Today in Judaism ~ Today is: Saturday(Shabbat), Cheshvan 15, 5704 ~ 19 October 2013 ~~ Sunday, Cheshvan 16, 5774 ~ 20 October 2013
Vayeira (Genesis 1 The LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. 4 Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.”
They said, “Very well, do as you have said.”
6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three seahs* of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. 8 He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.
9 They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”
He said, “See, in the tent.”
10 He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.
He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
16 The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17 The LORD said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” 20 The LORD said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, 21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23 Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. 28 What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?”
He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?”
He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”
30 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?”
He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”
32 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
33 The LORD went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 2 and he said, “See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.”
They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”
3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. 5 They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. 7 He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. 8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9 They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: 13 for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.”
But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” 16 But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, the LORD being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. 17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”
18 Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord. 19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. 20 See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”
21 He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.*
23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of the sky. 25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29 When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
30 Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. 32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line†.” 33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.‡” 35 They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 36 Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.1 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. 2 Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man’s wife.”
4 Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? 5 Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
6 God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”
8 Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” 10 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
11 Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. 15 Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”
17 Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. 18 For the LORD had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.1 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken. 2 Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. * 4 Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
11 The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. 12 God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring† will be accounted as from Isaac. 13 I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child‡.” 14 Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16 She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. 17 God heard the voice of the boy.
The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
19 God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
22 At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”
24 Abraham said, “I will swear.” 25 Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. 26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”
27 Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?”
30 He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba,§ because they both swore there. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.1 After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
3 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”
He said, “Here I am, my son.”
He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together. 9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
11 the LORD’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place the LORD Will Provide.* As it is said to this day, “On the LORD’s mountain, it will be provided.”
15 the LORD’s angel called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring† greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring‡ will possess the gate of his enemies. 18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring,§ because you have obeyed my voice.”
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20 After these things, Abraham was told, “Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.(Messianic WEB))
Today in Jewish History:
Passing of Mattityahu (139 BCE)
In the 2nd century before the common era, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) who, with the collaboration of the Jewish Hellenists, introduced pagan idols into the Holy Temple and set about to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Mattityahu, the son of the High Priest Yochanan, was already an old man when he picked up a sword and raised the flag of revolt in the village of Modiin in the Judean hills. Many rallied under his cry, "Who that is for G-d, come with me!" and resisted and battled the Greeks from their mountain hideouts.
After heading the revolt for one year, Mattityahu died on the 15th of Cheshvan of the year 3622 from creation (139 BCE). His five sons -- the "Macabees" Judah, Yochanan, Shimon, Elazar and Yonatan -- carried on the battle to their eventual victory, celebrated each year since by Jews the world over with the festival of Chanukah.
Links: VirtualChanukah.com; a Chanukah anthology
Kristallnacht (1938)
On this night in 1938 and continuing into the next day -- November 9 on the secular calendar -- the Nazis coordinated vicious pogroms against the Jewish community of Germany. Encouraged by their leaders, rioters attacked and beat Jewish residents, burned and destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized 7,500 Jewish businesses, and ransacked countless Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes, while police and firefighters stood by. Ninety-one Jews were killed and 20,000 others were deported to concentration camps.
These pogroms, which collectively came to be known as Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass,” referring to the thousands of windows that were broken) were a turning point after which Nazi anti-Jewish policy intensified.
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash with Rashi: Parshat Vayeira, 7th Portion (Genesis 22:1-22:24) & Parshat Chayei Sarah, 1st Portion (Genesis 23:1-23:16)
Chapter 22
1. And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham, and He said to him, "Abraham," and he said, "Here I am."
א. וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי:
after these things: Some of our Sages say (Sanh. 89b) [that this happened]: after the words [translating “devarim” as “words”] of Satan, who was accusing and saying, “Of every feast that Abraham made, he did not sacrifice before You one bull or one ram!” He [God] said to him, “Does he do anything but for his son? Yet, if I were to say to him, ‘Sacrifice him before Me,’ he would not withhold [him].” And some say,“ after the words of Ishmael,” who was boasting to Isaac that he was circumcised at the age of thirteen, and he did not protest. Isaac said to him,“ With one organ you intimidate me? If the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, ‘Sacrifice yourself before Me,’ I would not hold back.” - Cf. Gen. Rabbah 55:4.
אחר הדברים האלה: יש מרבותינו אומרים אחר דבריו של שטן, שהיה מקטרג ואומר מכל סעודה שעשה אברהם לא הקריב לפניך פר אחד או איל אחד, אמר לו כלום עשה אלא בשביל בנו, אילו הייתי אומר לו זבח אותו לפני לא היה מעכב. ויש אומרים אחר דבריו של ישמעאל שהיה מתפאר על יצחק שמל בן שלש עשרה שנה ולא מיחה, אמר לו יצחק באבר אחד אתה מיראני, אילו אמר לי הקב"ה זבח עצמך לפני לא הייתי מעכב:
Here I am: This is the reply of the pious. It is an expression of humility and an expression of readiness. — [from Tan. Vayera 22]
הנני: כך היא ענייתם של חסידים, לשון ענוה הוא ולשון זימון:
2. And He said, "Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Isaac, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you."
ב. וַיֹּאמֶר קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ:
Please take: Heb. קַח נָא is only an expression of a request. He [God] said to him, “I beg of you, pass this test for Me, so that people will not say that the first ones [tests] had no substance.” - [from Sanh. ad loc.]
קח נא: אין נא אלא לשון בקשה, אמר לו בבקשה ממך עמוד לי בזה הנסיון, שלא יאמרו הראשונות לא היה בהן ממש:
your son: He [Abraham] said to Him,“ I have two sons.” He [God] said to him,“ Your only one.” He said to Him,“ This one is the only son of his mother, and that one is the only son of his mother.” He said to him,“ Whom you love.” He said to Him,“ I love them both.” He said to him,“ Isaac.” Now why did He not disclose this to him at the beginning? In order not to confuse him suddenly, lest his mind become distracted and bewildered, and also to endear the commandment to him and to reward him for each and every expression. — [from Sanh. 89b, Gen. Rabbah 39:9, 55:7]
את בנך: אמר לו שני בנים יש לי, אמר לו את יחידך, אמר לו זה יחיד לאמו וזה יחיד לאמו, אמר לו אשר אהבת, אמר לו שניהם אני אוהב, אמר לו את יצחק. ולמה לא גילה לו מתחלה, שלא לערבבו פתאום, ותזוח דעתו עליו ותטרף, וכדי לחבב עליו את המצוה וליתן לו שכר על כל דבור ודבור:
the land of Moriah: Jerusalem, and so in (II) Chronicles (3:1):“to build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.” And our Sages explained that [it is called Moriah] because from there [religious] instruction (הוֹרָאָה) goes forth to Israel. Onkelos rendered it [“the land of service”] as alluding to the service of the incense, which contained myrrh [“mor” is phonetically similar to Moriah], spikenard, and other spices.
ארץ המוריה: ירושלים, וכן בדברי הימים (ב' ג א) לבנות את בית ה' בירושלים בהר המוריה. ורבותינו פירשו על שם שמשם הוראה יוצאה לישראל. ואונקלוס תרגמו על שם עבודת הקטורת שיש בו מור נרד ושאר בשמים:
bring him up: He did not say to him, “Slaughter him,” because the Holy One, blessed be He, did not wish him to slaughter him but to bring him up to the mountain, to prepare him for a burnt offering, and as soon as he brought him up [to the mountain], He said to him, “Take him down.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 56:8]
והעלהו: לא אמר לו שחטהו, לפי שלא היה חפץ הקב"ה לשחטו אלא שיעלהו להר לעשותו עולה, ומשהעלהו אמר לו הורידהו:
one of the mountains: The Holy One, blessed be He, makes the righteous wonder (other editions: makes the righteous wait), and only afterwards discloses to them [His intentions], and all this is in order to increase their reward. Likewise, (above 12:1): “to the land that I will show you,” and likewise, concerning Jonah (3:2): “and proclaim upon it the proclamation.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 55:7]
אחד ההרים: הקב"ה מתהא הצדיקים ואחר כך מגלה להם, וכל זה כדי להרבות שכרן, וכן (לעיל יב א) אל הארץ אשר אראך, וכן ביונה (ג ב) וקרא אליה את הקריאה:
3. And Abraham arose early in the morning, and he saddled his donkey, and he took his two young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for a burnt offering, and he arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
ג. וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיַּחֲבשׁ אֶת חֲמֹרוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת שְׁנֵי נְעָרָיו אִתּוֹ וְאֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיְבַקַּע עֲצֵי עֹלָה וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים:
And…arose early: He hastened to [perform] the commandment (Pes. 4a).
וישכם: נזדרז למצוה:
and he saddled: He himself, and he did not command one of his servants, because love causes a disregard for the standard [of dignified conduct]. — [from Gen. Rabbah 55:8]
ויחבש: הוא בעצמו ולא צוה לאחד מעבדיו, שהאהבה מקלקלת השורה:
his two young men: Ishmael and Eliezer, for a person of esteem is not permitted to go out on the road without two men, so that if one must ease himself and move to a distance, the second one will remain with him. — [from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 31; Gen. Rabbah ad loc., Tan. Balak 8]
את שני נעריו: ישמעאל ואליעזר, שאין אדם חשוב רשאי לצאת לדרך בלא שני אנשים, שאם יצטרך האחד לנקביו ויתרחק יהיה השני עמו:
and he split: Heb. וַיְבַקַע. The Targum renders וְצַלַח, as in (II Sam. 19:18):“and they split (וְצָלְחוּ) the Jordan,” an expression of splitting, fendre in Old French.
ויבקע: תרגומו וצלח, כמו (ש"ב יט יח) וצלחו הירדן, לשון ביקוע פינדר"א בלעז [לחטוב]:
4. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
ד. בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וַיִּשָּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא אֶת הַמָּקוֹם מֵרָחֹק:
On the third day: Why did He delay from showing it to him immediately? So that people should not say that He confused him and confounded him suddenly and deranged his mind, and if he had had time to think it over, he would not have done it. — [from Gen. Rabbah 55:6]
ביום השלישי: למה איחר מלהראותו מיד, כדי שלא יאמרו הממו וערבבו פתאום וטרד דעתו, ואילו היה לו שהות להמלך אל לבו לא היה עושה:
and saw the place: He saw a cloud attached to the mountain. — [from Gen. Rabbah 56: 1, Tan. Vayera 23]
וירא את המקום: ראה ענן קשור על ההר:
5. And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder, and we will prostrate ourselves and return to you."
ה. וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו שְׁבוּ לָכֶם פֹּה עִם הַחֲמוֹר וַאֲנִי וְהַנַּעַר נֵלְכָה עַד כֹּה וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם:
yonder: Heb. עַד כֹּה, lit. until there, i.e., a short way to the place that is before us. And the Midrashic interpretation (Tan. ad loc.): I will see where is [the promise] that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me (above 15:5):“So (כֹּה) will be your seed.”
עד כה: כלומר דרך מועט למקום אשר לפנינו. ומדרש אגדה אראה היכן הוא מה שאמר לי המקום (לעיל טו ה) כה יהיה זרעך:
and return: He prophesied that they would both return. — [from Avoth d’Rabbi Nathan, second version, ch. 43; Rabbah and Tan. ad loc.] i.e., Abraham prophesied without realizing it.
ונשובה: נתנבא שישובו שניהם:
6. And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and he placed [it] upon his son Isaac, and he took into his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went together.
ו. וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֲצֵי הָעֹלָה וַיָּשֶׂם עַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיִּקַּח בְּיָדוֹ אֶת הָאֵשׁ וְאֶת הַמַּאֲכֶלֶת וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּו:
the knife: Heb. הַמַאֲכֶלֶת, so called because it consumes (אוֹכֶלֶת) the flesh, as it is stated (Deut. 32:42):“and My sword will consume (תֹּאכַלוּ) flesh,” and because it renders meat fit for consumption (אַכִילָה). Another explanation: This [knife] was מַאִכֶלֶת because the people of Israel still eat (אוֹכְלִים) the reward given for it. — [from Gen. Rabbah 56:3]
המאכלת: סכין, על שם שאוכלת את הבשר, כמה דתימא (דברים לב מב) וחרבי תאכל בשר, ושמכשרת בשר לאכילה. דבר אחר זאת נקראת מאכלת, על שם שישראל אוכלים מתן שכרה:
and they both went together: Abraham, who knew that he was going to slaughter his son, was going as willingly and joyfully as Isaac, who was unaware of the matter. —
וילכו שניהם יחדיו: אברהם שהיה יודע שהולך לשחוט את בנו היה הולך ברצון ושמחה כיצחק שלא היה מרגיש בדבר:
7. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and he said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
ז. וַיֹּאמֶר יִצְחָק אֶל אַבְרָהָם אָבִיו וַיֹּאמֶר אָבִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֶּנִּי בְנִי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה הָאֵשׁ וְהָעֵצִים וְאַיֵּה הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה:
8. And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And they both went together.
ח. וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהִים יִרְאֶה לּוֹ הַשֶּׂה לְעֹלָה בְּנִי וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּו:
will provide for Himself the lamb: i.e., He will see and choose for Himself the lamb (Targum Jonathan), and if there will be no lamb, my son will be for a burnt offering. And although Isaac understood that he was going to be slaughtered,“ they both went together,” with one accord (lit. with the same heart). - [from Gen. Rabbah 56:4]
יראה לו השה: כלומר יראה ויבחר לו השה, ואם אין שה, לעולה בני. ואף על פי שהבין יצחק שהוא הולך לישחט, וילכו שניהם יחדו בלב שוה:
9. And they came to the place of which God had spoken to him, and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar upon the wood.
ט. וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים וַיִּבֶן שָׁם אַבְרָהָם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיַּעֲרֹךְ אֶת הָעֵצִים וַיַּעֲקֹד אֶת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיָּשֶׂם אֹתוֹ עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ מִמַּעַל לָעֵצִים:
and he bound: his hands and his feet behind him. The hands and the feet tied together is known as עִקֵידָה (Shab. 54a). And that is the meaning of עִקֻדִים (below 30:39), that their ankles were white; the place where they are bound was discernible (Bereishith Rabbathi).
ויעקד: ידיו ורגליו מאחוריו, הידים והרגלים ביחד היא עקידה, והוא לשון (להלן ל לט) עקודים, שהיו קרסוליהם לבנים, מקום שעוקדין אותן בו היה ניכר:
10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife, to slaughter his son.
י. וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְרָהָם אֶת יָדוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת הַמַּאֲכֶלֶת לִשְׁחֹט אֶת בְּנוֹ:
11. And an angel of God called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
יא. וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם | אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי:
“Abraham! Abraham!”: This is an expression of affection, that He repeated his name. — [from Tos. Ber. ch. 1, Sifra Vayikra ch. 1]
אברהם אברהם: לשון חבה הוא שכופל את שמו:
12. And he said, "Do not stretch forth your hand to the lad, nor do the slightest thing to him, for now I know that you are a God fearing man, and you did not withhold your son, your only one, from Me."
