2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

Tun the lights down low . . .

When my husband and I first moved in together in New York, he was appalled that I was going to leave the Shabbat candles burning in the apartment while we went out after dinner. I explained that we are not allowed to blow out the Shabbat candles (and that they were on metal and nothing would happen if they fell over). Next thing I knew, he was aiming a fan at the candles so they would be extinguished without anyone “blowing” them out.

Still not kosher, as we see on todays daf (which takes a sexy turn so read on!):

The Gemara relates that Ulla once happened to come to the house of Rav Yehuda on a Festival. Ulla’s servant stood and tilted the oil lamp [sheragga], with the intention of preventing the oil from reaching the wick so that the light would be extinguished more quickly. Rav Yehuda raised an objection to Ulla from the following baraita, in which it is taught: One who adds oil to a lamp on Shabbat is liable for performing the prohibited labor of kindling on Shabbat, and one who supplies himself with oil from a lit lamp on Shabbat is liable for performing the prohibited labor of extinguishing, as he causes the light to be extinguished more quickly. This indicates that any action, even an indirect one, that causes a lamp to be extinguished earlier than it would have otherwise is considered extinguishing.

So, no tilting the lamp, and no moving the fan . . .now it gets sexy – because what if those lights are in the bedroom?

Abba bar Marta raised a dilemma before Abaye: What is the halakha with regard to extinguishing a lamp that is burning in a room on a Festival for another matter, a euphemism for marital relations? So, can you put out the lamp for sexy time? Abaye said to him: One may not extinguish it, as it is possible to have relations in a different room.

Oh, that’s not a good enough answer for Abba bar Marta:

If he does not have a different room, what should he do? Abaye replied: It is possible to erect for oneself a partition out of sheets and engage in relations on the other side of the partition. Abba bar Marta asked further: If he does not have sheets to erect a partition, what should he do? Abaye answered: It is possible to invert a vessel over the lamp in order to hide the light. Abba bar Marta further inquired: If he does not have a vessel, what should he do? Abaye said to him: It is prohibited; one may not extinguish the lamp.

I imagine Abaye yelling that last line, he is clearly frustrate. But, so is Abba bar Marta who clearly wants to turn the lights off and doesn’t buy what Abaye is saying:

Abba bar Marta raised an objection to Abaye’s opinion from the following baraita: One may not extinguish a piece of wood in order to save it from being needlessly burned, but if he extinguishes it so that the house or a pot not become smoky, it is permitted. Abba bar Marta is saying: it is permitted to extinguish a fire on a Festival if it serves people’s needs – and he needs to have sexy time. Abaye said to him: That baraita is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda; when I spoke, it was in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, who disagree.

So, perhaps Abba bar Marta will follow the minority opinion. (Can’t help but wonder about his sex life reading this.)

And maybe John’s argument in putting out the candles had value from his perspective as he worried “ the house or a pot not become smoky” but from then on we started putting a cookies sheet under the candles and that seemed to be enough for him to not insist we put out the lights.

Quick gem and a longer gem.

Quick gem: Judaism believes that animals have souls: Rabbi Akiva says: When the verse states “every soul,” it comes to teach that even the soul of an animal is included.

Longer gem: Everyone gets tired and doesn’t want to think too hard sometimes, as we see in this amusing story:

§ Rav Avya the Elder raised the following dilemma before Rav Huna: If an animal is owned in partnership, half of it belonging to a gentile and half of it to a Jew, what is the halakha with regard to slaughtering it on a Festival? Rav Huna said to him: It is permitted. Rav Avya said to him: And what is the difference between this case and that of vow-offerings and gift-offerings? Seeking to distract Rav Avya so that he need not answer his question, Rav Huna said to him: Look, a raven flies in the sky!

Amazing! Rav Huna clearly knows the law, but to explain it seems to be more than he wants to do at that moment. So, what does he do? Tries to distract Rav Avya and avoid answering. But why?

When Rav Avya left, Rabba, son of Rav Huna, said to his father: Was this not Rav Avya the Elder, whom Master would recommend to us, saying that he is a great man? If you respect him, why did you treat him in that manner and evade his question? Rav Huna said to him: What should I have done for him? Today I am in a state best described by the verse: “Let me lean against the stout trunks; let me couch among the apple trees” (Song of Songs 2:5), meaning I am worn out and exhausted from all the communal responsibility that has fallen upon me, and he asked me about something that requires reasoning and careful examination, and therefore I could not provide an immediate answer.

