Misconception - Women

(The Torah States in Leviticus 1:2) Speak to the sons of Israel, When a person among you shall bring an offering to Hashem, he shall lean his hands on the head of the olah offering. This teaches that the sons of Israel perform Semichah (Personal Sacrificial offering, where the owner of the animal places both hands on the animal and leans on the animal while confessing) but the Daughters of Israel do not perform Semicha on their sacrifices.

R'Yose and R'Simon say: The daughters of Israel have the option to perform Semichah if they wish.

Abba Elazar recounted the following incident: One time we had a calf that was a Shelamim offering, and we brought it to the women's section of the courtyard (of the temple). The Women performed semichah on it. Not because there is a Semicha requirement for women, but in order to give satisfaction to the women.

[the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 33a discusses the fact that women may perform the mitzvah of blowing the shofar. Once again in Gemara we see a source where women are permitted to perform time bound mitzvahs normally reserved for men. It's a well know fact that Rashi's daughters use to put on tefillin daily. Why are women not required to perform "time bound mitzvahs" (aside from lighting candles on shabbat)? The answer can be found in a misconception of orthodox Judaism. Many think that in orthodox Judaism, Women are treated as second class citizens.

THIS CAN'T BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

Men need to perform time bound mitzvahs to come closer to Hashem. This is because, through out the Torah there is incident after incident where MEN are going against the word of Hashem and sinning. The closest incident we find in the Torah where a woman has sinned is when Miriam spoke lashon horah (gossip) against her brother Moses. Men have to perform physical mitzvahs to make up for the sins of their forefather. Women don't have that issue. A woman's soul is closer to G-D then a man's soul. Women are spiritually superior then men. A women can do one thing (with the help of Hashem) that a man can never do, and that is give birth. It is these reasons that a women's soul is much loftier then a mans, and therefore is not required to perform time bound mitzvahs.

There are people who wear orange jump suits and pick up trash on the side of the road. They do this because they have to perform community service as part of their punishment. That doesn't stop someone from picking up trash if they were so inclined. But they don't HAVE to... Same hold true for Women and Mitzvahs.

How did that old Harry Belafonte song go? "That's right... The women are smarter... that's right, the women are... insert: Spiritually Superior" ]

- Chagigah 16b

Two Paths

R'Meir said:
Whenever the Holy one, Blessed be he, created, he created something else corresponding to it: He created mountains, he created hills. He created oceans, he created rivers.

R'Akiva said:
G-D created righteous persons, and he created wicked persons. He created Gan Eden (Heaven) and he created Gehinnom (hell). Each and every person has two portions, one in Gan Eden, and one in Gehinnom. When a righteous person merits, he takes his portion and his peer's portion in Gan Eden. When a wicked person becomes guilty, he takes his portion and his peer's portion in Gehinnom.

[What the Gemara is saying is that a righteous person introduces virtue in this world, and thereby makes the world a better place for everyone in it. His good deeds entice others to do good as well. On the flip side, a wicked person bring evil into the world and entices others to do evil. He is held accountable for his sins and those that were enticed by him. A wicked man is only rewarded in this world for the good deeds he has done. He is not rewarded in the world to come. A righteous person, received his reward in the world to come.

G-D gives us free will, and created dual options for us. He sets before us two paths. It's up to us to follow the path of righteous. In doing so, our reward will be eternal]

- Chagigah 15a

Caution: Ezekiel

R'Ami said:
One may not transmit secrets of the Torah (Kaballah) except to someone with these five attributes:
1. Captain of 50
2. Respected Person
3. Adviser
4. Teacher of the Wise
5. Comprehender of the Mysteries.

[The Gemara sites another example where learning before you are really ready might be detrimental.]

The Rabbis taught in a Baraisa: An incident with one child, who was reading in school in the book of Ezekiel, and was contemplating Chashmal (Rashi translates Chashmal as "Grasping what it is"), and a fire emerged from Chashmal and burned him. In response, people sought to conceal the book of Ezekiel (so incidents like that would never happen again).

Chanayah ben Chizkiyah said to them, "If this child was a prodigy, are they all prodigies?"

[In other words this child was a prodigy in that he could comprehend and fully understand the book of Ezekiel. For an adult, the danger is not the same as if an adult would understand the text, they would probably be mature enough to understand without harm.

