Today in Jewish History:
• Birth and Passing of Judah (1565 and 1466 BCE)
Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, was born in Charan on the 15th of Sivan, of the year 2196 from creation (1565 BCE). He passed away on the same date 119 years later, in Egypt.
Judah took the leadership role both in selling Joseph into slavery and in the brothers' later attempts to find him and free him, and to protect Benjamin. On his deathbed, Jacob conferred the leadership of Israel upon Judah, proclaiming: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the legislator from between his feet, until Shiloh (the Moshiach) comes..." The royal house of David, as well as many of the great sages and leaders of Israel throughout the generations of Jewish history, trace their lineage to Judah.
Judah had five sons: Er and Onan, who died without children; Shelah; and his twins from Tamar, Peretz and Zerach. Their descendants formed the Tribe of Judah, the most populous and prestigious of the twelve tribes of Israel.
After the death of King Solomon in 797 BCE, the people of Israel split into two kingdoms: ten tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel in the north, with Shomron (Samaria) as the capital; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Solomon's son, Rechavam, and formed the Kingdom of Judea in the south, in the areas surrounding the capitol Jerusalem. Eventually, the Northern Kingdom was conquered by Assyria and the ten tribes living there were exiled and lost to the Jewish people; the inhabitants of Judea were also exiled (to Babylonia) but subsequently returned to the Holy Land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. Over time, the terms "Judean" and "Jew"--which originally referred to a member of the tribe of Judah--became synonymous with "Israelite" and was used to refer to the descendants of all of Jacob's twelve sons--i.e., the Jewish people.
Links:
On Leadership On the essence of the Jewish leader
• Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe arrested (1927)
Shortly after midnight of the 15th of Sivan of 1927, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), was arrested by agents of the GPU (Soviet Secret Police) and Yevsketzia ("Jewish section" of the Communist Party) for leading the underground network of rabbis, teachers and emissaries working to preserve and disseminate Jewish learning and observance throughout the Soviet Empire.
Link: The Rebbe's Prison Diary
Daily Quote:
If the eye were allowed to see the spiritual vitality flowing from the utterance of G-d's mouth into every creation, we would not see the materiality, grossness and tangibility of the creation, for it would be utterly nullified in relation to this divine life-force...[Tanya, part II, ch. 3]
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Behaalotecha, 3rd Portion Numbers 9:1-9:14 with Rashi
• English / Hebrew Linear Translation | Video Class• Numbers Chapter 9
1The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the second year of their exodus from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying: אוַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֣ה אֶל־משֶׁ֣ה בְמִדְבַּר־סִ֠ינַ֠י בַּשָּׁנָ֨ה הַשֵּׁנִ֜ית לְצֵאתָ֨ם מֵאֶ֧רֶץ מִצְרַ֛יִם בַּחֹ֥דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֖וֹן לֵאמֹֽר:
In the first month: The portion at the beginning of the Book [of Numbers] was not said until Iyar. [From this], you learn that there is no chronological order in the Torah. But why did Scripture not begin with this [chapter]? For it is a disgrace to Israel that throughout the forty years the children of Israel were in the desert, they brought only this Passover sacrifice alone. — [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:18]
בחדש הראשון: פרשה שבראש הספר לא נאמרה עד אייר, למדת שאין סדר מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה. ולמה לא פתח בזו, מפני שהוא גנותן של ישראל, שכל ארבעים שנה שהיו ישראל במדבר לא הקריבו אלא פסח זה בלבד:
2The children of Israel shall make the Passover sacrifice in its appointed time. בוְיַֽעֲשׂ֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־הַפָּ֖סַח בְּמֽוֹעֲדֽוֹ:
in its appointed time: Even [if it were to fall] on Sabbath; “in its appointed time” [also implies,] even [if the majority of the people were] in a state of ritual uncleanness. — [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:14, 15]
במועדו: אף בשבת. במועדו אף בטומאה:
3On the afternoon of the fourteenth of this month, you shall make it in its appointed time; in accordance with all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall make it. גבְּאַרְבָּעָ֣ה עָשָֽׂר־י֠וֹם בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֜ה בֵּ֧ין הָֽעַרְבַּ֛יִם תַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ בְּמֹֽעֲד֑וֹ כְּכָל־חֻקֹּתָ֥יו וּכְכָל־מִשְׁפָּטָ֖יו תַּֽעֲשׂ֥וּ אֹתֽוֹ:
in accordance with all its statutes: These are the commandments directly relating to its body-an unblemished male lamb in its first year. — [Pes. 95a]
ככל חקתיו: אלו מצות שבגופו, שה תמים זכר בן שנה:
and all its ordinances: These are the commandments that relate to its body from elsewhere, such as the seven days for [eating] unleavened bread and for disposing of leaven. (Another version: The commandments relating to its body-an unblemished male lamb in its first year; those which relate to its body from elsewhere- [it must be] roasted over fire, its head with its legs and its innards. And those which have no relation to its body-unleavened bread and disposing of leaven. — [Rashi on Pes. 95a]
וככל משפטיו: אלו מצות שעל גופו ממקום אחר, כגון שבעת ימים למצה ולביעור חמץ. [מצות שבגופו, שה תמים זכר בן שנה. שעל גופו, צלי אש ראשו על כרעיו ועל קרבו. שחוץ לגופו, מצה וביעור חמץ]:
4Moses spoke to the children of Israel [instructing them] to make the Passover sacrifice. דוַיְדַבֵּ֥ר משֶׁ֛ה אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לַֽעֲשׂ֥ת הַפָּֽסַח:
Moses spoke: What does this teach us? Has not Scripture already said, “And Moses told… of the Lord’s appointed [holy days].” (Lev. 23:44) ? However, when he heard the portion dealing with the festivals at Sinai, he related it to them, and then he exhorted them again when the time came to perform them. — [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:17]
וידבר משה וגו': מה תלמוד לומר, והלא נאמר (ויקרא כג, מד) וידבר משה את מועדי ה', אלא כששמע פרשת מועדים מסיני, אמרה להם, וחזר והזהירם בשעת מעשה:
5So they made the Passover sacrifice in the first month, on the afternoon fourteenth day of the month in the Sinai Desert; according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel do. הוַיַּֽעֲשׂ֣וּ אֶת־הַפֶּ֡סַח בָּֽרִאשׁ֡וֹן בְּאַרְבָּעָה֩ עָשָׂ֨ר י֥וֹם לַחֹ֛דֶשׁ בֵּ֥ין הָֽעַרְבַּ֖יִם בְּמִדְבַּ֣ר סִינָ֑י כְּ֠כֹ֠ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ אֶת־משֶׁ֔ה כֵּ֥ן עָשׂ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:
6There were men who were ritually unclean [because of contact with] a dead person, and therefore could not make the Passover sacrifice on that day. So they approached Moses and Aaron on that day. ווַיְהִ֣י אֲנָשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר הָי֤וּ טְמֵאִים֙ לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֔ם וְלֹא־יָֽכְל֥וּ לַֽעֲשֽׂת־הַפֶּ֖סַח בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא וַיִּקְרְב֞וּ לִפְנֵ֥י משֶׁ֛ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י אַֽהֲרֹ֖ן בַּיּ֥וֹם הַהֽוּא:
approached Moses and Aaron: While the two were sitting in the study hall, they came and asked them. It is [however] inconceivable that they approached them one after the other [in this order], for if Moses did not know, how should Aaron know?- [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:20]
לפני משה ולפני אהרן: כששניהם יושבין בבית המדרש באו ושאלום. ולא יתכן לומר זה אחר זה, שאם משה לא היה יודע, אהרן מנין לו:
7Those men said to him, "We are ritually unclean [because of contact] with a dead person; [but] why should we be excluded so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time, with all the children of Israel? זוַיֹּֽאמְר֠וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הָהֵ֨מָּה֙ אֵלָ֔יו אֲנַ֥חְנוּ טְמֵאִ֖ים לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֑ם לָ֣מָּה נִגָּרַ֗ע לְבִלְתִּ֨י הַקְרִ֜יב אֶת־קָרְבַּ֤ן יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמֹ֣עֲד֔וֹ בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:
Why should we be excluded: He [Moses] told them, “Sacrifices cannot be offered in a state of ritual uncleanness.” They replied, “Let ritually clean kohanim sprinkle the blood for us, and let ritually clean people eat the flesh.” He said to them, “Wait, and I will hear… ” like a disciple who is confident of hearing from his teacher’s mouth. Fortunate is the mortal who is so confident, for whenever he wished, he could speak with the Shechinah . This portion should really have been said through Moses, like the rest of the Torah, but these people merited that it be said through them, for merit is brought about through the meritorious. - [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1: 22]
למה נגרע: אמר להם אין קדשים קרבים בטומאה. אמרו לו יזרק הדם עלינו בכהנים טהורים ויאכל הבשר לטהורים. אמר להם עמדו ואשמעה, כתלמיד המובטח לשמוע מפי רבו. אשרי ילוד אשה שכך מובטח, שכל זמן שהיה רוצה היה מדבר עם השכינה. וראויה היתה פרשה זו להאמר ע"י משה כשאר כל התורה כולה, אלא שזכו אלו שתאמר על ידיהן, שמגלגלין זכות ע"י זכאי:
8Moses said to them, "Wait, and I will hear what the Lord instructs concerning you." חוַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֖ם משֶׁ֑ה עִמְד֣וּ וְאֶשְׁמְעָ֔ה מַה־יְּצַוֶּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לָכֶֽם:
9The Lord spoke to Moses saying: טוַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־משֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר:
10Speak to the children of Israel saying, Any person who becomes unclean from [contact with] the dead, or is on a distant journey, whether among you or in future generations, he shall make a Passover sacrifice for the Lord. ידַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ אִ֣ישׁ כִּי־יִֽהְיֶ֥ה טָמֵ֣א | לָנֶ֡פֶשׁ אוֹ֩ בְדֶ֨רֶךְ רְחֹקָ֜ה֗ לָכֶ֗ם א֚וֹ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעָ֥שָׂה פֶ֖סַח לַֽיהֹוָֽה:
On a distant journey: Heb. רְחֹקָה. There is a dot over the word, to teach us that he does not really have to be far away, but even if he was merely outside the threshold of the Temple courtyard throughout the time allowed for the slaughtering [of the Passover sacrifice] (Pes. 93, Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:24). On the second Passover, one may keep both leavened bread and unleavened food in the home, and there is no festival. The consumption of leaven is not forbidden except while he eats it [the sacrifice]. — [Pes. 95a]
או בדרך רחקה: נקוד עליו, לומר לא שרחוקה ודאי, אלא שהיה חוץ לאסקופת העזרה כל זמן שחיטה. פסח שני מצה וחמץ עמו בבית ואין שם יום טוב, ואין איסור חמץ אלא עמו באכילתו:
11In the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the afternoon, they shall make it; they shall eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs. יאבַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בְּאַרְבָּעָ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר י֛וֹם בֵּ֥ין הָֽעַרְבַּ֖יִם יַֽעֲשׂ֣וּ אֹת֑וֹ עַל־מַצּ֥וֹת וּמְרֹרִ֖ים יֹֽאכְלֻֽהוּ:
12They shall not leave over anything from it until the next morning, and they shall not break any of its bones. They shall make it in accordance with all the statutes connected with the Passover sacrifice. יבלֹֽא־יַשְׁאִ֤ירוּ מִמֶּ֨נּוּ֙ עַד־בֹּ֔קֶר וְעֶ֖צֶם לֹ֣א יִשְׁבְּרוּ־ב֑וֹ כְּכָל־חֻקַּ֥ת הַפֶּ֖סַח יַֽעֲשׂ֥וּ אֹתֽוֹ:
13But the man who was ritually clean and was not on a journey, yet refrained from making the Passover sacrifice, his soul shall be cut off from his people, for he did not bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time; that person shall bear his sin. יגוְהָאִישׁ֩ אֲשֶׁר־ה֨וּא טָה֜וֹר וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ לֹֽא־הָיָ֗ה וְחָדַל֙ לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת הַפֶּ֔סַח וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מֵֽעַמֶּ֑יהָ כִּ֣י | קָרְבַּ֣ן יְהֹוָ֗ה לֹ֤א הִקְרִיב֙ בְּמֹ֣עֲד֔וֹ חֶטְא֥וֹ יִשָּׂ֖א הָאִ֥ישׁ הַהֽוּא:
14If a proselyte dwells with you, and he makes a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, according to the statutes of the Passover sacrifice and its ordinances he shall make it. One statute shall apply to you, to the proselyte and to the native-born citizen. ידוְכִֽי־יָג֨וּר אִתְּכֶ֜ם גֵּ֗ר וְעָ֤שָׂה פֶ֨סַח֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה כְּחֻקַּ֥ת הַפֶּ֛סַח וּכְמִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ כֵּ֣ן יַֽעֲשֶׂ֑ה חֻקָּ֤ה אַחַת֙ יִֽהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְלַגֵּ֖ר וּלְאֶזְרַ֥ח הָאָֽרֶץ:
If a proselyte dwells with you, and he makes a Passover sacrifice: I might think that anyone who converts should immediately make a Passover sacrifice. Therefore, Scripture teaches us, “One statute [shall apply to you, to the proselyte and to the native-born citizen].” And this is its meaning: If a proselyte dwells with you, and he comes (Reggio ed. - and the time comes) to make a Passover sacrifice with his friends,“according to the statutes of the Passover sacrifice and its ordinances he shall make it.” - [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:30]
וכי יגור אתכם גר ועשה פסח: יכול כל המתגייר יעשה פסח מיד, תלמוד לומר חקה אחת וגו', אלא כך משמעו, וכי יגור אתכם גר ובא עת לעשות פסח עם חביריו כחקה וכמשפט יעשה:
Daily Tehillim: Chapters 77 - 78• Hebrew text
• English text• Chapter 77
1. For the Conductor, on the yedutun,1 by Asaph, a psalm.
2. [I raise] my voice to God and cry out; [I raise] my voice to God and He will listen to me.
3. On the day of my distress I sought my Lord. My wound oozes at night and does not abate; my soul refuses to be consoled.
4. I remember God and I moan; I speak and my spirit faints, Selah.
5. You grasped my eyelids; I am broken, I cannot speak.
6. I think of olden days, of ancient years.
7. During the night I recall my music, I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches:
8. Is it for eternity that my Lord forsakes [me], nevermore to be appeased?
9. Has His kindness ceased forever? Has He sealed the decree for all generations?
10. Has God forgotten mercy? Has He in anger restrained His compassion forever?
11. I said, "It is to ter- rify me that the right hand of the Most High changes.”
12. I remember the deeds of Yah, when I remember Your wonders of long ago.
13. I meditate on all Your works, and speak of Your deeds.
14. O God, Your way is in sanctity; what god is as great as God?
15. You are the God Who works wonders; You make Your might known among the nations.
16. You redeemed Your people with a mighty arm, the children of Jacob and Joseph, Selah.
17. The waters2 saw You, O God, the waters saw You and trembled; even the deep shuddered.
18. The clouds streamed water, the heavens sounded forth, even Your arrows flew about.
19. The sound of Your thunder was in the rolling wind; lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.
20. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the mighty waters; and Your footsteps were not known.3
21. You led Your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron
FOOTNOTES
1.A musical instrument(Metzudot).
2.Of the Red Sea.
3.The waters returned to cover the trail.
Chapter 78
This psalm recounts all the miracles that God wrought for Israel, from the exodus of Egypt to David's becoming king over Israel.
1. A maskil1 by Asaph. Listen, my people, to my teaching; incline your ear to the words of my mouth.
2. I will open my mouth with a parable, I will utter riddles of long ago;
3. that which we have heard and know [to be true], and that our fathers have told us.
4. We will not withhold from their children, telling the final generation the praises of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
5. He established a testimony in Jacob, and set down the Torah in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to make known to their children,
6. so that the last generation shall know; children yet to be born will rise and tell their children,
7. and they shall put their hope in God, and not forget the works of the Almighty; and they shall guard His commandments.
8. And they shall not be like their fathers, a wayward and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart straight, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9. The children of Ephraim, armed archers, retreated on the day of battle.2
10. They did not keep the covenant of God, and refused to follow His Torah.
11. They forgot His deeds and His wonders that He had shown them.
12. He performed wonders before their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.3
13. He split the sea and brought them across; He erected the waters like a wall.
14. He led them with a cloud by day, and all night long with the light of fire.
15. He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them to drink as if from the abundant depths.
16. And He brought forth flowing waters from the rock, and caused waters to descend like rivers.
17. Yet they again continued to sin against Him, to provoke the Most High in the parched land.
18. And they tested God in their hearts, by requesting food for their craving.
19. They spoke against God; they said, "Can God set a table in the wilderness?
20. True, He hit the rock and waters flowed, streams gushed forth; but can He also give bread? Will He prepare meat for His people?”
21. And so the Lord heard and was enraged; a fire was kindled against Jacob; wrath, too, flared against Israel.
22. For they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation,
23. [though] He had commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven.
24. He had rained upon them manna to eat, and given them grain of heaven.
25. Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them [enough] provisions to satiate.
26. He drove the east wind through the heaven, and led the south wind with His might.
27. He rained meat upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of seas;
28. and He dropped them inside His camp, around His dwellings.
29. And they ate and were very satiated, for He brought them their desire.
30. They were not yet estranged from their craving, their food was still in their mouths,
31. when the wrath of God rose against them and slew their mighty ones, and brought down the chosen of Israel.
32. Despite this, they sinned again, and did not believe in His wonders;
33. so He ended their days in futility, and their years in terror.
34. When He slew them they would seek Him, they would return and pray to God.
35. They remembered that God is their rock, God the Most High, their redeemer.
36. But they beguiled Him with their mouth, and deceived Him with their tongue.
37. Their heart was not steadfast with Him; they were not faithful to His covenant.
38. Yet He is compassionate, pardons iniquity, and does not destroy; time and again He turns away His anger, and does not arouse all His wrath.
39. He remembered that they were but flesh, a spirit that leaves and does not return.
40. How often they provoked Him in the desert, and grieved Him in the wasteland!
41. Again and again they tested God, and sought a sign from the Holy One of Israel.
42. They did not remember His hand, the day He redeemed them from the oppressor;
43. that He set His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan.
