Chai Elul
Torah Reading
Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy-Devarim 26:1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee for a nachalah, and possessest it, and dwellest therein,
2 That thou shalt take of the reshit kol pri ha’adamah which thou shalt bring of thy land that Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose to place Shmo there.
3 And thou shalt go unto the kohen that shall be in those yamim, and say unto him, I declare today unto Hashem Eloheicha, that I am come unto the country which Hashem swore unto Avoteinu to give us.
4 And the kohen shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the mizbe’ach of Hashem Eloheicha.
5 And thou shalt speak and say before Hashem Eloheicha, An Aramean ready to perish was Avi, and he went down into Mitzrayim, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous;
6 And the Egyptians mistreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us avodah kashah (hard labor);
7 And when we cried unto Hashem Elohei Avoteinu, Hashem heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression;
8 And Hashem brought us forth out of Mitzrayim with a yad chazakah, and with an outstretched zero’a, and with great awesomeness, and with otot, and with mofetim;
9 And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even an eretz zavat cholov udevash.
10 And now, hinei, I have brought the reshit pri ha’adamah (firstfruits of the fruit of the land), which Thou, Hashem, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before Hashem Eloheicha, and worship before Hashem Eloheicha;
11 And thou shalt rejoice in kol hatov which Hashem Eloheicha hath given unto thee, and unto thine bais, thou, and the Levi, and the ger that is among you.
12 When thou hast made an end of tithing kol ma’aser (all the tithe) of thine tevu’at bashanah hashelishit (increase in the third year), which is the Shnat HaMa’aser (Year of Tithing), and hast given it unto the Levi, the ger, the yatom (orphan), and the almanah, that they may eat within thy she’arim, and be filled;
13 Then thou shalt say before Hashem Eloheicha, I have brought away HaKodesh (the Holy) out of mine bais, and also have given them unto the Levi, and unto the ger, to the yatom (orphan), and to the almanah, according to all Thy mitzvot which Thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed Thy mitzvot, neither have I forgotten them.
14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away whatever thereof while I was tameh, nor given thereof for the dead; but I have given heed to the voice of Hashem Elohai, and have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me.
15 Look down from Thy me’on kadosh (holy dwelling place), from Shomayim, and bless Thy people Yisroel, and ha’adamah which Thou hast given us, as Thou didst swear unto Avoteinu, Eretz zavat cholov udevash.
16 This day Hashem Eloheicha hath commanded thee to do these chukkim and mishpatim; thou shalt therefore be shomer over and do them with kol levavecha, and with kol nafshecha.
17 Thou hast distinguished Hashem this day to be thy Elohim, and to walk in His ways, and to be shomer over His chukkim, and His mitzvot, and His mishpatim, and to give heed unto His voice;
18 And Hashem hath distinguished thee today to be His Am Segullah (treasured people), as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest be shomer over all His mitzvot;
19 And to set thee high above kol HaGoyim which He hath made, in tehillah (praise), and in shem, and in tiferet; and that thou mayest be an Am Kadosh unto Hashem Eloheicha, as He hath spoken.
27:1 And Moshe with the zekenim of Yisroel commanded the people, saying, Be shomer over all the mitzvot which I command you today.
2 And it shall be on the yom when ye shall pass over Yarden unto Ha’Aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up avanim gedolot, and plaster them with plaster;
3 And thou shalt write upon them kol divrei hatorah hazot, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto Ha’Aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, Eretz zavat cholov udevash; as Hashem Elohei Avoteicha hath promised thee.
4 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Yarden, that ye shall set up these avanim, which I command you today, in Mt Eival, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster.
5 And there shalt thou build a mizbe’ach unto Hashem Eloheicha, a mizbe’ach of avanim; thou shalt not use any barzel (iron [tool]) upon them.
6 Thou shalt build the mizbe’ach of Hashem Eloheicha of avanim shleimot (uncut stones); and thou shalt offer olot thereon unto Hashem Eloheicha;
7 And thou shalt offer shelamim, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before Hashem Eloheicha.
8 And thou shalt write very clearly upon the avanim kol divrei hatorah hazot.
9 And Moshe and the kohanim who are Levi’im spoke unto kol Yisroel, saying, Take heed, and shema, Yisroel; today thou art become the people of Hashem Eloheicha.
10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, and do His mitzvot and His chukkim, which I command thee today.
11 And Moshe charged the people the same yom, saying,
12 These shall stand upon Mt Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Yarden; Shimeon, and Levi, and Yehudah, and Yissakhar, and Yosef, and Binyamin;
13 And these shall stand upon Mt Eival fot the curse: Reuven, Gad, and Asher, and Zevulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 And the Levi’im shall speak, and say unto all the men of Yisroel with a loud voice,
15 Arur (cursed) be the ish that maketh any pesel (graven image) or massekhah (molten image), a to’evah (abomination) unto Hashem, the work of the hands of the charash (craftsman), and sets it up in a secret place. And kol HaAm shall answer and say, Omein.
16 Arur (cursed) be he that treats with contempt aviv or immo. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
17 Arur (cursed) be he that moveth his neighbor’s boundary marker. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
18 Arur (cursed) be he that maketh the ivver (blind) to wander out of the way. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
19 Arur (cursed) be he that perverteth the mishpat of the ger, yatom, and almanah. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
20 Arur (cursed) be he that lieth with eshet aviv (his father’s wife); because he uncovereth the robe of his father. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
21 Arur be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
22 Arur be he that lieth with his achot, the bat aviv, or the bat immo. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
23 Arur be he that lieth with his chotenet (mother-in-law). And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
24 Arur be he that attacks his re’a (neighbor) secretly. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
25 Arur be he that taketh shochad (bribe, reward) to slay the nefesh dahm naki. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein.
26 Arur be he that confirmeth not divrei haTorah hazot by doing them. And kol HaAm shall say, Omein. [Ga 3:10]
28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt give heed diligently unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer and to do all His mitzvot which I command thee today, that Hashem Eloheicha will set thee on high above kol Goyei Ha’Aretz;
2 And all these berakhot shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha.
3 Baruch atah baIr (blessed shalt thou be in the town), and baruch atah basadeh (blessed shalt thou be in the field, country).
4 Baruch shall be the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy adamah, and the pri of thy animals, the increase of thy livestock, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Baruch shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.
6 Baruch atah when thou comest in, and baruch atah when thou goest out.
7 Hashem shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be defeated before thy face; they shall come out against thee derech echad, and flee before thee shivah derakhim.
8 Hashem shall command the brocha upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee.
9 Hashem shall establish thee an Am Kadosh unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt be shomer over the mitzvot of Hashem Eloheicha, and walk in His ways.
10 And all people of ha’aretz shall see that thou art called by the Shem of Hashem; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And Hashem shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the pri of thy womb, and in the pri of thy livestock, and in the pri of thy ground, in ha’adamah which Hashem swore unto Avotecha to give thee.
12 Hashem shall open unto thee His otzar hatov, the Shomayim, to give the matar unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand; and thou shalt lend unto Goyim rabbim, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And Hashem shall make thee the rosh, and not the zanav (tail); and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou give heed unto the mitzvot Hashem Eloheicha, which I command thee today, to be shomer to do them;
14 And thou shalt not turn aside from any of the devarim which I command thee today, to the right, or to the left, to go after elohim acherim to serve them.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer to do all His mitzvot and His chukkot which I command thee today, that all these kelalot (curses) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Arur shalt thou be in the town, and Arur shalt thou be in the sadeh.
17 Arur shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.
18 Arur shall be the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy adamah, the increase of thy livestock, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Arur shalt thou be when thou comest in, and Arur shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20 Hashem shall send upon thee me’erah (curse), mehumah (confusion), and migeret (rebuke), in all that thou settest thine hand unto to do, until thou be shmad, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken Me.
21 Hashem shall make the dever (plague, pestilence) have deveykus with thee, until He have consumed thee from off ha’adamah, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 Hashem shall strike thee with a shachefet (consumption), and with a kaddachat (fever, Mk 1:31), and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the cherev, and with scorching, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy Shomayim that is over thy head shall be nechoshet, and Ha’Aretz that is under thee shall be barzel.
24 Hashem shall make the matar of thy land powder and dust; from Shomayim shall it come down upon thee, until thou be shmad.
25 Hashem shall cause thee to be defeated before thine enemies; thou shalt go out derech echad against them, and flee shivah derakhim before them; and shalt be an object of horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And thy nevelah shall be okhel unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of ha’aretz, and no ish shall frighten them away.
27 Hashem will strike thee with the shekhin (boils) of Mitzrayim, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28 Hashem shall strike thee with shiga’on (insanity), and ivvaron (blindness), and timhon levav (confusion of heart);
29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the ivver gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and plundered evermore, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.
30 Thou shalt betroth an isha, and another ish shall lie with her; thou shalt build a bais, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a kerem, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
31 Thine shor shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thine chamor shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee; thy tzon shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have no moshi’a.
32 Thy banim and thy banot shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them kol hayom; and there shall be nothing you can do.
33 The pri of thy adamah, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed kol hayamim;
34 So that thou shalt be driven meshuga because of the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35 Hashem shall strike thee in the birkayim (knees), and in the legs, with shekhin rah (foul boil) that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 Hashem shall bring thee, and thy melech which thou shalt set over thee, unto a Goy which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known; and there shalt thou serve elohim acherim, etz va’even (wood and stone). [2Kgs 25:7]
37 And thou shalt become an object of horror, a mashal, and a byword, among kol haGoyim whither Hashem shall lead thee.
38 Thou shalt carry much zera out into the sadeh, and shalt gather but little in; for the arbeh shall devour it.
39 Thou shalt plant kramim, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the yayin, nor gather the grapes; for the tola’at (worm) shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy territory, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the shemen; for thine olives shall drop off.
41 Thou shalt father banim and banot, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into shevi (captivity, the golus).
42 All thy trees and pri of thy adamah shall the locust consume.
43 The ger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the rosh, and thou shalt be the zanav.
45 Moreover all these kelalot shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be shmad; because thou gavest not heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha to be shomer over His mitzvot and His chukkot which He commanded thee;
46 And they shall be upon thee for an ot and for a mofet, and upon thy zera ad olam.
47 Because thou servedst not Hashem Eloheicha with simchah, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which Hashem shall send against thee, in ra’av (hunger, famine), and in tzama (thirst), and in eirom (nakedness), and in choser (want) of all things; and He shall put an ol barzel (yoke of iron) upon thy tzavvar (neck), until He hath made thee shmad.
49 Hashem shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the ketzeh ha’aretz, as swift as the nesher flieth; a nation whose lashon thou shalt not understand;
50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not respect the zaken’s person, nor show favor to the na’ar;
51 And he shall eat the pri of thy animals, and the pri of thy adamah, until thou be shmad; which also shall not leave thee either dagan, tirosh, or yitzhar, or the increase of thy livestock, or flocks of thy sheep, until it hath destroyed thee.
52 And it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou trusted, throughout all thy land; and it shall besiege thee in all thy she’arim throughout all thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee.
53 And thou shalt eat the pri of thine own womb, the basar of thy banim and of thy banot, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee, in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee;
54 So that the ish that is sensitive among you, and very refined, his eye shall be hostile toward his brother, and toward his eshet kheyk (wife of his bosom), and toward the remnant of his banim which he shall leave;
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the basar of his banim whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the matzor (siege), and in the desperate straits, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy she’arim.
56 The sensitive and refined woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, she shall be hostile toward her ish kheyk (husband of her bosom), and toward her ben, and toward her bat,
57 And toward her afterbirth that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her banim which she shall bear; for she shall eat them for choser (want) of all things secretly in the matzor (siege) and desperate straits, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy she’arim.
58 If thou wilt not be shomer to do kol divrei hatorah hazot that are written in this sefer, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful Shem, HASHEM ELOHEICHA,
59 Then Hashem will make thy makkot (plagues) extraordinary, and the makkot of thy zera, even makkot gedolot, and of long continuance, and cholayim ra’im (evil sicknesses), and of long continuance.
60 Moreover He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Mitzrayim, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall have deveykus unto thee.
61 Also every choli (sickness), and every makkah (plague), which is not written in the sefer of this torah, them will Hashem bring upon thee, until thou be shmad.
62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the kokhavim of Shomayim for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of Hashem Eloheicha.
63 And it shall come to pass, that as Hashem rejoiced over you to do you good, to multiply you, so Hashem will rejoice over you to make you shmad, to bring you to nothing; and ye shall be plucked from off the adamah whither thou goest to possess it.
64 And Hashem shall scatter thee among kol ha’ammim, from the one end of ha’aretz even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve elohim acherim, which neither thou nor Avoteicha have known, even etz va’even.
65 And among these Goyim shalt thou find no mano’ach [see Ruth], neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but Hashem shall give thee there a lev rogez (anxious heart), and failing of eyes, and da’avon nefesh (suffering of soul);
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear lailah and yomam, and shalt have none assurance of thy life;
67 In the boker thou shalt say, Would it were erev! And at erev thou shalt say, Would it were boker! For the pachad of thine lev wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
68 And Hashem shall bring thee into Mitzrayim again with oniyyot, by the way whereof I spoke unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again; and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for avadim and shefachot, and no ish shall buy you.
29:1 These are the devarei HaBrit, which Hashem commanded Moshe to cut with the Bnei Yisroel in Eretz Moav, besides the Brit which He cut with them in Chorev.
2 (1) And Moshe called unto kol Yisroel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that Hashem did before your eyes in Eretz Mitzrayim unto Pharaoh, and unto all his avadim, and unto all his land;
3 (2) The massot hagedolot (great trials) which thine eyes have seen, the otot, and those mofetim hagedolim;
4 (3) V’lo natan Hashem lakhem lev lada’at v’einayim lirot v’ozna’im lishmoa ad hayom hazeh (Yet Hashem hath not given you a lev for da’as, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.)
5 (4) And I have led you arba’im shanim in the midbar; your clothes are not worn out upon you, and thy sandal is not worn out upon thy foot.
6 (5) Ye have not eaten lechem, neither have ye drunk yayin or shekhar; that ye might have da’as that Ani Hashem Eloheicha.
7 (6) And when ye came unto this place, Sichon Melech Cheshbon, and Og Melech HaBashan, came out against us unto milchamah, and we defeated them:
8 (7) And we took their land, and gave it for a nachalah unto the Reuveni, and to the Gadi, and to the half tribe of Menasheh.)
Today's Laws & Customs:
Elul Observances
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 49</ br> Chapter 50 </ br> Chapter 51
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
_____________________
Chassidic Holiday
"Chai Elul" (Hebrew for "the 18th of Elul," also meaning "the life of Elul") is celebrated by the Chassidic community as the birthday of the "two great luminaries" -- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism; and Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad. Chassidim wish each other "Gut Yom Tov!" and conduct joyous gatherings called farbrengens.
12 Days of Reflection
Elul, the last month of the Jewish year, is a month devoted to stocktaking and introspection. A Chassidic tradition holds that the last twelve days of the year -- Elul 18 to 29 -- are specifically devoted to the twelve months of the closing year: on each of these twelve days, one should review the deeds and achievements of its corresponding month.
Ethics: Chapters 3 & 4
During the summer months, from the Shabbat after Passover until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashahah, we study a portion of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") each Shabbat afternoon. This week, we study Chapters Three and Four.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4
Links
A Chai Elul anthology
Elul Observances
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
Today in Jewish History:
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 49</ br> Chapter 50 </ br> Chapter 51
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
_____________________
Chassidic Holiday
"Chai Elul" (Hebrew for "the 18th of Elul," also meaning "the life of Elul") is celebrated by the Chassidic community as the birthday of the "two great luminaries" -- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism; and Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad. Chassidim wish each other "Gut Yom Tov!" and conduct joyous gatherings called farbrengens.
12 Days of Reflection
Elul, the last month of the Jewish year, is a month devoted to stocktaking and introspection. A Chassidic tradition holds that the last twelve days of the year -- Elul 18 to 29 -- are specifically devoted to the twelve months of the closing year: on each of these twelve days, one should review the deeds and achievements of its corresponding month.
Ethics: Chapters 3 & 4
During the summer months, from the Shabbat after Passover until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashahah, we study a portion of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") each Shabbat afternoon. This week, we study Chapters Three and Four.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4
Links
A Chai Elul anthology
Elul Observances
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
Links: More on Elul
Today in Jewish History:
Noah Dispatches Dove (2105 BCE)
Following the failed attempt to dispatch a raven from the ark (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 10), Noah sent a dove from the window of the ark to see if the great Flood that covered the earth had abated. "But the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot" and returned to the ark; Noah waited seven days before making another attempt.
R. Schneur Zalman's parents marry (1743)
Wedding day of Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah, the parents of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812 -- see entry for tomorrow, Elul 18), in 1743.
_____________________
Passing of Maharal (1609)
Elul 18 is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehudah Loewe, the "Maharal" of Prague (1525-1609), outstanding Torah scholar, philosopher, Kabbalist and Jewish leader. Popularly known for creating a "golem" (clay man) to protect the Jewish community of Prague from the frequent threat of blood libels.
Baal Shem Tov Born (1698)
Elul 18 is the birthday of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism
Rabbi Israel was born in a small town in Ukraine in 1698. His father, Rabbi Eliezer, who was a member of the secret society of "hidden tzaddikim," passed away when young Israel was only five years old; his last words to his son were, "Fear nothing but G-d alone. Love every Jew with all your heart and all your soul."
The young orphan would spend much of his time wandering and meditating in the forests that surrounded his hometown; there, he one day met with one of his father's compatriots, and eventually joined their society. For many years, he lived disguised as a simple innkeeper and clay-digger, his greatness known only to a very small circle of fellow mystics and disciples. But on his 36th birthday, he was instructed by his master to "reveal" himself and publicly disseminate his teachings.
Drawing from the mystical "soul of Torah," the Baal Shem Tov ("Master of the Good Name," as he came to be known) taught about the spark of G-dliness that is to be found in every creation, and about the great love that G-d has for each and every one of His children, scholars and simple folk alike. He emphasized the importance of joy and simple faith in serving G-d, rather than ascetism. Initially, his teachings encountered fierce opposition from the scholarly elite and established leadership of the Jewish community; but many of those very scholars and communal leaders ended up becoming his devoted disciples. When Rabbi Israel passed at age 62 on Shavuot of 1760, the movement he founded was well on the way of becoming the most vital force in Jewish life.
Links:
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
Chassidic Movement Founded (1734)
After many years as a member of the society of "hidden tzaddikim", living under the guise of an ignorant clay-digger, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov was instructed by his masters to reveal himself and begin to publicly disseminate his teachings. This he did on his 36th birthday, Elul 18, 5494 (1734).
1st Chabad Rebbe Born (1745)
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of the "Chabad" branch of Chassidism, was born on Elul 18 of the year 5505 from creation -- the 47th birthday of his "spiritual grandfather", Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Schneur Zalman was the disciple of the Baal Shem Tov's disciple and successor, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch).
Link: A brief biography of Rabbi Schneur Zalman
DAILY QUOTE:
If only we could kiss a Torah-scroll with the same love that my master (Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov) kissed the children when he took them to school as a teacher's assistant(Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch(Following the failed attempt to dispatch a raven from the ark (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 10), Noah sent a dove from the window of the ark to see if the great Flood that covered the earth had abated. "But the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot" and returned to the ark; Noah waited seven days before making another attempt.
R. Schneur Zalman's parents marry (1743)
Wedding day of Rabbi Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivkah, the parents of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812 -- see entry for tomorrow, Elul 18), in 1743.
_____________________
Passing of Maharal (1609)
Elul 18 is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Yehudah Loewe, the "Maharal" of Prague (1525-1609), outstanding Torah scholar, philosopher, Kabbalist and Jewish leader. Popularly known for creating a "golem" (clay man) to protect the Jewish community of Prague from the frequent threat of blood libels.
Baal Shem Tov Born (1698)
Elul 18 is the birthday of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism
Rabbi Israel was born in a small town in Ukraine in 1698. His father, Rabbi Eliezer, who was a member of the secret society of "hidden tzaddikim," passed away when young Israel was only five years old; his last words to his son were, "Fear nothing but G-d alone. Love every Jew with all your heart and all your soul."
The young orphan would spend much of his time wandering and meditating in the forests that surrounded his hometown; there, he one day met with one of his father's compatriots, and eventually joined their society. For many years, he lived disguised as a simple innkeeper and clay-digger, his greatness known only to a very small circle of fellow mystics and disciples. But on his 36th birthday, he was instructed by his master to "reveal" himself and publicly disseminate his teachings.
Drawing from the mystical "soul of Torah," the Baal Shem Tov ("Master of the Good Name," as he came to be known) taught about the spark of G-dliness that is to be found in every creation, and about the great love that G-d has for each and every one of His children, scholars and simple folk alike. He emphasized the importance of joy and simple faith in serving G-d, rather than ascetism. Initially, his teachings encountered fierce opposition from the scholarly elite and established leadership of the Jewish community; but many of those very scholars and communal leaders ended up becoming his devoted disciples. When Rabbi Israel passed at age 62 on Shavuot of 1760, the movement he founded was well on the way of becoming the most vital force in Jewish life.
Links:
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
Chassidic Movement Founded (1734)
After many years as a member of the society of "hidden tzaddikim", living under the guise of an ignorant clay-digger, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov was instructed by his masters to reveal himself and begin to publicly disseminate his teachings. This he did on his 36th birthday, Elul 18, 5494 (1734).
1st Chabad Rebbe Born (1745)
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of the "Chabad" branch of Chassidism, was born on Elul 18 of the year 5505 from creation -- the 47th birthday of his "spiritual grandfather", Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (Rabbi Schneur Zalman was the disciple of the Baal Shem Tov's disciple and successor, Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch).
Link: A brief biography of Rabbi Schneur Zalman
DAILY QUOTE:
DAILY STUDY:
CHITAS AND RAMBAM FOR TODAY:
Chumash: Parshat Ki Tavo, 6th Portion (Deuteronomy 28:7-28:69) & Parshat Ki Tavo, 7th Portion (Deuteronomy 29:1-29:8) with Rashi
• Chapter 28
7. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you, to be beaten before you; they will come out against you in one direction, but they will flee from you in seven directions. ז. יִתֵּן יְהֹוָה אֶת אֹיְבֶיךָ הַקָּמִים עָלֶיךָ נִגָּפִים לְפָנֶיךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד יֵצְאוּ אֵלֶיךָ וּבְשִׁבְעָה דְרָכִים יָנוּסוּ לְפָנֶיךָ:
but they will flee from you in seven directions: Such is the way of those who flee out of fear: they scatter in all directions.
ובשבעה דרכים ינוסו לפניך: כן דרך הנבהלים לברוח מתפזרין לכל צד:
8. The Lord will order the blessing to be with you in your granaries, and in every one of your endeavors, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you. ח. יְצַו יְהֹוָה אִתְּךָ אֶת הַבְּרָכָה בַּאֲסָמֶיךָ וּבְכֹל מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ וּבֵרַכְךָ בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ:
9. The Lord will establish you as His holy people as He swore to you, if you observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and walk in His ways. ט. יְקִימְךָ יְהֹוָה לוֹ לְעַם קָדוֹשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לָךְ כִּי תִשְׁמֹר אֶת מִצְוֹת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהָלַכְתָּ בִּדְרָכָיו:
10. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they will fear you. י. וְרָאוּ כָּל עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ כִּי שֵׁם יְהֹוָה נִקְרָא עָלֶיךָ וְיָרְאוּ מִמֶּךָּ:
11. And the Lord will grant you good surplus in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil, on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers, to give you. יא. וְהוֹתִרְךָ יְהֹוָה לְטוֹבָה בִּפְרִי בִטְנְךָ וּבִפְרִי בְהֶמְתְּךָ וּבִפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְהֹוָה לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לָתֶת לָךְ:
12. The Lord will open up for you His good treasury, the heaven, to give your land its rain in its [right] time, and to bless everything you do. And you will lend many nations, but you will not [need to] borrow. יב. יִפְתַּח יְהֹוָה | לְךָ אֶת אוֹצָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם לָתֵת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ וּלְבָרֵךְ אֵת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶךָ וְהִלְוִיתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תִלְוֶה:
13. And the Lord will set you at the head, and not at the tail, and you will be only at the top, and you will not be at the bottom, if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I am commanding you this day, to observe to fulfill [them]. יג. וּנְתָנְךָ יְהֹוָה לְרֹאשׁ וְלֹא לְזָנָב וְהָיִיתָ רַק לְמַעְלָה וְלֹא תִהְיֶה לְמָטָּה כִּי תִשְׁמַע אֶל מִצְוֹת | יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת:
14. And you shall not turn right or left from all of the words I am commanding you this day, to follow other deities to worship them. יד. וְלֹא תָסוּר מִכָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְעָבְדָם:
15. And it will be, if you do not obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you this day, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. טו. וְהָיָה אִם לֹא תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגוּךָ:
16. You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. טז. אָרוּר אַתָּה בָּעִיר וְאָרוּר אַתָּה בַּשָּׂדֶה:
17. Cursed will be your [food] basket and your kneading bowl. יז. אָרוּר טַנְאֲךָ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּךָ:
18. Cursed will be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your soil, the fruit of your livestock, those born from your cattle and the flock of your sheep. יח. אָרוּר פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ:
19. You shall be cursed when you come, and you shall be cursed when you depart. יט. אָרוּר אַתָּה בְּבֹאֶךָ וְאָרוּר אַתָּה בְּצֵאתֶךָ:
20. The Lord will send the curse of shortages, confusion, and turmoil upon you, in every one of your endeavors which you undertake, until it destroys you and until you quickly vanish, because of your evil deeds in forsaking Me. כ. יְשַׁלַּח יְהֹוָה | בְּךָ אֶת הַמְּאֵרָה אֶת הַמְּהוּמָה וְאֶת הַמִּגְעֶרֶת בְּכָל מִשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה עַד הִשָּׁמֶדְךָ וְעַד אֲבָדְךָ מַהֵר מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מַעֲלָלֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עֲזַבְתָּנִי:
the curse of shortages: Heb. הַמְּאֵרָה, “shortage,” similar to“ צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת,”“a lesion which causes loss [to the person stricken with it]” (Lev.13:51).
המארה: חסרון כמו צרעת ממארת (ויקרא יג, נב):
confusion: Heb. הַמְּהוּמָה [Rendered by Onkelos as שִׁגוּשַׁיָא, meaning] confusion, the sound of panic.
המהומה: שגוש קול בהלות:
21. The Lord will make pestilence cleave to you, until it has exterminated you from upon the land, to which you are coming, to possess it. כא. יַדְבֵּק יְהֹוָה בְּךָ אֶת הַדָּבֶר עַד כַּלֹּתוֹ אֹתְךָ מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ:
22. The Lord will strike you with consumption, fever, illnesses with burning fevers, a disease which causes unquenchable thirst, with the sword, with blast, and with yellowing, and they will pursue you until you perish. כב. יַכְּכָה יְהֹוָה בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת וּבַקַּדַּחַת וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת וּבַחַרְחֻר וּבַחֶרֶב וּבַשִּׁדָּפוֹן וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן וּרְדָפוּךָ עַד אָבְדֶךָ:
consumption: Heb. בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת, [a disease] whereby one’s flesh wastes away and swells.
בשחפת: שבשרו נשחף ונפוח:
fever: Heb. וּבַקַּדַּחַת, as in the expression “For a fire burns (קָדְחָה) in My nose” (Deut. 32:22). [In this context, the term refers to] the feverish “fire” of the sick, malevei in Old French, which means intense heat.
ובקדחת: לשון כי אש קדחה באפי (דברים לב, כב) והיא אש של חולים מלויי"ד בלע"ז (פיעבערהימצע) שהיא חמה מאד:
illnesses with burning fevers: Heb. וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת. A feverish heat, more intense than קַדַּחַת. [All] these [terms listed in these verses, refer to] various types of diseases.
ובדלקת: חמה יותר מקדחת ומיני חלאים הם:
a disease which causes unquenchable thirst: Heb. וּבַחַרְחֻר. This is a disease which heats up inside the body, causing him [the patient] to suffer continuous thirst for water, esardement in Old French, parching fever, as in the expressions: “and my bones dried out (חָרָה) from the heat” (Job. 30:30), and “The bellows is heated (נִחַר) from the fire” (Jer. 6:29).
ובחרחר: חולי המחממו תוך הגוף וצמא תמיד למים ובלע"ז אישרדימינ"ט (התיבשות) לשון ועצמי חרה מני חרב (איוב ל, ל) נחר מפוח מאש (ירמי' ו, כט):
and with the sword: He will bring [hostile] armies upon you.
ובחרב: יביא עליך גייסות:
with blast, and with yellowing: Diseases of the grain in the field.
שדפון וירקון: מכות תבואה שבשדות:
blast: Heb. שִׁדָּפוֹן, an easterly wind, hasled in Old French, [meaning that the east wind causes the grain to be blasted].
שדפון: רוח קדים אשלי"דה בלע"ז (זאננפערבראננט):
yellowing: Heb. יֵרָקוֹן, drought, whereby the surface of the grain pales and turns yellow, chaume (?) in Old French.
ירקון: יובש ופני התבואה מכסיפין ונהפכין לירקון קמ"א בלע"ז (געלב):
until you perish: Heb. עַד אָבְדֶךָ. [This phrase could be misconstrued to mean: “until you become lost” by God and found by others. Therefore, Rashi cites] the Targum [which] renders the phrase as: עַד דְתֵיבָד, “until you perish,” meaning, “you will perish, of your own accord.”