יב. וַיֹּאמֶר אַל תִּשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֶל הַנַּעַר וְאַל תַּעַשׂ לוֹ מְאוּמָה כִּי | עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי יְרֵא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ מִמֶּנִּי:
Do not stretch forth: to slaughter [him]. He [Abraham] said to Him,“ If so, I have come here in vain. I will inflict a wound on him and extract a little blood.” He said to him,“ Do not do the slightest thing (מְאוּמָה) to him.” Do not cause him any blemish (מוּם) !- [from Gen. Rabbah 56:7]
אל תשלח: לשחוט, אמר לו אם כן לחנם באתי לכאן, אעשה בו חבלה ואוציא ממנו מעט דם, אמר לו אל תעש לו מאומה, אל תעש בו מום:
for now I know: Said Rabbi Abba: Abraham said to Him,“ I will explain my complaint before You. Yesterday, You said to me (above 21:12): ‘for in Isaac will be called your seed,’ and You retracted and said (above verse 2): ‘ Take now your son.’ Now You say to me, ‘ Do not stretch forth your hand to the lad.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (Ps. 89:35): “I shall not profane My covenant, neither shall I alter the utterance of My lips.” When I said to you,“ Take,” I was not altering the utterance of My lips. I did not say to you,“ Slaughter him,” but,“ Bring him up.” You have brought him up; [now] take him down. — [from Gen. Rabbah 56:8]
כי עתה ידעתי: אמר רבי אבא אמר לו אברהם אפרש לפניך את שיחתי, אתמול אמרת לי (לעיל כא יב) כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, וחזרת ואמרת (שם כב ב) קח נא את בנך, עכשיו אתה אומר לי אל תשלח ידך אל הנער. אמר לו הקב"ה (תהלים פט לה) לא אחלל בריתי ומוצא שפתי לא אשנה, כשאמרתי לך קח מוצא שפתי לא אשנה, לא אמרתי לך שחטהו אלא העלהו, אסקתיה אחתיה:
for now I know: From now on, I have a response to Satan and the nations who wonder what is My love towards you. Now I have a reason (lit. an opening of the mouth), for they see “ that you fear God.” -
כי עתה ידעתי: מעתה יש לי מה להשיב לשטן ולאומות התמהים מה היא חבתי אצלך, יש לי פתחון פה עכשיו שרואים כי ירא א-להים אתה:
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw, and lo! there was a ram, [and] after [that] it was caught in a tree by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
יג. וַיִּשָּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה אַיִל אַחַר נֶאֱחַז בַּסְּבַךְ בְּקַרְנָיו וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָהָם וַיִּקַּח אֶת הָאַיִל וַיַּעֲלֵהוּ לְעֹלָה תַּחַת בְּנוֹ:
and lo! there was a ram: It was prepared for this since the six days of Creation. — [from Tan. Shelach 14]
והנה איל: מוכן היה לכך מששת ימי בראשית:
after: After the angel said to him, “ Do not stretch forth your hand,” he saw it as it [the ram] was caught. And that is why the Targum translates it: “ And Abraham lifted his eyes after these [words], i.e., after the angel said, ” Do not stretch forth your hand.“ (Other editions: and according to the Aggadah,” after all the words of the angel and the Shechinah and after Abraham’s arguments").
אחר: אחרי שאמר לו המלאך (לעיל פסוק יב) אל תשלח ידך, ראהו כשהוא נאחז, והוא שמתרגמינן וזקף אברהם עינוהי בתר אלין:
in a tree: Heb. בַּסְבַ, a tree. — [from Targum Onkelos]
בסבך: אילן:
by its horns: For it was running toward Abraham, and Satan caused it to be caught and entangled among the trees. — [from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer ch. 31]
בקרניו: שהיה רץ אצל אברהם והשטן סובכו ומערבבו באילנות כדי לעכבו:
instead of his son: Since it is written: “and offered it up for a burnt offering,” nothing is missing in the text. Why then [does it say]: “instead of his son” ? Over every sacrificial act that he performed, he prayed, “May it be [Your] will that this should be deemed as if it were being done to my son: as if my son were slaughtered, as if his blood were sprinkled, as if my son were flayed, as if he were burnt and reduced to ashes.” - [from Tan. Shelach 14]
תחת בנו: מאחר שכתוב ויעלהו לעולה, לא חסר המקרא כלום, מהו תחת בנו, על כל עבודה שעשה ממנו היה מתפלל ואומר יהי רצון שתהא זו כאלו היא עשויה בבני, כאלו בני שחוט, כאלו דמו זרוק, כאלו הוא מופשט, כאלו הוא נקטר ונעשה דשן:
14. And Abraham named that place, The Lord will see, as it is said to this day: On the mountain, the Lord will be seen.
יד. וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא יְהֹוָה | יִרְאֶה אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר הַיּוֹם בְּהַר יְהֹוָה יֵרָאֶה:
The Lord will see: Its simple meaning is as the Targum renders: The Lord will choose and see for Himself this place, to cause His Divine Presence to rest therein and for offering sacrifices here.
ה' יראה: פשוטו כתרגומו, ה' יבחר ויראה לו את המקום הזה להשרות בו שכינתו ולהקריב כאן קרבנות:
as it is said to this day: that [future] generations will say about it, “On this mountain, the Holy One, blessed be He, appears to His people.”
אשר יאמר היום: שיאמרו לימי הדורות עליו בהר זה יראה הקב"ה לעמו:
to this day: the future days, like [the words] “until this day,” that appear throughout Scripture, for all the future generations who read this verse, will refer “until this day,” to the day in which they are living. The Midrash Aggadah (see Gen. Rabbah 56:9) [explains]: The Lord will see this binding to forgive Israel every year and to save them from retribution, in order that it will be said “on this day” in all future generations:“On the mountain of the Lord, Isaac’s ashes shall be seen, heaped up and standing for atonement.”
היום: הימים העתידין, כמו עד היום הזה שבכל המקרא, שכל הדורות הבאים הקוראים את המקרא הזה אומרים עד היום הזה על היום שעומדים בו. ומדרש אגדה ה' יראה עקידה זו לסלוח לישראל בכל שנה ולהצילם מן הפורענות, כדי שיאמר היום הזה בכל הדורות הבאים בהר ה' יראה, אפרו של יצחק צבור ועומד לכפרה:
15. And an angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven.
טו. וַיִּקְרָא מַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה אֶל אַבְרָהָם שֵׁנִית מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם:
16. And he said, "By Myself have I sworn, says the Lord, that because you have done this thing and you did not withhold your son, your only one,
טז. וַיֹּאמֶר בִּי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי נְאֻם יְהֹוָה כִּי יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידֶךָ:
17. That I will surely bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your descendants will inherit the cities of their enemies.
יז. כִּי בָרֵךְ אֲבָרֶכְךָ וְהַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְכַחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת הַיָּם וְיִרַשׁ זַרְעֲךָ אֵת שַׁעַר אֹיְבָיו:
I will surely bless you: Heb. בָּר ֵאִבָרֶכְ, one [blessing] for the father and one for the son. —
ברך אברכך: אחת לאב ואחת לבן:
and I will greatly multiply: Heb. וְהַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה, one for the father and one for the son. — [from Gen. Rabbah 56:11]
והרבה ארבה: אחת לאב ואחת לבן:
18. And through your children shall be blessed all the nations of the world, because you hearkened to My voice."
יח. וְהִתְבָּרֲכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלִי:
19. And Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer sheba; and Abraham remained in Beer sheba.
יט. וַיָּשָׁב אַבְרָהָם אֶל נְעָרָיו וַיָּקֻמוּ וַיֵּלְכוּ יַחְדָּו אֶל בְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיֵּשֶׁב אַבְרָהָם בִּבְאֵר שָׁבַע:
and Abraham remained in Beer-sheba: This does not mean permanently dwelling, for he was living in Hebron. Twelve years prior to the binding of Isaac, he left Beer-sheba and went to Hebron, as it is said (above 21:34): “And Abraham dwelt in the land of the Philistines for many days,” [meaning] more numerous than the first [years] in Hebron, which were twenty-six years, as we explained above. — [from Seder Olam ch. 1]
וישב אברהם בבאר שבע: לא ישיבה ממש, שהרי בחברון היה יושב שתים עשרה שנים לפני עקידתו של יצחק, יצא מבאר שבע והלך לו לחברון, כמו שנאמר (לעיל כא לד) ויגר אברהם בארץ פלשתים ימים רבים, מרובים משל חברון הראשונים, והם עשרים ושש שנה כמו שפירשנו למעלה (כא לד):
20. And it came to pass after these matters, that it was told to Abraham saying: "Behold Milcah, she also bore sons to Nahor your brother.
כ. וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וַיֻּגַּד לְאַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה יָלְדָה מִלְכָּה גַם הִוא בָּנִים לְנָחוֹר אָחִיךָ:
after these matters, that it was told, etc.: When he returned from Mount Moriah, Abraham was thinking and saying, “Had my son been slaughtered, he would have died without children. I should have married him to a woman of the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, or Mamre. The Holy One, blessed be He, announced to him that Rebeccah, his mate, had been born, and that is the meaning of aafter these matters,” i.e., after the thoughts of the mattethat came about as a result of the“akedah.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 57:3]
אחרי הדברים האלה ויגד וגו': בשובו מהר המוריה היה אברהם מהרהר ואומר אילו היה בני שחוט כבר היה הולך בלא בנים, היה לי להשיאו אשה מבנות ענר אשכול וממרא, בשרו הקב"ה שנולדה רבקה בת זוגו, וזהו אחרי הדברים האלה הרהורי דברים שהיו על ידי עקידה:
she also: She had [a number of] families equal to the [number of] the families of Abraham. Just as Abraham [engendered] the twelve tribes who emerged from Jacob-eight were the sons of the wives and four were the sons of maidservants-so were these also, eight sons of the wives and four sons of a concubine. — [from Gen. Rabbah 57:3]
גם היא: אף היא השוותה משפחותיה למשפחות אברהם שתים עשרה, מה אברהם שנים עשר שבטים שיצאו מיעקב, שמונה בני הגבירות וארבעה בני שפחות, אף אלו שמונה בני גבירות וארבעה בני פלגש:
21. Uz, his first born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, the father of Aram.
כא. אֶת עוּץ בְּכֹרוֹ וְאֶת בּוּז אָחִיו וְאֶת קְמוּאֵל אֲבִי אֲרָם:
22. And Kesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
כב. וְאֶת כֶּשֶׂד וְאֶת חֲזוֹ וְאֶת פִּלְדָּשׁ וְאֶת יִדְלָף וְאֵת בְּתוּאֵל:
23. And Bethuel begot Rebecca." These eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
כג. וּבְתוּאֵל יָלַד אֶת רִבְקָה שְׁמֹנָה אֵלֶּה יָלְדָה מִלְכָּה לְנָחוֹר אֲחִי אַבְרָהָם:
And Bethuel begot Rebecca: All these genealogies were written only for the sake of this verse. — [based on Gen. Rabbah 57:1,3]
ובתואל ילד את רבקה: כל היחוסין הללו לא נכתבו אלא בשביל פסוק זה:
24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, had also given birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.
כד. וּפִילַגְשׁוֹ וּשְׁמָהּ רְאוּמָה וַתֵּלֶד גַּם הִוא אֶת טֶבַח וְאֶת גַּחַם וְאֶת תַּחַשׁ וְאֶת מַעֲכָה:
Chapter 23
1. And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.
א. וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה:
And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years: The reason that the word “years” was written after every digit is to tell you that every digit is to be expounded upon individually: when she was one hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old regarding sin. Just as a twenty-year-old has not sinned, because she is not liable to punishment, so too when she was one hundred years old, she was without sin. And when she was twenty, she was like a seven-year-old as regards to beauty. — from Gen. Rabbah 58:1]
ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים: לכך נכתב שנה בכל כלל וכלל, לומר לך שכל אחד נדרש לעצמו, בת מאה כבת עשרים לחטא, מה בת עשרים לא חטאה, שהרי אינה בת עונשין, אף בת מאה בלא חטא, ובת עשרים כבת שבע ליופי:
the years of the life of Sarah: All of them equally good.
שני חיי שרה: כלן שוין לטובה:
2. And Sarah died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her.
ב. וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה בְּקִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיָּבֹא אַבְרָהָם לִסְפֹּד לְשָׂרָה וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ:
in Kiriath-arba: lit. the city of the four. So named because of the four giants who were there: Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai, and their father (Gen. Rabbah from Num. 13:23). Another explanation: Because of the four couples that were buried there, man and wife: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer , ch. 20).
בקרית ארבע: על שם ארבע ענקים שהיו שם אחימן ששי ותלמי ואביהם. דבר אחר על שם ארבעה זוגות שנקברו שם איש ואשתו אדם וחוה, אברהם ושרה, יצחק ורבקה, יעקב ולאה:
and Abraham came: from Beer-sheba.
ויבא אברהם: מבאר שבע:
to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her: The account of Sarah’s demise was juxtaposed to the binding of Isaac because as a result of the news of the “binding,” that her son was prepared for slaughter and was almost slaughtered, her soul flew out of her, and she died. — from Gen. Rabbah 58:5]
לספוד לשרה ולבכתה: ונסמכה מיתת שרה לעקידת יצחק, לפי שעל ידי בשורת העקידה שנזדמן בנה לשחיטה וכמעט שלא נשחט, פרחה נשמתה ממנה ומתה:
3. And Abraham arose from before his dead, and he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
ג. וַיָּקָם אַבְרָהָם מֵעַל פְּנֵי מֵתוֹ וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי חֵת לֵאמֹר:
4. "I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you. Give me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me."
ד. גֵּר וְתוֹשָׁב אָנֹכִי עִמָּכֶם תְּנוּ לִי אֲחֻזַּת קֶבֶר עִמָּכֶם וְאֶקְבְּרָה מֵתִי מִלְּפָנָי:
I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you: [I am] a stranger from another land, and I have settled among you. [Consequently, I have no ancestral burial plot here (Rashbam, Sforno).] And the Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 58:6) [states]: If you are willing [to sell me burial property], I am a stranger, but if not, I will be as an inhabitant and will take it legally, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, “To your seed I will give this land” (above 12:7).
גר ותושב אנכי עמכם: גר מארץ אחרת ונתישבתי עמכם. ומדרש אגדה אם תרצו הריני גר, ואם לאו אהיה תושב ואטלנה מן הדין שאמר לי הקב"ה (לעיל יב ז) לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת:
burial property: the possession of land for a burial place.
אחזת קבר: אחוזת קרקע לבית הקברות:
5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
ה. וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי חֵת אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר לוֹ:
6. "Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst; in the choicest of our graves bury your dead. None of us will withhold his grave from you to bury your dead."
ו. שְׁמָעֵנוּ | אֲדֹנִי נְשִׂיא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה בְּתוֹכֵנוּ בְּמִבְחַר קְבָרֵינוּ קְבֹר אֶת מֵתֶךָ אִישׁ מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת קִבְרוֹ לֹא יִכְלֶה מִמְּךָ מִקְּבֹר מֵתֶךָ:
none…will withhold: Heb. לא יִכְלֶה, will not withhold, as (Ps. 40:12):“You will not withhold (לא תִכְלָא) Your mercies,” and similarly (above 8:2):“and the rain was withheld (וַיִּכָּלֵא).”
לא יכלה: לא ימנע, כמו (תהלים מ יב) לא תכלא רחמיך, וכמו (לעיל ח ב) ויכלא הגשם:
7. And Abraham arose and prostrated himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth.
ז. וַיָּקָם אַבְרָהָם וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לְעַם הָאָרֶץ לִבְנֵי חֵת:
8. And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your will that I bury my dead from before me, listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar.
ח. וַיְדַבֵּר אִתָּם לֵאמֹר אִם יֵשׁ אֶת נַפְשְׁכֶם לִקְבֹּר אֶת מֵתִי מִלְּפָנַי שְׁמָעוּנִי וּפִגְעוּ לִי בְּעֶפְרוֹן בֶּן צֹחַר:
your will: Heb. נַפְשְׁכֶם, equivalent to רְצוֹנְכֶם, your will.
נפשכם: רצונכם:
and entreat for me: Heb. וּפִגְעוּ, an expression of entreaty, as in (Ruth 1: 16): “Do not entreat me” .
ופגעו לי: לשון בקשה, כמו (רות א טז) אל תפגעי בי:
9. That he may give me the Machpelah (double) Cave, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for a full price let him give it to me in your midst for burial property."
ט. וְיִתֶּן לִי אֶת מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֲשֶׁר לוֹ אֲשֶׁר בִּקְצֵה שָׂדֵהוּ בְּכֶסֶף מָלֵא יִתְּנֶנָּה לִּי בְּתוֹכְכֶם לַאֲחֻזַּת קָבֶר:
double: A structure with an upper story over it. Another interpretation: [It was called so] because it was doubled with couples (Er. 53a).
