Torah Reading
Eikev: Deuteronomy 7:12 “Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, Adonai your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground — your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep — in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a sterile male or female among you, and the same with your livestock. 15 Adonai will remove all illness from you — he will not afflict you with any of Egypt’s dreadful diseases, which you have known; instead, he will lay them on those who hate you. 16 You are to devour all the peoples that Adonai your God hands over to you — show them no pity, and do not serve their gods, because that will become a trap for you. 17 If you think to yourselves, ‘These nations outnumber us; how can we dispossess them?’ 18 nevertheless, you are not to be afraid of them; you are to remember well what Adonai your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt — 19 the great ordeals which you yourself saw, and the signs, wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm by which Adonai your God brought you out. Adonai will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, Adonai your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and those who hide themselves perish ahead of you. 21 You are not to be frightened of them, because Adonai your God is there with you, a God great and fearsome. 22 Adonai your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little; you can’t put an end to them all at once, or the wild animals will become too numerous for you. 23 Nevertheless, Adonai your God will give them over to you, sending one disaster after another upon them until they have been destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven; none of them will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 You are to burn up completely the carved statues of their gods. Don’t be greedy for the silver or gold on them; don’t take it with you, or you will be trapped by it; for it is abhorrent to Adonai your God. 26 Don’t bring something abhorrent into your house, or you will share in the curse that is on it; instead, you are to detest it completely, loathe it utterly; for it is set apart for destruction.
8:1 “All the mitzvot I am giving you today you are to take care to obey, so that you will live, increase your numbers, enter and take possession of the land Adonai swore about to your ancestors. 2 You are to remember everything of the way in which Adonai led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart — whether you would obey his mitzvot or not. 3 He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Adonai. 4 During these forty years the clothing you were wearing didn’t grow old, and your feet didn’t swell up. 5 Think deeply about it: Adonai was disciplining you, just as a man disciplines his child. 6 So obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God, living as he directs and fearing him. 7 For Adonai your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs and water welling up from the depths in valleys and on hillsides. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food in abundance and lack nothing in it; a land where the stones contain iron and the hills can be mined for copper. 10 So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless Adonai your God for the good land he has given you.
(ii) 11 “Be careful not to forget Adonai your God by not obeying his mitzvot, rulings and regulations that I am giving you today. 12 Otherwise, after you have eaten and are satisfied, built fine houses and lived in them, 13 and increased your herds, flocks, silver, gold and everything else you own, 14 you will become proud-hearted. Forgetting Adonai your God — who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves; 15 who led you through the vast and fearsome desert, with its poisonous snakes, scorpions and waterless, thirsty ground; who brought water out of flint rock for you; 16 who fed you in the desert with man, unknown to your ancestors; all the while humbling and testing you in order to do you good in the end — 17 you will think to yourself, ‘My own power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 No, you are to remember Adonai your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today. 19 If you forget Adonai your God, follow other gods and serve and worship them, I am warning you in advance today that you will certainly perish. 20 You will perish just like the nations that Adonai is causing to perish ahead of you, because you will not have heeded the voice of Adonai your God.”
9:1 “Listen, Isra’el! You are to cross the Yarden today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky; 2 a people great and tall, the ‘Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of ‘Anak?’ 3 Therefore understand today that Adonai your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you. Thus will you drive them out and cause them to perish quickly, as Adonai has said to you.
(iii) 4 “Don’t think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, ‘It is to reward my righteousness that Adonai has brought me in to take possession of this land.’ No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that Adonai is driving them out ahead of you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which Adonai swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov. 6 Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that Adonai your God is giving you this good land to possess.
“For you are a stiffnecked people! 7 Remember, don’t forget, how you made Adonai your God angry in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt till you arrived at this place, you have been rebelling against Adonai. 8 Also in Horev you made Adonai angry — Adonai was angry enough with you to destroy you! 9 I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets on which was written the covenant Adonai had made with you. I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights without eating food or drinking water. 10 Then Adonai gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God; and on them was written every word Adonai had said to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly. 11 Yes, after forty days and nights Adonai gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then Adonai said to me, ‘Get up, and hurry down from here, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt. So quickly have they turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have made themselves a metal image!’ 13 Moreover, Adonai said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and what a stiffnecked people they are! 14 Let me alone, so that I can put an end to them and blot out their name from under heaven! I will make out of you a nation bigger and stronger than they.’ 15 I came down from the mountain. The mountain was blazing fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 I looked, and there, you had sinned against Adonai your God! You had made yourselves a metal calf, you had turned aside quickly from the way Adonai had ordered you to follow. 17 I seized the two tablets, threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I fell down before Adonai, as I had the first time, for forty days and nights, during which time I neither ate food nor drank water, all because of the sin you committed by doing what was evil in the sight of Adonai and thus provoking him. 19 I was terrified that because of how angry Adonai was at you, of how heatedly displeased he was, that he would destroy you. But Adonai listened to me that time too. 20 In addition, Adonai was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time. 21 I took your sin, the calf you had made, and burned it up in the fire, beat it to pieces, and ground it up still smaller, until it was as fine as dust; then I threw its dust into the stream coming down from the mountain.
22 “Again at Tav‘erah, Massah and Kivrot-HaTa’avah you made Adonai angry; 23 and when Adonai sent you off from Kadesh-Barnea by saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land I have given you,’ you rebelled against the order of Adonai your God — you neither trusted him nor heeded what he said. 24 You have been rebelling against Adonai from the day I first knew you!
25 “So I fell down before Adonai for those forty days and nights; and I lay there; because Adonai had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to Adonai ; I said, ‘Adonai Elohim! Don’t destroy your people, your inheritance! You redeemed them through your greatness, you brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand! 27 Remember your servants Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov! Don’t focus on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or on their sin. 28 Otherwise, the land you brought us out of will say, “It is because Adonai wasn’t able to bring them into the land he promised them and because he hated them that he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 29 But in fact they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.’
10:1 (iv) “At that time Adonai said to me, ‘Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia-wood and cut two stone tablets like the first, then climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He inscribed the tablets with the same inscription as before, the Ten Words which Adonai proclaimed to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly; and Adonai gave them to me. 5 I turned, came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made; and there they remain; as Adonai ordered me.
6 “The people of Isra’el traveled from the wells of B’nei-Ya‘akan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried; and El‘azar his son took his place, serving in the office of cohen. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Yotvatah, a region with running streams. 8 At that time Adonai set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark for the covenant of Adonai and to stand before Adonai to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today. 9 This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; Adonai is his inheritance, as Adonai your God had said to him.
10 “I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as previously; and Adonai listened to me that time too — Adonai would not destroy you. 11 Then Adonai said to me, ‘Get up, and go on your way at the head of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.’
(v) 12 “So now, Isra’el, all that Adonai your God asks from you is to fear Adonai your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being; 13 to obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of Adonai which I am giving you today. 14 See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to Adonai your God. 15 Only Adonai took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them — yourselves — above all peoples, as he still does today. 16 Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiffnecked any longer! 17 For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. 18 He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore you are to love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him, cling to him and swear by his name. 21 He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which you have seen with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down into Egypt with only seventy people, but now Adonai your God has made your numbers as many as the stars in the sky!
11:1 “Therefore, you are to love Adonai your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and mitzvot. 2 Today it is you I am addressing — not your children, who haven’t known or experienced the discipline of Adonai your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country. 4 They didn’t experience what he did to Egypt’s army, horses and chariots — how Adonai overwhelmed them with the water of the Sea of Suf as they were pursuing you, so that they remain destroyed to this day. 5 They didn’t experience what he kept doing for you in the desert until you arrived at this place; 6 or what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av the descendant of Re’uven — how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, tents and every living thing in their company, there in front of all Isra’el. 7 But you have seen with your own eyes all these great deeds of Adonai. 8 Therefore, you are to keep every mitzvah I am giving you today; so that you will be strong enough to go in and take possession of the land you are crossing over to conquer; 9 and so that you will live long in the land Adonai swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
(vi) 10 “For the land you are entering in order to take possession of it isn’t like the land of Egypt. There you would sow your seed and had to use your feet to operate its irrigation system, as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing over to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys, which soaks up water when rain falls from the sky. 12 It is a land Adonai your God cares for. The eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
13 “So if you listen carefully to my mitzvot which I am giving you today, to love Adonai your God and serve him with all your heart and all your being; 14 then, [says Adonai,] ‘I will give your land its rain at the right seasons, including the early fall rains and the late spring rains; so that you can gather in your wheat, new wine and olive oil; 15 and I will give your fields grass for your livestock; with the result that you will eat and be satisfied.’ 16 But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. 17 If you do, the anger of Adonai will blaze up against you. He will shut up the sky, so that there will be no rain. The ground will not yield its produce, and you will quickly pass away from the good land Adonai is giving you. 18 Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead; 19 teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; 20 and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates — 21 so that you and your children will live long on the land Adonai swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth.
(vii & Maftir) 22 “For if you will take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you, to do them, to love Adonai your God, to follow all his ways and to cling to him, 23 then Adonai will expel all these nations ahead of you; and you will dispossess nations bigger and stronger than you are. 24 Wherever the sole of your foot steps will be yours; your territory will extend from the desert to the L’vanon and from the River, the Euphrates River, to the Western Sea. 25 No one will be able to withstand you; Adonai your God will place the fear and dread of you on all the land you step on, as he told you.
Isaiah 49:14 “But Tziyon says, ‘Adonai has abandoned me,
Adonai has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her child at the breast,
not show pity on the child from her womb?
Even if these were to forget,
I would not forget you.
16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your walls are always before me.”
17 Your children are coming quickly,
your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
18 Raise your eyes, and look around:
they are all gathering and coming to you.
Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive,
you will wear them all like jewels,
adorn yourself with them like a bride.”
19 For your desolate places and ruins
and your devastated land
will be too cramped for those living in it;
your devourers will be far away.
20 The day will come when the children born
when you were mourning will say to you,
“This place is too cramped for me!
Give me room, so I can live!”
21 Then you will ask yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I’ve been mourning my children, alone,
as an exile, wandering to and fro;
so who has raised these?
I was left alone, so where have these come from?”
22 Adonai Elohim answers:
“I am beckoning to the nations,
raising my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your foster-fathers,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow to you, face toward the earth,
and lick the dust on your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai —
those who wait for me will not be sorry.”
24 But can booty be wrested from a warrior?
Can a victor’s captives be freed?
25 Here is Adonai’s answer:
“Even a warrior’s captives will be snatched away,
and the booty of the fearful will be freed.
I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine.
Then everyone will know that I, Adonai, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.”
50:1 Adonai says:
“Where is your mother’s divorce document
which I gave her when I divorced her?
Or: to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
You were sold because of your sins;
because of your crimes was your mother divorced.
2 Why was no one here when I came?
Why, when I called, did nobody answer?
Is my arm too short to redeem?
Have I too little power to save?
With my rebuke I dry up the sea;
I turn rivers into desert,
their fish rot for lack of water
and they die of thirst;
3 I dress the heavens in black to mourn
and make their covering sackcloth.”
4 Adonai Elohim has given me
the ability to speak as a man well taught,
so that I, with my words,
know how to sustain the weary.
Each morning he awakens my ear
to hear like those who are taught.
5 Adonai Elohim has opened my ear,
and I neither rebelled nor turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 For Adonai Elohim will help.
This is why no insult can wound me.
This is why I have set my face like flint,
knowing I will not be put to shame.
8 My vindicator is close by;
let whoever dares to accuse me
appear with me in court!
Let whoever has a case against me step forward!
9 Look, if Adonai Elohim helps me,
who will dare to condemn me?
Here, they are all falling apart
like old, moth-eaten clothes.
10 Who among you fears Adonai?
Who obeys what his servant says?
Even when he walks in the dark,
without any light,
he will trust in Adonai’s reputation
and rely on his God.
11 But all of you who are lighting fires
and arming yourselves with firebrands:
go, walk in the flame of your own fire,
among the firebrands you lit!
From my hands this [fate] awaits you:
you will lie down in torment.
51:1 “Listen to me, you pursuers of justice,
you who seek Adonai:
consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug —
2 consider Avraham your father
and Sarah, who gave birth to you;
in that I called him when he was only one person,
then blessed him and made him many.
3 For Adonai will comfort Tziyon,
will comfort all her ruined places,
will make her desert like ‘Eden,
her ‘Aravah like the garden of Adonai.
Joy and gladness will be there,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Today's Laws & Customs
• Blessing the New Month
This Shabbat is Shabbat Mevarchim ("the Shabbat that blesses" the new month): a special prayer is recited blessing the Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") of upcoming month of Elulwhich falls on the Shabbat of next week and the following Sunday.
Prior to the blessing, we announce the precise time of the molad, the "birth" of the new moon.Click here for molad times.
It is a Chabad custom to recite the entire book of Psalms before morning prayers, and to conduct farbrengens (chassidic gatherings) in the course of the Shabbat.