Oh I love this little story. Sometimes all you can get is a short answer. Sometimes teachers/rabbis/parents/teens/humans are just to tired to really get into things properly. And often, their shortness has nothing to do with you.

We all have souls, from dogs to sages, and they all need rest sometimes.

Chag Sameach.

Today’s gems are 1) don’t make promises where the means do not justify the ends, 2) quote your sources, and 3) be specific in what you say.

We begin the daf with people making vows to do something . . . but in keeping their vow, they would be violating a law:

This teaching is similar to the question that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish asked of Rabbi Yoḥanan: With regard to one who vows and says: It is incumbent upon me to bring a thanks-offering, and I will also fulfill my obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering with it; or if he says: I am a nazirite, and I will shave my head, meaning I will purchase the nazirite offerings that are brought when a nazirite shaves himself, with second-tithe money, which I am obligated in any case to bring to Jerusalem, what is the halakha? Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: With regard to the thanks-offering, he has vowed and must bring the offering, but he does not fulfill his obligation of the Festival peace-offering with it, as the latter offering must be brought from unconsecrated animals. Similarly, one who took the vow of naziriteship is a nazirite, but he may not shave his head and bring nazirite offerings purchased with second-tithe money.

Now to being precise in your words:

In relation to the previous case, in which one makes a conditional statement and only part of his statement is accepted, the Gemara relates a somewhat similar incident: A certain man said to those tending to him, in the form of a will: Give four hundred zuz to so-and-so, and let him marry my daughter. Rav Pappa said: The four hundred zuz he takes, but as for the benefactor’s daughter, if he wishes, he may marry her, and if he wishes, he need not marry her. The Gemara comments: The reason is solely that he said it in this manner: Give him the money and let him marry my daughter, mentioning the gift before the condition. However, if he specified the condition first, by saying: Let him marry my daughter and give him the money, in that case, if he marries her, he takes the money, but if he does not marry her, he may not take it.

And finally, quoting your sources:

The Gemara relates: Mareimar sat and stated this halakha with regard to one who attaches a condition to his vow to bring a thanks-offering in his own name, without attributing it to the Sage who stated it. Ravina said to Mareimar: You teach this halakha in this manner, without attribution, whereas we teach it in the form of a question that Reish Lakish asked of Rabbi Yoḥanan.

Wow, I thought it was bad for our students today who might not receive credit for a paper where they’ve plagiarized someone else’s work. But perhaps Mareimar got it worse as Mareimar is now eternally known to take credit for other rabbis’ rulings. Oy!

So, watch your words (and make sure they’re yours)!

If we can prepare food for the festival on the festival itself, can we offer sacrifices )the ones that result in our getting of eat a portion of the meat)? What about a thanksgiving offering, which includes loaves of leavened bread? Are all festival rules the same, regardless of which festival it is?

One may not bring a thanks-offering on the festival of Matzot due to the leavened bread included with it, as a thanks-offering must be accompanied by a meal-offering of forty loaves, ten of which are leavened bread, which may not be eaten on Passover. Nor may one bring this offering on Shavuot because it is a Festival, on which one may not bring any offering, even one that is eaten, if it is not part of the Festival obligations. However, a person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot.

So here we see that perhaps Sukkot is different than the other two festivals as, unlike Shavuot, it has the intermediary days of the holiday, and unlike Passover in which you are not allowed to consume leavening. But of course, we can’t all agree:

The baraita continues: Rabbi Shimon says: But it says: “On the festival of Matzot, on the festival of Shavuot, and on the festival of Sukkot” (Deuteronomy 16:16), to teach: Any offering that comes on the festival of Matzot may come on the festival of Shavuot and on the festival of Sukkot, and any offering that does not come on the festival of Matzot may not come on the festival of Shavuot or on the festival of Sukkot. Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says: A person may bring his thanks-offering on the festival of Sukkot and fulfill with it his obligation to bring peace-offerings of rejoicing. One fulfills the mitzva to rejoice on a Festival by eating the meat of offerings, and this obligation can be fulfilled with the meat of a thanks-offering. But he does not fulfill with it the obligation to bring a Festival peace-offering.