With that being said, you can close your browser now or continue below with an excerpt from Ezekiel that the Gemara covers (if you dare :-)

The Gemara previously noting the differences between Ezekiel and Isaiah's vision, expounds upon Ezekiel vision of the 4 faces of the Chayot in the Chariot (the thrown chariot of G-d. ]

As for the likeness of their faces: There was a human face; and a lion's face to the right for the four of them; and an ox's face to the left for the four of them, and an eagle's face for the four of them. Each one had four faces; the one face, the face of the keruv; the second face, the face of the human, the third face of a lion, and the fourth face of an eagle. However the ox is not listed.

Reish Lakish said: Ezekiel beseeched for mercy regarding the ox, and G-d transformed it into a Keruv (face of a child). Ezekiel said before him, "master of the universe, can a prosecutor act as a defender?" (since the ox recalls the sin of the Golden Calf, and would be inappropriate to be included among the faces of the Chariot)

- Chagigah 13a/b

[The Gemara goes on to record a dispute as to how the angels were created]

R'Shimon the saintly said: Each day ministering angels are created from the stream of fire, and they utter song and cease to exist, as it says: They are new every morning great is your praise upon them (Lamentations 3:23)

R'Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R'Yonasan: From each and every word the emerges from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He, a single angel is created as it says: By the Word of Hashem the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their host (Psalms 33:6)

- Chagigah 14a

List Mania

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Ten things were created on the first day (of creation) and they are:
1. Heaven
2. Earth
3. Tohu
4. Bohu
5. Light
6. Darkness
7. Breath
8. Water
9. Length of Day
10. Length of Night

A Baraisa Taught: Tohu is a green line that encircles the entire world. It is from that line that darkness emerges, as it says (in Psalm 18:12) "He made Darkness his concealment around it". Bohu refers to the damp stone sunk in the deep, from these stones that water emerges, as it says (in Isaiah 34:11) "And he shall extend upon it the line of Tohu and the Stones of Bohu.

(Rashi defines Tohu as astonishment and Bafflement. He defines Bohu as Emptiness and Desolation)

The Baraisa continues:
And was light created on the first day? Because it is written: (in Genesis 1:17) "And G-D set the sun and moon in the firament of the heaven to give light on the earth. And it was written: and it was evening and it was morning, the fourth day".

R'Elazar said: The light that the Holy One Blessed is He, created on the first day: Man could use it to survey everything from on end of the world to the other end of the world. Once the Holy One, Blessed is he looked at the generation of the Flood and the generation of the dispersion, and he saw that their deeds were perverse, he proceeded to hid it from them as it says (in Job 38:15) "And the light was withheld from the wicked."

The sages say that the Luminaries themselves which were created on the first day, but not suspended until the fourth day!

Rav Zutra bar Toviya said in the name of Rav: The World was created with ten things:
1. Wisdom
2. Insight
3. Understanding
4. Strength
5. Rebuke
6. Might
7. Righteousness
8. Justice
9. Kindness
10. Compassion


[What was that I posted yesterday about peeking behind "The Curtain"? ]

- Chagigah 12a


Reish Lakish said: Whoever engages in Torah study at night, The Holy one, Blessed is he, endows him with charm during the day.

[I'll have to ask my co-workers if I come in smiling each morning after I'm up until 1:30am studying. (This is normally the case for me, as I reserve my study time until after the kids are in Bed.) On second thought, maybe not. I'll take the Talmud's word that I'm Charming :-)]

- Chagigah 12b

Behind the Curtain

Chapter 2 - Ein Dorshin

First Mishnah:
The laws of Forbidden unions may not be taught among three people,(Teacher, 2 students) Nor Maaseh Bereishis (Wisdom of the natural world) be taught between two people (Teacher & Student) Nor Merkavah (Wisdom of metaphysical world) be studies by one person unless that person was a scholar who could arrive at an understanding on his own.

Whoever scrutinizes these four things would have better for him had he never come into the world:
1. What is above
2. What is below
3. What is before
4. What is after

And whoever has no heed for the creator, it would have been better for him had he never come into the world.

[I have visions of the line from the Wizard of OZ... "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." The mishnah (and later expounded in the gemara)clearly maintains that the study of the "workings of what goes on behind the curtain" should be taught in a precise way, and should not be undertaken until one has studied the "prerequisites".]