עד אבדך: תרגום עד דתיביד כלומר עד אבוד אותך שתכלה מאליך:
23. And your skies above you will be [like] copper, and the earth below you [like] iron. כג. וְהָיוּ שָׁמֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עַל רֹאשְׁךָ נְחשֶׁת וְהָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תַּחְתֶּיךָ בַּרְזֶל:
And your skies above you will be [like] copper: These curses [proclaimed here at Mount Ebal] were pronounced by Moses himself [albeit through divine inspiration], whereas those [curses] made at Mount Sinai (Lev. 26:14-39) Moses pronounced from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He (Meg. 31b). This is demonstrated by the verses themselves: The verse there says, “But if you will not listen to me ” (Lev. 26:14), and, “And if you regard Me as coincidence” (26:21), [all referring to God in the first person]. Here, however, the verse says, “obey the Lord, your God ” (verse 15),“ The Lord will make… ” (verse 21), and “ The Lord will strike you” (verse 22) [all referring to God in the third person, demonstrating that Moses is speaking]. Moses made his curses milder [than those at Mount Sinai], for he expressed them in the singular form [as if spoken to an individual]. Furthermore, in this curse [in our verse here], Moses made his milder [than the corresponding curse at Mount Sinai by God], for in the first curses [in Lev.], God said, “[And I shall make] your skies like iron, and your earth like copper” (Lev. 26:19), [meaning that] that the skies will not sweat [i.e., be moist], just as iron does not sweat; consequently, there will be drought in the world. But the earth will sweat, just as copper sweats, thereby causing its fruits to rot. Here, however, Scripture says, “Your skies…copper, and your earth…iron.” [This means] that the skies will sweat [i.e., be moist], and thus, even though they will not pour down rain, there will not be a consuming drought in the world. Also, [this means that] the earth will not sweat, just as iron does not sweat; thus, the fruits will not rot (Torath Kohanim 26:28). [Although the curse here contains these milder elements as explained,] it is, nevertheless, a curse, for whether it [the earth] is like copper or whether it is like iron, it will not produce fruit. And similarly, the skies [whether they become like copper or iron] will not pour down rain.
והיו שמיך אשר על ראשך נחשת: קללות הללו משה מפי עצמו אמרן ושבהר סיני מפי הקב"ה אמרן כמשמען ושם נאמר (ויקרא כו, יד) ואם לא תשמעו לי, ואם תלכו עמי קרי (ויקרא כו, כא) וכן הוא אומר (פסוק טו) בקול ה' אלהיך (פסוק כא) ידבק ה' בך, יככה ה' (פסוק כב) הקיל משה בקללותיו לאמרן בלשון יחיד וגם כן בקללה זו הקל שבראשונות הוא אומר את שמיכם כברזל את ארצכם כנחושה, (ויקרא כו, יט) שלא יהיו השמים מזיעין כדרך שאין הברזל מזיע, ומתוך כך יהא חורב בעולם והארץ תהא מזיעה כדרך שהנחשת מזיע, והיא מרקבת פירותיה, וכאן הוא אומר שמיך נחשת וארצך ברזל, שיהיו שמים מזיעין אף על פי שלא יריקו מטר מכל מקום לא יהיה חורב של אבדון בעולם, והארץ לא תהא מזיעה כדרך שאין הברזל מזיע, ואין הפירות מרקיבין. ומכל מקום קללה היא, בין שהיא כנחשת בין שהיא כברזל, לא תוציא פירות, וכן השמים לא יריקו מטר:
24. The Lord will turn the rain of your land into powder and dust, raining down upon you from the heavens until you are destroyed. כד. יִתֵּן יְהֹוָה אֶת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ אָבָק וְעָפָר מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם יֵרֵד עָלֶיךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ:
[The Lord will turn] the rain of your land into powder and dust: [How do these two opposites coincide, rain and dust? The Talmud answers] (Ta’anith 3b): “[The text is referring to] a wind which follows the rain.” Rain will fall, but insufficiently; moreover, there will not even be enough rain to cause the dust to settle. Then, a wind will come and raise the dust and cover the vegetation [sprouting] from the seeds, which are still moist from the water. [The dust] will adhere to them, forming [a layer of] mud, [which] will dry up [on the vegetation], causing it to rot. [This, then, is the meaning of the curse:“The Lord will turn the rain of your land into powder and dust.”]
מטר ארצך אבק ועפר: זיקא דבתר מטרא, מטר יורד ולא כל צרכו ואין בו כדי להרביץ את העפר, והרוח באה ומעלה את האבק ומכסה את עשב הזרעים שהן לחים מן המים ונדבק בהם ונעשה טיט ומתיבש ומרקיבין:
25. The Lord will cause you to be broken before your enemy: you will come out against them in one direction, but you will flee from them in seven directions. And you will become a terrifying [example] to all the kingdoms on earth. כה. יִתֶּנְךָ יְהֹוָה | נִגָּף לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֶיךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד תֵּצֵא אֵלָיו וּבְשִׁבְעָה דְרָכִים תָּנוּס לְפָנָיו וְהָיִיתָ לְזַעֲוָה לְכֹל מַמְלְכוֹת הָאָרֶץ:
a terrifying [example]: [an example of] fear (אֵימָה) and trembling (זִיעַ) . [This means that] anyone who hears about your plagues, will“tremble in fear (יָזוּעוּ) ,” saying:“Woe to us! Let this not befall us, in the way in which it has befallen these [people]!”
לזעוה: לאימה ולזיע, שיזועו כל שומעי מכותיך ממך ויאמרו אוי לנו שלא יבוא עלינו כדרך שבא על אלו:
26. Your corpse will be food for all birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them [away]. כו. וְהָיְתָה נִבְלָתְךָ לְמַאֲכָל לְכָל עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְבֶהֱמַת הָאָרֶץ וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד:
27. The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with hemorrhoids, with oozing sores, and with dry lesions, from which you will be unable to be cured. כז. יַכְּכָה יְהֹוָה בִּשְׁחִין מִצְרַיִם וּבַטְחֹרִים וּבַגָּרָב וּבֶחָרֶס אֲשֶׁר לֹא תוּכַל לְהֵרָפֵא:
The boils of Egypt: This was a very severe [lesion]: it was moist on the inside and dry on the outside, as taught in tractate Bech. (41a).
בשחין מצרים: רע היה מאד, לח מבחוץ ויבש מבפנים, כדאיתא בבכורות (מא א):
oozing sores: [This means] wet boils.
גרב: שחין לח:
dry lesions: [This means] boils dry as shards.
חרס: שחין יבש כחרס:
28. The Lord will strike you with insanity, with blindness, and with bewilderment. כח. יַכְּכָה יְהֹוָה בְּשִׁגָּעוֹן וּבְעִוָּרוֹן וּבְתִמְהוֹן לֵבָב:
and with bewilderment: Heb. וּבְתִמְהוֹן לֵבָב, lit.“clogging of the heart,” estordison in Old French.
ובתמהון לבב: אוטם הלב אשטורדישו"ן בלע"ז [תדהמה]:
29. You will grope at midday, as the blind man gropes in the dark, and you will be unsuccessful in your ways. You will be only oppressed and robbed all the days, and no one will save [you]. כט. וְהָיִיתָ מְמַשֵּׁשׁ בַּצָּהֳרַיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר יְמַשֵּׁשׁ הָעִוֵּר בָּאֲפֵלָה וְלֹא תַצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ אַךְ עָשׁוּק וְגָזוּל כָּל הַיָּמִים וְאֵין מוֹשִׁיעַ:
oppressed: Heb. עָשׁוּק, you will experience controversy regarding everything you do.
עשוק: בכל מעשיך יהיה ערעור:
30. You will betroth a woman, but another man will lie with her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not redeem it[s fruits]. ל. אִשָּׁה תְאָרֵשׂ וְאִישׁ אַחֵר יִשְׁכָּבֶנָּה בַּיִת תִּבְנֶה וְלֹא תֵשֵׁב בּוֹ כֶּרֶם תִּטַּע וְלֹא תְחַלְּלֶנּוּ:
will lie with her: Heb. יִשְׁגָּלֶנָּה. [This word stems] from the root שֵׁגָל, meaning a פִּלֶגֶשׁ [which refers to a wife without a Jewish marriage contract, i.e., a concubine. Nevertheless,] Scripture euphemizes the term [by having it read as יִשְׁכָּבֶנָּה instead], thus [giving it] a more delicate implication. This is [like] a modification made by scribes. — [see Meg.. 25b; and compare Rashi on Gen. 18:22]
ישגלנה: לשון שגל, פלגש, והכתוב כנהו לשבח ישכבנה ותקון סופרים הוא זה:
redeem it[s fruits]: Heb. תְחַלְלֶנּוּ [This is referring to the fruits of a tree, which must not be used for the first three years of the tree’s life. Then, the fruits of the fourth year take on holy status and are taken to Jerusalem to be eaten. If it is too difficult to take them to Jerusalem, they are redeemed with money, which is, in turn, taken to Jerusalem, where food is purchased for it. Here, then, the curse means that the person will plant his vineyard, but will not live to redeem it] in the fourth year to eat its fruits.
תחללנו: בשנה הרביעית לאכול פריו:
31. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat from it. Your donkey will be snatched right in front of you, and it will not return to you. Your flock will be given over to your enemies, and you will have no savior. לא. שׁוֹרְךָ טָבוּחַ לְעֵינֶיךָ וְלֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ חֲמֹרְךָ גָּזוּל מִלְּפָנֶיךָ וְלֹא יָשׁוּב לָךְ צֹאנְךָ נְתֻנוֹת לְאֹיְבֶיךָ וְאֵין לְךָ מוֹשִׁיעַ:
32. Your sons and daughters will be given over to another people, and your eyes will see [this] and long for them all day long, but you will be powerless. לב. בָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ נְתֻנִים לְעַם אַחֵר וְעֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת וְכָלוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם כָּל הַיּוֹם וְאֵין לְאֵל יָדֶךָ:
and long for them: Heb. וְכָלוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם. [Meaning: Your eyes] will longingly look out for the return [of your children], but they will not return. The expression כִּלְיוֹן עֵינַיִם refers to a hope which never materializes.
וכלות אליהם: מצפות אליהם שישובו ואינם שבים. כל תוחלת שאינה באה קרויה כליון עינים:
33. A people unknown to you will eat up the fruit of your soil and [the result of] all your toil. You will be only wronged and crushed all the days. לג. פְּרִי אַדְמָתְךָ וְכָל יְגִיעֲךָ יֹאכַל עַם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדָעְתָּ וְהָיִיתָ רַק עָשׁוּק וְרָצוּץ כָּל הַיָּמִים:
34. You will go insane from the vision before your eyes that you will behold. לד. וְהָיִיתָ מְשֻׁגָּע מִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה:
35. The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with a terrible skin eruption from which you will be unable to be cured; [it will eventually cover you] from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. לה. יַכְּכָה יְהֹוָה בִּשְׁחִין רָע עַל הַבִּרְכַּיִם וְעַל הַשֹּׁקַיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא תוּכַל לְהֵרָפֵא מִכַּף רַגְלְךָ וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶךָ:
36. The Lord will lead you and your king whom you will have established over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers; and there, you will serve other deities [made] of wood and stone. לו. יוֹלֵךְ יְהֹוָה אֹתְךָ וְאֶת מַלְכְּךָ אֲשֶׁר תָּקִים עָלֶיךָ אֶל גּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַאֲבֹתֶיךָ וְעָבַדְתָּ שָּׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עֵץ וָאָבֶן:
37. And you will become an [object of] astonishment, an example, and a topic of discussion, among all the peoples to whom the Lord will lead you. לז. וְהָיִיתָ לְשַׁמָּה לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה בְּכֹל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר יְנַהֶגְךָ יְהֹוָה שָׁמָּה:
an object of astonishment: Heb. לְשַׁמָּה. [This word is] similar to תִּמָּהוֹן [meaning, astonishment], estordison in Old French. [Thus, the meaning here is:] whoever sees you will be astonished about you.
לשמה: אשטורדישו"ן [תדהמה] כל הרואה אותך ישום עליך:
an example: When some terrible trouble befalls a person, [people] will say:“This is like the trouble that happened to so-and-so.”
למשל: כשתבא מכה רעה על אדם, יאמרו זו דומה למכת פלוני:
and a topic of discussion: Heb. וְלִשְׁנִינָה. An expression similar to“And you will teach them (וְשִׁנַּנְתֶּם)” (Deut. 6:7) [… and speak of them. That is, people] will speak about you. The Targum [Onkelos] renders this [word] in the same way, [namely:] וּלְשׁוֹעִי, [which is similar to] וְאֶשְׁתָּעִי, [meaning to talk].
ולשנינה: לשון ושננתם (לעיל ו, ז) ידברו בך, וכן תרגומו ולשועי, לשון ספור, ואשתעי:
38. You will take much seed out to the field, yet you will gather in little, for the locusts will finish it. לח. זֶרַע רַב תּוֹצִיא הַשָּׂדֶה וּמְעַט תֶּאֱסֹף כִּי יַחְסְלֶנּוּ הָאַרְבֶּה:
will finish it: Heb. יַחְסְלֶנּוּ-means, the locusts will consume it. And because [the word חסל means to consume], the locust is also called חָסִיל (see e.g., Joel 1:4), for it consumes everything in its path. [Yerushalmi Taanit 3:6.]
יחסלנו: יכלנו, ועל שם כך נקרא חסיל, שמכלה את הכל:
39. You will plant vineyards and work [them], but you will neither drink of [their] wine, or gather [the grapes], because the worms will devour them. לט. כְּרָמִים תִּטַּע וְעָבָדְתָּ וְיַיִן לֹא תִשְׁתֶּה וְלֹא תֶאֱגֹר כִּי תֹאכְלֶנּוּ הַתֹּלָעַת:
40. You will have olive trees throughout all your boundaries, but you will not anoint with [their] oil, because your olive trees will drop off. מ. זֵיתִים יִהְיוּ לְךָ בְּכָל גְּבוּלֶךָ וְשֶׁמֶן לֹא תָסוּךְ כִּי יִשַּׁל זֵיתֶךָ:
will drop off: [Meaning, the olive tree] will shed its fruit. This is similar to the verb,“and the iron flew off [or slipped off] (וְנָשַׁל)” (Deut. 19:5).
כי ישל: ישיר פירותיו, לשון (לעיל יט, ה) ונשל הברזל:
41. You will bear sons and daughters, but you will not have them, because they will go into captivity. מא. בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת תּוֹלִיד וְלֹא יִהְיוּ לָךְ כִּי יֵלְכוּ בַּשֶּׁבִי:
42. All your trees and all the fruit of your soil the cicada will make destitute. מב. כָּל עֵצְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ יְיָרֵשׁ הַצְּלָצַל:
the cicada will make destitute: [The word יְיָרֵשׁ stems from the word רָשׁ, which means destitute or devoid. Thus, the verse here means that] the locusts will cause the tree to be devoid of fruit. [Therefore,]
יירש הצלצל: יעשנו הארבה רש מן הפרי:
will make destitute: Heb. יְיָרֵשׁ [has the meaning of] יַעֲנִי, “making it destitute.”
יירש: יעני:
the cicada: Heb. הַצְּלָצַל, a [particular] species of locust [which makes a loud sound (צְלִיל)]. Now, [the word יְיָרֵשׁ] must not be understood as denoting יְרוּשָׁה, “inheritance,” for in that case, the Scripture would have written: יִירַשׁ [i.e., with a different vocalization. Similarly,] it should not be understood to mean הוֹרָשָׁה,“driving out” for in that case, Scripture would have written: יוֹרִישׁ. [Rather, the word means “to make destitute, devoid,” as explained above.]
צלצל: מין ארבה. ואי אפשר לפרש יירש לשון ירושה, שאם כן היה לו לכתוב ירש, ולא לשון הורשה וגירושין, שאם כן היה לכתוב יוריש:
43. The stranger who is among you will arise above you, higher and higher, while you will descend lower and lower. מג. הַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבְּךָ יַעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ מַעְלָה מָּעְלָה וְאַתָּה תֵרֵד מַטָּה מָּטָּה:
44. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be at the head, while you will be at the tail. מד. הוּא יַלְוְךָ וְאַתָּה לֹא תַלְוֶנּוּ הוּא יִהְיֶה לְרֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה לְזָנָב:
45. All these curses will befall you, pursuing you and overtaking you to destroy you because you did not obey the Lord, your God, to observe His commandments and statutes which He commanded you. מה. וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וּרְדָפוּךָ וְהִשִּׂיגוּךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ כִּי לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר צִוָּךְ:
46. And they will be as a sign and a wonder, upon you and your offspring, forever, מו. וְהָיוּ בְךָ לְאוֹת וּלְמוֹפֵת וּבְזַרְעֲךָ עַד עוֹלָם:
47. because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when [you had an] abundance of everything. מז. תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָבַדְתָּ אֶת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְטוּב לֵבָב מֵרֹב כֹּל:
when [you had an] abundance of everything: when you still had all good things.
מרב כל: בעוד שהיה לך כל טוב:
48. Therefore, you will serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, [when you are] in famine, thirst, destitution, and lacking everything, and he will place an iron yoke upon your neck, until he has destroyed you. מח. וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת אֹיְבֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ יְהֹוָה בָּךְ בְּרָעָב וּבְצָמָא וּבְעֵירֹם וּבְחֹסֶר כֹּל וְנָתַן עֹל בַּרְזֶל עַל צַוָּארֶךָ עַד הִשְׁמִידוֹ אֹתָךְ:
49. The Lord will bring upon you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand, מט. יִשָּׂא יְהֹוָה עָלֶיךָ גּוֹי מֵרָחֹק מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִדְאֶה הַנָּשֶׁר גּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לֹא תִשְׁמַע לְשֹׁנוֹ:
as the eagle swoops down: i.e., suddenly and successfully. The horses [of this enemy nation] will run swiftly.
כאשר ידאה הנשר: פתאום ודרך מצלחת ויקלו סוסיו:
whose language you will not understand: Heb. תִּשְׁמַע. [Literally, “You will not hear his language,” i.e.,] you will not recognize its language. [We find a similar expression in Scripture:]“you understand (תִּשְׁמַע) a dream, to interpret it” (Gen. 41:15). Also,“[but they did not know] that Joseph understood (שֹׁמֵע)” (Gen. 42:23), entendre in Old French, to understand.
לא תשמע לשונו: לא תכיר לשונו, וכן (בראשית מא, טו) תשמע חלום לפתור אותו. וכן (שם מב, כג) כי שומע יוסף אינטינדר"י בלע"ז [להבין]:
50. a brazen nation, which will not respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. נ. גּוֹי עַז פָּנִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשָּׂא פָנִים לְזָקֵן וְנַעַר לֹא יָחֹן:
51. They will devour the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your soil, to destroy you. They will not leave over anything for you of the grain, wine, oil, offspring of your cattle or flocks of your sheep, until they annihilate you. נא. וְאָכַל פְּרִי בְהֶמְתְּךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתְךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַשְׁאִיר לְךָ דָּגָן תִּירוֹשׁ וְיִצְהָר שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ עַד הַאֲבִידוֹ אֹתָךְ:
52. And they will besiege you in all your cities, until your high and fortified walls in which you trust come down, throughout all your land. And they will besiege you in all your cities throughout all your land, which the Lord, your God, has given you. נב. וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ עַד רֶדֶת חֹמֹתֶיךָ הַגְּבֹהֹת וְהַבְּצֻרוֹת אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹּטֵחַ בָּהֵן בְּכָל אַרְצֶךָ וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּכָל אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָךְ:
until your… walls come down: [The רֶדֶת here is [an expression of רִדּוּי וְכִבּוּשׁ] subjugation and conquest.
עד רדת חמתיך: לשון רדוי וכבוש:
53. And during the siege and the desperation which your enemies will bring upon you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord, your God, gave you. נג. וְאָכַלְתָּ פְרִי בִטְנְךָ בְּשַׂר בָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיְבֶךָ:
And during the siege and desperation… you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons: Because [the enemies] will besiege the city, and there will be caused desperation, the distress of famine.
ואכלת פרי בטנך בשר בניך וגו' במצור: מחמת שיהיו צרין על העיר ויהיה שם מצוק עקת רעבון:
54. The most tender and delicate man among you, will begrudge his own brother and the wife of his embrace and the rest of his children, whom he will leave over, נד. הָאִישׁ הָרַךְ בְּךָ וְהֶעָנֹג מְאֹד תֵּרַע עֵינוֹ בְאָחִיו וּבְאֵשֶׁת חֵיקוֹ וּבְיֶתֶר בָּנָיו אֲשֶׁר יוֹתִיר:
The most tender and delicate man among you: This is referring to the same person, who is both tender and delicate. These terms denote a pampered existence. [The fact] that these two expressions refer to the same person is proved [by their use together], when it says, “מֵהִתְעַנֵּג וּמֵרֹךְ, because of delicateness and tenderness” (verse 56) [referring to the same person. And here, the verse tells us that] although he is so pampered and he [normally] cannot tolerate anything repugnant, the flesh of his sons and daughters will seem sweet to him as a result of his [intense] hunger. And it will reach a stage where he will begrudge his remaining children, by denying any of them the flesh of his sons, their brothers, which he is eating. Another explanation of הָרַךְ בְּךָ: The merciful and tenderhearted will become cruel because of the intense hunger, and they will not give the flesh of their slaughtered children to their remaining children.
הרך בך והענג: הוא הרך הוא הענוג, לשון פינוק. ומהתענג ומרך מוכיח עליהם ששניהם אחד, אף על פי שהוא מפונק ודעתו קצה בדבר מאוס, ימתק לו לרעבונו בשר בניו ובנותיו עד כי תרע עינו בבניו הנותרים מתת לאחד מהם מבשר בניו אחיהם אשר יאכל. דבר אחר הרך בך הרחמני ורך הלבב, מרוב רעבנותם, יתאכזרו ולא יתנו מבשר בניהם השחוטים לבניהם הנותרים:
55. of giving any one of them of the flesh of his children that he is eating, because not a thing will remain for him in the siege and in the desperation which your enemies will bring upon you, in all your cities. נה. מִתֵּת | לְאַחַד מֵהֶם מִבְּשַׂר בָּנָיו אֲשֶׁר יֹאכֵל מִבְּלִי הִשְׁאִיר לוֹ כֹּל בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיִבְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ:
56. The most tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set her foot upon the ground, because of delicateness and tenderness, will begrudge the husband of her embrace and her own son and daughter, נו. הָרַכָּה בְךָ וְהָעֲנֻגָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא נִסְּתָה כַף רַגְלָהּ הַצֵּג עַל הָאָרֶץ מֵהִתְעַנֵּג וּמֵרֹךְ תֵּרַע עֵינָהּ בְּאִישׁ חֵיקָהּ וּבִבְנָהּ וּבְבִתָּהּ:
will begrudge the husband of her embrace and her own son and daughter: [referring to her] grown-up [children].
תרע עינה באיש חיקה ובבנה ובבתה: הגדולים:
57. and the infants who emerge from between her legs, and her own children whom she will bear, for she will eat them in secret, in destitution, in the siege and the desperation which your enemies will inflict upon you, in your cities. נז. וּבְשִׁלְיָתָהּ הַיּוֹצֵת | מִבֵּין רַגְלֶיהָ וּבְבָנֶיהָ אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵד כִּי תֹאכְלֵם בְּחֹסֶר כֹּל בַּסָּתֶר בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיִבְךָ בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ:
and the infants who emerge from between her legs: i.e. the small children, she will begrudge all of them [the elder and the younger children] when she eats one by denying those beside her any of the flesh.
ובשליתה: בניה הקטנים בכולן תהא עינה צרה כשתאכל את האחד מליתן לאשר אצלה מן הבשר:
58. If you do not observe to fulfill all the words of this Torah, which are written in this scroll, to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord, your God, נח. אִם לֹא תִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת הַכְּתֻבִים בַּסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה לְיִרְאָה אֶת הַשֵּׁם הַנִּכְבַּד וְהַנּוֹרָא הַזֶּה אֵת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:
59. Then the Lord [will bring upon] you and your offspring uniquely [horrible] plagues, terrible and unyielding plagues, and evil and unyielding sicknesses. נט. וְהִפְלָא יְהֹוָה אֶת מַכֹּתְךָ וְאֵת מַכּוֹת זַרְעֶךָ מַכּוֹת גְּדֹלֹת וְנֶאֱמָנוֹת וָחֳלָיִם רָעִים וְנֶאֱמָנִים:
Then the Lord will bring upon you… plagues: [The Lord will bring upon you plagues which are more] remarkable and different from any other plagues.
והפלא ה' את מכתך: מופלאות ומובדלות משאר מכות:
unyielding: [Literally, “faithful.” I.e., these plagues will “faithfully”] chastise you in order to fulfill their mission.
ונאמנות: ליסרך לקיים שליחותן:
60. And He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ס. וְהֵשִׁיב בְּךָ אֵת כָּל מַדְוֵה מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יָגֹרְתָּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם וְדָבְקוּ בָּךְ:
which you dreaded: [You dreaded] those diseases [not that you dreaded Egypt]. When Israel saw the extraordinary plagues that befell Egypt, they were afraid of them, i.e., they were afraid that these plagues would befall them too. You should know, [that the Israelites dreaded the plagues of Egypt,] because it is written,“If you hearken…, all the sickness that I have visited upon Egypt, I will not visit upon you” (Exod. 15:26) [implying that if you do not hearken, I will place them upon you! Since Israel feared those plagues, God used them as a threat, because] one can instill fear into a person only through something he fears.
אשר יגרת מפניהם: מפני המכות כשהיו ישראל רואים מכות משונות הבאות על מצרים היו יראים מהם שלא יבואו גם עליהם, תדע שכן כתיב (שמות טו כו) אם שמוע וגו' כל המחלה אשר שמתי במצרים לא אשים עליך, אין מיראין את האדם אלא בדבר שהוא יגור ממנו:
61. Also, the Lord will bring upon you every disease and plague which is not written in this Torah scroll, to destroy you. סא. גַּם כָּל חֳלִי וְכָל מַכָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא כָתוּב בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת יַעְלֵם יְהֹוָה עָלֶיךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ:
will bring upon you: Heb. יַעְלֵם. [This term is] an expression of עִלִיּה, going up.
יעלם: לשון עלייה:
62. And you will remain few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars of the heavens because you did not obey the Lord, your God. סב. וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר הֱיִיתֶם כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לָרֹב כִּי לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ:
And you will remain few in number: Instead of being numerous [“as the stars of the stars of the heaven”], you will be few [in number].
ונשארתם במתי מעט תחת וגו': מועטין חלף מרובין:
63. And it will be, just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do good for you and to increase you, so will the Lord cause to rejoice over you to annihilate you and to destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land which you enter therein, to possess it. סג. וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׂשׂ יְהֹוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְהֵיטִיב אֶתְכֶם וּלְהַרְבּוֹת אֶתְכֶם כֵּן יָשִׂישׂ יְהֹוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְהַאֲבִיד אֶתְכֶם וּלְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם וְנִסַּחְתֶּם מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ:
So will the Lord cause to rejoice: [I.e., “so will He make] your enemies [rejoice] over you, to annihilate you.” [But the Holy One, Blessed is He, Himself, does not rejoice. From here, we learn that the Holy One, Blessed is He, does not rejoice over the downfall of the wicked, for in our verse it does not say יָשׂוּשׂ [in the simple conjugation], “rejoice,” but rather יָשִׂישׂ in the causative conjugation, “cause to rejoice.” I.e., God will make others rejoice over your downfall, because you acted wickedly, while He Himself will not personally rejoice over your downfall. Nevertheless, when it comes to bestowing good upon the righteous, God Himself rejoices, as it is said: “just as the Lord rejoiced (שָׂשׂ) over you [to do good for you,” where the verb שָׂשׂ is in the simple conjugation, for God Himself rejoices here]]. — [Meg. 10b]
כן ישיש ה': את אויביכם עליכם להאביד וגו':
and you will be uprooted: Heb. וְנִסַּחְתֶּם, an expression of uprooting. Similar to this is the verse,“The Lord will uproot (יִסַּח) the house of the arrogant” (Prov. 15:25).
ונסחתם: לשון עקירה וכן (משלי טו, כה) בית גאים יסח ה':
64. And the Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other deities unknown to you or your forefathers, [deities of] wood and stone. סד. וֶהֱפִיצְךָ יְהֹוָה בְּכָל הָעַמִּים מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ וְעַד קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ וְעָבַדְתָּ שָּׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַאֲבֹתֶיךָ עֵץ וָאָבֶן:
and there you will serve other deities: As the Targum [Onkelos] renders: [and there you will serve nations that worship idols. Thus, the verse is] not referring to actual idolatry, but rather paying customs and head taxes to idolatrous priests.
ועבדת שם אלהים אחרים: כתרגומו, לא עבודת אלהות ממש, אלא מעלים מס וגולגליות לכומרי עבודה זרה:
65. And among those nations, you will not be calm, nor will your foot find rest. There, the Lord will give you a trembling heart, dashed hopes, and a depressed soul. סה. וּבַגּוֹיִם הָהֵם לֹא תַרְגִּיעַ וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף רַגְלֶךָ וְנָתַן יְהֹוָה לְךָ שָׁם לֵב רַגָּז וְכִלְיוֹן עֵינַיִם וְדַאֲבוֹן נָפֶשׁ:
you will not be calm: Heb. לֹא תַרְגִּיעַ, [meaning, as Onkelos renders:] “You will not rest.” Similar to this is the verse,“and this is the rest (הַמַּרְגֵּעָה)” (Isa. 28:12).
