Torah Reading
Terumah: Exodus 25:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el to take up a collection for me — accept a contribution from anyone who wholeheartedly wants to give. 3 The contribution you are to take from them is to consist of gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn; fine linen, goat’s hair, 5 tanned ram skins and fine leather; acacia-wood; 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 onyx stones and other stones to be set, for the ritual vest and breastplate.
8 “They are to make me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. 9 You are to make it according to everything I show you — the design of the tabernacle and the design of its furnishings. This is how you are to make it.
10 “They are to make an ark of acacia-wood three-and-three-quarters feet long, two-and-a-quarter feet wide and two-and-a-quarter feet high. 11 You are to overlay it with pure gold — overlay it both inside and outside — and put a molding of gold around the top of it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it, and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Make poles of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark; you will use them to carry the ark. 15 The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they are not to be removed from it. 16 Into the ark you are to put the testimony which I am about to give you.
(ii) 17 “You are to make a cover for the ark out of pure gold; it is to be three-and-three-quarters feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet high. 18 You are to make two k’ruvim of gold. Make them of hammered work for the two ends of the ark-cover. 19 Make one keruv for one end and one keruv for the other end; make the k’ruvim of one piece with the ark-cover at its two ends. 20 The k’ruvim will have their wings spread out above, so that their wings cover the ark, and their faces are toward each other and toward the ark-cover. 21 You are to put the ark-cover on top of the ark.
“Inside the ark you will put the testimony that I am about to give you. 22 There I will meet with you. I will speak with you from above the ark-cover, from between the two k’ruvim which are on the ark for the testimony, about all the orders I am giving you for the people of Isra’el.
23 “You are to make a table of acacia-wood three feet long, eighteen inches wide and eighteen inches high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold, and put a molding of gold around the top of it. 25 Make around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and put a molding of gold around the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings to the four corners, near its four legs. 27 The rings to hold the poles used to carry the table are to be placed close to the rim. 28 Make the poles of acacia-wood, overlay them with gold, and use them to carry the table.
29 “Make its dishes, pans, bowls and pitchers of pure gold. 30 On the table you are to place the bread of the presence in my presence always.
(S: iii) 31 “You are to make a menorah of pure gold. It is to be made of hammered work; its base, shaft, cups, ring of outer leaves and petals are to be of one piece with it. 32 It is to have six branches extending from its sides, three branches of the menorah on one side of it and three on the other. 33 On one branch are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a ring of outer leaves and petals; likewise on the opposite branch three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a ring of outer leaves and petals; and similarly for all six branches extending from the menorah. 34 On the central shaft of the menorah are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its ring of outer leaves and petals. 35 Where each pair of branches joins the central shaft is to be a ring of outer leaves of one piece with the pair of branches — thus for all six branches. 36 The rings of outer leaves and their branches are to be of one piece with the shaft. Thus the whole menorah is to be a single piece of hammered work made of pure gold.
37 “Make seven lamps for the menorah, and mount them so as to give light to the space in front of it. 38 Its tongs and trays are to be of pure gold. 39 The menorah and its utensils are to be made of sixty-six pounds of pure gold. 40 See that you make them according to the design being shown you on the mountain.
26:1 (A: iii) “You are to make the tabernacle with ten sheets of finely woven linen and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn. You are to make them with k’ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan. 2 Each one is to be forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the sheets are to be the same size. 3 Five sheets are to be joined one to another, and the other five sheets are to be joined one to another. 4 Make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set, and do the same on the edge of the outermost sheet in the second set. 5 Make fifty loops on the one sheet, and make fifty loops on the edge of the sheet in the second set; the loops are to be opposite one another. 6 Make fifty fasteners of gold, and couple the sheets to each other with the fasteners, so that the tabernacle forms a single unit.
7 “You are to make sheets of goat’s hair to be used as a tent covering the tabernacle; make eleven sheets. 8 Each sheet is to be forty-five feet long and six feet wide — all eleven sheets are to be the same size. 9 Join five sheets together and six sheets together, and fold the sixth sheet double at the front of the tent. 10 Make fifty loops on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the outermost sheet in the second set. 11 Make fifty fasteners of bronze, put the fasteners in the loops, and join the tent together, so that it forms a single unit. 12 As for the overhanging part that remains of the sheets forming the tent, the half-sheet remaining is to hang over the back of the tabernacle; 13 and the eighteen inches on the one side and the eighteen inches on the other side of that remaining in the length of the sheets forming the tent is to hang over the tabernacle to cover it on each side.
14 “You are to make a covering for the tent of tanned ram skins and an outer covering of fine leather.
(iv) 15 “Make the upright planks for the tabernacle out of acacia-wood. 16 Each plank is to be fifteen feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet wide. 17 There are to be two projections on each plank, and the planks are to be joined one to another. That is how you are to make all the planks for the tabernacle.
18 “Make the planks for the tabernacle as follows: twenty planks for the south side, facing southward. 19 Make forty silver sockets under the twenty planks, two sockets under one plank for its two projections and two sockets under another plank for its two projections. 20 “For the second side of the tabernacle, to the north, make twenty planks 21 and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under one plank and two under another. 22 “For the rear part of the tabernacle, toward the west, make six planks. 23 For the corners of the tabernacle in the rear, make two planks; 24 these are to be double from the bottom all the way to the top but joined at a single ring. Do the same with both of them; they are to form the two corners. 25 Thus there will be eight planks with their silver sockets, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one plank and two under another.
26 “Make crossbars of acacia-wood, five for the planks of the one side of the tabernacle, 27 five crossbars for the planks of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the planks at the side of the tabernacle at the rear toward the west. 28 The middle crossbar, halfway up the planks, is to extend from end to end. 29 Overlay the planks with gold, make gold rings for them through which the crossbars will pass, and overlay the crossbars with gold.
30 “You are to erect the tabernacle according to the design you have been shown on the mountain.
(v) 31 “You are to make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. Make it with k’ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four acacia-wood posts overlaid with gold and standing in four silver sockets. 33 Hang the curtain below the fasteners. Then bring the ark for the testimony inside the curtain; the curtain will be the divider for you between the Holy Place and the Especially Holy Place. 34 You are to put the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony in the Especially Holy Place.
35 “You are to put the table outside the curtain and the menorah opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; put the table on the north side.
36 “For the entrance to the tent, make a screen of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen; it should be in colors, the work of a weaver. 37 For the screen, make five posts of acacia-wood; overlay them with gold; and cast for them five sockets of bronze.
27:1 (vi) “You are to make the altar of acacia-wood, seven-and-a-half feet long and seven-and-a-half feet wide — the altar is to be square and four-and-a-half feet high. 2 Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece with it; and you are to overlay it with bronze.
3 “Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat-hooks and fire pans; all its utensils you are to make of bronze. 4 Make for it a grate of bronze netting; and on the four corners of the netting, make four bronze rings. 5 Put it under the rim of the altar, so that the netting reaches halfway up the altar. 6 Make poles of acacia-wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. 7 Its poles are to be put into the rings; the poles are to be on both sides of the altar for carrying it. 8 The altar is to be made of planks and hollow inside. They are to make it just as you were shown on the mountain.
(vii) 9 “Here is how you are to make the courtyard of the tabernacle. On the south side, facing southward, are to be tapestries for the courtyard made of finely woven linen, 150 feet for one side, 10 supported on twenty posts in twenty bronze sockets; the hooks on the posts and the attached rings for hanging are to be of silver. 11 Likewise, along the north side are to be tapestries 150 feet long, hung on twenty posts in twenty bronze sockets, with silver hooks and rings for the posts. 12 Across the width of the courtyard on the west side are to be tapestries seventy-five feet long, hung on ten posts in ten sockets. 13 The width of the courtyard on the east side, facing east, will be seventy-five feet. 14 The tapestries for one side [of the gateway] will be twenty-two-and-a-half feet long, hung on three posts in three sockets; 15 for the other side there will be tapestries twenty-two-and-a-half feet long on three posts in three sockets.
16 “For the gateway of the courtyard there is to be a screen thirty feet made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. It should be in colors, the work of a weaver. It is to be on four posts in four sockets. (Maftir) 17 All the posts all the way around the courtyard are to be banded with silver and to stand in sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard is to be 150 feet and the width seventy-five feet everywhere; with the height seven-and-a-half feet. The tapestries and screen are to be of finely woven linen, and the sockets are to be of bronze.
19 “All the equipment needed for every kind of service in the tabernacle, as well as the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, are to be of bronze.
I Kings 5:26 (12) Adonai gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo — the two of them formed an alliance together.
27 (13) King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra’el for forced labor. 28 (14) He sent them to the L’vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L’vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.
29 (15) Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, 30 (16) besides Shlomo’s 3,300 supervisors who were in charge of the people doing the work. 31 (17) The king gave orders; and they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stone. 32 (18) Shlomo’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the men from G’val, worked the stones and prepared the timber and stones for building the house.
6:1 It was in the 480th year after the people of Isra’el had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Isra’el, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai. 2 The house which King Shlomo built for Adonai was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high. 3 The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house. 4 The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside. 5 Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary. 6 The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls. 7 For the house, when under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; so that no hammer, chisel or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was being built. 8 The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the house; a spiral staircase went up to the middle floor and on to the third. 9 So he built the house, and after finishing it, he put its roof on — cedar planks over beams. 10 Each floor of the annex surrounding the house was eight-and-three-quarters feet high and was attached to the house with beams of cedar.
11 Then this word of Adonai came to Shlomo: 12 “Concerning this house which you are building: if you will live according to my regulations, follow my rulings and observe all my mitzvot and live by them, then I will establish with you my promise that I made to David your father — 13 I will live in it among the people of Isra’el, and I will not abandon my people Isra’el.”
Today in Jewish History:
• Moses Completes the Torah (1273 BCE) Moses completed the book of Deuteronomy, concluding his review of the Torah which he began several weeks earlier, on the 1st of Shevat. He then wrote down the completed Five Books of Moses, word for word, as dictated to him by G-d. This scroll of the Torah was put into the Holy Ark, next to the Tablets of Testimony.
Links:
Moses' Passing
Giving of the Torah
• First Print of Torah with Onkelos & Rashi (1482) The first edition of the Five Books of Moses (Torah) with the Targum Onkelos (Aramaic translation of the Torah) and the commentary of the famed commentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi, was published on this date in 1482. It was published in Bologna, Italy by Joseph b. Abraham Caravita, who set up a printing-press in his own home.
Links:
Onkelos
Rashi
• Passing of R. Shmaryahu Gurary (1989) Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary ("Rashag") was born in 1898; his father, a wealthy businessman and erudite scholar, was a leading chassid of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (1860-1920). In 1921, Rabbi Shmaryahu wed Chanah Schneersohn (1899-1991) the oldest daughter of the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950). When Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak passed away in 1950, there were those who saw Rabbi Shmaryahu -- an accomplished Chassidic scholar and elder of the Rebbe's two surviving sons-in-law -- as the natural candidate to head the movement; but when the younger son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, was chosen as rebbe, Rabbi Shmaryahu became his devoted chassid. Rabbi Shmaryahu served as the executive director of Tomchei Temimim, the world-wide Lubavitch yeshiva system -- a task entrusted to him by his father-in-law -- until his passing on the 6th of Adar I in 1989.Today's Study:
Terumah: Exodus 25:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el to take up a collection for me — accept a contribution from anyone who wholeheartedly wants to give. 3 The contribution you are to take from them is to consist of gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn; fine linen, goat’s hair, 5 tanned ram skins and fine leather; acacia-wood; 6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 onyx stones and other stones to be set, for the ritual vest and breastplate.
8 “They are to make me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. 9 You are to make it according to everything I show you — the design of the tabernacle and the design of its furnishings. This is how you are to make it.
10 “They are to make an ark of acacia-wood three-and-three-quarters feet long, two-and-a-quarter feet wide and two-and-a-quarter feet high. 11 You are to overlay it with pure gold — overlay it both inside and outside — and put a molding of gold around the top of it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it, and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Make poles of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark; you will use them to carry the ark. 15 The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they are not to be removed from it. 16 Into the ark you are to put the testimony which I am about to give you.
(ii) 17 “You are to make a cover for the ark out of pure gold; it is to be three-and-three-quarters feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet high. 18 You are to make two k’ruvim of gold. Make them of hammered work for the two ends of the ark-cover. 19 Make one keruv for one end and one keruv for the other end; make the k’ruvim of one piece with the ark-cover at its two ends. 20 The k’ruvim will have their wings spread out above, so that their wings cover the ark, and their faces are toward each other and toward the ark-cover. 21 You are to put the ark-cover on top of the ark.
“Inside the ark you will put the testimony that I am about to give you. 22 There I will meet with you. I will speak with you from above the ark-cover, from between the two k’ruvim which are on the ark for the testimony, about all the orders I am giving you for the people of Isra’el.
23 “You are to make a table of acacia-wood three feet long, eighteen inches wide and eighteen inches high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold, and put a molding of gold around the top of it. 25 Make around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and put a molding of gold around the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings to the four corners, near its four legs. 27 The rings to hold the poles used to carry the table are to be placed close to the rim. 28 Make the poles of acacia-wood, overlay them with gold, and use them to carry the table.
29 “Make its dishes, pans, bowls and pitchers of pure gold. 30 On the table you are to place the bread of the presence in my presence always.
(S: iii) 31 “You are to make a menorah of pure gold. It is to be made of hammered work; its base, shaft, cups, ring of outer leaves and petals are to be of one piece with it. 32 It is to have six branches extending from its sides, three branches of the menorah on one side of it and three on the other. 33 On one branch are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a ring of outer leaves and petals; likewise on the opposite branch three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a ring of outer leaves and petals; and similarly for all six branches extending from the menorah. 34 On the central shaft of the menorah are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its ring of outer leaves and petals. 35 Where each pair of branches joins the central shaft is to be a ring of outer leaves of one piece with the pair of branches — thus for all six branches. 36 The rings of outer leaves and their branches are to be of one piece with the shaft. Thus the whole menorah is to be a single piece of hammered work made of pure gold.
37 “Make seven lamps for the menorah, and mount them so as to give light to the space in front of it. 38 Its tongs and trays are to be of pure gold. 39 The menorah and its utensils are to be made of sixty-six pounds of pure gold. 40 See that you make them according to the design being shown you on the mountain.
26:1 (A: iii) “You are to make the tabernacle with ten sheets of finely woven linen and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn. You are to make them with k’ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan. 2 Each one is to be forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the sheets are to be the same size. 3 Five sheets are to be joined one to another, and the other five sheets are to be joined one to another. 4 Make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set, and do the same on the edge of the outermost sheet in the second set. 5 Make fifty loops on the one sheet, and make fifty loops on the edge of the sheet in the second set; the loops are to be opposite one another. 6 Make fifty fasteners of gold, and couple the sheets to each other with the fasteners, so that the tabernacle forms a single unit.
7 “You are to make sheets of goat’s hair to be used as a tent covering the tabernacle; make eleven sheets. 8 Each sheet is to be forty-five feet long and six feet wide — all eleven sheets are to be the same size. 9 Join five sheets together and six sheets together, and fold the sixth sheet double at the front of the tent. 10 Make fifty loops on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the outermost sheet in the second set. 11 Make fifty fasteners of bronze, put the fasteners in the loops, and join the tent together, so that it forms a single unit. 12 As for the overhanging part that remains of the sheets forming the tent, the half-sheet remaining is to hang over the back of the tabernacle; 13 and the eighteen inches on the one side and the eighteen inches on the other side of that remaining in the length of the sheets forming the tent is to hang over the tabernacle to cover it on each side.
14 “You are to make a covering for the tent of tanned ram skins and an outer covering of fine leather.
(iv) 15 “Make the upright planks for the tabernacle out of acacia-wood. 16 Each plank is to be fifteen feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet wide. 17 There are to be two projections on each plank, and the planks are to be joined one to another. That is how you are to make all the planks for the tabernacle.
18 “Make the planks for the tabernacle as follows: twenty planks for the south side, facing southward. 19 Make forty silver sockets under the twenty planks, two sockets under one plank for its two projections and two sockets under another plank for its two projections. 20 “For the second side of the tabernacle, to the north, make twenty planks 21 and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under one plank and two under another. 22 “For the rear part of the tabernacle, toward the west, make six planks. 23 For the corners of the tabernacle in the rear, make two planks; 24 these are to be double from the bottom all the way to the top but joined at a single ring. Do the same with both of them; they are to form the two corners. 25 Thus there will be eight planks with their silver sockets, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one plank and two under another.
26 “Make crossbars of acacia-wood, five for the planks of the one side of the tabernacle, 27 five crossbars for the planks of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the planks at the side of the tabernacle at the rear toward the west. 28 The middle crossbar, halfway up the planks, is to extend from end to end. 29 Overlay the planks with gold, make gold rings for them through which the crossbars will pass, and overlay the crossbars with gold.
30 “You are to erect the tabernacle according to the design you have been shown on the mountain.
(v) 31 “You are to make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. Make it with k’ruvim worked in, that have been crafted by a skilled artisan. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four acacia-wood posts overlaid with gold and standing in four silver sockets. 33 Hang the curtain below the fasteners. Then bring the ark for the testimony inside the curtain; the curtain will be the divider for you between the Holy Place and the Especially Holy Place. 34 You are to put the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony in the Especially Holy Place.
35 “You are to put the table outside the curtain and the menorah opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; put the table on the north side.
36 “For the entrance to the tent, make a screen of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen; it should be in colors, the work of a weaver. 37 For the screen, make five posts of acacia-wood; overlay them with gold; and cast for them five sockets of bronze.