Links:
During the summer months, from the Shabbat after Passover until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashahah, we study a weekly chapter of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") each Shabbat afternoon; this week we study Chapter Four.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 4
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Eikev, 7th Portion Deuteronomy 11:22-11:25 with Rashi
• Deuteronomy Chapter 11
22For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, כבכִּי֩ אִם־שָׁמֹ֨ר תִּשְׁמְר֜וּן אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֗את אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָֽנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם לַֽעֲשׂתָ֑הּ לְאַֽהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֛ם לָלֶ֥כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָ֖יו וּלְדָבְקָה־בֽוֹ:
For if you keep [all these commandments]: Heb. שָׁמֹר תִּשְׁמְרוּן [The repetition of שָׁמֹר is to] admonish us many times to be careful with one’s learning, lest it be forgotten. - [Sifrei] שמור תשמרון: אזהרת שמירות הרבה להזהר בתלמודו שלא ישתכח:
to walk in all His ways: God is merciful, so you, too, be merciful; He bestows loving-kindness, so you, too, bestow loving-kindness. — [Sifrei] ללכת בכל דרכיו: הוא רחום ואתה תהא רחום, הוא גומל חסדים ואתה גומל חסדים:
and to cleave to Him: Is it possible to say this? Is God not “a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24)? Rather, it means: Cleave to the disciples and the Sages, and I will consider it as though you cleave to Me. — [Sifrei] ולדבקה בו: אפשר לומר כן, והלא אש אוכלה הוא, אלא הדבק בתלמידים ובחכמים ומעלה אני עליך כאלו נדבקת בו:
23then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will possess nations greater and stronger than you. כגוְהוֹרִ֧ישׁ יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָאֵ֖לֶּה מִלִּפְנֵיכֶ֑ם וִירִשְׁתֶּ֣ם גּוֹיִ֔ם גְּדֹלִ֥ים וַֽעֲצֻמִ֖ים מִכֶּֽם:
Then the Lord will drive out [all these nations from before you]: Since you have fulfilled what is [incumbent] upon you, I will do what is [incumbent] upon Me. — [Sifrei] והוריש ה': עשיתם מה שעליכם אף אני אעשה מה שעלי:
stronger than you: You are strong, but they are stronger than you, for if it were not that the Israelites were strong, what is the praise that he [Moses] is praising the Amorites by saying of them that they are, “stronger than you”? But, [the answer is that] you are stronger than all other nations and they [the Amorites] are stronger than you. — [Sifrei] ועצמים מכם: אתם גבורים, והם גבורים מכם, שאם לא שישראל גבורים, מה השבח שמשבח את האמוריים לומר ועצומים מכם, אלא אתם גבורים משאר אומות והם גבורים מכם:
24Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary. כדכָּל־הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּדְרֹ֧ךְ כַּף־רַגְלְכֶ֛ם בּ֖וֹ לָכֶ֣ם יִֽהְיֶ֑ה מִן־הַמִּדְבָּ֨ר וְהַלְּבָנ֜וֹן מִן־הַנָּהָ֣ר נְהַר־פְּרָ֗ת וְעַד֙ הַיָּ֣ם הָאַֽחֲר֔וֹן יִֽהְיֶ֖ה גְּבֻֽלְכֶֽם:
25No man will stand up before you; the Lord your God will cast the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land upon which you tread, as He spoke to you. כהלֹֽא־יִתְיַצֵּ֥ב אִ֖ישׁ בִּפְנֵיכֶ֑ם פַּחְדְּכֶ֨ם וּמוֹרַֽאֲכֶ֜ם יִתֵּ֣ן | יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗ם עַל־פְּנֵ֤י כָל־הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּדְרְכוּ־בָ֔הּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר לָכֶֽם:
No man will stand up [before you]: From this verse it is understood only [that]“a man” [will not be able to stand up before Israel]. How do we know that a nation, a family, or a woman with her witchcraft will also not be able to stand up before Israel? Therefore, it says: לֹא-יִתְיַצֵּב, “there will be no standing up [before you]”-at all. If so, why does it say:“man”? [It means any man], even as [mighty as] Og, king of Bashan. - [Sifrei] לא יתיצב איש וגו': אין לי אלא איש, אומה ומשפחה ואשה בכשפיה מנין, תלמוד לומר לא יתיצב מכל מקום. אם כן מה תלמוד לומר איש, אפילו כעוג מלך הבשן:
The Lord… will set] the fear of you and the dread of you [on all the land]: Heb. פַּחְדְּכֶם וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם. Is not פַּחַד the same as מוֹרָא [both meaning fear]? But [the answer is that] פַּחְדְּכֶם“the fear of you,” refers to those near by, and מוֹרַאֲכֶם,“the dread of you,” to those distant, for פַּחַד denotes“sudden fear,” and מוֹרָא denotes anxiety enduring many days. פחדכם ומוראכם: והלא פחד הוא מורא, אלא פחדכם על הקרובים ומוראכם על הרחוקים. פחד לשון בעיתת פתאום. מורא לשון דאגה מימים רבים:
as He spoke to you: And where did He speak [about this]?“I will cast My terror before you” (Exod. 23:27). - [Sifrei] כאשר דבר לכם: והיכן דבר (שמות כג, כז) את אימתי אשלח לפניך וגו':
Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapters 108 - 112
• Chapter 108
1. A song, a psalm by David.
2. My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and chant praises even with my soul.
3. Awake, O lyre and harp; I shall awaken the dawn.
4. I will thank You among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises to You among the peoples.
5. Indeed, Your kindness reaches above the heavens; Your truth reaches to the skies.
6. Be exalted upon the heavens, O God, [show] Your glory upon all the earth.
7. That Your beloved ones may be delivered, help with Your right hand and answer me.
8. God spoke in His holiness that I would exult, I would divide portions [of the enemies' land], I would measure the Valley of Succot.
9. Mine is Gilead, mine is Manasseh, and Ephraim is the stronghold of my head, Judah is my prince.
10. Moab is my washbasin, I will cast my shoe upon Edom, I will shout over Philistia.
11. Who brings me to the fortified city? Who led me unto Edom?
12. Is it not God, Who has [until now] forsaken us, and did not go forth, O God, with our armies?
13. Give us help against the adversary; futile is the help of man.
14. Through God we will do valiantly, and He will trample our oppressors.
Chapter 109
David composed this psalm while fleeing from Saul. At that time he faced many enemies who, despite acting friendly in his presence, spoke only evil of him; he therefore curses them bitterly.
1. For the Conductor, by David, a psalm. O God of my praise, be not silent.
2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they spoke to me with a false tongue.
3. They have surrounded me with words of hate, and attacked me without cause.
4. In return for my love they hate me; still, I am [a man of] prayer.
5. They placed harm upon me in return for my favor, and hatred in return for my love.
6. Appoint a wicked man over him; let an adversary stand at his right.
7. When he is judged may he go out condemned; may his prayer be considered a sin.
8. May his days be few; may another take his position.
9. May his children be orphans and his wife a widow.
10. May his children wander about and beg; may they seek charity from amid their ruins.
11. May the creditor seize all that he has, and may strangers plunder [the fruits of] his labor.
12. May he have none who extends him kindness, and may none be gracious to his orphans.
13. May his posterity be cut off; may their name be erased in a later generation.
14. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the Lord, and the sin of his mother not be erased.
15. May they be before the Lord always, and may He cut off their memory from the earth.
16. Because he did not remember to do kindness, and he pursued the poor and destitute man and the broken-hearted, to kill [him].
17. He loved the curse and it has come upon him; he did not desire blessing, and it has remained far from him.
18. He donned the curse like his garment, and it came like water into his innards, like oil into his bones.
19. May it be to him like a cloak in which he wraps himself, as a belt with which he girds himself always.
20. This is from the Lord for the deeds of my enemies, and [for] those who speak evil against my soul.
21. And You, God, my Lord, do [kindness] with me for the sake of Your Name; for Your kindness is good, rescue me!
22. For I am poor and destitute, and my heart has died within me.
23. Like the fleeting shadow I am banished, I am tossed about like the locust.
24. My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh is lean without fat.
25. And I became a disgrace to them; they see me and shake their heads.
26. Help me, Lord, my God, deliver me according to Your kindness.
27. Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, Lord, have done it.
28. Let them curse, but You will bless; they arose, but they will be shamed, and Your servant will rejoice.
29. May my adversaries be clothed in humiliation; may they wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.
30. I will thank the Lord profusely with my mouth, and amid the multitude I will praise Him,
31. when He stands at the right of the destitute one to deliver him from the condemners of his soul.
Chapter 110
This psalm records the response of Eliezer, servant of Abraham (to those who asked how Abraham managed to defeat the four kings). He tells of Abraham killing the mighty kings and their armies. Read, and you will discover that the entire psalm refers to Abraham, who merited prominence for recognizing God in his youth.
1. By David, a psalm. The Lord said to my master, "Sit at My right, until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.”
2. The staff of your strength the Lord will send from Zion, to rule amid your enemies.
3. Your people [will come] willingly on the day of your campaign; because of your splendid sanctity from when you emerged from the womb, you still possess the dew of your youth.
4. The Lord has sworn and will not regret: "You shall be a priest forever, just as Melchizedek!”
5. My Lord is at your right; He has crushed kings on the day of His fury.
6. He will render judgement upon the nations, and they will be filled with corpses; He will crush heads over a vast land.
7. He will drink from the stream on the way, and so will hold his head high.
Chapter 111
This psalm is written in alphabetical sequence, each verse containing two letters, save the last two verses which contain three letters each. The psalm is short yet prominent, speaking of the works of God and their greatness.
1. Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the counsel of the upright and the congregation.
2. Great are the works of the Lord, [yet] available to all who desire them.
3. Majesty and splendor are His work, and His righteousness endures forever.
4. He established a memorial for His wonders, for the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5. He gave food to those who fear Him; He remembered His covenant always.
6. He has declared the power of His deeds to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations.
7. The works of His hands are true and just; all His mandates are faithful.
8. They are steadfast for ever and ever, for they are made with truth and uprightness.
9. He sent redemption to His people, [by] commanding His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His Name.
10. The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord; sound wisdom for all who practice it-His praise endures forever.
Chapter 112
This psalm, too, follows alphabetical sequence, each verse containing two letters, save the last two which contain three letters each. It speaks of the good traits man should choose, and of how to give charity-the reward for which is never having to rely on others.
1. Praise the Lord! Fortunate is the man who fears the Lord, and desires His commandments intensely.
2. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; he will be blessed with an upright generation.
3. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4. Even in darkness light shines for the upright, for [He is] Compassionate, Merciful, and Just.
5. Good is the man who is compassionate and lends, [but] provides for his own needs with discretion.
6. For he will never falter; the righteous man will be an eternal remembrance.
7. He will not be afraid of a bad tiding; his heart is steadfast, secure in the Lord.
8. His heart is steadfast, he does not fear, until he sees his oppressors [destroyed].
9. He has distributed [his wealth], giving to the needy. His righteousness will endure forever; his might will be uplifted in honor.
10. The wicked man will see and be angry; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the wish of the wicked will be ruined.
Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 7
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 7
• אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו, ומה נעים גורלנו כו׳
Eikev: Deuteronomy 7:12 “Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, Adonai your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground — your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep — in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a sterile male or female among you, and the same with your livestock. 15 Adonai will remove all illness from you — he will not afflict you with any of Egypt’s dreadful diseases, which you have known; instead, he will lay them on those who hate you. 16 You are to devour all the peoples that Adonai your God hands over to you — show them no pity, and do not serve their gods, because that will become a trap for you. 17 If you think to yourselves, ‘These nations outnumber us; how can we dispossess them?’ 18 nevertheless, you are not to be afraid of them; you are to remember well what Adonai your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt — 19 the great ordeals which you yourself saw, and the signs, wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm by which Adonai your God brought you out. Adonai will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, Adonai your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and those who hide themselves perish ahead of you. 21 You are not to be frightened of them, because Adonai your God is there with you, a God great and fearsome. 22 Adonai your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little; you can’t put an end to them all at once, or the wild animals will become too numerous for you. 23 Nevertheless, Adonai your God will give them over to you, sending one disaster after another upon them until they have been destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven; none of them will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 You are to burn up completely the carved statues of their gods. Don’t be greedy for the silver or gold on them; don’t take it with you, or you will be trapped by it; for it is abhorrent to Adonai your God. 26 Don’t bring something abhorrent into your house, or you will share in the curse that is on it; instead, you are to detest it completely, loathe it utterly; for it is set apart for destruction.
8:1 “All the mitzvot I am giving you today you are to take care to obey, so that you will live, increase your numbers, enter and take possession of the land Adonai swore about to your ancestors. 2 You are to remember everything of the way in which Adonai led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart — whether you would obey his mitzvot or not. 3 He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Adonai. 4 During these forty years the clothing you were wearing didn’t grow old, and your feet didn’t swell up. 5 Think deeply about it: Adonai was disciplining you, just as a man disciplines his child. 6 So obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God, living as he directs and fearing him. 7 For Adonai your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs and water welling up from the depths in valleys and on hillsides. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food in abundance and lack nothing in it; a land where the stones contain iron and the hills can be mined for copper. 10 So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless Adonai your God for the good land he has given you.