לא תרגיע: לא תנוח, כמו (ישעיה כח, יב) וזאת המרגעה:
a trembling heart: Heb. לֵב רַגָּז, a trembling heart, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders: דָחֵיל, “fearful, trembling,” similar to“Gehinnom from beneath quaked (רָגְזָה) for you” (Isa. 14:9),“Peoples heard; they trembled (יִרְגָּזוּן) ” (Exod. 15:14), and“The foundations of heaven trembled (יִרְגָּזוּ)” (II Sam. 22:8).
לב רגז: לב חרד, כתרגומו דחל, כמו (שם יד ט) שאול מתחת רגזה לך, (שמות טו, יד) שמעו עמים ירגזון, (שמואל ב' כב, ח) מוסדות השמים ירגזו:
dashed hopes: [I.e.,] hoping for a salvation, but it never comes.
וכליון עינים: מצפה לישועה ולא תבא:
66. And your life will hang in suspense before you. You will be in fear night and day, and you will not believe in your life. סו. וְהָיוּ חַיֶּיךָ תְּלֻאִים לְךָ מִנֶּגֶד וּפָחַדְתָּ לַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם וְלֹא תַאֲמִין בְּחַיֶּיךָ:
Your life will hang in suspense: Heb. תְּלֻאִים, [meaning that they hang in suspense] because of uncertainty. Any doubt is denoted by the term תָּלוּי, “suspended.” [Here, the doubt is that you will constantly think:] “Perhaps I will die today by the sword that is befalling us.” Our Rabbis explain this verse as referring to one who purchases produce from the marketplace. [I.e., he relies directly on the marketplace for his sustenance, with the risk that if one time there is no produce in the market, he will not have provisions. Thus, his life “hangs in suspense.”]
חייך תלואים לך: על הספק, כל ספק קרוי תלוי, שמא אמות היום בחרב הבאה עלינו. ורבותינו דרשו זה הלוקח תבואה מן השוק:
and you will not believe in your life: This refers to one who relies on the shopkeeper [for his sustenance. This curse, therefore, represents a level of trust far worse than the one who relies upon the marketplace. A person can take provisions from the marketplace to last a long time, but one who relies upon the middleman is at further risk of not receiving sustenance]. — [see Men. 103b]
ולא תאמין בחייך: זה הסומך על הפלטר:
67. In the morning, you will say, "If only it were evening! " and in the evening, you will say, "If only it were morning!" because of the fear in your heart which you will experience and because of the sights that you will behold. סז. בַּבֹּקֶר תֹּאמַר מִי יִתֵּן עֶרֶב וּבָעֶרֶב תֹּאמַר מִי יִתֵּן בֹּקֶר מִפַּחַד לְבָבְךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּפְחָד וּמִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה:
In the morning, you will say, “If only it were evening!”: [I.e.,] if it were only yesterday evening! [The trouble will be worse in the morning, so that you will yearn for the previous evening]. — [Sotah 49a]
בבקר תאמר מי יתן ערב: ויהיה הערב של אמש:
and in the evening, you will say,“If only it were morning!”: [I.e.,] if it were only morning of that day! Thus, the troubles will always progressively intensify; each hour, the curse will be more severe than the preceding one. — [ibid.]
ובערב תאמר מי יתן בקר: של שחרית, שהצרות מתחזקות תמיד וכל שעה מרובה קללתה משלפניה:
68. And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, through the way about which I had said to you, You will never see it again. And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies for slaves and handmaids, but there will be no buyer. סח. וֶהֱשִׁיבְךָ יְהֹוָה | מִצְרַיִם בָּאֳנִיּוֹת בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי לְךָ לֹא תֹסִיף עוֹד לִרְאֹתָהּ וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם שָׁם לְאֹיְבֶיךָ לַעֲבָדִים וְלִשְׁפָחוֹת וְאֵין קֹנֶה:
in ships: In ships of captivity.
באניות: בספינות בשביה:
And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies: You will wish to be sold to them as slaves and handmaids.
והתמכרתם שם לאיביך: אתם מבקשים להיות נמכרים להם לעבדים ולשפחות:
but there will be no buyer: Because they will decree death and destruction upon you.
ואין קנה: כי יגזרו עליך הרג וכליון:
and you will seek to be sold: Heb. וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם, in Old French epor vandrez vos. [That is, the verb is in the reflexive conjugation. Accordingly,] it is incorrect to explain וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם [as if in the passive conjugation, i.e.,] as וְנִמְכַּרְתֶּם, “and you will be sold”-sold by others-because the verse continues: “but there will be no buyer.” [Thus how could they be “sold by others” if there is“no buyer”?]
והתמכרתם: בלע"ז איפורוונדרי"ץ וו"ש [ותמכרו עצמכם] ולא יתכן לפרש והתמכרתם לשון ונמכרתם על ידי מוכרים אחרים, מפני שנאמר אחריו ואין קונה:
69. These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. סט. אֵלֶּה דִבְרֵי הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת משֶׁה לִכְרֹת אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב מִלְּבַד הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אִתָּם בְּחֹרֵב:
to make with the Children of Israel: that they should accept the Torah upon themselves with a curse and an oath.
לכרת את בני ישראל: שיקבלו עליהם את התורה באלה ובשבועה:
besides the covenant: [Namely,] the curses [which appear] in Lev. (26: 14-39), which were proclaimed at [Mount] Sinai.
מלבד הברית: קללות שבתורת כהנים שנאמרו בסיני:
•Chapter 29
1. And Moses called all of Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the Lord did before your very eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land; א. וַיִּקְרָא משֶׁה אֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה לְעֵינֵיכֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְפַרְעֹה וּלְכָל עֲבָדָיו וּלְכָל אַרְצוֹ:
2. the great trials which your very eyes beheld and those great signs and wonders. ב. הַמַּסּוֹת הַגְּדֹלֹת אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ הָאֹתֹת וְהַמֹּפְתִים הַגְּדֹלִים הָהֵם:
3. Yet until this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear. ג. וְלֹא נָתַן יְהֹוָה לָכֶם לֵב לָדַעַת וְעֵינַיִם לִרְאוֹת וְאָזְנַיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה:
Yet…the Lord did not give you a heart to know: [I.e.,] to recognize the kind acts of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and [therefore] to cleave to Him.
ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת: להכיר את חסדי הקב"ה ולידבק בו:
until this day: I heard that on the very day that Moses gave the Torah scroll to the sons of Levi-as the verse says, “And he gave it to the kohanim , the sons of Levi” (Deut. 31:19)-all Israel came before Moses and said to him: “Moses, our Teacher! We also stood at [Mount] Sinai and accepted the Torah, and it was [also] given to us! Why, then, are you giving the members of your tribe control over it, so that some day in the future they may claim, 'It was not given to you-it was given only to us!’” Moses rejoiced over this matter and it was on account of this, that he said to them, “This day, you have become a people [to the Lord your God]” (Deut. 27:9). [This meant:] “It is today that I understand that you cleave to the Omnipresent and desire Him.”
עד היום הזה: שמעתי שאותו היום שנתן משה ספר התורה לבני לוי, כמו שכתוב (לקמן לא, ט) ויתנה אל הכהנים בני לוי באו כל ישראל לפני משה ואמרו לו משה רבינו אף אנו עמדנו בסיני וקבלנו את התורה ונתנה לנו, ומה אתה משליט את בני שבטך עליה, ויאמרו לנו יום מחר לא לכם נתנה, לנו נתנה. ושמח משה על הדבר, ועל זאת אמר להם היום הזה נהיית לעם וגו' (לעיל כז, ט), היום הזה הבנתי שאתם דבקים וחפצים במקום:
4. I led you through the desert for forty years [during which time] your garments did not wear out from upon you, nor did your shoes wear out from upon your feet. ד. וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה בַּמִּדְבָּר לֹא בָלוּ שַׂלְמֹתֵיכֶם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם וְנַעַלְךָ לֹא בָלְתָה מֵעַל רַגְלֶךָ:
5. You neither ate bread, nor drank new wine or old wine, in order that you would know that I am the Lord, your God. ה. לֶחֶם לֹא אֲכַלְתֶּם וְיַיִן וְשֵׁכָר לֹא שְׁתִיתֶם לְמַעַן תֵּדְעוּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:
6. And then you arrived at this place. And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out towards us in battle, and we smote them. ו. וַתָּבֹאוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיֵּצֵא סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן וְעוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן לִקְרָאתֵנוּ לַמִּלְחָמָה וַנַּכֵּם:
And then you arrived at this place: Now you see yourselves in greatness and in honor; [but] do not rebel against the Omnipresent nor let your hearts become haughty; rather, “Observe the words of this covenant” (verse 8). Another explanation of “Yet… the Lord did not give you a heart to know” (verse 3): No one can fathom neither the depths of his teacher’s mind nor the wisdom of his studies before forty years. Hence, the Omnipresent was not strict with you until this day; but from now on [since today marks forty years for the people of Israel], He will be strict with you; and therefore: “Observe the words of this covenant…” (verse 8).
ותבאו אל המקום הזה: עתה אתם רואים עצמכם בגדולה וכבוד אל תבעטו במקום ואל ירום לבבכם, ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת. דבר אחר ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת, שאין אדם עומד על סוף דעתו של רבו וחכמת משנתו עד ארבעים שנה ולפיכך לא הקפיד עליכם המקום עד היום הזה, אבל מכאן ואילך יקפיד ולפיכך (פסוק ח) ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת וגו':
7. And we took their land, and we gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh. ז. וַנִּקַּח אֶת אַרְצָם וַנִּתְּנָהּ לְנַחֲלָה לָראוּבֵנִי וְלַגָּדִי וְלַחֲצִי שֵׁבֶט הַמְנַשִּׁי:
8. And you shall observe the words of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you will succeed in all that you do. ח. וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת דִּבְרֵי הַבְּרִית הַזֹּאת וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם לְמַעַן תַּשְׂכִּילוּ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשׂוּן:
___________________________
Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapters 83-87 & Chapters 88-89
• Special Custom for the Month of Elul and High Holidays
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
See below for today's additional chapters.
Chapter 83
A prayer regarding the wars against Israel in the days of Jehoshaphat, when the nations plotted against Israel.
1. A song, a psalm by Asaph.
2. O God, do not be silent; do not be quiet and do not be still, O God.
3. For behold, Your enemies are in uproar, and those who hate You have raised their head.
4. They plot deviously against Your nation, and conspire against those sheltered by You.
5. They say, "Come, let us sever them from nationhood, and the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
6. For they conspire with a unanimous heart, they made a covenant against You-
7. the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
8. Geval and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.
9. Assyria, too, joined with them, and became the strength of the sons of Lot, Selah.
10. Do to them as to Midian; as to Sisera and Yavin at the brook of Kishon,
11. who were destroyed at Ein Dor, and were as dung for the earth.
12. Make their nobles like Orev and Ze'ev, all their princes like Zevach and Tzalmuna,1
13. who said, "Let us inherit the dwellings of God for ourselves.”
14. My God, make them like whirling chaff, like straw before the wind.
15. As a fire consumes the forest, and a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
16. so pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your storm.
17. Fill their faces with shame, and they will seek Your Name, O Lord.
18. Let them be shamed and terrified forever; let them be disgraced and perish.
19. And they will know that You, Whose Name is the Lord, are alone, Most High over all the earth.
Chapter 84
In this psalm of prayers and entreaties, the psalmist mourns bitterly over the destruction of Temple from the depths of his heart, and speaks of the many blessings that will be realized upon its restoration. Fortunate is the one who trusts it will be rebuilt, and does not despair in the face of this long exile.
1. For the Conductor, on the gittit,1 a psalm by the sons of Korach.
2. How beloved are Your dwellings, O Lord of Hosts!
3. My soul yearns, indeed it pines, for the courtyards of the Lord; my heart and my flesh [long to] sing to the living God.
4. Even the bird has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she lays her young on the [ruins of] Your altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.
5. Fortunate are those who dwell in Your House; they will yet praise You forever.
6. Fortunate is the man whose strength is in You; the paths [to the Temple] are in his heart.
7. For those who pass through the Valley of Thorns, He places wellsprings; their guide will be cloaked in blessings.2
8. They go from strength to strength; they will appear before God in Zion.
9. O Lord, God of Hosts, hear my prayer; listen, O God of Jacob, forever.
10. See our shield,3 O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed one.
11. For better one day in Your courtyards than a thousand [elsewhere]. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God, than dwell [in comfort] in the tents of wickedness.
12. For the Lord, God, is a sun and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and glory; He does not withhold goodness from those who walk in innocence.
13. O Lord of Hosts! Fortunate is the man who trusts in You.
Chapter 85
In this prayer, lamenting the long and bitter exile, the psalmist asks why this exile is longer than the previous ones, and implores God to quickly fulfill His promise to redeem us. Every individual should offer this psalm when in distress.
1. For the Conductor, a psalm by the sons of Korach.
2. O Lord, You favored Your land; You returned the captives of Jacob.
3. You forgave the iniquity of Your people, and covered all their sin forever.
4. You withdrew all Your fury, and retreated from Your fierce anger.
5. Return us, O God of our salvation, and annul Your anger toward us.
6. Will You forever be angry with us? Will You draw out Your anger over all generations?
7. Is it not true that You will revive us again, and Your people will rejoice in You?
8. Show us Your kindness, O Lord, and grant us Your deliverance.
9. I hear what the Almighty Lord will say; for He speaks peace to His nation and to His pious ones, and they will not return to folly.
10. Indeed, His deliverance is near those who fear Him, that [His] glory may dwell in the land.
11. Kindness and truth have met; righteousness and peace have kissed.
12. Truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will peer from heaven.
13. The Lord, too, will bestow goodness, and our land will yield its produce.
14. Righteousness shall walk before him, and he shall set his footsteps in [its] path.
Chapter 86
This psalm contains many prayers regarding David's troubles, and his enemies Doeg and Achitophel. It also includes many descriptions of God's praise. Every individual can offer this psalm when in distress.
1. A prayer by David. Lord, turn Your ear, answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2. Guard my soul, for I am pious; You, my God, deliver Your servant who trusts in You.
3. Be gracious to me, my Lord, for to You I call all day.
4. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant, for to You, my Lord, I lift my soul.
5. For You, my Lord, are good and forgiving, and exceedingly kind to all who call upon You.
6. Lord, hear my prayer and listen to the voice of my supplications.
7. On the day of my distress I call upon You, for You will answer me.
8. There is none like You among the supernal beings, my Lord, and there are no deeds like Yours.
9. All the nations that You have made will come and bow down before You, my Lord, and give honor to Your Name,
10. for You are great and perform wonders, You alone, O God.
11. Lord, teach me Your way that I may walk in Your truth; unify my heart to fear Your Name.
12. I will praise You, my Lord, my God, with all my heart, and give honor to Your Name forever.
13. For Your kindness to me has been great; You have saved my soul from the depth of the grave.
14. O God, malicious men have risen against me; a band of ruthless men has sought my soul; they are not mindful of You.
15. But You, my Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in kindness and truth.
16. Turn to me and be gracious to me; grant Your strength to Your servant, and deliver the son of Your maidservant.
17. Show me a sign of favor, that my foes may see and be shamed, because You, Lord, have given me aid and consoled me.
Chapter 87
Composed to be sung in the Holy Temple, this psalm praises the glory of Jerusalem, a city that produces many great scholars, eminent personalities, and persons of good deeds. It also speaks of the good that will occur in the Messianic era.
1. By the sons of Korach, a psalm, a song devoted to the holy mountains [of Zion and Jerusalem].
2. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3. Glorious things are spoken of you, eternal city of God.
4. I will remind Rahav Egypt and Babylon concerning My beloved; Philistia and Tyre as well as Ethiopia, "This one was born there.”
5. And to Zion will be said, "This person and that was born there"; and He, the Most High, will establish it.
6. The Lord will count in the register of people, "This one was born there," Selah.
7. Singers as well as dancers [will sing your praise and say], "All my inner thoughts are of you."
Additional Three Chapters
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
Today's Chapters are 49, 50 and 51.
Chapter 49
This psalm is a strong message and inspiration for all, rich and poor alike, rebuking man for transgressions which, owing to habit, he no longer considers sinful; yet, these sins incriminate man on the Day of Judgement. The psalm speaks specifically to the wealthy, who rely not on God but on their wealth.
1. For the Conductor, by the sons of Korach, a psalm.
2. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all you inhabitants of the world;
3. sons of common folk and sons of nobility, rich and poor alike.
4. My mouth speaks wisdom, and the thoughts of my heart are understanding.
5. I incline my ear to the parable; I will unravel my riddle upon the harp.
6. Why am I afraid in times of trouble? [Because] the sins I trod upon surround me.
7. There are those who rely on their wealth, who boast of their great riches.
8. Yet a man cannot redeem his brother, nor pay his ransom to God.
9. The redemption of their soul is too costly, and forever unattainable.
10. Can one live forever, never to see the grave?
11. Though he sees that wise men die, that the fool and the senseless both perish, leaving their wealth to others-
12. [nevertheless,] in their inner thoughts their houses will last forever, their dwellings for generation after generation; they have proclaimed their names throughout the lands.
13. But man will not repose in glory; he is likened to the silenced animals.
14. This is their way-their folly remains with them, and their descendants approve of their talk, Selah.
15. Like sheep, they are destined for the grave; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright will dominate them at morning; their form will rot in the grave, away from its abode.
16. But God will redeem my soul from the hands of the grave, for He will take me, Selah.
17. Do not fear when a man grows rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
18. for when he dies he will take nothing, his glory will not descend after him.
19. For he [alone] praises himself in his lifetime; but [all] will praise you if you better yourself.
20. He will come to the generation of his forefathers; they shall not see light for all eternity.
21. Man [can live] in glory but does not understand; he is likened to the silenced animals.
Chapter 50
This psalm speaks of many ethics and morals. The psalmist rebukes those who fail to repent humbly and modestly. He also admonishes those who do not practice that which they study, and merely appear to be righteous; they sin and cause others to sin.
1. A psalm by Asaph. Almighty God, the Lord, spoke and called to the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2. Out of Zion, the place of perfect beauty, God appeared.
3. Our God will come and not be silent; a fire will consume before Him, His surroundings are furiously turbulent.
4. He will call to the heavens above, and to the earth, to avenge His people:
5. "Gather to Me My pious ones, those who made a covenant with me over a sacrifice.”
6. Then the heavens declared His righteousness, for God is Judge forever.
7. Listen, my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you-I am God your God.
8. Not for [the lack of] your sacrifices will I rebuke you, nor for [the lack of] your burnt offerings which ought to be continually before Me.
9. I do not take oxen from your house, nor goats from your pens;
10. for every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle of a thousand mountains.
11. I know every bird of the mountains, and the crawling creatures of the field are in My possession.
12. Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine.
13. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14. Offer confession as a sacrifice to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15. and call to Me on the day of distress; I will free you, and you will honor Me.
16. But to the wicked, God said, "What does it help you to discuss My laws, and bear My covenant upon your lips?
17. For you hate discipline, and throw My words behind you.
18. When you see a thief you run with him, and your lot is with adulterers.
19. You sent forth your mouth for evil, and attach your tongue to deceit.
20. You sit down to talk against your brother; your mother's son you defame.
21. You have done these things and I kept silent, so you imagine that I am like you-[but] I will rebuke you and lay it clearly before your eyes.
22. Understand this now, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart and there be none to save you.
23. He who offers a sacrifice of confession honors Me; and to him who sets right his way, I will show the deliverance of God."
Chapter 51
This psalm speaks of when Nathan the prophet went to David's palace, and rebuked him for his sin with Bathsheba. David then secluded himself with God, offering awe-inspiring prayers and begging forgiveness. Every person should recite this psalm for his sins and transgressions.
1. For the Conductor, a psalm by David,
2. when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.
3. Be gracious to me, O God, in keeping with Your kindness; in accordance with Your abounding compassion, erase my transgressions.
4. Cleanse me thoroughly of my wrongdoing, and purify me of my sin.
5. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
6. Against You alone have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Your eyes; [forgive me] so that You will be justified in Your verdict, vindicated in Your judgment.
7. Indeed, I was begotten in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
8. Indeed, You desire truth in the innermost parts; teach me the wisdom of concealed things.
9. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be pure; cleanse me and I shall be whiter than snow.
10. Let me hear [tidings of] joy and gladness; then the bones which You have shattered will rejoice.
11. Hide Your face from my sins, and erase all my trespasses.
12. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew within me an upright spirit.
13. Do not cast me out of Your presence, and do not take Your Spirit of Holiness away from me.
14. Restore to me the joy of Your deliverance, and uphold me with a spirit of magnanimity.
15. I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
16. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, God of my deliverance; my tongue will sing Your righteousness.
17. My Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise.
18. For You do not desire that I bring sacrifices, nor do You wish burnt offerings.
19. The offering [desirable] to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and broken heart, God, You do not disdain.
20. In Your goodwill, bestow goodness upon Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
21. Then will You desire sacrifices [offered in] righteousness, olah and other burnt offerings; then they will offer bullocks upon Your altar.
• Special Custom for the Month of Elul and High Holidays
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
See below for today's additional chapters.
Chapter 88
The psalmist weeps and laments bitterly over the maladies and suffering Israel endures in exile, which he describes in detail.
1. A song, a psalm by the sons of Korach, for the Conductor, upon the machalat le'anot; 1 a maskil2 for Heiman the Ezrachite.
2. O Lord, God of my deliverance, by day I cried out [to You], by night I [offer my prayer] before You.
3. Let my prayer come before You; turn Your ear to my supplication.
4. For my soul is sated with affliction, and my life has reached the grave.
5. I was reckoned with those who go down to the pit, I was like a man without strength.
6. [I am regarded] among the dead who are free, like corpses lying in the grave, of whom You are not yet mindful, who are yet cut off by Your hand.
7. You have put me into the lowest pit, into the darkest places, into the depths.
8. Your wrath has weighed heavily upon me, and all the waves [of Your fury] have constantly afflicted me.
9. You have estranged my friends from me, You have made me abhorrent to them; I am imprisoned and unable to leave.
10. My eye is afflicted because of distress; I call to You, O Lord, every day; I have stretched out my hands [in prayer] to You.
11. Do You perform wonders for the deceased? Do the dead stand to offer You praise? Selah.
12. Is Your kindness recounted in the grave, your faithfulness in the place of perdition?
13. Are Your wondrous deeds known in the darkness [of the grave], or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
14. But, I, to You, O Lord, I cry; each morning my prayer comes before You.
15. Why, O Lord, do You forsake my soul? Why do You conceal Your countenance from Me?
16. From my youth I have been afflicted and approaching death, yet I have borne the fear of You which is firmly established within me.
17. Your furies have passed over me; Your terrors have cut me down.
18. They have engulfed me like water all day long, they all together surrounded me.
19. You have estranged from me beloved and friend; I have been rejected by my intimates.
Chapter 89
This psalm speaks of the kingship of the House of David, the psalmist lamenting its fall from power for many years, and God's abandonment and spurning of us.
1. A maskil1 by Eitan the Ezrachite.
2. I will sing of the Lord's kindness forever; to all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.
3. For I have said, "The world is built with kindness; there in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”
4. I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn to David, My servant:
5. "I will establish Your descendants forever; I will build your throne for all generations," Selah.
6. Then the heavens will extol Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness, too, in the congregation of the holy ones.
7. Indeed, who in heaven can be compared to the Lord, who among the supernal beings can be likened to the Lord!
8. The Almighty is revered in the great assembly of the holy ones, awe-inspiring to all who surround Him.
9. O Lord, God of Hosts, who is mighty like You, O God! Your faithfulness surrounds You.
10. You rule the vastness of the sea; when its waves surge, You still them.
11. You crushed Rahav (Egypt) like a corpse; with Your powerful arm You scattered Your enemies.
12. Yours are the heavens, the earth is also Yours; the world and all therein-You established them.
13. The north and the south-You created them; Tabor and Hermon sing of [the greatness] of Your Name.
14. Yours is the arm which has the might; strengthen Your hand, raise high Your right hand.
15. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; kindness and truth go before Your countenance.
16. Fortunate is the people who know the sound of the shofar; Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
17. They rejoice in Your Name all day, and they are exalted through Your righteousness.
18. Indeed, You are the splendor of their might, and in Your goodwill our glory is exalted.
19. For our protectors turn to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
20. Then You spoke in a vision to Your pious ones and said: "I have granted aid to [David] the mighty one; I have exalted the one chosen from among the people.
21. I have found David, My servant; I have anointed him with My holy oil.
22. It is he whom My hand shall be prepared [to assist]; My arm, too, shall strengthen him.
23. The enemy shall not prevail over him, nor shall the iniquitous person afflict him.
24. And I will crush his adversaries before him, and will strike down those who hate him.
25. Indeed, My faithfulness and My kindness shall be with him, and through My Name his glory shall be exalted.
26. I will set his hand upon the sea, his right hand upon the rivers.
27. He will call out to Me, 'You are my Father, my God, the strength of my deliverance.’
28. I will also make him [My] firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth.
29. I will maintain My kindness for him forever; My covenant shall remain true to him.
30. And I will bestow [kingship] upon his seed forever, and his throne will endure as long as the heavens last.
31. If his children forsake My Torah and do not walk in My ordinances;
32. if they profane My statutes and do not observe My commandments,
33. then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their misdeeds with plagues.
34. Yet I shall not take away My kindness from him, nor betray My faithfulness.
35. I will not abrogate My covenant, nor change that which has issued from My lips.
36. One thing I have sworn by My holiness-I will not cause disappointment to David.
37. His seed will endure forever and his throne will be [resplendent] as the sun before Me.
38. Like the moon, it shall be established forever; [the moon] is a faithful witness in the sky for all time.”
39. Yet You have forsaken and abhorred; You became enraged at Your anointed.
40. You annulled the covenant with Your servant; You have profaned his crown [by casting it] to the ground.
41. You shattered all his fences; You turned all his strongholds into ruin.
42. All wayfarers despoiled him; he has become a disgrace to his neighbors.
43. You have uplifted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
44. You also turned back the blade of his sword, and did not sustain him in battle.
45. You put an end to his splendor, and toppled his throne to the ground.
46. You have cut short the days of his youth; You have enclothed him with long-lasting shame.
47. How long, O Lord, will You conceal Yourself-forever? [How long] will Your fury blaze like fire?
48. O remember how short is my life span! Why have You created all children of man for naught?
49. What man can live and not see death, can save his soul forever from the grave?
50. Where are Your former deeds of kindness, my Lord, which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
51. Remember, my Lord, the disgrace of Your servants, that I bear in my bosom from all the many nations;
52. that Your enemies have disgraced, O Lord, that they have disgraced the footsteps of Your anointed.
53. Blessed is the Lord forever, Amen and Amen.
Additional Three Chapters
The Baal Shem Tov instituted a custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms).
Today's Chapters are 52, 53 and 54.
Chapter 52
David laments his suffering at the hands of Doeg, and speaks of Doeg's boasts about the evil he committed. David asks, "What does he think? Does he consider the doing of evil a mark of strength?" David also curses Doeg and those like him.
1. For the Conductor, a maskil by David,
2. when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul, saying to him, "David has come to the house of Achimelech.”
3. Why do you boast with evil, O mighty one? God's kindness is all day long.
4. Your tongue devises treachery; like a sharpened razor it works deceit.
5. You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking righteousness, Selah.
6. You love all devouring words, a deceitful tongue.
7. God will likewise shatter you forever; He will excise and pluck you from the tent, and uproot you from the land of the living forever.
8. The righteous will see it and be awed, and they will laugh at him:
9. "Here is the man who did not make God his stronghold, but trusted in his great wealth, and drew strength from his treachery.”
10. But I am like a fresh olive tree in the house of God; I trust in God's kindness forever and ever.
11. I will thank you forever for what You have done; I will hope in Your Name, for You are good to Your pious ones.
Chapter 53
This psalm speaks of when Titus pierced the curtain of the Holy of Holies with his sword, and thought he had killed "himself" (a euphemism for God).
1. For the Conductor, on the machalat,1 a mas-kil2 by David.
2. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God!" They have acted corruptly and committed abominable deeds; not one does good.
3. God looked down from heaven upon mankind, to see if there was any man of intelligence who searches for God.
4. But they all regressed together; they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
5. Indeed, the evildoers who devour My people as they devour bread, who do not call upon God, will come to realize.
6. There they will be seized with fright, a fright such as never was; for God scatters the bones of those encamped against you. You shamed them, for God rejected them.
7. O that out of Zion would come Israel's deliverance! When God returns the captivity of His people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice.
Chapter 54
A prayer to God asking that in His might He save all who hope for His kindness. Read, and you will discover an awe-inspiring and wondrous prayer that should be said by all in the appropriate time.
1. For the Conductor, with instrumental music, a maskil by David,
2. when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, "Behold, David is hiding among us!”
3. O God, deliver me by Your Name, and vindicate me by Your might.
4. God, hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth.
5. For strangers have risen against me, and ruthless men have sought my soul; they are not mindful of God, Selah.
6. Behold, God is my helper; my Lord is with those who support my soul.
7. He will repay the evil of my watchful enemies; destroy them by Your truth.
8. With a free-will offering I will sacrifice to You; I will offer thanks to Your Name, O Lord, for it is good.
9. For He has saved me from every trouble, and my eye has seen [the downfall of] my enemy.
____________________________
Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 15 & Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle 15
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
Friday, 17 Elul 5774 • 12 September 2014 & Shabbat, 18 Elul 5774 • 13 September 2014
• Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 15
והנה מדות אלו, הן בחינות חיצוניות שבנפש
Now, these emotive attributes — those involved in imparting enlightenment, and the like — are the external aspects of the soul.