27:1 (vi) “You are to make the altar of acacia-wood, seven-and-a-half feet long and seven-and-a-half feet wide — the altar is to be square and four-and-a-half feet high. 2 Make horns for it on its four corners; the horns are to be of one piece with it; and you are to overlay it with bronze.
3 “Make its pots for removing ashes, and its shovels, basins, meat-hooks and fire pans; all its utensils you are to make of bronze. 4 Make for it a grate of bronze netting; and on the four corners of the netting, make four bronze rings. 5 Put it under the rim of the altar, so that the netting reaches halfway up the altar. 6 Make poles of acacia-wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. 7 Its poles are to be put into the rings; the poles are to be on both sides of the altar for carrying it. 8 The altar is to be made of planks and hollow inside. They are to make it just as you were shown on the mountain.
(vii) 9 “Here is how you are to make the courtyard of the tabernacle. On the south side, facing southward, are to be tapestries for the courtyard made of finely woven linen, 150 feet for one side, 10 supported on twenty posts in twenty bronze sockets; the hooks on the posts and the attached rings for hanging are to be of silver. 11 Likewise, along the north side are to be tapestries 150 feet long, hung on twenty posts in twenty bronze sockets, with silver hooks and rings for the posts. 12 Across the width of the courtyard on the west side are to be tapestries seventy-five feet long, hung on ten posts in ten sockets. 13 The width of the courtyard on the east side, facing east, will be seventy-five feet. 14 The tapestries for one side [of the gateway] will be twenty-two-and-a-half feet long, hung on three posts in three sockets; 15 for the other side there will be tapestries twenty-two-and-a-half feet long on three posts in three sockets.
16 “For the gateway of the courtyard there is to be a screen thirty feet made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. It should be in colors, the work of a weaver. It is to be on four posts in four sockets. (Maftir) 17 All the posts all the way around the courtyard are to be banded with silver and to stand in sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard is to be 150 feet and the width seventy-five feet everywhere; with the height seven-and-a-half feet. The tapestries and screen are to be of finely woven linen, and the sockets are to be of bronze.
19 “All the equipment needed for every kind of service in the tabernacle, as well as the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, are to be of bronze.
I Kings 5:26 (12) Adonai gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo — the two of them formed an alliance together.
27 (13) King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra’el for forced labor. 28 (14) He sent them to the L’vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L’vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.
29 (15) Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, 30 (16) besides Shlomo’s 3,300 supervisors who were in charge of the people doing the work. 31 (17) The king gave orders; and they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stone. 32 (18) Shlomo’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the men from G’val, worked the stones and prepared the timber and stones for building the house.
6:1 It was in the 480th year after the people of Isra’el had left the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Isra’el, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai. 2 The house which King Shlomo built for Adonai was 105 feet long, thirty-five feet wide and fifty-two-and-a-half feet high. 3 The hall fronting the temple of the house was thirty-five feet long, the same as the width of the house itself, so that its seventeen-and-a-half-foot width extended frontward from the house. 4 The windows he made for the house were wide on the inside and narrow on the outside. 5 Against the wall of the house he built an annex all the way around; it went all the way around the walls of the house, including both the temple and the sanctuary. 6 The lowest floor of the annex was eight-and-three-quarters feet wide, the middle floor ten-and-a-half feet wide and the third floor twelve-and-a-quarter feet wide; for he had made the outer part of the wall of the house step-shaped, so that the beams of the annex would not have to be attached to the house walls. 7 For the house, when under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; so that no hammer, chisel or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was being built. 8 The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the house; a spiral staircase went up to the middle floor and on to the third. 9 So he built the house, and after finishing it, he put its roof on — cedar planks over beams. 10 Each floor of the annex surrounding the house was eight-and-three-quarters feet high and was attached to the house with beams of cedar.
11 Then this word of Adonai came to Shlomo: 12 “Concerning this house which you are building: if you will live according to my regulations, follow my rulings and observe all my mitzvot and live by them, then I will establish with you my promise that I made to David your father — 13 I will live in it among the people of Isra’el, and I will not abandon my people Isra’el.”
Today in Jewish History:
• Moses Completes the Torah (1273 BCE) Moses completed the book of Deuteronomy, concluding his review of the Torah which he began several weeks earlier, on the 1st of Shevat. He then wrote down the completed Five Books of Moses, word for word, as dictated to him by G-d. This scroll of the Torah was put into the Holy Ark, next to the Tablets of Testimony.
Links:
Moses' Passing
Giving of the Torah
• First Print of Torah with Onkelos & Rashi (1482) The first edition of the Five Books of Moses (Torah) with the Targum Onkelos (Aramaic translation of the Torah) and the commentary of the famed commentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi, was published on this date in 1482. It was published in Bologna, Italy by Joseph b. Abraham Caravita, who set up a printing-press in his own home.
Links:
Onkelos
Rashi
• Passing of R. Shmaryahu Gurary (1989) Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary ("Rashag") was born in 1898; his father, a wealthy businessman and erudite scholar, was a leading chassid of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (1860-1920). In 1921, Rabbi Shmaryahu wed Chanah Schneersohn (1899-1991) the oldest daughter of the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950). When Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak passed away in 1950, there were those who saw Rabbi Shmaryahu -- an accomplished Chassidic scholar and elder of the Rebbe's two surviving sons-in-law -- as the natural candidate to head the movement; but when the younger son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, was chosen as rebbe, Rabbi Shmaryahu became his devoted chassid. Rabbi Shmaryahu served as the executive director of Tomchei Temimim, the world-wide Lubavitch yeshiva system -- a task entrusted to him by his father-in-law -- until his passing on the 6th of Adar I in 1989.Today's Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Terumah, 7th Portion Exodus 27:9-27:19 with Rashi
• Exodus Chapter 27
9And you shall make the courtyard of the Mishkan on the southern side [there shall be] hangings for the courtyard of twisted fine linen, one hundred cubits long on one side. טוְעָשִׂ֕יתָ אֵ֖ת חֲצַ֣ר הַמִּשְׁכָּ֑ן לִפְאַ֣ת נֶֽגֶב־תֵּ֠ימָ֠נָה קְלָעִ֨ים לֶֽחָצֵ֜ר שֵׁ֣שׁ מָשְׁזָ֗ר מֵאָ֤ה בָֽאַמָּה֙ אֹ֔רֶךְ לַפֵּאָ֖ה הָֽאֶחָֽת:
hangings: Heb. קְלָעִים. Made like the sails of a ship, with many holes, braided, and not the work of a weaver. Its Aramaic translation is סְרָדִין [a sieve], like the Aramaic translation of מִכְבָּר, which is סְרָדָא, because they were [both] perforated like a sieve. קלעים: עשויין כמין קלעי ספינה נקבים נקבים מעשה קליעה ולא מעשה אורג ותרגומו סרדין כתרגומו של מכבר המתורגם סרדא לפי שהן מנוקבין ככברה:
on one side: Heb. לַפֵּאָה הָאֶחָת. The entire side is called פֵּאָה. — [from targumim] [Although פֵּאָה usually means a corner, in this case it refers to the entire side.] לפאה האחת: כל הרוח קרוי פאה:
10And its pillars [shall be] twenty and their sockets twenty of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [shall be of] silver. יוְעַמֻּדָ֣יו עֶשְׂרִ֔ים וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֥ם עֶשְׂרִ֖ים נְח֑שֶׁת וָוֵ֧י הָֽעַמֻּדִ֛ים וַֽחֲשֻֽׁקֵיהֶ֖ם כָּֽסֶף:
And its pillars [shall be] twenty: Five cubits between [one] pillar and [another] pillar. ועמדיו עשרים: חמש אמות בין עמוד לעמוד:
and their sockets: [I.e., the sockets] of the pillars were copper. The sockets rested on the ground and the pillars were inserted into them. He [Bezalel] made a sort of rod, called pals in Old French. [It was] six handbreadths long and three [handbreadths] wide, with a copper ring affixed to it [each rod] in the middle. He would wrap the edge of the hanging around it [the rod] with cords [placed] opposite every pillar. He would hang [each] rod by its ring from the hook that was on [each] pillar. [The hook was] made resembling a sort of “vav” (ו) its end upright and one end inserted into the pillar, like those [hooks] made to hold up doors, which are called gons, hinges in Old French. The width of the hanging hung below [the hooks], and this was the height of the partitions of the courtyard. — [from Baraitha Melecheth HaMishkan, ch. 5] וא-דניהם: של העמודים נחשת, הא-דנים יושבים על הארץ והעמודים תקועים לתוכן היה עושה כמין קונדסין שקורין פל"ש בלעז [יתידות] ארכן ששה טפחים ורחבן שלשה וטבעת נחשת קבועה בו באמצעו, וכורך שפת הקלע סביביו במיתרים כנגד כל עמוד ועמוד, ותולה הקונדס דרך טבעתו באונקליות שבעמוד העשוי כמין וי"ו, ראשו זקוף למעלה וראשו אחד תקוע בעמוד, כאותן שעושין להציב דלתות שקורין גונזי"ש בלעז [צירים] ורחב הקלע תלוי מלמטה, והיא קומת מחיצות החצר:
the hooks of the pillars: Heb. וָוֵי הָעַמֻּדִים. They are the hooks. ווי העמודים: הם האונקליות:
and their bands: Heb. וַחִשֻׁקֵיהֶם. The pillars were encircled all around with silver threads. I do not know whether [they were encircled] on their entire surface, [or only] at their top or in their middle, but I do know that חִשׁוּק is an expression of girding [or belting], for so we find in [the episode of] the concubine in Gibeah: “And with him was a team of saddled (חֲבוּשִׁים) donkeys” (Jud. 19:10), which is translated into Aramaic [by Jonathan] as חִשִׁיקִין. וחשקיהם: מוקפין היו העמודים בחוטי כסף סביב. ואיני יודע אם על פני כולן, אם בראשם, אם באמצעם. אך יודע אני שחשוק לשון חגורה, שכן מצינו בפילגש בגבעה (שופטים יט יז) ועמו צמד חמורים חבושים, תרגומו חשוקים:
11And so for the northern end in the length hangings one hundred [cubits] long, its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. יאוְכֵ֨ן לִפְאַ֤ת צָפוֹן֙ בָּאֹ֔רֶךְ קְלָעִ֖ים מֵ֣אָה אֹ֑רֶךְ וְעַמּוּדָ֣יו (כתיב ועמדו) עֶשְׂרִ֗ים וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֤ם עֶשְׂרִים֙ נְח֔שֶׁת וָוֵ֧י הָֽעַמֻּדִ֛ים וַֽחֲשֻֽׁקֵיהֶ֖ם כָּֽסֶף:
12The width of the courtyard on the western side, hangings fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten. יבוְרֹ֤חַב הֶֽחָצֵר֙ לִפְאַת־יָ֔ם קְלָעִ֖ים חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים אַמָּ֑ה עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם עֲשָׂרָ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם עֲשָׂרָֽה:
13The width of the courtyard on the eastern side, fifty cubits. יגוְרֹ֣חַב הֶֽחָצֵ֗ר לִפְאַ֛ת קֵ֥דְמָה מִזְרָ֖חָה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים אַמָּֽה:
on the eastern side: Heb. לִפְאַתקֵדְמָה מִזְרָחָה. The eastern side is called קֶדֶם, a word meaning the face [or front], and אָחוֹר signifies the back. Therefore, the east is called קֶדֶם, which is the face, and the west is called אָחוֹר, as it is said: “the back (הָאַחִרוֹן) sea” (Deut. 11:24, 34:2), [which is translated into Aramaic as] יַמָּא מַעַרְבָא, the western sea. לפאת קדמה מזרחה: פני המזרח קרוי קדם, לשון פנים. אחור לשון אחורים, לפיכך המזרח קרוי קדם שהוא פנים, ומערב קרוי אחור, כמו דתרגם אונקלוס (דברים יא כד) הים האחרון ימא מערבא:
fifty cubits: These fifty cubits were not all closed off with hangings, because the entrance was there, but [there were] fifteen cubits of hangings for [one] shoulder of the entrance from here [from one side] and similarly for the second shoulder. There remained the width of the space of the entrance in between, [which was] twenty cubits. This is what is said [in verse 16]: “And at the gate of the courtyard shall be a screen of twenty cubits,” [i. e.,] a screen for protection opposite the entrance, twenty cubits long, which equaled the width of the entrance. חמשים אמה: אותן חמשים אמה לא היו סתומים כולם בקלעים, לפי ששם הפתח, אלא חמש עשרה אמה קלעים לכתף הפתח מכאן, וכן לכתף השנית, נשאר רחב חלל הפתח בינתים עשרים אמה וזהו שנאמר (פסוק טז) ולשער החצר מסך עשרים אמה, וילון למסך כנגד הפתח עשרים אמה ארך כרחב הפתח:
14The hangings on the shoulder [shall be] fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. ידוַֽחֲמֵ֨שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה אַמָּ֛ה קְלָעִ֖ים לַכָּתֵ֑ף עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם שְׁלשָׁ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁלשָֽׁה:
their pillars three: Five cubits between [one] pillar and [another] pillar. Between the pillar that is at the beginning of the south, which stands at the southeastern corner, until the pillar that is [one] of the three in the east, there were five cubits. And from it [this pillar] to the second one [there was a space of] five cubits, and from the second to the third [were] five cubits, and likewise for the second [i.e., the northeastern] shoulder, and four pillars for the screen. Thus, there were ten pillars on the east, corresponding to the ten pillars on the west. עמדיהם שלשה: חמש אמות בין עמוד לעמוד, בין עמוד שבראש הדרום העומד במקצוע דרומית מזרחית עד עמוד שהוא מן השלשה שבמזרח חמש אמות וממנו לשני חמש אמות, ומן השני לשלישי חמש אמות, וכן לכתף השנית, וארבעה עמודים למסך, הרי עשרה עמודים למזרח כנגד עשרה למערב:
15And on the second shoulder [there shall be] fifteen hangings, their pillars three and their sockets three. טווְלַכָּתֵף֙ הַשֵּׁנִ֔ית חֲמֵ֥שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה קְלָעִ֑ים עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם שְׁלשָׁ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁלשָֽׁה:
16And at the gate of the courtyard shall be a screen of twenty cubits, [made] of blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer; their pillars four and their sockets four. טזוּלְשַׁ֨עַר הֶֽחָצֵ֜ר מָסָ֣ךְ | עֶשְׂרִ֣ים אַמָּ֗ה תְּכֵ֨לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֜ן וְתוֹלַ֧עַת שָׁנִ֛י וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מָשְׁזָ֖ר מַֽעֲשֵׂ֣ה רֹקֵ֑ם עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם אַרְבָּעָ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם אַרְבָּעָֽה:
17All the pillars around the courtyard [shall have] silver bands, silver hooks, and copper sockets. יזכָּל־עַמּוּדֵ֨י הֶֽחָצֵ֤ר סָבִיב֙ מְחֻשָּׁקִ֣ים כֶּ֔סֶף וָֽוֵיהֶ֖ם כָּ֑סֶף וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם נְחֽשֶׁת:
All the pillars around the courtyard, etc.: Since [the text] explained only [that there were to be] hooks, bands, and copper sockets for the north[ern] and the south[ern sides], but for the east[ern] and the west[ern sides] no hooks, bands, or copper sockets were mentioned, therefore [the text] teaches it here. [Lit., it comes and teaches here.] כל עמודי החצר סביב וגו': לפי שלא פירש ווין וחשוקים וא-דני נחשת אלא לצפון ולדרום, אבל למזרח ולמערב לא נאמר ווין וחשוקים וא-דני נחשת, לכך בא ולמד כאן:
18The length of the courtyard [shall be] one hundred cubits and the width fifty by fifty [cubits]. The height [of the hangings] shall be five cubits of twisted fine linen, and their sockets [shall be of] copper. יחאֹ֣רֶךְ הֶֽחָצֵר֩ מֵאָ֨ה בָֽאַמָּ֜ה וְרֹ֣חַב | חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים בַּֽחֲמִשִּׁ֗ים וְקֹמָ֛ה חָמֵ֥שׁ אַמּ֖וֹת שֵׁ֣שׁ מָשְׁזָ֑ר וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם נְחֽשֶׁת:
The length of the courtyard: the north[ern] and the south[ern sides] from east to west were one hundred cubits. ארך החצר: הצפון והדרום שמן המזרח למערב מאה באמה:
and the width fifty by fifty: The courtyard in the east was fifty [cubits] by fifty [cubits] square-for the Mishkan was thirty [cubits] long and ten [cubits] wide. He [Moses] placed its entrance on the east, at the edge of the outer fifty [cubits] of the length of the courtyard. Thus, it [the Mishkan] was all in the inner fifty [cubits of the courtyard], and its length ended at the end of thirty [cubits of the inner fifty]. Hence, there was a space of twenty cubits behind it, between the hangings in the west and the curtains of the rear of the Mishkan. The Mishkan was ten cubits wide in the center of the width of the courtyard. Thus, it had twenty cubits of space to the north and to the south- from the hangings of the courtyard to the curtains of the Mishkan-and similarly to the west. And [there was] a courtyard of fifty by fifty [cubits] in front of it [These are the outer fifty cubits, which faced the entrance of the Mishkan.] -[from Eruv. 23b, Baraitha Melecheth HaMishkan, ch. 5] ורחב חמשים בחמשים: חצר שבמזרח היתה מרובעת חמשים על חמשים, שהמשכן ארכו שלשים ורחבו עשר, העמיד מזרח פתחו בשפת חמשים החיצונים של אורך החצר נמצא כלו בחמשים הפנימים, וכלה ארכו לסוף שלשים נמצאו עשרים אמה ריוח לאחוריו בין הקלעים שבמערב ליריעות של אחורי המשכן, ורוחב המשכן עשר אמות באמצע רוחב החצר, נמצאו לו עשרים אמה ריוח לצפון ולדרום מן קלעי החצר ליריעות המשכן, וכן למערב, וחמשים על חמשים חצר לפניו:
The height…five cubits: [I.e.,] the height of the partitions of the courtyard, which was the width of the hangings. וקמה חמש אמות: גובה מחיצות החצר, והוא רוחב הקלעים:
and their sockets [shall be of] copper: [This is mentioned] to include the sockets of the screen, so that you would not say [that] copper sockets were mentioned only in regard to the pillars of the hangings, but the sockets of the [pillars of the] screen were of another kind [i.e., a different material]. So it appears to me that for this [reason], they [the copper sockets] were repeated. וא-דניהם נחשת: להביא א-דני המסך, שלא תאמר לא נאמרו א-דני נחשת אלא לעמודי הקלעים, אבל א-דני המסך של מין אחר היו. כך נראה בעיני, שלכך חזר ושנאן:
19All the implements of the Mishkan for all its labor, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the courtyard [shall be] copper. יטלְכֹל֙ כְּלֵ֣י הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן בְּכֹ֖ל עֲבֹֽדָת֑וֹ וְכָל־יְתֵֽדֹתָ֛יו וְכָל־יִתְדֹ֥ת הֶֽחָצֵ֖ר נְחֽשֶׁת:
All the implements of the Mishkan: that were required for its assembling and its disassembling, e.g., sledge hammers to drive in the pegs and the pillars. לכל כלי המשכן: שהיו צריכין להקמתו ולהורדתו, כגון מקבות לתקוע יתדות ועמודים:
the pegs: [These were] like copper bars, made for the curtains of the tent and for the hangings of the courtyard, tied with cords all around [them] at their bases [i.e., at the bases of the curtains and the hangings], so that the wind would not lift them up. But I do not know whether they [the pegs] were driven into the ground or whether they were tied [with cords] and hung-their [heavy] weight weighted down the bottoms of the curtains so that they would not move in the wind. I say, however, that their name [i.e., pegs] indicates that they were driven into the ground. Therefore, they were called יְתֵדוֹת, and this verse supports me [my assertion]: “a tent that shall not fall, whose pegs (יְתֵדֹתָיו) shall never be moved” (Isa. 33:20). יתדות: כמין נגרי נחשת עשויין ליריעות האהל ולקלעי החצר, קשורים במיתרים סביב סביב בשפוליהן, כדי שלא תהא הרוח מגביהתן. ואיני ידוע, אם תחובין בארץ או קשורין ותלויין וכובדן מכביד שפולי היריעות, שלא ינועו ברוח. ואומר אני ששמן מוכיח עליהם שהם תקועין בארץ, לכך נקראו יתדות, ומקרא זה מסייעני (ישעיה לג כ) אהל בל יצען בל יסע יתדותיו לנצח:
• Daily Tehillim: Chapters 35 - 38
• Chapter 35
This psalm is an awe-inspiring and wondrous prayer about David's enemies-that they be as chaff before the wind, chased by the angel of God. It also declares that everything comes about through God's help.