(ii) 11 “Be careful not to forget Adonai your God by not obeying his mitzvot, rulings and regulations that I am giving you today. 12 Otherwise, after you have eaten and are satisfied, built fine houses and lived in them, 13 and increased your herds, flocks, silver, gold and everything else you own, 14 you will become proud-hearted. Forgetting Adonai your God — who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves; 15 who led you through the vast and fearsome desert, with its poisonous snakes, scorpions and waterless, thirsty ground; who brought water out of flint rock for you; 16 who fed you in the desert with man, unknown to your ancestors; all the while humbling and testing you in order to do you good in the end — 17 you will think to yourself, ‘My own power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 No, you are to remember Adonai your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today. 19 If you forget Adonai your God, follow other gods and serve and worship them, I am warning you in advance today that you will certainly perish. 20 You will perish just like the nations that Adonai is causing to perish ahead of you, because you will not have heeded the voice of Adonai your God.”
9:1 “Listen, Isra’el! You are to cross the Yarden today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky; 2 a people great and tall, the ‘Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of ‘Anak?’ 3 Therefore understand today that Adonai your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you. Thus will you drive them out and cause them to perish quickly, as Adonai has said to you.
(iii) 4 “Don’t think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, ‘It is to reward my righteousness that Adonai has brought me in to take possession of this land.’ No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that Adonai is driving them out ahead of you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which Adonai swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov. 6 Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that Adonai your God is giving you this good land to possess.
“For you are a stiffnecked people! 7 Remember, don’t forget, how you made Adonai your God angry in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt till you arrived at this place, you have been rebelling against Adonai. 8 Also in Horev you made Adonai angry — Adonai was angry enough with you to destroy you! 9 I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets on which was written the covenant Adonai had made with you. I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights without eating food or drinking water. 10 Then Adonai gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God; and on them was written every word Adonai had said to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly. 11 Yes, after forty days and nights Adonai gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then Adonai said to me, ‘Get up, and hurry down from here, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt. So quickly have they turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have made themselves a metal image!’ 13 Moreover, Adonai said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and what a stiffnecked people they are! 14 Let me alone, so that I can put an end to them and blot out their name from under heaven! I will make out of you a nation bigger and stronger than they.’ 15 I came down from the mountain. The mountain was blazing fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 I looked, and there, you had sinned against Adonai your God! You had made yourselves a metal calf, you had turned aside quickly from the way Adonai had ordered you to follow. 17 I seized the two tablets, threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I fell down before Adonai, as I had the first time, for forty days and nights, during which time I neither ate food nor drank water, all because of the sin you committed by doing what was evil in the sight of Adonai and thus provoking him. 19 I was terrified that because of how angry Adonai was at you, of how heatedly displeased he was, that he would destroy you. But Adonai listened to me that time too. 20 In addition, Adonai was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time. 21 I took your sin, the calf you had made, and burned it up in the fire, beat it to pieces, and ground it up still smaller, until it was as fine as dust; then I threw its dust into the stream coming down from the mountain.
22 “Again at Tav‘erah, Massah and Kivrot-HaTa’avah you made Adonai angry; 23 and when Adonai sent you off from Kadesh-Barnea by saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land I have given you,’ you rebelled against the order of Adonai your God — you neither trusted him nor heeded what he said. 24 You have been rebelling against Adonai from the day I first knew you!
25 “So I fell down before Adonai for those forty days and nights; and I lay there; because Adonai had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to Adonai ; I said, ‘Adonai Elohim! Don’t destroy your people, your inheritance! You redeemed them through your greatness, you brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand! 27 Remember your servants Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov! Don’t focus on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or on their sin. 28 Otherwise, the land you brought us out of will say, “It is because Adonai wasn’t able to bring them into the land he promised them and because he hated them that he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” 29 But in fact they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.’
10:1 (iv) “At that time Adonai said to me, ‘Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia-wood and cut two stone tablets like the first, then climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He inscribed the tablets with the same inscription as before, the Ten Words which Adonai proclaimed to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly; and Adonai gave them to me. 5 I turned, came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made; and there they remain; as Adonai ordered me.
6 “The people of Isra’el traveled from the wells of B’nei-Ya‘akan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried; and El‘azar his son took his place, serving in the office of cohen. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Yotvatah, a region with running streams. 8 At that time Adonai set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark for the covenant of Adonai and to stand before Adonai to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today. 9 This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; Adonai is his inheritance, as Adonai your God had said to him.
10 “I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as previously; and Adonai listened to me that time too — Adonai would not destroy you. 11 Then Adonai said to me, ‘Get up, and go on your way at the head of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.’
(v) 12 “So now, Isra’el, all that Adonai your God asks from you is to fear Adonai your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being; 13 to obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of Adonai which I am giving you today. 14 See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to Adonai your God. 15 Only Adonai took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them — yourselves — above all peoples, as he still does today. 16 Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiffnecked any longer! 17 For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. 18 He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore you are to love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him, cling to him and swear by his name. 21 He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which you have seen with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down into Egypt with only seventy people, but now Adonai your God has made your numbers as many as the stars in the sky!
11:1 “Therefore, you are to love Adonai your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and mitzvot. 2 Today it is you I am addressing — not your children, who haven’t known or experienced the discipline of Adonai your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country. 4 They didn’t experience what he did to Egypt’s army, horses and chariots — how Adonai overwhelmed them with the water of the Sea of Suf as they were pursuing you, so that they remain destroyed to this day. 5 They didn’t experience what he kept doing for you in the desert until you arrived at this place; 6 or what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av the descendant of Re’uven — how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, tents and every living thing in their company, there in front of all Isra’el. 7 But you have seen with your own eyes all these great deeds of Adonai. 8 Therefore, you are to keep every mitzvah I am giving you today; so that you will be strong enough to go in and take possession of the land you are crossing over to conquer; 9 and so that you will live long in the land Adonai swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
(vi) 10 “For the land you are entering in order to take possession of it isn’t like the land of Egypt. There you would sow your seed and had to use your feet to operate its irrigation system, as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing over to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys, which soaks up water when rain falls from the sky. 12 It is a land Adonai your God cares for. The eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
13 “So if you listen carefully to my mitzvot which I am giving you today, to love Adonai your God and serve him with all your heart and all your being; 14 then, [says Adonai,] ‘I will give your land its rain at the right seasons, including the early fall rains and the late spring rains; so that you can gather in your wheat, new wine and olive oil; 15 and I will give your fields grass for your livestock; with the result that you will eat and be satisfied.’ 16 But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. 17 If you do, the anger of Adonai will blaze up against you. He will shut up the sky, so that there will be no rain. The ground will not yield its produce, and you will quickly pass away from the good land Adonai is giving you. 18 Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead; 19 teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; 20 and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates — 21 so that you and your children will live long on the land Adonai swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth.
(vii & Maftir) 22 “For if you will take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you, to do them, to love Adonai your God, to follow all his ways and to cling to him, 23 then Adonai will expel all these nations ahead of you; and you will dispossess nations bigger and stronger than you are. 24 Wherever the sole of your foot steps will be yours; your territory will extend from the desert to the L’vanon and from the River, the Euphrates River, to the Western Sea. 25 No one will be able to withstand you; Adonai your God will place the fear and dread of you on all the land you step on, as he told you.
Isaiah 49:14 “But Tziyon says, ‘Adonai has abandoned me,
Adonai has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her child at the breast,
not show pity on the child from her womb?
Even if these were to forget,
I would not forget you.
16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your walls are always before me.”
17 Your children are coming quickly,
your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
18 Raise your eyes, and look around:
they are all gathering and coming to you.
Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive,
you will wear them all like jewels,
adorn yourself with them like a bride.”
19 For your desolate places and ruins
and your devastated land
will be too cramped for those living in it;
your devourers will be far away.
20 The day will come when the children born
when you were mourning will say to you,
“This place is too cramped for me!
Give me room, so I can live!”
21 Then you will ask yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I’ve been mourning my children, alone,
as an exile, wandering to and fro;
so who has raised these?
I was left alone, so where have these come from?”
22 Adonai Elohim answers:
“I am beckoning to the nations,
raising my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your foster-fathers,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow to you, face toward the earth,
and lick the dust on your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai —
those who wait for me will not be sorry.”
24 But can booty be wrested from a warrior?
Can a victor’s captives be freed?
25 Here is Adonai’s answer:
“Even a warrior’s captives will be snatched away,
and the booty of the fearful will be freed.
I will fight those who fight you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine.
Then everyone will know that I, Adonai, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.”
50:1 Adonai says:
“Where is your mother’s divorce document
which I gave her when I divorced her?
Or: to which of my creditors
did I sell you?
You were sold because of your sins;
because of your crimes was your mother divorced.
2 Why was no one here when I came?
Why, when I called, did nobody answer?
Is my arm too short to redeem?
Have I too little power to save?
With my rebuke I dry up the sea;
I turn rivers into desert,
their fish rot for lack of water
and they die of thirst;
3 I dress the heavens in black to mourn
and make their covering sackcloth.”
4 Adonai Elohim has given me
the ability to speak as a man well taught,
so that I, with my words,
know how to sustain the weary.
Each morning he awakens my ear
to hear like those who are taught.
5 Adonai Elohim has opened my ear,
and I neither rebelled nor turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 For Adonai Elohim will help.
This is why no insult can wound me.
This is why I have set my face like flint,
knowing I will not be put to shame.
8 My vindicator is close by;
let whoever dares to accuse me
appear with me in court!
Let whoever has a case against me step forward!
9 Look, if Adonai Elohim helps me,
who will dare to condemn me?
Here, they are all falling apart
like old, moth-eaten clothes.
10 Who among you fears Adonai?
Who obeys what his servant says?
Even when he walks in the dark,
without any light,
he will trust in Adonai’s reputation
and rely on his God.
11 But all of you who are lighting fires
and arming yourselves with firebrands:
go, walk in the flame of your own fire,
among the firebrands you lit!
From my hands this [fate] awaits you:
you will lie down in torment.
51:1 “Listen to me, you pursuers of justice,
you who seek Adonai:
consider the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug —
2 consider Avraham your father
and Sarah, who gave birth to you;
in that I called him when he was only one person,
then blessed him and made him many.
3 For Adonai will comfort Tziyon,
will comfort all her ruined places,
will make her desert like ‘Eden,
her ‘Aravah like the garden of Adonai.
Joy and gladness will be there,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Today's Laws & Customs
• Blessing the New Month
This Shabbat is Shabbat Mevarchim ("the Shabbat that blesses" the new month): a special prayer is recited blessing the Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") of upcoming month of Elulwhich falls on the Shabbat of next week and the following Sunday.
Prior to the blessing, we announce the precise time of the molad, the "birth" of the new moon.Click here for molad times.
It is a Chabad custom to recite the entire book of Psalms before morning prayers, and to conduct farbrengens (chassidic gatherings) in the course of the Shabbat.
