruzbol because of it.62 If [a borrower] is owed a debt by a colleague and the colleague owns land - since that land is on lien [to the first borrower] - we may compose a pruzbol because of it.
Halacha 21
Halacha 22
When a person has a pruzbol composed and then he makes a loan, it is not effective. Instead, the loan will be nullified unless he composes [another]pruzbol after giving the loan. Thus one can conclude that any loan which precedes a pruzbol is not nullified because of this pruzbol. If the pruzbolprecedes the loan, it is nullified [despite] this pruzbol.65
Halacha 23
Accordingly, a pruzbol that is predated is valid, while one that is postdated, is invalid.
What is implied? One wrote a pruzbol in Nissan and predated it to Adar, it is valid, for he has impaired its legal power, for [only the loans given] until Adar are not nullified.66 If, however, he postdated it and dated it in Iyar, it is invalid, for he has strengthened its legal power, for [were it to be effective] the loans given until Iyar would not be nullified. This is unlawful, because it is only [the loans given] until Nissan that are not nullified, for that [is when] the matters were conveyed to the court.
Halacha 24
When a person produces a promissory note after the Sabbatical year without it being accompanied by a pruzbol, the debt is lost.67 If he says: "I possessed [apruzbol] and it was lost, his word is accepted.68 For from the time of the danger69 onward,70 a creditor was allowed to collect his debt [after the Sabbatical year] without a pruzbol.
Moreover, when a creditor would bring the promissory note [to court] or would come and demand payment of a loan supported by a verbal commitment [alone], [the court] tells the defendant: "Pay him." If the defendant claims: "Where is his pruzbol?", the court asks the plaintiff: "Did you have a pruzbol that was lost?" If he answers affirmatively, his word is accepted.71 If he admits that he did not have a pruzbol, the debt is nullified.
Halacha 25
[When the plaintiff] produces a pruzbol, the defendant claims: "The loan for which he is demanding payment was made after the pruzbol,"74 and the plaintiff retorts: "It was made before the pruzbol," the plaintiff's word is accepted. [The rationale is] were he to have claimed: "I had [a pruzbol] and it was lost," his word would have been accepted75 even though we do not know the date of thepruzbol that was lost.
Halacha 26
If the defendant claims: "I owe him a debt," and the plaintiff states: "No, it is an account from a store which is not nullified [by the Sabbatical year], because I have not yet considered it as a loan,"76 his word is accepted, for were he to desire,77he could say: "It was a loan, but I had a pruzbol and it was lost." [Leniency is granted in these instances,] because once the Sages instituted [the concept of] pruzbol, we operate under the assumption that a person will not forgo something permitted78 and partake of something that is forbidden.79
Halacha 27
When Torah Sages offer loans to each other80 and one conveys his words to his students,81 saying: "I am notifying you [that I reserve the right] to collect all the debts [owed] to me at any time I desire," he does not have to compose apruzbol.82 [The rationale is that Torah scholars] know that the nullification of debts in the present era is a Rabbinic decree and it can be negated verbally.
Halacha 28
[Whenever] anyone returns a debt [despite the fact] that the Sabbatical year has passed,83 the spirits of our Sages are gratified because of him.84 [When receiving the payment,] the lender must say to the one who is making restitution: "I am nullifying [the debt] and your [obligation] to me has been released."85 If the debtor says: "Nevertheless, I desire that you accept it," he should accept it. For the Torah states: "One shall not demand [payment]," and payment was not demanded.86
[The debtor] should not tell [the creditor]: "I am giving them to you as [payment of ] my debt. Instead, he should tell him: "[The money] is mine,87 and I am giving it to you as a present."
Halacha 29
If [a debtor] returned a debt, but did not make the above statements, [the lender] should turn the conversation to the point where the debtor says: "[The money] is mine, and I am giving it to you as a present." If [the debtor] does not make such statements, [the creditor] should not accept it from him.88 Instead, [the debtor] should take his money and depart.
Halacha 30
One who refrains from lending money to a colleague before the Sabbatical year lest [the repayment] of the debt be delayed and it be nullified, violates a negative commandment, 89 as [Deuteronomy 15:9] states: "Be careful [lest there be a wicked thought in your heart....]" It is a severe sin, for the Torah warned against it with two adjurations, for it is written: "Be careful lest," and whenever the Torah uses the expressions "Be careful," "lest," or "Do not," it is communicating a negative commandment.90 The Torah objected to this evil thought and called it "wicked" and the the verse continued warning and commanding one not to refraining [from lending], but to give [the loan], as [ibid.:10] states: "You shall certainly give him and your Heart should not regret giving him." [Indeed,] the Holy One, blessed be He, promised that the reward for this mitzvah will be granted in this world,91 as [the verse continues:] "Because of this God will bless you."
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 141) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 477) includes this commandment among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. The Rambam's wording implies that the nullification of the debt comes as a result of the person's action. It is not automatically nullified at the conclusion of the seventh year. For that reason, the Rambam states in Halachah 28, when a person comes to pay a debt after the conclusion of the seventh, the creditor must say that he is nullifying the debt (Likkutei Sichot, Vol. XVII, p. 289ff.).
|
| 2. |
For, according to the Rambam, the debt is not nullified until the conclusion of the Sabbatical year (Halachah 4).
|
| 3. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (negative commandment 230) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 475) include this commandment among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
|
| 4. |
As stated in Chapter 10, Halachah 9, after the exile of the tribes of Reuven and Gad, the laws of the Jubilee year no longer applied according to Scriptural Law.
|
| 5. |
See Chapter 10, Halachot 13, 15, for details regarding this concept.
|
| 6. |
Gittin 36a.
|
| 7. |
I.e., according to the Rambam's interpretation of Gittin, loc. cit., the nullification of debts applies in the present era, even in the Diaspora. His view is accepted by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:1). In his gloss to that text, the Rama quotes different opinions among the Ashkenazic authorities. Some maintain that the Rabbis did not ordain the observance of this law in the present age. Others maintain that it should be observed as a custom. Significantly, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Halvaah 34, follows the Rambam's view.
|
| 8. |
I.e., even according to Rabbinic Law (see Tosafot, Gittin, loc. cit.).
|
| 9. |
With regard to the Hakhel ceremony. The interrelation of these verses has its source in the Sifri.
|
| 10. |
According to other authorities, although the debt is not remitted until the end of the Sabbatical year, from the beginning of the Sabbatical year, the creditor is forbidden to demand payment. SeeShulchan Aruch HaRav, loc. cit. 36.
|
| 11. |
I.e., the sunset marking the advent of Rosh HaShanah.
|
| 12. |
Because it is forbidden to demand its payment (Likkutei Sichot, loc. cit.).
|
| 13. |
Since the people considered the day as a festival, the recipients of the meat could not pay for it in an ordinary manner. Hence they promised to pay for their shares later, considering the money as a debt [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:2)].