44. He turned their rivers to blood, and made their flowing waters undrinkable.
45. He sent against them a mixture of beasts which devoured them, and frogs that destroyed them.
46. He gave their produce to the grasshopper, and their toil to the locust.
47. He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with biting frost.
48. He delivered their animals to the hail, and their livestock to fiery bolts.
49. He sent against them His fierce anger, fury, rage, and affliction; a delegation of messengers of evil.
50. He leveled a path for His anger, and did not spare their soul from death; He delivered their animals to pestilence.
51. He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruit of their strength in the tents of Ham.4
52. He drove His nation like sheep, and guided them like a flock in the desert.
53. He led them in security and they did not fear, for the sea covered their enemies.
54. And He brought them to the boundary of His holy place, this mountain which His right hand acquired.
55. He drove out nations before them, and allotted them an inheritance [measured] by the cord; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56. Yet they tested and defied God, the Most High, and did not keep His testimonies.
57. They regressed and rebelled like their fathers; they turned around like a deceptive bow.
58. They angered Him with their high altars, and provoked Him with their idols.
59. God heard and was enraged, and He was utterly disgusted with Israel;
60. And He abandoned the Tabernacle of Shilo, the Tent where He had dwelled among men.
61. He put His might into captivity, and His glory into the hand of the oppressor.
62. He delivered His nation to the sword, and was enraged with His inheritance.
63. Fire consumed His young men, and His maidens had no marriage song.
64. His priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.5
65. And the Lord awoke like one who had been asleep, like a warrior shouting [to sober himself] from wine.
66. He beat His enemies into retreat, and dealt them eternal disgrace.
67. He was disgusted with the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68. He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loves.
69. And He built His Sanctuary [permanent as] the heavens; like the earth, He established it forever.
70. And He chose David His servant, and took him from the sheep corrals.
71. From following the nursing ewes, He brought Him to shepherd His nation Jacob, Israel His inheritance.
72. And he tended them with the integrity of his heart, and led them with the skill of his hands.
FOOTNOTES
1.A psalm intended to enlighten and impart knowledge(Metzudot).
2.The Ephraimites escaped Egypt before the other tribes, but were defeated when trying to enter the land of Canaan.
3.Capital of Egypt (Radak).
4.Progenitor of the Egyptians.
5.They died before being able to weep (Targum).
Tanya: Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, end of Chapter 4• Lessons in Tanya• English Text
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• Tuesday, Sivan 15, 5776 · June 21, 2016
• Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, end of Chapter 4
• (והנה בחינת הצמצום והסתר החיות נקרא בשם כלים, והחיות עצמו נקרא בשם אור
Rambam:
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1(The tzimtzum and concealing of the life-force is called in kabbalistic terminology kelim (“vessels”), and the life-force itself is called or (“light”),2 which signifies revelation.
שכמו שהכלי מכסה על מה שבתוכו, כך בחינת הצמצום מכסה ומסתיר האור והחיות השופע
For just as a vessel covers that which is within it, so does the tzimtzum cover and conceal the light and the life-force that flows into created beings, and this tzimtzum makes it impossible for them to perceive the G‑dliness that is vested within them.
והכלים הן הן האותיות
The kelim are verily the letters of the Ten Divine Utterances (or their substitutions and transpositions, etc.) which are the life-force of created beings,
ששרשן ה׳ אותיות מנצפ״ך
and [all these letters] are rooted in the five letters3 מנצפ״ך
It is explained in the Kabbalah that these are the source of all letters, —
שהן ה׳ גבורות המחלקות ומפרידות ההבל והקול בה׳ מוצאות הפה, להתהוות כ״ב אותיות
since they represent five degrees of Gevurah i.e., five restraining forces that divide and separate the breath and voice in the five organs of speech, thus enabling the twenty-two letters to be formed.
Just as the five physical organs of speech divide sounds and letters into five separate categories (labial, guttural, etc.), so too do the five spiritual levels of Gevurah give rise to the twenty-two supernal letters.
ושרש הה׳ גבורות הוא בוצינא דקרדוניתא
The source of the five levels of Gevurah is termed in the Kabbalah Butzina deKardunita, which is Aramaic for (lit.) “light out of darkness,” signifying a level of concealment that transcends light.
שהיא גבורה עילאה דעתיק יומין
This is the supernal Gevurah of Atik Yomin, the spiritual level of Keter that transcends all Worlds, including Atzilut;
ושרש החסדים הוא גם כן חסד דעתיק יומין
and, correspondingly, the source of [the various levels of Divine] kindness is Chesed of Atik Yomin,
כידוע ליודעי ח״ן)
as is known to those well versed in the Esoteric Wisdom,)4 i.e., the Kabbalah.
Since the tzimtzum and the letters (on the one hand) and the revelation of the Divine light and life-force (on the other hand) both emanate from the level of Atik Yomin, it follows that the tzimtzum does not effect an objective concealment, as viewed from their common source Above. For, as previously explained, “No entity can conceal itself from itself.”
Thus, tzimtzum affects and is only felt by created beings, who because of this concealment are unable to perceive the Divine life-force that continuously creates them. This is necessary in order for them to think of themselves as independently existing — a state which must be felt by them if they are to “tangibly exist.”
In truth, however, they are utterly nullified within their source Above.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | The parenthesis is in the original text. |
| 2. | The Sefirot are comprised of both “lights” and “vessels”, which are, respectively, the infinite and the finite aspects of theSefirot. The function of the “lights” is to reveal; the function of the “vessels” is to conceal, i.e., to allow “light” to be revealed in proportion to the capacity of the finite beings. |
| 3. | These five letters have two alternative forms, one of which is used (e.g., ך instead of כ) when it terminates a word. Since their use in this way restricts the appearance of any other further letters, it is an act of limitation, and hence an expression of the attribute of Gevurah. |
| 4. | The closing parenthesis is missing in many editions of Tanya. See the commentary of the Rebbe, which appears below, following ch. 5. |
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• Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
Positive Commandment 104
Ritual Impurity of a Zav
We are commanded regarding the ritual impurity of a zav [a man who suffers an abnormal seminal discharge.
When contracted, one must follow all the laws associated with this impurity. E.g.,] how he contracts this ritual impurity and how, after he becomes a zav, he can pass on this impurity to others.
Full text of this Mitzvah »
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
Positive Commandment 104
Ritual Impurity of a Zav
We are commanded regarding the ritual impurity of a zav [a man who suffers an abnormal seminal discharge.