Links:
- On the Significance of Shabbat Mevarchim
- Tehillim (the Book of Psalms)
- The Farbrengen
During the summer months, from the Shabbat after Passover until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashahah, we study a weekly chapter of the Talmud's Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot") each Shabbat afternoon; this week we study Chapter Four.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 4
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Eikev, 7th Portion Deuteronomy 11:22-11:25 with Rashi
• Deuteronomy Chapter 11
22For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, כבכִּי֩ אִם־שָׁמֹ֨ר תִּשְׁמְר֜וּן אֶת־כָּל־הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֗את אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָֽנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם לַֽעֲשׂתָ֑הּ לְאַֽהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֛ם לָלֶ֥כֶת בְּכָל־דְּרָכָ֖יו וּלְדָבְקָה־בֽוֹ:
For if you keep [all these commandments]: Heb. שָׁמֹר תִּשְׁמְרוּן [The repetition of שָׁמֹר is to] admonish us many times to be careful with one’s learning, lest it be forgotten. - [Sifrei] שמור תשמרון: אזהרת שמירות הרבה להזהר בתלמודו שלא ישתכח:
to walk in all His ways: God is merciful, so you, too, be merciful; He bestows loving-kindness, so you, too, bestow loving-kindness. — [Sifrei] ללכת בכל דרכיו: הוא רחום ואתה תהא רחום, הוא גומל חסדים ואתה גומל חסדים:
and to cleave to Him: Is it possible to say this? Is God not “a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24)? Rather, it means: Cleave to the disciples and the Sages, and I will consider it as though you cleave to Me. — [Sifrei] ולדבקה בו: אפשר לומר כן, והלא אש אוכלה הוא, אלא הדבק בתלמידים ובחכמים ומעלה אני עליך כאלו נדבקת בו:
23then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will possess nations greater and stronger than you. כגוְהוֹרִ֧ישׁ יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָאֵ֖לֶּה מִלִּפְנֵיכֶ֑ם וִירִשְׁתֶּ֣ם גּוֹיִ֔ם גְּדֹלִ֥ים וַֽעֲצֻמִ֖ים מִכֶּֽם:
Then the Lord will drive out [all these nations from before you]: Since you have fulfilled what is [incumbent] upon you, I will do what is [incumbent] upon Me. — [Sifrei] והוריש ה': עשיתם מה שעליכם אף אני אעשה מה שעלי:
stronger than you: You are strong, but they are stronger than you, for if it were not that the Israelites were strong, what is the praise that he [Moses] is praising the Amorites by saying of them that they are, “stronger than you”? But, [the answer is that] you are stronger than all other nations and they [the Amorites] are stronger than you. — [Sifrei] ועצמים מכם: אתם גבורים, והם גבורים מכם, שאם לא שישראל גבורים, מה השבח שמשבח את האמוריים לומר ועצומים מכם, אלא אתם גבורים משאר אומות והם גבורים מכם:
24Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary. כדכָּל־הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּדְרֹ֧ךְ כַּף־רַגְלְכֶ֛ם בּ֖וֹ לָכֶ֣ם יִֽהְיֶ֑ה מִן־הַמִּדְבָּ֨ר וְהַלְּבָנ֜וֹן מִן־הַנָּהָ֣ר נְהַר־פְּרָ֗ת וְעַד֙ הַיָּ֣ם הָאַֽחֲר֔וֹן יִֽהְיֶ֖ה גְּבֻֽלְכֶֽם:
25No man will stand up before you; the Lord your God will cast the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land upon which you tread, as He spoke to you. כהלֹֽא־יִתְיַצֵּ֥ב אִ֖ישׁ בִּפְנֵיכֶ֑ם פַּחְדְּכֶ֨ם וּמוֹרַֽאֲכֶ֜ם יִתֵּ֣ן | יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗ם עַל־פְּנֵ֤י כָל־הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּדְרְכוּ־בָ֔הּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר לָכֶֽם:
No man will stand up [before you]: From this verse it is understood only [that]“a man” [will not be able to stand up before Israel]. How do we know that a nation, a family, or a woman with her witchcraft will also not be able to stand up before Israel? Therefore, it says: לֹא-יִתְיַצֵּב, “there will be no standing up [before you]”-at all. If so, why does it say:“man”? [It means any man], even as [mighty as] Og, king of Bashan. - [Sifrei] לא יתיצב איש וגו': אין לי אלא איש, אומה ומשפחה ואשה בכשפיה מנין, תלמוד לומר לא יתיצב מכל מקום. אם כן מה תלמוד לומר איש, אפילו כעוג מלך הבשן:
The Lord… will set] the fear of you and the dread of you [on all the land]: Heb. פַּחְדְּכֶם וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם. Is not פַּחַד the same as מוֹרָא [both meaning fear]? But [the answer is that] פַּחְדְּכֶם“the fear of you,” refers to those near by, and מוֹרַאֲכֶם,“the dread of you,” to those distant, for פַּחַד denotes“sudden fear,” and מוֹרָא denotes anxiety enduring many days. פחדכם ומוראכם: והלא פחד הוא מורא, אלא פחדכם על הקרובים ומוראכם על הרחוקים. פחד לשון בעיתת פתאום. מורא לשון דאגה מימים רבים:
as He spoke to you: And where did He speak [about this]?“I will cast My terror before you” (Exod. 23:27). - [Sifrei] כאשר דבר לכם: והיכן דבר (שמות כג, כז) את אימתי אשלח לפניך וגו':
Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapters 108 - 112
• Chapter 108
1. A song, a psalm by David.
2. My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and chant praises even with my soul.
3. Awake, O lyre and harp; I shall awaken the dawn.
4. I will thank You among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises to You among the peoples.
5. Indeed, Your kindness reaches above the heavens; Your truth reaches to the skies.
6. Be exalted upon the heavens, O God, [show] Your glory upon all the earth.
7. That Your beloved ones may be delivered, help with Your right hand and answer me.
8. God spoke in His holiness that I would exult, I would divide portions [of the enemies' land], I would measure the Valley of Succot.
9. Mine is Gilead, mine is Manasseh, and Ephraim is the stronghold of my head, Judah is my prince.
10. Moab is my washbasin, I will cast my shoe upon Edom, I will shout over Philistia.
11. Who brings me to the fortified city? Who led me unto Edom?
12. Is it not God, Who has [until now] forsaken us, and did not go forth, O God, with our armies?
13. Give us help against the adversary; futile is the help of man.
14. Through God we will do valiantly, and He will trample our oppressors.
Chapter 109
David composed this psalm while fleeing from Saul. At that time he faced many enemies who, despite acting friendly in his presence, spoke only evil of him; he therefore curses them bitterly.
1. For the Conductor, by David, a psalm. O God of my praise, be not silent.
2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they spoke to me with a false tongue.
3. They have surrounded me with words of hate, and attacked me without cause.
4. In return for my love they hate me; still, I am [a man of] prayer.
5. They placed harm upon me in return for my favor, and hatred in return for my love.
6. Appoint a wicked man over him; let an adversary stand at his right.
7. When he is judged may he go out condemned; may his prayer be considered a sin.
8. May his days be few; may another take his position.
9. May his children be orphans and his wife a widow.
10. May his children wander about and beg; may they seek charity from amid their ruins.
11. May the creditor seize all that he has, and may strangers plunder [the fruits of] his labor.
12. May he have none who extends him kindness, and may none be gracious to his orphans.
13. May his posterity be cut off; may their name be erased in a later generation.
14. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the Lord, and the sin of his mother not be erased.
15. May they be before the Lord always, and may He cut off their memory from the earth.
16. Because he did not remember to do kindness, and he pursued the poor and destitute man and the broken-hearted, to kill [him].
17. He loved the curse and it has come upon him; he did not desire blessing, and it has remained far from him.
18. He donned the curse like his garment, and it came like water into his innards, like oil into his bones.
19. May it be to him like a cloak in which he wraps himself, as a belt with which he girds himself always.
20. This is from the Lord for the deeds of my enemies, and [for] those who speak evil against my soul.
21. And You, God, my Lord, do [kindness] with me for the sake of Your Name; for Your kindness is good, rescue me!
22. For I am poor and destitute, and my heart has died within me.
23. Like the fleeting shadow I am banished, I am tossed about like the locust.
24. My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh is lean without fat.
25. And I became a disgrace to them; they see me and shake their heads.
26. Help me, Lord, my God, deliver me according to Your kindness.
27. Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, Lord, have done it.
28. Let them curse, but You will bless; they arose, but they will be shamed, and Your servant will rejoice.
29. May my adversaries be clothed in humiliation; may they wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.
30. I will thank the Lord profusely with my mouth, and amid the multitude I will praise Him,
31. when He stands at the right of the destitute one to deliver him from the condemners of his soul.
Chapter 110
This psalm records the response of Eliezer, servant of Abraham (to those who asked how Abraham managed to defeat the four kings). He tells of Abraham killing the mighty kings and their armies. Read, and you will discover that the entire psalm refers to Abraham, who merited prominence for recognizing God in his youth.
1. By David, a psalm. The Lord said to my master, "Sit at My right, until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.”
2. The staff of your strength the Lord will send from Zion, to rule amid your enemies.
3. Your people [will come] willingly on the day of your campaign; because of your splendid sanctity from when you emerged from the womb, you still possess the dew of your youth.
4. The Lord has sworn and will not regret: "You shall be a priest forever, just as Melchizedek!”
5. My Lord is at your right; He has crushed kings on the day of His fury.
6. He will render judgement upon the nations, and they will be filled with corpses; He will crush heads over a vast land.
7. He will drink from the stream on the way, and so will hold his head high.
Chapter 111
This psalm is written in alphabetical sequence, each verse containing two letters, save the last two verses which contain three letters each. The psalm is short yet prominent, speaking of the works of God and their greatness.
1. Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the counsel of the upright and the congregation.
2. Great are the works of the Lord, [yet] available to all who desire them.
3. Majesty and splendor are His work, and His righteousness endures forever.
4. He established a memorial for His wonders, for the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5. He gave food to those who fear Him; He remembered His covenant always.
6. He has declared the power of His deeds to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations.
7. The works of His hands are true and just; all His mandates are faithful.
8. They are steadfast for ever and ever, for they are made with truth and uprightness.
9. He sent redemption to His people, [by] commanding His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His Name.
10. The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord; sound wisdom for all who practice it-His praise endures forever.
Chapter 112
This psalm, too, follows alphabetical sequence, each verse containing two letters, save the last two which contain three letters each. It speaks of the good traits man should choose, and of how to give charity-the reward for which is never having to rely on others.
1. Praise the Lord! Fortunate is the man who fears the Lord, and desires His commandments intensely.
2. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; he will be blessed with an upright generation.
3. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4. Even in darkness light shines for the upright, for [He is] Compassionate, Merciful, and Just.
5. Good is the man who is compassionate and lends, [but] provides for his own needs with discretion.
6. For he will never falter; the righteous man will be an eternal remembrance.
7. He will not be afraid of a bad tiding; his heart is steadfast, secure in the Lord.
8. His heart is steadfast, he does not fear, until he sees his oppressors [destroyed].
9. He has distributed [his wealth], giving to the needy. His righteousness will endure forever; his might will be uplifted in honor.
10. The wicked man will see and be angry; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the wish of the wicked will be ruined.
Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 7
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 7
• אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו, ומה נעים גורלנו כו׳
“Fortunate are we. How good is our portion, how pleasant is our lot....”1
In this prayer, which is recited as part of the introductory morning prayers preceding Hodu, we offer thanks to G‑d for our “portion” and “lot” — His self-revelation to every individual Jew. These same terms appear together in a similar context in the following two successive verses:2
ה׳ מנת חלקי וכוסי וגו׳, חבלים נפלו לי וגו׳
“G‑d is the allotment3 of my portion and of my cup; [You support my lot]. The tracts [apportioned by lot] have fallen unto me pleasantly; [yea, I have a goodly heritage].”
These verses together indicate that the Jews’ pleasant portion and lot is an irradiation of G‑dly light. A question, however, arises: Why is the G‑dliness that illumines our souls referred to by both terms, both as “our portion” and as “our lot,” when “portion” can refer to any one of several identical benefactions, while “lot” indicates something which is granted exclusively to a particular individual who wins a lottery, for example, having been chosen by “lot”?
להבין לשון חלקנו וגורלנו
In order to understand the terms “our portion” and “our lot,”
צריך לבאר היטב לשון השגור במאמרי רז״ל: אין לו חלק באלקי ישראל
one must properly explain a common4 expression in the teachings of our Sages, of blessed memory, viz.: “He has no part in the G‑d of Israel.”
כי הגם דלכאורה לא שייך לשון חלק כלל באלקות יתברך
Now it would seem that a term like “part” cannot possibly be applied to G‑d,
שאינו מתחלק לחלקים, חס ושלום
because He is not divisible into parts, Heaven forfend.
G‑d is the ultimate in simple and uncompounded unity, the very antithesis of divisibility; nevertheless we find that our Sages here use the term “part” in relation to G‑d. How can this be?
We must perforce conclude that though G‑d Himself is indivisible, the G‑dly illumination that descends into Jewish souls can be described with the word “part”, inasmuch as it is revealed in parts, so to speak, as shall soon be explained.
אך הענין, כמו שכתוב ביעקב: ויקרא לו אל אלקי ישראל
This concept can be understood by considering a verse concerning Jacob:5 “And he called Him ‘E‑l, G‑d of Israel.’ ”
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain the meaning of the verse in order to answer a number of simple questions: (a) Until this verse the name “Jacob” is used consistently; why does this verse suddenly change to “Israel”? (b) How does this conclusion of the verse relate to its beginning, “And he set up an altar”? (c) What is novel about the epithet, “E‑l, G‑d of Israel”?
פירוש
The meaning [of this verse is as follows]:
כי הנה באמת הקב״ה כשמו כן הוא
In truth, the Holy One, blessed is He, is true to His Name.
On the one hand, the phrase “Holy One” (in the Hebrew original, קדוש) implies that G‑d stands above and apart from creation, while “blessed be He” (where the Hebrew ברוך, lit., “blessed”, also means to descend and be revealed) implies that the level of G‑dliness which previously was “holy” and “apart” — the indirect “He” in the phrase quoted — is drawn down into the world in a revealed manner, as will soon be explained.
כי אף דאיהו ממלא כל עלמין עליונים ותחתונים
Though He permeates all the upper and lower worlds,
מרום המעלות עד מתחת לארץ הלזו החומרית
from the peak of all levels to this lowly corporeal world,
G‑d permeates and is present to an equal degree in all worlds. It should be noted that the term “permeates all worlds” used here, does not refer to the degree of contracted G‑dliness that is generally said to “fill all worlds” according to their individual capacity to retain it. Rather, here the Alter Rebbe refers to G‑d’s permeating all worlds to an equal degree.
כמו שכתוב: הלא את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא
as it is written,6 “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth” —
אני ממש
i.e., “I, My very self,”
דהיינו מהותו ועצמותו, כביכול, ולא כבודו לבד
meaning G‑d’s very Being and Essence, as it were, and not only His glory —
In another verse we find,7 “The earth is filled with His glory.” That verse alludes merely to the “glory” and radiation of G‑dliness. Here, however, the words “I fill” refer to G‑d’s very Essence permeating all worlds.