|
| 14. |
When the laws of the annulment of debts would no longer apply. The Rambam is speaking about a situation that could have occurred in the time the new month was sanctified based on the testimony of witnesses (in contrast to the present era, when we follow a fixed calendar). In that era as well, the court had a presupposition of the day when Rosh HaShanah would fall and the people celebrated it as a holiday in anticipation of its sanctification. Nevertheless, the moon was not actually sanctified - and thus the holiday officially declared as such - unless witnesses came. Now it was possible, especially if the night was cloudy, that witnesses did not see the moon and hence could not go to the court to give testimony. Hence the day could not be declared as Rosh HaShanah.
|
| 15. |
The Ra'avad questions the Rambam's ruling, based on the principle (stated in Halachah 11), that a debt stemming from money owed on account to a grocer is not nullified at the end of the Sabbatical year. Indeed, the source for this law (the Jerusalem Talmud, Sh'vi'it 10:1) states that it follows the opinion that maintains that such an account is nullified by the Sabbatical year. The Radbaz, however, explains that the situations are not identical. For it is common practice for a grocer to sell on account. A butcher, by contrast, expects immediate payment. A similar distinction is suggested by the Kessef Mishneh.
|
| 16. |
I.e., once a loan is recorded in a promissory note, in the event the debtor does not pay, the creditor can use the promissory note to collect the debt from the landed property belonging to the debtor at the time of the loan (even if it was subsequently sold to others). Since the property is on lien, one might think that the situation is comparable to a loan supported by security (Halachah 14), which is not nullified by the Sabbatical year. That law, however, does not apply in the present instance, because although the lien applies to the debtor's property, it is not associated with a specific property.
|
| 17. |
Since the land has been designated as payment, it is as if the loan has already been paid.
|
| 18. |
For example, a person claimed that a colleague owed him 100 zuz and the colleague admitted only to owing 50. In such an instance, the colleague is required to take an oath regarding the other 50 zuz. If he fails to take the oath before the conclusion of the Sabbatical year, that obligation is nullified.
|
| 19. |
This is a specific term that, as explained in Hilchot Sh'vuot 11:5-6, refers to oaths administered because of the denial of a specific and definite claim that would create a monetary obligation were the defendant to have admitted to it.
|
| 20. |
See Hilchot Sh'vuot, loc. cit., which explains that these individuals can be compelled to take an oath even though the plaintiff does not have a definite claim against them.
|
| 21. |
With regard to a watchman, the explanation is that - unlike a loan - the property being watched is considered as always being in the possession of the owner. Hence, the obligation for it is not nullified by the Sabbatical year (see Radbaz). A partner is considered as a watchman (Bava Batra42b).
|
| 22. |
The rationale is that the obligation was not firmly established before the conclusion of the Sabbatical year, for until the borrower's admission of the debt or the substantiation of the claim by witnesses, the creditor cannot press for payment in a court of law. Hence, the end of the year does not lead to the nullification of the debt. See the Jerusalem Talmud (Sh'vi'it 10:1). The Ra'avad objects to the Rambam's ruling, but it is supported by the Radbaz and the Kessef Mishneh and quoted by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:7). Nevertheless, the Shulchan Aruch does add to the Rambam's wording the concept that the debtor took an oath to support his denial. In his gloss to the Tur, the Darkei Moshe explains that addition, stating that unless the debtor has taken an oath to support his denial, then we are speaking of an ordinary loan and the conclusion of the Sabbatical year nullifies both the loan and the obligation of an oath to support one's denial, as stated in Halachah 6.
|
| 23. |
For in ten years time, he will demand payment of the debt.
|
| 24. |
For the loan has not become due. And as long as there is no payment demanded, the debt is not nullified, for the Sabbatical year only nullifies a debt for which payment is called for (the Responsa of Rabbenu Asher, sec. 86).
|
| 25. |
The Radbaz and Rav Yosef Corcus explain that even though the collector has promised not to demand payment of the debt, since there is a payment date before the end of the Sabbatical year, the borrower is under obligation to pay. Hence, it is as if payment is being demanded from him.
|
| 26. |
This is a general principle, applicable in many contexts. Whenever a person establishes a stipulation that runs contrary to the Torah's laws, his stipulation is nullified. For the Torah is not given over to man's will and no mortal can bend it to fit his whims (see Makkot 3b; Hilchot Ishut6:9).
|
| 27. |
The difference between this clause and the previous one can be explained as follows: In the previous instance, the person was attempting to postulate that the Torah's laws should not apply. This is not within a mortal's power. In the second clause, by contrast, the person is saying that although the laws of the Sabbatical Law do apply, he asks the borrower to accept an obligation even though the Torah releases him from it. Torah Law does not prevent him from accepting such an obligation. See the parallels in Hilchot Mechirah 11:15.
See also the comments of Beit Yosef (Choshen Mishpat 67), that one is permitted to make such a stipulation. It is not merely that, after the fact, one is bound by it.
Based on this principle, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Halva'ah:35 draws the following conclusion:
Nevertheless, that text continues, stating that "any G-d-fearing person will be stringent with regard to his own conduct and make a pruzbol, [for] it is something that does not involve a loss and is easy to arrange."
|
| 28. |
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:1), the Rambam explains that until a summary of an account is made, it is not considered as a debt. Instead, the seller trusts the purchaser and is willing to wait for payment. Thus all of the different transactions are considered as one sale. TheKessef Mishneh explains that since it is not customary for the seller to demand payment of such accounts, the account is not bound by the prohibition: "Do not demand payment." Hence, the mitzvah to nullify the obligation also does not apply.
Similar concepts are reflected in the treatment of the subject by Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Halva'ah, subsec. 39, which states: "Since a storekeeper usually extends credit for a year or two and it is unusual for him to demand payment immediately, it is as if he set a time for payment after the Sabbatical year."
|
| 29. |
The Rama (Choshen Mishpat 67:14 offers two explanations for "establish[ing it] as a debt":
a) setting a time for payment;
b) totaling up the account to arrive at a sum.
|
| 30. |
For in such an instance, it is no different than any other debt.
|
| 31. |
Here also the Kessef Mishneh explains that since it is not common for a worker to demand payment of his wages immediately, until he does so, they are not considered as a debt.
|
| 32. |
See Deuteronomy 22:28-29, Hilchot Na'arah, ch. 1.
|
| 33. |
See Exodus 22:15-16, Hilchot Na'arah, ch. 1.
|
| 34. |
See Deuteronomy 22:13-21, Hilchot Na'arah, ch. 3.
|
| 35. |
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:2, the Rambam explains that debts are obligations which a person accepts upon himself. Hence they can be nullified. These obligations, by contrast, are penalties imposed upon the transgressor by God. Hence, he cannot absolve himself from them unless he makes payment.
The Kessef Mishneh questions this explanation, for the Torah also requires a person to satisfy the monetary obligations he takes upon himself. He therefore explains that the intent is that since these penalties are written in the Torah, it is as the debts were handed over to the court in which instance, they are not nullified by the Sabbatical year, as stated in Halachah 15.