When contracted, one must follow all the laws associated with this impurity. E.g.,] how he contracts this ritual impurity and how, after he becomes a zav, he can pass on this impurity to others.
Full text of this Mitzvah »
• Ritual Impurity of a Zav
Positive Commandment 104
Translated by Berel Bell
The 104th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding the tumah of a zav. This mitzvah includes the laws of how he becomes a zav1 and how he conveys tumah to others.2
FOOTNOTES
1.See Hilchos Mechusarei Kapparah 2:1-2.
2.See Hilchos M'tamei Mishkav U'Moshav, Chapter 1.
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Halacha 1
When a person possesses ten lambs and he separates one as the tithes or he possesses 100 and he separates ten as the tithes, these are not tithes. What, instead, should he do? He should gather all of the lambs or all of the calves born that year in a corral. He then makes a small entrance so that two cannot emerge at the same time. He positions their mothers outside the corral and they bleat so that the lambs will hear their voices and leave the corral to meet them. This is necessary, as implied by Leviticus 27:32 which states: "all that passes beneath the staff," i.e., they must pass on their own initiative; one should not remove them by hand.
As they leave the corral one by one, the owner begins to count them with a staff: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. The tenth animal that departs, whether male or female, whether unblemished or blemished, should be painted with red paint, and the owner should say: "This is the tithe."
If he did not paint the animals designated as the tithes with red paint, did not count them with a staff, or counted them while they are lying down or standing, the tithing takes effect. Since he counted them ten by ten and consecrated the tenth, it is considered a tithe.
Halacha 2
It is not necessary to collect every animal born in a person's domain to one corral. Instead, the reckoning is made for every herd alone. If a person owned five lambs in Jerusalem and five in Acre, they are not combined into a single herd. Instead, they are all exempt from the tithes.
What is the distance required to be between two herds for them to be combined? Sixteen mil.
Halacha 3
If there are three herds and there are sixteen mil between each one, the three are combined. What is implied? There were nine on one side, nine on the other side, and one in the center, all three herds are brought into the corral together to be tithed.
Halacha 4
Tithes are not taken from sheep for cattle, nor from cattle for sheep. One must, however, tithe sheep for goats and goats for sheep. This is derived fromLeviticus 27:32: "All the tithes of your cattle and tzon." Implied is that all light, domesticated animals are included as one category, for they are both referred to with the term seh and they are like one species.
Halacha 5
We do not tithe animals born in one year with animals born in another year just as we do not tithe the crops from the new year for the crops from the past year nor the crops from the past year for the crops of the new year, asDeuteronomy 14:22: "Which are produced by the field year for year."
It appears to me that if one tithed animals from one year for animals of another year, the tithing is binding because of the severity of consecrated animals. For the Torah did not explicitly emphasize that the tithing of animals must be from the same year.
Halacha 6
All of the offspring born from the first of Tishrei until the twenty-ninth of Elul are combined and are tithed for each other. If five lambs are born on the twenty-ninth of Elul and five on the first of Tishrei of the following year, they are not combined. If an animal gave birth to offspring in its first year of life, it and its daughter should be brought into the corral together to be tithed.
Halacha 7
The lambs which are born are not like tevel from which one may not eat until one tithes as explained in its place. Instead, one may sell or slaughter all the offspring one desires until one tithes. Then animal designated as the tithe offering will be consecrated and must be eaten according to law, as explained above.
Halacha 8
Our Sages established three fixed times for the tithing of one's animals.When one of these dates arrives, it is forbidden for a person to sell or slaughter the offspring of his animals until he tithes. If he slaughters, the meat is permitted.
These are the three dates: the fifteenth day before the Paschal sacrifice, the fifteenth day before Shavuot, and the fifteenth day before Sukkot. Each of these times is called a "threshing floor" for the tithing of animals. Thus the "threshing floor" for the tithing of animals is on the last day of the month of Adar, on the thirty-fifth day of the Counting of the Omer, and on the last day of the month of Elul.
Why were the "threshing floors" established on these dates? So that the animals would be available to the festive pilgrims. For even though it is permitted to sell animal offspring before they were tithed, as we explained, the people would refrain from selling them until they would tithe them and perform the mitzvah.
Halacha 9
When a person brought all his sheep or cattle into a corral and began to sanctify the tenth animal that departs until there remained less than ten in the corral, those should be left for the next "threshing floor" and they are joined together with those born and tithed and all are collected in one "threshing floor." Even though one knows that some will remain in the corral, he is obligated to bring them all into the corral and the remainder will be left over.
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Halacha 1
An unlearned person, even though he is Jewish and observant of the Torah and its mitzvot, is assumed to be impure and his clothes are considered amidras if they come into contact with pure substances. If his clothes touch food or liquids, they are impure. If he touches an earthenware container from the inside, he imparts impurity to it. Terumah should be burnt if such a person touches it, even though his impurity is of doubtful status.
The word of such persons is not accepted regarding the status of pure articles, because they are not knowledgeable regarding the intricacies of the laws of purity and impurity. We continue to operate under this presumption and the person's word is not accepted until he resolves to accept the restrictions of a chavair. What is meant by the restrictions of a chavair that he must resolve to accept? That he be careful with regard to sources of impurity, not to contract impurity from them; that he be careful with regard to pure articles that he not impart impurity to them; that he be careful with regard to washing hands and maintaining their purity; that he not take moist foods from an unlearned person; that he not accept his hospitality; nor offer hospitality to him while the unlearned person is wearing his own garments.
Halacha 2
When a person seeks to accept upon himself all the practices of a chavairexcept one, he is not accepted. If we see he carries out these practices privately in his own home, we accept him and then we teach him the concepts of impurity and purity. If we do not see him conducting himself in this manner privately at home, we teach him and then we accept him.
First, a person is accepted with regard to maintaining the purity of his hands. Afterwards, he is accepted with regard to dealing with pure objects. If he said: "I only accept upon myself, the purity of hands," he is accepted. If he sought to accept the restrictions regarding pure objects, but not those that apply to the purity of hands, we do not accept him, even for pure objects.