Now, although G‑d Himself permeates and is to be found in all worlds:
אף על פי כן הוא קדוש ומובדל מעליונים ותחתונים, ואינו נתפס כלל בתוכם, חס ושלום
He is nevertheless “holy” in the sense of “apart from” the upper and lower worlds, and is not at all contained in them, Heaven forfend,
כתפיסת נשמת האדם בגופו, על דרך משל
in the way, by analogy, that the soul of man is contained in his body, and is affected by the changes within it. Unlike the soul, G‑d is not at all affected by the worlds in which He is to be found,
כמו שכתוב במקום אחר באריכות
as explained elsewhere at length.8
ולזאת
For this reason, i.e., since G‑d is entirely distinct and apart from all worlds,
לא היו יכולים לקבל חיותם ממהותו ועצמותו לבד, כביכול
they could not receive their life-force from His Being and Essence in itself, as it were.
רק התפשטות החיות אשר הקב״ה מחיה עליונים ותחתונים
Rather, the diffusion of the life-force whereby the Holy One, blessed be He, animates the upper and lower worlds
הוא, על דרך משל, כמו הארה מאירה משמו יתברך
is, metaphorically speaking, like a radiation shining forth from His Name,
G‑d’s Name is itself a mere radiation; from it there emanates yet another radiation.
שהוא ושמו אחד
for He and His Name are One — for which reason a ray that emanates from His Name is able to animate the various worlds.
וכמו שכתוב: כי נשגב שמו לבדו
Thus it is written,9 “For [even] His Name alone is exalt-ed”; i.e., G‑d’s Name is exalted “alone”, standing apart from all the worlds which it transcends,
רק זיוו והודו על ארץ ושמים
while only His reflection and10 “His splendor are on the earth and the heavens.”
Thus, all of creation exists from but a radiation of G‑d’s Name, which, as previously mentioned, is itself merely a radia-tion.
והארה זו מתלבשת ממש בעליונים ותחתונים, להחיותם
This radiation actually vests itself in the upper and lower worlds in order to animate them.
At this level, the G‑dly life-force is not merely present in created beings and worlds, but actually vests itself in them: it contracts and adapts to the spiritual capacity of each particular world in which it is vested, and is integrated within it.
ונתפשת בתוכם על ידי ממוצעים רבים
It is contained in them by means of many intermediaries, i.e., levels that are related both to the levels above and below them, thereby enabling them to serve as conduits for the transference of the radiation,
וצמצומים רבים ועצומים
and by means of numerous and intense contractions,
“Numerous” describes the quantitative diminution of Divine light and life-force; “intense” alludes to their qualitative diminution, whereby the light that emerges after the contraction is entirely different from the light that originally emanated before being screened and contracted.
בהשתלשלות המדרגות, דרך עלה ועלול וכו׳
in a downward, chainlike progression through the levels of the various worlds, in a sequence of cause and effect, and so on.
Within every world the lower level develops from the higher level by way of cause and effect, the higher level serving as the cause and source of the lower.
After all these contractions and descents, then, the light manifests itself within the various worlds by becoming vested in them.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 17. |
| 2. | Tehillim 16:5-6. |
| 3. | The Rebbe here refers the reader to Tanya, Part I, ch. 18, which states that “the blessed Ein Sof is garbed in the faculty of wisdom in the human soul, of whatever sort of a Jew he may be, ...[and this faculty of Chochmah] is beyond any graspable knowledge or intelligence.” [I.e., G‑d apportions His light to various individuals in a superrational manner — by lot, so to speak.] |
| 4. | Commenting on the term “common”, the Rebbe notes: “So far, I have found the above-quoted expression (‘He has no part...’) in one place only (in Midrash Tanchuma, end of Parshat Tazria). In many places, by contrast, we find, ‘You have no part [in the G‑d of Israel],’ (as in Bereishit Rabbah 2:4, with further references indicated there, and as quoted in Torah Or, beginning of p. 30a). We likewise find, ‘They have no part [in the G‑d of Israel]’ (Berachot 63b). [Why, then, does the Alter Rebbe quote the less frequent form?] It is quite possible that [with a statement as drastic as this] the Alter Rebbe did not want [to address the reader in] the second person nor [apply it to others in] the plural form — a reluctance that may readily be appreciated.” |
| 5. | Bereishit 33:20. |
| 6. | Yirmeyahu 23:24. |
| 7. | Yeshayahu 6:3. |
| 8. | Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 42. |
| 9. | Tehillim 148:13. |
| 10. | Tehillim 148:13. |
• Rambam: Sefer Hamitzvos:
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
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 245
Transactions
"And if you sell something to your neighbor..."—Leviticus 25:14.
We are commanded regarding the various methods that effect transactions, i.e., the ways to transfer property from one individual to another (or, in the case of a guardian of an object, the transfer of jurisdiction).
Full text of this Mitzvah »
• Transactions
Positive Commandment 245
Translated by Berel Bell
The 245th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding the laws of buying and selling, i.e. the ways in which purchases and sales between the buyers and the sellers become legally binding.
The Torah taught about one method in G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "When you sell something to your neighbor, [or buy something from your neighbor's hand...]" Our Sages said,2 "[The word 'hand' teaches that the sale] refers to something which can pass from one hand to another," i.e. meshichah [physically moving the object].
It is explained that in Biblical law, transfer of money is sufficient to complete the transaction, and meshichah is necessary only by Rabbinic decree, as is mesirah [giving the vehicle of control, e.g. the reins of a horse, to the buyer] and hagba'ah [lifting the object].
The Gemara3 explicitly says, "Just as our Sages enacted a requirement of meshichah in order for a sale to be valid, so too they required meshichah in order for a watchman relationship to become valid." It is therefore clear that the requirement of meshichah in buying and selling is of Rabbinic origin, as explained in the relevant place.
However, other methods of acquiring land, etc., i.e. by means of a document or chazakah4 are traced5 to Biblical verses [and are therefore of Biblical, not Rabbinic, origin].
The details of this mitzvah — i.e. the manners of finalizing a sale in each category — are explained in the 1st chapter of tractate Kiddushin, the 4th and 8th chapters of Bava Metzia, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Bava Basra.
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 25:14.
2.Bava Metzia 47b.
3.Ibid., 99a.
4.Such as building something on the land.
5.See Kiddushin 26a.
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
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 245
Transactions
"And if you sell something to your neighbor..."—Leviticus 25:14.
We are commanded regarding the various methods that effect transactions, i.e., the ways to transfer property from one individual to another (or, in the case of a guardian of an object, the transfer of jurisdiction).
Full text of this Mitzvah »
• Transactions
Positive Commandment 245
Translated by Berel Bell
The 245th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding the laws of buying and selling, i.e. the ways in which purchases and sales between the buyers and the sellers become legally binding.
The Torah taught about one method in G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "When you sell something to your neighbor, [or buy something from your neighbor's hand...]" Our Sages said,2 "[The word 'hand' teaches that the sale] refers to something which can pass from one hand to another," i.e. meshichah [physically moving the object].
It is explained that in Biblical law, transfer of money is sufficient to complete the transaction, and meshichah is necessary only by Rabbinic decree, as is mesirah [giving the vehicle of control, e.g. the reins of a horse, to the buyer] and hagba'ah [lifting the object].
The Gemara3 explicitly says, "Just as our Sages enacted a requirement of meshichah in order for a sale to be valid, so too they required meshichah in order for a watchman relationship to become valid." It is therefore clear that the requirement of meshichah in buying and selling is of Rabbinic origin, as explained in the relevant place.
However, other methods of acquiring land, etc., i.e. by means of a document or chazakah4 are traced5 to Biblical verses [and are therefore of Biblical, not Rabbinic, origin].
The details of this mitzvah — i.e. the manners of finalizing a sale in each category — are explained in the 1st chapter of tractate Kiddushin, the 4th and 8th chapters of Bava Metzia, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Bava Basra.
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 25:14.
2.Bava Metzia 47b.
3.Ibid., 99a.
4.Such as building something on the land.
5.See Kiddushin 26a.
• Rambam - 1 Chapter: Tum'at Tsara`at Tum'at Tsara`at - Chapter 2
• Tum'at Tsara`at - Chapter 2
• Tum'at Tsara`at - Chapter 2
1
The white hair that is a sign of impurity for tzara'at is not less than two hairs. How long must they be? Long enough to be pulled out by tweezers. If one was long and the other was shorter than this measure or one was black and one white, or one was whole below but split in two above and so it appeared as two, or its base was black, but its top was white, the person is pure. If its base was white and its top dark, even though only the slightest amount was white, he is impure.
א
שיער לבן שהוא סימן טומאה בצרעת אין פחות משתי שערות וכמה יהיה אורכן כדי שיהיו ניטלות בזוג היתה אחת ארוכה ואחת קצרה משיעור זה או אחת שחורה ואחת לבנה או אחת מלמטה ונחלקה מלמעלה ונראית כשתים או שהיה עיקרן משחיר וראשן מלבין הרי זה טהור היה עיקרן מלבין וראשן משחיר אף על פי שהלבן כל שהוא טמא:
2
When there are two white hairs in a blemish, even though there is black hair between them and they are scattered, one in this portion and one in another portion, they serve as a sign of impurity. Even if the blemish was exactly the size of a gris, the space of the black hair does not reduce its size.
Whether the two hairs are in the midst of the baheret and it surrounds them or they are at its edge, the person is impure. If, however, they are at its side, outside of it, he is pure. The skin from which the two white hairs grow must be white in order to impart impurity.
If the two hairs originate in the midst of the blemish, but lie out of it, he is impure. If they originate outside of it, but lie within it, they are not a sign of impurity.
ב
שתי שערות לבנות שהן בתוך הנגע אף ע"פ שיש שיער שחור ביניהן והן מפוזרות אחת כאן ואחת כאן הרי אלו סימן טומאה אפילו היה הנגע כגריס מצומצם אין מקום שיער השחור ממעטו ובין שהיו שתי השערות בתוך הבהרת והיא מקפתן ובין שהיו בסופה הרי זה טמא אבל אם היו בצדה מבחוץ ה"ז טהור עד שיהיה העור שצומחות ב' השערות הלבנות לבן היו שתי שערות בתוך הנגע ושוכבות חוצה לו טמא היו חוצה לו ושוכבות בתוכו אינן סימן טומאה:
3
Any shade of whiteness in the hair causes the person to be deemed impure, whether they were white as snow or a very weak shade of whiteness. Since they appear white, he is impure.
ג
לובן השערות מטמא בכל מראה בין שהיו לבנות כשלג בין שהיו לבנות לובן דיהה ביותר הואיל ומראיהן לבן טמא:
4
White hair is not a sign of impurity unless it is inside thebaheret itself.
What is implied? If there is a baheret and in its midst there is a boil, burnt skin, a bohak, a boil that has healed, a burn that has healed and there were two white hairs in the boil, the burnt flesh, or thebohak that is in the midst of the blemish, they are not signs of impurity. It is like a baheret that does not have white hair, in which instance, the person should be isolated. This ruling is rendered even though the baheret surrounds the boil, the burnt flesh, the healed boil or burnt flesh or the bohak in which the two hairs were located.
Similarly, if the boil, the burnt flesh, the healed boil or burnt flesh or the bohak surround the two hairs, they are not a sign of impurity. The baheret is like a baheret that does not have white hair and the person should be isolated.
ד
אין שיער לבן סימן טומאה עד שיהיה בגוף הבהרת כיצד בהרת ובתוכה שחין או מכוה או בוהק או מחית השחין או מחית המכוה ושתי שערות לבנות בתוך השחין או המכוה או הבוהק שבתוך הנגע אינן סימן טומאה והרי זו כבהרת שאין בה שיער לבן ויסגיר אע"פ שהבהרת מקפת את השחין או את המכוה או את מחייתן או את הבוהק שיש בהן שתי השערות וכן אם היה שחין או מכוה או מחייתן או בוהק מקיף את שתי השערות הרי אלו אינן סימן טומאה והרי הבהרת כבהרת שאין בה שיער לבן ויסגיר:
5
If the boil, the bohak, or the burnt flesh that surround, are next to, or divide the white hairs disappear and thus the two hairs are found in the baheret itself at the end of the first week or the end of the second week of the isolation period, the person is declared as definitively impure. If these abnormal skin features do not disappear, he should be released from the process of inspection.
ה
הלכו להן השחין והבוהק והמכוה שהקיפו את השערות הלבנות או נסמכין להן או חולקין אותן ונמצאו שתי השערות בתוך הבהרת בגופה בסוף השבוע הראשון או בסוף השבוע השני הרי זה מוחלט ואם לא הלכו להן יפטרנו:
6
White hair is not a sign of impurity unless the baheretprecedes the white hair. This can be inferred from Leviticus 13:10: "And it turned hair to white." Implied is that the baheretcaused it to turn white. If, however, the white hair existed before the baheret, it is like a baheret that does not have a sign and the person should be isolated.