Rambam LeAm explains the difference between the two on the basis between the distinction between mamon, a financial obligation between men, which a man can release, and k'nas, a penalty required by God from the transgressor that although paid to the person violated is not an obligation to him.
|
| 36. |
The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:16) defines "establish[ing] as a debt" as calling the defendant to court. Sefer Meirat Einayim 67:31 emphasizes that once the court's decision is written up, it is considered as if the debt has been handed over to the court.
|
| 37. |
The money he agrees to pay in the event of a divorce (or which his estate must pay in the event of his death).
|
| 38. |
Since the obligation need not be paid until the woman demands payment, it is not considered as a debt that could be nullified by the Sabbatical year.
|
| 39. |
I.e., she admitted that a certain portion of the money owed her had already been paid. See Hilchot Ishut 16:14.
|
| 40. |
Kiddushin 9b states: "A creditor acquires the security given him." Thus when the loan is given in return for security, it is as if he transferred ownership of the security for the loan until it is repaid [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 9:2)]. Thus it is as if there is no outstanding obligation for the Sabbatical year to nullify.
|
| 41. |
For this amount is not in his possession. The Tur and the Shulchan Aruch (loc. cit.) quote other opinions which do not accept this view and maintain that this portion of the debt is not nullified. In his Kessef Mishneh, however, Rav Yosef Caro elaborates in support of the Rambam's position.
|
| 42. |
Giving them the actual promissory note, not merely assigning it to them (Rav Yosef Corcus, explaining why this is acceptable according to Scriptural Law, while a pruzbol is merely a Rabbinic institution).
|
| 43. |
The verse continues: "The Sabbatical year is drawing near and you will look negatively at your brother and refrain from giving him." See Halachah 30 which discusses this charge.
|
| 44. |
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:3), the Rambam cites the interpretation of this term in Gittin 37a: "the amendment of a matter."
|
| 45. |
As stated in Halachah 2, the nullification of debts in the present era is a Rabbinic injunction. And since it is a Rabbinic institution, Hillel and his court had the power to institute a provision to reduce its application. Were it to have the power of a Scriptural Law, the Rabbis would not be able to institute such a provision.
|
| 46. |
The Ra'avad differs with this concept, explaining that it applies even when the Sabbatical Law is observed according to Scriptural Law. The difference between the two authorities reflects a difference between the two Talmudic Sages, Abbaye and Rava, the Rambam follows Abbaye's understanding and the Ra'avad that of Rava. This, however, is slightly problematic, for the Bava Metzia 22b states that, with the exception of six specific instances, whenever there is a difference of opinion between these two Sages, the halachah follows Rava's understanding.
The Radbaz explains the Rambam's viewpoint, stating that our Sages' preference for Rava's position applies only when these Sages are arguing concerning their own logical conclusions. When, by contrast, they are arguing about the interpretation of another Sages' position as in the present instance, the halachah can follow Abaye's view.
|
| 47. |
They were the heads of the leading courts in Eretz Yisrael shortly at the beginning of the post-Mishnaic era. Similarly, the court composing a pruzbol must be one of the leading courts in its region and in its era (Radbaz, Kessef Mishneh).
|
| 48. |
Gittin 36b explains that the institution of a pruzbol depends on the principle hefker beit din, hefker; "When the Jewish court absolves a person's ownership, the absolution is binding." As proof of this principle, it cites examples of actions taken by Ezra the Scribe and Joshua. The Rambam understands the Talmud to be saying that even when a financial obligation is Rabbinic in origin, to absolve it, one must have authority comparable to that of Ezra and Joshua. (Significantly, inHilchot Sanhedrin 24:6 - where the Rambam describes the above principle - and in Hilchot Nachalot 6:12 - where he shows another application of it - he does not state that the courts involved must be made up of judges of unique distinction.)
|
| 49. |
The Tur (Choshen Mishpat 67) does not accept the Rambam's ruling and maintains that a pruzbolmay be composed by any court. The Ramah (loc. cit.:18) states that this leniency can be accepted. Note also the contrast between this law and Halachah 27.
|
| 50. |
Our translation is taken from the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:4).
|
| 51. |
The Rambam is quoting the wording of the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it 10:4). Although Rabbenu Nissim interprets this to mean that the Rambam accepts the view (Gittin 33a) that two judges are sufficient to compose a pruzbol, most authorities require that there be at least three judges on a court which officiates over a pruzbol, as indicated by the statement of the law in the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:19).
|
| 52. |
The creditor is not transferring the actual promissory note to the court - in which instance apruzbol would not be necessary, as stated in Halachah 15. Instead, he is making a formal notification of the matter to the court. See Sefer Meirat Einayim 67:39.
|
| 53. |
I.e., even after the Sabbatical year passes.
|
| 54. |
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit.), the Rambam writes that this wording teaches us that a judge may also serve as a witness. This is not allowed in questions involving Scriptural Law, but in questions involving Rabbinic Law, leniency is granted.
|
| 55. |
The rationale is that when the borrower possesses land, the creditor's debt is secured, because he may expropriate the land in payment (Radbaz). Even though the land does not appear to be worth the full value of the debt, we follow the principle (see Hilchot Mechirah 13:8) that the land may never be considered overpriced (Sefer Meirat Einayim 67:41).
|
| 56. |
Our text follows the manuscript copies and early printings of the Mishneh Torah. The standard printed text reads slightly differently.
The lender may transfer this property to the borrower without his knowledge, but not against his will [Shulchan Aruch and Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 67:22)].
|
| 57. |
Even if he possesses only a flowerpot with a hole in it.
|
| 58. |
Since the borrower is entitled to use the land, he is considered to have sufficient rights to it to enable a pruzbol to be written.
|
| 59. |
I.e., the man referred to here is the borrower.
|
| 60. |
Since he is entitled to the benefit from this property, it can be used for a pruzbol.
|
| 61. |
I.e., when a guardian took out a loan for the sake of orphans, if the guardian possesses land apruzbol can be composed because the guardian is considered like a guarantor.
|
| 62. |
Because ultimately, the guarantor's property is also on lien to the loan.
|
| 63. |
For each one must entrust his debt to the court.
|
| 64. |
For in the one pruzbol, he entrusts all of his debts to the court.
|
| 65. |
This halachah, based on Sh'vi'it 10:5, was the subject of much review and rethinking within the Rambam's own mind. He rewrote his commentary to this mishnah four times, each time, changing his thought somewhat.
At first, he wrote that only a pruzbol written before a loan prevents it from being nullified. Once a loan has already been given, the laws of the Sabbatical year apply to it, and a pruzbol cannot nullify it. It was not until his second revision of his commentary that he changed it, amending it to read like his conclusion in the text above.
|
| 66. |
Since that is the date on the pruzbol, its legal power takes effect from that date even though it was written later and it could have included the loans that were given until the date when it was actually composed.
|
| 67. |
For it is nullified by the Sabbatical year.
|
| 68. |
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Ketubot 9:7), the Rambam explains that the lender's word is accepted based on the principle that a person will not sin when he could achieve the same result in a permitted manner (Gittin 37b). Since he could easily preserve the debt by composing apruzbol, we assume that he did so rather than transgress the prohibitions of the Sabbatical year, as stated in Halachah 26.
|
| 69. |
I.e., in the Talmudic era, the Roman's passed many decrees with the intent of stamping out the observance of the mitzvot. One of them was a prohibition to make a pruzbol (for by doing so, they would undermine the observance of the Sabbatical year). Failure to observe these decrees led to very severe punishment. In fear, many people would compose a pruzbol so that they could collect their debts, but destroy it lest it cause them danger (Kessef Mishneh).