המכפלה: בית ועליה על גביו. דבר אחר שכפולה בזוגות:
for a full price: [meaning] its full value. So did David say to Araunah,“for the full price” (I Chron. 21: 24).
בכסף מלא: אשלם כל שוויה, וכן דוד אמר לארונה (דברי הימים א' כא כד) בכסף מלא:
10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, of all those who had come into the gate of his city, saying,
י. וְעֶפְרוֹן ישֵׁב בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי חֵת וַיַּעַן עֶפְרוֹן הַחִתִּי אֶת אַבְרָהָם בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת לְכֹל בָּאֵי שַׁעַר עִירוֹ לֵאמֹר:
Now Ephron was sitting: It ישֵׁב is spelled defectively, [without a“vav.” It can therefore be read יָשַׁב, in the past tense, meaning that he had just sat (Mizrachi, Be’er Yitzchak).] On that very day they had appointed him as an officer over them. Because of the importance of Abraham, who needed him, he rose to an exalted position. — from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]
ועפרון ישב: כתיב חסר, אותו היום מנוהו שוטר עליהם, מפני חשיבותו של אברהם שהיה צריך לו עלה לגדולה:
of all those who had come into the gate of his city: For they all left their work and came to pay their respects to Sarah. — from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]
לכל באי שער עירו: שכולן בטלו ממלאכתן ובאו לגמול חסד לשרה:
11. "No, my lord, listen to me. I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it, I have given it to you. Before the eyes of the sons of my people, I have given it to you; bury your dead."
יא. לֹא אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי הַשָּׂדֶה נָתַתִּי לָךְ וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ לְךָ נְתַתִּיהָ לְעֵינֵי בְנֵי עַמִּי נְתַתִּיהָ לָּךְ קְבֹר מֵתֶךָ:
No, my lord: You shall not buy it for money.
לא א-דני: לא תקנה אותה בדמים:
I have given you: It is as though I have given it to you.
נתתי לך: הרי הוא כמו שנתתיה לך:
12. And Abraham prostrated himself before the people of the land.
יב. וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַבְרָהָם לִפְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ:
13. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But, if only you would listen to me. I am giving the money for the field; take [it] from me, and I will bury my dead there."
יג. וַיְדַבֵּר אֶל עֶפְרוֹן בְּאָזְנֵי עַם הָאָרֶץ לֵאמֹר אַךְ אִם אַתָּה לוּ שְׁמָעֵנִי נָתַתִּי כֶּסֶף הַשָּׂדֶה קַח מִמֶּנִּי וְאֶקְבְּרָה אֶת מֵתִי שָׁמָּה:
But, if only you would listen to me: You tell me to listen to you and to take it gratis. I do not wish to do that, but“If you would only (לוּ) listen to me,” [meaning]“If only (הַלְוַאי) you would listen to me.” Rashi explains that the word לוּ is equivalent to הַלְוַאי, if only.
אך אם אתה לו שמעני: אתה אומר לי לשמוע לך וליקח בחנם, אני אי אפשי בכך, אך אם אתה לו שמעני הלואי ותשמעני:
I am giving: lit. I have given, Donai in Old French. It is ready with me, and I wish that I had already given it to you.
נתתי: דונא"י בלע"ז [נתתי] מוכן הוא אצלי והלואי נתתי לך כבר:
14. And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him,
יד. וַיַּעַן עֶפְרוֹן אֶת אַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר לוֹ:
15. "My lord, listen to me; a [piece of] land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is it between me and you? Bury your dead."
טו. אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי אֶרֶץ אַרְבַּע מֵאֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף בֵּינִי וּבֵינְךָ מַה הִוא וְאֶת מֵתְךָ קְבֹר:
between me and you: Between two friends such as we are, of what importance is it? None! Rather leave the sale and bury your dead.
ביני ובינך: בין שני אוהבים כמונו מה היא חשובה לכלום, אלא הנח את המכר ואת מתך קבור:
16. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by the merchant.
טז. וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָהָם אֶל עֶפְרוֹן וַיִּשְׁקֹל אַבְרָהָם לְעֶפְרֹן אֶת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר:
and Abraham weighed out to Ephron: עֶפְרֹן is spelled without a “vav,” because he promised much but did not do even a little [i.e., he promised the cave as a gift but took a great deal of money for it], for he took from him large shekels, viz. centenaria [worth one hundred smaller shekels], as it is stated:“accepted by the merchant,” i.e., they are accepted as a [full] shekel everywhere, for some places have large shekels, viz. centenaria, centeniers or zenteniyers in Old French,(hundred-unit weights.) - from Gen. Rabbah 58:7, Bech. 50a, B.M. 87a]
וישקל אברהם לעפרן: חסר וי"ו, לפי שאמר הרבה ואפילו מעט לא עשה, שנטל ממנו שקלים גדולים שהן קנטרין, שנאמר (פסוק טז) עובר לסוחר, שמתקבלים בשקל בכל מקום ויש מקום ששקליהן גדולים שהן קנטרין, צינטינייר"ש [מטבעות של מאה] בלע"ז:
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Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapter 77 ~ 82
Chapter 77
1. For the Conductor, on the yedutun,1 by Asaph, a psalm. 2. [I raise] my voice to God and cry out; [I raise] my voice to God and He will listen to me. 3. On the day of my distress I sought my Lord. My wound oozes at night and does not abate; my soul refuses to be consoled. 4. I remember God and I moan; I speak and my spirit faints, Selah. 5. You grasped my eyelids; I am broken, I cannot speak. 6. I think of olden days, of ancient years. 7. During the night I recall my music, I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches: 8. Is it for eternity that my Lord forsakes [me], nevermore to be appeased? 9. Has His kindness ceased forever? Has He sealed the decree for all generations? 10. Has God forgotten mercy? Has He in anger restrained His compassion forever? 11. I said, "It is to ter- rify me that the right hand of the Most High changes.” 12. I remember the deeds of Yah, when I remember Your wonders of long ago. 13. I meditate on all Your works, and speak of Your deeds. 14. O God, Your way is in sanctity; what god is as great as God? 15. You are the God Who works wonders; You make Your might known among the nations. 16. You redeemed Your people with a mighty arm, the children of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. 17. The waters2 saw You, O God, the waters saw You and trembled; even the deep shuddered. 18. The clouds streamed water, the heavens sounded forth, even Your arrows flew about. 19. The sound of Your thunder was in the rolling wind; lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. 20. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the mighty waters; and Your footsteps were not known.3 21. You led Your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron
Chapter 78
This psalm recounts all the miracles that God wrought for Israel, from the exodus of Egypt to David's becoming king over Israel.
1. A maskil1 by Asaph. Listen, my people, to my teaching; incline your ear to the words of my mouth. 2. I will open my mouth with a parable, I will utter riddles of long ago; 3. that which we have heard and know [to be true], and that our fathers have told us. 4. We will not withhold from their children, telling the final generation the praises of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders He has performed. 5. He established a testimony in Jacob, and set down the Torah in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to make known to their children, 6. so that the last generation shall know; children yet to be born will rise and tell their children, 7. and they shall put their hope in God, and not forget the works of the Almighty; and they shall guard His commandments. 8. And they shall not be like their fathers, a wayward and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart straight, and whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9. The children of Ephraim, armed archers, retreated on the day of battle.2 10. They did not keep the covenant of God, and refused to follow His Torah. 11. They forgot His deeds and His wonders that He had shown them. 12. He performed wonders before their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.3 13. He split the sea and brought them across; He erected the waters like a wall. 14. He led them with a cloud by day, and all night long with the light of fire. 15. He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them to drink as if from the abundant depths. 16. And He brought forth flowing waters from the rock, and caused waters to descend like rivers. 17. Yet they again continued to sin against Him, to provoke the Most High in the parched land. 18. And they tested God in their hearts, by requesting food for their craving. 19. They spoke against God; they said, "Can God set a table in the wilderness? 20. True, He hit the rock and waters flowed, streams gushed forth; but can He also give bread? Will He prepare meat for His people?” 21. And so the Lord heard and was enraged; a fire was kindled against Jacob; wrath, too, flared against Israel. 22. For they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation, 23. [though] He had commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven. 24. He had rained upon them manna to eat, and given them grain of heaven. 25. Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them [enough] provisions to satiate. 26. He drove the east wind through the heaven, and led the south wind with His might. 27. He rained meat upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of seas; 28. and He dropped them inside His camp, around His dwellings. 29. And they ate and were very satiated, for He brought them their desire. 30. They were not yet estranged from their craving, their food was still in their mouths, 31. when the wrath of God rose against them and slew their mighty ones, and brought down the chosen of Israel. 32. Despite this, they sinned again, and did not believe in His wonders; 33. so He ended their days in futility, and their years in terror. 34. When He slew them they would seek Him, they would return and pray to God. 35. They remembered that God is their rock, God the Most High, their redeemer. 36. But they beguiled Him with their mouth, and deceived Him with their tongue. 37. Their heart was not steadfast with Him; they were not faithful to His covenant. 38. Yet He is compassionate, pardons iniquity, and does not destroy; time and again He turns away His anger, and does not arouse all His wrath. 39. He remembered that they were but flesh, a spirit that leaves and does not return. 40. How often they provoked Him in the desert, and grieved Him in the wasteland! 41. Again and again they tested God, and sought a sign from the Holy One of Israel. 42. They did not remember His hand, the day He redeemed them from the oppressor; 43. that He set His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan. 44. He turned their rivers to blood, and made their flowing waters undrinkable. 45. He sent against them a mixture of beasts which devoured them, and frogs that destroyed them. 46. He gave their produce to the grasshopper, and their toil to the locust. 47. He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with biting frost. 48. He delivered their animals to the hail, and their livestock to fiery bolts. 49. He sent against them His fierce anger, fury, rage, and affliction; a delegation of messengers of evil. 50. He leveled a path for His anger, and did not spare their soul from death; He delivered their animals to pestilence. 51. He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruit of their strength in the tents of Ham.4 52. He drove His nation like sheep, and guided them like a flock in the desert. 53. He led them in security and they did not fear, for the sea covered their enemies. 54. And He brought them to the boundary of His holy place, this mountain which His right hand acquired. 55. He drove out nations before them, and allotted them an inheritance [measured] by the cord; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 56. Yet they tested and defied God, the Most High, and did not keep His testimonies. 57. They regressed and rebelled like their fathers; they turned around like a deceptive bow. 58. They angered Him with their high altars, and provoked Him with their idols. 59. God heard and was enraged, and He was utterly disgusted with Israel; 60. And He abandoned the Tabernacle of Shilo, the Tent where He had dwelled among men. 61. He put His might into captivity, and His glory into the hand of the oppressor. 62. He delivered His nation to the sword, and was enraged with His inheritance. 63. Fire consumed His young men, and His maidens had no marriage song. 64. His priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.5 65. And the Lord awoke like one who had been asleep, like a warrior shouting [to sober himself] from wine. 66. He beat His enemies into retreat, and dealt them eternal disgrace. 67. He was disgusted with the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. 68. He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loves. 69. And He built His Sanctuary [permanent as] the heavens; like the earth, He established it forever. 70. And He chose David His servant, and took him from the sheep corrals. 71. From following the nursing ewes, He brought Him to shepherd His nation Jacob, Israel His inheritance. 72. And he tended them with the integrity of his heart, and led them with the skill of his hands.
Chapter 79
In this psalm, Asaph thanks God for sparing the people and directing His wrath upon the wood and stones (of the Temple). Still he cries bitterly, mourning the immense destruction: The place where the High Priest alone was allowed to enter-and only on Yom Kippur-is now so desolate that foxes stroll through it!
1. A psalm by Asaph. O God, nations have entered Your inheritance, they defiled Your Holy Sanctuary; they turned Jerusalem into heaps of rubble. 2. They have rendered the corpses of Your servants as food for the birds of heaven, the flesh of Your pious ones for the beasts of the earth. 3. They spilled their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury [them]. 4. We became the object of disgrace to our neighbors, ridicule and scorn to those around us. 5. Until when, O Lord! Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? 6. Pour Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, upon the kingdoms that do not call Your Name, 7. for they devoured Jacob and desolated His abode. 8. Do not recall our former sins; let Your mercies come swiftly towards us, for we have fallen very low. 9. Help us, God of our deliverance, for the sake of the glory of Your Name; save us and pardon our sins for the sake of Your Name. 10. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let there be known among the nations, before our eyes, the retribution of the spilled blood of Your servants. 11. Let the groan of the prisoner come before You; liberate those condemned to death, as befits the greatness of Your strength. 12. Repay our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, for the disgrace with which they reviled You, O Lord. 13. And we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank You forever; for all generations we will recount Your praise.
Chapter 80
An awe-inspiring prayer imploring God to draw near to us as in days of old.
1. For the Conductor, on the shoshanim, 1 a testimony by Asaph, a psalm. 2. Listen, O Shepherd of Israel, Who leads Joseph like sheep. Appear, You Who is enthroned upon the cherubim. 3. Arouse Your might before Ephraim, Benjamin and Menashe, for it is upon You to save us. 4. Return us, O God; cause Your countenance to shine, that we may be saved. 5. O Lord, God of Hosts, until when will You fume at the prayer of Your people? 6. You fed them bread of tears, and gave them tears to drink in great measure. 7. You have made us an object of strife to our neighbors; our enemies mock to themselves. 8. Return us, O God of Hosts; cause Your countenance to shine, that we may be saved. 9. You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out nations and planted it. 10. You cleared space before it; it took root and filled the land. 11. Mountains were covered by its shade, and its branches became mighty cedars. 12. It sent forth its branches till the sea, and its tender shoots to the river. 13. Why did You breach its fences, so that every passerby plucked its fruit? 14. The boars of the forest ravage it, and the creepers of the field feed upon it. 15. O God of Hosts, please return! Look down from heaven and see, and be mindful of this vine, 16. and of the foundation which Your right hand has planted, and the son whom You strengthened for Yourself. 17. It is burned by fire, cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your Presence. 18. Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You strengthened for Yourself. 19. Then we will not withdraw from You; revive us, and we will proclaim Your Name. 20. O Lord, God of Hosts, return us; cause Your countenance to shine that we may be saved.
Chapter 81
This psalm was chanted in the Holy Temple on Rosh Hashanah, a day on which many miracles were wrought for Israel.
1. For the Conductor, upon the gittit,1 by Asaph. 2. Sing joyously to God, our strength; sound the shofar to the God of Jacob. 3. Raise your voice in song, sound the drum, the pleasant harp, and the lyre. 4. Blow the shofar on the New Month, on the designated day of our Holy Day; 5. for it is a decree for Israel, a ruling of the God of Jacob. 6. He ordained it as a precept for Joseph when he went forth over the land of Egypt; I heard a language which I did not know. 7. I have taken his shoulder from the burden; his hands were removed from the pot.2 8. In distress you called and I delivered you; [you called] in secret, and I answered you with thunderous wonders; I tested you at the waters of Merivah, Selah. 9. Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if you would only listen to Me! 10. You shall have no alien god within you, nor shall you bow down to a foreign deity. 11. I am the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open wide your mouth, [state all your desires,] and I shall grant them. 12. But My people did not heed My voice; Israel did not want [to listen to] Me. 13. So I sent them away for the willfulness of their heart, for following their [evil] design. 14. If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would only walk in My ways, 15. then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their oppressors. 16. Those who hate the Lord would shrivel before Him, and the time [of their retribution] shall be forever. 17. I would feed him [Israel] with the finest of wheat, and sate you with honey from the rock.
Chapter 82
This psalm admonishes those judges who feign ignorance of the law, dealing unjustly with the pauper or the orphan, while coddling the rich and pocketing their bribes.