ובתוכן מלובשות מדות פנימיות
Within them are vested the inner attributes, which bring about the external attributes involved in the actual imparting of knowledge,
שהן בחינות אהבה ויראה כו׳
i.e., the faculties of love and awe, and so on.
דהיינו, על דרך משל, באב המשפיע לבנו מחמת אהבתו
This may be compared to the case of a father who bestows enlightenment upon his son because of his love for him,
The internal aspect of the attribute involved is love and its external aspect is kindness.
ומונע השפעתו מפחדו ויראתו שלא יבא לידי מכשול, חס ושלום
and withholds his influence because of his dread and fear lest [his son] come to some downfall, heaven forfend.
The father’s fear and dread are thus the internal aspect of his Gevurah, the attribute that completely or partially witholds the flow of instruction.
The remaining emotive attributes are all offshoots of love and fear (as explained in Part I, ch. 3, above), and accordingly they too possess internal and external aspects.
* * *
Having dealt with the middot, the seven emotive attributes of the soul, the Alter Rebbe now proceeds to discuss the intellective attributes which give birth to them.
ומקור ושרש מדות אלו, הפנימיות והחיצוניות
The source and root of these internal and external emotive attributes,
הוא מחב״ד שבנפשו
is the ChaBaD — an acronym for the intellectual faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daat — of one’s soul,
כי לפי שכל האדם, כך הן מדותיו
for a person’s emotive traits are in proportion to his intellect.
כנראה בחוש, שהקטן, שהחב״ד שלו הן בבחינת קטנות, כך כל מדותיו הן בדברים קטני הערך
This is empirically evident; with a child, for example, whose ChaBaD are in a state of pettiness, all his emotive traits, too, relate to insignificant things, and as he matures in age and understanding, his emotive traits correspondingly aspire to worthier goals.
וגם בגדולים, לפי שכלו יהולל איש
With adults, too, the emotive traits develop in proportion to the intellect, for1 “According to his intelligence is a man praised.”
Since the term “man” (איש) is an appelative for the emotive traits (cf. the verse,2 “As is a man, so is his Gevurah”), the previously-quoted verse is teaching us that a person’s emotive traits are praiseworthy in proportion to the stature of his ChaBaD.
כי לפי רוב חכמתו, כך הוא רוב אהבתו וחסדו
For the extent of his love and kindness corresponds to the extent of his wisdom,
וכן שאר כל מדותיו פנימיות וחיצוניות, מקורן הוא מחב״ד שבו
and all his other internal and external traits likewise have their source in his ChaBaD.
והעיקר הוא הדעת שבו, הנמשך מבחינת החכמה ובינה שבו
Most important to the development of the spiritual emotions is one’s Daat, which derives from one’s Chochmah and Binah.
A thinker first grasps the essence of a concept through the seminal flash of illumination afforded by his faculty of Chochmah; he next understands it fully by means of the analysis and amplification which are the function of his faculty of Binah; ultimately, he must immerse himself in concentration on the concept, binding and unifying himself with it to the point that — beyond mere intellective comprehension — he also senses and experiences it with his faculty of Daat.
It is this faculty that is critical to the development of his middot, such as the spiritual emotions of love and awe of G‑d, for Daat provides them with their substance and vitality, as explained in Part I, ch. 3.
כנראה בחוש, כי לפי שינוי דעות בני אדם זה מזה, כך הוא שינוי מדותיהם
This is readily observable, for the differences between the emotive traits of various people corresponds to the differences in their respective degrees of Daat.
FOOTNOTES
1. Mishlei 12:8.
2. Shoftim 8:21.
• Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle 15
והנה כל זה הוא רק על דרך משל לבד
Now all this — the above-mentioned effect of the emotive traits upon the resultant teaching or influence — is only by way of allegory, and does not provide a completely true picture of the Sefirot as they exist within man’s soul,
כי כל זה הוא בנפש השכלית, התחתונה שבאדם, הבאה מקליפת נוגה
for all this applies to the rational soul, which is the lower one in man, and derives from kelipat nogah.
This “lower soul” naturally inclines to “lower” (i.e., corporeal) matters, so that even its intellect goes only as far as understanding the composition and so on, of mundane things. For although the kelipah which is the source of this soul is kelipat nogah, a kelipah whose darkness is relieved by a ray of good, nevertheless it is wholly bound up with mundanity.
אך באמת לאמיתו, בנפש העליונה האלקית, שהיא חלק אלוה ממעל
But in true fact, with regard to [the Sefirot in] the higher, divine soul, which is a “part of G‑d above,”1
כל המדות פנימיות וחיצוניות הן לה׳ לבדו
all the internal and external attributes are [directed] to G‑d alone: the divine soul is concerned with spiritual things alone, so that both its (internal) love and (external) Chesed are concentrated purely on G‑dliness.
כי מחמת אהבת ה׳, ומרוב חפצו לדבקה בו
For because of one’s love of G‑d and because of one’s great desire to cleave unto Him,
הוא חפץ חסד, כדי לידבק במדותיו
he desires with all his being [to practice] Chesed, in order to cleave to His attributes.
כמאמר רז״ל על פסוק, ולדבקה בו: הדבק במדותיו
This accords with the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, on the verse,2 “And to cleave unto Him”: “Cleave unto His attributes.”3
Just as G‑d is compassionate so should mortal man be compassionate; just as G‑d has an innate desire to practice kindness, so should a person’s inner desire to practice kindness be motivated by a desire to cleave to G‑d.
As to the attribute of Chesed, then, both its internal aspect (love) and its external aspect (kindness) are directed purely to G‑dly things.
וכן במדת הגבורה
It is likewise with the attribute of Gevurah, whose internal aspect is fear; it, too, is experienced only for G‑dly causes:
להפרע מן הרשעים, ולענשם בעונשי התורה
for example, to punish and chastise the wicked with the punishments of the Torah;
וכן להתגבר על יצרו, ולקדש את עצמו במותר לו
and also, to prevail over one’s [evil] inclination and to4 “Sanctify himself in that which is permitted to him,”
ולעשות גדר וסייג לתורה
and to5 put up a fence and a hedge around the Torah,
מפני פחד ה׳ ויראתו, פן יבוא לידי חטא, חס ושלום
because of the dread and fear of G‑d, lest he might come to sin, heaven forfend.
In order to ensure that he will not come to sin, a person may thus choose to sanctify himself and refrain from6 “one hundred portals of the permissible, so as not to transgress in one portal of the prohibited.”
To summarize the above conclusions regarding the first two of the seven middot, or spiritual emotions: Not only is a man’s attribute of Chesed directed to G‑dly matters, but so too is his attribute of Gevurah — both in its internal aspect, viz., the fear of G‑d, and in its external manifestations in his rigorous observance of the Torah and its mitzvot.
וכן לפאר את ה׳ ותורתו בכל מיני פאר
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Tiferet (lit., “beauty”), [a man seeks] to glorify G‑d and His Torah in all ways possible, such as by possessing a beautiful sefer Torah, beautiful tefillin and the like,
ולדבקה בשבחיו בכל בחינות נפשו
and to cleave to His praises [by praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul:
דהיינו, בהתבוננות שכלו ומחשבתו
that is, by intellectual and thoughtful meditation on the greatness of G‑d, which blossoms into the singing of His praises;
גם בדיבורו
and likewise when he speaks, his praises are not empty words, but grow out of his preparatory meditation.
“[Praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul” thus means that the worshiper utilizes his intellect and emotions as well as all three “garments” of his soul (i.e., the soul’s media of self-expression), viz., thought, speech and action (for speech constitutes7 “mini-action”). Alternatively, “[praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul” may mean: all those aspects of the soul that relate to praise, i.e., intellect, thought and speech.
וכן לעמוד בנצחון נגד כל מונע מעבודת ה׳ ומלדבקה בו
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Netzach, [a man seeks] to prevail triumphantly against anything that would restrain [him] from the service of G‑d and from cleaving unto Him,
ונגד כל מונע מלהיות כבוד ה׳ מלא את כל הארץ
and against anything that would restrain [the state of revelation in which]8 the entire earth is filled with the glory of G‑d,
כמלחמות ה׳ אשר נלחם דוד המלך, עליו השלום
like the wars for G‑d fought by King David, peace to him, which derived from his attribute of Netzach.
וכן להשתחוות ולהודות לה׳
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Hod,9 which implies self-abnegation, and acknowledging the transcendence of that which defies his mortal understanding, [a man seeks] to prostrate himself and to [self-effacingly] praise G‑d
אשר מחיה ומהוה את הכל, והכל בטל במציאות אצלו, וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב, וכאין ואפס ממש
Who animates and creates everything, and before Whom everything is essentially non-existent and esteemed as truly nothing and null.
ואף שאין אנו משיגים איך הוא הכל אפס ממש קמיה
Though we cannot apprehend just how everything is truly as null before Him,
אף על פי כן מודים אנחנו, בהודאה אמיתית, שכן הוא באמת לאמיתו
nevertheless, we acknowledge and genuinely concede that in absolute truth such is the case.
From the very depths of his soul the Jew acknowledges that G‑d’s “Supernal Daat” and knowledge that everything is essentially non-existent before Him is true, and that the mortal understanding of our “inferior Daat” — that creation does indeed exist, except that it is nullified to Him — results from the limited compass of our earthbound perspective.10 This acknowledgement results from the self-abnegation expressed by the attribute of Hod.
ובכלל זה גם כן להודות לה׳ על כל הטובות אשר גמלנו
This [attribute] also includes the expression of gratitude11 to G‑d for all the favors that He has bestowed upon us,
ולא להיות כפוי טובה, חס ושלום
so that [we] should not be ungrateful, G‑d forbid.
ובכלל זה להודות על כל שבחיו ומדותיו ופעולותיו באצילות ובריאות עליונים ותחתונים
This [attribute of Hod] also includes the offering of thanks to G‑d for all His praiseworthy [deeds], and His attributes and His workings in the emanation and creation of the upper and lower worlds,
שהם משובחים עד אין תכלית חקר
for they are praiseworthy to no end,12
ונאים וראוים אליו, יתברך ויתעלה
and are becoming and befitting Him, blessed and exalted be He.
והוא מלשון הוד והדר
The term [Hod is here to be understood] as in the phrase,13 Hod vehadar (“majesty and splendor”).
וכן במדת צדיק יסוד עולם
And likewise [engaged in one’s divine service is] the attribute of [Yesod (lit., “foundation”), as in the phrase],14 “The tzaddik is the foundation of the world.”
In the above analogy, it was by means of the attribute of Yesod that the father communicated with his son and disciple through bonds of desire and pleasure. So, too, in the realm of divine service, the attribute of Yesod involves cleaving to G‑d with intense desire and pleasure,
להיות נפשו קשורה בה׳, חיי החיים
so that one’s soul is bound up with G‑d, the Fountain-head of Life,
ולדבקה בו בדביקה וחשיקה, בחשק ותענוג נפלא
cleaving to Him with an attachment and a desire, out of a wondrous love and delight, all of which are expressions of the attribute of Yesod.
ובמדת מלכות, לקבל עליו עול מלכותו ועבודתו
And as for the [divine soul’s] attribute of Malchut, [the worshiper seeks thereby] to accept upon himself the yoke of G‑d’s sovereignty and of His service,
כעבודת כל עבד לאדונו, באימה וביראה
like the service of any servant to his master, i.e., out of awe and fear.
* * *
Up to this point the Alter Rebbe has explained how the seven middot exist within the Jew’s G‑dly soul. These emotive attributes are activated by the three intellective faculties — the Sefirot of ChaBaD (Chochmah, Binah and Daat), which are now to be explained.
ומקור ושורש כל המדות הן מחב״ד
Now, the source and root of all the attributes are in the ChaBaD.
דהיינו: החכמה היא מקור השכל המשיג את ה׳ וחכמתו וגדולתו ומדותיו הקדושות, שמנהיג ומחיה בהן כל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים
That is: Chochmah is the source of the intellect which apprehends G‑d and His wisdom, His greatness, and the holy attributes wherewith He conducts and animates all the higher and lower worlds;
ובינה היא ההתבוננות בהשגה זו
Binah is the contemplation of this apprehension of G‑d’s greatness and His holy attributes
באורך ורוחב ועומק בינתו
in the length, breadth, and depth of one’s understanding,
The “length” of a particular concept — in this case, the greatness of the Creator — entails drawing it down from its lofty abstraction (by way of a parable, for example) to a level of intelligibility. The “breadth” of the concept refers to the multitudinous components and ramifications that await one’s mastery. Its “depth” refers to the challenge of plumbing its seemingly limitless profundity.
להבין דבר מתוך דבר
in order15 “to understand (or deduce) one matter out of another,”16
ולהוליד מהשגה זו תולדותיה
and from this apprehension to beget its offspring,
שהן מדות אהבה ויראה
which are the attributes of love and awe,
The thinker’s understanding of the greatness of G‑d gives birth to emotions — a love and a fear of Him.
ושארי מדות הנולדות בנפש האלקית, המשכלת ומתבוננת בגדולת ה׳, כי לגדולתו אין חקר
and the other attributes born in the divine soul which contemplates and meditates upon G‑d’s greatness, as to how17 “His greatness is unfathomable.”
ויש בחינת גדולת ה׳, שעל ידי התבוננות הנפש האלקית בה, תפול עליה אימתה ופחד
One aspect of G‑d’s greatness is such that the divine soul, when contemplating it, is overwhelmed by a fear and dread.
שהיא יראה תתאה, שהיא בחינת מלכות
This is yirah tataah (“the lower level of fear”), which is an aspect of Malchut.
ויש בחינת גדולת ה׳, שממנה באה יראה עילאה, ירא בושת
There is another aspect of the greatness of G‑d from [the contemplation of] which derives yirah ilaah (“the superior level of fear”), in which one is awed out of bashfulness.
ויש בחינה שממנה באה אהבה רבה
There is also an aspect [of G‑d’s greatness] from [the contemplation of] which derives ahavah rabbah (“the great love”),
ויש בחינה שממנה באה אהבה זוטא
and still another aspect [of G‑d’s greatness], from [the contemplation of] which derives ahavah zutta (“the lesser love”).
All these levels of ahavah and yirah are internal emotive attributes that are fathered by ChaBaD.
וכן במדות החיצוניות, שהן חסד כו׳
The same applies to the external attributes, i.e., Chesed and so on; they, too, emanate from ChaBaD.
ובכולן צריך להיות מלובש בהן בחינת הדעת
Now, the faculty of Daat must be vested within all these [emotive attributes],
שהוא בחינת התקשרות הנפש, הקשורה ותקועה בהשגה זו
for it represents the bond with which the soul is bound and embedded in this apprehension
שמשגת איזה ענין מגדולת ה׳, שממנה נולדה בה איזה מדה מהמדות
as it apprehends some aspect of G‑d’s greatness, from which one of these attributes is born within it.
Once the soul has apprehended some aspect of G‑d’s greatness it must bind itself to this comprehension through the faculty of Daat.
כי בהיסח הדעת כרגע מהשגה זו
For by a momentary removal of Daat from this apprehension,
מסתלקת גם כן המדה הנולדה ממנה
the emotion born of it is also withdrawn
מהגילוי בנפש אל ההעלם
from its [prior] state of manifestation in the soul [back] into concealment [within the soul],
להיות בה בכח ולא בפועל
to exist there in potentia but not in actuality.
It is the faculty of Daat — a prolonged and constant involv-ement in the subject being contemplated — that reveals and actualizes the emotive experience of love or fear.
ולכן נקרא הזיווג בלשון דעת, מפני שהוא לשון התקשרות
That is why the term Daat is applied to coition,18 for it signifies a bond that results in issue, just as out of Daat are born the emotions.
וזהו בחינת דעת תחתון נוסח אחר: הדעת התחתון, המתפשט במדות ומתלבש בהן, להחיותן ולקיימן
This is the faculty of Daat Tachton, the lower level of Daat, which extends into the attributes and vests itself in them to animate and sustain them.
ויש בחינת דעת העליון, שהוא בחינת התקשרות וחיבור מקור השכל המשיג עומק המושג
There is also a faculty of Daat Elyon, a superior level of Daat, through which the source of the intellect that apprehends the profundity of a concept is bound and connected [to it] —
שהוא כנקודה וכברק המבריק על שכלו
like a point or a flash of lightning that flashes over one’s mind —
שיתפשט למטה
so that [the concept] will extend downward.
ויבא עומק המושג לידי הבנה
The profundity of the apprehended concept will thereby come to be understood
בהרחבת הביאור, באורך ורוחב
with extensive clarification, in length and breadth,
שהיא בחינת בינה, הנקראת, רחובות הנהר, כמו שיתבאר במקומו
this stage being the function of the faculty of Binah, which is known as rechovot hanahar (lit., “the expanses of the river”), as will be explained in its place.19
The faculty of Daat Elyon unifies Chochmah with Binah. For Chochmah is the intuitive flash of illumination that would vanish as quickly as it appeared, if it were not anchored by Daat in the comprehension of Binah, whereby this seminal point assumes length and breadth. Chochmah is thus likened to a wellspring whose waters issue forth drop by drop, while Binah is likened to a broad and deep river. It is the function of Daat Elyon to draw the wellsprings of Chochmah into the river of Binah.
The function of Daat Tachton, by contrast, is that of binding the intellective faculties of ChaBaD with their resultant emotions, so that one’s intellectual activity will illuminate them, and provide them with vitality and continuity.
* * *
In summary, this discourse demonstrates how all the ten faculties of the divine soul engage in an ongoing relationship with their G‑dly source. Indeed, to recall the Alter Rebbe’s opening lines, an understanding of this dynamic within oneself enables one to experience the truth of the verse, “From my flesh shall I behold G‑d,” and to gain some measure of understanding of the Supernal Sefirot.
FOOTNOTES
1. See Tanya, Part I, beginning of ch. 2.
2. Devarim 11:22.
3. Sifri (sec. 49) on the above verse; Sotah 14a.
4. Cf. Yevamot 20a.
5. Cf. Avot 1:1.
6. Reishit Chochmah, Shaar HaKedushah, ch. 15, et al.
7. Sanhedrin 65a.
8. Cf. Yeshayahu 6:3.
9. The Hebrew root of this word comprises three meanings — to praise, to thank and to acknowledge.
10. Note of the Rebbe: “See Likkutei Torah, Vaetchanan, p. 4a ff.”
11. The Hebrew root of this word comprises three meanings — to praise, to thank and to acknowledge.
12. According to an alternative reading, “...beyond searching.”
13. Tehillim 104:1.
14. Mishlei 10:25.
15. Chagigah 14a.
16. Note of the Rebbe: “Two explanations (Or HaTorah, Bereishit, p. 2048ff.).”
17. Tehillim 145:3.
18. Note of the Rebbe: “See [Tanya,] Part I, conclusion of ch. 3.”
19. Note of the Rebbe: “The intent of ‘in its place’ is problematic. Possibly this refers to the relevant places in [Tanya,] Part I (see its indexes), and likewise in Likkutei Torah, etc.”
____________________________
Rambam: Daily Mitzvah P241 & N244, P239 Sefer Sefer Hamitzvot
Today's Mitzvah
Friday, 17 Elul 5774 • 12 September 2014 & Shabbat, 18 Elul 572 • 13 September 2014
• 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 241 (Digest)
Damage Caused by Arson
"If a fire breaks out and spreads through thorns..."—Exodus 22:5.
We are commanded regarding the laws [of liability] that apply if a person sets a fire [that damages another's property].
The 241st mitzvah is that we are commanded to follow the laws regarding damage caused by fire.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "If fire gets out of control and spreads through weeds [...the one who started the fire must pay for the damage.]"
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 2nd and 6th chapters of tractate Bava Kama.
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ibid. 22:5.
• Negative Commandment 244 (Digest)
Stealing
"Do not steal"—Leviticus 19:11.
It is forbidden to steal another's possessions.
The 244th prohibition is that we are forbidden from stealing money.
The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement,1 "Do not steal."
In the words of the Mechilta, "The verse 'Do not steal' constitutes the prohibition of financial theft."2
One who transgresses this prohibition must pay back according to the formula written in the Torah — either two, four, or five times the amount stolen, or only the actual value.3
The Sifra says, "The verse4 that says 'He must pay back double' [the value of the stolen object] teaches us the penalty. What teaches us that the act is prohibited?5 The verse 'Do not steal' — even if just to disturb." This phrase ["just to disturb"] means when the intention is to [not really steal, but only to temporarily] anger and confuse the victim, and afterwards return it to him. The Sifra continues,] "the verse, 'Do not steal,' teaches that you may not do so, even if you intend to pay him back four or five times the value."
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 7th chapter of tractate Bava Kama.
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 19:11.
2.In contrast with a similar phrase used in the Ten Commandments, which refers to the prohibition against kidnapping. See N243.
3.For a regular theft, he must pay double. For stealing sheep he must pay four times the amount, and for oxen, five times (Ex. 21:37). If he admitted the theft before he was discovered, he pays only the principal.
4.Ex. 22:3.
5.As explained on other occasions, each prohibition must have one statement that the act is prohibited and another dictating the penalty.
Positive Commandment 239 (Digest)
A Thief's Restitution
We are commanded to pass judgment on a thief. Depending on the circumstances, the thief may be required to pay double the amount stolen, or four or five times the principal.
This mitzvah also includes the allowance for a property owner to kill a thief who is trespassing on his land [under certain circumstances, if there's reason to believe that the thief poses a potential threat to the landowner's life], and the obligation on the court to sell the thief into servitude [if he has not the means to make restitution].
The 239th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding [punishing] a thief — whether to collect two, four times, or five times the amount stolen1; to kill him should he break in [to the person's property];2 or to sell him.3 The general principle is that the mitzvah is to punish a thief according to the Torah's directions.
All the details of this mitzvah are explained in the 7th chapter of tractate Bava Kama, the 8th chapter of Sanhedrin, the 3rd chapter of Bava Metzia, and a few passages in Kesuvos,4 Kiddushin,5 and Shavuos.6
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.See footnote to N244.
2.Ex. 21:37-22:2. Should it be clear that the thief would never kill the victim (such as if the victim is the thief's son), it is forbidden to kill the thief. See Hilchos Geneivah 9:7-10.
3.As a slave should he be unable to pay restitution (Ex. 22:2). The money is then used to pay back the victim.
4.30b.
5.58b.
6.42b.
Translation of (the unabridged text of) Sefer Hamitzvot by Rabbi Berel Bell, member of the Rabbinical Court of Montreal and director of Teacher Training for the Jewish Learning Institute.
________________________________________
והנה מדות אלו, הן בחינות חיצוניות שבנפש
Now, these emotive attributes — those involved in imparting enlightenment, and the like — are the external aspects of the soul.
ובתוכן מלובשות מדות פנימיות
Within them are vested the inner attributes, which bring about the external attributes involved in the actual imparting of knowledge,
שהן בחינות אהבה ויראה כו׳
i.e., the faculties of love and awe, and so on.
דהיינו, על דרך משל, באב המשפיע לבנו מחמת אהבתו
This may be compared to the case of a father who bestows enlightenment upon his son because of his love for him,
The internal aspect of the attribute involved is love and its external aspect is kindness.
ומונע השפעתו מפחדו ויראתו שלא יבא לידי מכשול, חס ושלום
and withholds his influence because of his dread and fear lest [his son] come to some downfall, heaven forfend.
The father’s fear and dread are thus the internal aspect of his Gevurah, the attribute that completely or partially witholds the flow of instruction.
The remaining emotive attributes are all offshoots of love and fear (as explained in Part I, ch. 3, above), and accordingly they too possess internal and external aspects.
* * *
Having dealt with the middot, the seven emotive attributes of the soul, the Alter Rebbe now proceeds to discuss the intellective attributes which give birth to them.
ומקור ושרש מדות אלו, הפנימיות והחיצוניות
The source and root of these internal and external emotive attributes,
הוא מחב״ד שבנפשו
is the ChaBaD — an acronym for the intellectual faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daat — of one’s soul,
כי לפי שכל האדם, כך הן מדותיו
for a person’s emotive traits are in proportion to his intellect.
כנראה בחוש, שהקטן, שהחב״ד שלו הן בבחינת קטנות, כך כל מדותיו הן בדברים קטני הערך
This is empirically evident; with a child, for example, whose ChaBaD are in a state of pettiness, all his emotive traits, too, relate to insignificant things, and as he matures in age and understanding, his emotive traits correspondingly aspire to worthier goals.
וגם בגדולים, לפי שכלו יהולל איש
With adults, too, the emotive traits develop in proportion to the intellect, for1 “According to his intelligence is a man praised.”
Since the term “man” (איש) is an appelative for the emotive traits (cf. the verse,2 “As is a man, so is his Gevurah”), the previously-quoted verse is teaching us that a person’s emotive traits are praiseworthy in proportion to the stature of his ChaBaD.
כי לפי רוב חכמתו, כך הוא רוב אהבתו וחסדו
For the extent of his love and kindness corresponds to the extent of his wisdom,
וכן שאר כל מדותיו פנימיות וחיצוניות, מקורן הוא מחב״ד שבו
and all his other internal and external traits likewise have their source in his ChaBaD.
והעיקר הוא הדעת שבו, הנמשך מבחינת החכמה ובינה שבו
Most important to the development of the spiritual emotions is one’s Daat, which derives from one’s Chochmah and Binah.
A thinker first grasps the essence of a concept through the seminal flash of illumination afforded by his faculty of Chochmah; he next understands it fully by means of the analysis and amplification which are the function of his faculty of Binah; ultimately, he must immerse himself in concentration on the concept, binding and unifying himself with it to the point that — beyond mere intellective comprehension — he also senses and experiences it with his faculty of Daat.
It is this faculty that is critical to the development of his middot, such as the spiritual emotions of love and awe of G‑d, for Daat provides them with their substance and vitality, as explained in Part I, ch. 3.
כנראה בחוש, כי לפי שינוי דעות בני אדם זה מזה, כך הוא שינוי מדותיהם
This is readily observable, for the differences between the emotive traits of various people corresponds to the differences in their respective degrees of Daat.
FOOTNOTES
1. Mishlei 12:8.
2. Shoftim 8:21.
• Iggeret HaKodesh, end of Epistle 15
והנה כל זה הוא רק על דרך משל לבד
Now all this — the above-mentioned effect of the emotive traits upon the resultant teaching or influence — is only by way of allegory, and does not provide a completely true picture of the Sefirot as they exist within man’s soul,
כי כל זה הוא בנפש השכלית, התחתונה שבאדם, הבאה מקליפת נוגה
for all this applies to the rational soul, which is the lower one in man, and derives from kelipat nogah.
This “lower soul” naturally inclines to “lower” (i.e., corporeal) matters, so that even its intellect goes only as far as understanding the composition and so on, of mundane things. For although the kelipah which is the source of this soul is kelipat nogah, a kelipah whose darkness is relieved by a ray of good, nevertheless it is wholly bound up with mundanity.
אך באמת לאמיתו, בנפש העליונה האלקית, שהיא חלק אלוה ממעל
But in true fact, with regard to [the Sefirot in] the higher, divine soul, which is a “part of G‑d above,”1
כל המדות פנימיות וחיצוניות הן לה׳ לבדו
all the internal and external attributes are [directed] to G‑d alone: the divine soul is concerned with spiritual things alone, so that both its (internal) love and (external) Chesed are concentrated purely on G‑dliness.
כי מחמת אהבת ה׳, ומרוב חפצו לדבקה בו
For because of one’s love of G‑d and because of one’s great desire to cleave unto Him,
הוא חפץ חסד, כדי לידבק במדותיו
he desires with all his being [to practice] Chesed, in order to cleave to His attributes.
כמאמר רז״ל על פסוק, ולדבקה בו: הדבק במדותיו
This accords with the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, on the verse,2 “And to cleave unto Him”: “Cleave unto His attributes.”3
Just as G‑d is compassionate so should mortal man be compassionate; just as G‑d has an innate desire to practice kindness, so should a person’s inner desire to practice kindness be motivated by a desire to cleave to G‑d.
As to the attribute of Chesed, then, both its internal aspect (love) and its external aspect (kindness) are directed purely to G‑dly things.
וכן במדת הגבורה
It is likewise with the attribute of Gevurah, whose internal aspect is fear; it, too, is experienced only for G‑dly causes:
להפרע מן הרשעים, ולענשם בעונשי התורה
for example, to punish and chastise the wicked with the punishments of the Torah;
וכן להתגבר על יצרו, ולקדש את עצמו במותר לו
and also, to prevail over one’s [evil] inclination and to4 “Sanctify himself in that which is permitted to him,”
ולעשות גדר וסייג לתורה
and to5 put up a fence and a hedge around the Torah,
מפני פחד ה׳ ויראתו, פן יבוא לידי חטא, חס ושלום
because of the dread and fear of G‑d, lest he might come to sin, heaven forfend.
In order to ensure that he will not come to sin, a person may thus choose to sanctify himself and refrain from6 “one hundred portals of the permissible, so as not to transgress in one portal of the prohibited.”
To summarize the above conclusions regarding the first two of the seven middot, or spiritual emotions: Not only is a man’s attribute of Chesed directed to G‑dly matters, but so too is his attribute of Gevurah — both in its internal aspect, viz., the fear of G‑d, and in its external manifestations in his rigorous observance of the Torah and its mitzvot.