|
| 70. |
The Kessef Mishneh explains that even though the danger passed, the Rabbis never rescinded the leniency granted to allow for a uniformity in Jewish practice.
|
| 71. |
Gittin, loc. cit. explains that this is like "opening the mouth of the dumb," i.e., offering support to a litigant to enable him to collect what is due him.
|
| 72. |
Below the age of majority [Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:28)].
|
| 73. |
The Radbaz cites (Gittin 37a) which states that the Jewish court is considered as "the father of the orphans" and we assume that they do not want to impose Rabbinic decrees in a situation that will harm the orphan's interests. This applies both to loans that they themselves made or that their father made and which are due to his estate (Sefer Meirat Einayim 67:50).
|
| 74. |
And thus the loan would be nullified by the Sabbatical year, as stated in Halachah 22.
|
| 75. |
Based on the principle of migo, i.e., had he desired to lie, he would have told a more effective lie. This argument is reinforced by the accepted presumption mentioned previously: that if a person has a permitted way to perform a function, he will not use a forbidden path, i.e., he would make the loan with a valid pruzbol, rather than rely on an invalid one.
Generally, a migo is an accepted argument in its own right. Nevertheless, in this instance, themigo must be reinforced by the assumption, for migo is usually employed as an argument in defense of one's position and not to expropriate money and here the plaintiff is seeking to employ it to expropriate money (Biurei HaGra 67:58).
|
| 76. |
See Halachah 11.
|
| 77. |
To lie, i.e., here too, we are relying on the principle of migo, as reinforced by the assumption the Rambam proceeds to mention.
|
| 78. |
Lending with a pruzbol.
|
| 79. |
Lending without a pruzbol.
|
| 80. |
The Rambam's wording implies that both the lender and the borrower must be Torah scholars. His ruling is quoted verbatim by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 67:20). The Rama, however, rules that not only Torah Sages, but even ordinary individuals can benefit from this leniency.
This leniency is part of the rationale, for the observance of the concept of pruzbol by the Ashkenazic community. Since all that is necessary to preserve a loan is a verbal statement made in the presence of three knowledgeable people, it is proper for everyone to do so (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Halva'ah:35).
|
| 81. |
The Ra'avad (as understood by the Kessef Mishneh) objects to the Rambam's ruling, for, as stated in Halachah 17, the Rambam maintains that a pruzbol must be composed by a leading court, while here, he seems to imply that any few students are acceptable. The Kessef Mishnehresolves the apparent contradiction by saying that the students the Rambam refers to here are in fact distinguished judges, and there is no difference in practive between the subjects of the two halachot. Rav Yosef Corcus (in his gloss to Halachah 17) states that as long as the important court approves of such an act, the actual pruzbol may be made in the presence of lesser scholars.
|
| 82. |
As stated in Halachah 18
|
| 83. |
And thus, according to law, the debt is nullified and need not be repaid. This halachah is speaking about an instance where a pruzbol was not composed.
|
| 84. |
I.e., they approve of this step and consider it pious behavior. The Sages thought it desirable for a debt to be returned, for in this way, people will continue lending each other money in the future.
|
| 85. |
For according to law, he can no longer collect the debt.
|
| 86. |
And thus, by accepting it, he is not violating the Torah's commandment to nullify the debt. Indeed, he has fulfilled the commandment to release the debt, for the Deuteronomy 15:2 introduces this commandment with the phrase: "This is the matter (d'var) of remission." D'var, translated as "matter," also relates to the word dibbur meaning "speech," implying that it is sufficient to make a statement of remission to fulfill the mitzvah [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Sh'vi'it10:8)].
|
| 87. |
For the debt has been absolved.
|
| 88. |
Because it would resemble accepting payment for a debt.
|
| 89. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (negative commandment 231) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 480) include this commandment among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. See also Halachah 16 above.
|
| 90. |
Zevachim 106a; Sifri to the above verse. The fact that this commandment employs two such terms indicates that it is a severe prohibition.
|
| 91. |
As opposed to many other mitzvot for which reward is granted only in the World-to-Come. See the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Pe'ah 1:1) for a discussion of this matter.
|
Shemita - Chapter 10
Halacha 1
It is a positive commandment to count sets of seven years1 and to sanctify the fiftieth year,2 as [Leviticus 25:8-10] states: "And you shall count seven years for yourselves... and you shall sanctify the fiftieth year." These two mitzvot are entrusted to the High Court3 alone.4
Halacha 2
When did the counting begin? After the fourteen years following the entry intoEretz [Yisrael]. [This is derived from Leviticus 25:3]: "Six years shall you sow your field and six years shall you trim your vineyard." [Implied is that] each person must recognize his [portion of the] land. [The people] took seven years to conquer the land and seven years to divide it.5 Thus the counting began after the 2503rd year after the creation, from Rosh HaShanah,6 after the conjunction [of the sun and the moon before the creation] of Adam, which was in the second year of the creation.7 They declared the [two thousand,] five hundred, and tenth year after the creation which was the 21st year after the entry intoEretz Yisrael as the Sabbatical year. They counted seven Sabbatical years and then sanctified the fiftieth year which was the 64th year after they entered Eretz [Yisrael].
Halacha 3
The Jewish people counted 17 Jubilee years8 from the time they entered [Eretz Yisrael] until they departed.9 The year they departed, when the Temple was destroyed the first time, was the year following the Sabbatical year and the 36th year in the Jubilee cycle. For the First Temple stood for 410 years. When it was destroyed, this reckoning ceased.
After it ceased, the land remained desolate for seventy years.10 Then the Second Temple was built and it stood for 420 years. In the seventh year after it was built, Ezra ascended [to Eretz Yisrael]. This is referred to as the second entry.11 From this year, they began another reckoning. They designated the thirteenth year of the Second Temple as the Sabbatical year12 and counted seven Sabbatical years and sanctified the fiftieth year. Although the Jubilee year was not observed in [the era of] the Second Temple,13 they would count it in order to sanctify the Sabbatical years.
Halacha 4
It follows that the year in which the [Second] Temple was destroyed, [more precisely, the year] beginning from Tishrei that was approximately two months after the destruction14 - for the reckoning of Sabbatical and Jubilee years begins in Tishrei - was the year following the Sabbatical year. It was the fifteenth year of the ninth Jubilee cycle.15
Halacha 5
Nevertheless, all of the Geonim have said that they have received a tradition, transferred from teacher to student that in the seventy years between the destruction of the First Temple and the building of the Second Temple, they counted only Sabbatical years, not the Jubilee year. Similarly, after the destruction of the Second Temple, they did not count the fiftieth year. Instead, they counted only sets of seven from the beginning of the year of the destruction. [This interpretation] is also apparent from the Talmud in Avodah Zarah.19 This reckoning is a received tradition.
Halacha 6
[The reckoning of] the Sabbatical year is well-known and renowned among theGeonim and the people of Eretz Yisrael. None of them make any reckoning except according to the years of the destruction.20 According to this reckoning, this year which is the 1107th year after the destruction is the year following the Sabbatical year.21
Halacha 7
The Jubilee year is not counted in the set of Sabbatical years.25 Instead, the 49th year is a Sabbatical year and the fiftieth year is a Jubilee year. Then the 51st year is the first of the six years of the [next] Sabbatical cycle. This is true of every Jubilee year.