1. By David. Fight my antagonists, O Lord, battle those who battle against me.
2. Take hold of shield and armor and arise to help me.
3. Draw a spear, and bar the way before my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your deliverance.”
4. Let those who seek my life be shamed and disgraced; let those who devise my harm retreat and be humiliated.
5. Let them be as chaff before the wind; let the angel of the Lord thrust them away.
6. Let their path be dark and slippery; let them be chased by the angel of the Lord.
7. For without cause have they laid their nets in the pit for me; without cause have they dug [pits] for my soul.
8. Let darkness come upon him unawares; let the very snare that he hid trap him, in darkness he will fall in it.
9. And my soul shall exult in the Lord, rejoice in His deliverance.
10. My entire being shall declare: Lord, who is like You? Who saves the poor from one stronger than he, the poor and the destitute from one who would rob him.
11. Corrupt witnesses rise up [against me], they demand of me things of which I do not know.
12. They repay me evil for good, death for my soul.
13. But I wore sackcloth when they were ill; I afflicted my soul with fasting. Let my prayer return upon my own bosom.
14. As if it were my friend, my brother, I went about; like a mother in mourning, I was bent over in gloom.
15. But when I limped, they rejoiced and gathered; the lowly gathered against me-even those whom I do not know; they laugh and cannot be quiet.
16. With flattery and scorn, for the sake of a meal,1 they gnash their teeth at me.
17. My Lord, how long will You look on? Restore my life from their darkness; from young lions, my soul.
18. I will thank You in a great congregation, amidst a mighty nation I will praise You.
19. Let not those who hate me without cause rejoice over me; [let not] those who despise me without reason wink their eye.
20. For they speak not of peace, rather they scheme deceitful matters against the broken of the land.
21. They opened their mouths wide against me, they said, "Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen [his misfortune].”
22. You saw, Lord, be not silent; my Lord, be not distant from me.
23. Rouse and awaken Yourself to my judgement, to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24. Judge me according to your righteousness, Lord my God; let them not rejoice over me.
25. Let them not say in their hearts, "Aha! We have our desire!" Let them not say, "We have swallowed him!”
26. Let them be shamed and disgraced together, those who rejoice at my trouble; let them be clothed in shame and humiliation, those who raise themselves arrogantly over me.
27. Let those who desire my vindication sing joyously and be glad; let them say always, "Let the Lord be exalted, Who desires the peace of His servant.”
28. My tongue will speak of Your righteousness, Your praise, all day long.
FOOTNOTES
1.These men flatter Saul in order to obtain free meals (Rashi).
Chapter 36
This psalm is a message to those who follow their evil inclination, that tells them, "Do not place the fear of God before you," and brings them to sin by beautifying evil deeds in their eyes. For so is his way: "He descends (to earth) and corrupts, then goes up (to the Heavenly Court) and prosecutes."
1. For the Conductor, by the servant of the Lord, by David.
2. [I think] in my heart: Sin says to the wicked, "There is none [who need place] the fear of God before his eyes.”
3. For Sin makes itself appealing to him, until his iniquity be found and he is hated.
4. The speech of his mouth is evil and deceit; he fails to reason, to improve.
5. On his bed he contemplates evil, he stands in a path that is not good; he does not despise evil.
6. O Lord, Your kindness is in the heavens; Your faithfulness is till the skies.
7. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgements extend to the great deep; man and beast You deliver, O Lord.
8. How precious is Your kindness, O God; man takes shelter in the shadow of Your wings.
9. They will be filled by the abundance of Your house; from the stream of Your Eden, You will give them to drink.
10. For the source of life is with You; in Your Light do we see light.
11. Extend Your kindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright of heart.
12. Let not the foot of the arrogant overtake me; let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
13. There1 the doers of evil fell, thrust down, unable to rise.
FOOTNOTES
1.In the very place they intended to persecute me (Metzudot).
Chapter 37
King David exhorts his generation not to be jealous of the prosperity of the wicked, for it may lead to falling into their ways. Rather, put your trust in God, conduct yourselves with integrity, and God will take care of everything.
1. By David. Do not compete with the wicked; do not envy doers of injustice.
2. For like grass they will be swiftly cut down; like green vegetation they will wither.
3. Trust in the Lord and do good; then will you abide in the land and be nourished by faith.
4. Delight in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.
5. Cast your needs upon the Lord; rely on Him, and He will take care.
6. He will reveal your righteousness like the light, your justness like the high noon.
7. Depend on the Lord and hope in Him. Compete not with the prosperous, with the man who invents evil schemes.
8. Let go of anger, abandon rage; do not compete with [one who intends] only to harm.
9. For the evildoers will be cut down; but those who hope in the Lord, they will inherit the earth.
10. For soon the wicked one will not be; you will gaze at his place and he will be gone.
11. But the humble shall inherit the earth, and delight in abundant peace.
12. The wicked one plots against the righteous, and gnashes his teeth at him.
13. My Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day will come.
14. The wicked have drawn a sword and bent their bow to fell the poor and destitute, to slaughter those of upright ways.
15. But their sword shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall break.
16. Better the little of the righteous, than the abundant wealth of the wicked.
17. For the strength of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous.
18. The Lord appreciates the days of the innocent; their inheritance will last forever.
19. They will not be shamed in times of calamity, and in days of famine they will be satisfied.
20. For the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord are as fattened sheep: consumed, consumed in smoke.
21. The wicked man borrows and does not repay; but the righteous man is gracious and gives.
22. For those blessed by Him will inherit the earth, and those cursed by Him will be cut off.
23. The steps of man are directed by God; He desires his way.
24. When he totters he shall not be thrown down, for the Lord supports his hand.
25. I have been a youth, I have also aged; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his offspring begging bread.
26. All day he is kind and lends; his offspring are a blessing.
27. Turn away from evil and do good, and you will dwell [in peace] forever.
28. For the Lord loves justice, he will not abandon his pious ones-they are protected forever; but the offspring of the wicked are cut off.
29. The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell upon it forever.
30. The mouth of the righteous one utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
31. The Torah of his God is in his heart; his steps shall not falter.
32. The wicked one watches for the righteous man, and seeks to kill him.
33. But the Lord will not abandon him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34. Hope in the Lord and keep His way; then He will raise you high to inherit the earth. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35. I saw a powerful wicked man, well-rooted like a vibrant, native tree.
36. Yet he vanished, behold he was gone; I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37. Watch the innocent, and observe the upright, for the future of such a man is peace.
38. But sinners shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked is cut off.
39. The deliverance of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of distress.
40. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they have put their trust in Him.
Chapter 38
A prayer for every individual, bewailing the length of the exile. One who is in distress should recite this psalm, hence its introduction, "A psalm... to remind" (to remind us to recite it in times of distress). One can also derive many lessons from it.
1. A psalm by David, to remind.
2. O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chastise me in Your wrath.
3. For Your arrows have landed in me, Your hand descended upon me.
4. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your rage, no peace in my bones because of my sin.
5. For my iniquities have flooded over my head; like a heavy load, they are too heavy for me.
6. My wounds are rotted; they reek because of my foolishness.
7. I am bent and extremely bowed; all day I go about in gloom.
8. My sides are inflamed; there is no soundness in my flesh.
9. I am weakened and extremely depressed; I howl from the moaning of my heart.
10. My Lord, all that I desire is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You.
11. My heart is engulfed, my strength has left me; the light of my eyes they, too, are not with me.
12. My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction; my intimates stand afar.
13. The seekers of my life have laid traps; those who seek my harm speak destructiveness; they utter deceits all day long.
14. But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear; like a mute that does not open his mouth.
15. I was like a man that does not perceive, and in whose mouth there are no rebuttals.
16. Because for You, O Lord, I wait; You will answer, my Lord, my God.
17. For I said, "Lest they rejoice over me; when my foot falters they will gloat over me.”
18. For I am accustomed to limping, and my pain is constantly before me.
19. For I admit my iniquity; I worry because of my sin.
20. But my enemies abound with life; those who hate me without cause flourish.
21. Those who repay evil for good resent me for my pursuit of good.
22. Do not forsake me, O Lord; do not be distant from me, my God.
23. Hurry to my aid, O my Lord, my Salvation.
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 31
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
• Shabbat, 6 Adar, 5777 · 4 March 2017
• Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 31
• ואחר כך יבא לידי שמחה אמיתית, דהיינו, שזאת ישיב אל לבו לנחמו בכפליים אחר הדברים והאמת האלה הנ״ל
• Rambam - Shabbat, 6 Adar, 5777 · 4 March 2017
• 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 127• The First Tithe
"But the tithes of the Children of Israel which they offer to G‑d as a gift..."—Numbers 18:24.
We are commanded to separate a tenth of our crops and give it to a Levite.
This biblical precept only applies in the Land of Israel.
Full text of this Mitzvah »
• The First Tithe
Positive Commandment 127
Translated by Berel Bell
The 127th mitzvah is that we are commanded to separate ma'aser from produce which grows from the ground.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,1 "[The inheritance I am giving the Levites shall consist of] the ma'aser of the Jewish people which they shall separate."
The verse itself explains that ma'aser is given to the Levites.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Ma'aseros.
This is called ma'aser rishon, and is a Biblical requirement only in Eretz Yisroel.2
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 27:30.
2.By Rabbinic law, ma'aser must be given from some lands which surround Eretz Yisroel. See Hilchos Terumos, 1:1.
• Rambam - 1 Chapter: Mechirah Mechirah - Chapter Twenty Five
• Mechirah - Chapter Twenty Five
• Maaser - Chapter 7
• Shabbat, 6 Adar, 5777 · 4 March 2017
• "Today's Day"
• Thursday, 6 Adar I, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: T'ruma, Chamishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 35-38.
Tanya: Moreover, even in (p. 119)...to a great extent. (p. 119).
From my father's sichot: It is a magnificent gift of G-d to merit an innate sense - a "feel" - for doing kindness to another, to derive deep pleasure from it. This can develop to the point that one cherishes the other more than oneself. He may find many explanations as to why he deserves his own tribulations, G-d forbid, but to do so with regard to another's suffering - is absolutely impossible.
Shabbat, Adar Sheini 6, 5703
Haftora: Vatishlam kol ham'lacha. In the haftora b'rachot we always say ne'eman v'rachaman ata, and toshia ut'samach (p. 187).
Torah lessons: Chumash: Pekudei, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 35-38.
Tanya: The explanation of (p. 157)...Man will understand. (p. 163).
It is a tradition among the elders of anash1 that the Tanya is a compilation of words of counsel given by the Alter Rebbe to anash at yechidus during the years 5540-5550 (1780-1790). In the summer of 5552 (1792) he began arranging the Tanya in the form it now has. A year later, there were already numerous copies, and in time, there were corruptions of the text and even falsifications. For that reason the Rebbe then moved quickly to have it printed.
Another version: For twenty years the Rebbe wrote his work, the Tanya, painstakingly examining every last word. By the year 5555 (1795) the text was pure and clarified and he granted permission to copy it. When copies became numerous and corrupted he had it printed.
The Tzemach Tzedek related that on the first Rosh Hashana of his life (in 5550, 1789) the Alter Rebbe spoke on the statement in the Talmud, He is administered an oath, Be a tzadik... This discourse is in fact the first three chapters of Tanya.
FOOTNOTES
1.Members of the Chabad chassidic community.
• Daily Thought:
We Are the Child
Your child is not like everyone else; your child is you.
And yet, your child is not you; your child is his own person.
A paradox.
Our souls are that paradox—on a greater scale: the nexus between G‑d and His universe, where His own breath becomes His creation.
That is why we are called His children. And we call Him our Father.