ו
אין שיער לבן סימן טומאה עד שתקדים הבהרת את השיער הלבן שנאמר והיא הפכה שיער לבן שתהפוך אותו הבהרת אבל אם קדם שיער לבן את הבהרת הרי היא כבהרת שאין בה סימן טומאה ויסגיר:
7
The following rule applies when a person had a baheret which contained white hair which caused him to be deemed definitively impure, and afterwards, the baheret disappeared and left the white hair in its place. He was then deemed pure. Afterwards, another baheret returned to the place of the firstbaheret and thus there was white hair in its midst. This hair is called "entrusted hair." It is not a sign of impurity. The phrase "And it turned hair to white" implies that the baheret in question must cause the color of the hair to change and not another baheret.
ז
היתה בו בהרת ובה שיער לבן והוחלט בו ואחר כך הלכה הבהרת והניחה שיער לבן במקומו וטיהר ואח"כ חזרה בהרת אחרת במקום הבהרת הראשונה והרי השיער לבן בתוכה זהו הנקרא שיער פקודה אינו סימן טומאה שנאמר והיא הפכה שיער לבן שהפכתו היא לא שהפכתו חבירתה:
8
The following rules apply if a person had a baheret the size of a gris, it contained two white hairs, and therefore he was deemed definitively impure. A portion half the size of a grisdisappeared and he was deemed pure. The two hairs were located in the portion half the size of a gris that remained. Afterwards, half a gris returned to the place where the half that disappeared was. Thus there were two white hairs in a baheret the size of a gris. This is not considered a sign of impurity, for one entire baheret must cause the color of the two hairs to change.
ח
היה בו בהרת כגריס ובה שתי שערות והוחלט והלך ממנה כחצי גריס וטיהר ונשארו שתי השערות בחצי גריס הנשאר וחזר כחצי גריס במקום זה שהלך והרי שתי שערות לבנות בבהרת כגריס אינן סימן טומאה עד שיהפוך שתי השערות בהרת אחת:
9
When a person had a baheret that was half the size of a griswithout any white hair inside of it and then another baheretthat was half the size of a gris which contained one white hair erupted at its side, the person should be isolated. If a person had abaheret that was half the size of a gris with one white hair inside of it and then another baheret that was half the size of a gris which contained one white hair erupted at its side, the person should be isolated. When a person had a baheret that was half the size of agris without any white hair inside of it and then another baheret that was half the size of a gris which contained two white hairs erupted at its side, the person should be deemed definitively impure. The rationale is that a baheret preceded the two white hairs.
When there is a doubt whether the white hair came first or thebaheret came first, the person is deemed impure. It appears to me that this impurity is of a questionable nature.
ט
בהרת כחצי גריס ואין בה כלום ונולדה בצדה בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שיער אחת הרי זו להסגיר בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שיער אחת ונולדה לה בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שיער אחת הרי זו להסגיר בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שתי שערות ונולדה לה בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שערה אחת הרי זו להסגיר בהרת כחצי גריס ואין בה כלום ונולדה לה בהרת כחצי גריס ובה שתי שערות הרי זו להחליט שהרי קדמה בהרת לשתי השערות הלבנות ספק שיער לבן קדם ספק הבהרת קדמה הרי זו טמא ויראה לי שטומאתו בספק:
• Rambam - 3 Chapters: Sheluchin veShuttafin Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Five, Sheluchin veShuttafin Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Six, Sheluchin veShuttafin Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Seven
• Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Five
• Hayom Yom: Today's Hayom Yom
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• "Today's Day"
• Tuesday, Menachem Av 23, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Re'ei, Shlishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 108-112.
Tanya: VII. "Happy are we (p. 425) ...cause and effect... (p. 427).
In the winter of 5652 (1891-2), when my father taught me in Tanya, "The second soul in Israel is actually part of G-d above,"1 he explained that the connotations of the words "above" and "actually" are contradictory. "Above" indicates the most spiritual of spiritual levels, while "actually"2 describes the most material of material things. He explained that this is the unique quality of the "second soul," that though it is the epitome of the spiritual it has an effect upon the most material of materiality.
FOOTNOTES
1.Tanya Ch. 2.
2.In Hebrew, mamash, associated with "tangible," "palpable," the lowly level of the material experienced by tactile sensation.
• Daily Thought:
• Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Five
1
When a person enters into a partnership agreement without making any stipulations, he should not deviate from the local custom followed with regard to that merchandise. He should not take the merchandise and travel to another place, enter into a partnership with other individuals, be involved with other merchandise, sell it on an extended payment plan unless it is ordinarily sold in such a manner, nor should it be entrusted to others unless a stipulation to that effect was made at the outset or he did so with the consent of his colleague.
If a partner transgresses, and performs one of the above activities without the knowledge of his colleague, but when he informs him afterwards of what he did the other partner agrees, he is not liable. A kinyan is not necessary to formalize a partner's consent to any of the above matters; a verbal commitment is sufficient.
א
המשתתף עם חבירו בסתם לא ישנה ממנהג המדינה באותה הסחורה ולא ילך למקום אחר ולא ישתתף בה עם אחרים ולא יתעסק בסחורה אחרת ולא ימכור בהקפה אלא דבר שדרכו להמכר תמיד בהקפה ולא יפקיד ביד אחרים אא"כ התנו בתחלה או שעשה מדעת חבירו עבר ועשה שלא מדעת חבירו ואח"כ הודיעו ואמר לו עשיתי כך וכך והסכים למעשיו הרי זה פטור ואין כל הדברים האלו צריכין קניין אלא בדברים בלבד:
2
When one of the partners transgresses and sells merchandise on credit, takes it on a sea voyage, travels with it to another place, does business with other merchandise at the same time, or the like, he alone is liable to pay for any loss that occurs because of his activity. If he profits from his activity, the profit should be split between the partners according to their stipulations regarding profit.
For this reason, the following rules apply when a person gives a colleague money to purchase wheat as part of a partnership agreement and the partner purchases barley, or he gives him money to purchase barley and he purchases wheat: if there is a loss, it is suffered by the one who transgressed. If there is a profit, it is split.
Similarly, if a partner entered into partnership with another person using funds belonging to the partnership, if there is a loss, the persons suffers it alone. If there is a profit, it is split. If, however, he entered into a partnership with another person with his own money: if there is a loss, the persons suffers it alone. If there is a profit, he alone receives the profit. If a stipulation was made between the partners, everything is concluded according to that stipulation.
ב
אחד מן השותפין שעבר ומכר בהקפה או פירש בים או הלך למקום אחר או שנשא ונתן בסחורה אחרת וכן כל כיוצא באלו הדברים כל פחת שיבא מחמת שעבר חייב לשלם לבדו ואם היה שם שכר השכר לאמצע כמו שהתנו ביניהם בשכר לפיכך הנותן מעות לחבירו בתורת שותפות ליקח בהן חטים לסחורה והלך וקנה שעורים או שנתן לו מעות לקנות שעורים וקנה חטים אם פחתו פחתו לזה שעבר ואם הותירו הותירו לאמצע וכן אם הלך ונשתתף עם אחר בממון השותפות אם הפסיד הפסיד לעצמו ואם נשתכר השכר לאמצע אבל אם נשתתף עם אחר בממון עצמו אם פחתו פחת לעצמו ואם הרויח הרויח לעצמו ואם התנו ביניהן הכל לפי התנאי:
3
When a person gives a colleague money to purchase produce with the profits to be divided in half, the person given the money is permitted to purchase more of that produce for himself. When he sells the produce, he should not sell the two together. Instead, he should sell the produce owned jointly separately, and his own produce separately.
Similarly, he should not purchase wheat for himself and barley for his colleague.Instead, he should purchase wheat for the entire amount, or barley for the entire amount, so that the funds of them both should be equal in case of loss.
ג
הנותן מעות לחבירו ליקח בהן פירות למחצית שכר רשאי ליקח לעצמו מאותו המין וכשהוא מוכר לא ימכור שניהם כאחד אלא מוכר אלו בפני עצמן [ואלו בפני עצמן] ולא יקח לעצמו חטים ולחבירו שעורים אלא בכולן חטים או בכולן שעורים כדי שיהיו מעות שניהם שוין בחבלה:
4
When one of the partners says: "Let's take the merchandise to this and this place, where it is highly priced, and sell it there," the other partner may prevent him from doing so even if the first partner accepts responsibility for any loss by factors beyond his control or depreciation that may occur. The rationale is that the second partner may tell the first: "I do not desire to give you the money that is in my possession and then have to pursue you and bring you to court to expropriate it from you." Similar laws apply in all analogous situations.
ד
אחד מן השותפין שאמר נוליך הסחורה למקום פלוני שהיא ביוקר ונמכור שם אף על פי שקיבל עליו כל אונס או כל פחת שיבא הרי חבירו מעכב עליו שהרי אומר לו אין רצוני שאתן מעות שבידי ואהיה רודף אחריך לדין להוציא ממך וכן כל כיוצא בזה:
5
If one of the partners desires to let the produce age until the time when it is known to sell that produce, his colleague cannot prevent him from doing so. If there is no set time to sell this type of produce, his colleague can prevent him from aging the produce.
ה
אחד מן השותפין שבא ליישן את הפירות עד זמן הידוע אין חבירו מעכב עליו ואם אין זמן לאותן פירות חבירו מעכב עליו:
6
When partners evaluated their produce, and then established a partnership with them, the laws of ona'ah apply to each of them. If they mixed their produce together without evaluating it, sold it, and then did business with the profits, they should evaluate the worth of the produce at the time the partnership was established, and appraise the profit or the loss accordingly.
ו
שותפין ששמו פירותיהן ונשתתפו בהן יש להן אונייה זה על זה ערבו פירות בלא שומא ומכרום ונשאו ונתנו בדמיהן הרי אלו מחשבין את הפירות כמה היו שוין בעת שנשתתפו ומחשבין את השכר או ההפסד:
7
When custom collectors waived a fee from partners, each is granted an equal share. If the collectors say: "We waived the fee because of so and so," he alone is granted the value of the waiver.
The following rules apply when partners were traveling on the road and were attacked by thieves, who sought to steal the merchandise carried by the caravan.If one of the partners saved the goods from being taken, all the partners receive an equal share in what he saved. If he says: "I am saving it for myself," he has saved it for himself alone.
ז
שותפין שמחלו להם מוכסין מחלו לאמצע ואם אמרו משום פלוני מחלנו מה שמחלו מחלו לו היו באין בדרך ועמדו עליהן לסטים וגזלו את השיירא והציל אחד מן השותפין הציל לאמצע (אפילו אין יכולים חבריו להציל דלא פלג כיון דלא אמר כלום) ואם אמר לעצמי אני מציל (אם יכולים להציל הציל עד כדי חלקו לעצמו והיותר שלהם ואם אין יכולין להציל) הציל לעצמו:
8
When property is known to belong to the partnership, it is assumed that both partners have a share in its ownership throughout the entire duration of the partnership. This applies even though the property was located in the domain of only one of the partners. The partner in whose domain it is located may not claim that he purchased it from the other partner, or that he gave it to him as a present. In such an instance, we do not follow the principle: When a person desires to expropriate property from a colleague the burden of proof is on him. Instead, the property is assumed to belong to both partners unless one of them brings proof otherwise.
ח
דבר הידוע לשני שותפין אע"פ שהוא ברשות אחד מהן אינו יוצא מחזקתו של שני כל ימי השותפות ואינו יכול לטעון שלקחו ממנו או שנתנו לו במתנה ונאמר לאחר שהמוציא מחבירו עליו הראיה אלא הרי הוא בחזקת שניהם עד שיביא האחר ראיה:
9
When one of the partners desires to dissolve the partnership without the knowledge of his partner, he should divide the assets in the presence of three people. They may even be unlearned people, provided they are trustworthy and able to evaluate property. If a partner divides the assets in the presence of fewer than three people, his actions are of no consequence.
When does the above apply? When he divides produce. If, however, the partnership's assets were money, the money is considered as if it had been already divided. The partner may therefore divide the money outside the presence of a court and then deposit his colleague's share with the court for safe-keeping.
When does the above apply? When all the money is of one currency and of equal value. If, however, some coins are new and others old - and needless to say if some are considered desirable and others considered undesirable - the money is also considered as produce and should not be divided outside the presence of a court of three.
ט
אחד מן השותפין שבא לחלוק שלא מדעת חבירו חולק בפני שלשה ואפילו הן הדיוטות ובלבד שיהו נאמנין ויודעין בשומא ואם חלק לה בפחות משלשה לא עשה כלום במה דברים אמורים בשחלקו פירות אבל אם היו מעות המעות כחלוקים הם ויש לו לחלק שלא בפני ב"ד ומניח חלק חבירו בב"ד בד"א כשהיו המעות כולן מטבע אחד ושוין אבל אם היו מקצתן חדשים ומקצתן ישנים ואין צריך לומר אם היו מקצתן יפות ומקצתן רעות הרי הן כפירות ואין חולקין אותם אלא בב"ד:
10
It is forbidden for a person to enter into partnership with a gentile, lest his colleague be obligated to take an oath to him and he swear in the name of his false deity.
We have already explained in the appropriate place that it is forbidden to do business with produce that grows in the Sabbatical year, nor with firstborn animals, nor with animals that are trefah, nor with meat from dead animals, nor with produce that is terumah, nor with crawling or teeming animals. If a person transgresses and invests money belonging to a partnership in these, the profit should be divided among the partners. It appears to me that if he loses, he must bear the loss himself. This ruling is granted because he transgressed.