1. A psalm by Asaph. God stands in the council of judges; among the judges He renders judgment: 2. How long will you judge wickedly, ever showing partiality toward the evildoers? 3. Render justice to the needy and the orphan; deal righteously with the poor and the destitute. 4. Rescue the needy and the pauper; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5. But they do not know, nor do they understand; they go about in darkness, [therefore] all the foundations of the earth tremble. 6. I said that you are angels, supernal beings, all of you; 7. but you will die as mortals, you will fall like any prince. 8. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You possess all the nations.
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Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 27 & Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle 27
Saturday(Shabbat), Cheshvan 15, 5704 ~ 19 October 2013 ~~ Sunday, Cheshvan 16, 5774 ~ 20 October 2013
Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 27
והנה, בהיות הצדיק חי על פני האדמה, היו שלש מדות אלו בתוך כלי ולבוש שלהם
Now, while the tzaddik was alive on earth, these three attributes were contained in their vessel and garment
בבחינת מקום גשמי, שהיא בחינת נפש הקשורה בגופו
on the plane of physical space, this being the aspect of the Nefesh which is bound to his body.
וכל תלמידיו אינם מקבלים רק הארת מדות אלו, וזיון
During his lifetime his disciples all receive only a reflection of these attributes, and a ray from them
המאיר חוץ לכלי זה, על ידי דבוריו ומחשבותיו הקדושים
that radiates beyond this vessel (i.e., the tzaddik’s body) by means of his holy utterances and thoughts.
The tzaddik’s utterances and thoughts are able to reveal no more than a minor ray of his attributes.
ולכן אמרו רז״ל, שאין אדם עומד על דעת רבו וכו׳
That is why our Sages, of blessed memory, said1 that “one cannot plumb the depth of his master’s teachings [until the passage of forty years].”
אבל לאחר פטירתו, לפי שמתפרדים בחינת הנפש שנשארה בקבר מבחינת הרוח שבגן עדן, שהן שלש מדות הללו
But after [the tzaddik’s] passing, since the Nefesh — which remains in the grave — is separated from the Ruach, which comprises these three attributes and [after his passing] is in the Garden of Eden,
The three attributes, now unbounded by the body, are in the Garden of Eden, a spiritual space whose atmosphere surrounds every individual in this world, as the Alter Rebbe will presently explain.
לפיכך יכול כל הקרוב אליו לקבל חלק מבחינת רוחו שבגן עדן
whoever is close to him can receive a part of his Ruach which is in the Garden of Eden, i.e., an actual part of the very essence of these attributes, as opposed to a mere reflection of them,
הואיל ואינה בתוך כלי, ולא בבחינת מקום גשמי
because [the Ruach of the tzaddik] is [now] not within a vessel, nor on the plane of physical space, but in the Garden of Eden, which as will now be explained, is to be found within this world as well.
כנודע מאמר רז״ל על יעקב אבינו, עליו השלום, שנכנס עמו גן עדן
For, as is known, our Sages,2 of blessed memory, said of our father Jacob, peace be to him, that “the Garden of Eden entered with him” when he came to be blessed by his father Isaac.
וכן כתוב בספר עשרה מאמרות, שאויר גן עדן מתפשט סביב כל אדם
Likewise it is stated in Asarah Maamarot3 that the atmosphere of the Garden of Eden envelops every individual,
ונרשמים באויר זה, כל מחשבותיו ודבוריו הטובים בתורה ועבודת ה׳
and in this atmosphere are recorded all his good thoughts and utterances of Torah and divine worship;
(וכן להיפך, חס ושלום, נרשמים באויר המתפשט מגיהנם סביב כל אדם)
(4and likewise to the contrary, heaven forfend: [negative thoughts and utterances] are recorded in the atmosphere from Gehenna which envelops every individual [when he engages in them].
To summarize: After the tzaddik’s passing, his power and his faith, his awe and his love, are not limited by his bodily vessel and by the physical world in general, but are in the Garden of Eden, which is to be found in this world as well.
הלכך נקל מאד לתלמידיו לקבל חלקם מבחינת רוח רבם העצמיות, שהם אמונתו ויראתו ואהבתו אשר עבד בהם את ה׳
It is therefore very easy for his disciples to receive their part of the essential aspects of their master’s Ruach, i.e., his faith, his awe and his love with which he served G‑d,
ולא זיוום בלבד המאיר חוץ לכלי
and not merely a glimmer thereof which radiates beyond the vessel, and which reached them through his thoughts and words when the tzaddik was still alive.
לפי שבחינת רוחו העצמית מתעלה, בעילוי אחר עילוי
For the essential aspect of his Ruach — his essential faith, awe and love that relate to himself and not to his disciples — is raised, elevation beyond elevation,
להכלל בבחינת נשמתו שבגן עדן העליון, שבעולמות העליונים
to become absorbed in his Neshamah which is in the Higher Garden of Eden, in the supreme worlds.
ונודע שכל דבר שבקדושה אינו נעקר לגמרי מכל וכל ממקומו ומדרגתו הראשונה, וגם לאחר שנתעלה למעלה למעלה
Now it is known5 that no holy entity is ever totally and utterly uprooted from its original place and level, even after it has reached the highest point.
Rather, some trace of it always remains in its original lowly location. Moreover, as noted above, the Lower Garden of Eden is to be found even in the lowly World of Asiyah.
ובחינה זו הראשונה, שנשארה למטה בגן עדן התחתון, במקומו ומדרגתו הראשונה
Thus it is this original aspect deriving from the Ruach of the tzaddik, remaining below in the Lower Garden of Eden in its original place and level,
היא המתפשטת בתלמידיו
which extends itself among his disciples,
For this aspect has detached itself from the essential aspect of the Ruach of the tzaddik; its entire purpose is to be vested within his disciples.
כל אחד לפי בחינת התקשרותו וקרבתו אליו, בחייו ובמותו, באהבה רבה
each one according to the level of his bond and closeness to [the tzaddik], during his lifetime and after his passing, out of an abounding love.
כי המשכת כל רוחניות אינה אלא על ידי אהבה רבה
For anything spiritual is elicited only by means of an abounding love.
And when this degree of love is present, the three attributes of faith, fear and love are then drawn down.
כמו שכתוב בזהר הקדוש, דרוח דרעותא דלבא אמשיך רוח מלעילא
Thus it is stated in the sacred Zohar6 that the spirit (Ruach) of the inner heart’s desire, elicits a spirit from above —
So, too, the disciple’s heartfelt love for his master draws down these three attributes —
רק אם יכון לקראת אלקיו, בהכנה רבה ויגיעה עצומה
but only if he will prepare himself towards his G‑d7 with a great preparation and intense effort,
As explained by an unnamed elder chassid quoted in Likkutei Haggahot, “great preparation” refers to the preparation of the soul; “intense effort” refers to the toil of the body.
לקבל שלש מדות הללו כדרך שהורהו רבו, וכמאמר רז״ל: יגעת ומצאת, תאמין
so that he will receive these attributes in the way that his master taught him. [To paraphrase] the words of our Sages, of blessed memory,8 “If you have labored and [claim to have] found, believe it.”
As explained by the Rebbe Rayatz,9 “Only if he will prepare himself towards his G‑d with a great preparation and intense effort,” means that every man’s task is to vest this faith, awe and love within his physical everyday life in his observance of Torah and mitzvot.
It would also seem from the continuation of his explanation, that the meaning of “If you have labored..., believe it,” is that the individual then gains a great deal more than what he actually labored for, very much like an unexpected find. Through his toil, “successive generations of offshoots” are bound up with their source within the “essential aspect of [the master’s] Ruach (i.e., his essential faith, awe and love that relate to himself and not to his disciples) [which] is raised, elevation beyond elevation, to become absorbed in his Neshamah which is in the Higher Garden of Eden, in the supreme worlds.” The disciples of the tzaddik thus benefit not only from his Ruach insofar as it remained in the Lower Garden of Eden, but also from his essential Ruach that was incorporated within his Neshamah that is found in the Higher Garden of Eden. Surely, this is a gain that far outstrips the individual’s effort. This level of energy, as the Rebbe Rayatz concludes, is not integrated internally within his disciples, but merely encompasses them in a transcendent manner. Nevertheless, it is so powerful that it enables even their “successive generations of offshoots” to produce unending generations of further offshoots.
The Rebbe Rayatz also states there that by toiling in the path that was handed down by their master, disciples cause his spiritual life of faith, awe and love to descend into the practicalities of their own divine service, Torah study and observance of the mitzvot. Through these labors, moreover, even the further disciples who are his “successive generations of offshoots” become connected with their source in the constantly ascending Ruach and Neshamah of the tzaddik who is in the Higher Garden of Eden.
* * *
FOOTNOTES
1.Avodah Zarah 5b; Rashi on Devarim 29:6.
2.Bereishit Rabbah 65:22; Zohar III, 84a.
3.Maamar Chikur Din 2:12.
4.Parentheses are in the original text.
5.Pardes, Shaar 14, sec. 1; Etz Chayim, Shaar 34, sec. 3; et al.
6.Cf. Zohar II, 162b, et al.
7.Cf. Amos 4:12.
8.Cf. Megillah 6b.
9.The maamar entitled Pizar Natan LaEvyonim 5692.
Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle 27
והנה יש עוד בחינת הארה לתלמידיו
Now, there is another kind of illumination [from the tzaddik] to his disciples.
רק שאינה מתלבשת בתוך מוחם ממש, כראשונה
However, it does not vest itself truly in their minds1 — as is the case with the first [kind of illumination] that derives from the Ruach of the tzaddik, whereby his faith, fear and love are intellectually integrated and internalized within his disciples,
רק מאירה עליהם מלמעלה
but radiates over them from above, encompassing and transcending them, for its very loftiness inhibits it from descending and being integrated within them.
והיא מעליית רוחו ונשמתו למקור חוצבו
It stems from the ascent of [the tzaddik’s] Ruach and Neshamah to the source from which it was hewn,
דהיינו, לחקל תפוחין קדישין
that is, to Chakal Tapuchin Kaddishin (lit., “the orchard of the holy apples”), i.e., to the Sefirah of Malchut in the World of Atzilut, the Divine source of souls.
ועל ידי זה נעשה שם יחוד
This [ascent] effects a union there, between the spiritually feminine Sefirah of Malchut and the spiritually masculine levels of Divine efflux that transcend it,
על ידי העלאת מיין נוקבין, מכל מעשיו ותורתו ועבודתו אשר עבד כל ימי חייו
by means of the elevation of mayin nukvin (lit., “feminine waters”; i.e., by means of the mortally-initiated spiritual arousal) constituted by all of [the tzaddik’s] actions, his Torah, and the divine service in which he engaged all the days of his life.
For, as will be explained below in Epistle 28, all of man’s lifelong labors and attainments are revealed from their former state of concealment and shine forth at the time of his passing.
ונזרעו בחקל תפוחין קדישין, אורות עליונים מאד
And in the Chakal Tapuchin Kaddishin, the soul’s source, are implanted exceedingly sublime lights,
לעומת תחתונים, אשר הם תורתו ועבודתו
corresponding to and resulting from the nether [illuminations], which are [the tzaddik’s] Torah and worship.
His divine service thus implants lofty illuminations above, which are revealed and descend below at the time of his passing.
והארת אורות עליונים אלו מאירה על כל תלמידיו, שנעשו עובדי ה׳ על ידי תורתו
The illumination of these supernal lights radiates over all his disciples who became servants of G‑d through his Torah and worship.
והארה זו, שעליהם מלמעלה, מכנסת בלבם הרהורי תשובה ומעשים טובים
And this illumination, which [radiates] over them from above, despite this transcendence is so powerful that it instills in their hearts thoughts of repentance and good deeds.
וכל המעשים טובים הנולדים מהארה זו, שמאירה מאורות הזרועים בשדה הנ״ל, נקרא גידולי גידולין
All the good deeds born of this illumination which radiates from the lights implanted in the above-mentioned orchard, are called “successive generations of offshoots.”
Since the illuminations themselves grew directly out of the lights implanted by the tzaddik, the good deeds which these illuminations in turn inspire are its offshoots of the second generation.
והארה זו היא בהעלם והסתר גדול, כמו שמש המאיר לכוכבים מתחת לארץ
This radiation is greatly hidden and concealed, just like the sun radiating to the stars from below the earth.
כדאיתא בזהר על משה רבינו, עליו השלום
Thus it is stated in the Zohar2 in reference to Moses our Master, peace be unto him,
שאחר פטירתו מתפשטת הארתו, בכל דרא ודרא, לששים רבוא נשמות
that after his passing his radiation extends in every generation to the six hundred thousand souls, all other souls being sparks of these general souls, as explained in Tanya, ch. 37,
כמו שמש המאיר מתחת לארץ, לששים רבוא כוכבים
like the sun which radiates to the six hundred thousand stars from below the earth.
As with Moses, so too with the tzaddikim who are his successors: by means of his Torah and spiritual service, every tzaddik illumines successive generations of offshoots — his direct disciples and in turn their disciples, and so on — when they follow his teachings in matters of Torah and spiritual service.
Addendum
The Alter Rebbe spoke above of those who benefit from the gifts that a tzaddik continues to bequeath after his passing, from his Ruach that remained in the Lower Garden of Eden. There he does not say “all his disciples,” but only “among his disciples.” Moreover, he adds that the extent of the spiritual bequest received by each chassid varies “according to the level of his bond and closeness to [the tzaddik], during his lifetime and after his passing, out of an abounding love.”
This is so because there the Alter Rebbe is speaking of their receiving from him the sublime spiritual attributes of faith, awe and love. Hence, since (as the Alter Rebbe concludes there) “anything spiritual is elicited only by means of an abounding love,” it follows that a bequest of such stature is drawn down only to those disciples whose bond to him was particularly close.
Here, however, at the close of the epistle, the Alter Rebbe speaks of the degree of illumination which radiates “over them from above,” encompassing and transcending them. This degree, which “instills in their hearts thoughts of repentance and good deeds,” radiates “over all his disciples,” upon all those who may be considered his disciples because they “became servants of G‑d through his Torah and worship.”
It could be argued that the former kind of benefaction, that which is dependent upon being bound with great love, refers specifically to those who were the tzaddik’s disciples during his lifetime; it is they who are close to him both “during his lifetime and after his passing.” By contrast, the kind of benefaction which is transcendent, as opposed to integrated within them, also applies to those who became the tzaddik’s disciples after his passing, in the sense that they drew closer to G‑d as a result of his teachings. These disciples are the successive generations of his offshoots in the same way that the radiation of Moshe Rabbeinu continues after his passing to illuminate generation after generation.
FOOTNOTES
1.Note of the Rebbe: “For what binds a student with his master is the intellect with which he meditates upon his master’s teachings, intellect and understanding.”
2.[Emended here from “in the Tikkunim.”] Note of the Rebbe in He’arot VeTikkunim: “To date I have found the entire subject in Zohar III, 273a; see also there, p. 216b. In the Tikkunim (in Tikkun 69, p. 112a and 104a, and in Tikkun 70, p. 138a), I have found only part of what is explained here. Possibly the copyist here in Iggeret HaKodesh confused this with the phrase ‘in the Tikkunim’ in Tanya, ch. 44.”
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• Rambam: Sefer Hamitzvos:
Daily Mitzvah
P236 & P236, N289, N296
Important Message Regarding This Lesson
The Daily Mitzvah schedule runs parallel to the daily study of 3 chapters of Maimonides' 14-volume code. There are instances when the Mitzvah is repeated a few days consecutively while the exploration of the same Mitzvah continues in the in-depth track.
Positive Commandment 236 (Digest)
Personal Injury
Personal Injury
"If men quarrel, and one strikes the other..."—Exodus 21:18.
The courts are commanded to adjudicate cases that involve personal injury cause by one person to another. [Monetary penalties are assessed to compensate for devaluation of the injured individual, pain sustained, medical bills, unemployment due to the injury, and shame incurred.]
Only an ordained court in the Land of Israel can adjudicate such cases [with the exception of medical bills and unemployment, that can be adjudicated by all rabbinical courts no matter the location].