Chumash: Terumah, 7th Portion Exodus 27:9-27:19 with Rashi
• Exodus Chapter 27
9And you shall make the courtyard of the Mishkan on the southern side [there shall be] hangings for the courtyard of twisted fine linen, one hundred cubits long on one side. טוְעָשִׂ֕יתָ אֵ֖ת חֲצַ֣ר הַמִּשְׁכָּ֑ן לִפְאַ֣ת נֶֽגֶב־תֵּ֠ימָ֠נָה קְלָעִ֨ים לֶֽחָצֵ֜ר שֵׁ֣שׁ מָשְׁזָ֗ר מֵאָ֤ה בָֽאַמָּה֙ אֹ֔רֶךְ לַפֵּאָ֖ה הָֽאֶחָֽת:
hangings: Heb. קְלָעִים. Made like the sails of a ship, with many holes, braided, and not the work of a weaver. Its Aramaic translation is סְרָדִין [a sieve], like the Aramaic translation of מִכְבָּר, which is סְרָדָא, because they were [both] perforated like a sieve. קלעים: עשויין כמין קלעי ספינה נקבים נקבים מעשה קליעה ולא מעשה אורג ותרגומו סרדין כתרגומו של מכבר המתורגם סרדא לפי שהן מנוקבין ככברה:
on one side: Heb. לַפֵּאָה הָאֶחָת. The entire side is called פֵּאָה. — [from targumim] [Although פֵּאָה usually means a corner, in this case it refers to the entire side.] לפאה האחת: כל הרוח קרוי פאה:
10And its pillars [shall be] twenty and their sockets twenty of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [shall be of] silver. יוְעַמֻּדָ֣יו עֶשְׂרִ֔ים וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֥ם עֶשְׂרִ֖ים נְח֑שֶׁת וָוֵ֧י הָֽעַמֻּדִ֛ים וַֽחֲשֻֽׁקֵיהֶ֖ם כָּֽסֶף:
And its pillars [shall be] twenty: Five cubits between [one] pillar and [another] pillar. ועמדיו עשרים: חמש אמות בין עמוד לעמוד:
and their sockets: [I.e., the sockets] of the pillars were copper. The sockets rested on the ground and the pillars were inserted into them. He [Bezalel] made a sort of rod, called pals in Old French. [It was] six handbreadths long and three [handbreadths] wide, with a copper ring affixed to it [each rod] in the middle. He would wrap the edge of the hanging around it [the rod] with cords [placed] opposite every pillar. He would hang [each] rod by its ring from the hook that was on [each] pillar. [The hook was] made resembling a sort of “vav” (ו) its end upright and one end inserted into the pillar, like those [hooks] made to hold up doors, which are called gons, hinges in Old French. The width of the hanging hung below [the hooks], and this was the height of the partitions of the courtyard. — [from Baraitha Melecheth HaMishkan, ch. 5] וא-דניהם: של העמודים נחשת, הא-דנים יושבים על הארץ והעמודים תקועים לתוכן היה עושה כמין קונדסין שקורין פל"ש בלעז [יתידות] ארכן ששה טפחים ורחבן שלשה וטבעת נחשת קבועה בו באמצעו, וכורך שפת הקלע סביביו במיתרים כנגד כל עמוד ועמוד, ותולה הקונדס דרך טבעתו באונקליות שבעמוד העשוי כמין וי"ו, ראשו זקוף למעלה וראשו אחד תקוע בעמוד, כאותן שעושין להציב דלתות שקורין גונזי"ש בלעז [צירים] ורחב הקלע תלוי מלמטה, והיא קומת מחיצות החצר:
the hooks of the pillars: Heb. וָוֵי הָעַמֻּדִים. They are the hooks. ווי העמודים: הם האונקליות:
and their bands: Heb. וַחִשֻׁקֵיהֶם. The pillars were encircled all around with silver threads. I do not know whether [they were encircled] on their entire surface, [or only] at their top or in their middle, but I do know that חִשׁוּק is an expression of girding [or belting], for so we find in [the episode of] the concubine in Gibeah: “And with him was a team of saddled (חֲבוּשִׁים) donkeys” (Jud. 19:10), which is translated into Aramaic [by Jonathan] as חִשִׁיקִין. וחשקיהם: מוקפין היו העמודים בחוטי כסף סביב. ואיני יודע אם על פני כולן, אם בראשם, אם באמצעם. אך יודע אני שחשוק לשון חגורה, שכן מצינו בפילגש בגבעה (שופטים יט יז) ועמו צמד חמורים חבושים, תרגומו חשוקים:
11And so for the northern end in the length hangings one hundred [cubits] long, its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. יאוְכֵ֨ן לִפְאַ֤ת צָפוֹן֙ בָּאֹ֔רֶךְ קְלָעִ֖ים מֵ֣אָה אֹ֑רֶךְ וְעַמּוּדָ֣יו (כתיב ועמדו) עֶשְׂרִ֗ים וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֤ם עֶשְׂרִים֙ נְח֔שֶׁת וָוֵ֧י הָֽעַמֻּדִ֛ים וַֽחֲשֻֽׁקֵיהֶ֖ם כָּֽסֶף:
12The width of the courtyard on the western side, hangings fifty cubits, their pillars ten and their sockets ten. יבוְרֹ֤חַב הֶֽחָצֵר֙ לִפְאַת־יָ֔ם קְלָעִ֖ים חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים אַמָּ֑ה עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם עֲשָׂרָ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם עֲשָׂרָֽה:
13The width of the courtyard on the eastern side, fifty cubits. יגוְרֹ֣חַב הֶֽחָצֵ֗ר לִפְאַ֛ת קֵ֥דְמָה מִזְרָ֖חָה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים אַמָּֽה:
on the eastern side: Heb. לִפְאַתקֵדְמָה מִזְרָחָה. The eastern side is called קֶדֶם, a word meaning the face [or front], and אָחוֹר signifies the back. Therefore, the east is called קֶדֶם, which is the face, and the west is called אָחוֹר, as it is said: “the back (הָאַחִרוֹן) sea” (Deut. 11:24, 34:2), [which is translated into Aramaic as] יַמָּא מַעַרְבָא, the western sea. לפאת קדמה מזרחה: פני המזרח קרוי קדם, לשון פנים. אחור לשון אחורים, לפיכך המזרח קרוי קדם שהוא פנים, ומערב קרוי אחור, כמו דתרגם אונקלוס (דברים יא כד) הים האחרון ימא מערבא:
fifty cubits: These fifty cubits were not all closed off with hangings, because the entrance was there, but [there were] fifteen cubits of hangings for [one] shoulder of the entrance from here [from one side] and similarly for the second shoulder. There remained the width of the space of the entrance in between, [which was] twenty cubits. This is what is said [in verse 16]: “And at the gate of the courtyard shall be a screen of twenty cubits,” [i. e.,] a screen for protection opposite the entrance, twenty cubits long, which equaled the width of the entrance. חמשים אמה: אותן חמשים אמה לא היו סתומים כולם בקלעים, לפי ששם הפתח, אלא חמש עשרה אמה קלעים לכתף הפתח מכאן, וכן לכתף השנית, נשאר רחב חלל הפתח בינתים עשרים אמה וזהו שנאמר (פסוק טז) ולשער החצר מסך עשרים אמה, וילון למסך כנגד הפתח עשרים אמה ארך כרחב הפתח:
14The hangings on the shoulder [shall be] fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their sockets three. ידוַֽחֲמֵ֨שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה אַמָּ֛ה קְלָעִ֖ים לַכָּתֵ֑ף עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם שְׁלשָׁ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁלשָֽׁה:
their pillars three: Five cubits between [one] pillar and [another] pillar. Between the pillar that is at the beginning of the south, which stands at the southeastern corner, until the pillar that is [one] of the three in the east, there were five cubits. And from it [this pillar] to the second one [there was a space of] five cubits, and from the second to the third [were] five cubits, and likewise for the second [i.e., the northeastern] shoulder, and four pillars for the screen. Thus, there were ten pillars on the east, corresponding to the ten pillars on the west. עמדיהם שלשה: חמש אמות בין עמוד לעמוד, בין עמוד שבראש הדרום העומד במקצוע דרומית מזרחית עד עמוד שהוא מן השלשה שבמזרח חמש אמות וממנו לשני חמש אמות, ומן השני לשלישי חמש אמות, וכן לכתף השנית, וארבעה עמודים למסך, הרי עשרה עמודים למזרח כנגד עשרה למערב:
15And on the second shoulder [there shall be] fifteen hangings, their pillars three and their sockets three. טווְלַכָּתֵף֙ הַשֵּׁנִ֔ית חֲמֵ֥שׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה קְלָעִ֑ים עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם שְׁלשָׁ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם שְׁלשָֽׁה:
16And at the gate of the courtyard shall be a screen of twenty cubits, [made] of blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer; their pillars four and their sockets four. טזוּלְשַׁ֨עַר הֶֽחָצֵ֜ר מָסָ֣ךְ | עֶשְׂרִ֣ים אַמָּ֗ה תְּכֵ֨לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֜ן וְתוֹלַ֧עַת שָׁנִ֛י וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מָשְׁזָ֖ר מַֽעֲשֵׂ֣ה רֹקֵ֑ם עַמֻּֽדֵיהֶ֣ם אַרְבָּעָ֔ה וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם אַרְבָּעָֽה:
17All the pillars around the courtyard [shall have] silver bands, silver hooks, and copper sockets. יזכָּל־עַמּוּדֵ֨י הֶֽחָצֵ֤ר סָבִיב֙ מְחֻשָּׁקִ֣ים כֶּ֔סֶף וָֽוֵיהֶ֖ם כָּ֑סֶף וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם נְחֽשֶׁת:
All the pillars around the courtyard, etc.: Since [the text] explained only [that there were to be] hooks, bands, and copper sockets for the north[ern] and the south[ern sides], but for the east[ern] and the west[ern sides] no hooks, bands, or copper sockets were mentioned, therefore [the text] teaches it here. [Lit., it comes and teaches here.] כל עמודי החצר סביב וגו': לפי שלא פירש ווין וחשוקים וא-דני נחשת אלא לצפון ולדרום, אבל למזרח ולמערב לא נאמר ווין וחשוקים וא-דני נחשת, לכך בא ולמד כאן:
18The length of the courtyard [shall be] one hundred cubits and the width fifty by fifty [cubits]. The height [of the hangings] shall be five cubits of twisted fine linen, and their sockets [shall be of] copper. יחאֹ֣רֶךְ הֶֽחָצֵר֩ מֵאָ֨ה בָֽאַמָּ֜ה וְרֹ֣חַב | חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים בַּֽחֲמִשִּׁ֗ים וְקֹמָ֛ה חָמֵ֥שׁ אַמּ֖וֹת שֵׁ֣שׁ מָשְׁזָ֑ר וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם נְחֽשֶׁת:
The length of the courtyard: the north[ern] and the south[ern sides] from east to west were one hundred cubits. ארך החצר: הצפון והדרום שמן המזרח למערב מאה באמה:
and the width fifty by fifty: The courtyard in the east was fifty [cubits] by fifty [cubits] square-for the Mishkan was thirty [cubits] long and ten [cubits] wide. He [Moses] placed its entrance on the east, at the edge of the outer fifty [cubits] of the length of the courtyard. Thus, it [the Mishkan] was all in the inner fifty [cubits of the courtyard], and its length ended at the end of thirty [cubits of the inner fifty]. Hence, there was a space of twenty cubits behind it, between the hangings in the west and the curtains of the rear of the Mishkan. The Mishkan was ten cubits wide in the center of the width of the courtyard. Thus, it had twenty cubits of space to the north and to the south- from the hangings of the courtyard to the curtains of the Mishkan-and similarly to the west. And [there was] a courtyard of fifty by fifty [cubits] in front of it [These are the outer fifty cubits, which faced the entrance of the Mishkan.] -[from Eruv. 23b, Baraitha Melecheth HaMishkan, ch. 5] ורחב חמשים בחמשים: חצר שבמזרח היתה מרובעת חמשים על חמשים, שהמשכן ארכו שלשים ורחבו עשר, העמיד מזרח פתחו בשפת חמשים החיצונים של אורך החצר נמצא כלו בחמשים הפנימים, וכלה ארכו לסוף שלשים נמצאו עשרים אמה ריוח לאחוריו בין הקלעים שבמערב ליריעות של אחורי המשכן, ורוחב המשכן עשר אמות באמצע רוחב החצר, נמצאו לו עשרים אמה ריוח לצפון ולדרום מן קלעי החצר ליריעות המשכן, וכן למערב, וחמשים על חמשים חצר לפניו:
The height…five cubits: [I.e.,] the height of the partitions of the courtyard, which was the width of the hangings. וקמה חמש אמות: גובה מחיצות החצר, והוא רוחב הקלעים:
and their sockets [shall be of] copper: [This is mentioned] to include the sockets of the screen, so that you would not say [that] copper sockets were mentioned only in regard to the pillars of the hangings, but the sockets of the [pillars of the] screen were of another kind [i.e., a different material]. So it appears to me that for this [reason], they [the copper sockets] were repeated. וא-דניהם נחשת: להביא א-דני המסך, שלא תאמר לא נאמרו א-דני נחשת אלא לעמודי הקלעים, אבל א-דני המסך של מין אחר היו. כך נראה בעיני, שלכך חזר ושנאן:
19All the implements of the Mishkan for all its labor, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the courtyard [shall be] copper. יטלְכֹל֙ כְּלֵ֣י הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן בְּכֹ֖ל עֲבֹֽדָת֑וֹ וְכָל־יְתֵֽדֹתָ֛יו וְכָל־יִתְדֹ֥ת הֶֽחָצֵ֖ר נְחֽשֶׁת:
All the implements of the Mishkan: that were required for its assembling and its disassembling, e.g., sledge hammers to drive in the pegs and the pillars. לכל כלי המשכן: שהיו צריכין להקמתו ולהורדתו, כגון מקבות לתקוע יתדות ועמודים:
the pegs: [These were] like copper bars, made for the curtains of the tent and for the hangings of the courtyard, tied with cords all around [them] at their bases [i.e., at the bases of the curtains and the hangings], so that the wind would not lift them up. But I do not know whether they [the pegs] were driven into the ground or whether they were tied [with cords] and hung-their [heavy] weight weighted down the bottoms of the curtains so that they would not move in the wind. I say, however, that their name [i.e., pegs] indicates that they were driven into the ground. Therefore, they were called יְתֵדוֹת, and this verse supports me [my assertion]: “a tent that shall not fall, whose pegs (יְתֵדֹתָיו) shall never be moved” (Isa. 33:20). יתדות: כמין נגרי נחשת עשויין ליריעות האהל ולקלעי החצר, קשורים במיתרים סביב סביב בשפוליהן, כדי שלא תהא הרוח מגביהתן. ואיני ידוע, אם תחובין בארץ או קשורין ותלויין וכובדן מכביד שפולי היריעות, שלא ינועו ברוח. ואומר אני ששמן מוכיח עליהם שהם תקועין בארץ, לכך נקראו יתדות, ומקרא זה מסייעני (ישעיה לג כ) אהל בל יצען בל יסע יתדותיו לנצח:
• Daily Tehillim: Chapters 35 - 38
• Chapter 35
This psalm is an awe-inspiring and wondrous prayer about David's enemies-that they be as chaff before the wind, chased by the angel of God. It also declares that everything comes about through God's help.
1. By David. Fight my antagonists, O Lord, battle those who battle against me.
2. Take hold of shield and armor and arise to help me.
3. Draw a spear, and bar the way before my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your deliverance.”
4. Let those who seek my life be shamed and disgraced; let those who devise my harm retreat and be humiliated.
5. Let them be as chaff before the wind; let the angel of the Lord thrust them away.
6. Let their path be dark and slippery; let them be chased by the angel of the Lord.
7. For without cause have they laid their nets in the pit for me; without cause have they dug [pits] for my soul.
8. Let darkness come upon him unawares; let the very snare that he hid trap him, in darkness he will fall in it.
9. And my soul shall exult in the Lord, rejoice in His deliverance.
10. My entire being shall declare: Lord, who is like You? Who saves the poor from one stronger than he, the poor and the destitute from one who would rob him.
11. Corrupt witnesses rise up [against me], they demand of me things of which I do not know.
12. They repay me evil for good, death for my soul.
13. But I wore sackcloth when they were ill; I afflicted my soul with fasting. Let my prayer return upon my own bosom.
14. As if it were my friend, my brother, I went about; like a mother in mourning, I was bent over in gloom.
15. But when I limped, they rejoiced and gathered; the lowly gathered against me-even those whom I do not know; they laugh and cannot be quiet.
16. With flattery and scorn, for the sake of a meal,1 they gnash their teeth at me.
17. My Lord, how long will You look on? Restore my life from their darkness; from young lions, my soul.
18. I will thank You in a great congregation, amidst a mighty nation I will praise You.
19. Let not those who hate me without cause rejoice over me; [let not] those who despise me without reason wink their eye.
20. For they speak not of peace, rather they scheme deceitful matters against the broken of the land.
21. They opened their mouths wide against me, they said, "Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen [his misfortune].”
22. You saw, Lord, be not silent; my Lord, be not distant from me.
23. Rouse and awaken Yourself to my judgement, to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24. Judge me according to your righteousness, Lord my God; let them not rejoice over me.
25. Let them not say in their hearts, "Aha! We have our desire!" Let them not say, "We have swallowed him!”
26. Let them be shamed and disgraced together, those who rejoice at my trouble; let them be clothed in shame and humiliation, those who raise themselves arrogantly over me.
27. Let those who desire my vindication sing joyously and be glad; let them say always, "Let the Lord be exalted, Who desires the peace of His servant.”
28. My tongue will speak of Your righteousness, Your praise, all day long.
FOOTNOTES
1.These men flatter Saul in order to obtain free meals (Rashi).
Chapter 36
This psalm is a message to those who follow their evil inclination, that tells them, "Do not place the fear of God before you," and brings them to sin by beautifying evil deeds in their eyes. For so is his way: "He descends (to earth) and corrupts, then goes up (to the Heavenly Court) and prosecutes."
1. For the Conductor, by the servant of the Lord, by David.
2. [I think] in my heart: Sin says to the wicked, "There is none [who need place] the fear of God before his eyes.”
3. For Sin makes itself appealing to him, until his iniquity be found and he is hated.
4. The speech of his mouth is evil and deceit; he fails to reason, to improve.
5. On his bed he contemplates evil, he stands in a path that is not good; he does not despise evil.
6. O Lord, Your kindness is in the heavens; Your faithfulness is till the skies.
7. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgements extend to the great deep; man and beast You deliver, O Lord.
8. How precious is Your kindness, O God; man takes shelter in the shadow of Your wings.
9. They will be filled by the abundance of Your house; from the stream of Your Eden, You will give them to drink.
10. For the source of life is with You; in Your Light do we see light.
11. Extend Your kindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright of heart.
12. Let not the foot of the arrogant overtake me; let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
13. There1 the doers of evil fell, thrust down, unable to rise.
FOOTNOTES
1.In the very place they intended to persecute me (Metzudot).
Chapter 37
King David exhorts his generation not to be jealous of the prosperity of the wicked, for it may lead to falling into their ways. Rather, put your trust in God, conduct yourselves with integrity, and God will take care of everything.
1. By David. Do not compete with the wicked; do not envy doers of injustice.
2. For like grass they will be swiftly cut down; like green vegetation they will wither.
3. Trust in the Lord and do good; then will you abide in the land and be nourished by faith.
4. Delight in the Lord, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.
5. Cast your needs upon the Lord; rely on Him, and He will take care.
6. He will reveal your righteousness like the light, your justness like the high noon.
7. Depend on the Lord and hope in Him. Compete not with the prosperous, with the man who invents evil schemes.
8. Let go of anger, abandon rage; do not compete with [one who intends] only to harm.
9. For the evildoers will be cut down; but those who hope in the Lord, they will inherit the earth.
10. For soon the wicked one will not be; you will gaze at his place and he will be gone.
11. But the humble shall inherit the earth, and delight in abundant peace.
12. The wicked one plots against the righteous, and gnashes his teeth at him.
13. My Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day will come.
14. The wicked have drawn a sword and bent their bow to fell the poor and destitute, to slaughter those of upright ways.
15. But their sword shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall break.
16. Better the little of the righteous, than the abundant wealth of the wicked.
17. For the strength of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous.
18. The Lord appreciates the days of the innocent; their inheritance will last forever.
19. They will not be shamed in times of calamity, and in days of famine they will be satisfied.
20. For the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord are as fattened sheep: consumed, consumed in smoke.
21. The wicked man borrows and does not repay; but the righteous man is gracious and gives.
22. For those blessed by Him will inherit the earth, and those cursed by Him will be cut off.
23. The steps of man are directed by God; He desires his way.
24. When he totters he shall not be thrown down, for the Lord supports his hand.
25. I have been a youth, I have also aged; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his offspring begging bread.