Halacha 8
From the time the tribes of Reuven and Gad and half the tribe of Menasheh were exiled,26 [the observance] of the Jubilee year ceased, as [implied byLeviticus 25:10]: "You shall proclaim freedom throughout the land to all of its inhabitants." [One can infer that this commandment applies only] when all of its inhabitants are dwelling within it. [Moreover,] they may not be intermingled, one tribe with another, but rather each tribe is dwelling in its appropriate place.27
Halacha 9
When [the laws of] the Jubilee year are observed, the laws of a Hebrew servant are observed,30 as are the laws of homes in a walled city, the laws of a field given as a dedication offering, and the laws of ancestral fields.31 We accept [a gentile as] a resident alien32 and the Sabbatical year is observed in Eretz [Yisrael] and debts are nullified in all places according to Scriptural Law. In the era when the Jubilee year is not observed, none of these mitzvot are observed except the Sabbatical year in Eretz [Yisrael] according to Rabbinic Law and also the nullification of debts in all places according to Rabbinic Law, as we explained.33
Halacha 10
It is a positive commandment to sound the shofar on the tenth of Tishrei34in the Jubilee year.35 This mitzvah is entrusted to the [High] Court first,36 as [Leviticus 25:9] states: "You shall sound a shofar blast. Each and every individual is also obligated to sound the shofar, as [the verse] continues: "and you shall sound the shofar."37
Halacha 11
[The requirements] of shofar used for the Jubilee and Rosh HaShanah are the same in all matters.40 Both on Rosh HaShanah and in the Jubilee the tekiyotare sounded except in the Jubilee year, they are sounded41both in the court that sanctifies the new moon42 and in a court that does not sanctify the moon.43[Moreover,] for the entire time the court is in session, every individual is obligated to sound [the shofar even] outside the presence of the court.
Halacha 12
When Rosh HaShanah falls on the Sabbath, by contrast, [the shofar] would be sounded only in a court that sanctified the new moon. Every individual may sound [the shofar] only in the presence of the court.44
Halacha 13
Halacha 14
From Rosh HaShanah49 until Yom Kippur, servants would not be released to their homes,50 nor would they be subjugated to their masters,51 nor would the fields return to their [original] owners.52 Instead, the servants would eat, drink, and rejoice, with crowns on their heads. When Yom Kippur arrives and theshofar is sounded in the court, the servants are released to their homes and the fields are returned to their owners.
Halacha 15
With regard to the land being allowed to rest, the laws of the Jubilee year are the same of those of the Sabbatical year. Whatever agricultural labors53 are forbidden54 in the Sabbatical year are forbidden in the Jubilee year. Whatever is permitted in the Sabbatical year is permitted in the Jubilee. Whenever the performance of a labor is punishable by lashes in the Sabbatical year,55 it is punishable by lashes in the Jubilee year. [Similarly,] the laws governing the eating,56 sale,57 and removal58 of the produce of the Jubilee year are the same as those governing the produce of the Sabbatical year in all respects.
Halacha 16
The Sabbatical year has an added dimension lacking in the Jubilee, for debts are nullified in the Sabbatical year,59 and they are not nullified in the Jubilee. The Jubilee year has an added dimension lacking in the Sabbatical year, for in the Jubilee, servants are released and land is released. This refers to the laws regarding the sale of land in the Torah.60 This is a positive commandment,61 as [Leviticus 25:24] states: "You shall grant redemption to the land.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 140) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 330) includes the commandment to count the sets of years among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. As the Rambam states in Sefer HaMitzvot the mitzvah is not to count a 50 year cycle, but rather to count seven sets of seven year cycles.
|
| 2. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 136) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 332) includes the commandment to sanctify the fiftieth year among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. In Sefer HaMitzvot, the Rambam explains that the sanctification of the year is reflected in considering the produce of that year ownerless.
|
| 3. |
The Sanhedrin, the court of 71 judges which served as Judaism's supreme Rabbinic authority.
|
| 4. |
I.e., their fulfillment is not incumbent on each person individually, but on the people as a whole, and hence, on the High Court, who acts as their agent.
|
| 5. |
Zevachim 118b derives the fact that it took the Jews seven years to conquer Eretz Yisrael from the statements of Caleb quoted in Joshua 14:7 and it postulates that the division also took seven years.
|
| 6. |
Avodah Zarah 9a states that the Torah was given in the year 2448, when the forty years the Jews wandered in the desert and the fourteen years that the land was conquered and divided are added, a total of 2502 are reached. Thus the counting began in the 2503rd year.
|
| 7. |
I.e., our counting begins from the creation of Adam which was on Rosh HaShanah, for Adam's creation superseded the creation that preceded his to the extent that Rosh HaShanah is considered the anniversary of creation and the beginning of the year and not the 25th of Elul even though that date was the first day of creation.
Adam's creation is mentioned as occurring in the second year after creation, because any portion of a year is considered as a year. Thus the five days from the 25th of Elul until Rosh HaShanah are the first year referred to here. Hence, there is a theoretical conjunction of the sun and the moon for that year. See Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 6:8 and notes which mention the day and time of the first conjunction.
|
| 8. |
I.e., they were in the midst of counting the seventeenth Jubilee as explained in the following note.
|
| 9. |
I Kings 6:1 relates that the first Temple was built 480 years after the exodus from Egypt. When the 40 years of wandering in the desert and the 14 years when Eretz Yisrael was conquered and divided is subtracted from that figure, 426 years remain. When the 410 years that the First Temple stood (as stated in Yoma 9a) are added, a total of 836 is reached. 836 divided by 50 equals 16. Thus the Jews were exiled in the 36th year of the seventeenth Jubilee cycle. Note the discussion of the Rambam's wording "17 Jubilees" by the Ra'avad, Radbaz, Kessef Mishneh and others based on Rosh HaShanah 9a.
|
| 10. |
And for the 70 years of the Babylonian exile, the Jubilee year cycle was not followed. See Halachah 5.
|
| 11. |
See also Chapter 12, Halachah 15.
|
| 12. |
For they began counting from Ezra's arrival.
|
| 13. |
See Halachah 8. The Rambam's intent is that the mitzvot of the Jubilee year were not observed.
|
| 14. |
For the destruction took place on the ninth of Av.
|
| 15. |
The Second Temple stood for 420 years (Yoma, loc. cit.). Thus if the reckoning of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years began in its seventh year, there is a total of 414. Eight Jubilee cycles produce a total of 400 years. Thus the year following the destruction was the 415th year and it was the year following the Sabbatical year.
|
| 16. |
In the Talmudic era, it was customary to date legal documents from the time of Alexander the Great's ascent to the throne. See Hilchot Gerushin 1:27.
|
| 17. |
This corresponds to 1176 C.E. This date is interesting in another context, for it gives us some insight into the Rambam's writing and editing of the Mishneh Torah. In his Introduction to theMishneh Torah, the Rambam mentions the date of the composition of the work as 4937, and inHilchot Kiddush HaChodesh 11:16, he speaks of the date 4938. Thus it is apparent that he worked on the text for several years, wrote the Introduction in 4937, and then edited and added to the work in 4938.