The 236th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding someone who wounds another person.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "[This is the law] when two men fight, and one hits the other..." These laws are called dinei k'nasos ["the laws of fines"].
There is one general verse which includes all these laws, namely G‑d's statement2 (exalted be He), "[If one maims his neighbor,] whatever he did must be done to him in return." The Oral Tradition explains that [it does not mean that he is literally to be harmed in return, but that] he must pay the monetary equivalent of the damage he has caused to the other person. Even if he merely shamed him, he must pay appropriate damages.
You should be aware that all these laws involve damage that one person causes to another. They may be judged and determined only by a High Court which was ordained in Israel. The same applies for cases when an animal damages a person or another animal.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 8th chapter of tractate Bava Kama.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ex. 21:18.
2.Lev. 24:19.
Important Message Regarding This Lesson
The Daily Mitzvah schedule runs parallel to the daily study of 3 chapters of Maimonides' 14-volume code. There are instances when the Mitzvah is repeated a few days consecutively while the exploration of the same Mitzvah continues in the in-depth track.
Positive Commandment 236 (Digest)
Personal Injury
Personal Injury
"If men quarrel, and one strikes the other..."—Exodus 21:18.
The courts are commanded to adjudicate cases that involve personal injury cause by one person to another. [Monetary penalties are assessed to compensate for devaluation of the injured individual, pain sustained, medical bills, unemployment due to the injury, and shame incurred.]
Only an ordained court in the Land of Israel can adjudicate such cases [with the exception of medical bills and unemployment, that can be adjudicated by all rabbinical courts no matter the location].
The 236th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding someone who wounds another person.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "[This is the law] when two men fight, and one hits the other..." These laws are called dinei k'nasos ["the laws of fines"].
There is one general verse which includes all these laws, namely G‑d's statement2 (exalted be He), "[If one maims his neighbor,] whatever he did must be done to him in return." The Oral Tradition explains that [it does not mean that he is literally to be harmed in return, but that] he must pay the monetary equivalent of the damage he has caused to the other person. Even if he merely shamed him, he must pay appropriate damages.
You should be aware that all these laws involve damage that one person causes to another. They may be judged and determined only by a High Court which was ordained in Israel. The same applies for cases when an animal damages a person or another animal.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 8th chapter of tractate Bava Kama.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ex. 21:18.
2.Lev. 24:19.
Negative Commandment 289 (Digest)
Murder
Murder
"You shall not murder"—Exodus 20:13.
It is forbidden to murder a fellow human.
The 289th prohibition is that we are forbidden from killing each other.
The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "Do not commit murder."
The punishment for violating this prohibition is execution by decapitation. [The death penalty is derived] from G‑d's statement2 (exalted be He), "You must even take him from My altar to put him to death."
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 9th chapter of tractate Sanhedrin3 and the 2nd chapter of Makkos.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17.
2.Ex. 21:14.
3.Mishneh 2.
Negative Commandment 296 (Digest)
Accepting a Ransom from an Inadvertent Murderer
Accepting a Ransom from an Inadvertent Murderer
"You shall take no ransom from one who must flee to his city of refuge"—Numbers 35:32.
It is forbidden to take a monetary payment from a person guilty of manslaughter to exempt him from exile in a city of refuge.
The 296th prohibition is that we are forbidden from taking ransom money to spare from exile one who has committed murder unintentionally. Rather, he must be exiled.
The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "If one has fled to a refuge city, do not take ransom [to allow him to return and live in the land...]"
The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Makkos.
FOOTNOTES
1.Num. 35:32.
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- Rambam ~ 1 Chapter a day: Tum'at Met Chapter 16 & Tum'at Met Chapter 17
Chapter 16
Halacha 1
The following rule applies when there is an aperture - whether it is the size of a handbreadth by a handbreadth or it is less than a handbreadth by a handbreadth - in the midst of the roof of a house and there is a source of impurity under the roof of the house: The space directly below the aperture is pure, because it is open to free space and the remainder of the house is impure. If the impurity was solely under the aperture, the entire house is pure.
The following rules apply when the source of impurity was partially under the roof and partially under the aperture. If the aperture comprised a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space, the house is impure entirely and the space below the entire aperture is impure. If does not comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space, different rules apply. If the impurity is large enough so that if it was divided, a minimum measure would be found below the roof and also a minimum measure would be below the aperture, everything is impure. If not, the house is impure, but the space under the aperture is pure.
If the aperture comprised a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space and a person put his foot on top of the aperture, everything becomes considered as one ohel. Therefore whether there was impurity only under the roof or only under the aperture, everything is impure, the house and the space below the aperture. Moreover, the person who conveyed the impurity to this place is impure, because he became part of an ohel over impurity. If the aperture did not comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space and the impurity is under the roof, the person who placed his foot over the aperture is not impure, because impurity does not depart through less than a handbreadth of open space.
The following laws apply if the impurity was under the aperture and a person closed it with his foot. If the impurity was there before his foot, he is impure, because he stood over the impurity. If his foot was there before the impurity, he is pure, because his foot is part of the ohel and the impurity does not depart to him.
Halacha 2
If there was an olive-sized portion of a corpse in the mouth of a raven that held it over an aperture in the roof of a house and thus the olive-sized portion was found in the space of the aperture, the house is impure even though the aperture does not comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space.
Halacha 3
The following rules apply when there is a house with an aperture in its roof, a loft built above it with an aperture in its roof, and the two apertures are positioned one on top of the other. Whether the apertures comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space or not, if there is impurity in the house, the space under the apertures is pure and everything else is impure. If the impurity is under the apertures, the entire house is pure.
If the apertures comprised a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space, whether the impurity was under the roof of the house or under the apertures, were an entity that is susceptible to impurity to have been placed either above the aperture of the house or above the aperture of the loft, everything is impure. The rationale is that an impure entity does not intervene in the face of ritual impurity.
If one placed an entity that is not susceptible to ritual impurity over the aperture of the house, the house is impure and the loft is pure. If such an article was placed on the aperture of the loft, the house and the loft are impure and the space directly above the aperture until the heavens is pure.
If the apertures did not comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space, impurity was found under the roof of the house, and one placed an object - whether an object that is susceptible to ritual impurity or one which is not susceptible to ritual impurity - on either the aperture of the house or the aperture of the loft, only the house becomes ritually impure. The rationale is that impurity does not depart to the loft unless there is an open space of a handbreadth by a handbreadth.
If the impurity was beneath the apertures and one placed an entity that was susceptible to ritual impurity over either the lower or the upper aperture, both the house and the loft are impure, because one has extended the impurity. If he placed an entity that is not susceptible to ritual impurity over either the lower or the upper aperture, only the house is impure.
All of these laws apply only when one purposely makes an aperture. If, however, a roof is opened as a matter of course, the measure which conveys ritual impurity is the full size of a rafter, as we explained.
Halacha 4
The following laws apply when one opens a ceiling to make an aperture in the roof of a house so that the leg of a bed can be inserted into it and the leg of the bed closes the aperture. If the aperture comprises a handbreadth by a handbreadth of open space and there is impurity in the house, the loft is also impure, because an k'li that can contract ritual impurity does not intervene. If it does not comprise a handbreadth by a handbreadth, the loft is pure, and the foot of the bed that extends below is impure, like an k'li that hangs over impurity. If, however, a roof is opened as a matter of course, the measure which conveys ritual impurity is the full size of a rafter, as we explained.
Halacha 5
The following laws apply when there is an aperture in the roof of a house and there is an earthenware pot placed on the earth directly aligned with the aperture so that if it was lifted up, it would be able to be lifted through the aperture without leaving any space at all. If there was impurity beneath the pot, flush between it and the earth, or there was impurity inside the pot, or on its outer surface, the impurity pierces through and ascends and pierces through and descends and only objects that are directly above it or below it are impure. The remainder of the house is pure in its entirety.
If the pot was a handbreadth above the ground and there was impurity under it or under the roof of the house, the house is impure in its entirety and whatever is under the pot is impure, because it serves as a shelter. The inner space of the pot are pure, because an earthenware container cannot become impure from its outer surface and the open space of the pot is under the open space of the world at large. If there is an k'li in it If the impurity is in the pot
If the pot was under the aperture and the aperture was greater than the pot to the extent that if the pot was lifted up there would be an open space of more than a handbreadth by a handbreadth between it and the edge of the aperture, even if the pot is a handbreadth above the ground and there is impurity in it, on its outer surface, or below it, the house is pure.
The following laws apply when the pot was placed next to the doorstep of a house in a way that if lifted up, a handbreadth of the space of its opening will be within the outer border of the lintel. If the impurity was flush under the pot, If the pot was a handbreadth above the ground and the impurity was under it or in the house, the area under it and the house are impure, because it is all considered as one structure and its inner space and outer surface are pure. If there was impurity in it and there was impurity below it, only the area below the pot is impure, the house, by contrast, is pure.
Halacha 6
The following laws apply when there are beams of a house and loft without a ceiling over them stretching from one side of a structure to another. If the beams of the house and the loft are aligned one beam directly over the other, the empty space between them is aligned one over the other, the width of a beam is a handbreadth, the width of the empty space is a handbreadth and there is impurity beneath one of the beams, only the area beneath it is impure. If the impurity was between the lower beam and the upper beam, only the space between them is impure. If the impurity was on top of an upper beam, the space above it until the heavens is impure.
If the upper beams were aligned above the empty space between the lower beams and there was impurity below one of them, the area beneath all of them is impure. If the impurity was on top of an upper beam, the space above it until the heavens is impure.
If the beams were not a handbreadth wide, whether they were aligned one above the other or whether the upper ones were aligned above the space between the lower ones, were impurity to be beneath them, between them, or on top of them, the impurity pierces through and ascends and pierces through and descends, and it imparts impurity only to entities under it or over it. The rationale is that any impurity that is not under a covering that is a handbreadth wide and a handbreadth high is considered as "flush."
When the roof and the walls of a building are split into halves and there was impurity in the outer portion where the entrance was, the keilim in the inner portion are all pure. Different laws apply when there was impurity in the inner portion. If the split was as wide as a plumb line, the keilim in the outer portion are pure. If the the split was less than this, they are impure.
Halacha 7
When an exedra was split and there was impurity in one side, the keilim on the other side are pure. For it is like two tents next to each other with space in between them, for the split runs across the entire exedra.
If he placed his foot or a reed above, over the crack, he joins the impurity to the other side of the exedra. If one placed a reed, or even a large k'li, on the earth, directly under the crack, it does not join the impurity unless the k'li is under the crack and is a handbreadth high.
If a person was lying on the ground below the crack, he joins the impurity to the other side. The rationale is that a person is hollow and his upper portion can be considered as a tent that is a handbreadth high. Similarly, if there were folded garments placed on the ground, one on top of the other and the upper one was a handbreadth above the ground, it joins the impurity to the other side. All of the garments below it are considered as garments that are under a tent.
Chapter 17
Halacha 1
When a projection protrudes from the side of an entrance to a home facing downward and it is twelve handbreadths or less above the earth, it conveys ritual impurity regardless of how small it is. It is clear that such a conveyance of impurity is merely a Rabbinic ordinance. Similarly, any analogous instance where impurity is conveyed by something that is not a sturdy ohel is only a Rabbinic ordinance.
Projections that are more than twelve handbreadths high or which face upward and similarly, the crowns and the ornamental embellishments that project from a structure, do not convey impurity unless they are a handbreadth by a handbreadth in area. This also applies to a projection that extends over an entrance from a lintel. Even if there was a reed at the side of the lintel as wide as the entrance, it does not convey ritual impurity unless it is a handbreadth by a handbreadth in area.
Halacha 2
When a projection surrounds an entire building and encompasses a handbreadth at the entrance to the house, it conveys ritual impurity. If it encompasses less than a handbreadth at the entrance of the house and there is impurity in the house, keilim under it are impure. If there is impurity under it, it does not convey impurity to the house. Similar laws apply with regard to a courtyard that is surrounded by an exedra.
Halacha 3
When a window serves a functional purpose and a projection protrudes across the entire window, even if it was only as wide as a thumbbreadth, it conveys ritual impurity. This applies provided it is two fingerbreadths or less above the window. If it is more than two fingerbreadths higher than the window, it does not convey ritual impurity unless it is a handbreadth wide. When there is a projection over a window that is made for light, it conveys ritual impurity regardless of its size and regardless of its height.
When there is a structure that protrudes in front of a window upon which a person looking out from the window leans while looking, it does not convey ritual impurity. If it has a projection over it, we consider the structure as if it does not exist and the projection above it conveys ritual impurity.
How do all these projections convey ritual impurity? If there was impurity under them or under the house, everything is impure - whether it is in the house or under the projection.
Halacha 4
When there are two projections one on top of the other, each one of them is a handbreadth by a handbreadth in area, there is a handbreadth of space between them, and there is impurity below the lower one, only the space below it is impure. If there is impurity between them, only the space between them is impure. If there is impurity above the upper one, the space above it until the heavens is impure.
If the upper one extended beyond the lower one for a handbreadth and there was impurity below the lower one or between them, the space beneath them and between them is impure. If there is impurity above the upper one, the space above it until the heavens is impure.
If the upper one extended beyond the lower one for less than a handbreadth and there was impurity beneath them, the space beneath them and between them is impure. If the impurity was between them or under only the extra portion of the upper projection, the space between them and under the extra portion is impure, but the space below the lower projection is pure.
If each of the projections were a handbreadth by a handbreadth in size, but there was not a handbreadth between them, and there was impurity below the lower one, only the space below it is impure. If there was impurity between them or on top of the upper one, the space directly above it until the heavens is impure.
If the projections were not a handbreadth by a handbreadth in size, whether there was a space of a handbreadth between them or not, whether the impurity was beneath the lower one, between them, or on top of the upper one, the impurity pierces through and ascends and pierces through and descends, because it is flush. Similar laws apply when there are two curtains that are a handbreadth above the ground and placed one on top of the other.
When there are keilim, garments, or wooden tablets placed on top of each other and impurity was flush between them, if the impurity was a handbreadth above the earth, the k'li that is above it is considered as creating an ohel over the space of a handbreadth and it imparts impurity to all the keilim under it. If there were stone tablets, even if they were a thousand cubits above the ground, the impurity pierces through and ascends and pierces through and descends, because they are considered as earth.
Halacha 5
When tablets of wood are touching each other at their corners, they are a handbreadth above the ground, and there is impurity under one of them, the keilim which are under the second are pure, because it is not touching the other one over the space of a handbreadth. A person who touches the second tablet is considered as one who touched keilim that touched a covering over a corpse.
Different rules apply, by contrast, with regard to all those keilim which we said convey ritual impurity and do not intervene in the face of it. If such a k'li was positioned above a corpse, all of the keilim that are above it are impure, as we explained. They are deemed impure as keilim that were held over a corpse. Even the keilim over it that are not directly over the impurity are impure. They are considered keilim that touched keilim that were held over a corpse.
Halacha 6
When an earthenware jug was standing on its base in open space and there was an olive-sized portion from a corpse inside of it or below it, directly below its inner space, the impurity pierces through and ascends, pierces through and descends. The jug is impure, because the impurity pierces its bottom and its inner space becomes impure.
If the impurity is located under the thickness of its walls, the impurity pierces through and ascends, pierces through and descends, but the jug is pure. Why is the jug pure? Because the impurity does not pierce through into its inner space, but only to its walls and an earthenware container contracts impurity only from its inner space.
If some of the impurity was below the thickness of its walls and some below its inner space, the impurity pierces through and ascends, pierces through and descends. If the walls were a handbreadth in thickness, it is entirely impure but the space aligned with its opening is pure, for the impurity has spread only throughout the walls.
When does the above apply? When the jug was pure. If, however, the jug was impure, it was a handbreadth raised above the earth, it was covered, or it was turned upside down, and the impurity was in it or on top of it, everything is impure and anything that touches it in its entirety is impure. If it had a cover fastened to it and was placed over a corpse, any food and drink inside of it are pure, but the keilim over it are impure.