When he is accepted, we are cautious with regard to his conduct for 30 days until he learns the intricacies of the laws and is used to dealing with pure objects. Once 30 days have passed since he accepted the customs of achavair, his clothes are considered as pure and all of his food and liquids are considered as pure. His word is accepted with regard to pure objects like all other chavairim even though he is not a Torah scholar.
Halacha 3
Torah scholars are assumed to be chavairim. Their word is accepted regarding pure articles and they do not have to undertake a formal acceptance of the practices of chaveirim. Nevertheless, after the destruction of the Temple, the priests adopted an additional measure of stringency among themselves and they would not give pure objects to anyone, even Torah scholars, until they formally accepted the practices of chaveirim.
Halacha 4
An elder who is a member of a Talmudic academy does not need to formally accept these practices, for he already accepted them at the time he became a member of the academy.
Halacha 5
When a person seeks to accept the practices of a chavair, he must formalize this acceptance in the presence of three chaveirim. His sons and the members of his household need not formalize this acceptance in the presence of three chaveirim, because he will teach them and train them in the ways of purity. The wife of a chavair, his sons, the members of his household, and his servants are considered like a chavair. If a chavair dies, his wife, his sons, and the members of his household are considered as chavairim until their conduct arouses suspicion.
Halacha 6
When the widow of an unlearned person or the daughter of one marries achavair or the servant of a such a person is sold to a chavair, the woman or the servant must accept the practices of a chavair as at the outset. When, by contrast, the widow of a chavair or his daughter marries an unlearned person or his servant is sold to an unlearned person, there is no need for them to accept the practices of a chavair as at the outset.
Halacha 7
When an unlearned person accepts the practices of a chavair, but had pure articles that remained from the time that he was unlearned, although he says: "I know with certainty that they did not contract impurity when others were involved with them," they are forbidden, as was their status initially. If he personally was involved with these pure articles before his status changed, the articles are permitted to him, but they are forbidden to all others.
A chavair may be asked about the state of his pure articles and he may rule in his own favor, that they are permitted. We do not harbor suspicions about him in this context.
Halacha 8
When a chavair becomes a tax collector, a collector of customs duty, or the like, he is stripped of his status as a chavair. If he abandons his evil deeds, he is considered as every other person. He must accept the practices of achavair as at the outset.
Halacha 9
When an unlearned person accepted the practices of a chavair and then becomes suspect with regard to a particular matter, he is suspect only with regard to that particular matter. Nevertheless, one who became suspect with regard to a severe matter is suspect with regard to a slighter matter. If he becomes suspect for a slight matter, he is not considered suspect for a more severe matter.
Halacha 10
When a chavair becomes suspect with regard to permissiveness in connection with ritually pure articles, e.g., he sold ritually impure foods with the presumption that they were pure, he is no longer considered as trustworthy until it becomes known that he repented completely.
Halacha 11
When a person is suspect with regard to the violation of the laws regarding the Sabbatical year or with regard to selling terumah as ordinary produce, he is considered to be suspect with regard to violating the restrictions concerning ritual purity. For a person who is suspect with regard to a Scriptural prohibition is considered suspect with regard to Rabbinic safeguards. And impure foods impart impurity to other entities only by virtue of Rabbinic decree, as will be explained.
Any person who is suspect with regard to a particular matter is, nevertheless, permitted to deliver testimony regarding such a matter with regard to others and to serve as a judge with regard to others. The rationale is that we operate under the assumption that a person will not transgress so that others will benefit.
Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 11
Halacha 1
We have already explained that the word of unlearned persons is accepted with regard to the purification process of the red heifer. Because of the severity involved, the matter is never treated lightly. Similarly, their word is accepted with regard to the wine and oil intended for the accompanying offerings of a sacrifice. If they say that they are pure, they are assumed to be pure. Because this is a very severe matter, they are mindful of it.
Similarly, their word is accepted with regard to the purity of terumah during the time when winepresses and olive vats are active, for all people purify themselves and their utensils to prepare their wine in a state of purity. When the time when winepresses and olive vats are active passes, their word is no longer accepted.
Halacha 2
When an unlearned person brings a priest a barrel of wine or oil that isterumah, he should not accept it from him, because it is assumed to be impure. If the unlearned person left it in his own possession until the next time of the winepresses and olive vats and brought it to the priest, he should accept it even though he knows it is from the previous year. For no impurity was decreed on unlearned people during the time when winepresses and olive vats are active.
Halacha 3
When an unlearned person locks his olive press or wine vat when the people completed pressing and brought the key to a priest, even though several days pass since the pressing season was completed, there is room for leniency. The priest may come, open the press or vat in the unlearned person's presence, have him immerse himself, press the olives or grapes and taketerumah in a state of ritual purity.
If he did not do this, he should only take olives and grapes that were not made fit to contract impurity from an unlearned person, for they will not contract impurity.
Halacha 4
If an unlearned person brought a priest a barrel of terumah wine or oil during the remainder of the year and told him: "I have separated consecrated wine or oil from it," even if only a revi'it, since his word is accepted with regard to the purity of the consecrated wine or oil, his word is accepted with regard to the entire amount.
Even during the time when winepresses and olive vats are active and the word of unlearned people is accepted with regard to terumah, their word is not accepted with regard to the empty containers to say that they are pure and may be used for terumah. Similarly, their word is never accepted with regard to empty containers to say that they are pure and may be used for consecrated liquids.
Halacha 5
When there was a container of wine or oil and we saw an unlearned person waiting and protecting it so that he could take accompanying offerings from it, his word is accepted with regard to the purity of the container for even 70 days before the time when winepresses and olive vats are active. Before these 70 days, by contrast, their word is not accepted.
Where does the above apply? In the other portions of the land of Israel. In Jerusalem, by contrast, the word of unlearned people that empty earthenware containers are pure for consecrated articles is always accepted. This applies with regard to small utensils or large ones, whether they are full or empty. Implied is that the word of an unlearned person that a container is pure is accepted even though the liquids in the container are impure. Even if the garment of the unlearned person which is considered as impure due to midrasenters the container, the container is assumed to be pure with regard to sacrificial foods. Why was such leniency shown? Because kilns for earthenware containers are not made in Jerusalem.
Halacha 6
From Modi'it and closer, the word of unlearned people is accepted with regard to earthenware containers. Outside that area, their word is not accepted. Modi'it itself is sometimes considered as within that area and sometimes as outside.