26. All day he is kind and lends; his offspring are a blessing.
27. Turn away from evil and do good, and you will dwell [in peace] forever.
28. For the Lord loves justice, he will not abandon his pious ones-they are protected forever; but the offspring of the wicked are cut off.
29. The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell upon it forever.
30. The mouth of the righteous one utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
31. The Torah of his God is in his heart; his steps shall not falter.
32. The wicked one watches for the righteous man, and seeks to kill him.
33. But the Lord will not abandon him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34. Hope in the Lord and keep His way; then He will raise you high to inherit the earth. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35. I saw a powerful wicked man, well-rooted like a vibrant, native tree.
36. Yet he vanished, behold he was gone; I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37. Watch the innocent, and observe the upright, for the future of such a man is peace.
38. But sinners shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked is cut off.
39. The deliverance of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of distress.
40. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they have put their trust in Him.
Chapter 38
A prayer for every individual, bewailing the length of the exile. One who is in distress should recite this psalm, hence its introduction, "A psalm... to remind" (to remind us to recite it in times of distress). One can also derive many lessons from it.
1. A psalm by David, to remind.
2. O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chastise me in Your wrath.
3. For Your arrows have landed in me, Your hand descended upon me.
4. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your rage, no peace in my bones because of my sin.
5. For my iniquities have flooded over my head; like a heavy load, they are too heavy for me.
6. My wounds are rotted; they reek because of my foolishness.
7. I am bent and extremely bowed; all day I go about in gloom.
8. My sides are inflamed; there is no soundness in my flesh.
9. I am weakened and extremely depressed; I howl from the moaning of my heart.
10. My Lord, all that I desire is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You.
11. My heart is engulfed, my strength has left me; the light of my eyes they, too, are not with me.
12. My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction; my intimates stand afar.
13. The seekers of my life have laid traps; those who seek my harm speak destructiveness; they utter deceits all day long.
14. But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear; like a mute that does not open his mouth.
15. I was like a man that does not perceive, and in whose mouth there are no rebuttals.
16. Because for You, O Lord, I wait; You will answer, my Lord, my God.
17. For I said, "Lest they rejoice over me; when my foot falters they will gloat over me.”
18. For I am accustomed to limping, and my pain is constantly before me.
19. For I admit my iniquity; I worry because of my sin.
20. But my enemies abound with life; those who hate me without cause flourish.
21. Those who repay evil for good resent me for my pursuit of good.
22. Do not forsake me, O Lord; do not be distant from me, my God.
23. Hurry to my aid, O my Lord, my Salvation.
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 31
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
• Shabbat, 6 Adar, 5777 · 4 March 2017
• Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 31
• ואחר כך יבא לידי שמחה אמיתית, דהיינו, שזאת ישיב אל לבו לנחמו בכפליים אחר הדברים והאמת האלה הנ״ל
He will then arrive at a true joy, as follows: In order to comfort his heart in double measure, let him — in the wake of the above words of truth concerning his lowly spiritual stature — tell himself the following.
The comfort is dual: not only is his depression eliminated, but he will also attain a joy which he would never experience were it not for his earlier depression.
לאמר ללבו: אמת הוא כן בלי ספק שאני רחוק מאד מה׳ בתכלית,ומשוק׳ ומתועב כו׳,
Let him say to his heart: “Indeed, without a doubt, I am far removed, utterly remote from G‑d, and am despicable, contemptible, and so on.
אך כל זה הוא אני לבדי, הוא הגוף עם נפש החיונית שבו
But all this is true only of me — that is, my body and the animating soul within it.
אבל מכל מקום יש בקרבי חלק ה׳ ממש, שישנו אפילו בקל שבקלים,שהיא נפש האלקית עם ניצו׳ אלקות ממש המלובש בה להחיותה,
Yet within me there is a veritable ‘part’ of G‑d, which is present even in the most worthless of my fellows,so that even if I am no better than he, I still have this ‘part’ of G‑d within me, namely, the divine soul and the spark of G‑dliness itself clothed in it, animating it.
רק שהיא בבחינת גלות
It is only that when the body and animating soul are in such a lowly state, the divine soul is in exile within them.
ואם כן, אדרבה, כל מה שאני בתכלית הריחוק מה׳, והתיעוב ושיקו׳
“If so, then, on the contrary, the further I am removed from G‑d, and the more despicable and contemptible,
הרי נפש האלקית שבי בגלות גדול יותר, והרחמנות עליה גדולה מאד
the deeper in exile is my divine soul, and all the more is it to be pitied.
ולזה אשים כל מגמתי וחפצי להוציאה ולהעלותה מגלות זה,להשיבה אל בית אביה כנעוריה,
“Therefore, I will make it my entire aim and desire to extricate it from this exile, and to ‘return her to her father’s house i.e., to restore it to its source and its original state as in her youth,’
קודם שנתלבשה בגופי, שהיתה נכללת באורו יתברך ומיוחדת עמו בתכליתו
i.e., as it was before being clothed in my body, when it was completely absorbed in G‑d’s light and united with Him.
וגם עתה כן תהא כלולה ומיוחדת בו יתברך, כשאשים כל מגמתי בתורה ומצות, להלביש בהן כל עשר בחינותיה כנ״ל
“Now too will it likewise be absorbed and united with Him once again, when I concentrate all my aspirations on the Torah and the mitzvot, in an effort to clothe therein all [of the soul’s] ten faculties; i.e., by applying my mental faculties to Torah study, and my emotive faculties to the performance of the mitzvot with the vitality lent them by the love and fear of G‑d, as explained above in ch. 4. Thus will my divine soul be reunited with G‑d.
ובפרט במצות תפלה, לצעוק אל ה׳ בצר לה מגלותה בגופי המשוק׳, להוציאה ממסגר, ולדבקה בו יתברך
“Especially in fulfilling the mitzvah of prayer will I try to release my divine soul, by crying out to G‑d because of the distress of its exile in my loathsome body, so that He release it from captivity and bind it to Himself.”
וזו היא בחינת תשובה ומעשים טובים
This service of G‑d, in which one seeks to restore the soul to its source, is referred to as 1 “teshuvah with good deeds.”
This is an oft-used Talmudic expression denoting the mitzvot (as in the statement, “One hour of teshuvah with good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come”). At first glance, the juxtaposition of the two seems incongruous; teshuvah deals with atoning for one’s past imperfections, while “good deeds” are performed in the present and would seem to bear no relation to one’s past. According to the Alter Rebbe’s statement, however, that one’s performance of the mitzvot should be motivated by a desire to return his soul to its source within G‑d, the connection between the two is clear: the “good deeds” themselves actually constitute teshuvah, which means “return”. As the Alter Rebbe continues:
שהן מעשים טובים שעושה כדי להשיב חלק ה׳ למקורא ושרשא דכל עלמין
This denotes the “good deeds” which one does with the intention of returning the soul which is part of G‑d, to the [Divine] source and root of all the worlds.
| FOOTNOTES | |
| 1. | Avot 4:17. |
• 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 127• The First Tithe
"But the tithes of the Children of Israel which they offer to G‑d as a gift..."—Numbers 18:24.
We are commanded to separate a tenth of our crops and give it to a Levite.
This biblical precept only applies in the Land of Israel.
Full text of this Mitzvah »
• The First Tithe
Positive Commandment 127
Translated by Berel Bell
The 127th mitzvah is that we are commanded to separate ma'aser from produce which grows from the ground.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement,1 "[The inheritance I am giving the Levites shall consist of] the ma'aser of the Jewish people which they shall separate."
The verse itself explains that ma'aser is given to the Levites.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in tractate Ma'aseros.
This is called ma'aser rishon, and is a Biblical requirement only in Eretz Yisroel.2
FOOTNOTES
1.Lev. 27:30.
2.By Rabbinic law, ma'aser must be given from some lands which surround Eretz Yisroel. See Hilchos Terumos, 1:1.
• Rambam - 1 Chapter: Mechirah Mechirah - Chapter Twenty Five
• Mechirah - Chapter Twenty Five
1
When a person sells an entity that has appurtenances, he is not including the appurtenances in the sale unless that is explicitly stated.
What is implied? If a person sold a house, he did not sell the patio around the house, even though it opens to the house. When does the above apply? When the patio is four cubits or more wide. If it is smaller than this, it is considered to be part of the house.
Similarly, a loft that is above a house and that opens up to it through an opening in the ceiling of the house is considered to be part of the house.
א
המוכר דבר שיש לו תשמישין לא מכר את התשמישין אא"כ פירש כיצד מכר את הבית לא מכר את היציע שסביבות הבית אף על פי שהוא פתוח לתוכו במה דברים אמורים כשהיה רחב היציע ארבע אמות או יתר אבל פחות מזה הרי הוא בכלל הבית וכן העלייה שעל גבי הבית הפתוחה לתוכו בארובה במעזיבת הבית הרי הוא בכלל הבית:
2
When a person sells a house, he is not including a room that is located behind the house in the sale. This applies even when it is included in the external borders of the property that the seller draws for the purchaser. Nor does the sale include the roof if it is four cubits wide and possesses a guardrail that is ten handbreadths high. Nor does it include a water receptacle hollowed out in the ground or a cistern that is built within a pit projecting above the ground. This applies even when he sold him the height and the depth of the property, as we have explained above.
ב
המוכר את הבית לא מכר את החדר שלפנים ממנו אע"פ שמצר לו מצרים החיצונים ולא את הגג בזמן שיש לו מעקה עשרה טפחים ויש בו רחב ארבע אמות ולא את הבור החפור בקרקע ולא את הדות הבנוי בבור אף על פי שמכר לו העומק והרום כמו שביארנו:
3
The seller must purchase a path from the purchaser in order to gain access to the water receptacle or the cistern that he retained. For when a person sells property, he sells generously.
If at the time of the original sale, the seller tells the purchaser: "I am selling you the house with the exception of the water receptacle or the cistern," he does not have to buy a path to the cistern. Similarly, when a person purchases a water receptacle or a cistern alone, the purchaser does not have to purchase a path. Instead, he may enter the seller's house and proceed as far as the cistern and fill his container.
ג
וצריך המוכר לקנות לו דרך מן הלוקח כדי להכנס בבור זה או לדות ששייר שכל המוכר בעין יפה מוכר ואם אמר לו מכרתי לך הבית חוץ מן הבור או הדות אין צריך לקנות לו דרך וכן המוכר בור או דות בלבד אין הלוקח צריך לקנות לו דרך אלא נכנס לתוך ביתו של מוכר עד הדות וממלא:
4
The following rules apply when there are two rooms, one inside the other: If one sold them to two separate people or gave them to two separate people, neither of the recipients has the right to make a path through the other's property. Needless to say, this applies if the original owner gave the external room away and sold the inner one.
If, however, he sold the outer room and gave away the inner room, the recipient of the inner room has the right to make a path for himself through the outer room. The rationale is that a person is more generous when he gives than when he sells.
ד
שני בתים זה לפנים מזה מכר שניהם לשנים או נתן שניהם לשנים אין להם דרך זה על זה ואין צריך לומר אם נתן החיצון ומכר הפנימי אבל אם מכר החיצון ונתן הפנימי יש לו דרך שכל הנותן בעין יפה נותן יותר מן המוכר:
5
When a person sells a house, he also sells the oven, the range, the door frames that are attached with mortar, the door, the beam, the lock, but not the key. He also sells a mill that is permanently affixed in the ground, but not one that is movable. He sells the wooden base on which a mill is positioned, but not the container into which the flour descends. Nor does he sell the blocks for the feet of a bed, nor the window frames, even though they are affixed with mortar, for they are intended for decoration.
When the seller says that he is selling the house and all its contents, all of the above are also sold.
ה
המוכר את הבית מכר את התנור ואת הכיריים ואת מלבנות הפתחים המחוברין בטיט ואת הדלת ואת הנגר ואת המנעול אבל לא המפתח ומכר את המכתשת הקבועה אבל לא את המטלטלת ומכר את האיצטרוביל אבל לא את הכלי שהקמח יורד לתוכו שהוא כמו כפיפה של עץ ולא מכר את מלבנות כרעי המטה ולא את מלבנות החלונות אע"פ שהן מחוברין בטיט מפני שהן לנוי ובזמן שאמר הוא וכל מה שבתוכו הרי כולן מכורין:
6
When a person sells a courtyard, he includes in the sale any water reservoirs, vaults or cellars that are located in it, all the outer and inner buildings, the buildings that contain sand and the stores that open to it. The stores that do not open to it, by contrast, are not included in the sale.
If stores open both inside and outside the courtyard the following rules apply. If the majority of the activity performed within them is performed within the courtyard, they are included in its sale. If not, they are not included in the sale. Movable property located in the courtyard is not included in the sale.
When the seller says that he is selling the courtyard and all its contents, all of the above are also sold. Regardless of what he said, a bathhouse or an olive press located within are not sold.
ו
המוכר את החצר מכר בורות שיחין ומערות שבתוכה וכל הבתים החיצונים והפנימים ובתים שיש בהן החול והחנויות הפתוחים לתוכה אבל שאינן פתוחות לתוכה אינם נמכרים עמה היו פתוחות לכאן ולכאן אם רוב תשמישן לתוכה נמכרות עמה ואם לאו אינן נמכרות עמה ולא מכר את המטלטלין שבתוכה ובזמן שאמר היא וכל מה שבתוכה הרי כולם מכורין בין כך ובין כך לא מכר את המרחץ ולא בית הבד שבתוכה:
7
When a person sells an olive press, he includes in the sale the large stone that is affixed in the ground, upon which the olives are ground, the cedar beams that are used for support when the olives are being ground, the storage reservoirs and the storage containers in which the crushed olives are placed. These are called mafrechot. Not included in the sale is the upper millstone.
When the seller says that he is selling the olive press and all its contents, all of the above are also sold. Regardless of what he said, the blocks that are used to press the olives, the apparatus that rotates the stone, the beam, the sacks and the leather sacks used in the press are not sold.
ז
המוכר את בית הבד מכר את האבן הגדולה הבנויה בארץ שטוחנים עלה זיתים ואת הכלונסאות של ארז שסומכין בהן בעת טחינת הזיתים ואת היקבים ואת הכלים שנותנין בהן את הזיתים הכתושין והם המפרכות אבל לא מכר את הריחיים העליונה ובזמן שאמר הוא וכל מה שבתוכו הרי כולן מכורין בין כך ובין כך לא מכר את הכובשין שמכבשין בהן הזיתים ולא את הגלגל ולא את הקורה ולא את השקין ולא את המרצופין:
8
When the seller says: "I am selling you an olive press and all its accessories," all of the above are sold.
The following rules apply if there are stores outside the olive press where olives or sesame seeds are spread out. If when the seller drew the external boundaries, he included these, they are all included in the sale. If not, the purchaser acquires only what is inside the building of the press itself.
ח
אמר לו בית הבד וכל תשמישיו אני מוכר לך כולן מכורין היו חוצה לה חנויות ששוטחים בהן הזיתים או השומשמין אם מצר לו מצרים החיצונים שלהן קנה הכל ואם לאו לא קנה אלא מה שבתוכה:
9
When a person sells a bathhouse, included in the sale is the plank room where people sit while they are naked, the storehouse for the containers in which water is placed, the room where there are benches in the courtyard of the bathhouse where people sit when they are clothed, and the towel room in which they dry themselves. Not included in the sale are the planks, the water containers, the benches or the towels themselves.
When the seller says that he is selling the bathhouse] and all its contents, all of the above are also sold. Regardless of what he said, he did not include in the sale the pools that provide water for the bathhouse in the summer and in the winter, nor the lumber shed where wood is stored.
When the seller says: "I am selling you a bathhouse and all its accessories," all of the above are sold, even though they are located outside [the bathhouse itself.)"