|
| 18. |
I.e., that date is 1121 years after the last Jubilee observed before the destruction of the Second Temple. Thus if that figure is divided by fifty, 21 years are left over. Hence, it is a Sabbatical year.
|
| 19. |
See Avodah Zarah 9b.
|
| 20. |
For it is accepted that the year following the destruction was the beginning of a Sabbatical cycle, as stated in Halachah 4.
|
| 21. |
I.e., when 1107 is divided by 7, there is a remainder of 1.
|
| 22. |
The Radbaz states that this was the practice in his day and this is the present practice in Eretz Yisrael and throughout the world, for the Rambam's ruling is accepted by both the Beit Yosef and Rama (Choshen Mishpat 67:1). See Sefer Meirat Einayim 66:5.
|
| 23. |
For the obligations of the second tithe and the tithe for the poor depend on the years of the Sabbatical cycle.
|
| 24. |
I.e., the way the law has actually been observed.
|
| 25. |
This applies whether the Jubilee year was observed in its full sense, as in most of the First Temple era, or it was merely counted as throughout the Second Temple era.
|
| 26. |
The tribes of Reuven and Gad and half of the tribe of Menashe were exiled approximately 18 years before the remaining seven and a half tribes. They in turn were exiled approximately 130 years before the destruction of the Temple and exile of the tribe of Judah.
|
| 27. |
For each tribe was given an ancestral heritage of its own.
|
| 28. |
With regard to the freeing of Hebrew servants.
|
| 29. |
I.e., it is the presence of the Jewish people in the land and not the existence of the Temple which determines the land's sanctity.
|
| 30. |
See Hilchot Avadim, ch. 1-2.
|
| 31. |
The laws governing the latter three subjects are described in Chapters 12 and 13.
|
| 32. |
I.e., if a gentile accepts the observance of the Seven Laws Given to the Descendants of Noah, he is granted the right to dwell in Eretz Yisrael. See Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 10:6; Hilchot Melachim8:10-11.
|
| 33. |
See Chapter 9, Halachah 3, with regard to the nullification of debts. With regard to the observance of the Sabbatical year, the Rambam's statements are the subject of a difference of opinion among the commentaries. Our translation follows the version of the text suggested by Rav Yosef Corcus which is accepted by Rav Shabsi Frankel. It is also the conception followed by the Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 331). The Kessef Mishneh, however, interprets the text differently, reading the last line as: "with the exception of the Sabbatical year in Eretz [Yisrael] and, according to Rabbinic Law, the nullification of debts." Some commentaries have suggested that the Rambam's statements in Sefer HaMitzvot (positive mitzvah 135) support this interpretation. Most otherRishonim follow the conception that the observance of the Sabbatical Law is a Rabbinic ordinance in the present era. See also Chapter 12, Halachah 16, and notes and Hilchot Terumah 1:26 and notes.
|
| 34. |
Yom Kippur.
|
| 35. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 137) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 331) includes this commandment among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. This mitzvah also includes setting the servants free, as the Rambam mentions in his listing of the mitzvot at the beginning of these halachot.
Sefer Hamitzvot, loc. cit., states that, thematically, this sounding of the shofar differs from the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah. On Rosh HaShanah, the shofar is sounded as "a remembrance before God." In the Jubilee, by contrast, the sounding of the shofar is the proclamation of freedom required by the Torah.
The commentaries note that this difference is also reflected in the wording used to describe the commandments. With regard to the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, the Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvot, positive commandment 170, Hilchot Shofar 1:1) states the mitzvah is to hear the sounding of the shofar, while here he states that the mitzvah is to sound the shofar.
|
| 36. |
I.e., first, the shofar is sounded in the High Court (the Sanhedrin of 71 judges) and then it should be sounded by every individual.
|
| 37. |
I.e., the verse uses two forms, the first singular, and the second plural, for the same verb. On this basis, it is derived that first, the shofar is sounded by the court for the people as a unified entity, and then, it is sounded by each person individually. See Rosh HaShanah 30a, 34a.
|
| 38. |
I.e., sounding three series of tekiah, shevarim, teruah, tekiah blasts. See Hilchot Shofar, ch. 3, for details.
|
| 39. |
The Or Sameach interprets this phrasing to mean that although the Jubilee is observed in the Diaspora, the shofar is not sounded there.
|
| 40. |
See Hilchot Shofar 1:1.
|
| 41. |
I.e., even when Yom Kippur falls on the Sabbath.
|
| 42. |
I.e., the Sanhedrin of 71 judges.
|
| 43. |
I.e., an ordinary local court.
|
| 44. |
See Hilchot Shofar 2:8-9.
|
| 45. |
I.e., if these three mitzvot are not fulfilled, the Jubilee year is not granted its sanctity (Rosh HaShanah 9b).
|
| 46. |
This would appear to refer to the sounding of the shofar by the High Court, and not its sounding by every individual.
|
| 47. |
A Hebrew servant is granted his freedom in the Jubilee year, whether he was sold into slavery on his own initiative or by the court and even if he willingly extended his servitude, as Leviticus 25:40states: "Until the Jubilee year, he will work with you." See Hilchot Avadim, ch. 2.
|
| 48. |
As described in the following chapter.
|
| 49. |
Even though the laws of the Jubilee year do not take effect until the sounding of the shofar on Yom Kippur, the sanctity of the year begins on Rosh HaShanah [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Rosh HaShanah 1:1)].
|
| 50. |
Lest the shofar not be sounded in the court and thus the laws of the Jubilee year not apply, as stated in the previous halachah.
|
| 51. |
For the likelihood is that it will be sounded.
|
| 52. |
Even though the laws of the Jubilee year do not take effect until the sounding of the shofar on Yom Kippur, the sanctity of the year begins on Rosh HaShanah [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Rosh HaShanah 1:1)].
|
| 53. |
We have used this translation because both work with the land and work with trees are forbidden in the Sabbatical year. See Chapters 1 and 2 above.
|
| 54. |
By both Rabbinic and Scriptural Law.
|
| 55. |
See Chapter 1, Halachah 2.
Sefer HaMitzvot (negative commandments 224-226) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvot 333-335) include the prohibitions against working the land, harvesting the aftergrowth of crops, and harvesting fruit in the Jubilee year among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
|
| 56. |
I.e., the respect given to the produce of the Sabbatical year, as explained in Chapter 5.
|
| 57. |
See Chapter 6.
|
| 58. |
See Chapter 7.
|
| 59. |
As related in Chapter 9.
|
| 60. |
See Leviticus 25:23-28.
|
| 61. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 138) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 340) includes this commandment among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. This mitzvah is described at the beginning of the following chapter.
|
| 62. |
On Yom Kippur, as stated in Halachah 14.
|
| 63. |
As stated in Chapter 9, Halachah 4.
|
Shemita - Chapter 11
Halacha 1
[The portions of] Eretz Yisrael that were divided among the tribes1 can never be sold permanently, as [Leviticus 25:23] states: "The land will not be sold in perpetuity." If one sells the land in perpetuity, both [the buyer and the seller] violate a negative commandment.2 Their deeds are of no consequence,3 and the land reverts to its [original] owner in the Jubilee year.