What is implied? If a chavair was entering that town and an unlearned person carrying an earthenware container was departing, his word - that the container is pure with regard to sacrificial food - is accepted in Modi'it. If they were both either entering or departing, the word of the unlearned person is not accepted unless he is closer to Jerusalem than Modi'it.
Halacha 7
The following rules apply when a potter brings pots and places them down closer to Jerusalem than Modi'it. Potential customers come and he tells them that it is pure. If a chavair purchases a pot and brings it in, it is considered as pure with regard to sacrificial food, but not with regard to terumah, as we explained. If he purchased a pot and took it outside of Modi'it, it is impure, both for sacrificial foods and for terumah. This applies even though these are the same pots and the same potter. His word is accepted only within a radius beginning from Modi'it.
Halacha 8
When one takes earthenware containers from a kiln no matter where it is located, they are considered pure, both with regard to sacrificial foods and with regard to terumah. We do not suspect that perhaps an unlearned person touched them. Even if they were taken from the first row and even if the kiln was open and half of its contents were already taken, containers taken by achavair are considered as pure. For a decree was not established concerning utensils in a kiln.
Halacha 9
During the pilgrimage festivals, the impurity decreed upon the unlearned is suspended and they are considered as pure. For the entire Jewish people are considered as chavairim during the pilgrimage festivals. All of their utensils, their food, and their liquids are considered as pure during the festivals, for everyone purifies themselves and ascends to Jerusalem on the festivals. Therefore their word is accepted - whether with regard to sacrificial foods or with regard to terumah - throughout the festivals. After the festival passes, they are considered as impure again.
Halacha 10
When a person opened his barrel of wine or of oil or began selling his dough during the festival, once the festival passes, the remainder of the contents of the barrel and the remainder of the dough are assumed to be impure, for they were touched by an unlearned person. Although he touched them only during the time that he is considered as a chavair, they are only considered as pure during the days of the festival.
Halacha 11
After the festival, on the night following the festival, the priests would immerse all the utensils that were in the Temple in a mikveh, because the unlearned people had touched them during the festival. Therefore they would tell the people: "Do not touch the Golden Table," when they would show it to the festive pilgrims so that, after the festival, it would not be considered as impure because they touched it and thus would require immersion and waiting until nightfall before it would regain purity. This is undesirable, because with regard to the showbread, Exodus 25:30 states: "It should be before Me continuously."
All of the sacred utensils require immersion and waiting until nightfall with the exception of the Golden Altar and the Copper Altar. They do not contract impurity, because their metal plating is considered as subsidiary to their inner material.
Halacha 12
When an unlearned person says: "I have not contracted the impurity associated with a human corpse," or "This k'li has not contracted the impurity associated with a human corpse," his word is accepted. He or the k'li is immersed only because of the impurity associated with unlearned people and must wait until nightfall. There is, however, no need for the ashes of the red heifer to be sprinkled on him or it.
When does the above apply? When he is asked and he says that it is pure. When, however, a person takes a k'li from the domain of an unlearned person without clarification, it is suspected that it contracted the impurity associated with a human corpse and the ashes of the red heifer are sprinkled on it on the third and seventh days, as is the law regarding keilim that are found in any place outside of Jerusalem. As will be explained with regard to situations where impurity is questionable, a decree was not established with regard to the impurity of keilim found in Jerusalem.
Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 12
Halacha 1
When a person entrusts keilim to an unlearned person or gives a k'li to an unlearned artisan to fix, they are considered to be impure because of the impurity associated with a human corpse and the impurity of midras. If the watchman is familiar with the owner of the keilim and knows that he is a priest who partakes of terumah, they are considered as pure with regard to the impurity associated with a corpse, but are considered to have contractedmidras impurity. The rationale is that it is suspected that his wife sat on them while she was in the nidah state without his knowledge, since care is not taken with regard to ritual impurity in the homes of unlearned people.
Halacha 2
When a person places his keilim down before an unlearned person and tells him: "Watch these for me," they are considered to have contracted midrasimpurity, but not the impurity associated with a human corpse. If he placed them on the shoulder of the unlearned person, they are considered to have contracted both types of impurity.
If one left his keilim in a synagogue, they are considered as pure, for it is not entirely a domain of unlearned persons. If he left his keilim in a bathhouse and found them as he left them, they are pure, but he is taught not to do this in the future.
If one left his vat or his cistern unattended, even if he entered a city and returned and found an unlearned person next to the vat or the cistern, they are considered as pure, because the unlearned person does not have license to enter.
Halacha 3
When a person entrusts the key to his house to an unlearned person, everything in the house is considered as pure, for he entrusted only the key to him for safekeeping.
Halacha 4
When a person places his keilim in the lockers of a bathhouse and locked them, the keilim are pure, even if he gave the key to an unlearned person. Similarly, if he sealed the locker or made a sign on it, his keilim are pure even if the seal has been broken.
Halacha 5
When a chavair leaves an unlearned person in his house to watch it and the owner sits a certain distance away, when he sees the people who enter and depart, all the foods, liquids, and earthenware containers that are not tightly sealed are impure. By contrast, surfaces on which one lies or rides and earthenware containers that are tightly sealed are pure. If the owner cannot see the people who enter or depart, everything in the house is impure. Even if the unlearned person he left in the home was bound or had his hands and feet cut off, everything is considered as impure, because it was in the domain of an unlearned person.
Halacha 6
When a chavair slept in the home of an unlearned person and his clothes were folded and placed under his head and his sandal and his jug were placed before him, they are considered as pure, because they are assumed to be guarded by their owner. The unlearned person will not touch them for he will say to himself: "Now he will wake up and see me."
Halacha 7
When an unlearned person borrows a bed from a chavair and sleeps on it in the house of the chavair, only that bed and the area which he can touch when extending his hand from the bed are impure.
Halacha 8
When a chavair told an unlearned person: "Watch this cow for me so that it will not enter the house" or "...break these utensils," the house and the utensils are pure, for he charged him only with guarding the cow. If, however, he told him: "Watch this house for me so that the cow will not enter it" or "Watch these utensils so that it will not break them," the house and the utensils are impure.