וכן לפאר את ה׳ ותורתו בכל מיני פאר
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Tiferet (lit., “beauty”), [a man seeks] to glorify G‑d and His Torah in all ways possible, such as by possessing a beautiful sefer Torah, beautiful tefillin and the like,
ולדבקה בשבחיו בכל בחינות נפשו
and to cleave to His praises [by praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul:
דהיינו, בהתבוננות שכלו ומחשבתו
that is, by intellectual and thoughtful meditation on the greatness of G‑d, which blossoms into the singing of His praises;
גם בדיבורו
and likewise when he speaks, his praises are not empty words, but grow out of his preparatory meditation.
“[Praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul” thus means that the worshiper utilizes his intellect and emotions as well as all three “garments” of his soul (i.e., the soul’s media of self-expression), viz., thought, speech and action (for speech constitutes7 “mini-action”). Alternatively, “[praising G‑d] with all the faculties of his soul” may mean: all those aspects of the soul that relate to praise, i.e., intellect, thought and speech.
וכן לעמוד בנצחון נגד כל מונע מעבודת ה׳ ומלדבקה בו
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Netzach, [a man seeks] to prevail triumphantly against anything that would restrain [him] from the service of G‑d and from cleaving unto Him,
ונגד כל מונע מלהיות כבוד ה׳ מלא את כל הארץ
and against anything that would restrain [the state of revelation in which]8 the entire earth is filled with the glory of G‑d,
כמלחמות ה׳ אשר נלחם דוד המלך, עליו השלום
like the wars for G‑d fought by King David, peace to him, which derived from his attribute of Netzach.
וכן להשתחוות ולהודות לה׳
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Hod,9 which implies self-abnegation, and acknowledging the transcendence of that which defies his mortal understanding, [a man seeks] to prostrate himself and to [self-effacingly] praise G‑d
אשר מחיה ומהוה את הכל, והכל בטל במציאות אצלו, וכולא קמיה כלא חשיב, וכאין ואפס ממש
Who animates and creates everything, and before Whom everything is essentially non-existent and esteemed as truly nothing and null.
ואף שאין אנו משיגים איך הוא הכל אפס ממש קמיה
Though we cannot apprehend just how everything is truly as null before Him,
אף על פי כן מודים אנחנו, בהודאה אמיתית, שכן הוא באמת לאמיתו
nevertheless, we acknowledge and genuinely concede that in absolute truth such is the case.
From the very depths of his soul the Jew acknowledges that G‑d’s “Supernal Daat” and knowledge that everything is essentially non-existent before Him is true, and that the mortal understanding of our “inferior Daat” — that creation does indeed exist, except that it is nullified to Him — results from the limited compass of our earthbound perspective.10 This acknowledgement results from the self-abnegation expressed by the attribute of Hod.
ובכלל זה גם כן להודות לה׳ על כל הטובות אשר גמלנו
This [attribute] also includes the expression of gratitude11 to G‑d for all the favors that He has bestowed upon us,
ולא להיות כפוי טובה, חס ושלום
so that [we] should not be ungrateful, G‑d forbid.
ובכלל זה להודות על כל שבחיו ומדותיו ופעולותיו באצילות ובריאות עליונים ותחתונים
This [attribute of Hod] also includes the offering of thanks to G‑d for all His praiseworthy [deeds], and His attributes and His workings in the emanation and creation of the upper and lower worlds,
שהם משובחים עד אין תכלית חקר
for they are praiseworthy to no end,12
ונאים וראוים אליו, יתברך ויתעלה
and are becoming and befitting Him, blessed and exalted be He.
והוא מלשון הוד והדר
The term [Hod is here to be understood] as in the phrase,13 Hod vehadar (“majesty and splendor”).
וכן במדת צדיק יסוד עולם
And likewise [engaged in one’s divine service is] the attribute of [Yesod (lit., “foundation”), as in the phrase],14 “The tzaddik is the foundation of the world.”
In the above analogy, it was by means of the attribute of Yesod that the father communicated with his son and disciple through bonds of desire and pleasure. So, too, in the realm of divine service, the attribute of Yesod involves cleaving to G‑d with intense desire and pleasure,
להיות נפשו קשורה בה׳, חיי החיים
so that one’s soul is bound up with G‑d, the Fountain-head of Life,
ולדבקה בו בדביקה וחשיקה, בחשק ותענוג נפלא
cleaving to Him with an attachment and a desire, out of a wondrous love and delight, all of which are expressions of the attribute of Yesod.
ובמדת מלכות, לקבל עליו עול מלכותו ועבודתו
And as for the [divine soul’s] attribute of Malchut, [the worshiper seeks thereby] to accept upon himself the yoke of G‑d’s sovereignty and of His service,
כעבודת כל עבד לאדונו, באימה וביראה
like the service of any servant to his master, i.e., out of awe and fear.
* * *
Up to this point the Alter Rebbe has explained how the seven middot exist within the Jew’s G‑dly soul. These emotive attributes are activated by the three intellective faculties — the Sefirot of ChaBaD (Chochmah, Binah and Daat), which are now to be explained.
ומקור ושורש כל המדות הן מחב״ד
Now, the source and root of all the attributes are in the ChaBaD.
דהיינו: החכמה היא מקור השכל המשיג את ה׳ וחכמתו וגדולתו ומדותיו הקדושות, שמנהיג ומחיה בהן כל העולמות עליונים ותחתונים
That is: Chochmah is the source of the intellect which apprehends G‑d and His wisdom, His greatness, and the holy attributes wherewith He conducts and animates all the higher and lower worlds;
ובינה היא ההתבוננות בהשגה זו
Binah is the contemplation of this apprehension of G‑d’s greatness and His holy attributes
באורך ורוחב ועומק בינתו
in the length, breadth, and depth of one’s understanding,
The “length” of a particular concept — in this case, the greatness of the Creator — entails drawing it down from its lofty abstraction (by way of a parable, for example) to a level of intelligibility. The “breadth” of the concept refers to the multitudinous components and ramifications that await one’s mastery. Its “depth” refers to the challenge of plumbing its seemingly limitless profundity.
להבין דבר מתוך דבר
in order15 “to understand (or deduce) one matter out of another,”16
ולהוליד מהשגה זו תולדותיה
and from this apprehension to beget its offspring,
שהן מדות אהבה ויראה
which are the attributes of love and awe,
The thinker’s understanding of the greatness of G‑d gives birth to emotions — a love and a fear of Him.
ושארי מדות הנולדות בנפש האלקית, המשכלת ומתבוננת בגדולת ה׳, כי לגדולתו אין חקר
and the other attributes born in the divine soul which contemplates and meditates upon G‑d’s greatness, as to how17 “His greatness is unfathomable.”
ויש בחינת גדולת ה׳, שעל ידי התבוננות הנפש האלקית בה, תפול עליה אימתה ופחד
One aspect of G‑d’s greatness is such that the divine soul, when contemplating it, is overwhelmed by a fear and dread.
שהיא יראה תתאה, שהיא בחינת מלכות
This is yirah tataah (“the lower level of fear”), which is an aspect of Malchut.
ויש בחינת גדולת ה׳, שממנה באה יראה עילאה, ירא בושת
There is another aspect of the greatness of G‑d from [the contemplation of] which derives yirah ilaah (“the superior level of fear”), in which one is awed out of bashfulness.
ויש בחינה שממנה באה אהבה רבה
There is also an aspect [of G‑d’s greatness] from [the contemplation of] which derives ahavah rabbah (“the great love”),
ויש בחינה שממנה באה אהבה זוטא
and still another aspect [of G‑d’s greatness], from [the contemplation of] which derives ahavah zutta (“the lesser love”).
All these levels of ahavah and yirah are internal emotive attributes that are fathered by ChaBaD.
וכן במדות החיצוניות, שהן חסד כו׳
The same applies to the external attributes, i.e., Chesed and so on; they, too, emanate from ChaBaD.
ובכולן צריך להיות מלובש בהן בחינת הדעת
Now, the faculty of Daat must be vested within all these [emotive attributes],
שהוא בחינת התקשרות הנפש, הקשורה ותקועה בהשגה זו
for it represents the bond with which the soul is bound and embedded in this apprehension
שמשגת איזה ענין מגדולת ה׳, שממנה נולדה בה איזה מדה מהמדות
as it apprehends some aspect of G‑d’s greatness, from which one of these attributes is born within it.
Once the soul has apprehended some aspect of G‑d’s greatness it must bind itself to this comprehension through the faculty of Daat.
כי בהיסח הדעת כרגע מהשגה זו
For by a momentary removal of Daat from this apprehension,
מסתלקת גם כן המדה הנולדה ממנה
the emotion born of it is also withdrawn
מהגילוי בנפש אל ההעלם
from its [prior] state of manifestation in the soul [back] into concealment [within the soul],
להיות בה בכח ולא בפועל
to exist there in potentia but not in actuality.
It is the faculty of Daat — a prolonged and constant involv-ement in the subject being contemplated — that reveals and actualizes the emotive experience of love or fear.
ולכן נקרא הזיווג בלשון דעת, מפני שהוא לשון התקשרות
That is why the term Daat is applied to coition,18 for it signifies a bond that results in issue, just as out of Daat are born the emotions.
וזהו בחינת דעת תחתון נוסח אחר: הדעת התחתון, המתפשט במדות ומתלבש בהן, להחיותן ולקיימן
This is the faculty of Daat Tachton, the lower level of Daat, which extends into the attributes and vests itself in them to animate and sustain them.
ויש בחינת דעת העליון, שהוא בחינת התקשרות וחיבור מקור השכל המשיג עומק המושג
There is also a faculty of Daat Elyon, a superior level of Daat, through which the source of the intellect that apprehends the profundity of a concept is bound and connected [to it] —
שהוא כנקודה וכברק המבריק על שכלו
like a point or a flash of lightning that flashes over one’s mind —
שיתפשט למטה
so that [the concept] will extend downward.
ויבא עומק המושג לידי הבנה
The profundity of the apprehended concept will thereby come to be understood
בהרחבת הביאור, באורך ורוחב
with extensive clarification, in length and breadth,
שהיא בחינת בינה, הנקראת, רחובות הנהר, כמו שיתבאר במקומו
this stage being the function of the faculty of Binah, which is known as rechovot hanahar (lit., “the expanses of the river”), as will be explained in its place.19
The faculty of Daat Elyon unifies Chochmah with Binah. For Chochmah is the intuitive flash of illumination that would vanish as quickly as it appeared, if it were not anchored by Daat in the comprehension of Binah, whereby this seminal point assumes length and breadth. Chochmah is thus likened to a wellspring whose waters issue forth drop by drop, while Binah is likened to a broad and deep river. It is the function of Daat Elyon to draw the wellsprings of Chochmah into the river of Binah.
The function of Daat Tachton, by contrast, is that of binding the intellective faculties of ChaBaD with their resultant emotions, so that one’s intellectual activity will illuminate them, and provide them with vitality and continuity.
* * *
In summary, this discourse demonstrates how all the ten faculties of the divine soul engage in an ongoing relationship with their G‑dly source. Indeed, to recall the Alter Rebbe’s opening lines, an understanding of this dynamic within oneself enables one to experience the truth of the verse, “From my flesh shall I behold G‑d,” and to gain some measure of understanding of the Supernal Sefirot.
FOOTNOTES
1. See Tanya, Part I, beginning of ch. 2.
2. Devarim 11:22.
3. Sifri (sec. 49) on the above verse; Sotah 14a.
4. Cf. Yevamot 20a.
5. Cf. Avot 1:1.
6. Reishit Chochmah, Shaar HaKedushah, ch. 15, et al.
7. Sanhedrin 65a.
8. Cf. Yeshayahu 6:3.
9. The Hebrew root of this word comprises three meanings — to praise, to thank and to acknowledge.
10. Note of the Rebbe: “See Likkutei Torah, Vaetchanan, p. 4a ff.”
11. The Hebrew root of this word comprises three meanings — to praise, to thank and to acknowledge.
12. According to an alternative reading, “...beyond searching.”
13. Tehillim 104:1.
14. Mishlei 10:25.
15. Chagigah 14a.
16. Note of the Rebbe: “Two explanations (Or HaTorah, Bereishit, p. 2048ff.).”
17. Tehillim 145:3.
18. Note of the Rebbe: “See [Tanya,] Part I, conclusion of ch. 3.”
19. Note of the Rebbe: “The intent of ‘in its place’ is problematic. Possibly this refers to the relevant places in [Tanya,] Part I (see its indexes), and likewise in Likkutei Torah, etc.”
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Rambam: Daily Mitzvah P241 & N244, P239 Sefer Sefer Hamitzvot
Today's Mitzvah
Friday, 17 Elul 5774 • 12 September 2014 & Shabbat, 18 Elul 572 • 13 September 2014
• 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 241 (Digest)
Damage Caused by Arson
"If a fire breaks out and spreads through thorns..."—Exodus 22:5.
We are commanded regarding the laws [of liability] that apply if a person sets a fire [that damages another's property].
The 241st mitzvah is that we are commanded to follow the laws regarding damage caused by fire.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "If fire gets out of control and spreads through weeds [...the one who started the fire must pay for the damage.]"
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 2nd and 6th chapters of tractate Bava Kama.
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.Ibid. 22:5.
• Negative Commandment 244 (Digest)
Stealing
"Do not steal"—Leviticus 19:11.
It is forbidden to steal another's possessions.
The 244th prohibition is that we are forbidden from stealing money.
The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement,1 "Do not steal."
In the words of the Mechilta, "The verse 'Do not steal' constitutes the prohibition of financial theft."2
One who transgresses this prohibition must pay back according to the formula written in the Torah — either two, four, or five times the amount stolen, or only the actual value.3
The Sifra says, "The verse4 that says 'He must pay back double' [the value of the stolen object] teaches us the penalty. What teaches us that the act is prohibited?5 The verse 'Do not steal' — even if just to disturb." This phrase ["just to disturb"] means when the intention is to [not really steal, but only to temporarily] anger and confuse the victim, and afterwards return it to him. The Sifra continues,] "the verse, 'Do not steal,' teaches that you may not do so, even if you intend to pay him back four or five times the value."
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 7th chapter of tractate Bava Kama.
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 19:11.
2.In contrast with a similar phrase used in the Ten Commandments, which refers to the prohibition against kidnapping. See N243.
3.For a regular theft, he must pay double. For stealing sheep he must pay four times the amount, and for oxen, five times (Ex. 21:37). If he admitted the theft before he was discovered, he pays only the principal.
4.Ex. 22:3.
5.As explained on other occasions, each prohibition must have one statement that the act is prohibited and another dictating the penalty.
Positive Commandment 239 (Digest)
A Thief's Restitution
We are commanded to pass judgment on a thief. Depending on the circumstances, the thief may be required to pay double the amount stolen, or four or five times the principal.
This mitzvah also includes the allowance for a property owner to kill a thief who is trespassing on his land [under certain circumstances, if there's reason to believe that the thief poses a potential threat to the landowner's life], and the obligation on the court to sell the thief into servitude [if he has not the means to make restitution].
The 239th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding [punishing] a thief — whether to collect two, four times, or five times the amount stolen1; to kill him should he break in [to the person's property];2 or to sell him.3 The general principle is that the mitzvah is to punish a thief according to the Torah's directions.
All the details of this mitzvah are explained in the 7th chapter of tractate Bava Kama, the 8th chapter of Sanhedrin, the 3rd chapter of Bava Metzia, and a few passages in Kesuvos,4 Kiddushin,5 and Shavuos.6
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.See footnote to N244.
2.Ex. 21:37-22:2. Should it be clear that the thief would never kill the victim (such as if the victim is the thief's son), it is forbidden to kill the thief. See Hilchos Geneivah 9:7-10.
3.As a slave should he be unable to pay restitution (Ex. 22:2). The money is then used to pay back the victim.
4.30b.
5.58b.
6.42b.
Translation of (the unabridged text of) Sefer Hamitzvot by Rabbi Berel Bell, member of the Rabbinical Court of Montreal and director of Teacher Training for the Jewish Learning Institute.
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Rambam:
• 1 Chapter a Day: To`en veNit`an - Chapter 15 & To`en veNit`an - Chapter 16• To`en veNit`an - Chapter 15
Halacha 1
The following rules apply when a person raises a protest regarding the ownership of a particular field and brings witnesses who testify that it was known to belong to him. The person in possession produces a deed of sale that he purchased it from the protester and also brings witnesses who testify that he benefited from the land for enough time to establish a claim of ownership. We tell the person in possession at the outset: "Validate your deed of sale." If the deed of sale is validated, it is preferable, and the judgment is based on the deed of sale. If he cannot validate the deed of sale, we rely on the witnesses who testify that he has established a claim of ownership. The person in possession must take a sh'vu 'at hesset that he purchased it from the protester.
Halacha 2
When there are differences between the testimony of the two witnesses who testify that a claim of ownership has been established - e.g., one testifies that the person in possession benefited from wheat for three years and the other testifies that he benefited from barley - their testimony is accepted. For witnesses are not concerned with these particulars. If one witness testifies that the person in possession benefited from the property in the first, third and fifth years, and the other testifies that he benefited in the second, fourth and sixth years, their testimonies cannot be linked together. The rationale is that neither testified concerning the year about which the other testified. Hence, the land and its produce must be returned.
Halacha 3
If a person took possession of a field on the assumption that he is the heir and benefited from the field, and then it was discovered that there was another heir who shared a closer connection and is fit to inherit the field, the person who took possession of the field first is obligated to return all the produce that he ate. This applies whether witnesses testified to the closer relative's identity or the person who first took possession of the property acknowledged it.
Halacha 4
The following laws apply when two people are disputing the ownership of a field, each claiming it to be his own, but neither has proof of his claim. These same laws apply when both claimants bring witnesses who testify that the field belongs to them or to their parents, or when each of them brings witnesses who testify that the claimants benefited from the field for the time necessary to establish a claim of ownership, and both pairs of witnesses testify about exactly the same time period. We leave the field in their hands, and whoever overcomes the other one assumes possession. If the other seeks to expropriate the field from him, he must bring proof of his ownership.
If a third party comes, seizes the property from them and takes possession of it, he is removed from it and it is returned to the others.
Halacha 5
If one claimant brings witnesses who testify that the field belonged to his ancestors, that he benefited from it for the period necessary to establish a claim of ownership, and that it is in his possession, and the other brings witnesses who testify that he benefited from it for the period necessary to establish a claim of ownership and that it is in his possession, the testimonies regarding the claims of ownership contradict each other. We grant the field to the person who produced witnesses that it belonged to his ancestors, and give him possession of it.
If the second person also brought witnesses who testify that the field belonged to his ancestors, and so this testimony also involves a contradiction, the court rescinds its initial ruling, removes the first claimant from it, and leaves it in possession of both of them. The one who overpowers the other acquires the right of ownership.
Halacha 6
When both claimants say that the field belonged to their ancestors, and one brings witnesses who testify that the field belonged to his ancestors, while the other brings witnesses who testify only that he benefited from the field for the period necessary to establish a claim of ownership, the field should be returned to the one who brought witnesses that it belonged to his ancestors. The other claimant must return the produce that he used. The rationale is that he did not issue a claim. Hence, his consumption of the produce does not serve as proof. For any claim of ownership that is not based on a assertion against the owners is of no consequence.
If the person in possession of the field retorts: "Yes. It belonged to your ancestors and you sold it to me. When I originally claimed that it belonged to my ancestors, I meant that my claim of ownership over it is so strong that it is as if it belonged to my ancestors," or he states: "It was my ancestors, because they purchased it from your ancestors, his claim is valid, for he gave an explanation for his original statements. Hence, we allow him to maintain possession.
If at the outset, he claimed: "It belonged to my ancestors and not your ancestors," we do not accept his later claim. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
Halacha 7
The following rules apply when Reuven was in possession of a field and Shimon came and protested his ownership. Reuven responded: "I purchased this field from Levi and benefited from it for the amount of time necessary to establish a claim of ownership."
Shimon answered him: "I have a validated deed of sale in my possession that I purchased the field from Levi four years ago."
Reuven retorted: "Do you think that it is only three years since I purchased. I purchased it many years ago? My claim precedes yours."
Reuven's claim is acceptable, for it is common for a person to call many years "the amount of time necessary to establish a claim of ownership." Therefore, if Reuven brings witnesses who testify that he benefited from the field for seven years - and he thus would have established a claim of ownership before Shimon purchased the field - he is allowed to retain possession. If, however, he benefited from it for less than seven years, the field is returned to Shimon. The rationale is that Levi could not have issued a greater protest over Reuven's use of the field than selling it to Shimon before Reuven established a claim of ownership.
Halacha 8
The following rules apply when one claimant stated: "The field belonged to my ancestors" and brought witnesses who substantiate his claim and another claims: "It belonged to my ancestors," but does not have witnesses. The field should be returned to the one who brought witnesses. All the produce that the other claimant acknowledges consuming is expropriated from him, even though there are no witnesses that he consumed it. The rationale is that he admits that he consumed produce because the field belonged to his ancestors, and there are witnesses that the field belonged to the ancestors of the other claimant. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
Halacha 9
We apply the principle of miggo in the following situation: One person is in possession of a field. Another raises a protest, bringing witnesses who testify that the field once belonged to him. The person in possession states: "I purchased it from you. Here is the deed of sale," and produces a deed that is validated.
The person raising the protest claims that the deed is a forgery. The one in possession admits this, but claims: "I had a valid deed of sale, but I lost it. I took this so that I would have something in hand to intimidate him, so that he would admit that he actually sold it to me."
Since he could have stood by his deed of sale, for it has been validated, his word is accepted. We do not expropriate the field from his possession. He must, however, take a sh'vu'at hesset to support his claim.
Halacha 10
The following rules apply when a person protests a colleague's ownership of a field and brings witnesses who testify that the field belongs to him. The person in possession claims: "I purchased the field from you and benefited from it for the time necessary to establish a claim of ownership" and brings witnesses who support his claim.
The protester responded, claiming: "How could you claim that you purchased it from me on this date three years ago? At that time, I was not in this country."
To resolve the question, the court requires the person in possession to bring proof that the person raising the protest was together with him in that city at the time he claims that he sold him the field, even for one day, so that he could have sold it. If he did not bring proof, he is removed from the field.
Halacha 11
The following rules apply when a person journeyed overseas, and the path to his field was lost. These laws apply whether the fields surrounding his field were owned by four different people or they were all purchased from one person. Each of the owners may turn away the claimant, telling him: "What makes you say that your way passes through my property? Maybe it passes through the property of my colleagues?" Hence, the claimant must purchase a path, even though it costs 100 maneh, or he must fly through the air.
Similarly, when the four fields belong to one person who purchased them from four people, he is not required to provide the claimant with a path. For he can tell him: "If I now returned each one his deed of sale, you would not be able to pass through the property of any one of them. And I purchased from each one every right that he possessed."
If, however, there was one person who owned all four fields, and he was this person's neighbor from the beginning until the end, the claimant can tell him: "You certainly must provide me with a path." Hence, he should be given the shortest path through any one of the fields that the owner chooses. Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
If the claimant takes possession of a path saying: "This is my path," he may not be removed from it unless the owner of that property brings explicit proof that it never belonged to him.
• To`en veNit`an - Chapter 16
Halacha 1
A person's protests are not accepted in the following situation. Reuven sold a field to Shimon, and Levi was one of the witnesses who signed the deed of sale. Afterwards, Levi came and protested Shimon's ownership of the field, claiming that Reuven stole it from him. We do not heed Levi's protest, nor do we pay attention to the proofs he brings concerning his ownership of that field. He has forfeited all of his rights to it. For we tell him: "How could you serve as a witness to the sale and then come and protest?"
Similar concepts apply if Levi gives testimony in a legal document that speaks of "the field belonging to Reuven on the east" or "... on the north." Since he referred to that field as an identification marker for the sake of another person and recorded this testimony in a legal document, he forfeited his right to it and cannot issue a protest concerning it. For we tell him: "How could you serve as a witness in this legal document that mentions this field being near another field and then issue a protest concerning it?"
Halacha 2
If, in the above situation, the witness claimed: "There is one row? that I designated as a sign, but not the entire field. That row that is next to the boundary of the field alone belongs to Reuven," this is a claim that is worthy of being heard. He may protest the ownership of the entire field, with the exception of that row.
All of the above concepts apply only with regard to one of the witnesses to the legal document who comes to protest. When, by contrast, a judge verified the authenticity of the signatures of the witnesses to a bill of sale, he may protest the ownership of a field even though it was mentioned in that bill of sale. The rationale is that he can claim: "I did not know what was written in the bill of sale." For a judge may verify the authenticity of the signatures of the witnesses to a legal document even though he did not read it. Witnesses, by contrast, may not sign a legal document unless they read it in its entirety and paid attention to its details.
Halacha 3
The following rules apply when Shimon comes and consults Levi, telling him: "I am buying this-and-this field from Reuven. I will buy it with your advice." Even though Levi tells him: "Go and buy it. It is good," Levi has the right to protest Shimon's ownership. He does not forfeit this right, because he did not perform a deed. He can tell Shimon: "I desired that the field leave the hands of Reuven, for he is a man of force, so that I could lodge a claim in court and take possession of my field."
Halacha 4
The following rules apply when Reuven protests Shimon's ownership of a field, and Shimon tells him: "I don't know what you are talking about. I purchased this field from Levi. Here are witnesses who will testify that I benefited from it for the amount of time necessary to establish a claim of ownership."
Reuven responds to him: "I have witnesses who will testify that yesterday evening, you came to me and asked me to sell you this field." This is not proof of Reuven's ownership. For Shimon could say: "I desired to purchase it from you so that you would not protest and trouble me to enter legal proceedings, even though I do not know whether or not it is really yours." Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
If Shimon does not make such a claim, the court does not advance it on his behalf, n
Halacha 5
The following rules apply when Reuven protests and brings witnesses who testify that the field belongs to him, and Shimon who is in possession of it claims: "You sold it to me and I benefited from it for the amount of time necessary to establish a claim of ownership." Reuven responds: "You benefited from the field as a robber."
Whether there were no witnesses that he benefited from the field or whether there was only one witness who testified that he benefited for three years, the person in possession is not required to return the produce that he consumed. The rationale is that he is claiming: "I consumed my own produce," and there are no witnesses who are obligating him for the produce. On the contrary, he acknowledged it himself. And the witness who testified that he benefited from the property for three years is coming to reinforce the power of the person who benefited. Indeed, if there were another witness with him, the person in possession would be allowed to retain possession of the field.
Therefore, Reuven must take a sh'vu'at hesset that he did not sell the field, and then the field is returned to him. Shimon must take a sh'vu'at hesset that he does not owe Reuven anything because of the produce he consumed. He is then released of liability.
Halacha 6
When there are two witnesses who testify that Shimon benefited from a field for less than the amount of time necessary to establish a claim of ownership, he must return all the produce he consumed. Even if there is only one witness, he is liable to return all the produce because of his testimony. The rationale is that he is not contradicting the testimony of the witness. Instead, he is saying: "He testified truthfully. I did consume the produce for two years, but I consumed what was mine." He is thus obligated to take an oath, but unable to do so. Hence, he must pay.
Halacha 7
The following principle applies whenever a person is obligated to return the produce he consumed, the extent of the benefit is unknown, and the court is unable to estimate - i.e., in contrast to houses and the like, which have a standard rate - the benefit he received from the produce of trees or the produce of the fields. Since the owner does not have a definite claim, he is required to pay only what he admits to have consumed. We issue a conditional ban of ostracism against anyone who consumed more produce and did not make restitution.
Halacha 8
The following laws apply whenever a person in possession of property is required to return it. If he rented the property to others while he was in possession of it, and the renters are accessible, we expropriate the rent from them a second time and give it to the owner of the land. They in turn should lodge a claim against a person who rented them land that he did not own.
Halacha 9
It is forbidden for a person to lodge a false claim to distort a judgment or prevent its execution. What is implied? If a person was owed a maneh by a colleague, he may not lodge a claim against him for 200 zuz, so that he will admit owing the maneh and be obligated to take an oath.
If a person owes a colleague a maneh, and the colleague claims 200 from him, he should not say: "I will deny the entire amount in court so that I will not be required to take an oath and acknowledge the debt of the maneh in private."
Halacha 10
When a person owes money to three people, and he denies owing a debt to one of them the three should not collaborate and perpetrate the following scheme. One person will claim the entire sum, and the others will falsely testify to his claim. When the money is expropriated from him, they will then divide it. With regard to things of this nature and the like, the Torah Exodus 23:7 warned us: "Keep a distance from words of falsehood."
This concludes the Laws Governing Disputes between Plaintiffs and Defendants, with God's help.
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Rambam:
• 3 Chapters a Day: Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Twelve, Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Thirteen, Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Fourteen & Genevah - Chapter One, Genevah - Chapter Two, Genevah - Chapter Three
• Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Twelve
1. When a person digs a cistern1 in the public domain, and an ox or a donkey falls into it and dies,2 the owner of the cistern is liable and is required to pay the full amount of the damages, as [Exodus 21:34] states: "The owner of the cistern must pay." [This applies] even if the cistern was filled with wads of wool or the like.3
[The intent] is not only an ox or a donkey, but any animal, beast or fowl. An ox and a donkey are mentioned only because these are the commonplace [examples].
2. [The above applies] regardless of whether the person digs a cistern in the public domain,4 he digs it in his own property - but it is open to the public domain or to a domain belonging to a colleague5 - or he digs it in his own property with the opening to his own property, but afterwards, he declares the property - but not the cistern - ownerless.6 In all these instances, [the person who digs the cistern] is liable for the damages suffered.
If, however, he declared his domain and the cistern ownerless, or he declared the cistern ownerless [while retaining possession of] his domain, or he consecrated it, he is not liable.