Halacha 2
When a person sells his field for 60 years, it is not returned in the Jubilee.4 For [the only property] that returns in the Jubilee year is property that is sold without qualification or property that is sold in perpetuity.
Halacha 3
A person should not sell his home or his ancestral field even though it returns to him eventually, unless he becomes impoverished, as [Leviticus 25:25] states: "If your brother becomes indigent and sells his ancestral heritage." One is not permitted to sell [such property] and hold the money in his pocket, engage in commerce with them, or purchase utensils, servants, or livestock. [He is only allowed to] sell to provide himself with sustenance. [Nevertheless,] if one transgressed and sold [such property], the sale is valid.
Halacha 4
Judgments are made with regard to a home in accordance with the laws of a walled city,5 and with regard to a field in accordance with the laws of a field that is an ancestral heritage.6 The laws of a person who sells a field that is an ancestral heritage [require] the calculation of the years remaining until the Jubilee. Whenever [the original owner] desires to redeem the field he should make a reckoning with the purchaser with regard to the years from which he benefited from the field and reduce that from the purchase price and return the remainder.7
Halacha 5
What is implied? There remained ten years until the Jubilee and a field was sold for 100 dinar.8 The purchaser benefited from the field for three years and then the seller desired to redeem his field. He should give him 70 dinar and then [the seller] should return the field. Similarly, if he benefited from the field for six years, he should give him 40 dinar and then [the seller] should return the field. If he did not redeem it, but instead left it in the purchaser's possession until the Jubilee, and then it should return to the owner without money, as [indicated byLeviticus 25:15]: "According to the number of years of [its] crops, he will sell it to you."
Halacha 6
If he sold it to him when it was filled with produce and then he redeemed it after two years, he cannot tell him: "Return it to me filled with produce as it was when I sold it to you." Therefore if he sold it to him filled with produce before Rosh HaShanah and redeemed it after two years, the purchaser will have benefited from three harvests in those two years. Nevertheless, [the reduction of the price] is calculated only according to two years, as [implied by ibid. 27:18:9 "the priest shall calculate the money...] according to the remaining years," [i.e., the calculation is made according to years,] and not according to crops.10
Halacha 7
The shoots, the twigs, and the fruits from the wild fig trees contained within it belong to the purchaser like its other produce.11 If, however, [the branches of a tree] are cut down12 or it dries,13 they are both forbidden to benefit from it.14What should be done? It should be sold and land purchased with the proceeds. The purchaser is entitled to benefit from that land until the [original] field is redeemed from him.
Halacha 8
If a person purchases a field that is an ancestral heritage and plants trees15which increase the value [of the field], when it returns [to its original owner] in the Jubilee, we should evaluate the increase in value brought about by the trees in it and the owner of the field must pay this sum to the purchaser. [This is derived from ibid. 25:33]: "A home that was sold shall go out... [in the Jubilee]." [Implied is that the home] is returned, but not the increase in its value.
Halacha 9
When a person sells his field in the era when the Jubilee year is observed as we explained, he is not permitted to redeem it in less than two years, as [ibid.:15] states: "According to the number of years16 of [its] crops, he will sell it to you." Even if the purchaser was willing [to return it earlier], it is forbidden, as [the same verse] states: "According to the number of years17 after the Jubilee shall you purchase it from your colleague." [The purchaser must maintain possession for] at least two years from the date of the sale.18
Halacha 10
Halacha 11
If, however, the purchaser left it fallow one year and then benefited from it in the second year or benefited from it one year and then lightly plowed it, but did not sow it in the following year, [these years] are included in the reckoning.21 If he sold it in the Jubilee itself, the sale is not binding and the money should be returned to the seller.22
Halacha 12
If he sold it one year before the Jubilee, the purchaser benefits from it for a second year after the Jubilee,23 as [implied by the phrase]: "years of its crops."
Halacha 13
If he sold clefts that were filled with water or rocky [land] that was not fit to sow upon, he may redeem them in less than two years, as [implied by the phrase]: "years of its crops." One might infer that it is only a field that is fit to grow crops that is not redeemed in less than two years. [Nevertheless,] if the original owner did not redeem [this land], it returns to him in the Jubilee even though it is not fit to be sown.24
Halacha 14
Halacha 15
If a person sold his field to one person, that person sold it to a second, the second to a third - even if there were 100 consecutive sales - in the Jubilee, it returns to its original owner, as [implied by Leviticus 27:24]: "In the Jubilee year, the field will return to the one from whom he purchased it, whose ancestral heritage it was."27
Halacha 16
If [the owner] sold it to the first purchaser for 100 dinarim and [the latter] sold it to the second for 200, should the original owner desire to redeem it, he makes a reckoning only with the first purchaser, as [ibid. 25:27] states: "[And return the remainder] to the man to whom he sold it."28 If [the owner] sold it to a person for 200 and [the latter] sold it for 100, [the owner] makes a reckoning with the final [purchaser].29
Similarly, if he sold the field for 100 and it increased in value30 in the possession of the purchaser until it was appropriate to be sold for 200, the reckoning should be made according to the purchase price. If he sold it for 200 and its value diminished31 and it is now fit to be sold for 100, the reckoning should be made according to its present value. [The general principle is:] We always augment the legal power of the seller of an ancestral heritage and weaken the legal power of the purchaser.
Halacha 17
When a person sells a field that is an ancestral heritage, but he also possesses other fields and sells some of those other fields to redeem [his ancestral heritage] that he sold, his [request to redeem the field] is not heeded, for [ibid.:26] states: "And he attained enough to redeem it." [We can infer that] he must attain something that was not accessible to him at the time he sold it. Similarly, if he borrowed [money] to redeem [the field], his [request] is not heeded, for that verse states: "And he acquired." [Implied is that he must obtain the means on his own], not through a loan.
Halacha 18
If he attained a small amount [of resources] and desired to redeem half the field he sold, his [request] is not heeded, for that verse states: "enough to redeem it." Either he redeems the entire [field] or he does not redeem at all.
If a relative desired to redeem it, he may, as [ibid.:25] states: "And his redeemer who is related to him shall come...."32
Halacha 19
When a person gives his field away as a present, it returns to him in the Jubilee, as [ibid.:13] states: "Each man shall return to his ancestral heritage." This includes one who gave [it away as] a present.33
Halacha 20
Brothers who divide [an inheritance] are considered as purchasers34 and each one should return his portion to the other in the Jubilee, but their division is not nullified.35 Similarly, a firstborn36 and one who performs yibbum with his brother's wife,37 return the portion that they received in the Jubilee and take another portion instead of it.