The Gemara analyzes the baraita cited above. The Master said in the baraita that one may not bring a thanks-offering on the festival of Matzot due to the leavened bread included with it. The Gemara expresses surprise: It is obvious that one may not bring this offering on Passover, as it contains leavened bread. Rav Adda, son of Rav Yitzḥak, said, and some say it was Rav Shmuel bar Abba who said: Here, this baraita is not discussing Passover itself; rather, we are dealing with a thanks-offering sacrificed on the fourteenth of Nisan, i.e., on Passover eve, and this tanna holds that one may not bring consecrated offerings to a situation where the time that they may be eaten is restricted, thereby increasing the likelihood of disqualification.

So, this is my gem: All the festivals are different, they have their own flavor and particular rules. And I love this ending, because when you bring a sacrifice, you should not only think about you, your guilt, your gladness, etc – but think about who your sacrifice will affect. In this case it’s the priests – because, while it is permitted to eat leavened bread until the sixth hour of the fourteenth of Nisan, here we learn that one may not bring a thanks-offering on Passover eve because you’re not giving the priests long enough to give out the bread, eat it, enjoy it, etc. before the festival will begin.

So think about what you need to do to prepare for the festival, but don’t let what you need to do get in the way of other people doing what they need to do.

The festival of Sukkot starts tomorrow night!

Today’s daf is debating if we can use an impure vessel to get pure water on the festival (doing so would purify the vessel holding the water, something we are not supposed to do on the holiday). And so, a different immersion is used to try and make an argument – and this is my gem:

Come and hear a different proof, as Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: A menstruating woman who has no ritually pure clothes to wear after she immerses herself in a ritual bath to purify herself, as all her clothes had become impure, and it is Shabbat or a Festival, when she is unable to immerse them, may employ an artifice to circumvent the prohibition and immerse herself in her clothes. She is permitted to purify herself, and when she immerses herself while wearing her garments, they become purified at the same time.

I love this. I was just walking outside in over 90 degree weather and am so sweaty and I want to jump in the pool with my clothes on – I can relate to this woman who wants to immerse in her clothes since they are all “impure” and she’s doing to go into the water anyway.

Is jumping in the pool with your clothes on something you should do regularly? No, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

On today’s daf, we get a ruling that we still see in action in the synagogue today. During weekday prayers, our Amidah has 13 blessings, while on Shabbat it has 7. When there is a festival, we add to the 13. But what about when the festival falls on Shabbat?

The Sages taught the following baraita: In the case of a Festival that occurs on Shabbat, Beit Shammai say: One must recite an Amida prayer that includes eight blessings, inserting two additional blessings between the standard opening three and concluding three. s for the two middle blessings, one recites one for Shabbat as an independent blessing and a second for the Festival as an independent blessing.

So Beit Shammai says – add one! But wait:

And Beit Hillel say: One must pray an Amida comprising only seven blessings, i.e., the three opening ones, the three concluding ones, and one in between. One begins the middle blessing with Shabbat and concludes it with Shabbat, and he recites a passage referring to the sanctity of the day of the Festival in the middle.

So, Hillel says just aff the festial to the blessings we are already saying – a kind of mash-up.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: He even concludes this blessing with mention of both Shabbat and the Festival, saying: Who sanctifies Shabbat, the Jewish people, and the seasons.

This is the final ruling (after, of course, a lot of debate). What I love about this, besides helping me know what to do during tefila, is the order here on the end. Shabbat sanctifies us, makes us holy and separate, and we sanctify the festivals.

A great lesson as we move into Shabbat. May it bring you rest, holiness, and wholeness.

An apropos gem today: A person’s entire livelihood is allocated to him during the period from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur. During that time, as each individual is judged, it is decreed exactly how much money he will earn for all his expenditures of the coming year, except for expenditures for Shabbatot, and expenditures for Festivals, and expenditures for the school fees of his sons’ Torah study. In these areas, no exact amount is determined at the beginning of the year; rather, if he reduced the amount he spends for these purposes, his income is reduced and he earns that much less money in that year, and if he increased his expenditures in these areas, his income is increased to ensure that he can cover the expense. Therefore, one may borrow for these purposes, since he is guaranteed to have enough income to cover whatever he spends for them.

So, in that Book of Life, the amount of money we will make is written. However, this does not include the amount we will spend on ritual observances or educating our children. Here, the amount of money we will have for these mitzvot depends on how much we spend. Now, you would think that, the more we spend, the less money we will have, but the Gemara teaches the opposite. In areas of holiness, education, (and elsewhere we learn tzedakah) the more we give the more we have.

May we be blessed with more than enough to sustain us in this year to come. And may we not hold back from spending our money in holy ways.