When jugs are resting on their bases or leaning on their sides in open space, they touch each other over a handbreadth of space, and there is impurity below one of them, the impurity pierces through and ascends, pierces through and descends, because it is flush.
When does the above apply? When the jugs are pure. If, however, they are impure or they are raised a handbreadth above the ground, and there is impurity under one of them, the space below all of them is impure, because they are considered as a single ohel.
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- Rambam ~ 3 Chapters: Chovel uMazzik Chapter Four, Chovel uMazzik Chapter Five, Chovel uMazzik Chapter Six & Chovel uMazzik Chapter Seven, Chovel uMazzik Chapter Eight, Rotseah uShmirat Nefesh Chapter One
Chapter Four
Halacha 1
A person who strikes a woman and causes her to miscarry is liable, even if her injury was caused unintentionally. He must compensate the woman's husband for the value of the fetus, and the woman for the injury and the pain.
Halacha 2
How is the payment for the fetus assessed? We evaluate how much the woman would be worth before she gave birth, and how much she would be worth had she given birth. The difference between these two figures should be given to her husband.
If her husband died after she miscarried, the assessment should be given to his heirs. If a woman was struck after her husband died and she miscarried, the assessment for the fetus should also be given to the woman.
Halacha 3
If the woman who miscarries was married to a convert, and a person injures her during the convert's lifetime, he must pay the assessment for the fetus to the husband. If the convert dies without leaving any heirs, he is not liable. If the woman is injured after the convert dies, she acquires the right to the assessment for the fetus.
Halacha 4
If the woman was a maidservant or a gentile at the time of conception, and was freed or converted before the accident took place, the assessment for the fetus belongs to her.
Halacha 5
When a person strikes a woman, and she miscarries and dies, he is not liable for payment, even if he struck her unintentionally.This law is derived as follows. Exodus 21:22 states: "If there will not be a fatal injury, he must certainly be punished financially." Thus, we see that Scripture did not distinguish between unintentional and intentional conduct with regard to an act punishable by execution by the court, and freed the perpetrator from financial liability in all instances.
Halacha 6
When does the above apply? When the person intended to strike the woman. When, however, he intended to strike his colleague, but instead struck the woman - although she died - since he killed her without intention, this is considered a matter that does not involve capital punishment, and he is liable for the assessment for the fetus.
Halacha 7
A person who strikes his father or his mother, but does not draw blood, is liable to pay the five assessments. If, however, he drew blood while striking his parents or injured a colleague on the Sabbath - even if he did so unintentionally - he is not liable for a financial penalty, because these sins are punishable by execution by the court. And as we explained, Scripture did not distinguish between unintentional and intentional conduct with regard to an act punishable by execution by the court, and freed the perpetrator from financial liability in all instances.
Halacha 8
With regard to causing injury on the Sabbath, one might ask: "A person who causes injury is considered to be performing destructive activity, and one who performs destructive activity on the Sabbath is not liable for execution. Why then is the person who causes injury considered to be transgressing a sin punishable by execution by the court?"
The resolution is: since the person is satisfying his evil inclination by injuring his colleague, he is considered to be performing constructive activity. Thus, he is performing an act that is punishable by execution. Therefore, he is not liable for a financial penalty.
Halacha 9
When a person injures a colleague on Yom Kippur, he is liable to pay financial compensation, even though he did so intentionally.
This is the halachah although he transgressed a sin that is punishable by lashes. Generally, whenever a deed that a person commits obligates the person to receive lashes and pay a financial penalty, he should be lashed and is not required to pay a financial penalty, for a person is never obligated for both lashes and a financial penalty. Although this is the general rule, an exception is made with regard to a person who injures a colleague. For the Torah specifically stated that a person who injures a colleague should pay compensation, as Exodus 21:19 states: "He shall pay unemployment compensation."
Halacha 10
A person who injures a Canaanite servant whom he owns is not liable for any penalty. If he injures a Hebrew servant whom he owns, he is liable for all the assessments, with the exception of unemployment compensation.
When a person injures a Canaanite servant belonging to a colleague, the owner of the injured servant receives the five assessments. Even if he gave him powerful medication that caused the servant pain but healed him quickly, the owner is entitled to payment for all medical expenses.
Halacha 11
Whenever a servant has been freed, but his bill of release has not been given to him yet, the penalty granted to the owner if the servant is killed by an ox is not paid because of him. If others injure him, he cannot collect the money for himself, because he is not a totally free man yet. Nor may his owner collect that money, because he no longer owns him.
For this reason, if an owner knocks out one of his servant's teeth, and then blinds his eye, he must free him because of his tooth, but he is not required to pay him because of the eye. If, however, the servant seizes the assessment that would be due him, it is not expropriated from him.
Halacha 12
When a servant has been half-freed, he must work for his master one day, and may work for himself the next day.34
The following rules apply if such a servant was embarrassed by a person, or one caused him pain, or he was gored by an ox, or the like. If this took place on the day on which he must work for his master, the master is entitled to the payment. If this took place on the day when he works for himself, he is entitled to the payment.
Halacha 13
When a person injures a Hebrew servant belonging to another person, he is liable for all five assessments. Land should be purchased with the money, and the servant's master is entitled to the profits. When the servant is freed, the land is released from his owner's control.
If the servant was injured in a way that does not impair his work at all - e.g., the tip of his ear or the tip of his nose was cut off - the entire payment should be given to the servant, and his owner is not entitled to the benefit.
Halacha 14
The following rules apply when a person injures a girl below the age of majority who is not his own daughter. If the injuries reduce the money her father would receive for consecrating her, the assessment should be given to her father. Similarly, the unemployment assessment should be given to her father, for her wages belong to him, and the money received for selling her as a servant belongs to him.
The assessments for pain, embarrassment and medical attention, by contrast, belong to the girl herself. Similarly, if the injuries do not reduce the money he would receive for consecrating her, the assessment should be given to [the daughter.
When a person injures his own daughter, he must pay her only the assessments for pain, medical attention and embarrassment.
Halacha 15
The following rules apply when a person injures a married woman. The unemployment benefits and medical assessment should be given to her husband. With regard to shame and damages, the rules are: If the damage is plainly evident - e.g., he injured the woman's face, her neck, her hands or her arms - a third is given to her, and two thirds are given to her husband. If the damages are in concealed places, a third is given to her husband, and two thirds are given to her.
The assessment for the husband should be given to him immediately. The assessment for the woman should be used to purchase land, from which the husband is entitled to the profits.
Halacha 16
When does the above apply? When others injured her. When, however, a husband injures his wife, he is required to pay her the entire assessment for the damages, the embarrassment and the pain. This money is hers entirely. The husband has no rights to the profits. If she desires to give the money to another person, she may. This is the ruling rendered by the geonim. The husband must pay for her medical expenses, as he pays for all her other medical expenses.
Halacha 17
When a person injures his wife through sexual intercourse, he is liable for the damages.
Halacha 18
The following rules apply when a woman injures her husband. In a case where he had added an amount above the minimum to her marriage contract, if the husband desires, we require her to sell the right to this additional amount to her husband for the price she would receive for it, and her husband is entitled to collect the damages from these funds. If he desires, he may divorce her and collect the damages from the entire sum of the money due her by virtue of her ketubah.
If he had not added an amount above the minimum to her marriage contract, she may not sell him the rights to the money due her by virtue of her ketubah itself, for it is forbidden for a person to remain married to a woman for one moment without a marriage contract. Thus, if the husband desires, he may have a promissory note written obligating her to pay for the damages, or he may divorce her and collect the amount due him from the money due her by virtue of her ketubah.
Halacha 19
The following rules apply when a person injures his sons who have attained majority. If they are not dependent on him for their livelihood, he must pay them the damages immediately. If they are below the age of majority, he should purchase land for them with the money due them for the damages,and they are entitled to the benefits. The same rules apply if they are injured by others.
If a father injures sons who are dependent on him for their livelihood, he is not liable. This applies whether or not they are above majority. If others injure them, the person who causes the injury must compensate them immediately if they are above majority. If they are below majority, the damages should be used to purchase landed property. They are entitled to its profits until they reach majority at which time the property becomes theirs without limitation.
Halacha 20
An encounter with a deaf mute, a mentally incompetent individual or a minor is undesirable. For if a person injures them, he is liable, but if they injure another person, they are not.
Even if the deaf mute gains the ability to speak and hear, the mentally incompetent person attains competency, and the minor comes of age, they are not obligated to pay for injuries they caused previously. For at the time they caused the injuries, they were not fully mentally competent.
Halacha 21
An encounter with a servant or a married woman is undesirable. For if a person injures them, he is liable, but if they injure another person, they are not liable to pay immediately.
They must, however, pay afterwards - i.e., if the woman is divorced or if her husband dies and if the servant is freed. They are held responsible because they are mentally competent. They are considered as a creditor who has no resources with which to pay, and who is thus held liable with regard to damages if he becomes wealthy.
Halacha 22
A servant belonging to a man is considered as his own person, and an animal as one of his possessions.
What is implied? If a person places a burning coal on the heart of a servant belonging to a colleague and causes him to die, or if he pushes him into the sea or into a fire from which the servant could ascend, but the servant fails to do so and died instead, the person who caused his death is not obligated to pay financial compensation. If, however, he does this to an animal belonging to a colleague, it would be considered as if he had placed a coal on a garment and burned it, in which case he would be liable for damages. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
Chapter Five
Halacha 1
It is forbidden for a person to injure anyone, neither his own self nor another person. Not only a person who causes an injury, but anyone who strikes in strife an upright Jewish person, whether a minor or an adult, whether a man or a woman, violates a negative commandment, as Deuteronomy 25:3 states: "Do not continue... to flog him." One may conclude that if the Torah adjures us against adding to the blows due a sinner, surely this prohibition applies with regard to striking a righteous person.
Halacha 2
It is even forbidden to raise up one's hand against a colleague. Whoever raises a hand against a colleague, even though he does not hit him, is considered to be a wicked person.
Halacha 3
When a person strikes a colleague with a blow that does not warrant a p'rutah to be paid in recompense, he should receive lashes. For there is no financial penalty to be exacted for transgression of this negative commandment.
Even if a person strikes a servant belonging to a colleague with a blow that does not warrant a p'rutah to be paid in recompense, he should receive lashes. This penalty is required because a servant is obligated to perform certain mitzvot.
If a gentile strikes a Jew, he deserves capital punishment, as implied by Exodus 2:12): "He turned to and fro... and struck the Egyptian."
Halacha 4
Our Sages imposed a penalty on foolish and violent men, and gave a person who was injured [the following privilege. His word is accepted when he takes an oath while holding a sacred article that another person caused him such and such an injury, and he is awarded the appropriate damages. This applies provided there are witnesses.
What is implied? Two people testify that the injured person entered the domain of the accused whole and left after being injured, but they did not see the injury being inflicted. Although the accused claims not to have inflicted the injury, since the injured person claims that he did, the injured person is given the prerogative of taking an oath and collecting the money due.
Halacha 5
When does the above apply? When the injury was located in a place where the person could have inflicted it upon himself, or a third person was there whom the injured person could have instructed to strike him to implicate the accused. If, however, a third party was not present, and the injury was in a place that the injured could not have inflicted upon himself - e.g., he was bitten between his shoulders and the like - he may collect the appropriate payment without an oath.
Halacha 6
If the person who caused the injury admits causing it, he is liable to pay all five assessments. For there are witnesses that the injured person entered the accused's domain of sound body at the time of the quarrel and departed with an injury.
If, however, there are no witnesses there at all, the injured person states: "This person injured me," and the accused admits doing so, he is not liable for the assessments for damages and the pain. He is, however, liable for the assessments for unemployment, embarrassment and medical attention, because of his own admission.
For this reason, if he denies causing the injury, he can free himself of liability by taking a Rabbinic oath.
Halacha 7
Why should a person pay these three assessments on the basis of his own admission? The assessments for unemployment and medical attention represent a financial obligation and are not considered to be k'nasot. For if he does not reimburse the injured person for them, he will have caused him to forfeit the money he spent on medical treatment and the money he lost through unemployment.
And with regard to embarrassment, it was when he admitted before the court that he caused the injury, that he brought about the embarrassment. For when an injury is caused in private, a person is not caused any embarrassment. It is his admission before the court that embarrasses him.
Halacha 8
From this one can conclude that there is no difference with regard to the embarrassment assessment, whether that assessment is due him because he caused the person to be embarrassed in the presence of others, or it is due him because he made an acknowledgement in the presence of others of the embarrassment he caused. Therefore, a person is liable for an embarrassment assessment because of his own statements.
Halacha 9
A person who damages a colleague's property cannot be compared to one who injures his physical person. When a person who damages a colleague's property pays him what he is obligated to pay him, he receives atonement. In contrast, when a person injures a colleague's physical person, paying him the five assessments is not alone sufficient to generate atonement. Even if the person who caused the injury sacrifices all the rams of Nevayot, he cannot generate atonement, nor is his sin forgiven until he asks the person who was injured to forgive him.
Halacha 10
It is forbidden for the person who suffered the injury to be cruel and not to forgive the one who caused the injury. This is not the course of behavior for a descendant of Israel.
Instead, since the person who caused the injury asks and pleads of him for forgiveness once or twice, and he knows that he has repented from his sin and regrets his evil deeds, he should forgive him. Whoever hastens to grant forgiveness is praiseworthy and is regarded favorably by the Sages.
Halacha 11
There is another difference between the damages to an individual's physical person and to his property. If a person tells a colleague: "Blind my eye..." or "Cut off my arm, and you will not be liable," he is liable for the five assessments. The rationale is that it is well known that a person does not genuinely desire this.
When, by contrast, a person tells a colleague: "Tear my garment..." or "Break my jug, and you will not be liable," he is not liable. If, however, he did permit him to damage his property, but did not stipulate that he would not be liable, he is obligated to pay for the damages.
Halacha 12
When does the above apply? When first the person entrusted the articles to the person who destroyed them as a watchman - i.e., he borrowed them or was entrusted with them for safekeeping. In such a situation, if the owner told the watchman to break it or rip it, and the watchman did so, the watchman is liable to pay for the damages, unless the owner explicitly stipulated that the watchman would not be held liable.
When, however, the owner of an article tells a colleague: "Take this utensil and break it," "Take this garment and rip it," if the other person follows the instructions he was given, he is not liable.
Halacha 13
When a person tells a colleague: "Break a utensil belonging to so and so, and you will not be liable," and the listener follows these instructions, the listener is liable financially. It is as if he told him: "Blind so-and-so's eye, and you will not be liable."
Although the person who caused the damages is liable to pay, the person who gave him the instructions is considered to be his partner in the transgression and a wicked person. For he caused a blind man to stumble, and supported a person who committed a transgression.
Chapter Six
Halacha 1
A person who damages property belonging to a colleague is obligated to pay the full extent of the damages. Regardless of whether he did so unintentionally or because of forces beyond his control, it is considered as if he had acted intentionally.
What is implied? If a person fell off a roof and broke utensils, or tripped while he was walking, fell on a utensil and broke it, he is liable to pay the full extent of the damages. This is implied by Leviticus 24:21, which states: "A person who strikes an animal will pay for the damages," without distinguishing between an intentional and unintentional blow.
Halacha 2
The same laws i.e., that the person who caused the damage should pay for it, as indicated by the proof-text apply whether one kills an animal belonging to a colleague, breaks his utensils, tears his garments or cuts down crops or trees he planted.
Halacha 3
When does the above apply? When the damage is done in a domain belonging to the person whose possessions were damaged. If the damage was done in a domain belonging to the person who caused the damage, he is not required to pay unless he purposely caused the damage. If he caused the damage unintentionally or due to forces beyond his control, he is not liable.
Similarly, if both of them were present in a domain belonging to a third party with his permission - or without his permission - and one unintentionally damaged property belonging to the other, the person who caused the damage is not liable.