[This is derived from the phrase:] "The owner of the cistern will pay." [Implied is that the cistern] must have an owner, while this cistern is ownerless. [Moreover, it cannot be compared to a cistern dug in the public domain,] since at the outset he was permitted to dig [the cistern], because it was on his property.
3. [The above applies whether the person] dug the cistern himself, it came into being [on his property] through natural means, or it was dug by an animal or a beast.7 Since he is required to fill it up or cover it, and he did not, he is liable for the damages.
[Similarly, the above applies] whether the person digs [the cistern himself] or purchases or receives as a present [a domain with a cistern]. This is derived from the phrase:] "The owner of the cistern will pay." [Implied is that if the cistern] has an owner [he is liable].
4. Just as a person who digs [a cistern is liable], so too, is one who opens a cistern that was covered, as [Exodus 21:33] states: "If a person opens a cistern, or if a person digs a cistern."
If [an owner] covered up a cistern in an appropriate manner and the cover decayed from within, and [because of this], an ox fell into the cistern and died, the owner is not liable. For the above verse continues: "And he did not cover it." And in this case, he covered it.8
[The following laws apply if the owner] covered [the cistern] with a covering that was strong enough to have oxen tread on it, but was not strong enough to have camels tread on it, camels trod on it and it became weakened, and then oxen trod on it and fell in. If camels are not [usually] found in such a place, [the owner] is not liable,9 for this is considered a factor beyond his control. If camels pass through this place, even infrequently, he is liable.10
5. If [the cover] decayed from within and oxen fell into [the cistern], [the owner] is not liable. [This applies even when] camels frequent this area, and [the owner] is consider negligent with regard to the camels. Nevertheless, since the oxen fell into [the cistern], because [the cover] decayed [it is considered to be a loss beyond the owner's control].11 The same applies in all similar situations.
6. When a person discovers a cistern and covers it, and afterwards uncovers it, the owner12 of the cistern is liable, and the person who [covered and uncovered it] is not liable.13
If, however, he filled [the cistern] with earth and then removed the earth, he [and not the original owner of the cistern] is liable. Since he filled the cistern with earth, the actions of the person who originally [dug the cistern] are considered to have been nullified.14
7. [The following rules apply when] a cistern is owned by two partners. If the first passed by and did not cover it, and then the second passed by and did not cover it, the first is liable15 until he gives his buckets16 to the second [partner]. Once he gives his buckets to the second partner to draw water from it, the first is freed of liability, and the second becomes liable.
If the first [partner] covered it, and the second partner passed by and saw it uncovered and left it so, he is liable.17
Until when does the second [partner] bear the sole responsibility of covering it? Until the first [partner] becomes aware18 that it is open and has the opportunity to hire workers to cut down trees and cover it. If any animal dies during this time, the second partner alone is liable. If an animal dies afterwards, both [partners] are liable, for they both were negligent.
8. When a person transfers [the responsibility for] his cistern to a watchman, [the watchman] is liable for the damages. If, however, the owner gave it to a deaf mute, a mentally incompetent individual or a minor to watch, the owner is liable. [This applies] even if he left it covered, because it is likely that a cistern will be uncovered, and these individuals are not mentally competent [to know that it must be covered at all times].19
9. When a person covers his cistern with buckets belonging to a colleague,20 and then the owner of the buckets comes and takes them, the owner [of the cistern] is liable.21
10. [The above laws apply whether] one digs a cistern, a ditch, a cave or a trench. Why does the Torah mention a cistern? [To teach that its depth] must be sufficient to kill.
How much is considered sufficient to kill? A depth of ten handbreadths.22 If a cistern was less than ten handbreadths deep23 and an ox or another animal, beast or fowl falls in and dies, [the one responsible for the obstruction] is not liable.24 If the animal is damaged, the one responsible for the obstruction must pay the full extent of the damages.
11. If a cistern was nine handbreadths deep, and one of those handbreadths was filled with water, [the owner] is liable [if an animal falls in and dies]. [The rationale is] that one handbreadth with water is considered equivalent to two handbreadths without water.25
If [the cistern] was eight [handbreadths] deep and two handbreadths [were filled with] water, or it was seven [handbreadths] deep and three handbreadths [were filled with] water, and an ox or the like fell in and died, [the owner of the cistern] is not held liable to pay [for the death of the animal]. If [the owner of the animal seized [compensation for his loss from the owner of the cistern's property],26 [the property he seized] is not expropriated from him. [The rationale is] that there is a doubt regarding this issue.27
12. When one person digs a cistern ten handbreadths deep, a second person comes and [digs deeper], making it twenty handbreadths deep, and a third person comes and [digs deeper], making it thirty handbreadths deep, they all share in the liability.28
When the first digs even one handbreadth less than ten handbreadths, and another makes it ten handbreadths deep - either by digging another handbreadth deeper or building a rim of a handbreadth at its edge - the latter person [alone] is liable.29
If afterwards he filled up the handbreadth he added or destroyed the rim he built, it is unresolved whether the first person's deed is no longer considered of consequence30 [and therefore, he is not liable,] or whether his actions are still considered significant.31
13. [The following rules apply when a person] dug a deep cistern,32 another person came and made it wider, and an ox fell into it and died. If [it is obvious that33 the ox] died because of the air within the cistern, the second person is not liable, for [his act] improved [the quality of] the air.34 If [it is obvious that the ox] died because of the blow [it received], the second person is liable, for [his act] brought closer [the possibility] that this cistern would cause damage.35
Similarly, if the ox fell from the side that the person widened, [and died because of the air of the cistern],36 the second person is held liable despite the fact that [the ox] died from [the cistern's foul] air.37 If [the ox] fell from the side that was dug by the first person, the first person is liable, for the second person improved [the quality of] the air.38
14. The liability that the Torah imposed for [damages caused by falling into] a cistern applies even when the animal died merely because of the [foul] air within the cistern. Needless to say, it applies when the animal dies because of the blow it received.39
If the width of the cistern was the same as its depth, it will not have [foul] air. Thus, if the animal did not receive a blow [when it fell] and yet it died, [the owner of the cistern] is not liable.40 If the depth exceeds its width, it has [foul] air. If an animal dies [after falling in], [the owner] is liable, even though it did not receive a blow from the bottom [of the cistern].41
15. [The following rules apply when] a person erects a high mound in the public domain, and an animal receives a blow from it and dies.42If [the mound] was ten handbreadths high, he is liable to pay [for the damages]. If it was less than ten handbreadths high, he is not liable if the animal dies. If, however, an animal is merely injured, he is liable for the full extent of the damages.
Even if a mound is of minimal height, or one digs [a pit of] minimal depth, [and an animal is injured, one is liable]. For it is a frequent occurrence for injuries to be caused by a mound or a pit of minimal height or depth. For [an animal] to die because of such a mound or pit is not a frequent occurrence; it is considered to be an event beyond one's control.43
16. Similarly, a person is not liable for the death of an animal that [fell] into a cistern or that received a blow from a mound unless the animal was small, a deaf mute or mentally incompetent,44or it was blind, or it fell at night.45
If, however, the animal was mentally competent, and it fell into [the cistern] during the day, [the owner of the cistern] is not liable. This is considered like an event beyond a person's control. For it is the ordinary practice for an animal to see where it is going and to avoid obstacles.
Similarly, if a human fell into the pit and died, the owner is not liable.46 This applies even if he was blind or fell at night,47 and regardless of whether he was a free man or a servant. If a mentally competent human or animal suffered injury because of [the cistern], [the owner] is liable for the full extent of the damages,48 as explained [in the previous halachah].49
17. If an ox that had been consecrated as a sacrificial offering and then disqualified50 fell into [the cistern] and died, the owner is not liable.51
[This law is derived as follows. Exodus 21:34] states: "The dead body will belong to [its owner]." [The liability for the animal's death stated in the verse applies only] when the dead body belongs to [the owner].52 This excludes the case at hand, for it is forbidden to benefit from [the body of this animal], and it must be buried.53
18. [The following laws apply when] a person was digging a cistern and the noise of the digging caused an animal to fall into the pit and die. If [the animal] fell forwards, [the owner of the cistern] is liable. If it fell backwards - i.e., it was startled [by the sound] and retreated and then fell - [the owner] is not liable.
[The latter law is derived as follows. Exodus 21:33 states: "When an ox...] falls," [implied is that for the person to be liable], the ox must fall in an ordinary manner.54
If [the animal] fell forward outside the cistern because of the sound of the digging and died, the court does not hold the owner of the cistern liable.55 If the person [whose ox died] seizes property [belonging to the owner of the cistern], it is not expropriated from him. If [the animal] fell backward outside the cistern and died or was injured, the owner of the cistern is not liable.
19. [The following rules apply when] an ox pushes another animal into a cistern and it dies. If [the ox] is mu'ad,56 the owner of the cistern is required to pay half [the damages], and the owner of the ox the [other] half.57
If [the ox] is tam, the owner of the ox must pay one-fourth [of the damages] from the body of the ox,58 while the owner of the cistern must pay three-fourths of the damage from his most choice property. For the owner of the dead animal may say to the owner of the cistern: "You owe me for the depreciation in value of this dead animal. Although it was a mature animal and mentally competent, it is as if it fell at night.59 I will collect whatever I can from the owner of the ox. You are liable to pay me the remainder."60
20. Similarly, if a person places a stone at the edge of a cistern, and an ox stumbles over it and falls into the cistern and dies, the person who placed the stone there must pay [half the damages],61 and the owner of the cistern must pay the [other] half.
21. Similarly,62 [the following laws apply when] an ordinary ox and an ox that was consecrated as a sacrifice and then disqualified gored another ox together. If the ordinary ox is a tam, [its owner] should pay half the damages.
If it is mu'ad, [its owner] must pay the entire damages. [The entire burden falls on this person,] because the owner of the ox that suffered the damage will say to him: "I will collect all that I can from the other ox, and you are liable for the remainder. In this instance, since the other ox is consecrated and therefore [its owner is] not held liable,63 you must pay me the entire amount."
22. When a person was digging a cistern in the public domain, and an ox fell upon him and killed him, the owner of the ox is not liable.64 If the ox dies, the owner of the ox may collect the value of his ox from the heirs of the owner of the cistern.65
FOOTNOTES
1.The Rambam has completed his discussion of the first two general categories of damages: grazing and goring. He now goes on to the third category. The damages caused by a cistern.Payment of these damages is also considered one of the Torah's 613 mitzvot (Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandment 238, and Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 53). This mitzvah can be defined as compensating a person for the death or damage to animals he owns that came as a result of an object owned by another person, which serves as a stumbling block.
2.The Rambam's wording is taken from Exodus 21:33.
3.In which case the death of the animal was not caused by its fall, but by the foul air of the cistern. Even so, the owner of the cistern is held liable.
4.Although the cistern does not actually belong to him - for it is in the public domain - since he dug it without permission, the Torah holds him liable for the damages as if it were his own.
5.Since the opening of the cistern is accessible to others, its owner should have taken precautions and made certain that it was covered.The Tur (Choshen Mishpat 410) maintains that this applies only until the owner of the adjoining courtyard is made aware of the cistern's presence. Once the owner of the courtyard knows about the presence of the cistern, he is liable.
6.Since he declared the property ownerless, the cistern is accessible to others and therefore should be covered.
7.This applies even when the cistern was dug by an animal belonging to someone else. As long as a cistern accessible to the public exists within a person's domain, he is liable to cover it. Moreover, the Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 410:4) add that even if the cistern is dug by another human being, the owner of the cistern is liable for any damages caused as soon as he discovers it.
8.From this, Ki'nat Eliyahu draws the conclusion that the owner is not required to check the cover continually to see that it is strong enough to serve its purpose.
9.The Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 410:23) state that if, however, a camel falls into the cistern, the owner is liable. This is not considered a factor beyond his control.
10.For he should have protected against such a possibility.
11.The Ra'avad objects to the Rambam's ruling, explaining as follows: As mentioned in Chapter 2, Halachah 15, even though ultimately damage was caused because of forces beyond one's control, if one has been negligent at the outset, one is liable. Therefore, in this instance, although the decay of the cover is considered to be beyond the owner's control, since he had been negligent in not covering the cistern with a cover strong enough to support camels, he should be held liable.The Maggid Mishneh justifies the Rambam's ruling, explaining that the above principle applies when the negligence can, at least to a certain extent, be considered a cause of the loss suffered by forces beyond one's control. In this instance, however, the fact that the cover was not sufficient to support camels can in no way be considered a cause of the decay of the cover.The Maggid Mishneh's resolution is accepted by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 410:24). Note the Tur and the Ramah, who develop the latter principle further.
12.I.e., the one who dug the cistern in the public domain, who is held responsible for its damages.
13.For he has merely returned the situation to its original state.Note the comments of the Maggid Mishneh, who - in response to the objections of the Ra'avad - explains that this law applies even when the owner saw the other person covering the cistern. The owner should know not to rely on a person who is not the cistern's owner (Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:3).
14.It is as if the second person had dug the cistern himself (ibid.:4).
15.It appears that the Rambam's intent is that only the first partner is liable. Rabbenu Asher and his conception is quoted by the Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 410:25) explains that since both partners saw the cistern uncovered, they are both liable. The Talmud's intent by saying the first is liable, is that he must share in the liability. He cannot excuse himself by saying: Since the other partner saw it after me, he must bear the entire responsibility.
16.Note the Lechem Mishneh who, based on Halachah 9, explains that the buckets were used as the covering for the cistern. See the commentaries of Rashi and Rabbenu Chanan'el on Bava Kama 51b.
17.The Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 410:26) explain that the second partner is also given time to hire workers to cover the cistern.
18.The Ra'avad interprets the Rambam's words as meaning until he would ordinarily know, while the Maggid Mishneh explains that the intent is until he actually finds out.
19.The Ra'avad objects to the Rambam's ruling, explaining that if the cistern is covered thoroughly, the owner is not held liable. The Maggid Mishneh upholds the Rambam's ruling, and Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:45 explains that furthermore, we have reason to believe that the mentally incompetents opened the covering themselves.
20.That were taken without his colleague's permission.
21.For he should have taken into consideration the possibility that the owner of the buckets would take them back. The owner of the buckets is not obligated to notify him.
22.For a cistern is usually at least ten handbreadths deep, while the others may not be that deep.See parallels to this ruling in Hilchot Shechitah 9:8 and Hilchot Rotzeach 3:7.
23.Even if its depth is small, if it presents a difficulty that could cause an animal to stumble and suffer damage, the owner is liable (Maggid Mishneh). See Halachah 15.
24.For under ordinary circumstances, a fall of less than ten handbreadths will not cause an animal to die.
25.The rationale is that the water impairs the quality of the air in the cistern and hastens the animal's death.
26.See Chapter 1, Halachah 11 and notes.
27.Therefore, the money is allowed to remain in the possession of the litigant - either the owner of the pit or the owner of the animal - in whose possession it is at the time the matter is brought to court.
28.Since each of them dug an amount sufficient to cause death, the damages are equally divided among them.
29.He is solely liable both for damages and for death. The rationale is that the original cistern was not deep enough to cause death. Hence, when the second person deepened it, making it deep enough to cause death, he is considered to have brought into being a new entity for which he alone is liable if it causes damages.
30.According to this view, once the second person deepened the cistern, it is considered to be his handiwork entirely, as if the first person no longer had any connection to it. Therefore, the second person has the responsibility of covering the cistern, and paying for any damages that might be caused.
31.Therefore, neither of the people who dug the cistern can be held liable. According to the views that maintain that a person who seizes property when an unresolved doubt exists is allowed to maintain possession, if the person whose property was damaged seizes property from either or both of the persons who dug the cistern, he is entitled to maintain possession (Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:33).
32.I.e., ten or more handbreadths deep.
33.This addition is made based on the comments of Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:24. It helps reconcile the difficulties with the Rambam's interpretation mentioned in the notes that follow.
34.By widening the cistern, he enabled more fresh air to circulate.
35.By widening the cistern, he made it more likely that an animal would fall in. Therefore, he is considered to be the owner of the cistern and is held responsible for the damages, even when the animal fell from the other side.
36.This addition is made on the basis of the comments of Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:25.
37.And the second person improved the quality of the air. Nevertheless, he is held liable, because had he not widened the cistern, it is possible that the ox would not have fallen in.
38.The Rambam's ruling has attracted the attention of the commentaries, because it appears to fuse together two dissenting Talmudic opinions (Bava Kama 51b). As the Maggid Mishneh explains, according to the first of the opinions mentioned in that passage, it appears that what is significant is whether the animal died because of the blow it received or because of the foul air in the cistern, while according to the second opinion, what is significant is the side from which the animal fell.The Kessef Mishneh reconciles the Rambam's interpretation, explaining that the Rambam did not see the two interpretations as being contradictory, for if that were the case, each one could be refuted by an obvious question. According to the first opinion: Why would the first person be held liable if the ox died because of the air in the cistern if the ox fell in from the side that the other person widened? Had he not widened it, the ox might not have fallen in.According to the second opinion, the question arises: Since the second person's action makes him liable if an ox falls in, what difference does it make from which side it fell.For these reasons, the Rambam maintains that the two opinions are complementary. See the D'rishah (Choshen Mishpat 410), which offers an alternate resolution of the Rambam's view. Rabbenu Asher, the Tur, and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 410:16) differ with the Rambam and follow the second opinion, which maintains that the liability depends on the side from which the ox fell.
39.This ruling is the subject of a difference of opinion among the Sages of the Talmud (Bava Kama 50b). The Rambam accepts the opinion of the sage Shmuel.
40.For the animal is considered to have died because of forces beyond the owner's control (Sefer Me'irat Einayim 410:28).
41.I.e., there were substances at the bottom of the cistern that cushioned the animal's fall (Tur, Choshen Mishpat 410).
42.The Rambam's wording is carefully chosen. As opposed to the owner of a cistern, who can be held liable whether the animal dies from the blow it receives or from the foul air, a person who erects a mound can be held liable only when the animal dies because of the blow it receives.
43.See Hilchot Chovel UMazik 1:18.
44.In all three of these instances, the person who dug the cistern or who erected the mound is liable, for the animal is considered to be mentally incompetent and unable to appreciate the danger that the cistern or mound could cause.
45.In these instances, although the animal was mentally competent, since it could not see the cistern or the mound, it was unable to appreciate the danger.
46.This is a decree of Torah law. Commenting on Exodus 21:33: If an ox or a donkey fall into it, Bava Kama 28b, 52a states: An ox' and not a man, a donkey,' and not utensils.
47.For the leniency is not a result of the fact that a person takes care while walking, but a result of the Torah's decree.
48.Although the owner must pay the full extent of the damages, he is not liable for the medical treatment, pain, embarrassment, and loss of employment suffered by the person, as stated in Chapter 14, Halachah 15.
49.With regard to an injury suffered by a human being, Tosafot, Bava Kama 27b explains that the Torah freed the owner of a cistern from liability only when a person died because of a fall (as is the case in the verse cited above), and not when he became injured. Even if the injury is suffered during the day, the person is liable, because it is not common for a person to look carefully at the road on which he is walking.With regard to an injury suffered by an animal, the Rambam's ruling is the subject of a difference of opinion among our Rabbis. The Ra'avad maintains that just as the owner of the cistern is not liable for the death of a mentally competent animal that falls during the daytime, he is not liable for its injury.The Maggid Mishneh justifies the Rambam's ruling, explaining that although an animal may act with caution with regard to obstacles that can cause more severe damages, it will not be as sensitive with regard to obstacles that can cause lesser damages. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 410:20) quotes the Rambam's view, while the Tur and the Ramah follow that of the Ra'avad. Note, however, the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 412:3), which appears to follow the approach of the Ra'avad.
50.E.g., an animal that suffered a disqualifying physical blemish after being consecrated. This law applies even in the present age, with regard to a firstborn animal.
51.In Hilchot Chovel UMazik 6:16, the Rambam states that this leniency applies even when the animal is merely injured.
52.And he is permitted to benefit from it.
53.Note the Ra'avad, who states that this leniency applies even when the disqualified animal has already been redeemed by its owner. Although the Rambam's wording does not appear to include such an instance (for then, it is permitted to benefit from the animal), the Maggid Mishneh states that he would accept the Ra'avad's ruling.
54.The Ra'avad questions the Rambam's ruling, because it appears to contradict the understanding of Bava Kama 52b-53a. First of all, the Talmud explains that this matter is dependent on a difference of opinion between Rav and Shmuel. In Halachah 15, the Rambam rules according to Shmuel, while here his ruling appears closer to that of Rav. According to the Ra'avad, if the animal fell backwards into the cistern, the owner of the cistern is not held liable, but if the owner seizes property belonging to the other, it is not expropriated from him.The Rambam's interpretation of this passage is obviously problematic. In his Commentary on the Mishnah (Bava Kama 5:6), his interpretation also appears to differ from this halachah. There he writes that if the ox falls backwards into the cistern, the owner of the cistern is liable. If he falls backwards outside the cistern, the owner of the cistern is not liable. This understanding is reflected in the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 410:31).
55.For the animal died because of the blow it received from the land in the public domain, and not that of the cistern. The Ra'avad differs with regard to this clause as well and maintains that the property of the cistern's owner may not be seized. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 410:31) also follows that understanding.
56.In which case, its owner is ordinarily responsible for the full extent of the damages it causes.
57.The ox that pushes the animal and the cistern into which it fell are considered equally responsible for the damage. Had the ox not been pushed, it would not have fallen. Had the cistern not been uncovered in the public domain, the ox would also not have fallen.
58.For the owner of an ox that is tam is required to pay half of the damages (in this case, half of a half), and that payment can be expropriated only from the body of the ox that did the damage. If the ox is not worth that amount, the owner is not obligated to pay any more.
59.I.e., one cannot say that the animal should have avoided the obstacles.
60.For had the cistern not been there, the animal would not have died.
61.As explained in the following chapter, placing any obstacle in the public domain is a derivative of digging a cistern and causes one to be liable for the damages suffered. In this instance, the person who placed the stone and the one who dug the cistern are considered to be partners in this liability, for were it not for the stone, the animal would not have fallen. And were it not for the cistern, the fall would not have resulted in its death.
62.This is another example of a case where two people are considered to be partners in damage that is caused. Each is considered to be liable for the entire amount. Nevertheless, since the person whose property was damaged does not have to receive more than the amount he lost, the loss is divided between the two (Bava Kama 53a). In this instance, as in Halachah 19, the owner of the dead animal cannot collect from the owner of the ox that was disqualified as a sacrifice. Hence, he collects the entire amount from the owner of the other ox.
63.See Chapter 8, Halachah 1, from which it is evident that the present halachah refers to an ox that was consecrated, disqualified, but not redeemed as yet.
64.I.e., he does not have to pay an atonement fine, nor is the ox stoned, as reflected by the ruling in Chapter 10, Halachah 9. The person digging the cistern is considered to be negligent, and the fact that the ox fell is his responsibility.
65.See Hilchot Malveh V'Loveh 11:4.
Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Thirteen
1. When utensils fall into a cistern and break, the owner of the cistern is not liable.1 [This is derived from Exodus 21:33, which] states: "And an ox or a donkey fell there." The Oral Tradition interprets2 this as an exclusion: "'An ox' and not a man;3 'a donkey' and not utensils." Even when an ox fell [into a cistern] when carrying utensils and died and broke the utensils, the owner is liable for the ox, but not for the utensils.
2. A cistern is considered one of the general categories of causes of damage. Its derivatives, like it, are considered mu'adim from the outset. Whenever a person leaves an obstacle [in the path of other living beings], it is considered to be a derivative of a cistern.4 If a person or an animal is injured because of it, the person who caused the obstacle to exist is liable, whether or not he renounced ownership of it. If it caused damage to utensils, [the person responsible] is not held liable.
3. What is implied? When a person leaves his stone, his knife, his straw, his burden or the like in the public domain, and they cause injury to another human or to an animal, [the first person] is liable for the full amount of the damages.
Similarly, if he left such items on his property and declared his property - but not these items - ownerless, and a person stumbled on the ground5 and received a blow from such an item that caused him injury, the person who caused the obstacle to exist is liable. If the person's utensils became damaged or soiled in such a situation, [the person who caused the obstacle to exist] is not liable.
4. If a person brought his ox into a courtyard belonging to another person without permission, the ox defecated, and the feces soiled utensils belonging to the owner, [the owner of the ox] is not liable. For the feces are considered to be a derivative of a cistern, and [the owner of] a cistern is never liable for damage to utensils.
5. [The following laws apply when a person] leaves his jug in the public domain, and a passerby stumbles over it and breaks it. The passerby is not liable, because it is not the practice of people to look out on the way as they walk.
If [the passerby] was injured, the owner of the jug is liable for his injury. [This applies] even if he declared his jug ownerless. For whenever a person declares ownerless an obstacle that he has created in a domain in which he has no permission to place it at the outset,6 he is liable, as if he had never declared it ownerless.
6. If the person placed the jug down in a place where he had permission to place it - e.g., the marketplace before the wine vats or the like7 - and a passerby stumbles over it and breaks it, [the passerby] is liable. If the passerby was injured, the owner of the jug is not liable, because [the passerby] should have looked to see [if there was anything in his way].8
If it was dark or [if the owner of the jugs] filled the entire path with jugs, the passerby is not liable for breaking it. If he is injured, the owner of the jugs is liable.9 Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
7. [The following rules apply when] a jug belonging to a person breaks [accidentally] in the public domain, and another person slips on the water [that spilled] or receives a blow from its shards. The owner cannot be held liable by an earthly court, because [the jug] was broken by accident.10 He has, however, a moral and a spiritual obligation, because he did not gather the shards.11 The shards and the water are like ownerless entities, [even though] he did not rescind his ownership until after the accident, he is not held liable. If he intended to take possession of the shards, and another person was damaged by them, he is liable.
Similar laws apply to a person whose camel fell and he did not raise it up, or the like.12 In all these situations, if utensils were damaged, the owner of the obstacle is not liable, whether he declared his object ownerless or not, as we have explained.13
8. [The following laws apply when] two potters were following each other on a path, the first tripped and fell, and the second tripped over the first. If the first could have stood up but failed to do so, he is liable for the damages suffered by the second. Although he accidentally fell, the accident did not [force him to remain] lying in the road. [Therefore,] since he could have stood up, [he is liable].14
If he was unable to have risen [before the second potter tripped over him], he is not liable. [This applies] even though he did not warn [the potter] who tripped over him. [The rationale is] that he is concerned with his own [difficulties].15
9. When do we say that he is liable for the damages to the second [potter]? When he suffers damage to his body. If, however, his utensils are damaged, [the first potter] is not liable. For [an owner of] a cistern is not liable for the damage to utensils, and any obstacle is considered to be a derivative of a cistern, as explained above.16
10. [The following rules apply when] potters, glass blowers and the like were walking one after the other, the first one tripped and fell, the second tripped over the first one, and the third tripped over the second. Each of them had time to stand up, but failed to do so.
The first is liable for the damages to the body of the second, regardless of whether he was injured by the body of the first person who is lying on the earth,17 or he was injured by his burden.18
The second is liable for the injuries suffered by the body of the third person if he was injured by the second person's body. If, however, he was injured by the second person's burden, [the second person] is not liable. For he will say: "I did not dig this cistern - i.e., my burden." For it was the first person who caused the second person and his burden to fall.19
In all cases, [if the person who fell] warned [the person who tripped over him or his burden], [the person who fell] is not liable.
11. If the first person fell and was lying lengthwise across the road and one person tripped over his head, another [tripped] over his legs and a third over his abdomen, he is liable for the injuries each suffered, for he had the potential to arise.
12. When a person pours water into the public domain, and another person is injured by it, [the one who poured out the water] is liable for the damages.20 If the other person's garments were soiled, [the one who poured out the water] is not liable, as we have explained.21
If the water was absorbed by the earth, but the earth remained slippery,22 and a person slipped and fell and was injured by the ground, [the one who poured out the water] is liable.23
13. All those who open their sewage vats and rake out their cesspools do not have permission to pour this water into the public domain during the summer months.24 In the rainy season, a person has permission [to release such sewage].25 Nevertheless, if a person or an animal is damaged by the water, the one who released it is responsible for the entire sum of the damages.26
14. A person should not take his straw and hay out to the public domain so that it will be trod upon and become fit to use as fertilizer. If he did take it out, our Sages penalized him and declared the straw to be ownerless. The first person to take possession of it acquires it as his own, once it has been trod upon and its value has increased.27 If a person took possession of it before that time - i.e., directly after it was taken out to the public domain - it should not be expropriated from him.28
Although the straw and the hay are ownerless, if [they cause damage to] a person or an animal, the person who brought it out [to the public domain] must compensate [for the damages].29
15. A person may take out compost and manure to the public domain at a time when everyone does so and amass them there for 30 days so that they will be trodden upon by people and animals. Although [permission is granted], if these substances cause damage the owner is liable for the damages.
[If another person takes] this manure,30 he is liable for theft. Since its value will not increase [appreciably] by being trodden upon, [our Sages] did not penalize him [by declaring it ownerless].31
16. Mortar may not be left to soak in the public domain, nor may bricks be fashioned there.32 One may, however, mix mortar33 in the public domain. One may not, however, mix bricks.
17. When a person constructs a building in the public domain, the one who brings stones may bring stones, and the one who builds may build. If any of them causes damage, they are obligated to pay for the entire sum of the damages.34
18. When a quarrier hews out a stone and gives it to a stonecutter, and it causes damage to a human or an animal, the stonecutter is liable.
If the stonecutter gives it to a donkey-driver35 [and it causes damage], the donkey-driver is liable. If the donkey-driver gives it to a porter36 [and it causes damage], the porter is liable. If the porter gives it to a builder [and it causes damage], the builder is liable. If the builder gives it to the person who positions it on the building [and it causes damage], the latter is liable.