On our daf today, Rabbi Eliezer is teaching the entire day of the festival. Slowly, one group at a time, the students begin to leave him to go home and eat, drink and celebrate the day. Eliezer gets upset and says, “They abandon the eternal life of Torah and engage in the temporary life of eating.”

Now, as a rabbi, I know the feeling of seeing someone walk out of services when you’re preaching or a class when you’re teaching – it’s hurtful. It makes me wonder if I’m not doing a good job. So here, I can’t help but think that, perhaps Eliezer is carrying on too long and when people begin to leave, he is being defensive and judgmental of them to protect his pride.

Rabbi Eliezer says: A person has no way of fulfilling the mitzva of a Festival correctly apart from either eating and drinking, thereby fulfilling the mitzva of joy in a completely physical manner, or sitting and studying Torah, thereby emphasizing only the spiritual; and those who did not engage in Torah study to the fullest extent acted inappropriately.

Eliezer wants them to choose Torah over the physical. He makes it an either or – when really, the day can have both:

Rabbi Yehoshua says: There is no need for such a dichotomy; rather, simply divide it: Half to God, Torah study, and half to yourselves, engaging in eating, drinking, and other pleasurable activities.

If we would give even half to God! Imagine what the world would be like.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah – May you be sealed for blessings in this New Year.

Remember the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? How he thinks the Greeks created everything? That’s a popular refrain amongst us Jews as well – that we created everything. I often get emails that show tenuous Jewish connections to things not thought of as having Jewish origins – but according to the email, are Jewish!

Well, today’s daf made turned me into one of those who say everything is originally Jewish. Read the passage below and tell me this does not remind you of “The Princess and the Pea.”

And if you say that the allowance of cloth of diverse kinds is referring to a case where there is something separating between them, i.e., one may place a garment of diverse kinds beneath another object, but didn’t Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi say that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that Rabbi Yosei ben Shaul said that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said, in the name of the sacred congregation in Jerusalem: Even in a case of ten mattresses placed one on top of the other and a cloth of diverse kinds underneath them, it is prohibited to sleep on them, as it is stated: “Neither shall there come upon you” (Leviticus 19:19).

The rabbis can sense an unkosher cloth through ten mattresses – just like the princess can feel that pea.

The Princess and the Pea was published in 1846 and written by Hans Christian Anderson. He claimed he heard it as a child, but there is no evidence that the Dane’s had a story anything like this before he wrote it down. Did he perhaps hear it from a Jewish friend or neighbor? Overhear men studying Talmud? Maybe . . . just maybe . . .

Our daf struggles with the limits of tithing on the festival today. Yesterday we learned we are allowed to give the priest a tithed bottle of wine, but what about other food? If we are allowed to prepare food for the holiday on the holiday in order to make it an oneg (joy), then do we need to tithe everything? What if it’s just a grain of barley? Two grains? What if it’s a cup full?

Interestingly, the grain used to derive the laws is . . . you’ll never guess . . . fenugreek!

Besides wondering what fenugreek is, I am sure you are asking the same question the Gemara asks:

Why specifically discuss fenugreek? According to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the same halakha applies even to stalks of grain as well.

So, I remembered hearing about fenugreek when I was nursing. So a quick google search lead me to health.com which reports: “Based on the available evidence, fenugreek has benefits for lowering blood sugar levels, boosting testosterone, and increasing milk production in breastfeeding mothers. Fenugreek may also reduce cholesterol levels, lower inflammation, and help with appetite control, but more research is needed in these areas.”

Sounds good, however, according to Memorial Sloane Kettering, fenugreek taken in doses larger than regular consumption work as estrogen receptors for breast cancers – so not good.

Our rabbis use fenugreek to determine how tithing should be separated. They say that this Mediterranean grain is ideal because the taste of its stalk and its fruit are identical so you might think that you have to tithe based on the entire stalk – however, you only have to tithe based on the amount of grain harvested. Therefore we learn that any other grain (where most don’t have edible stalks) would be calculated only according to what was harvested.

The gem? Don’t tithe your eggs before they’ve hatched (like that Beitzah connection?). Figure out what your tithing is once you’ve calculated your grains. This is the time of year when Jews generally do tithing. It’s the ten day between Rosh haShana and Yom Kippur, a time of tefila, teshuva and tzedakah. So, look back over the year and calculate what you need to give, and give it.

The benefits of fenugreek are just gem of a side note.