{"id":13614,"date":"2011-04-14T08:55:57","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T08:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/masechet_menahot_44a50b\/"},"modified":"2015-11-02T09:21:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T14:21:57","slug":"masechet_menahot_44a50b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/masechet_menahot_44a50b\/","title":{"rendered":"Masechet Menachot 44a-50b"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz<\/em><\/p>\n

This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud.<\/em><\/p>\n

Menachot 44a-b: How tzitzit<\/em> saved a sinner<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gemara<\/a> relates one concluding story about the power of fulfilling the commandment of tzitzit<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Once a man, who was very scrupulous about the precept of tzitzit, heard of a certain harlot in one of the towns by the sea who accepted four hundred gold dinars for her hire. He sent her four hundred gold dinars and made an appointment with her.<\/em><\/p>\n

When the day arrived he came and waited at her door, and her maid came and told her, \u2018That man who sent you four hundred gold dinars is here and waiting at the door\u2019; to which she replied \u2018Let him come in.\u2019 When he came in she prepared for him seven beds, six of silver and one of gold; and between one bed and the other there were steps of silver, but the last were of gold. She then went up to the top bed and lay down upon it naked. He too went up after her in his desire to sit naked with her, when all of a sudden the four tzitzit of his garment struck him across the face; whereupon he slipped off and sat upon the ground. She also slipped off and sat upon the ground and swore, \u2018By the Roman Capitol, I will not leave you alone until you tell me what blemish you saw in me.\u2019 \u2018By the Temple,\u2019 he replied, \u2018never have I seen a woman as beautiful as you are; but there is one precept which the Lord our God has commanded us, it is called tzitzit, and with regard to it the expression \u2018I am the Lord your God\u2019 is twice written, signifying, I am He who will exact punishment in the future, and I am He who will give reward in the future. Now the tzitzit appeared to me as four witnesses testifying against me.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

She said, \u2018I will not leave you until you tell me your name, the name of your town, the name of your teacher, the name of your school in which you study the Torah.\u2019 He wrote all this down and handed it to her. Thereupon she arose and divided her estate into three parts; one third for the government, one third to be distributed among the poor, and one third she took with her in her hand; the bed clothes, however, she retained. She then came to the Bet Midrash of Rabbi Chiya<\/a>, and said to him, \u2018Master, give instructions about me that they make me a proselyte.\u2019 \u2018My daughter,\u2019 he replied \u2018perhaps you have set your eyes on one of the disciples?\u2019 She thereupon took out the script and handed it to him. \u2018Go,\u2019 said he \u2018and enjoy your acquisition.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Those very bed-clothes which she had spread for him for an illicit purpose she now spread out for him lawfully.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story, whose details can be interpreted in many ways, teaches how repentance based on love of God can successfully turn sins into merits to the extent that the sinner can reach the heights of holiness.<\/p>\n

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Menachot 45a-b: Saving the Book of Yechezkel<\/em> from oblivion<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the Gemara<\/a>‘s interpretation of a series of difficult passages from Sefer<\/a> Yechezkel<\/a><\/em>, Rav Yehuda<\/a> quoted Rav<\/a> as saying:<\/p>\n

That man is to be remembered for good, and Chanina ben Chizkiya is his name; for were it not for him the Book of Yechezkel would have been suppressed, since its sayings contradicted the words of the Torah<\/a>. What did he do? He took up with him three hundred barrels of oil and remained there in the upper chamber until he had explained away everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chanina (or Chananiah) ben Chizkiya ben Gurion was one of the important scholars who lived in the generation following Hillel<\/a> and Shammai<\/a>. Chanina\u2019s attic served as an important meeting place for the Sages of that time, where significant issues were discussed and decided. Among his most noteworthy works was Chanina\u2019s collection of Megillat Ta’anit<\/a><\/em> , the first time Rabbinic oral traditions were set into writing. In this effort he was assisted by his son, Rabbi Eliezer, who may, in fact, have done most of the work in organizing and producing that material.<\/p>\n

Megillat Ta’anit<\/em> is a little known collection of statements about minor holidays and fasts that commemorate events which took place during the Second Temple<\/a> period. On the minor holidays, fasting and eulogies were forbidden. Most of the events that are commemorated are from the period of the Hasmonean<\/a> monarchy – a prime example being the story of Hanukkah<\/a> – although there are also events from earlier and later periods included, as well. This work is set up chronologically, and it includes the date and a brief account of the incident written in Aramaic<\/a>, followed by a fuller description of the event in Hebrew. \u00a0(Although it is not part of the standard texts of Talmud<\/a>, the Steinsaltz Talmud<\/a> includes it as an addendum to the volume that contains Masechet<\/a> Ta’anit<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

As our Gemara explains, and as appears in other places, Chanina ben Chizkiya devoted himself to assuring that the Book of Yechezkel<\/em> would be included in the accepted Biblical canon which was a matter of concern since there are a number of passages that appear to contradict Biblical teachings.<\/p>\n

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Menachot 46a-b: Testifying about Temple practice in Yavneh<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the Torah<\/a> tells us (see Shemot<\/a> 30:11-16<\/a>) every Jewish adult male was commanded to bring a machatzit ha-shekel –<\/em> a half-shekel – as a donation to the Temple<\/a> service. It is clear from stories in Tanach<\/a><\/em> that this obligation was not just for use in the mishkan<\/em> – the Tabernacle – in the desert, but was an on-going requirement for as long as the Temple stood. The money was used for communal sacrifices throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Was this obligation incumbent on the kohanim<\/a><\/em> who worked in the Temple as well as the general community? This question was the center of debate in Yavneh<\/a> after the destruction of the Temple.<\/p>\n

Our Gemara<\/a> relates that ben Bukhri permits kohanim<\/em> to bring machatzit ha-shekel<\/em>, although they are not required to do so. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai<\/a> argued that although this was the position taken by the kohanim<\/em>, in fact they were obligated in machatzit ha-shekel<\/em> just like every other Jew.<\/p>\n

Yavneh is an ancient city that is mentioned in the navi<\/a><\/em>, identified with the Judean city called Yavne’el. For a long time it was a Philistine city, near the Mediterranean coast, almost due west of Jerusalem<\/a>. When King Uziyahu lists the cities whose walls he destroyed in battle, Yavneh is mentioned among them (see Divrei HaYamim II 26:6-8<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

In the course of putting down the Great Revolt<\/a>, the Roman general Vespasian<\/a> captured the city. At that time it apparently attracted many Sages who did not support the rebellion, and when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai joined them after the fall of Jerusalem it became the spiritual center of the Jewish people, where the Sanhedrin<\/a><\/em> sat for an extended period of time \u2013 apparently until the Bar Kochba rebellion<\/a>. The main yeshiva, called Kerem B’Yavneh was established there, together with the seat of the Patriarch. Among the projects done in Yavneh was the recording of testimony regarding normative procedure in the Temple in different areas of practice, similar to what we find in today’s Gemara regarding ben Bukhri’s statement.<\/p>\n

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Menachot 47a-b: Shavuot sacrifices<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

A number of different offerings are brought as part of the sacrificial service on the holiday of Shavuot \u2013<\/p>\n