Halacha 21
[Different rules apply with regard to a husband] who inherits his wife's [property]. Although a husband's inheritance of this property is a Rabbinic ordinance,38our Sages reinforced their decree as if it were of Scriptural origin and he is not required to return it [to the women's family] in the Jubilee year.39 If he inherited a [family] cemetery from her, he should return it to her family members lest this blemish [the reputation of] the family.40 They should pay him its worth after deducting the value of his wife's grave, for he is obligated to bury her.41
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. |
For the entire passage speaks about an "ancestral heritage," i.e., land given to a person's ancestors when the land was originally divided among the tribes (Radbaz). This excludes Jerusalem which was never divided among the tribes (Rambam LeAm).
|
| 2. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (negative commandment 227) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 339) include the commandment for the land not to be sold in perpetuity among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
|
| 3. |
For whenever a person acts in violation of Torah Law, his deeds are of no avail (Temurah 4b). Since their deeds are of no consequence, they are not punished by lashes (Mishneh LiMelech).
|
| 4. |
Even though a Jubilee year will definitely fall within the span of the sale.
|
| 5. |
As explained in the following chapter. Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 139 and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 3410) include the commandment to carry out the laws pertaining to a walled city among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
|
| 6. |
Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandment 138) and Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 340) include the command to enable a field to be redeemed or for it to be returned to its owner in the Jubilee year among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.
|
| 7. |
As the Rambam explains in the following halachah, the sale of such a field is considered as a rental agreement until the Jubilee year, with the purchase price being divided equally among the years remaining until the Jubilee. Thus each year has a set value. If the seller wants to redeem his field, he must pay back the money for the remaining years.
|
| 8. |
Thus the right to use the field was sold for 10 dinar a year.
|
| 9. |
Although this verse is speaking about the consecration of a field and its redemption from the Temple treasury, Arichin 29b-30a explains that the same principles should be applied to a sale to a private person.
|
| 10. |
As one might conclude from Leviticus 25:15 as cited in the previous halachah.
|
| 11. |
For these are considered as temporary benefits which the field regularly produces.
|
| 12. |
Our translation is based on the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Kilayim 2:5). See also theKessef Mishneh to Chapter 1, Halachah 15.
|
| 13. |
And thus it has value only to be cut down as firewood.
|
| 14. |
The purchaser is forbidden to benefit from it alone, because the tree is considered as part of the permanent features of the field and thus was not included in the original sale. On the other hand, the owner cannot take the entire benefit for himself, for the purchaser is entitled to benefit from it for the duration of his ownership of the property.
|
| 15. |
If, however, the body of the land itself increases in value, that increase is not granted to the purchaser. See Halachah 16.
|
| 16. |
The use of the plural form implies that the sale must be for at least two years.
|
| 17. |
If, however, the body of the land itself increases in value, that increase is not granted to the purchaser. See Halachah 16.
|
| 18. |
I.e., he cannot redeem it until the same date two years later. We do not count the years as beginning from Rosh HaShanah, but from the date of the sale.
|
| 19. |
When it is forbidden to sow a field.
|
| 20. |
Which prevented crops from growing in the entire land (Bava Metzia 106a).
|
| 21. |
Since crops could have grown during those years, and he chose not to sow the land on his own, they are considered "years of its crops." The Kessef Mishneh states that this law also applies if the purchaser leaves it fallow for two years. The Radbaz, however, does not accept this conclusion.
|
| 22. |
Arachin 29b explains that this is a logical conclusion. If the advent of the Jubilee causes a field that was sold to be returned to its original owners, it will certainly prevent the sale of one that was not sold as of yet from taking effect.
|
| 23. |
As implied by the phrase "years of its crops," a sale must take effect for at least two years. Hence, the Jubilee does not nullify this sale and the land remains his for one year after the sale.Kin'at Eliyahu notes that since a Jubilee is always preceded by a Sabbatical year (when the purchaser cannot benefit from it), the land must have been sold two years before the Jubilee.
|
| 24. |
For such land is still called "his ancestral heritage" (Arachin 14b).
|
| 25. |
The bracketed addition is based on the gloss of the Radbaz who explains that this law would not apply to non-fruit trees. They could be redeemed within the two years. He also explains that the seller must have specifically stated that the sale does not include the land. Otherwise, a certain amount of land is automatically included as stated in Hilchot Mechirah 24:1-2. See also the notes to Hilchot Arichin 4:25.
|
| 26. |
For the term "ancestral heritage" implies land.
|
| 27. |
Although the verse is speaking about the return of a purchased field that was consecrated, similar principles apply even if the field was not consecrated.
|
| 28. |
That purchaser must reimburse the person to whom he sold the field. Although the profit of the purchaser/seller is minimized according to the number of years remaining to the Jubilee, he still retains the profit for the years the sale was viable.
|
| 29. |
I.e., the owner need not compensate the purchaser/seller for his loss.
|
| 30. |
This is referring to an increase that comes about because of market fluctuations and not as a result of improvements made by the purchaser as indicated by Halachah 8 (Radbaz).
|
| 31. |
Here also, the Rambam is speaking about a decrease as a result of market fluctuations. Needless to say, the same law would apply if the value of the land was reduced because of the purchaser's actions.
|
| 32. |
The classic example of this is the redemption of the field sold by Elimelech by his relative, Boaz, as described at the conclusion of the book of Ruth.
|
| 33. |
As the Radbaz mentions, in several sources (e.g., Chapter 12, Halachah 4), we find the principle that a present is considered as a sale. [Kin'at Eliyahu asks: If so, why is the prooftext necessary?]
|
| 34. |
I.e., we consider it as if they sold the share the other received in return for the share that they received. We do not apply the principle of bereirah, i.e., consider the portion received as the portion destined for them at the outset (Bechorot 52b).
|
| 35. |
I.e., there is no need to nullify the entire division and recalculate. Instead, it is sufficient to merely exchange portions (Kessef Mishneh).
|
| 36. |
Who receives a double share of the inheritance. From the wording of Deuteronomy 21:17, our Sages conclude that this double portion is given to the firstborn as a present. Hence, since a present is considered as a sale, the share is returned and the inheritance redivided [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Bechorot 9:11)].
|
| 37. |
And is therefore given his brother's share of the inheritance (Hilchot Nachalot 3:7). He is also called a "firstborn" (Deuteronomy 25:6) and thus the concepts mentioned in the previous note apply to him.
|
| 38. |
See Hilchot Ishut 12:3; Hilchot Nachalot 1:8, 6:8.
|
| 39. |
I.e., he is considered as a single heir and not as a purchaser.
|
| 40. |
As the Maggid Mishneh states in his gloss to Hilchot Mechirah 24:17, it is an embarrassment for the members of a family that their relatives will not be buried in the family plot.
|
| 41. |
See Hilchot Ishut 12:2,4.
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• Shabbat, Iyar 20, 5775 · 0 May /2015
Iyar 20, 35th day of the omer
Torah lessons: Chumash: B'chukotai, Shlishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 97-103.
Tanya: When the intelligent (p. 261)...words of the Torah, (p. 261).
There is no one for whom to pride oneself. We must toil strenuously. With patience and friendliness we can prevail in all things, with G-d's help. With a denigrating attitude toward others and inflating our own importance we lose everything, G-d forbid.
Daily Thought:
De-Kvetching
The more good news you bring your Creator, the less need you will have to complain about the opposite.
Meditate on those things you have to be thankful for. Express your thanks out loud.
The number of things to kvetch about will rapidly diminish.
____________________________
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