י
אסור להשתתף עם עכו"ם שמא יתחייב לו חבירו שבועה וישביעו ביראתו וכבר ביארנו במקומו שאסור לעשות סחורה בפירות שביעית [ולא בבכורות] ולא בטריפות ולא בנבילות ולא בתרומות ולא בשקצים ורמשים ואם עבר ועשה השכר לאמצע ונראה לי שאם הפסיד הפסיד לעצמו מפני שעבר:
11
When one of the members of a partnership or an investment agreement dies, the partnership or the investment agreement is nullified. This applies even if the agreement was originally made for a specific time. The rationale is that the money has already been transferred to the domain of the heirs. The Geonim ruled in accordance with this decision.
יא
אחד מן השותפין או מן המתעסקין שמת בטלה השותפות או העסק אף על פי שהתנו לזמן קבוע שכבר יצא הממון לרשות היורשים וכזה הורו הגאונים:
Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Six
1
When two partners both do business with the money belonging to the partnership, even if the money was originally invested by only one of them, their relationship is referred to as a partnership. If they lose or they profit, the loss or the profit is divided equally, or they may stipulate any other division of the profits or the losses, as we have explained.
If, however, only one of the partners was doing business with the money belonging to the partnership, even if the money was originally invested by both of them, this type of partnership is called an esek (an investment agreement). The person who does the buying and selling is called an administrator, for he alone is the one involved in the transactions. And the partner who is not involved in the business dealings is referred to as the investor.
א
שנים שהן נושאין ונותנין בממון השותפות אע"פ שהממון של אחד מהן הרי זה נקראת שותפות ואם פחתו או הותירו הרי הוא לאמצע ויש להם להתנות בשכר ובהפסד כל מה שירצו כמו שביארנו אבל אם היה האחד בלבד הוא שנושא ונותן בממון השתוף אף על פי שהממון משל שניהם הרי זו השותפות נקראת עסק וזה הנושא ונותן נקרא מתעסק שהרי הוא לבדו מתעסק במשא ומתן ושותפו שאינו נושא ונותן נקרא בעל המעות:
2
Our Sages ordained that whenever a person entrusts money to a colleague to use for business purposes, half of the money should be considered a loan. The administrator is responsible for this money even if it is destroyed by forces beyond his control. The second half is considered an entrusted object, and the investor is responsible for it. If the half that is considered an entrusted article is stolen or lost, the administrator is not liable to pay. Therefore, any profit that is earned by this half of the investment will belong to the investor.
According to this construct, the profit or the loss of the entire investment should not be equally divided between the investor and the administrator. For if this were the case, the investor would receive a profit for the half of his money that is an entrusted object without doing anything for it. The administrator is working for the sake of the half of the investment that was an entrusted article, because of the money that he was lent. Thus, this brings the two toavak ribit, the shade of interest.
What should be done if they desire that the profit or the loss be equally shared? The investor should pay the administrator the wages to be paid to an unemployed laborer of the profession in which he was involved. If the administrator has any other occupation in which he is involved aside from caring for this investment, the investor does not have to pay him a daily wage. Instead, even if he paid him only one dinar for the entire time of the partnership, this is sufficient. If the partnership lost or gained, the loss or profit should be divided equally.
Similarly, if the investor told the administrator: "In addition to the portion that is divided, you will receive one third or one tenth of the profit," since he has another occupation, it is permitted. If there is a loss, the loss is divided equally.
If the administrator is a sharecropper working the fields of the investor, and he has another business, he is not required to pay him any other wage at all. For a sharecropper is obligated to take care of the interests of the owner of the field.
ב
תקנו חכמים שכל הנותן מעות לחבירו להתעסק בהן יהיה חצי הממון בתורת הלואה והרי המתעסק חייב באחריותו אע"פ שאבד באונס והחצי האחר בתורת פקדון והרי הוא באחריות בעל המעות ואם נגנב או אבד החצי של פקדון אין המתעסק חייב לשלם ולפיכך יהיה שכר זו החצי אם הרויח של בעל המעות ולפי תקנה זו אי אפשר שיהיה השכר או ההפסד של כל הממון לאמצע בשוה שאם אתה אומר כן נמצא בעל הממון נוטל שכר חצי מעותיו שהן פקדון ואינו עושה כלום אלא זה המתעסק טורח לו בחצי של פקדון מפני מעותיו שהלוהו ונמצא באין לידי אבק רבית והיאך יעשו אם רוצה להיות השכר או ההפסד לאמצע בשוה יתן למתעסק שכרו שבכל יום ויום מימי השותפות בפועל בטל של אותה מלאכה שבטל ממנה ואם היה לו עסק אחר כל שהוא להתעסק בו עם מעותיו של זה אינו צריך להעלות לו שכר של כל יום ויום אלא אפילו העלה לו דינר בכל ימי השותפות דיו ואם פחתו או הותירו יהיה לאמצע בשוה וכן אם אמר לו כל הריוח יהיה לך שלישו או עשיריתו בשכרך הואיל ויש לו עסק אחר הרי זה מותר ואם הפסידו יפסיד מחצה ואם היה זה המתעסק אריסו והיה לו עסק אחר אינו צריך להעלות לו שכר אחר כלל שהאריס משועבד הוא לבעל השדה:
3
Our Sages also ordained that whenever a person gives a colleague money to use for a business and the investor did not desire to pay the administrator a wage, and they did not make any stipulation with regard to the division of the profits and the losses, the profit or the loss should be divided as follows: The wage of the administrator for handling the half of the investment that is considered an entrusted article is one third of the profit of that half, which is one sixth of the profit of the entire investment.
Therefore, if a profit is made, the administrator should receive two thirds of the profit: half of the profit stemming from the half of the investment that was a loan, and the sixth of the profit that is his wages for handling the money considered as an entrusted article. Thus, he receives two thirds of the profit.
If there is a loss, the administrator should bear a third of the loss. This figure is reached as follows: He is liable for half the loss because of the half [of the original investment that was a loan. He deserves a sixth of the loss as his wage for handling the half of the investment that was considered an entrusted article. Thus, his responsibility is one third of the loss. The investor must bear two thirds of the loss.
ג
ועוד תקנו חכמים שכל הנותן מעות לחבירו להתעסק בהן ופחתו או הותירו ולא רצה ליתן לו שכר עמלו בכל יום ולא התנו ביניהן שום תנאי שיהיה שכר המתעסק באותו חצי של פקדון שליש ריוח הפקדון שהוא שתות ריוח כל הממון לפיכך אם הרויחו יטול המתעסק שני שלישי הריוח חצי הריוח של חצי המעות שהן מלוה ושתות הריוח בשכר שנתעסק בפקדון נמצא הכל שני שלישי הריוח: ויטול בעל המעות שליש הריוח:
ואם פחתו יפסיד המתעסק שליש הפחת שהרי הוא חייב בחצי הפחת מפני שחצי המעות מלוה ויש לו שתות בשכרו באותו החצי של פקדון ונמצא שנשאר עליו מן הפחת שלישו ובעל המעות יפסיד שני שלישי הפחת:
4
There is an opinion that makes an error, maintaining that when a person makes an investment without making any stipulations with regard to the division of profits and losses, they should be divided as follows: If there is a profit, the administrator should receive half, but if there is a loss, he must bear only a third of the loss. This is not the rule unless they made an explicit stipulation to this effect.
Similarly, if they stipulated that if there be a loss the administrator should suffer half the loss, and if there be a profit he should be granted two thirds of the profit, this is permitted. Similarly, if they stipulated that if there be a profit, the administrator should receive one ninth and if there be a loss, he should lose one tenth, this stipulation is binding. The rationale is that they made a stipulation that the administrator should receive a greater share of the profit than his share of the loss, and he is granted this additional amount because of his work.
My teachers ruled that such a conditional agreement is not effective unless the administrator has another occupation. If he does not have another occupation, the profit that the administrator can receive must be at least a sixth more than the loss he could suffer, as we have explained. They maintain that a prohibition is involved, and the stipulation cannot supersede it. This ruling does not appear correct to me.
ד
יש מי שטועה ואומר שהנותן עסק סתם אם יהיה שם שכר יטול המתעסק חציו ואם היה שם הפסד יפסיד שליש ואין הדבר כן אא"כ התנו על דבר זה בפירוש וכן אם התנו שיפסיד המתעסק מחצה ואם יהיה שם שכר יטול שני שלישי הריוח הרי זה מותר וכן אם התנו שאם יהיה שם שכר יטול המתעסק תשיעיתו ואם יהיה שם הפסד יפסיד עשיריתו הואיל והתנו שיהיה ריוח המתעסק יותר על הפסדו תנאו קיים ותוספת זו כנגד עמלו ורבותי הורו שאין התנאי זה מועיל אלא אם כן היה למתעסק עסק אחר אבל אם אין לו עסק אחר צריך שיהא שכר המתעסק יתר על הפסדו בשתות כמו שביארנו שזה דבר אסור הוא ואין התנאי מועיל בו ולא יראה לי זה:
5
My teachers ruled that if a stipulation was made that the administrator should receive three fourths of the profit and the investor only one portion, only one fourth of the money will be considered an entrusted article and three fourths will be considered a loan. Therefore, if there is a loss, the administrator should bear three fourths of the loss, minus a twelfth. The investor should suffer a fourth of the loss plus a twelfth - i.e., one third of the entire loss.
What is implied? The investor gave the administrator 100 dinarimaccording to this stipulation, and they lost 24 dinarim, the investor should lose eight, and the administrator sixteen.
These ratios should be followed at all times. Whenever there is a profit, the investor should receive the share of the profit that was stipulated. If there is a loss, he should bear that same proportion of the loss, but should be given one third of the investor's portion. Thus, according to this approach, if it was agreed that the administrator would receive a fourth of the profits, he does not lose anything if there is a loss. For in place of the fourth of the loss that he is required to bear, he is due one third of the portion of the owner - i.e., one fourth. And so, one cancels out the other.
These authorities maintain that similar principles apply if a stipulation was made regarding losses without mentioning profits. If a loss was incurred, the administrator must bear the loss as stipulated. If a profit was made, the administrator should receive the share of the loss that he was supposed to bear, plus one third of the portion to be received by the investor.
What is implied? If a stipulation was made that in the event of a loss, the administrator should bear one fourth of the loss. If there is a loss, he must pay the investor one fourth. If there is a profit, the administrator receives half the profit.
Although the rules that they issued are words of logic, if these principles are followed, it is possible for the administrator to cause a loss and yet receive profit.
What is implied? It was stipulated that the administrator should receive one seventh of the profit. A loss was incurred. Thus, the administrator should receive as a wage one seventh in addition to this loss.
How is this illustrated? They suffered a loss of seven dinarim. The administrator will tell the investor: "I owe you one dinar according to our stipulation, but you owe me two dinarim, which is one third of the portion of the entrusted article." Thus, the investor is obligated to pay him a dinar as wages for losing seven dinarim. And if he had lost fourteen dinarim, the investor would have to pay him twodinarim as wages. This is an unfathomable matter, which cannot be accepted by logic. To me, it appears like a dream.
Instead, the proper approach and the true law appears to me as follows: If there is a loss, the administrator should bear as a loss two thirds of the percentage he would receive if there were a profit. Similarly, if they made a stipulation concerning a loss and they profited, the administrator should receive the portion he would lose in the event of a loss, plus a third of the share of his colleague. Thus, according to this approach, if a stipulation was made that the administrator should receive one fourth of the profit and he incurred a loss, he should pay one sixth of the loss. And if a stipulation was made that he should lose a fourth and he profited, he should receive a half. Following this approach will not lead to unthinkable results, and there will be expressed a law that is just.