If they were working as contractors [in a partnership], and after it was positioned in its place on the building it fell and caused damage, they all share in the liability.37 If they are hired laborers, the one [who positioned the stone in its place] is liable, and the others are not liable.38
19. When a wall or a tree falls into the public domain and causes damage,39 the owner is not required to compensate [for the damages].40 [This applies] even when he declared [the tree or the wall] ownerless.41 [The rationale is that these entities] do not resemble a cistern, for at the outset, [it is not likely] that they will cause damage.
If they were not sturdy, the court sets a time for the person by which he must cut down the tree and tear down the wall. How much time is granted him? Thirty days.42 If the tree or the wall falls within this time and causes damage, he is not liable. [If it falls] afterwards, he is liable, because he delayed [beyond the limits set].
20. When a person places thorns or glass [within a wall], or when a person makes a fence of thorns that project into the public domain, and it causes damage to another person,43 he is liable for the full extent of the damages.
If he makes a fence of thorns that are contained within his property,44 he is not held liable, for it is not ordinary for people to rub against a wall [in the public domain].
21. [The following laws apply when] a person hid his thorns and [fragments of] glass in a wall belonging to a colleague, the owner of the wall came and tore down his wall into the public domain, and [the thorns or glass] caused damage. If the wall was shaky,45 the person who hid [the thorns or glass] is liable. If the wall was strong, its owner is liable.46
22. The pious men47 of the early generations would bury thorns and [fragments of] glass in their fields [at least] three handbreadths below the ground, so they would not be lifted up by a plow. Others would burn them in fire. Still others would throw them to the sea or to the river so that other people would not be injured by them.
23. A person should not clear stones from his private property into the public domain.48
One should not dig a cavity, a cistern, a trench or a cave under the public domain.49 [This applies] even when [the covering of the cavity is so strong] that it can support a carriage laden with stones, for there is the possibility that [at a later date] it will open from below without his knowledge.
It is permitted for a person to dig a cistern for the needs of people at large.50
24. One should not build projections and balconies that protrude into the public domain unless it is possible for a camel and its rider51 to pass beneath, and provided it does not cast shadows on the people in the public domain.
If he desires, he can withdraw the walls [of his building into his own domain] and build [the projection].52 If he did withdraw the walls [of his building], but has not built [a projection], he may do so at any time he desires. Never, however, may he return the walls to their original place. Once people at large have been granted permission to pass through a particular property, it cannot be withdrawn.53
25. When a person purchased a courtyard with projections and balconies protruding into the public domain, we operate under the presumption [that they were built legally].54 If the building falls, he is allowed to rebuild it according to its original proportions.
26. When [the foliage of] a tree leans into the public domain, it should be trimmed so that a camel and its rider can pass under it.
An empty space should be left next to the banks on both sides of a river wide enough for the crewmen who descend and pull a boat.55 Any tree that is found in this space should be cut down immediately. A warning need not be given to its owner,56 for it blocks the crewmen from pulling ships.
27. [The following rules apply when] there was a path for people at large passing through a person's field, he expropriated the path and prepared a new path at the side of the field. What he granted them, they acquire possession of,57 but he does not acquire possession of [the land] he took.
How wide is a path for people at large? Not less than sixteen cubits.58
FOOTNOTES
1.Similarly, as stated in the following halachah, the owner of thecistern is not held liable if the utensils are damaged. With regard toa human, by contrast, the owner is liable for damages. (See Chapter12, Halachah 16; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 410:21.)
2.See Bava Kama 28b, 53b.
3.See Chapter 12, Halachah 16.
4.See the Tur (Choshen Mishpat 410), which defines thederivatives of a cistern as including any property that causesdamage in its place, which does not move. Although the Rambammentions a moving obstacle in Chapter 2, Halachah 19, the intentis that the obstacle is being moved by another force.
5.The person stumbled on the earth, and this is what caused theinjury. Nevertheless, since the earth is ownerless, he collects thedamages from the person who left the obstacle in its place. Were itnot for the obstacle, the damage would not have taken place.
6.If, however, he left a jug on his own property and then declared itownerless, he is not liable. At the outset, he had permission to leavethe jug there. See Chapter 12, Halachah 2.
7.I.e. a place in front of oil vats or beehives, where jugs of oil orhoney would be filled.
8.Although, as stated above, it is not the general practice forpeople to watch for obstacles as they walk, since jugs are often lefton the ground in places like these, a passerby should watch his step(Kessef Mishneh).
9.In the dark, the owner of the jugs should have removed them beforenightfall, for he knows that a passerby will not be able to see. If hefilled the path with jugs, he made it likely that a person would breaka jug as he passed by.Note the quotation of this law in the Shulchan Aruch(Choshen Mishpat 412:2). There a further category is added: aninstance where a person places so many jugs in the road that it isimpossible for people to pass without breaking some of the jugs: thepasserby is not liable even if he intentionally broke enough jugs toallow him to pass.
10.Since the jug broke accidentally, the owner is not considerednegligent with regard to the damages that were caused. For thisreason, the laws stated in Halachah 5 are not applied to him.
11.If he did not have time to gather the shards before the otherperson was injured, he does not have such a moral obligation(Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 412:4.)
12.For the camel, like the broken pitcher, fell accidentally as thepitcher broke, and is thus considered to be an obstacleunintentionally placed in the public domain. Bava Kama 29astates that this is speaking of an instance where the camel died, andits owner rescinded his ownership over its carcass. Otherwise, hewould be held liable.
13.Halachah 1.
14.I.e., his body is considered like an obstacle in the publicdomain.
15.Although one might think that he could have been held liable fornot warning his colleague, this presumption is not accepted. Hisconcern for his own welfare takes priority. Rabbenu Asher (and hisopinion is accepted by the Tur and the Ramah ChoshenMishpat 413:1) differs and maintains that if the first potterhad the opportunity to warn the second and failed to do so, he isliable.
16.Halachah 2. Implied by the Rambam's wording in this halachah (andthe following one) is that the body of the first potter is consideredto be an obstacle. He is not considered to have caused damage to hiscolleague with his person.
17.This reflects the concept mentioned in the previous note. Aperson's body is considered to be an obstacle. Therefore, the Rambammentions damage to the body of the second person, implying that if thesecond person's utensils were damaged, the first would not be heldliable.
18.From Halachah 7, it would appear that this ruling applies onlywhen the potter did not declare his wares ownerless. See the Ra'avad,the Maggid Mishneh, the Tur and the Ramah (ChoshenMishpat 413:2).
19.This argument does not apply, however, with regard to injurycaused by the body of the second person. Since he had time to rise, heis liable for the injuries suffered.
20.In this instance, there is no difference whether or not the persondeclared the water ownerless, as reflected in Halachot 2 and 7.
21.For the owner of a derivative of a cistern is not liable fordamages to property (Halachot 1 and 2).
22.The Ra'avad explains that this ruling applies only when the groundis still muddy because of the water. The Maggid Mishneh states that even when the water has been absorbed totally, if the ground is still slippery, the person is liable. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 412:5) appears to follow the Ra'avad's view.
23.Although the ground did not belong to him, since the fall wascaused by the water that he poured, he is liable.
24.During these months, the streets are clean and it is forbidden forsomeone to soil them. Moreover, in Eretz Yisrael it does notrain during these months, and the sewage will remain in the streetsfor months.
25.For the streets are muddy at that time, and there is water flowingto wash away the sewage. Needless to say, as our sewage and sidewalkshave become more sophisticated, the relevance of these laws hasfaded.
26.Although our Sages granted a person permission to release hissewage at this time, they did not absolve him of responsibility.
27.There is an unresolved difference of opinion among the Sages(Bava Kama 30b) if the penalty takes effect from the time thestraw was taken out, or from the time it became useful asfertilizer.Note the Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 414:1), whostate that at the outset a person who asks whether he may take thestraw and the hay, should not be told that he may retain possession ofits initial value. Instead, he should be told that he may keep onlythe increment. After the fact, he is allowed to keep the initial valueas well.
28.The Tur and the Ramah differ with regard to this point as well and maintain that in this instance, the straw should be expropriated from the person who took possession of it.
29.Whenever damage is caused by an object that was declared ownerlessafter being placed in the public domain without permission, the personwho placed it there is liable.
30.As stated in Hilchot Gezelah 6:5, this applies even if aperson takes his compost out at a time when it is forbidden to do so.A person who takes it is liable for theft.
31.The Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 414:2) statethat if the compost causes damage, it is considered to be ownerless,and it may be taken by another person.
32.For these will remain in the public domain for an extendedperiod.
33.To be used for building in the near future.
34.In this instance as well, the license to perform an activity inthe public domain does not absolve a person of liability.
35.To transport to a construction site.
36.To carry it to the builder.
37.If they were partners, once the task is completed they all sharein the responsibility. Until the entire task is completed, however,the person who is responsible for the activity at the time the damagewas caused must pay for the damages, even when they were allpartners.
38.I.e., each person is liable for the portion of the task that heperforms.
39.The Maggid Mishneh emphasizes that this applies when damageis caused by the tree or the wall as it falls. After it falls and thetree or the stones are lying in the public domain, the owner is notliable, if he declares them ownerless.
40.This is considered an oness, a loss due to forces beyond hiscontrol. The Maggid Mishneh clarifies that this applies onlywhen the wall was constructed properly to begin with. When, however,it is built faultily, the owner is liable.
41.Generally, despite the fact that a person declares an obstacle that he created in the public domain as ownerless, he is liable. In this instance, however,since he had permission to plant the tree or build the wall, and itfell because of forces beyond his control, he is not heldresponsible.The Maggid Mishneh explains that the owner is liable, if he desires toestablish his possession over the entities which fell.The Tur and the Ramah (loc. cit.) differ.
42.As Bava Metzia 118a states, this is the ordinary timegranted by the court to adjust difficulties.
43.The thorns or glass that projects is considered to be an obstacleplaced in the public domain.
44.Even if they project beyond the wall itself, as long as they arecontained within the owner's property, he is not liable.
45.And thus one could assume that it would be torn down in the nearfuture.
46.The owner of the thorns or glass is not liable, because he had noreason to think that someone would tear down a sturdy wall. If thedamage was done when the wall was being destroyed, the owner of thewall is liable, because he should have taken care that no passersbywere hurt. If the damage was done after the wall was destroyed, theowner of the wall is liable, because he was responsible for clearingthe debris remaining from his wall (Tur, Beit Yosef, ChoshenMishpat 415).
47.I.e., men who went beyond the measure of the law. This teaching isbased on the examples of sages cited by Bava Kama 30a.
48.Lest another person stumble over them and be injured.
49.The Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 417:1) states that in his era, ithad already become customary to dig below the streets of the publicdomain. This is surely the case in our age, when engineering hasprogressed to the point that safety is not compromised by digging inthis manner.
50.E.g., to provide travelers with drinking water.This law is stated in a separate paragraph, because as is stated inthe Tur and the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat410:7, but see 417:1), it is a separate clause, and not a continuationof the previous idea. The Tur and the Shulchan Aruch alsomention that the person must cover the cistern and entrust the coverto the trustees of the people at large, or at the very least informthe court that he has dug a cistern for people, but is expecting thecourt to arrange for its being covered.
51.A camel was the highest popular means of conveyance in Talmudictimes. Needless to say, in every era, the height should be adjusted to fit the highest contemporary means of conveyance, e.g., in the present era, allowances should be made for semi-trailers.
52.I.e., knock down the existing walls and build new walls furtherremoved from the public domain.
53.If, however, people do not frequently walk through this space(e.g., the person prevented that by building a platform there), he mayrebuild the walls in their original place when he desires RabbenuYerucham; Beit Yosef, Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 417:2).
54.I.e., that the person who originally constructed the buildingbuilt its walls removed from the public domain, so that theprotrusions and balconies were permitted.
55.I.e., the rivers of Eretz Yisrael and Babylon were for themost part neither wide nor deep. When a ship wanted to dock, severalof its crewmen would descend and they would pull the ship to the riverbank by ropes. This halachah requires that enough empty space be leftalong the river banks to allow these crewmen to maneuver. FromHilchot Geneivah 8:2, it appears that we are speaking about fourcubits.
56.This can be derived by the conduct of Rabbah bar Rav Nachman(Bava Metzia 108a), who cleared space without informing theowner of the property.
57.See Halachah 24.
58.This is derived from the width of the public thoroughfare in thecamp of the Jews in the desert.
Hilchot Nizkei Mamon - Chapter Fourteen
1. When a person kindles a fire in a field belonging to someone else1 and the fire spreads and causes damage, [the person who kindled it] is liable to pay the full extent of the damages,2 as [Exodus 22:5] states: "When a fire spreads through thorns and consumes bound or standing grain..., [the one who started the fire] must pay."
Kindling a fire is considered one of the major categories of sources of damage.3
2. When a person kindles [a fire] on his own property, he must retreat a sufficient distance from his boundary to ensure that the fire will not spread to a field belonging to a colleague.4
How far must he move? Everything depends on the height of the fire.5 If he did not retreat an adequate distance and the fire spread and caused damage, he is liable to pay the full extent of the damages. If he retreated an appropriate distance, and [the fire] nevertheless spread and caused damage, he is not liable. This is considered an act of heaven.
Similarly, if [the fire] crossed a stream6 or a pond of rainwater that was [at least] eight cubits wide, [the person who kindled the fire] is not liable.7
3. If the fire passed a wall, we measure the height of the wall and the height of the fire and the amount of foliage8 and bramble found there.9 If the fire was not of sufficient size to pass the wall ordinarily, he is not liable. If it is large enough, he is liable.
When does the above apply? To a piercing flame].10 If, however, the flame ascends upward and warps downward because of the height of the flame, and there were trees11 there, we do not make an estimation. Even if the fire spread for 1000 cubits, [the person who kindled it] is liable.12
4. [The following rules apply when] a fire breaks out in a person's domain,13 and his wall falls from causes other than the fire.14 If he had had the opportunity to rebuild the wall that fell, and he neglected to do so, he is liable. To what can the matter be compared?15 To a person's ox that broke loose16 and caused damage. For [the owner] was responsible for guarding him, and he failed to do so.
5. A person who sends a fire in the hands of a deaf mute, a mentally incompetent person or a child is not held liable by an earthly court;17 he does, however, have a moral and a spiritual obligation [to make restitution for the damages].18
When does the above apply? When he gave them a coal and they fanned it into a flame, for it is normal for a coal to burn out before it causes a flame. If, however, [the person] gave them a flame, he is liable, for his deeds caused the damage.19
6. When a person sends a fire with a mentally competent individual, the agent who spread the flame is liable, and the principal is free of liability.20
Similarly, if he charged a watchman with guarding a fire, [and the fire nevertheless caused damage,] the watchman is liable.21
7. When one person brings a flame, and [then] another person brings the wood, [and a fire is started, which causes damage], the person who brought the wood is liable.22
When one person brings the wood, and [then] another person brings a flame, [and a fire is started, which causes damage,] the person who brought the flame is liable.23 If another person comes and fans the fire, he is liable.24
If the fire is fanned by an uncommon wind,25 none of them is held liable.26 If a person fanned a fire, but it was also fanned by the wind, the person is liable, for his [actions] caused damage.27 And whenever a person's [actions] cause damage, he is liable to pay for the full amount of the damages from the choicest property he owns, as if the damage was inflicted directly.
8. When a fire spread and consumed wood, stone or earth,28 [the person who kindled the fire] is obligated to make restitution, as it is written: "[When a fire] spreads through thorns [and consumes...] a field."
[The following rules apply when] a fire consumes a grain heap or the like and there were utensils hidden in the grain heap. If [the utensils include] a thresher, a yoke for cattle or other articles that it is likely for farmers to hide in their grain heaps, [the person who kindled the fire] is liable.29 If [the utensils include] clothes, glassware and the like, he is not liable for the damage to the utensils.30
9. When does the above apply? When a person kindles a fire in a field belonging to a colleague.31 If, however, he kindles the fire in his own [domain] and it spreads to a colleague's field, he is not liable for utensils hidden in a grain heap.32 He must, however, compensate [the owner] as if the space taken by the utensils had been filled with wheat or with barley.33
10. A person who kindles a fire in a field belonging to a colleague is also liable [in the following instance]. The fire spread and consumed a kid that was tied to the grain heap or a servant near the grain heap.34 For this is also the ordinary practice near a grain heap. If, however, the servant was tied [to the grain heap], or the goat was near the grain heap, [the person who kindled the fire is not liable].35
11. When a person lends a colleague space to make a grain heap, the colleague makes that grain heap and hides utensils in it, and then the person who lent him the space burns the grain heap, [the person who kindled the fire] is liable to pay [his colleague] only for the grain heap.36
If he lent him space to make a heap of wheat and he made a heap of barley,37 or he lent him space to make a heap of barley and he made a heap of wheat,38 or he made a heap of wheat and covered it with barley,39 or he made a heap of barley and covered it with wheat,40 [the person who kindled the fire] is not liable to pay any more than the value of a heap of barley.
12. When a person sets fire to a home belonging to a colleague, he must compensate for everything it contains,41 for it is the ordinary practice for people to keep all their utensils and possessions in their homes.
The person whose house [was burned] is entitled to collect everything he claims,42 provided he takes an oath while holding a [sacred] article.43 This oath is a Rabbinic institution, as will be explained.44 [The above applies] provided he claims articles that we can assume he owns45 or that it is customary for others to entrust to him.
13. [The following rules apply when] a camel that is loaded with flax passes through the public domain, the flax that enters the shop46 is ignited by the lamp belonging to the shopkeeper and then sets fire to the entire building. The owner of the camel is liable, because he overloaded [his beast].47 [This applies regardless of] whether or not the animal stood.48
If the shopkeeper had placed his lamp outside, the shopkeeper is liable and must reimburse the camel driver even for the flax that burned, because he placed his lamp outside.49 [This applies] even with regard to a Chanukah lamp,50 for he should have sat [there] to guard it [from causing damage].
14. [The following rule applies when] a person bends standing grain belonging to a colleague toward a fire until it ignites. If the fire would not reach the grain unless it was spread by an uncommon wind, [the person who bent the grain] is not held liable by a mortal court.51 He does, however, have a moral and spiritual obligation to make reimbursement.52
When a person buries standing grain belonging to a colleague in earth or straw,53 and then a fire passes and consumes it, the person who buried [the grain] is not held liable by a mortal court.54 He does, however, have a moral and spiritual obligation to make reimbursement, because the person who kindled the fire is not liable for [the destruction of property that was] hidden.55
15. When a fire spreads and harms a human being and injures him, the person who kindled the fire is liable for the damages, unemployment benefits, medical costs, pain and embarrassment suffered by the injured party,56 as if he had personally injured him. Although fire is one of a person's possessions, it is as if he caused him damage with his arrows.57 If, by contrast, injury to a man is caused by a person's animal or cistern, he is liable for the damages alone, as we have explained.58
16. [The laws pertaining to] all the derivatives of fire59are the same as [those pertaining to] fire itself.
What is implied? If a person placed a stone, a knife or a burden on his roof, and it fell because of an ordinary wind and caused damage, he must pay the full extent of the damages. All these are derivatives of fire.60 If it was an uncommon wind that caused them to fall and create damage, he is not liable.61
Blessed be God who grants assistance.
FOOTNOTES
1.Without permission.
2.This is considered as one of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah by Sefer HaMitzvot (positive commandments 241) and Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 56).As the Tur and the Ramah (Choshen Mishpat 418:2) pointout, this applies even when the person took the precautions mentionedin the following halachot. Since he kindled a fire on his colleague'sproperty without permission, he must bear the consequences.
3.As the Rambam states in Halachah 16, a major category hasderivatives. The derivatives of fire are any asset that one owns thatis transported further by the wind and causes damage.
4.This communicates a fundamental principle. Although he is actingwithin his own domain, a person must take the necessary precautions toensure that he will not cause damage to another person's property.
5.I.e., the higher the fire, the further he must retreat.
6.The Hebrew wording used by the Rambam leads to the inference that astream or irrigation ditch that is dried out is not considered to be asufficient fire barrier.
7.For it is not usual for a fire to spread across a body of waterthat size.
8.Or wood. The Hebrew term used by the Rambam could be translatedeither way. The intent is combustible fuel.
9.Here too, the assessment is simple. The higher the flame, thehigher the fence must must be.
10.We find this term in Deuteronomy 32:22: There is a piercingfire in My nostrils. From the commentary of Rabbenu Chanan'el(Bava Kama 61a), it appears that the intent is a very hot firethat burns powerfully, but does not produce a high flame.
11.Or wood. The Hebrew term used by the Rambam could be translatedeither way. The intent is combustible fuel.
12.When a flame is this high, there are no limits to the extent thefire may spread.
13.I.e., he kindled a fire, and the flame flew out of control.
14.Had the wall not fallen, it would ordinarily have been consideredsufficient to impede the spread of the fire. If the fire was so greatthat it toppled the wall, the person would be liable for the damagesthe fire caused. In the instance at hand, however, the question is: Ishe held responsible for the damages the fire caused, because he couldhave rebuilt the wall and thus prevented the fire from spreading.
15.The comparison is taken from (Bava Kama 23a).
16.I.e., the ox was placed in a corral that was not securely locked. (See Chapter 4, Halachah 1.)
17.These three individuals are not liable, because their incompetencecauses them to be freed of responsibility for their conduct. Theperson who gave them the fire is not held liable, for he did not setthe fire himself.
18.For he is an indirect cause of the damage.
19.In this instance, he is considered a direct cause of thedamage.
20.This follows the principle When a student's (the principal whocharged the agent with causing damage) words conflict with a master's(God's, who forbade causing damage), whose words should be heeded?Since the agent is mentally competent, he must accept responsibilityfor his conduct.
21.When he accepted the responsibility to guard the fire, he alsoaccepted the liability if he failed to do so adequately. See Chapter4, Halachah 4 and notes.
22.For were it not for the wood, the fire would not have spread.
23.Since the wood was already there, it is the person who kindled thefire who must accept responsibility.
24.Because it is the fanning that causes it to spread.
25.If, however, such winds are common, the persons who brought thewood and started the fire must accept responsibility. They should havetaken this factor into consideration.Note Maggid Mishneh and the gloss of Sefer Me'iratEinayim 418:9, who explain that the term an uncommon winddoes not refer to a storm wind that rarely comes, but rather to a windthat is an infrequent and out-of-the-ordinary matter, but still asomewhat recurrent meteorological occurrence.
26.For without the wind's influence, the fire would not havespread.If, however, the wind is blowing at the time a person is involvedwith the fire, and he ignores the possible danger, he is held liable(Maggid Mishneh; Ramah, Choshen Mishpat 418:9).The Ramah (based on the Tur) also maintains that if it is acommon wind that caused the fire to spread, the last person who hadanything to do with the fire is liable.
27.The Ra'avad objects to the Rambam's statements, maintaining thatthe liability of the person who fanned the fire is dependent on theviability of his deeds. Were his fanning sufficient to have caused thefire to spread even if it had not been fanned by the wind, he isliable. If not, he is not held liable.The Maggid Mishneh justifies the Rambam's ruling, citingseveral interpretations by the Sages in Bava Kama 60a. Henevertheless questions the Rambam's decision here, based on theRambam's own words in Hilchot Sh'chenim 11:1-2.The Kessef Mishneh resolves this difficulty, explaining thatin Hilchot Sh'chenim, the Rambam mentions a situation in which aperson winnows grain in his own domain, but the wind carries the chaffoutside his domain. There, even though an ordinary wind is involved,the person is not held liable. This appears to contradict the rulinghere. Nevertheless, as the Rambam himself states in HilchotSh'chenim, had it not been for the wind, the chaff would never havecaused damaged. In this instance, the person's fanning of the firewould have caused it to spread sufficiently to cause damage.
28.Wood is consumed entirely by fire. Stone and earth are notconsumed entirely. Nevertheless, a fire might cause them todeteriorate until they are no longer useful (or as useful as they hadbeen). The liability for both these types of substances is alluded toin the verse the Rambam cites: Thorns are consumed entirely byflames (as are standing and bound grain, which the verse alsomentions). Why does the verse also mention a field (for the liabilityfor standing grain is mentioned explicitly)? To teach that even whenthe field is lying fallow, but its value deteriorates because it ischarred, the person is held liable. See Bava Kama 60a.
29.Since it is the ordinary practice for such articles to be hiddenin a grain heap, the person who kindled the fire should haveconsidered this possibility. Therefore, he is liable for theirdestruction.
30.Since it is abnormal for such articles to be hidden in a grainheap, the person who kindled the fire is not held liable. As stated inthe notes on the following halachah, the place taken by the utensilsis considered as if filled with grain, and restitution for that mustbe made.
31.As in Halachah 1, since he kindled a fire in another person'sdomain without permission, stricter rules apply.
32.Bava Kama 60a derives this law from the above verse, whichmentions standing grain. It comments: Just as standing grain isopenly revealed, so too, a person is liable only for entitiesthat are openly revealed.Note the Tur and Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat418:13), which state that this applies in an instance where the firewould have been stopped by a wall, the wall fell for reasons notdependent on the fire, and the person had the opportunity to repairthe wall. Although he is liable for the grain heap, he is not liablefor the articles hidden in it.The rationale is: If the fire were large enough to spread byitself, the person would be liable. If its spread was caused byfactors not dependent on the person who kindled the fire - e.g., anabnormal wind - he is also not liable for the grain heap.
33.I.e., if the utensils took up a cubic foot of space,the person who kindled the fire must pay for a cubic foot of grain. This also applies with regard to a person who burnsclothes or glassware hidden in a grain heap, as mentioned in theprevious halachah.
34.The Rambam's words are based on the Mishnah (Bava Kama 6:7).The Maggid Mishneh states that the intent is that the person isliable only for the kid. Since the kid is tied, it cannot flee. He isnot liable for the servant, because the servant is mentally competentand should have fled.
35.He is not held liable financially for the death of the servant,because he is considered to have murdered him, and is liable forcapital punishment for his death. Therefore, we follow the principlethat a person who is liable for capital punishment (even when thatsentence cannot be administered) is free of liability for monetaryloss.There is a question if he is liable for the loss of the kid in thisinstance even when a servant is not killed.. Some explain that he is not liable, because the kid should have fled. Others explain that a kid is not of sufficient mental competence to know whether or not to flee (Maggid Mishneh). Significantly, these laws are not mentioned by the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch.
36.For he gave him permission to store grain in his domain, notutensils.
37.Wheat is more valuable than barley. Nevertheless, since inactuality it was barley that was burned, the person who kindled thefire is liable only for the barley.
38.In this instance, he is liable to pay him only for barley, becausethat is what he gave him permission to store.
39.This applies even if he was granted permission to make a heap ofwheat. Since the person who kindled the fire saw only barley, he isliable only for that (Sefer Me'irat Einayim 418:20).
40.If he gave him permission to make a heap of barley, he is liableto pay him only for the barley. If he gave him permission to make aheap of wheat, he is liable to pay the value of the wheat that wasactually burned, and the value of remainder of the barley (SeferMe'irat Einayim 418:21).
41.I.e., all the personal goods the person claims.
42.Note the gloss of the Maggid Mishneh, which states that whenit is supported by an oath, the claim of the house owner is accepted,not only when the person who kindled the fire is uncertain about thevalue of the articles in the home he destroyed, but even when heclaims to be certain that they were not worth the money the houseowner demands.
43.A Torah scroll (Hilchot Sh'vuot 11:8). In certaincircumstances, tefillin are substituted for a Torah scroll(Ibid.:12).
44.See Hilchot Chovel UMazik 7:17; Hilchot To'en V'Nit'an1:2. (See also Hilchot Sh'vuot 11:6.)
45.I.e., that according to his standard of living, one might assumethat he owns.
46.In that era, retail outlets were usually stalls in the publicdomain, rather than enclosed edifices. The flax protruded into thestall, where it caught fire from the shopkeeper's oil lamp.
47.And caused the flax to protrude beyond the borders of the publicdomain and enter the confines of the shopkeeper's stall.
48.If the animal stands still, there is more reason to hold the cameldriver liable, for once the fire was kindled, he should move his beastto prevent it from spreading the blaze. Nevertheless, even when hedoes keep his animal moving, since he caused the fire to start, he isliable for all the damages.
49.This is considered an act of negligence on the part of theshopkeeper. For the camel drivers and wagon drivers in the publicdomain do not suspect that there are lamps hanging there.
50.Which we are commanded to place at the outside of our homes.
51.In and of themselves, the actions of the person who bent the grainwere not sufficient to cause the fire to reach the grain; theinfluence of the wind was also necessary. Since the fire was spread byan uncommon wind, it is considered a factor beyond the person'scontrol, and he is not liable.
52.For had he not bent the grain, the fire would not have reached it,even though an uncommon wind was blowing. As mentioned in the notes onHalachah 7, if the uncommon wind was blowing at the time the personbent the grain toward the fire, he is liable.
53.The two examples are carefully chosen. Earth reduces thelikelihood that the grain will be consumed by fire, while strawincreases it. Nevertheless, in either case the same laws apply.
54.For he himself did not set the fire.
55.See Halachot 8 and 9.
56.See Hilchot Chovel UMazik, ch. 1, for a detailed explanationof these five categories of compensation.