- Chagigah 11b

Mt. suspended by a hair

Mishnah:
The release from vows hover in the air, as they have no Support.

[By Support the Mishnah means the laws are not fully explained in the Torah]

The laws of Shabbat, the Chagigah offerings and Meilah (Using consecrated items for secular purposes) are like Mountains suspended by a hair, for there are few references in the Torah, but there are a lot of laws. Monetary laws, services and laws of Taharah (ritual purity), Tumah(ritual impurity), and illicit sexual relations have support and are the fundamentals of Torah.

[The gemara goes on to give examples of laws that are "like a Mountain suspended by a hair"]

The Torah forbid calculated labor and calculated labor is not written

[The Gemara is saying that the Torah in Exodus 35 prohibits doing labor with the intent to build the Mishkan. The laws are focused on the intent of the action. In some cases the same work performed but with a different intent is not subjected to prohibition. Rashi uses the example of digging a hole. To dig a hole for the intent of building is prohibited, however digging a hole to get dirt is not prohibited]

Rami Bar Chama said: (Meilah) is necessary only for which we learned in the Mishnah. If the Agent executed his agency the Sender is guilty of Meilah. The Agent did not execute his agency, the agent is guilty of Meilah.

[Rami Bar Chama is referring to the Mishnah in Meilah 20a, where someone "the Sender" gave an agent money and asked him to buy a certain item, but didn't realize the money he used was consecrated for Temple use. If the agent did what he was commissioned to do, the sender is liable and not the agent, However If the Agent, didn't make the purchase or bought something he wasn't asked to buy, He (the agent) is liable for Meilah]

Rav Ashi said: (Meilah) is necessary only for which we learned in the Mishnah: He took a stone or a beam from the temple treasury, he is not guilty of Meilah. But if He gave it to his fellow, he is guilty of Meilah and his fellow is not guilty of Meilah

[Rav Ashi is referring to the Mishnah in Meilah 19b which say that since the fellow is receiving the consecrated object it is as if he took the item and is subject paying restitution for the object. See Rabbi's even knew back then... it's all about Intent and possession is 9/10th of the law ;-) ]

- Chagigah 10a/b

Seize the Mitzvah

Mishna:
Someone who did not offer the chagigah (peace offering in honor of the festival) on the first of Yom Yov, may offer the chagigah throughout the festival even on the last day of the Yom Tov of Succos (Shemini Atzeres). If the festival passed and one did not offer a chagigah, he is not responsible for it.

[In other words he missed the boat and can no longer bring the chagigah for the festival]

Concerning this situation (failing to bring a Chagigah) it is said: A Crooked thing can not be straightened and a lack cannot be counted. R'Shimon ben Menasys said: What is a "crooked thing that can not be straightened"? This refers to one who cohabited with an ervah (forbidden sexual relationship) and gave birth to a Mamzer.

[What the Mishna is saying is that someone who brings a Mamzer into this word has a physical reminder of his transgression. Unlike someone who Robs and can make-up for the sin, this sin can not be reversed (as we will read below) NOTE: In the times of the Mishna, a Mamzer was restricted to who he could marry. See Rambam Hilchos Isurei Binah 15:1]

If you say that the verse refers to someone who steals or robs, that can not be the meaning as he is able to make the matter straight. [By repaying what was stolen]

R'Shimon ben Yochai said: One is not called crooked unless he was straight at first and then became crooked. And who is this? This is a Torah Scholar who forsakes the Torah. [As opposed to someone who transgressed as they didn't know any better]

[Gemara later in Chagigah 9b goes on to say:]

This was taught in a baraisa: A Crooked thing Can not be straightened: This refers to one who Omitted the reading of the Morning Shema or the reading of the Evening Shema or one who omitted the morning prayer. And the Lack cannot be counted: This refers to one whose friends were counted to do a Mitzvah, but was not counted with them.......Any Torah Scholar who forsakes the Torah, Regard him like a Bird wandering from its nest, or a man who wanders from his place [A man who committed adultery]

[What the Mishna is saying is that there are times when you just can't make up the mitzvah. That being the case, we must all be mindful of the mitzvahs we are obligated to do, and seize the opportunity at once! So don't forget to say the Shema twice daily as you can never make up those mitzvah points lost! Seize the Mitzvah!]

- Chagigah 9a