ט
המוכר את המרחץ מכר את בית הנסרים שיושבין עליהן כשהן ערומים ואת בית היקמים שנוטלין בהן המים ואת בית הספסלין שיושבין עליהן בחצר המרחץ כשהן לבושים ואת בית הוילאות שמסתפגין בהן אבל לא מכר את הנסרים עצמן ואת היקמים עצמן ולא את הספסלין עצמן ולא את הוילאות עצמן ובזמן שאמר לו הוא וכל מה שבתוכו הרי כולן מכורין בין כך ובין כך לא מכר הבריכות המספקות לו מים בין בימות החמה בין בימות הגשמים ולא בית כנוס העצים ואם אמר לו מרחץ וכל תשמישיו אני מוכר לך הרי הן כולן מכורין אף על פי שהן חוצה לו:
• Maaser - Chapter 7
1
[The following laws apply when a person has a 100 log of wine that are tevel according to Scriptural Law.1 If he says: "The two lugim that I will separate are terumah;2 the ten are the first tithe, and the nine are the second tithe,"3 he should not begin drinking and leave over the quantity designated as terumah and the tithes at the end. Instead, he should make the separations and then drink. We do not say that the wine he left over at the end is retroactively considered as if it was set aside in the beginning.4[The rationale for this stringency is that] the obligation [to separate] terumah and the tithes is Scriptural in origin, and with regard to [matters of] Scriptural Law, we do not say that we will consider it as if a separation has been made unless it actually has been made.5
א
מי שהיו לו מאה לוג של יין טבול מן התורה ואמר שני לוגין שאני עתיד להפריש מהן הרי הן תרומה ועשרה מעשר ראשון ותשעה מעשר שני לא יתחיל וישתה עד שיניח בסוף שיעור תרומה ומעשרות אלא יפריש ואחר כך ישתה ואין אומרין זה שהניח בסוף כאילו נברר תחלה מפני שחיוב תרומה ומעשרות מן התורה ואין אומרין בשל תורה נחשוב כאילו נברר עד שיברור:
2
When a person specifies that his tithes were located at the opening of a jug [of wine], he should not drink from the bottom of the barrel. If he specifies that they are at the bottom, he should not drink from the top. [The rationale is that] the liquids intermingle.6 If, by contrast, one specified [that the tithes for produce] were at the opening of a storage container, one may eat from the bottom.7 If one specified that they were located at the bottom, one may eat from the top.8
ב
הקובע מעשרותיו בפי החבית לא ישתה משוליה בשוליה לא ישתה מפיה מפני שהמשקין מעורבין אבל הקובע בפי המגורה אוכל משוליה קבע בשוליה אוכל מפיה:
3
ג
ויש לאדם לקבוע מעשר שני ופודהו ועושהו מעשר ראשון על אותן הפירות או תרומת מעשר למקום אחר:
4
When a person sets aside produce to use them for the separation of tithes,12he may continue to separate tithes relying on this produce on the assumption that it is intact, eating and drinking [from the produce from which he intended to separate tithes] until the entire quantity that was set aside has become tithes. He then gives that to a Levite. [If later] he discovers that the produce that he set aside [for tithes] has been lost, he must show concern for all the tithes that he set aside.13 He should not, however, tithe [the second time] with certainty.14
ד
המניח פירות להיות מפריש עליהן מעשרות מפריש עליהן בחזקת שהן קיימין ואוכל ושותה עד שיעשו כל אותן הפירות שהניח מעשר ונותן ללוי מצאן שאבדו ה"ז חושש לכל שהפריש ואינו מעשר ודאי:
5
When a person lends money to a priest,15 a Levite,16 or a poor person,17 so that he can separate [produce] for the money [they owe] from the portions due them,18 he may continue to separate tithes on their behalf on the assumption that they are alive. He need not show concern that the priest or Levite died or the poor man became wealthy.19
ה
המלוה מעות את הכהן ואת הלוי ואת העני להיות מפריש על אותן המעות מחלקו מפריש עליהן בחזקת שהן קיימין ואינו חושש שמא מתו הכהן או הלוי או העשיר העני:
6
How should he make these separations on their behalf? He should separate terumah, the first tithe, or the tithe for the poor20 and give it to another person for the sake of the priest, Levite, or poor person to whom he lent money.21 If [the debtors] would frequently take these separations from him or if he was accustomed to give these separations to them alone, he need not give them to another person on their behalf.22
After [the lender] makes these separations, he calculates the worth of the produce he separated and deducts it from the loan. [He continues doing this] until he repays the entire debt. He may sell the terumah to any priest of his choice and may partake of the tithes [himself].
ו
כיצד מפריש עליהן מפריש תרומה או מעשר ראשון או מעשר שני מפירותיו ומזכה בהן על ידי אחר לאותו כהן או הלוי או העני שהלוום ואם היו רגילין ליטול ממנו והוא רגיל שלא יתן אלא להן אינו צריך לזכותע"יאחר ואחר שמפריש מחשב כמה שוה זה שהפריש ומנכה מן המלוה עד שיפרע כל חובו ומוכר התרומה לכל כהן שירצה ואוכל המעשרות:
7
When he calculates the worth of the produce that he set aside, he has the right to consider their value according to the lower market price.23 This is not considered as interest.24 The Sabbatical year does not remit such a debt.25
If the lender desires to nullify this arrangement, he may not.26 But if [the borrowers] seek to do so, they may. If the owner despaired of receiving payment from them, he can no longer make these separations on their behalf. For we may not make separations because of [a debt that] was lost.27
If the priest, Levite, or poor person who borrowed money dies, he cannot continue to separate on their behalf unless he receives permission from the heirs.28 [Moreover, even if permission is granted,] it is effective only when [the deceased] left the heirs [a tract of] land at least the size of a needle.29 If, however, he left them only money, permission from the heir is not effective.30 If he made the loan in court on the condition that he will make the separations on their behalf for this money, it is not necessary for him to receive permission from the heirs.31
ז
כשהוא מחשב מה שוים הפירות שהפריש יש לו לחשב כשער הזול ואינו חושש משום רבית ואין השביעית משמטת חוב זה ואם בא בעל הבית לחזור אינו חוזר אבל אם רצו אלו שלקחו המעות לחזור חוזרין נתייאשו מהן הבעלים אין מפרישין עליהן שאין מפרישין על האבוד מת הכהן או הלוי או העני שהלוום אינו יכול להפריש עליהן מחלקן כדרך הזו עד שיטול רשות מן היורשין והוא שיניח להן קרקע אפילו מלא מחט אבל אם הניח כספים אין רשות היורש מועלת ואם הלוום בב"ד ע"מ שיפריש על מעות אלו מחלקם אינו צריך ליטול רשות מן היורשין העשיר העני אין מפרישין עליו אעפ"י שהלווהו בב"ד זוכה הלה במה שבידו:
8
When an Israelite tells a Levite: "I am in possession of a kor34of tithes for you," the Levite has the right to designate that produce as terumat ma'aser for other produce even if he did not draw it into his possession.35 If the Israelite gives it to another Levite, the first individual has nothing more than complaints against him.36
ח
ישראל שאמר לבן לוי כור מעשר יש לך בידי רשאי בן לוי לעשותו תרומת מעשר על מקום אחר אע"פ שלא משך ואם נתנו הישראל ללוי אחר אין לו עליו אלא תרעומת:
9
When a person has produce in a silo and gives a se'ah to a Levite37and a se'ah to a poor person,38 he should not set aside eight se'ah from the silo and partake of it39 unless he knows with certainty that the two se'ah of the tithes are still intact. If, however, the Levite and/or the poor person partook of them, he may set aside only an amount of grain proportionate to what remains from the two se'ah.40
ט
מי שהיו לו פירות במגורה ונתן סאה ללוי וסאה לעני לא יפריש ח' סאין מן המגורה ויאכלם אלא אם כן יודע ששתי סאין של מעשרות קיימין אבל אם אכלו מהן הלוי והעני אינו מפריש עליהן אלא לפי חשבון הנשאר משתי הסאין:
10
[The following laws apply when] poor people exchange the presents given them with the owner of the field, i.e., they gave him a se'ah of leket, shichachah, peah or the tithes for the poor and they took a se'ah of grain from the grain pile.41 [The grain] he takes from them is exempt from the tithes,42 even though it was prepared in the domain of the owner. [Tithes] must be separated from [the grain] they take from him even though it was given in exchange for their presents that are exempt.
י
עניים שהחליפו מתנותיהן עם בעל הבית כגון שנתנו לו סאה של לקט או שכחה ופאה ומעשר עני ונטלו סאה מן הגורן זה שנטל מהם פטור מן המעשר אף על פי שנעשה ברשות בעל הבית וזה שנטלו ממנו חייב אע"פ שהוא חלף מתנותיהן הפטורין:
11
[The following laws apply when] there are two baskets of tevel from which terumah was separated in front of a person and he says: "Let the tithes from this one be in the other one." The tithing of the first basket is effective, for he has established its tithes within the second basket. The tithing of the second basket is not effective because tithes cannot be set aside from the first basket because the obligation to tithe has already been discharged for the second basket from which the tithes from both must be separated.43
יא
מי שהיו לפניו שתי כלכלות של טבל שנטלה תרומתן ואמר מעשרות זו בזו הראשונה מעושרת אמר מעשרות זו בזו וזו בזו הראשונה מעושרת שהרי קבע מעשרותיה בשנייה ואין השנייה מעושרת שאין מפרישין מעשר מן הראשונה שכבר נפטרה על השנייה שעדיין היא חייבת במעשר שתיהן:
12
If one says: "With regard to the tithes for these two baskets. The tithes for each one are established in the other," he has designated the tithes by name and has established the tithes within them. He therefore separates the tithes from them. He may not separate the tithes from another source.44
יב
אמר מעשרות שתי כלכלות אלו מעשר כל אחת מהן קבוע בחברתה קרא שם וכבר קבע מעשרותיהן בהן ומוציא המעשרות שלהן ואינו יכול להוציא עליהן מעשרות ממקום אחר:
13
How are the tithes separated [in the above situation]? One may separate the tithes for both of them from one of them or he should separate the tithes from each one of them from itself if they were of equal [size].45 If one of them was larger than the other, one should separate the tithes for the larger one from the smaller one and the tithes for the smaller one from the larger one.46
יג
וכיצד מעשרן מוציא מעשר שתיהן מאחת מהן או מעשר כל אחת מהן ממנה אם היו שוות ואם היתה אחת גדולה מחברתה מפריש מן הקטנה מעשר הגדולה ומן הגדולה מעשר הקטנה:
FOOTNOTES
1.
One might argue that this law does not apply at present. And indeed, did not apply throughout the entire Second Temple period. As explained in Hilchot Terumah 1:26 and notes, from the time of the exile of the tribes of Reuven and Gad towards the end of the First Temple period, the mitzvah to separate tithes was no longer required by Scriptural Law. On the other hand, since the source of the mitzvot are Scriptural, even though their observance now is Rabbinic, we follow stringencies as if the Scriptural mitzvah still applies.
2.
I.e., he is giving one fiftieth which is the ordinary measure separated as terumah (ibid. 3:2).
3.
For the second tithe is given as a tenth of the new total once the first tithe has been separated.
4.
See Chapter 9, Halachah 10.
5.
There is a difference of opinion among the Sages of the Talmud if this principle, referred to as bereirah should be applied or not (see Beitzah 37b). Because the matter is not resolved, with regard to questions of Scriptural Law, we are stringent, but with regard to matters of Rabbinic Law, we rule leniently.
6.
And there is no way one can drink from the top without drinking from the bottom or drink from the bottom without drinking from the top.
7.
This does not represent a contradiction to the previous halachah. In that instance, the person had not separated the terumah and the tithes. He had merely stated that he would. In this instance, he has made a separation even though he did not physically remove it.
8.
For the produce will not become intermingled.
9.
See Hilchot Ma'aser Sheni, ch. 4, which describes how the second tithe can be redeemed for silver coinage.
10.
I.e., this is referring to a situation where the person did not make the separations in the desired sequence. This is undesirable, as stated in Hilchot Terumah 3:23.
11.
He may not, however, separate it as terumat m'aser for this batch of produce, for it is not proper to separate terumat ma'aser before one separates the tithes themselves. See Chapter 9, Halachah 5.
The Ra'avad states that one may use it as terumat ma'aser for other produce, but not as ordinary terumah.
12.
I.e., he puts aside this batch of produce. Whenever he has new produce, he measures it and calculates a tenth. Afterwards, he considers that quantity of the produce set aside as tithes. When that entire batch of produce has been designated as tithes, he gives it to a Levite. See also (Hilchot Terumah 5:26).
13.
I.e., he must separate tithes again, lest he had made the original separation after the produce which he designated for his tithes was lost. The Mishnah (Gittin 3:8) mentions the opinion of Rabbi Elazar who maintains that one shows concern only for the separations made within the last 24 hours. Other Sages differ, however, and maintain that one must show concern for all produce separated (Kessef Mishneh; see Rav Kapach's edition of the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah).
Tosafot Yom Tov (Gittin, loc. cit.) states that the Rambam's wording implies that one should separate tithes for one's produce even if that produce has already been eaten. Other authorities, however, do not accept this deduction.
14.
For perhaps, the produce that he had set aside was intact at the time he made the separation.
15.
Who is entitled to receive both terumah and the tithes.
16.
Who is entitled to receive the tithes.
17.
Who is entitled to receive the tithe for the poor.
18.
I.e., the lender lent a Levite 100 zuz, but did not require him to pay it. Instead, he said that he would continually deduct the money in exchange for the produce he would set aside as tithes until the debt was paid, as described in the following halachah.
19.
In which instance, they - and therefore, the lender - would not be entitled to the crops separated for these purposes.
20.
There is obviously a printing error in the standard published text of the Mishneh Torah.
21.
In this way, the produce separated formally becomes the property of the debtor. Even though ultimately the lender will be receiving the produce, he must make the separations so that the main batch of produce will not be tevel.
22.
He must, however, make these separations. He need not give them to another person, because since these individuals are accustomed to receiving this produce, it is considered as if he already received them (Rashi, Gittin 30a).
23.
I.e., whenever produce is sold, there is a buyer's bid and a seller's bid. The buyer's bid is always lower than the seller's. The lender may price the produce according to the buyer's bid.
24.
Despite the fact that he is receiving an advantage - considering the produce's worth at a lower price - for having made the loan.
25.
Although the Sabbatical year remits debts (Hilchot Shemitah, ch. 9), it remits only those debts for which a person must demand payment. In this instance, it is as if the payment has already been arranged (Meiri, Gittin 30a).
26.
Our Sages ordained this measure for the sake of the recipients (Gittin, loc. cit.).
27.
Rashi (Gittin, loc. cit.) explains that we are speaking about a situation where the lender stipulated that he would receive payment for the loan from the terumah or tithes from a particular year. That year was a year of drought and his harvest appeared lost entirely. He made a public statement of despair, acknowledging that he no longer expected to be able to collect the debt, because his fields would not grow enough crops. If, despite this condition, his fields produced crops, he is not entitled to keep the terumah and/or tithes for himself. The rationale is that he has already given up hope of their recovery.
28.
I.e., the arrangement to pay the debt is not automatically transferred to the heirs of the estate. They must agree to it.
29.
As long as the testator possesses land, his estate is responsible for the debt, because the land is on lien to it. Hence, his heirs can continue the arrangement if they so choose.
30.
If the deceased left only movable property, the debt does not create a lien on the estate. There is a mitzvah for them to pay the debt, but no binding obligation. Hence, they cannot have terumah or tithes separated for the sake of paying the debt.
31.
For it is as if the court agreed that all the priests and/or Levites would accept responsibility for the debt in the event of the debtor's death.
32.
For a wealthy person cannot be a recipient of the tithes for the poor.
33.
For it is as if the lender specified that he would accept this method as payment for the debt. If that method is no longer viable, he must suffer the loss.
34.
A measure of volume.
35.
I.e., and thus, he has not formally acquired it as his own. Nevertheless, he can rely on the assumption that a Jew will not act unfaithfully and will keep his word (Bava Metzia 49a).
36.
The fact that by changing his mind and failing to keep his word, the Israelite caused a spiritual difficulty for the first Levite - for he caused him to violate a transgression by partaking of tithes for which terumat ma'aser was not separated - does not create a financial liability.
37.
As the tithes.
38.
As the tithe for the poor. As the Rambam writes in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Terumot 4:2), he does not have to separate a full se'ah as the tithes for the poor, for once the first tithe has been separated, all that is necessary is to separate a tenth from the new total and this will be slightly less than a se'ah.
39.
I.e., he is thinking that the tithes will have been separated for these eight se'ah.
40.
I.e., the produce possessed by each of the recipients should be one tenth of the amount of produce that he uses. We do not say that the produce that he originally separated can serve as the tithes for the produce he will set aside afterwards unless it is intact. See Halachah 4.
41.
I.e., the owner acted generously with the poor people, taking a se'ah of their presents - which is usually produce of inferior quality - and exchanging it for a se'ah of quality produce from the grain pile.
42.
For there is no obligation to separate tithes from the presents of the poor (Hilchot Terumah 2:9).
43.
As stated in Chapter 1, Halachah 6, one may not separate tithes from produce that is exempt from the mitzvah of tithing or for which the obligation to tithe has already been discharged.
44.
For he has designated the tithes as coming from those baskets.
45.
From the Tosefta (Demai 8:12), it appears that if the piles of produce are equal, it makes no difference to the person from which pile he makes the separations. Thus he can separate them as he desires (Radbaz).
46.
For his statements indicate that he desired to separate the tithes for one pile from the other.
Maaser - Chapter 8
1
Produce from which the great terumah and terumat ma'aser have been separated are referred to as "ordinary produce."1When the other tithes have been separated from it, it is universally called "ordinary produce that has been made acceptable."