Halacha 4
The following rules apply when a person was climbing a ladder and the rung of the ladder broke under him, and it fell and caused damage. If the rung was not tightly fit or it was not strong enough to bear the person's weight, he is liable. If it was tightly fit and strong enough to bear the person's weight, but it slipped from its place or rotted, the person is not liable. For this is an act of God. The same concepts apply in all analogous situations.
All the above applies if the damage takes place in the domain belonging to the person whose possessions were damaged. If the damage takes place in the domain belonging to the person who causes the damage, he is not liable unless he intentionally causes the damage, as explained above.
Halacha 5
If another person filled a courtyard belonging to a colleague with jugs of wine and oil, the owner of the courtyard may enter and leave in an ordinary manner. If any of the jugs break when he enters or leaves, he is not liable for them. This applies even if the jugs were brought in with the permission of the owner of the courtyard, as long as the owner of the courtyard did not accept responsibility for watching them.
If, however, the owner of the courtyard broke the jugs intentionally, he is liable to pay for them. This applies even if the jugs were brought in without the permission of the owner of the courtyard.
Halacha 6
When one ox climbs on top of another ox with the intention of killing it in a domain belonging to the owner of the lower ox, and the owner of the lower ox pulls his ox away to save it, thus causing the upper ox to fall and die, the owner of the lower ox is not liable. This applies regardless of whether the ox that attacked was tam or mu'ad.
Halacha 7
The following rules apply when the owner of the lower ox pushes the upper ox, and it dies. If he could have pulled one ox away, so that the attacking ox would not be pushed violently, and he did not do so, he is liable. If he could not have pulled an ox away, he is not liable.
Halacha 8
The following rules apply when two people were walking in the public domain. If one approached carrying a jug, and the other approached carrying a beam, and the person's jug was broken by the other's beam, the owner of the beam is not liable. The rationale is that they both have permission to walk in this domain.
If the owner of the beam was walking ahead and the owner of the jug following afterwards, and the jug was broken on the beam,the owner of the beam is not liable. If the owner of the beam stood still to rest because of the weight of his burden, and the jug was broken on the beam, the owner of the beam is liable. If the owner of the beam warned the owner of the jug and told him to stand still, the owner of the beam is not liable.
If the owner of the beam stood still to adjust his burden, he is considered as if he is walking, and he is not liable. This applies even if he failed to warn the owner of the jug, for he is preoccupied with his own progress.
If the owner of the jug was walking ahead, and the owner of the beam following afterwards, and the jug was broken on the beam, the owner of the beam is liable. It is considered as if he broke the the jug intentionally with his hands. If the owner of the jug stood to rest, the owner of the beam is not liable. If, however, the owner of the jug warned the owner of the beam and told him to stand, the owner of the beam is liable. If the owner of the jug stood still to adjust his burden, the owner of the beam is liable, even if the owner of the jug did not warn him.
Similar principles apply if one person proceeds while carrying a lamp, and another comes carrying flax, or in other analogous situations.
Halacha 9
When two people were proceeding in the public domain, one of them was running and one was walking, and one was injured by the other unintentionally, the one who is running is liable, for he is departing from the norm.
If it was Friday afternoon, after sunset, when the collision took place, he is not liable. For he has permission to run at that time, so that the Sabbath will not enter when he is not ready to accept it. If both individuals were running, and one injured the other, neither is liable. This applies even on other days.
Halacha 10
There is no difference whether a person injures a colleague with his hand, injures him by throwing a stone or shooting an arrow, opens a current of water on a person or on utensils and damages him or them, or spits or sneezes and causes damage with his spittle or mucus while it is being propelled by his power. All of these are considered derivatives of damage that a person causes,and he is liable for all of them, as if he had caused the damage with his hands.
If, however, the spittle or the mucus came to rest on the ground, and afterwards a person slips on them, the person who spat or sneezed is liable as if it were a cistern. For every obstacle is considered a derivative of a cistern, as we have previously explained.
Halacha 11
When a blacksmith who was beating with a hammer on an anvil causes a spark to fly from beneath the hammer, and the spark causes damage, the blacksmith is liable. It is as if he threw a stone or an arrow.
Similarly, if a builder who is contracted to tear down a wall cracks the stones or causes other damage, he is liable. If he is tearing down one side of a wall, and the stones on the other side fall, he is not liable. If they fall because of his blows, he is liable. For this is considered like shooting arrows and causing damage.
Halacha 12
A person who holds under water an animal belonging to a colleague, or if an animal fell into water and he prevented it from ascending and thus caused it to die in the water, or if he left it in the sun and restricted its movement so that it could not find shade until the sun killed it - in all these, and in any analogous situations, the perpetrator of these acts is liable to pay for the animal's loss.
Halacha 13
If two people kill an animal together or break a utensil together, the damages are divided between them.
Halacha 14
Our Sages ruled in the following manner concerning the liability in the situation to be described. Five people placed their five burdens on an animal and it did not die, and then a sixth person came and placed his burden upon it, and it did die. If the animal was walking while carrying the previous burdens, and it stood still and did not walk when the last person placed its burden upon it, the last person is liable.
If at the outset, the animal was not walking, the last person is not liable. If it is not known whether or not the animal was walking, all the six people should share the damages equally.
Halacha 15
Similarly, if five people sat on a chair and it did not break, and then another person sat down upon it and it did break, the last person who sat down is liable. Although it was fit to break before he sat down, he is responsible, since he caused it to break sooner. For the others could say to him: "Had you not used it for support, we would have stood up before it broke."
If they all sat down at the same time, they are all liable. The same rules apply in other analogous situations.
Halacha 16
Our Sages divided the liability for the damages in situations when a man and an ox combined to push into a cistern a person, utensils, or an ox that was disqualified for use as a sacrifice. If the person or the animal pushed into the cistern was injured or died, or the utensils were broken, all three - the person who pushed, the owner of the ox and the owner of the cistern - are liable, and the damages should be divided among them in the following manner.
With regard to the payment for offspring which were aborted because of the fall and the four assessments other than damages, the man is liable, and the owner of the ox and the owner of the cistern are not liable. With regard to the atonement fine and the fine of 30 shekalim for killing a servant, the owner of the ox is liable, and the man and the owner of the cistern are not liable. With regard to the destruction of utensils and the death of an animal that was disqualified as a sacrifice, the man and the owner of the ox are liable, and the owner of the cistern is not liable.
Chapter Seven
Halacha 1
When a person causes damage to a colleague's property that is not evident to the eye, he is not liable to make financial restitution according to Scriptural Law. For the object has not changed, nor has its form become altered. Nevertheless, our Sages ruled that he is liable according to Rabbinic Law, for he reduced the value of the article. They required him to pay the amount by which its value was reduced.
Halacha 2
What is implied? If a person causes food belonging to a colleague to be rendered ritually impure, he mixes produce together with produce that is terumah causing it to be considered dimu'a, he mixes a drop of wine that had been used for the sake of idolatry in a colleague's wine, causing the entire quantity to be forbidden, or the like - the amount of the loss is evaluated, and the person who caused the loss is required to pay the entire damages from the finest property in his possession, as is the law regarding anyone who causes damages.
Halacha 3
This ruling was a penalty prescribed by our Sages so that none of the ravagers will go and render a colleague's produce impure and then excuse himself, saying: "I am not liable."
For this reason, if the person who caused damage that is not noticeable dies, the penalty is not expropriated from his estate. For our Sages enforced this penalty only upon the person who transgressed and caused the damage, but not on his heirs, who did not cause any damage.
Similarly, a person who inadvertently causes damage that is not noticeable, or as a result of forces beyond his control, is not liable, for our Sages imposed this penalty only upon a person who intentionally causes damage.
Halacha 4
When priests intentionally cause a sacrifice to be rendered piggul, they are obligated to make financial recompense to the person who brought the sacrifice. If they cause such an effect unintentionally, they are not liable.
Similarly, a person who intentionally performs work with a red heifer or with water designated for its ashes is obligated to make financial recompense to its owner. If he does so unintentionally, he is not liable.
Halacha 5
A person who brings a red heifer to the place where a team of cows are threshing, so that it will nurse and thresh, and a person who is carrying water designated for the ashes of the red heifer who diverts his attention from the water is not held liable by an earthly court. He does, however, have a moral and spiritual obligation to make financial recompense.
Halacha 6
When a person pours wine belonging to a colleague as a libation to idol worship, he does not cause the wine to become forbidden. For a Jewish person does not cause property that does not belong to him to become forbidden.
In any of the following situations, the person does cause the wine to be forbidden, and he is therefore liable to make financial recompense:
a) he is a partner with the owner;
b) he is an apostate, who is considered like a gentile;
c) he is given a warning, acknowledges it, and yet disobeys, in which case he is considered an apostate.
How is it possible for such a person to be liable for financial recompense when this act causes him to be liable for capital punishment? Because he becomes obligated to pay for the wine at the time that he lifts it up, while he does not become liable for capital punishment until he actually pours it as a libation.
Halacha 7
Whenever a person causes property belonging to a colleague to be damaged - even though he himself is not the one who ultimately causes the damage - since he is the primary cause, he is liable to make financial recompense from the finest property in his possession, like others who cause damage.
What is implied? A person throws a utensil that he owns from a roof onto pillows and blankets, and another person comes and removes the pillows from the ground, causing the utensil to hit the ground and break. The person who removes the pillows is liable to pay the entire sum of the damages, as if he broke the utensil with his own hands. For it was the removal of the pillows and the coverings that caused the utensil to break. The same applies in all analogous situations.
Halacha 8
When by contrast a person throws a utensil belonging to a colleague from a roof onto pillows and blankets that belong to the owner of the utensil, and the owner comes and removes the pillows from the ground, the person who threw the utensil is liable to pay for the damages to it. His throwing the utensil is the primary cause for its breaking.
In the above instance, if a person other than the owner of the utensil removes the pillows, both the person who threw the utensil and the one who removed the pillows are liable. For together they both caused the owner's property to be damaged.
Halacha 9
Similarly, a person who burns promissory notes belonging to a colleague is liable to pay the entire debt that was mentioned in the promissory notes. Although the promissory notes themselves are not of financial worth, by burning them one causes his colleague a direct financial loss.
When does this apply? Only when the person who burned the note admits that it had been validated in court, that it was for such and such an amount of money and that because it was burned the owner cannot collect the debt. If the person who burned the note does not believe the owner with regard to any of these points,he is required to pay only the value of the paper.
Halacha 10
Similarly a person is liable for causing a colleague financial loss in the following situation. Reuven was owed money by Shimon and sold the promissory note recording the debt to Levi. After he sold the note, he waived Shimon's obligation, freeing Shimon of responsibility, as will be explained in its place.
Reuven becomes liable to pay Levi the entire amount mentioned in the promissory note, for he caused him to lose the money that he could have collected with the note. It is as if he destroyed it by fire. Similarly, if one of Reuven's heirs waived the debt, the person who waived the debt must make financial recompense for Levi's loss from the finest property in his possession.
Halacha 11
Similarly, if a person designates a servant as an apotiki for a loan and then frees the servant, he is liable to pay the creditor, for he nullified his lien and caused him to lose his money. We also compel the creditor to free the servant, so that when he encounters him, he will not tell him: "You are my servant."
Similarly, if a person pushes a colleague and causes a coin belonging to him to fall from his hand and roll until it descends into the sea, he is liable to pay for it. Similarly, if a person blemishes the ear of a cow, he is obligated to make financial recompense, for he has reduced its value.
Similarly, a person who scrapes the surface of dinarim belonging to a colleague and removes their imprint is liable to pay, for he has caused him a loss. The same applies in all analogous situations.
Halacha 12
When a person throws a utensil from a roof toward the earth without there being any pillows beneath it to soften its fall, and another person comes and breaks the utensil with a staff while it is in the air before it hits the earth, the person who breaks it is not liable. The rationale is that he broke only a utensil that would certainly have been broken immediately. And so, it is as if he is breaking a broken utensil. He is not considered to be one who caused damages. Similarly, anyone who performs analogous actions is not liable.
Halacha 13
The following rule applies when a person, without the consent of the owner, slaughters an ox that was condemned to be slaughtered because it injures others,or cuts down a tree that was condemned to be cut down because it causes damage to others. He is liable to pay the owner as dictated by the judges, because he prevented him from performing a mitzvah.
If the person who caused the damage claims that the owner told him to slaughter the animal or cut down the tree, he is not liable since it was intended for that fate.
Halacha 14
Similarly, if a person slaughters a beast or a fowl, and another person covers the blood without the consent of the slaughterer, he is liable to pay a fine as dictated by the judges.
There are authorities who rule that in such instances a fine of a fixed amount, ten gold pieces, should be paid. For they ruled that anyone who prevents a colleague from performing a positive commandment - that he is fit to perform - by performing it first, should pay the owner ten gold pieces.
Halacha 15
When a person causes damage with his own hands, the damage is evaluated in the same way as it would have been evaluated if the damage had been caused by his property.
What is implied? If a person kills an animal belonging to a colleague or breaks one of his utensils, we evaluate the animal's previous worth and the worth of the carcass, or the utensil's previous worth and its present worth. The person who caused the damage must pay the difference to the owner together with the carcass or the broken utensil, as we have explained above with regard to damage caused by an ox. For the same principles prevail.
If a person treads grapes belonging to a colleague, we must evaluate the loss. The same principles apply in other analogous situations.
Halacha 16
When the loss he caused is expropriated from the person who caused the damage, it should be expropriated from his movableproperty. If he has no movable property, it should be expropriated from the finest landed property that he owns.
Similarly, the fines to be paid by a rapist, a seducer or a person who spreads malicious gossip about his wife must be paid from the finest landed property that he owns.
Halacha 17
When someone damages property belonging to a colleague and does not know the extent of the damage, the person whose property was damaged is given the prerogative of taking an oath according to the institutions of our Sages - as is a person whose property was stolen - and he may then collect the money that he claims. This applies provided he claims property that one might suppose that he did possess, as has been explained with regard to a person whose property was stolen.
Halacha 18
What is implied? A person takes a wallet belonging to a colleague and throws it into the sea, or into a fire, or gives it to a person of force and thus causes it to be lost. The owner of the wallet claims that it was filled with gold coins, while the person who caused the damage says: "I do not know what it contained. Perhaps all it contained was earth or straw."
The person whose property was damaged is entitled to take an oath while holding a sacred article and collect the money he claims, provided he claims articles that we may assume that he owns or that were entrusted to him and would ordinarily be put in a wallet or the like.
If, however, it is not customary to place such articles in such containers, the owner is considered negligent and the person who caused the damage is not held liable.
What is implied? A person grabbed a filled covered leather sack or basket and threw it into the water or burned it. The person whose property was destroyed claimed that it was filled with pearls. His claim is not accepted, and the person who caused the damage is not required to take an oath. For it is not customary to place pearls in baskets or leather sacks.
If, however, the person whose property was damaged seizes property belonging to the person who caused the damage equivalent to the value of his claim, it should not be expropriated from him. Instead, he is required to take an oath that it contained pearls, and then he is able to keep their worth from the goods that he seized. The same laws apply in all analogous situations.
Halacha 19
If the person who caused the damage knew that the wallet contained gold coins, but does not know their amount, and the person whose property was damaged claimed that it contained 1000 coins, the plaintiff's claim is accepted. He may collect 1000 gold coins without taking an oath provided he could be presumed [to possess such an amount of money. For the defendant is required to take an oath, but cannot, as will be explained with regard to an entrusted object.
Chapter Eight
Halacha 1
When a person informs about property belonging to a colleague and causes it to be taken by a strong, lawless person, he is required to reimburse the owner from the the finest property in his possession. If the person who informs about the property dies, the owner may collect his due from his heirs, as is the law concerning others who cause damage.
Whether the strong, lawless person is a gentile or a Jew, the person who informs about the property to be taken by him is considered a moseir and is required to reimburse the owner for everything taken by the lawless person. This applies even if the moseir did not actually hand the other person's property over to the lawless person, but merely informed him about it.
Halacha 2
When does the above apply? When the moseir showed the lawless person his colleague's property on his own volition. If, however, gentiles or Jews compelled a person to show them property belonging to a colleague, he is not liable to reimburse his colleague.