57.This is the subject of a difference of opinion among our Sages(Bava Kama 22a). Rabbi Yochanan maintains, as the Rambam rules,that kindling a fire is regarded like shooting an arrow. Resh Lakishdiffers and maintains that a fire is regarded no differently from aperson's cistern or his animals.To explain Rabbi Yochanan's opinion: When a person shoots an arrow,he is considered to have caused damage with his person although thedamage took place far from him. So too, when he kindles a fire,despite the fact that the damage occurs in a distant place, it is asif he caused the damage with his person.Note the Maggid Mishneh, who points to an apparentcontradiction in the Rambam's rulings. For Rabbi Yochanan does notfree a person of liability for articles that are buried. It is,however, possible to explain that the Rambam does not accept RabbiYochanan's perspective blindly. He accepts it in this instance, butfollows the other interpretations with regard to buried property.
58.Chapter 11, Halachah 6, and Chapter 13, Halachah 2.
59.The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 418:1) defines thederivatives of fire as referring to any property that one owns that istransported further by the wind and causes damage.
60.For just as a person is liable when an ordinary wind spreads afire, so too, he is liable for any other damage his property causesthat comes as a result of an ordinary wind.
61.Just as he is not liable when an uncommon wind causes a fire tospread (Halachah 7).
• Genevah - Chapter One
HILCHOT GENEIVAH
The Laws Pertaining to Theft
[This text] contains seven mitzvot: two positive commandments and five negative commandments. They are:
1) Not to steal property;
2) The laws governing a thief;
3) To insure the accuracy of scales and weights;
4) Not to deceive a person by using [inaccurate] measures and weights;
5) Not to possess two sets of weights or measures, even though one does not use them for business;
6) Not to move a colleague's property marker;
7) Not to kidnap.
These mitzvot are explained in the chapters [that follow].
Halacha 1
Whenever a person steals property that is worth a p'rutah or more, he transgresses a negative commandment, as Exodus 20:13 states: "Do not steal."
Lashes are not administered for the violation of this commandment, for one is obligated to give compensation. For the Torah requires a thief to compensate the party from whom he stole, whether he be a Jew or a gentile, an adult or a minor.
Halacha 2
The Torah prohibits stealing even the slightest amount.It is forbidden to steal as a jest, to steal with the intent to return, or to steal with the intent to pay. All is forbidden, lest one habituate oneself to such conduct.
Halacha 3
Who is a thief? A person who takes assets belonging to a colleague in stealth, without the owner's knowing - e.g., a pickpocket who is not detected by the owner or the like.
If, however, a person takes a colleague's assets in open view and with public knowledge by force, he is not considered a thief, but rather a robber.
For this reason, an armed bandit who steals is not considered a robber, but a thief. This applies even when the owner takes notice when he steals.
Halacha 4
When two acceptable witnesses testify that a person stole, he is required to pay twice the amount of the stolen property to its owner. If he stole a dinar, he must pay two. If he stole a donkey, a garment or a camel, he must pay twice its worth. He thus loses the amount that he desired that his colleague would lose.
Halacha 5
When a thief admits that he stole, he must repay the principal, but he is not liable for the payment of the double amount, as indicated by Exodus 22:8: "one who is deemed guilty by the court must pay double." This excludes a person who admits his own guilt; he need not pay double.
This principle applies with regard to all the fines required by the Torah. A person who admits his own guilt is not liable for the fine.
Halacha 6
The obligation to make double restitution applies with regard to all articles with the exception of a sheep or an ox. A person who steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay four times the amount of the sheep and five times the amount of the ox.
Halacha 7
The obligation to pay double - or four or five times the amount - of the value of the stolen article applies equally to a man and to a woman. If a woman is married and thus has no financial resources with which to pay, the double paymentremains a debt that she is obligated to pay when she is divorced or becomes a widow. At that time, the court exacts payment from her.
Halacha 8
When a minor steals, he is not liable for the double payment. The stolen article must, however, be returned to its owner. If that article is lost, he is not obligated to pay the principal even after he attains majority.
Halacha 9
When a servant steals, he is not liable for the double payment. Similarly, his owner is not liable. For a person is not liable for the damages caused by his servants although they are his property. The rationale is that the servants are mentally competent, and their owner is incapable of guarding them. Were the owner to be held liable for the damages his servants cause, if he angered a servant, the servant could desire to seek revenge and go and ignite a grain heap worth a thousand dinar or precipitate other similar damage to cause his owner to be liable.
If the servant is freed by his owner, he is obligated to pay the double payment.
Halacha 10
It is appropriate for the court to administer corporal punishment to a child who steals, according to the child's strength, so that he will not become accustomed to such conduct. The same principles apply if he causes other types of damage.
Similarly, servants who stole or caused damage should be administered severe corporal punishment, so that they will not become accustomed to causing damage.
Halacha 11
When the stolen article increased in value while it was in the thief's possession - e.g., a sheep bore a lamb and it was shorn - the thief must restore the sheep, its shearings and its offspring.
If the owner already despaired of the sheep's return, and it gave birth or was shorn, the thief must pay only the value at the time of the theft. If the thief invested in the stolen property, causing its value to increase - e.g., he force fed livestock - the thief is entitled to the increase in value even when the owner does not despair of the article's return. When the thief restores the stolen article and the double payment, he should be repaid for the increase in value by the owner, or that amount should be deducted from the double payment.
Halacha 12
When the stolen article remains unchanged in the possession of the thief, it should be returned to its owner regardless of whether or not he despaired of its return. If, however, it increased in value after the owner despaired of its return, the thief is entitled to that increase, as we have explained above.
If, however, the stolen article underwent a fundamental change while in the thief's possession, the thief acquires it and any increase in its value, even before the owner despairs of the article's return. All that is required of him is to return the value of the stolen article at the time of the theft.
Halacha 13
If he stole a gaunt animal and he fattened it, or he stole a fat animal and he caused its weight to be reduced, he is liable to pay twice - or four or five times - the value of the animal at the time of the theft.
If he stole a kid and it grew into a ram, or a calf and it grew into an ox, he is liable to pay twice the value of the animal at the time of the theft. If he slaughtered it or sold it after it matured, it is considered to have undergone a change while in the thief's possession, and he acquires it. Thus, he is slaughtering or selling his own animal; he is not required to pay four or five times its worth.
Halacha 14
When a person steals an animal, a utensil or the like that was worth four zuz at the time of the theft, but at the time the case is brought to court, it depreciated and is worth only two, the thief must pay the worth of the principal at the time of the theft, and pay the double - or quadruple or quintuple - amount as evaluated at the time the case is brought to court.
The following rules apply if an animal or a utensil was worth two zuz at the time of the theft, but at the time the case is brought to court, it appreciated and is worth four. If the person slaughtered or sold the animal or destroyed or lost the utensil, he must pay double - or four or five times - the worth of the stolen article at the time the case is brought to court.
If the animal died or the utensil was lost as a matter of course, he must pay double the worth of the stolen article at the time of the theft.
Halacha 15
When a person steals a utensil and destroys it or causes it to decrease in value - or it is destroyed or it decreases in value as a matter of course - the amount of the decrease is not evaluated. Instead, we evaluate the original worth of this utensil, and the thief is obligated to pay the owner twice this amount. The broken utensil becomes the property of the thief. The same laws apply in all similar instances.
If the owner desires to take the broken utensil and be compensated for the damage done to it and receive the double payment, his wishes are respected.
Halacha 16
When a thief slaughters or sells a sheep or an ox before the owner despairs of its return, he is required to pay four or five times its amount, despite the fact that the sale is nullified and the purchaser does not acquire the article, but instead must return it intact to its original owner.
Needless to say, the above applies if he slaughters or sells the animal after the owner despairs of its return. For his deed is effective, and the purchaser is considered to have acquired the article.
Halacha 17
When a thief steals from another thief, he is not required to pay twice its amount. This applies even if the original owner despaired of the stolen article's return. If the second thief slaughters or sells a stolen animal, he is not required to pay the first thief four or five times its worth.
The rationale is that the law is that this animal must be returned to its owner; it was never acquired by the thief. Nor must the second thief pay twice, four or five times the amount to the original owner, because he did not steal the property from the original owner's domain.
Halacha 18
When a thief steals an animal and slaughters it, and then another person steals the meat, the second thief must make double restitution to the first thief, for the first thief acquired the animal because of the change his deed brought about. The first thief must, however, pay four or five times the animal's worth.
The following rules apply when a thief stole an animal and sold it, and another person stole it from the purchaser. If the original owner despaired of the animal's return, the first thief must pay four or five times the animal's worth, and the second thief must pay double its worth. If the original owner did not despair of the animal's return, the second thief is required to restore only the principal.
Genevah - Chapter Two
Halacha 1
When a person steals from a gentile or from consecrated property, he is required to pay only the principal, as implied by Exodus 22:8: "He shall pay twice the amount to his colleague." "To his colleague" excludes the Temple treasury and a gentile.
Similarly, a person who steals animals that were consecrated to be offered as sacrifices - both sacrifices of the highest sanctity and sacrifices of lesser sanctity - is not liable to pay twice or four or five times the animals' worth. This applies whether or not the owner is liable to bring another animal as an offering instead of the stolen animal.
The rationale is that Exodus 22:6 describes the article as having been "stolen from a person's home" - i.e., not from the the Temple treasury.
Halacha 2
Similarly, a person who steals servants, promissory notes or landed property is not liable to make double payment. For the Torah obligated double payment only for the theft of chattel that is itself worth money.
The exclusion of landed property is derived from Exodus 22:8, which speaks about paying double for: "an ox, a donkey, a sheep or a garment." Servants are equated with landed property, as Leviticus 25:46 states: "You shall give them as an inheritanceto your sons." And promissory notes are not themselves worth money.
Halacha 3
When a person steals a firstling donkey belonging to a colleague before it was redeemed, he must make double restitution to the owner. Although the donkey is not yet his, it is fit to be his at a later date.
Halacha 4
A person who steals tevel belonging to a colleague and eats it must reimburse him for his tevel. A person who steals forbidden fats belonging to a colleague and eats it must reimburse him for his fats.
Halacha 5
When a person steals terumah from an Israelite who owns it, he is not required to pay double. For the Israelite possesses merely the prerogative to give it to the priest of his choice,and that prerogative is not considered to be equivalent to money.
Halacha 6
When a person steals a sheep or a cow from his father and slaughters or sells the stolen animal and then his father dies, he is liable to pay four or five times the animal's worth to his father's estate. If his father dies, and then he slaughters or sells the stolen animal, he must make double payment; he does not, however, pay four or five times the animal's worth.
If a thief steals a sheep or a cow, slaughters or sells the stolen animal and then consecrates it as a sacrifice, he must pay four or five times the animal's worth.
If, by contrast, a thief consecrates an animal and then slaughters or sells it - even if he consecrates it as a sacrifice of a lesser degree of sanctity - he must make a double payment; he does not pay four or five times the amount.
When does the above apply? When he consecrated the animal after the owner despaired of the animal's return. If, however, he consecrates it before the owner despairs of the animal's return, the consecration is not effective. If the thief slaughters or sells it, he must pay four or five times the amount.
Halacha 7
If the owner consecrates the animal while it is in the thief's domain, the consecration is not effective. The rationale is that it is not in the owner's possession. If the thief slaughtered or sold it after the owner consecrated it, he must still pay four or five times its worth to the owner.
Halacha 8
When a thief slaughters a sheep or a cow, but the slaughter is not ritually acceptable, or he kills the animal or rips out the signs of ritual slaughter, he is liable to pay only double the animal's worth.
If, however, he slaughters an animal for medicinal purposes, to feed it to the dogs - and after it was slaughtered it was discovered to be taref - or he slaughtered it in the Temple courtyard although it was not consecrated, he must pay four or five times its worth.Although it is forbidden to benefit from a non-consecrated animal that is slaughtered in the Temple courtyard, since that prohibition is Rabbinic in origin, he is liable to pay four or five times the animal's worth.
Halacha 9
Similarly, if a person steals a half-breed that comes from a sheep and another animal, or he steals an animal that had been preyed upon, one whose leg had been cut off, one that limped or was blind, or that belonged to partners, and he slaughtered it or sold it, he is liable to pay four or five times its worth.
Halacha 10
When a person steals a cow or a sheep and gives it to another person as a present, or he charges another person with slaughtering it, and the other person slaughters it, or he charges another person with selling it, and the other person sells it, the thief must pay four or fives times its worth.
He is also liable for this penalty if he stole it and sold it on credit, exchanged it for another article, paid a debt that he owed, or sent it as an engagement gift to his fiancee in his father-in-law's home.
Halacha 11
A thief stole a sheep or a cow and sold it, but posited that the sale not take effect until thirty days have passed - and within those thirty days the thief was apprehended - he is required to pay only double its worth.
The following rule applies if the thief sold the stolen animal to another person except for one hundredth of its bulk, or except for its foreleg or its hindleg. If the thief retained ownership of a portion of the animal that is permitted to be used only through ritual slaughter, he is not liable to pay four or five times its worth. If he sold it with the exception of its shearings or its horns, he is liable to pay four or five times its worth, for these portions of the animal are permitted to be used even without ritual slaughter.
Halacha 12
If a thief stole a sheep or a cow, cut off a limb and then sold it, or he sold it with the exception of the right to work with it, or he sold it except for a 30-day period, the payment for four or five times its amount should not be expropriated from the thief. If the person whose animal was stolen seizes this amount from the thief's assets, the property that he seized should not be expropriated from him.
Halacha 13
If the thief was a partner in the animal he stole and then he sold it, he is not liable to pay four or five times its worth.
Halacha 14
The following rules apply when partners steal a sheep or a cow. If one of them slaughtered or sold the stolen animal with his partner's consent, they must both join in the payment of four or five times its worth. If he acted without the consent of his partner, they are not liable for the payment of four or five times the animal's worth. They must, however, make double restitution.
Halacha 15
When a thief stole a sheep or a cow, was brought to court and was told by the judges: "Go and give him what you stole," and instead of making restitution he sold or slaughtered the animal, he is not liable for the payment of four or five times the animal's worth. If the judges told him: "You are obligated to return it to him," and then he slaughtered or sold the stolen animal, he is liable for the payment of four or five times the animal's worth. The rationale is that the judgment was not rendered in a definitive manner, and he is persevering in his theft.
Halacha 16
When a person steals an object without removing it from the domain of its owner, he is not liable for a double payment.Similarly, if he slaughtered or sold a stolen sheep or cow in the owner's domain, he is not liable for the added penalty. If, however, he lifted the stolen object above the ground, he is liable as a thief, even though he did not take it out of the owner's domain.
What is implied? If he stole a lamb from the corral and was pulling it, and it died while in the owner's domain, he is not liable for the added penalty. If he lifted it up or removed it from the owner's domain, and then it died, he is liable.
If while in the owner's domain, the thief gave it to a priest in redemption of his first-born son, to his creditor, to an unpaid watchman, to a borrower, to a renter or to a paid watchman, and the recipient was pulling the animal and it died, the recipient is not liable. If the recipient lifted it up or removed it from the domain of its owner and it died, the recipient is liable, because the thief did not remove it from the owner's domain and the recipient did.
Halacha 17
When a herd of sheep or cows are in a forest, and a thief prods an animal to move and then hides it among the trees and woods, he is obligated to pay twice its worth. If he slaughters or sells it there, he is obligated to pay four or five times its worth.
Halacha 18
When a thief steals a sheep or a cow in the owner's domain, and after the owner discovered the theft, the thief removed it and slaughtered it or sold it outside their domain, or if a thief stole and removed the animal from the owner's domain and then slaughtered or sold it in the owner's domain, he is obligated to pay four or five times its worth.
Genevah - Chapter Three
Halacha 1
We have already explained in Hilchot Na'arah Betulah, that whenever a person violates a transgression that is punishable by both capital punishment and a financial penalty, he is not obligated to pay the financial penalty, even though he performed the act unintentionally.
When a person performs a transgression that is punishable by lashing and a financial penalty, he shall be lashed and is not required to pay the financial penalty. For a person should not receive both punishments: lashing and a financial penalty for the same deed. Therefore, if he performed the act unintentionally or he was not given a warning, he is required to pay and is not lashed.
When does the above apply? When the financial obligation and the transgression obligating capital punishment - or the financial obligation and the transgression punishable by lashing - came about at the same time. If, however, he became liable for a financial penalty and then became liable for capital punishment or lashing, or became liable for capital punishment or lashing and then became liable for a financial penalty, he shall be lashed and pay, or pay and be executed.
Halacha 2
What is implied? If he propelled an arrow on the Sabbath, from the beginning of a four-cubit space until the end of the four-cubit space, and it tore a garment belonging to a colleague as it proceeded, he set fire to a grain heap belonging to a colleague on the Sabbath, or he stole a wallet on the Sabbath and was dragging it along the ground until he removed it from the owner's domain - which was a private domain - to the public domain, and caused it to be destroyed there, he is not liable for the damages. The prohibition against labor on the Sabbath, and the prohibition against theft or damages take effect at the same time. Therefore, he is not liable.
If, however, he stole a wallet on the Sabbath and lifted it up in the private domain, and then took it out to the public domain and threw it into a river, he is liable to make a double payment. For he became liable for the theft before he violated the prohibition punishable by execution by stoning. The same laws apply in all similar situations.
Similarly, if a person cut down a tree belonging to a colleague on a festival, and a warning was issued, or he set fire to a grain heap belonging to a colleague on Yom Kippur and a warning was issued, or he stole and slaughtered an animal on Yom Kippur, he is not under any financial obligation. If, however, a warning was not issued to him, he is liable for payment, and with regard to the slaughter of a stolen animal must pay four or five times its worth.
Halacha 3
If a thief stole a sheep or a cow and slaughtered it on the Sabbath or as a sacrifice to a false deity, he is not liable to pay four or five times its worth, as explained above. This applies even when he performs the transgression unintentionally.
Halacha 4
If the cow had been lent to him and he slaughtered it on the Sabbath with the intent to steal it, he is not liable even for the double payment, for the violation of the prohibition against the laws of the Sabbath and the prohibition against theft came about simultaneously. For if there is no obligation for theft, there is no obligation for slaughter or for sale.
Halacha 5
When a person steals a sheep or a cow and sells it on the Sabbath or sells it to a pagan deity, he is obligated to pay four or five times its amount, for the sale itself does not cause one to incur the death penalty. If a forbidden labor was performed on the Sabbath at the time of the sale, the thief is not liable to pay four or five times its amount.
What is implied? For example, he agreed that the sale would not take effect until the animal comes to rest in the courtyard of the purchaser. Thus, when he took the animal from one domain to another domain, the prohibition against labor on the Sabbath and the sale take effect at the same time.
Halacha 6
When a thief appointed an agent to slaughter a stolen animal for him, and the agent slaughtered it for him on the Sabbath, the thief must pay four or five times the animal's worth. For the thief did not perform a transgression punishable by death, and as we have explained, a person who has an agent slaughter for him is liable for the additional payment.
Halacha 7
When two witnesses testify that a person stole a cow or a sheep, and then they themselves or two other witnesses testify that he slaughtered or sold the animal, the thief is liable to pay four or five times the animal's worth.
If two witnesses testify that the person stole a cow or a sheep and one witness testifies that he slaughtered or sold the stolen animal, or the thief admitted that he slaughtered or sold the stolen animal on his own initiative, the thief must pay double. He is not, however, liable to pay four or five times the animal's worth. The rationale is that a person who admits his liability for a fine is not liable for that penalty, as we have explained.
Halacha 8
The following rules apply when a person admits liability for a fine, and then afterwards witnesses come and testify to his liability. If he made his admission before a court while they were in session, he is not liable. If he made the admission when the court was not in session, or before two judges, and afterwards witnesses came and testified to his liability, he is liable to pay the fine because of their testimony.
Halacha 9
What is implied? A thief admitted that he stole to a court while it was in session, and afterwards witnesses came and testified that he stole. He is not liable for a double payment, because he obligated himself for the principal before the witnesses came.
If, however, he denied stealing in the presence of a court in this way, freeing himself of liability, and then witnesses came and testified that he stole a sheep or a cow, at which point he admitted in the presence of the court that he slaughtered or sold the stolen animal, and then witnesses came and testified that he slaughtered or sold the animal, he is liable to pay four or five times the animal's worth. The rationale is that first he denied the obligation entirely before witnesses came.
Halacha 10
The following rules apply when a thief steals an ox belonging to two partners and slaughters it or sells it, and makes an admission to one in the presence of a court, but denies his liability to the other. If witnesses come afterwards and testify that he stole or sold, he must pay the partner whose claim he denied five times half the value of the ox. If the same situation takes place with regard to the theft of a sheep, he must pay four times half the value of the sheep.
Halacha 11
The law requires a thief to pay the principal and to make the payment of double - or four or fives times - the value of the theft from his movable property. If he does not own movable property, the court assesses his possessions and expropriates the entire debt from the finest of his landed properties, as is the practice with regard to other damages, regarding which Exodus 22:4 states: "He shall pay from the best of his field."
If he owns neither landed property nor movable property, the court sells him as a servant and gives the money from his sale to the person from whom he stole, as ibid.:2 states: "If he has no resources, he shall be sold for his theft."
Halacha 12
A man, but not a woman, may be sold because of a theft. This law is part of the Oral Tradition.
A thief is sold only because of the principal, but not for the payment of twice or four or five times the amount of the theft. If he can repay the principal, the additional amount remains a debt incumbent on him until he acquires the resources.
Halacha 13
When a person steals from a gentile or steals consecrated property, he is not sold for the principal. Instead, it remains a debt incumbent on him until he acquires the resources.
Halacha 14
When the principal of a theft was worth 100 zuz and the thief could be sold for only 50 zuz, he shall be sold, and the remainder of the principal and the double payment is considered a debt incumbent on him until he attains his freedom in the seventh year, acquires the resources and pays.
If the thief was worth 101 zuz, he shall not be sold. This is derived from the above verse, which states: "He shall be sold for his theft." Implied is that his entire worth must be included in the money received for his theft.
Halacha 15
The following rules apply if a person stole and was sold for his theft, and then stole again. If he stole from another person, he shall be sold as a servant a second time. Even if he stole from a hundred people, he shall be sold a hundred times. If, however, he stole from the first person a second time, he shall not be sold a second time. Instead, the entire amount remains a debt incumbent on him.
Halacha 16
If a thief stole from three different people, they are all considered to be partners for his servitude. If the value of his work is equivalent to or less than the principal he owes the three, he is sold and they divide the proceeds of the sale. The double payments remain a debt incumbent on him until he acquires the resources. If his value exceeds the principal, he should not be sold. Instead, the entire amount remains a debt incumbent on him until he attains the resources.
Halacha 17
When partners commit a theft together, the liability is divided among them. Each of them can be sold for his portion of the principal. If the value of one of them is more than his share of the principal for which he is liable, he is not sold.
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Hayom Yom:
Friday, 17 Elul 5774 • 12 September 2014 & Shabbat, 18 Elul 572 • 13 September 2014
"Today's Day"
• Friday, Elul 17, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Tavo, Shishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 83-87. Also 49-51.
Tanya: Now, these attributes. (p. 473) ...in their traits. (p. 473).
The Alter Rebbe himself was the regular Torah-reader. Once he was away from Lyozna on the Shabbat of parsha Tavo, and the Mitteler Rebbe, then not yet Bar Mitzva, heard the Torah-reading from another. His anguish at the curses in the tochacha (section of admonition) caused him so much heartache, that on Yom Kippur1 the Alter Rebbe doubted whether his son would be able to fast.
When they asked the Mitteler Rebbe - "Don't you hear this parsha every year?"2 - he replied, "When Father reads, one hears no curses."
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. A few weeks later.
2. Lit. "Isn't this parsha read every year?"
Torah lessons: Chumash: Tavo, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 88-89. Also 52-54.
Tanya: Now all this (p. 473) ...in its place. (p. 477).
Birth of the Baal Shem Tov in 5458 (1698). The day his holy teacher1 and master appeared to him in 5484 (1724). The day the Baal Shem Tov became revealed2 in 5494 (1734).
Birth of the Alter Rebbe 5505 (1745).
Outline of the Baal Shem Tov's discourse3 on Shabbat Tavo, Chai (18th) Elul 5652 (1892), after Kabalat Shabbat:
It will be when you come into the land (eretz) that the Eternal your G-d gives you for an inheritance, and you will inherit it and dwell in it.4
The Midrash notes that eretz is an idiom of merutza (running) and of ratzon (will, desire). When you attain the level of ratzon, "desire,"5 that is a gift from Above and an inheritance for every one of Israel, then your avoda is "...you will dwell in it" - to internalize all you have attained, "bringing it down" in a settled manner.6
"You shall take...and place it in a basket,"7 - draw down the (spiritual) lights into (appropriate) vessels.
"You shall go to the place the Eternal your G-d will choose"8 - a Jew must know that when he goes from one place to another, he is not going on his own, but is being directed from Above. And the intention and purpose in this is...
"...to cause His Name to dwell there"9 - that is, to make G-d known in his (that Jew's) locale.10
After Maariv the Baal Shem Tov repeated this discourse and added:
"It will be when you come..." For you to attain the level of "desire"11 etc. it is necessary that... "you shall go to the place, etc... to cause His Name to dwell there." You are to utterly dedicate yourself to making G-d known there. How does one "make G-d known"? With a b'racha and a verse of Tehillim.
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. Achiya HaShiloni.
2. As a tzadik, to the world.
3. The Baal Shem Tov passed away in 1760. His discourse - in gan eden (the heavenly abode of souls) - was said by him to the Rebbe Rashab in 1892 in a vision experienced by the latter after Kabalat Shabbat and again after Maariv. See Section 3, Supplements to Keter Shem Tov (Kehot edition).
4. Devarim 26:1.
5. For the G-dly.
6. "In a settled manner" - hit'yashvut, from the same root as veyashavta, "you will dwell."
7. Devarim ibid; verse 2.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. In the place to which he was Divinely led.
11. As above.
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Daily Thought:
G-d Within• Friday, Elul 17, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Tavo, Shishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 83-87. Also 49-51.
Tanya: Now, these attributes. (p. 473) ...in their traits. (p. 473).
The Alter Rebbe himself was the regular Torah-reader. Once he was away from Lyozna on the Shabbat of parsha Tavo, and the Mitteler Rebbe, then not yet Bar Mitzva, heard the Torah-reading from another. His anguish at the curses in the tochacha (section of admonition) caused him so much heartache, that on Yom Kippur1 the Alter Rebbe doubted whether his son would be able to fast.
When they asked the Mitteler Rebbe - "Don't you hear this parsha every year?"2 - he replied, "When Father reads, one hears no curses."
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. A few weeks later.
2. Lit. "Isn't this parsha read every year?"
• Shabbat, Chai (18) Elul, 5703
At Shishi the Torah-reader says the b'rachot without being called to the Torah.Torah lessons: Chumash: Tavo, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 88-89. Also 52-54.
Tanya: Now all this (p. 473) ...in its place. (p. 477).
Birth of the Baal Shem Tov in 5458 (1698). The day his holy teacher1 and master appeared to him in 5484 (1724). The day the Baal Shem Tov became revealed2 in 5494 (1734).
Birth of the Alter Rebbe 5505 (1745).
Outline of the Baal Shem Tov's discourse3 on Shabbat Tavo, Chai (18th) Elul 5652 (1892), after Kabalat Shabbat:
It will be when you come into the land (eretz) that the Eternal your G-d gives you for an inheritance, and you will inherit it and dwell in it.4
The Midrash notes that eretz is an idiom of merutza (running) and of ratzon (will, desire). When you attain the level of ratzon, "desire,"5 that is a gift from Above and an inheritance for every one of Israel, then your avoda is "...you will dwell in it" - to internalize all you have attained, "bringing it down" in a settled manner.6
"You shall take...and place it in a basket,"7 - draw down the (spiritual) lights into (appropriate) vessels.
"You shall go to the place the Eternal your G-d will choose"8 - a Jew must know that when he goes from one place to another, he is not going on his own, but is being directed from Above. And the intention and purpose in this is...
"...to cause His Name to dwell there"9 - that is, to make G-d known in his (that Jew's) locale.10
After Maariv the Baal Shem Tov repeated this discourse and added:
"It will be when you come..." For you to attain the level of "desire"11 etc. it is necessary that... "you shall go to the place, etc... to cause His Name to dwell there." You are to utterly dedicate yourself to making G-d known there. How does one "make G-d known"? With a b'racha and a verse of Tehillim.
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. Achiya HaShiloni.
2. As a tzadik, to the world.
3. The Baal Shem Tov passed away in 1760. His discourse - in gan eden (the heavenly abode of souls) - was said by him to the Rebbe Rashab in 1892 in a vision experienced by the latter after Kabalat Shabbat and again after Maariv. See Section 3, Supplements to Keter Shem Tov (Kehot edition).
4. Devarim 26:1.
5. For the G-dly.
6. "In a settled manner" - hit'yashvut, from the same root as veyashavta, "you will dwell."
7. Devarim ibid; verse 2.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. In the place to which he was Divinely led.
11. As above.
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Daily Thought:
Before the Baal Shem Tov, people thought of G‑d as the One who directs all things from above and beyond. The Baal Shem Tov taught that the vital force of each thing, the place from which comes its personality, its sense of pain and pleasure, its growth and life—that itself is G‑d.
Not that this is all of G‑d. It is less than a glimmer of G‑d. Because G‑d is entirely beyond all such descriptions.
But that life force is G‑d as He is found within each creature He has made.(Tanya, part 2, chapter 1)
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G-d Within
Before the Baal Shem Tov, people thought of G‑d as the One who directs all things from above and beyond. The Baal Shem Tov taught that the vital force of each thing, the place from which comes its personality, its sense of pain and pleasure, its growth and life—that itself is G‑d.
Not that this is all of G‑d. It is less than a glimmer of G‑d. Because G‑d is entirely beyond all such descriptions.
But that life force is G‑d as He is found within each creature He has made.(Tanya, part 2, chapter 1.)
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