א
הפירות שהורם מהן תרומה גדולה ותרומת מעשר הן הנקראין חולין ואם הפריש מהן שאר מעשרותיהן הן הנקראין חולין מתוקנין בכל מקום:
2
[The following laws apply when] tevel2 becomes mixed together with the same species of ordinary produce that has been made acceptable in which instance, [the tevel cannot be considered insignificant] because its flavor [cannot be detected].3 If he has other produce, he should separate the terumat [ma'aser] and the tithes for the tevel according to the appropriate reckoning.4If he does not have other produce from which to make the separations for that tevel, the entire mixture is forbidden until he makes separations from it. When he makes these separations, he forfeits a portion from the ordinary produce that has been made acceptable that is equivalent to the terumat ma'aser that must be separated from the tevel.5
ב
טבל שנתערב בחולין מתוקנין מין במינו שאי אפשר להלך אחר הטעם אם יש לו פירות אחרות מוציא על אותו טבל תרומה ומעשרות לפי חשבון ואם אין לו פירות אחרות להוציא על אותו טבל הרי הכל אסור עד שיפריש וכשהוא מפריש מפסיד מן החולין המתוקנין כדי תרומת מעשר שבטבל:
3
What is implied? If 100 se'ah of tevel is mixed with 100 se'ah of ordinary produce that has been made acceptable, he should separate 101 [se'ah] from the entire mixture. Everything that he sets aside is considered as tevel. Thus 99 se'ah of ordinary produce that has been made acceptable remain. He has thus lost a se'ah [of the ordinary produce].6 Similarly, if terumah had also not been separated from the tevel, he must forfeit an amount from the ordinary produce that has been made acceptable that is equivalent to the terumah and terumat ma'aser [to be separated from the tevel].7
Why must he forfeit this se'ah?8 So that he will not say: "The 100 se'ah that I set aside are ordinary produce and the 100 that remain are tevel."9 Similarly, if the amount of the tevel exceeded or was less than ordinary produce, one should separate [an amount equivalent] to the tevel and [an amount] from the ordinary produce [equivalent] to the terumat ma'aser [to be separated from the tevel] or equivalent to the terumah and terumat ma'aser [to be separated] if it was tevel from which terumah was not separated.
ג
כיצד מאה סאה של טבל שנתערב במאה סאה של חולין מתוקנין מפריש מן הכל אחד ומאה וכל שהפריש טבל וישאר צ"ט חולין מתוקנין נמצא מפסיד סאה אחת וכן אם היה אותו טבל טבול לתרומה מפסיד מן החולין המתוקנין כדי תרומה ותרומת מעשר ולמה מפסיד סאה זו כדי שלא יאמר מאה שהפריש הן מאה של חולין והמאה שנשארו הוא הטבל וכן אם היה הטבל פחות מן החולין או מרובה על החולין מגביה הטבל וכדי תרומת מעשר שבטבל מן החולין או כדי תרומה ותרומת מעשר אם היה הטבל טבול לתרומה:
4
Similarly, if tithes10 that were tevel11 became mixed with ordinary produce that has been made acceptable, even the slightest amount causes the mixture to be prohibited. If the person has other tithes, he should make a separation for the terumat ma'aser for the tithes that require this according to the appropriate proportion.12If he does not have other tithes,13 he should remove the tithes and forfeit from the ordinary produce that has been made acceptable an amount equal to the terumat ma'aser in the tithes.14
ד
וכן אם נתערב מעשר טבול בחולין מתוקנין אוסר בכל שהוא אם יש לו מעשר אחר מוציא אותו על מעשר הטבול תרומת מעשר לפי חשבון ואם אין לו מעשר מגביה המעשר שנתערב ומפסיד מן החולין המתוקנין כדי תרומת מעשר שבמעשר הטבול:
5
What is implied? 100 [se'ah of] tithes become mixed with 100 [se'ah of] ordinary produce that has been made acceptable. He should separate 110 se'ah from the entire mixture. Everything that he separates is considered as the tithes. The 90 [se'ah] that remain are ordinary produce as before. Similarly, if the amount of the ordinary produce exceeds or is less than that of these tithes, he should separate the tithes and from the ordinary produce, an amount equivalent to the terumat ma'aser in the tithes.15
ה
כיצד מאה מעשר שנתערב במאה חולין מתוקנין מפריש מן הכל מאה ועשר וכל שהפריש מעשר והתשעים הנשארות הן חולין כשהיו וכן אם היו החולין מרובין על המעשר הטבול או פחותים ממנו מפריש המעשר וכדי תרומת מעשר שבמעשר הטבול מן החולין:
6
[The following laws apply when] tevel becomes mixed together with tithes16 that were tevel.17 If the amount of tevel was equivalent to the amount of the tithes, he must forfeit from the tevel an amount equivalent to the terumat ma'aser it contains.18
What is implied? There were 100 se'ah of tevel that became mixed with 100 se'ah of tithes. He should separate 101 [se'ah]; they are considered as tithes.19 The 99 remaining are considered as tevel.20
If there was more tevel than tithes, he should separate the tithes alone and he does not forfeit anything from the tevel. For if he would designate the terumat ma'aser of the tevel,21 the tithes would be meduma,22 a mixture of [the tithes]23 and the terumat ma'aser from the tithes which are separated together.
If there were more tithes than tevel, he should designate the terumat ma'aser in the tevel, setting aside the tevel and an amount equivalent to the terumat ma'aser for the tevel, i.e., one one-hundredth of the tithe. The tevel should be considered as if it is all meduma and sold to a priest with the exception of the worth of the two [portions of] terumah in it. Thus he will forfeit one hundredth of the tithes which is equivalent to the terumat ma'aser in the tevel.
What is implied? If there were 100 [se'ah] tevel with 200 [se'ah] of the tithes, he should set aside 103. The three [se'ah] are the terumat ma'aser of the 100 [se'ah] of tevel and the measure of terumat ma'aser for the 200 [se'ah of the tithes]. [This separation is necessary] so that people will not come to err if [the tithes] became mixed with an equivalent amount [of tevel]. Therefore he should leave 197 [se'ah] which will remain tithes as they were.24
ו
טבל שנתערב במעשר טבול אם היה הטבל כמעשר מפסיד מן הטבל כדי תרומת מעשר שבו כיצד מאה סאה טבל שנתערב במאה סאה מעשר מפריש אחד ומאה וזה שהפריש מעשר וצ"ט הנשארות טבל היה הטבל מרובה על המעשר מפריש המעשר בלבד ולא יפסיד מן הטבל כלום שאם יקרא שם לתרומת מעשר שנטבל נמצא המעשר מדומע בתרומת מעשר של טבל שעלתה עמו היה המעשר מרובה על הטבל קורא שם לתרומת מעשר [שבטבל] ומפריש הטבל וכדי תרומת מעשר של טבלו אחד ממאה מן המעשר ויהיה הטבל כולו מדומע וימכרנה לכהן חוץ מדמי שתי תרומות שבו ונמצא מפסיד מן המעשר אחד ממאה שבו שהוא כמו תרומת מעשר שבטבל כיצד מאה טבל עם מאתים מעשר מפריש מאה ושלש והשלש הן תרומת מעשר של מאה טבל ושיעור תרומת מעשר ממאתים כדי שלא יבוא לטעות אם נתערבו בכמותו וישאר קצ"ז והם מעשר כשהיו:
7
[The following laws apply when a person] has [a stack with] ten lines, each containing ten barrels of wine and [the owner] allocated25 one barrel of the outer line26 as tithes for other wine,27but he does not know which outer line [he intended]. He should take two barrels from [the corners] on a diagonal,28 mix them, and separate [the tithes] from them.29
ז
מי שהיו לו עשר שורות של עשר עשר כדי יין וקבע כד אחד משורה החיצונה מעשר על מקום אחר ואין ידוע אי זו שורה החיצונה היא נוטל שתי חביות באלכסון ומערב שתיהן ומפריש מהן:
8
If he allocated [one barrel from] the half30 of an outer row [as tithes], but does not know from which [outer] half a row, he should take four barrels, [one] from each of the corners.31 If he allocated [a barrel from] one row, but does not know which row, he should take [a barrel] from a diagonal row.32 If he allocated [a barrel from] half a row, but does not know which half a row, he should take [a barrel] from two diagonal rows.33 Thus he will be taking a barrel from each half row. He should then mix them together and separate [the tithes].
ח
קבעה בחצי שורה החיצונה ואין ידוע אי זו חצי שורה היא נוטל ארבע חביות מארבע זויות קבעה בשורה אחת מהן ואין ידוע אי זו שורה היא נוטל שורה אחת באלכסון קבעה בחצי שורה ואין ידוע אי זו חצי שורה היא נוטל שתי שורות באלכסון שהרי נטל חבית מכל חצי שורה ומערב ומפריש:
9
If he allocated one barrel as tithes but does not know which barrel it is, he should take [some wine] from each of the 100 barrels, mix it together, and separate enough for one barrel as tithes.
ט
קבע המעשר בכד אחת מהן ואין ידוע אי זו היא נוטל מכל כד וכד מן המאה ומערב ומפריש כדי כד אחת ומעשר:
FOOTNOTES
1.
I.e., because the elements of the produce that are sacred have been removed from it [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 7:7)]. Terumat ma'aser should not be separated before the tithes themselves. Nevertheless, if one made such a separation, it is acceptable (Chapter 9, Halachah 5).
2.
In this instance, the term tevel refers to produce from which the tithes and terumat ma'aser have not been separated. Although the term has a more inclusive meaning, from the continuation of the Rambam's words, this appears to be the intent here.
3.
I.e., were the tevel to be of another type of produce than the ordinary produce, the question of whether or not it is considered insignificant would depend on whether its flavor is detectable. In this situation, however, the two collections of produce are of the same species, so taste is not a factor and the tevel cannot be considered as insignificant.
When tevel is mixed with its own species, it is never nullified even if it is mixed with far more than its own size. The rationale is that it is a devar sheyeish lo matirin, i.e., the prohibition can be corrected by making the appropriate separations (Hilchot Issurei Ma'achalot 15:6).
4.
I.e., if he knows how much produce was mixed in, he can make the appropriate separations even if the produce itself is not distinct.
5.
I.e., one hundredth of the tevel. The Rambam explains what he means by forfeiting this amount and why one must do so in the following halachah.
6.
I.e., it is considered as if the se'ah of terumat ma'aser fell into the ordinary produce in which instance, it would be necessary to remove one se'ah from the mixture [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 7:7)].
7.
I.e., three se'ah, two se'ah for the great terumah and one se'ah for the terumat ma'aser.
8.
For the se'ah that will ultimately be separated from the tevel can be considered as the se'ah that must be removed from the ordinary produce (ibid.).
9.
For the opposite is true, the produce that remains is the ordinary produce (ibid.).
10.
I.e., produce that had been separated as the tithes. Beforehand, terumah had been separated.
11.
I.e., a person separated tithes and gave them to a Levite who did not separate terumat ma'aser from them as of yet.
12.
Setting aside one tenth of the quantity of the tithes. This is the desired approach, because then the necessary separations are being made without losing anything.
13.
And thus cannot exercise the above option.
14.
I.e., one tenth of the tithes.
15.
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (op. cit.), the Rambam explains that this ruling is given because the situation at hand is an intermediate level between an instance where terumat ma'aser becomes mixed with ordinary produce (in which instance 101 times the amount of terumat ma'aser would be necessary) and a situation where the terumat ma'aser need not be considered at all. There is a basis for such leniency, since ultimately, no separation had been made and terumat ma'aser was never mixed with the produce. On the other hand, since a tenth of the tithes is fit to be separated as terumat ma'aser, some recognition should be made. Hence our Sages arrived at the above compromise.
16.
I.e., produce that had been separated as the tithes. Beforehand, terumah had been separated.
17.
I.e., a person separated tithes and gave them to a Levite who did not separate terumat ma'aser from them as of yet.
18.
I.e., 1/100th of the tevel.
19.
The se'ah of terumat ma'aser from the tevel that is added is considered as mixed in with the tithes (ordinary) produce and therefore betal, subsumed, in it. Hence the person can make use of the produce in the ordinary manner.
20.
The Ra'avad differs with the Rambam. The commentaries justify the Rambam's view.
21.
And thus separate an additional amount.
22.
A mixture of terumah and ordinary produce. An ordinary person cannot benefit from such a mixture. Instead, it must be sold to a priest at the price of terumah with the exception of the price of the portion that is terumat ma'aser, as the Rambam continues to explain. The tithes would be meduma, because there would not be enough ordinary produce for the terumat ma'aser to be subsumed within them.
23.
Which are ordinary produce.
24.
In this way, he is forfeiting from the tithes the amount of terumat ma'aser in the tithes and the amount of terumat ma'aser in the tevel. The Ra'avad differs with the Rambam and the commentaries support the Rambam's decision.
25.
The commentaries explain that we are not speaking about an instance where he actually set aside the barrel as tithes, for the Rambam concludes the halachah by saying that he should set aside the tithes. Instead, he merely pledged to separate a barrel from that surface for ten barrels of other wine.
26.
I.e., one of the external surfaces of the cube that is the pile [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 7:8)].
27.
The Rambam mentions this point, because otherwise, one could rightly ask: Why does the Mishnah (ibid.) speak about only one barrel of wine as tithes for 100 barrels (Radbaz)?
28.
Our translation is taken from the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (ibid.). The intent is that each of the barrels on the corners is part of two surfaces. Since he is taking a barrel from opposite corners, he will have certainly taken a barrel from the surface he intended. Nevertheless, since he does not know which one of the two is appropriate, he should mix them together.
29.
Preferably, he should also use the remaining amount as tithes for other produce. Thus the barrel separated will be used entirely as tithes (Kin'at Eliyahu).
30.
These and the following bracketed additions are made on the basis of the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (loc. cit.).
31.
Each of the barrels is part of two outer half rows, so that the barrel he intended to allocate is certainly among these four barrels.
32.
By doing so, he will have taken a barrel from every row.
33.
In a criss-cross as depicted in the accompanying diagram.
Maaser - Chapter 9
1
In the age of Yochanan the High Priest who served after Shimon the Just,1the High Court sent emissaries who searched throughout the entire territory of Israel. They discovered that everyone was careful with regard to the great terumah2and would separate it. But with regard to the first tithe, the second tithe, and the tithe for the poor, the common people among Israel would be lax and would not separate it.3 Therefore [the Sages] decreed that only the word of trustworthy people4 would be relied upon with regard to tithes.5 [The status of the produce of] the common people, by contrast is doubtful. We do not rely on them if they say that they separated the tithes. This is called demai.6
א
בימי יוחנן כהן גדול שהיה אחר שמעון הצדיק שלחו ב"ד הגדול ובדקו בכל גבול ישראל ומצאו שהכל זהירים בתרומה גדולה ומפרישין אותה אבל מעשר ראשון ומעשר שני ומעשר עני היו עמי הארץ מישראל מקילין על עצמן ולא היו מפרישין אותן לפיכך גזרו שלא יהא נאמן על המעשרות אלא אנשים נאמנים אבל עמי הארץ פירותיהן ספק ואין נאמנין לומר מעושרין הן וזהו הנקרא דמאי:
2
They ordained that a person should separate only terumat ma'aser from the demai, for it is a transgression punishable by death and the second tithe, for there is no loss in doing so since the owner partakes of it. One need not, however, separate the first tithe or the tithe for the poor from demai because [the obligation] is doubtful and [whenever one desires] to expropriate property from a colleague, the burden of proof is on him. Therefore he tells the Levite or the poor person:7 "Bring proof that it is not tithed," and then take the tithes.
ב
והתקינו שלא יהא אדם מפריש מן הדמאי אלא תרומת מעשר מפני שהוא עון מיתה ומעשר שני שאין בזה הפסד שהרי בעליו אוכלין אותו אבל מעשר ראשון ומעשר עני אין מפריש מן הדמאי מפני שהוא ספק והמוציא מחבירו עליו הראיה לפיכך אומר ללוי או לעני הבא ראיה שאינו מעושר וטול מעשרות:
3
Even though one does not separate the tithe for the poor from demai, it is necessary to designate it without separating it. One says: "A tenth of what is here is the tithe for the poor. [This is done] to firmly establish [the obligation of] the second tithe.8 For the tithe for the poor is given in the third and sixth years instead of the second tithe given in the other years of the Sabbatical cycle.
ג
אף על פי שאין מפרישין מעשר עני מן הדמאי צריך לקרות לו שם ואינו מפריש ואומר עישור מה שיש כאן מעשר עני כדי לקבוע מעשר שני שמעשר עני בשלישית וששית במקום מעשר שני של שאר שני השבוע:
4
ד
כשמפרישין מן הדמאי תרומת מעשר ומעשר שני אין מברכין עליהן לפי שהוא ספק לפיכך מותר להפריש כשהוא ערום:
5
How should tithes be separated from demai? One should set aside an amount equivalent to the measure of terumat ma'aser, i.e., one hundredth of the entire amount, and place it next to the produce and say: "This is the tithe as is the remainder of the tithes that are adjacent to it." He then says: "This [portion] which I [first] set aside as the tithes, is terumat ma'aser for the remainder of the tithes that are adjacent to it."11 He then takes it and gives it to a priest.12 This order is required, because, as an initial and prefatory measure, it is forbidden to separate terumat ma'aser before the tithes themselves.13 Afterwards, he should separate the second tithe.
ה
כיצד מעשרין את הדמאי מפריש כדי תרומת מעשר שהוא אחד ממאה מן הכל ומניחה בצד הפירות ואומר זה מעשר ושאר מעשר סמוך לו ואח"כ אומר זה שאמרתי עליו שהוא מעשר הרי הוא תרומת מעשר על שאר המעשר הסמוך לו ונוטל אותה ונותנה לכהן שאינו רשאי להפריש תרומת מעשר קודם המעשר לכתחלה ואחר כך מפריש מעשר שני:
6
It is permissible to set aside the second tithe before the first tithe [when tithing] demai.14 If one desires,15 he should say: "The second tithe of this produce is located in the northern portion - or the southern portion - of the produce and its [holiness] is transferred to this money."16
Similarly, a person who purchases a loaf of bread from a baker17should separate18 from it the amount to be separated as terumat ma'aser and as challah,19and say: "The one hundredth of [the total] that is here is [part of] the tithes as well as the remainder of the tithes that are next to it.20 May this portion that I set aside as tithes, serve as terumat ma'aser for the remainder of the tithes that are next to it. The remainder of what I set aside that exceeds one hundredth of the total is challah and the second tithe in its northern - or southern - portion, and its [holiness] is transferred to this money." He may then partake [of the bread].