Nevertheless, should he physically give over his colleague's property to a lawless person, he is liable to reimburse his colleague even though he was forced to do so. The rationale is that a person who saves himself with money belonging to a colleague is obligated to reimburse him.
Halacha 3
What is implied? A king decreed that wine, straw or the like should be brought to him. A moseir arose and said: "So and so has a storehouse of wine or straw in this and this place." If the king's servants went and took possession of the other person's property, the moseir is required to compensate him.
If the king compelled this moseir to go and show him the storehouses of wine or straw, or to show him property belonging to a colleague who is fleeing from the king, and the moseir showed him because of the compulsion, he is not liable. If he had not shown these resources to the king, he would have been beaten or killed.
Halacha 4
If the moseir took his colleague's property and handed it to the lawless individual, he is liable to pay, although the king compelled him to do so.
When is he liable to pay if, under duress, he took his colleague's property and handed it to the lawless individual? When the property did not come into the lawless person's possession previously. Different laws apply if, however, the lawless person compelled a Jew to show him a colleague's property, and the lawless person stood over the colleague's property and it came into his possession.
If he then compelled a Jew to transport the colleague's property to another place, even if the person who transported the property is the moseir who showed it to the lawless person, the Jew is not liable. The rationale is that since the lawless person stood at the side of the storehouse, it is considered as if all its contents had been already destroyed; it is as if they had been consumed by fire.
Halacha 5
The following rule applies when two litigants are involved in a dispute concerning landed or movable property, each one claiming that it belongs to him. If one of them turns the property in question over to a gentile, he should be placed under a ban of ostracism until he removes the lawless person from the situation, returns the circumstances to their former state and brings the matter for judgment in a Jewish court.
Halacha 6
When a person was apprehended by gentiles because of a colleague, and his money was taken by them because of that colleague, the colleague is not liable to reimburse him.
The only instance that reimbursement is required from a colleague when a person is apprehended on that colleague's behalf is when a person is apprehended because of someone's failure to pay the head tax that is applied to all the inhabitants of a country each year, or because of the gift that every individual is required to give the king when he or his soldiers require hospitality. In these instances, the person who failed to pay is obligated to reimburse the person who made the payment, provided the money was taken from him explicitly on account of his colleague, and this took place in the presence of witnesses.
Halacha 7
The following laws apply when there are witnesses that a person informed about property belonging to a colleague to a lawless person in a manner that obligates him for reimbursement - i.e., he pointed out his colleague's property on his own initiative or was compelled actually to bring the property to the lawless person, but the witnesses do not know the value of the loss he caused. If the person whose property was taken claims that he lost a specific amount, while the moseir denies that such a loss took place, and the person whose property was taken seizes property belonging to the moseir, it is not expropriated from him. Instead, the plaintiff is required to take an oath while holding a sacred article, and then he is entitled to maintain possession of the property he seized.
If the plaintiff did not seize the moseir's property, property may not be expropriated from the moseir unless there is definite proof of the extent of the loss he caused.
Halacha 8
A moseir who showed a colleague's property to a lawless man on his own initiative is not given the prerogative of taking an oath. This applies both to a severe oath, or a sh'vuat hesset. For such a person is deemed wicked; there is no disqualifying factor greater than this.
When, however, a person was compelled to show a lawless man a colleague's property or compelled actually to bring this property to the lawless person, in which instance he is liable to pay, he is not deemed a wicked person. He may be liable to pay, but he is entitled to take an oath, like other worthy men.
Halacha 9
It is forbidden to inform about a colleague to the gentiles and endanger his physical person or his property. This applies even when the person concerned is a wicked person who commits sins, and even if he causes one irritation and discomfort. Anyone who actually informs about a Jew and endangers his person or his property to the gentiles will not receive a portion in the world to come.
Halacha 10
It is permissible to kill a moseir in any country,even in the present age, when the court no longer metes out capital punishment.
It is permitted to kill him before he informs. When he says: "I will inform on so and so and endanger his person and/or his property" - even property of minimal value - he has made it permissible for others to kill him.
He should be warned and told: "Do not inform." If he says brazenly, "No. I will inform about him," it is a mitzvah to kill him, and whoever kills him receives merit.
Halacha 11
If the moseir carried out his threat and informed on a fellow Jew, it appears to me that it is forbidden to kill him, unless he has made it an established pattern to inform. In such an instance, he should be killed, lest he inform on others.
In the cities of the west, the common practice is to kill the mosrim who have made an established pattern of informing with regard to people's property, and to hand the mosrim over to gentiles to punish them, beat them and imprison them, according to their wicked ways.
Similarly, one who causes difficulty and irritation to the community may be handed over to the gentiles to be beaten, imprisoned and fined. It is, however, forbidden to hand over to gentilesa person for causing irritation to one individual.
It is forbidden to destroy property belonging to a moseir, although it is permitted to destroy his life. The reason is that his money is given to his heirs.
Halacha 12
When a rodef pursues another Jew to kill or to rape him or her and breaks utensils - either those belonging to the person he is pursuing, or those belonging to another person - he is not liable to make financial restitution. The rationale is that he is liable to be killed, for pursuing another Jew warrants his own death.
Halacha 13
When a person who is being pursued destroys utensils belonging to the rodef, he is not liable. The rationale is that the rodef's property should not be considered dearer than his life. If he breaks utensils belonging to others, he is liable. For a person who saves his own life with property belonging to someone else must make restitution.
Halacha 14
When a person pursues a rodef to save the person he is pursuing, and in so doing breaks utensils - whether those belonging to the rodef or those belonging to another person - he is not liable. This does not follow the letter of the law, but is a Rabbinic ordinance, enacted so that a person will not refrain from trying to save his colleague, or will hesitate and proceed carefully while he chases after the rodef.
Halacha 15
When a ship is about to sink because it is heavily loaded, and one person stands up and makes it lighter by jettisoning some of its cargo, he is not liable. For the cargo is considered like a rodef who is pursuing them to kill the passengers. On the contrary, by jettisoning the cargo and saving them, he performed a great mitzvah.
This concludes "The Laws of Injury and Damages" with God's help.
Chapter One
HILCHOT ROTZEACH USH'MIRAT NEFESH
The Laws of Murderers and the Protection of Life
They contain seventeen mitzvot: seven positive mitzvot and ten negative mitzvot. They are:
a) Not to murder;
b) Not to accept ransom from a murderer to save him from execution;
c) To exile a person who killed inadvertently;
d) Not to accept ransom from a person who killed inadvertently to save him from exile;
e) Not to kill a murderer directly after the murder, before he stands trial;
f) To save a person who is being pursued, by killing the pursuer;
g) Not to have mercy on the pursuer;
h) Not to stand idly by when a colleague's life is in danger;
i) To set aside cities of refuge, and to prepare the roads leading to them;
j) To break the neck of a calf in a wadi [when required];
k) Never to till or seed the land [where the calf was decapitated];
l) Not to create a dangerous situation;
m) To build a guardrail;
n) Not to cause a well-meaning person to blunder;
o) To help [a person whose animal collapses on a road] to unload it;
p) [Together with the owner] to reload [the animal];
q) Not to abandon him helpless, with his burden.
These mitzvot are explained in the chapters [that follow].
Halacha 1
Whenever a person kills a human being, he transgresses a negative commandment, as Exodus 20:13 states: "Do not murder." If a person kills a Jew intentionally in the presence of witnesses, he should be executed by decapitation.
This is implied by Exodus 21:20, which states that when a person kills a servant, "vengeance will certainly be executed." The Oral Tradition explains that this refers to decapitation.
Whether he kills the victim with an iron weapon or burns him with fire, the murderer should be executed by decapitation.
Halacha 2
It is a mitzvah for the blood redeemer to kill the murderer, as Numbers 35:19 states: "The blood redeemer shall put the murderer to death." Whoever is fit to inherit the victim's estate becomes the redeemer of his blood.
If the blood redeemer did not desire - or was unable - to kill the murderer, or if the victim did not have a relative to redeem his blood, the court executes the murderer by decapitation.
Halacha 3
The following rules apply if a father kills his son. If the victim has a son, this son should kill his grandfather, because he is the blood redeemer. If he does not have a son, none of the victim's brothers becomes the blood redeemer who must kill his father. Instead, he should be executed by the court.
Both a male and a female may become blood redeemers.
Halacha 4
The court is enjoined not to accept ransom from the murderer to save him from execution. Even if he gave all the money in the world, and even if the blood redeemer was willing to forgive him he should be executed.
The rationale is that the soul of the victim is not the property of the blood redeemer, but the property of the Holy One, blessed be He. And He commanded, Numbers 35:31: "Do not accept ransom for the soul of a murderer."
There is nothing that the Torah warned so strongly against as murder, as Ibid.:33 states: "Do not pollute the land in which you live, for blood will pollute the land."
Halacha 5
When a murderer kills willfully, he should not be killed by witnesses or observers until he is brought to court and sentenced to death, as implied by Numbers 35:12 "A murderer should not be put to death until he stands before the congregation in judgment."
This law applies to all those liable for execution by the court, who transgressed and performed the forbidden act. They should not be executed until their trial is completed by the court.
Halacha 6
When does the above apply? When the person has already transgressed and performed the transgression for which he is liable to be executed by the court. When, however, a person is pursuing a colleague with the intention of killing him - even if the pursuer is a minor - every Jewish person is commanded to attempt to save the person being pursued, even if it is necessary to kill the pursuer.
Halacha 7
What is implied? If the rodef was warned and continues to pursue his intended victim, even though he did not acknowledge the warning, since he continues his pursuit he should be killed.
If it is possible to save the pursued by damaging one of the limbs of the rodef, one should. Thus, if one can strike him with an arrow, a stone or a sword, and cut off his hand, break his leg, blind him or in another way prevent him from achieving his objective, one should do so.
If there is no way to be precise in one's aim and save the person being pursued without killing the rodef, one should kill him, even though he has not yet killed his victim. This is implied by Deuteronomy 25:11-12, which states: "If a man is fighting with his brother, and the wife of one... grabs the attacker by his private parts, you must cut off her hand; you may not show pity."
Halacha 8
There is no difference whether she grabs "his private parts" or any other organ that imperils his life. Similarly, the rodef may be a man or a woman. The intent of the verse is that whenever a person intends to strike a colleague with a blow that could kill him, the pursued should be saved by "cutting off the hand" of the rodef. If this cannot be done, the victim should be saved by taking the rodef's life, as the verse continues: "you may not show pity."
Halacha 9
This, indeed, is one of the negative mitzvot - not to take pity on the life of a rodef.
On this basis, our Sages ruled that when complications arise and a pregnant woman cannot give birth, it is permitted to abort the fetus in her womb, whether with a knife or with drugs. For the fetus is considered a rodef of its mother.
If the head of the fetus emerges, it should not be touched, because one life should not be sacrificed for another. Although the mother may die, this is the nature of the world.
Halacha 10
The laws of a rodef apply whether a person is pursuing a colleague with the intent of killing him, or a maiden that had been consecrated with the intent of raping her, as reflected by Deuteronomy 22:26, which establishes an equation between murder and rape, stating: "Just as when a man arises against his colleague and kills him, so too, is this matter i.e., the rape of a consecrated maiden."
The same principle is reflected by another verse within the passage, which states (Ibid.:27): "The consecrated maiden cried out, but there was no one to save her." Implied is that if there is someone who can save her, he must do so, using all means including taking the life of the pursuer.
Halacha 11
The same laws apply with regard to any woman forbidden as an ervah, but not to relations with an animal. With regard to homosexual rape, by contrast, one may save a man from being raped by killing the intended rapist.
If one pursues an animal with the intent of sodomizing it, or one seeks to perform a forbidden labor on the Sabbath or to worship idols - although the Sabbath and the prohibition against idol worship are fundamental elements of our faith - the person should not be killed until he commits the transgression and is brought to court, convicted and executed.
Halacha 12
If a person pursued a woman forbidden as an ervah, took hold of her and inserted the head of his organ within her,he may not be slain, even though he has not concluded sexual relations. He must be brought to court.
If a man was pursuing a woman forbidden as an ervah, and other men were pursuing him to save her, and she tells them, "Let him be, so that he does not kill me," they should not listen to her.Instead, he should be intimidated and prevented from raping her, by maiming his limbs. If he cannot be prevented by maiming his limbs, his life may be taken, as explained above.
Halacha 13
When a person could prevent a murder or a rape by maiming the rodef's limbs, but did not take the trouble and instead saved the victim by killing the rodef, he is regarded as one who shed blood and is liable for death. Nevertheless, he should not be executed by the court.
Halacha 14
Whenever a person can save another person's life, but he fails to do so, he transgresses a negative commandment, as Leviticus 19:16 states: "Do not stand idly by while your brother's blood is at stake."
Similarly, this commandment applies when a person sees a colleague drowning at sea or being attacked by robbers or a wild animal, and he can save him himself or can hire others to save him. Similarly, it applies when he hears gentiles or mosrim conspiring to harm a colleague or planning a snare for him, and he does not inform him and notify him of the danger.46
And it applies when a person knows of a gentile or a man of force who has a complaint against a colleague, and he can appease the aggressor on behalf of his colleague, but he fails to do so. And similarly, in all analogous instances, a person who fails to act transgresses the commandment: "Do not stand idly by while your brother's blood is at stake."
Halacha 15
When a person sees a rodef pursuing a colleague to kill him, or a woman forbidden as an ervah to rape her, and he has the potential to save the victim and yet fails to do so, he has negated the observance of the positive commandment: "You must cut off her hand," and has transgressed two negative commandments: "You may not show pity," and "Do not stand idly by while your brother's blood is at stake."
Halacha 16
Even though lashes are not given as punishment for the transgression of these prohibitions - because they do not involve committing a forbidden deed - they are nevertheless very severe. For whoever causes the loss of a Jewish soul is considered as if he destroyed the entire world, and whoever saves a Jewish soul is considered as if he saved the entire world.
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Hayom Yom:
- Saturday(Shabbat), Cheshvan 15, 5704 ~ 19 October 2013 ~~ Sunday, Cheshvan 16, 5774 ~ 20 October 2013
Shabbat, Cheshvan 15, 5704
Haftora: Ve'isha...b'na vateitsei
Torah lessons:
Chumash: Vayeira, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 77-78.
Tanya: Now there is (p. 569) ...below the earth. (p. 571).
The soul above awaits the time it will be privileged to descend into a body. For the soul senses how much it can accomplish here below;1 it can attain the level of "delighting with G-d." So what is everyone waiting for?2
Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
FOOTNOTES
1.In this physical world.
2.Why the procrastination in betaking ourselves to our avoda - when our souls waited impatiently just for this very chance!
Sunday, Cheshvan 16, 5704
Torah lessons:
Chumash: Chayei Sara, first parsha with Rashi.
Tehillim: 79-82.
Tanya: XXVIII. "Why was the (p. 571) ...lower than nogah. (p. 573).
Thought is a garment and servant of the intellect and emotions.1 Even when it is not serving the intellect or emotions, it continues to function, thinking and meditating. However, this activity is then not only devoid of content, but also open to depravement... It is explained that alien or evil thoughts are caused by "emptiness of the head." For when the mind is occupied, the thought has something to serve, and there is no room for stupid and vain thoughts devoid of substance.
Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
FOOTNOTES
1.See Tanya Ch. 4.
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Daily Thought:
Marital Peace
Nothing is greater than peace. Even when you are 100% right, and you know your spouse is 100% wrong, you can still give in for the sake of peace.
Better a difficult peace than an easy quarrel.(from a letter)
Home Improvement
Harsh words, demands and ultimatums—these shake the very foundations of a marriage and a home, tearing its walls apart until each one stands alone.
Gentle words, understanding words, listening words—this is the trunk from which a marriage grows, the foundation upon which a home stands.
A home cannot be repaired unless its foundation is firm. Once a couple learns to speak as friends, then their marriage can endure everything, forever.
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