ה
הורו רבותי שאם התנו שיטול המתעסק שלשה חלקים מהשכר ובעל המעות רביע השכר נמצא רביע המעות בלבד בתורת פקדון ושלשה רביעים בתורת הלואה לפיכך אם היה שם הפסד יפסיד המתעסק שלשה רביעי הפסד פחות שליש הרביע ויפסיד בעל המעות רביע ושליש רביע שהוא שליש כל ההפסד כיצד נתן לו מאה דינרים על תנאי זה וחסרו ארבעה ועשרים בעל המעות מפסיד שמנה והמתעסק משלם ששה עשר ועל דרך זו לעולם כל חלק שיש לבעל המעות בשכר אם יהיה שם ריוח נוטל כמו שהתנו ואם יהיה שם הפסד יפסיד אותו החלק ותוספת שלישו נמצאת למד לפי מדה זו שאם התנו שיטול המתעסק רביע השכר אם פחת לא ישלם המתעסק כלום שהרי רביע ההפסד שהוא חייב לשלם מפני המלוה יש לו כנגדו שליש מה שיטול בעל המעות שהוא רביע ונמצא זה כנגד זה:
וכן אם התנו על הפחת ולא הזכירו הריוח אם פחתו פחת המתעסק כפי מה שהתנו ואם הוסיפו נוטל המתעסק כמו אותו החלק שהיה מפסיד ותוספת שליש מה שנטל בעל המעות כיצד התנו שאם היה שם הפסד יפחות המתעסק רביע והפחיתו משלם רביע הפחת ואם הותירו נוטל מחצה ואף על פי שדברים אלו שהורו דברי טעם הם אם תלך על דרך זו שמא המתעסק אפשר שיפחות ויטול שכר כיצד כגון שהתנה עמו שיטול המתעסק אחד משבע' בשכר ופחתו נמצא נוטל המתעסק אחד משבעה יתר על זה ההפסד כיצד כגון שפחתו שבעה דינרים הרי המתעסק אומר לו אני חייב לך דינר אחד כפי התנאי ואתה חייב לשלם לי שנים שהן שליש חלק הפקדון נמצא בעל המעות חייב ליתן לו דינר בשכר שהפסיד שבעה ואילו הפסיד ארבעה עשר היה חייב בעל המעות ליתן לו שני דינרין וזה תימה גדול ודבר שאין הדעת סובלת אותו ואין זה אצלי אלא כמו דברי החלום אבל הדרך והדין האמת שיראה לי שכל שירויח המתעסק אם יהיה שם הפסד יפסיד שני שלישי החלק שהיה מרויח וכן אם התנו על ההפסד והרויחו יטול כמו אותו החלק שהיה מפסיד ותוספת שליש חלק חבירו נמצאת אתה אומר לפי מדה זו שאם התנו שיטול המתעסק רביע השכר והפסיד הרי זה משלם שתות ואם התנו שיפסיד רביע והרויח נוטל מחצה ועל דרך זה לא תמצא תימה ויצא הדין בקו הצדק:
Sheluchin veShuttafin - Chapter Seven
1
When a person gives money to a colleague to use for business purposes without making any stipulation, or explicitly states that they will share the profit and the losses equally, and the money is lost, there is an opinion that states that if only a portion of the money is lost, the administrator should pay the investor one third, as we have explained. It appears to me, however, that the administrator should pay the half that is a loan. Our Sages' statement that he should bear one third of the loss applies when the loss is not great enough for the investor to receive less than half of his money.
What is implied? Reuven gave Shimon 120 dinarim to invest in a business. Shimon did business with the money and lost ninetydinarim. Shimon should pay 30. Thus, Reuven receives 60.
If, however, Shimon lost 105 dinarim, we do not say that Shimon must pay only 35 dinarim. For if so, Reuven will receive only 50, and Reuven should never receive less than 60.
For this reason, if a legal document recording an investment contract involving the deceased father of orphans was presented against them, the possessor of the contract must take an oath. Afterwards, he is entitled to collect the half that is a loan. This applies even though we always advance arguments in support of an heir. Thus, we can derive from this that an investor never receives less than half.
Why do I not say that the extent of the loss the administrator must bear should be reduced in consideration of his wage for taking care of the portion of the investment considered as an entrusted article? Because the entire half considered as an entrusted article was lost, and no portion remained. Hence, it is not appropriate to say that if he does not receive a wage, his efforts will appear as interest. For all that he receives is the portion that he gave as a loan.
Similarly, if it is stipulated that the administrator would receive one fourth of the profit, in the event of the loss of the entire investment, he must pay the entire fourth that was given to him as a loan. If, however, enough of the money remains so that if the administrator adds one sixth of the loss to the small portion that remains, the investor would receive a fourth or more of his original investment, the administrator is required to pay only one sixth of the loss, because of the reasons we have explained.
א
הנותן מעות לחבירו סתם להתעסק בהן או שהתנו בפירוש שיהיה השכר וההפסד ביניהם בשוה ונאבד הממון יש מי שהורה שישלם המתעסק שליש כמו שביארנו אם אבד מקצת הממון ויראה לי שהוא משלם מחצה שהוא בתורת מלוה וזה שאמרו חכמים משלם שליש בהפסד בשלא הגיע ההפסד ליטול בעל המעות פחות מחצי ממונו כיצד ראובן שנתן לשמעון מאה ועשרים דינר ונשא ונתן ופחת תשעים הרי שמעון משלם שלשים ונמצא ראובן נוטל ששים אבל פחת שמעון מאה וחמשה אין אומרים יפסיד שמעון חמשה ושלשים שאם אתה אומר כן נמצא ראובן נוטל חמשים ולעולם לא יטול ראובן פחות מששים לפיכך שטר עסק היוצא על היתומים שהיה אביהן מתעסק בו נשבע בעל השטר וגובה מחצה שהוא בתורת מלוה אף על פי שלעולם טוענין ליורש הנה למדת שאינו נוטל לעולם פחות ממחצה ולמה אני אומר שאין פוחתין לו כאן כנגד שכרו שנתעסק בפקדון שהרי אבד כל החצי של פקדון ולא נשאר כאן פקדון כלל שנאמר אם לא יטול שכרו יראה כרבית שהרי חצי המלוה בלבד נוטל וכן אם התנו שיטול המתעסק רביע השכר ואבד הממון כולו משלם הרביע כולו שהוא בתורת מלוה אבל אם נשאר מן הממון מעט כדי שאם תוסיף על אותו המעט שתות ההפסד שפחתו יבא הכל רביע הממון או יתר ה"ז משלם שתות בלבד מן הטעם שכבר ביארנו:
2
When an administrator loses money and then labors until he profits, he cannot tell the investor: "Let us first calculate the loss that we suffered originally, of which you will bear two thirds. And then we will calculate the profit that we accrued at the end, of which you will receive only a third." Instead, we calculate only the profit or the loss that was ultimately arrived at. And the administrator receives only a share of the profit that he gained beyond the principal.
ב
המתעסק שהפסיד וחזר וטרח עד שהרויח אינו יכול לומר לבעל המעות בוא ונחשוב ההפסד שהפסדנו תחלה ותפסיד שני שלישים ונחשוב הריוח שהרווחנו באחרונה ותטול שליש אלא מחשב באחרונה בלבד על הריוח או על ההפסד ואין לו אלא בריוח שהוסיף על הקרן:
3
When an investor gives an administrator 200 curtains for 200dinarim in an iska agreement, and composes two separate legal documents concerning the partnership, the administrator may calculate each legal document as a separate investment. The investor caused himself a loss.
If he gave him 100 curtains for 100 dinarim and then gave him another investment of 100 barrels of wine for 100 dinarim, but wrote one investment contract for 200 dinarim, they must consider it a single contract. The administrator caused himself a loss.
What is implied? If he sold the 100 curtains for 130 dinarim and the hundred barrels for 70, the investor receives the entire amount, because one contract was composed, and the administrator did not make any profit. If, however, he had left them as two separate investments as they originally were, the administrator would have earned a profit of 20 dinarim in the deal involving the cloth, and would have lost 10 in the deal involving the barrels. Thus, he would have earned a total profit of 10 dinarim. The same principles apply in all analogous situations.
ג
נתן לו מאתים יריעות במאתים דינרים בעסק וכתבן שני שטרות מאה בכל שטר מחשב לו על כל שטר בפני עצמו ובעל המעות הוא שהפסיד על עצמו נתן לו מאה יריעות במאה דינרים וחזר ונתן לו בעסק אחר מאה חביות של יין במאה דינרין וכתב לו שטר עסק במאתים דינרין אינו מחשב לו אלא בשטר אחד הוא שהפסיד על עצמו כיצד שאם מכר המאה והמתעסק יריעות במאה ושלשים והמאה החביות בשבעים בעל המעות נוטל הכל מפני שעשה שטר אחד הרי הכל מאתים ולא הרויח כלום אבל אילו הניחם שני עסקים כשהיו היה מרויח המתעסק בחלקו בבגדים עשרים ומפסיד בחלקו בחביות עשרה והיה נוטל עשרה וכן כל כיוצא בזה:
4
An administrator may not divide the money or the merchandise he was entrusted, saying; "I will take the half that I was given as a loan for myself and do business with it, and I will place the half that is considered an entrusted object in the court for safekeeping." For he was given this money solely with the intent that he do business with the entire amount. If he dissolved the investment contract and did the above, even if he entrusted the money to the nation's highest court, his actions are of no consequence. The profit or the loss should be divided among them according to the principles we have explained.
ד
אין המתעסק יכול לחלוק המעות של עסק או סחורה ולומר אטול את החצי שבתורת מלוה לעצמי ואשא ואתן בו ואניח החצי שבתורת פקדון בב"ד שלא נתן לו ממון זה אלא להתעסק בכולו ואם חלק ועשה זה אפילו בבית דין הגדול לא עשה כלום אלא השכר או ההפסד ביניהן על אותן הדרכים שביארנו:
5
When an administrator gives other people a present from movable property belonging to the investment agreement or from money belonging to the investment, and the investor brings clear proof that this movable property or this money belongs to the investment, it may be expropriated from the recipient. Even if the recipient changed it, sold it or gave it away as a present to others, or destroyed it, the administrator is obligated to pay for it, provided the investor brings definite proof that the recipient was given property or funds belonging to the investment.
We have already explained that if the administrator dies, the investor may take an oath and collect half of the money invested. If there are witnesses who testify that merchandise was purchased with the money of the investment, the investor may take it without taking an oath. Similarly, no other creditors or wives of the administrator may expropriate anything from these goods unless there was a profit. For the portion of the profit belonging to the deceased belongs to his heirs, and from that portion, his creditors and wives may expropriate money that is due them.
ה
המתעסק שנתן מתנה לאחרים מן המטלטלין של עסק או ממעות העסק והביא בעל המעות ראיה ברורה שאלו המלטלין או המעות משל עסק הן מוציאין אותן מידו ואפילו שינה המקבל אותם ומכרם ונתנם מתנה לאחרים או הפסיד חייב לשלם והכל בראיה ברורה כבר ביארנו שהמתעסק שמת נשבע בעל המעות וגובה מחצה ואם יש שם עדים שהמטלטלין אלו מן המעות של עסק הם נוטל אותם בעל המעות בלא שבועה ואין בעל חוב ולא אשה נוטלים מהם כלום אלא א"כ היה בהם ריוח הרי חלק הריוח של מת של יורשיו ויטול באותו חלק בעל חוב והאשה:
6
When a person gives a colleague money to purchase produce, with the profits to be split among them, and the colleague fails to do so, all the investor has against him are complaints. If he has definite proof that he purchased produce and then sold it, he may expropriate the profit from him against his will.
ו
הנותן מעות לחבירו ליקח בהם פירות למחצית שכר ולא לקח אין לו עליו אלא תרעומת ואם נודע בראיה ברורה שלקח ומכר הרי זה מוציא ממנו השכר בעל כרחו:
7
When a person gives a colleague money to purchase produce with the profits to be split among them, the colleague may purchase any type that he desires. He should not, however, buy garments, wood or the like.
When a person hires a colleague to run a store with the profits to be split among them, if the person hired as the storekeeper is a craftsman, he should not work at his craft, for his attention is not focused on the store while he is working at his craft. If, however, his partner was present in the courtyard at that time, it is permitted. The person hired as the storekeeper should not purchase and sell other merchandise. If he does, the profit should be split.
ז
נתן לו מעות ליקח בהן פירות למחצית שכר לוקח בהן מכל מין שירצה ולא יקח לא כסות ולא עצים וכן כל כיוצא בזה המושיב את חבירו בחנות למחצית שכר אם היה אומן לא יעסוק באומנותו לפי שאין עיניו על החנות בשעה שעוסק באומנותו ואם היה שותף עמו בחצר מותר ולא יהיה לוקח ומוכר דברים אחרים ואם לקח ומכר השכר לאמצע:
• Shabbat, 23 AV , 5776 · 27 August 2016
• "Today's Day"
• Tuesday, Menachem Av 23, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Re'ei, Shlishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 108-112.
Tanya: VII. "Happy are we (p. 425) ...cause and effect... (p. 427).
In the winter of 5652 (1891-2), when my father taught me in Tanya, "The second soul in Israel is actually part of G-d above,"1 he explained that the connotations of the words "above" and "actually" are contradictory. "Above" indicates the most spiritual of spiritual levels, while "actually"2 describes the most material of material things. He explained that this is the unique quality of the "second soul," that though it is the epitome of the spiritual it has an effect upon the most material of materiality.
FOOTNOTES
1.Tanya Ch. 2.
2.In Hebrew, mamash, associated with "tangible," "palpable," the lowly level of the material experienced by tactile sensation.
• Daily Thought:
Getting Personal
When does a relationship become real? Once it has broken down.
As long as each fulfills the other’s expectations, there is no relationship, only a contract and its transactions. Once trust is breached, a new depth must enter: The depth of the human being.
If there is truly a relationship—if it is the person inside that matters—then there is a search for forgiveness, for return, and for healing.
So it was that within forty days of entering into a contract with the One Above, the children of Israel broke the deal. And the soul below and the One Above discovered they could not part from one another.[Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1151.]
When does a relationship become real? Once it has broken down.
As long as each fulfills the other’s expectations, there is no relationship, only a contract and its transactions. Once trust is breached, a new depth must enter: The depth of the human being.
If there is truly a relationship—if it is the person inside that matters—then there is a search for forgiveness, for return, and for healing.
So it was that within forty days of entering into a contract with the One Above, the children of Israel broke the deal. And the soul below and the One Above discovered they could not part from one another.[Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1151.]
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