ו
ומותר להפריש מעשר שני קודם הראשון בדמאי ואם רצה אומר מעשר שני של פירות אלו בצפונם או בדרומם והרי הוא מחולל על המעות וכן הלוקח ככר מן הנחתום מפריש ממנה כדי תר"מ וחלה ואומר אחד ממאה ממה שיש כאן הרי הוא מעשר ושאר מעשר סמוך לו וזה שעשיתי מעשר עשוי תרומת מעשר על השאר הסמוך לו והיתר על אחד ממאה שיש בזה שהפרשתי הרי הוא חלה ומעשר שני בצפונה או בדרומה והרי הוא מחולל על המעות ואוכל:
7
Similarly, if a person invites a colleague to dine with him [on the Sabbath]21and [the guest] does not trust [the host] with regard to the separation of the tithes,22[the guest should do the following]: On Friday, he should say: "[The produce] that I will separate tomorrow is [part of] the tithes, as is the remainder of the tithes which are adjacent to it. That portion which I [first] designated as the tithes is terumat ma'aser for the remainder which is adjacent to it. The second tithe in its northern - or southern - portion, and its [holiness] is transferred to [this] money."
[This is permitted,] because a person may make such stipulations with regard to demai even though it is not in his possession.23When, however, we are certain [that the tithes have not been separated,] he may make stipulations only concerning produce that is in his possession.
ז
וכן המזמין את חבירו שיאכל אצלו והוא אינו מאמינו על המעשרות אומר מערב שבת מה שאני עתיד להפריש למחר הרי הוא מעשר ושאר מעשר סמוך לו וזה שעשיתי מעשר עשוי תרומת מעשר על שאר הסמוך לו ומעשר שני בצפונו או בדרומו והרי הוא מחולל על המעות מפני שמותר לאדם להתנות תנאים אלו על הדמאי אע"פ שאינו ברשותו אבל בודאי אינו מתנה אלא על דבר שברשותו:
8
What is implied?24 If, [on Friday,] he had 100 figs that were tevel in his home and he is in the house of study or in the field25 and he is afraid that night will fall and he will not be able to tithe the produce on the Sabbath, he should say: "The two figs that I will separate are terumah. The ten that I will separate after them are the first tithe. And the nine that I will separate after them are the second tithe." On the morrow, he makes these separations and may then partake [of the figs].26
ח
כיצד היו לו מאה תאנים של טבל בביתו והוא בבית המדרש או בשדה ומתיירא שמא תחשך ואינו יכול לעשר בשבת אומר שני תאנים שאני עתיד להפריש הרי הן תרומה ועשר שאני מפריש אחריהן מעשר ראשון תשע שאני מפריש אחריהן מעשר שני ולמחר מפריש ואוכל:
9
ט
וצריך לרחוש בשפתיו בשעה שמפריש זו אחר זו ואינו כמתקן בשבת שהרי הקדים תנאו וטבל שיש עליו תנאי זה מותר לטלטלו בשבת קודם שיפריש ונותן עיניו בצד זה ואוכל את השאר:
10
If a common person gave him a cup [of wine] to drink [on the Sabbath], he should say:32 "What I will leave in the bottom of the cup is [part of] the tithes,33 as is the remainder of the tithes which are adjacent to it. That portion which I [first] designated as the tithes is terumat ma'aser for the remainder which is adjacent to it. The second tithe is located at the brim of the cup and its [holiness] is transferred to the money."34 He may then [drink] the cup, leaving a portion equivalent to [the amount to be separated as] terumat ma'aser35 in the bottom of the cup.
י
נתן לו ע"ה כוס לשתותו אומר מה שאני עתיד לשייר בשולי הכוס הרי הוא מעשר ושאר מעשר סמוך לו וזה שעשיתי מעשר עשוי תרומת מעשר על השאר הסמוך לו ומעשר שני בפי הכוס והרי הוא מחולל על המעות ושותה ומניח כדי תרומת מעשר בשולי הכוס:
11
Similarly, if a colleague invites him to drink on the Sabbath,36 he should make such a stipulation on Friday with regard to everything that he will desire to partake of at his [home].
Similarly, when a worker does not trust his employer [with regard to the tithing of the food that he is given],37 he should take one fig and say:38 "This and the nine which follow are considered as tithes for the 100 that I will eat. This one is considered as terumat ma'aser for the ten39 that follow. The ten40 that follow after that are considered as the second tithe and their [holiness] is transferred to [this] money." He then takes the fig that he set aside and gives it to the priest.
יא
וכן אם זימנו חבירו לשתות בשבת מתנה כתנאי זה מערב שבת על כל מה שירצה שיסעוד אצלו וכן פועל שאינו מאמין לבע"ה נוטל גרוגרת אחת ואומר זו ותשע הבאות אחריה עשויות מעשר על המאה שאני עתיד לאכול וזו האחת תרומת מעשר על העשר הבאות אחריה ומעשר שני הוא העשר האחרונות והרי הוא מחולל על המעות ונותן הגרוגרת שהפריש לכהן והפועל מפריש לעצמו דמי מעשר שני שתנאי בית דין הוא שתהיה תרומת מעשר משל בע"ה ומעשר שני משל פועל:
12
[Our Sages] did not obligate bakers to separate the second tithe [from grain] that is demai,43 only terumat ma'aser. It is separated in a state of ritual purity together with the challah. The purchaser must separate the second tithe.44
When does the above apply? To one who sells in his store or at the entrance to his store. If, however, he sells it to a wholesale baker or to a store adjacent to a wholesale baker,45 he is obligated to separate the second tithe as well.
יב
הנחתומים לא חייבום חכמים להפריש מע"ש מן הדמאי אלא תרומת מעשר בלבד כדי שיפרישנה בטהרה עם החלה והלוקח מפריש מעשר שני בד"א במוכר בחנותו או על פתח חנותו אבל המוכר לפלטר או בחנות הסמוכה לפלטר חייב להפריש אף מעשר שני:
13
[The following rules apply when] two people harvested their vineyards into a common vat, and one of them is not trusted with regard to the tithes. Even though the one who is trusted [with regard to the tithes] already tithed his own produce,46when he takes his portion of the wine, he is obligated to separate tithes as one does for demai for the portion of the common person.47
What is implied? If they were equal partners and one takes 200 log as his portion, he should separate one log as terumat ma'aserand ten48log as the second tithe for the 100 log [of the common person]. [This is all that is required,] for he already separated the tithes for the produce that was definitely not tithed for half of the entire quantity in the vat.49 Similarly, if his share was a third or a fourth, he must separate [the tithes from the produce he takes] proportionately.50
יג
שנים שבצרו כרמיהן בתוך גת אחת והאחד מהם אינו נאמן על המעשרות אף ע"פ שעישר זה הנאמן על חלקו כשהוא נוטל חלקו מן היין חייב להפריש ממנו מעשר דמאי על חלק ע"ה כיצד היו מחצה למחצה ונוטל בחציו מאתים לוג יין הרי זה מפריש ממנו לוג אחד תרומת מעשר ועשר מעשר שני כנגד המאה לוג שהרי הפריש המעשר של ודאי תחלה על חצי כל שדרכו בגת וכן אם היה שליש או רביע מפריש לפי חשבון:
FOOTNOTES
1.
I.e., not the Hasmonean High Priest of that name who became a Sadducee (Kessef Mishneh).
2.
Since it is punishable by death at the hand of heaven, people were meticulous in separating it [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 1:1).
3.
The majority of the common people would separate the tithes as well. Nevertheless, because there was a significant minority who did not, our Sages imposed this stringency.
4.
See Chapter 10, Halachot 1-2.
5.
I.e., if such people say that their produce was tithed, we accept their word.
6.
The name demai is a composite of the Aramaic words da mai, meaning "This, what is its status?" (Radbaz).
See also Hilchot Berachot 1:20 which states that it is necessary to recite a blessing before partaking of demai. That indicates that although our Sages ordained that one should separate the tithes before partaking of it, they did not consider partaking of it an outright prohibition. For if so, reciting a blessing would not be in place.
7.
I.e., to whom these tithes would be given.
8.
I.e., the Sages ordained this stringency with regard to the tithe for the poor, so that the people will be careful in their observance of the second tithe.
9.
Although one's observance fulfills a decree of our Sages and blessings are recited for the observance of Rabbinic commandments, e.g., the recitation of Hallel, lighting Shabbat and Chanukah candles, washing hands, and the like, a blessing is not recited in this instance, because this obligation was instituted only because of doubt, not as a practice with inherent positive virtue.
10.
I.e., were a blessing required, one would be forbidden to separate it in such a state, because a blessing could not be recited [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 1:4)].
11.
The Radbaz emphasizes that he need not set the remainder of the tithes aside. Indeed, he continues, doing so would be an indication that he should give this produce to the Levite.
12.
As a present. There is reason to say that since the matter is one of doubt, one is not required to give it to the priest, but instead, could sell it to him, our Sages ordained that it be given away. See the commentaries to Sotah 48a.
13.
See Hilchot Terumot 3:23.
14.
Generally, the tithes must be separated in the appropriate order (ibid.). An exception is made with regard to demai, for the obligation to separate it is only a Rabbinic stringency (the Jerusalem Talmud, Demai 1:4). See also Hilchot Ma'aser Sheni 11:13.
15.
i.e., if rather than partaking of the produce in Jerusalem as is required with regard to the second tithe, he chooses to redeem it, transferring its holiness to money. That money should be taken to Jerusalem and used to purchase food there. See Hilchot Ma'aser Sheni, chs. 4-5.
16.
I.e., it is not necessary to actually take this produce to Jerusalem and partake of it as the second tithe. Instead, its holiness could be transferred to money and
17.
I.e., a baker who is a common person in whose instance the precautions concerning demai must be taken.
18.
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 5:1), the Rambam states that one should separate this portion from the loaf. Instead, one should slice a piece from the loaf, without cutting the slice away entirely. The commentaries question whether this is the intent here or that here, the Rambam changed his mind and is speaking of a complete separation.
19.
As stated in Hilchot Bikkurim 5:1-2, before one is permitted to partake of bread, one must separate a portion as challah. According to Scriptural Law, there is no minimum amount required for this separation. According to the Rabbis, a private person must separate one twenty-fourth of the loaf and a baker one forty-eighth. In this instance, the latter amount should be separated together with one hundredth for terumat ma'aser.
20.
As in Halachah 5.
21.
When it is forbidden to separate tithes (Hilchot Shabbat 23:14).
22.
Although a person who is meticulous in his observance of the tithes should not eat in a common person's home (Chapter 10, Halachah 1), it can be explained that this is speaking about an instance where the person accepted the invitation without knowing that the host was not meticulous in his observance of the mitzvah. We are, however, speaking about a situation where the guest merely suspects that his host is not meticulous in his observance. If he is certain that he is not meticulous, different rules apply, as the Rambam states in the final clause of the halachah. The leniencies to follow were granted only for the sake of the Sabbath, but not during the week.
23.
This leniency is granted because the obligation to make these separations is Rabbinic in origin.
24.
I.e., how can a stipulation be made before the Sabbath for produce that we know is tevel to be tithed on the Sabbath?
25.
And thus he cannot physically separate them before the onset of the Sabbath.
26.
He may not, however, partake of the figs and then leave the tithes. The rationale is that in questions of Scriptural Law, the principle of bereirah is not applied and we do not consider it as if the separation that he will ultimately make was made from the outset [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 7:5)]. See also Chapter 1, Halachah 9.
27.
Stating that he had made a stipulation on the previous day.
28.
The reason it is forbidden to separate tithes on the Sabbath.
29.
If, however, such a stipulation was not made before the onset of the Sabbath, it is forbidden to move the tevel. Since it is forbidden to partake of it on the Sabbath, it is comparable to a stone (Hilchot Shabbat 25:19).
30.
Since after the separations will be made, it will be permitted to partake of it, one never diverted his attention from using it on the Sabbath.
31.
Even if the tithes have not been taken away from the produce, since they have already been separated and their place is distinct, it is as if they have been separated already. We do not have to rely on the principle of bereirah (Radbaz).
32.
This is an extension of the principles stated in Halachah 7. In this instance as well, the common person had invited him to dine with him on the Sabbath and thus he was unable to make the separations before the Sabbath.
33.
Since demai is a Rabbinic decree, we may rely on the principle of bereirah, that a separation made afterwards is retroactively considered as if was made beforehand. Thus the wine in the cup is not considered as tevel even though the tithes were not actually separated until later [the Rambam's Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 72:2)].
34.
I.e., the money he has set aside at home for the redemption of the second tithe.
35.
1/100th of the cup.
36.
The Radbaz questions why the Rambam deviates from the wording used by the Mishnah (Demai 7:1) which speaks of a person inviting a colleague to dine.
37.
We are speaking about a situation in which the worker is entitled to partake of the produce as a result of a contractual stipulation and not because the Torah gives him the right to do so. See Chapter 5, Halachah 9.
38.
In contrast to the previous halachot, this is not speaking about a situation where the person partakes of the food on the Sabbath. Instead, it is speaking about a situation during the week and the separation is made at the time the tithes are designated.
39.
Actually, the nine.
40.
Here also, the intent is nine. See Chapter 7, Halachah 1.
41.
Since he will use this money for food in Jerusalem, he will not suffer a loss by separating it from his own.
42.
I.e., the worker is entitled to take an extra fig from the employer as reimbursement for the produce he gives the priest as terumat ma'aser.
43.
In his Commentary to the Mishnah (Demai 2:4, based on Yoma 9a), the Rambam writes that this leniency was instituted because the local officials would keep steady watch over the bakers and regulate their sales, preventing them from charging higher prices. In consideration of their position, our Sages did not require them to separate the second tithe.
44.
For he will not be suffering a loss, for he will use the money from the second tithe to purchase food in Jerusalem. For the baker, however, making this separation would be a severe loss, for he would never spend all the money for the grain he uses on his own provisions in Jerusalem.
45.
In which instance, the initial baker is not pressured to lower his price to the same degree.
46.
I.e., they divided the grapes originally and he tithed his grapes before they were crushed and made into wine.
47.
I.e., he must separate tithes for the share of his partner.
48.
Actually, the nine.
49.
We assume that each drop of wine is equally blended between the tithed portion and the portion that is demai. Thus the share to be tithed is no more than half the amount the person is taking, for he already separated the tithes for his own share.
In his gloss to this halachah, the Ra'avad questions the Rambam's ruling, noting that the restrictions regarding demai are Rabbinic in origin and that the principle of bereirah can be applied in questions of Rabbinic Law. Hence, based on this principle, we could say that retroactively, it could be considered that when the person separated the tithes for his portion, he was separating the tithes for the portion that he would ultimately receive.
The Ra'avad explains that it is possible to say that this principle is not applied as a penalty to the person. He is penalized, because he should not have mixed his produce with that of a common person. The Radbaz amplifies this explanation, stating that by mixing his produce together with that of a common person he caused the terumat ma'aser that will be separated to become impure. The Kessef Mishneh explains that initially when the separation was first made, the two batches of produce were not mixed together. Hence, it is not appropriate to say that the separation he is making now will affect the entire quantity.
If, however, they were full partners and did not make a division until the wine was produce, the person who is conscientious in his observance need not separate more than the tithes for his own portion. There is no need for him to be concerned about the share of the common person. For within this context, we apply the principle of bereirah and assume that retroactively, each one is receiving his own share and hence has no responsibility for the share of his colleague.
50.
If his share of the produce was one-third, he would have separated that amount of the total yield. Thus he would have to tithe two-thirds of the produce he receives.
• Shabbat, 6 Adar, 5777 · 4 March 2017
• "Today's Day"
• Thursday, 6 Adar I, 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: T'ruma, Chamishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 35-38.
Tanya: Moreover, even in (p. 119)...to a great extent. (p. 119).
From my father's sichot: It is a magnificent gift of G-d to merit an innate sense - a "feel" - for doing kindness to another, to derive deep pleasure from it. This can develop to the point that one cherishes the other more than oneself. He may find many explanations as to why he deserves his own tribulations, G-d forbid, but to do so with regard to another's suffering - is absolutely impossible.
Shabbat, Adar Sheini 6, 5703
Haftora: Vatishlam kol ham'lacha. In the haftora b'rachot we always say ne'eman v'rachaman ata, and toshia ut'samach (p. 187).
Torah lessons: Chumash: Pekudei, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 35-38.
Tanya: The explanation of (p. 157)...Man will understand. (p. 163).
It is a tradition among the elders of anash1 that the Tanya is a compilation of words of counsel given by the Alter Rebbe to anash at yechidus during the years 5540-5550 (1780-1790). In the summer of 5552 (1792) he began arranging the Tanya in the form it now has. A year later, there were already numerous copies, and in time, there were corruptions of the text and even falsifications. For that reason the Rebbe then moved quickly to have it printed.
Another version: For twenty years the Rebbe wrote his work, the Tanya, painstakingly examining every last word. By the year 5555 (1795) the text was pure and clarified and he granted permission to copy it. When copies became numerous and corrupted he had it printed.
The Tzemach Tzedek related that on the first Rosh Hashana of his life (in 5550, 1789) the Alter Rebbe spoke on the statement in the Talmud, He is administered an oath, Be a tzadik... This discourse is in fact the first three chapters of Tanya.
FOOTNOTES
1.Members of the Chabad chassidic community.
• Daily Thought:
We Are the Child
Your child is not like everyone else; your child is you.
And yet, your child is not you; your child is his own person.
A paradox.
Our souls are that paradox—on a greater scale: the nexus between G‑d and His universe, where His own breath becomes His creation.
That is why we are called His children. And we call Him our Father.
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