Halacha 9
The following rules apply when one leaves an unlearned person lying down in his house and departs. Whether he left him awake and discovered him awake when he returned, he left him sleeping and found him sleeping, or left him awake and found him sleeping, everything in the house is pure. If he left him asleep and he found him awake, any place that is close to him to which he can extend his hand and touch is impure.
Similarly, if one leaves craftsmen in his house, only the places that they can reach when they extend their hands and touch are impure. We do not say that perhaps they climbed onto a chair or a ladder and touched a k'li or food that was hanging on a high place on the wall.
Halacha 10
When the wife of a chavair leaves the wife of an unlearned person - or two such women - to grind flour in her home, only the places which the wife of the unlearned person can reach when she extends her hand and touch are impure. This applies even if the mill stops for a time. We do not say that while one was grinding, the other searched through everything in the house and maybe even suspended herself and ascended to high places.
Halacha 11
When a woman standing at the entrance to her house went in to take out a loaf of bread for a poor man and when she came out, found him standing at the side of loaves of bread, they are pure - even if they are terumah. The rationale is that it can be assumed that he would not touch anything without permission. Similarly, if a woman departed and when she returned, found the wife of an unlearned person stirring the coals that are under her pot, the pot is pure.
Halacha 12
When tax-collectors for the ruling kingdom entered a house to take security for money that is owed, everything in the house is impure. If they are accompanied by a gentile, their word is accepted if they say they did not touch something, because they are possessed by fear of the gentile.
When does the above apply? When there are witnesses that they entered or they have security which they took in their hands. If, however, they say on their own initiative: "We entered, but did not touch anything," their word is accepted. The rationale is: the same person whose words aroused our suspicion also allayed it.
Halacha 13
When thieves entered a house, only the path where the thieves walked is impure. The rationale is that they are afraid to search through the entire house. Instead, they take only what is at hand.
To what do they impart impurity on the path where they walk? To food, liquids, and open earthenware containers. Surfaces on which one lies or rides and earthenware containers that are sealed closed are pure. If there is a gentile or a woman among them, everything is impure.
Halacha 14
When tax-collectors and thieves repent and return the articles they took on their own initiative, and not because of fear, and when doing so, say: "When we entered, we did not touch anything that was in the house except what we took," their word is accepted even with regard to articles that were in their path.
Halacha 15
When a person leaves his house open and finds it open or finds it locked - and even if he left it locked and found it open - and nothing was stolen from it, everything in the house is pure. We assume that thieves opened the door and then changed their minds and did not enter.
Halacha 16
When a hatchet is lost in a house or left in one corner and found in another corner, all the contents of the house are impure, for we assume that an impure person entered the house and took it.
Halacha 17
When a person lives together with an unlearned person and shares a common courtyard, if he forgot articles in the courtyard - even barrels that were sealed close or an oven that was sealed close - they are considered as impure. For them to be considered as pure, he must construct a barrier ten handbreadths high around the oven so that it will not be in the domain of an unlearned person.
Halacha 18
When a chavair has a partition or a hut before the entrance to an unlearned person's home or an unlearned person has a partition or a hut before the entrance to a chavair's home, keilim in the hut or in the partition are impure, because the unlearned person has the right to enter this hut or this partition.
Halacha 19
When the roof of a chavair is above the roof of an unlearned person, thechavair may lay out utensils there and place pure foods there under the presumption that their status has not changed, even though the unlearned person could extend his hand and touch them. Similarly, if his neighbor is a gentile, he need not be concerned about impurity or wine used for libations to a false deity.
If the roofs were next to each other on the same level or the roof of the unlearned person was higher and the chavair laid out utensils or left pure foods on his roof, every place to which the unlearned person could extend his hand and touch is considered to be impure.
Halacha 20
When there are two courtyards, one inside the other, the inner one belonging to a chavair and the outer one, belonging to an unlearned person, the chavairmay place his utensils in his courtyard and spread out his produce there, even though the unlearned person's hand could reach there. There is no suspicion that the unlearned person would touch them, because he would be considered as a thief.
Halacha 21
When a courtyard is divided by a lattice-work barrier, with a chavair's domain on one side and an unlearned person's domain on the other side, the pure food belonging to the chavair is considered as pure, even though the unlearned person's hand could reach there. There is no suspicion that the unlearned person would touch it, because it is in the domain of the chavair.
Halacha 22
When the bucket of a chavair fell into the well of an unlearned person and thechavair went to get materials to lift it up, it is considered as impure. The rationale is that it was left unattended in the domain of an unlearned person for a given time.
Halacha 23
When the wife of an unlearned person enters the house of a chavair to take out the son or the daughter of the chavair or his animal, everything in the house is pure, because she entered without permission.
When a potter who is a chavair brings his pots to sell and he descends to a well to drink, those on the inner rows are pure, but those on the outer rows are impure. When does the above apply? When he placed them near the public domain, because the passersby will touch the outer ones as they walk by.
Different rules apply if they were placed down distant from the public domain. If he was carrying the tools of his trade in his hand, they are all impure, because his tools indicate that they were placed down to be sold and everyone will touch them. If he was not carrying the tools of his trade, they are all pure, for it can be assumed that no one touched them.
When a chavair places food or liquids down at the entrance to his store and enters, they are considered impure, for the passersby will touch them.
• English Text | Video Class• Tuesday, Sivan 15, 5776 · June 21, 2016• "Today's Day"
Friday Sivan 15 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Beha'alotecha, Shishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 77-78.
Tanya: (The Tzimtzum and (p. 299)...the Esoteric Wisdom.) (p. 299).
At first the Alter Rebbe would deliver extremely brief expositions that aroused a storm within the listener's heart, and greatly inflamed his emotions. These were called d'rachim, "pathways."
Later his talks were a little more extended, and these were called igrot, "missives."
In the next stage of development, his talks were termed torot, "teachings," and these formed the basis for the maamarim in Torah Or and Likutei Torah.
Later came somewhat longer teachings called k'tavim, "writings." These were expositions with comparatively broad intellectual elaboration.
• Daily Thought:
Faces
We, the Jewish people, are a single being with many millions of faces.
If one should fall, all of us stumble.
If one should do good, all of us participate.
If one is suffering, all of us share that pain.
When one rejoices, all of us dance and sing.
None of us can say to the other, “It is your fault!” All of us share the blame for each other’s failures. And even more so, we share the benefits of each other’s good deeds.
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