The dangers of disowning

Hi,

"Shemuel said to Rav Yehudah: Sharp one, do not be among those who divert inheritance, even from a bad son to a good son; you don't know what sort of child may emerge from him."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 53a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honour your elder sibling

Hi,

The 33rd mitzvah, honouring one's parents, is frequently described (such as Talmud Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) as the most difficult mitzvah in the Torah, because there is no limit on the efforts required to repay our debt to those who partnered with HaShem to give us life, and who devoted years of their lives to raising us.

This mitzvah is divided into two categories: mora (Reverence) and kavod (Honour). Mora refers to displays of respect, such as not using our parents' seats and not contradicting them. Kavod refers to actions which actively provide honour, such as providing meals or dressing them.

The Talmud (Ketuvot 103a) teaches that one is also obligated to honour an older brother. According to Ramban, this is specifically while the parents are alive, because they wish for him to be honoured. However, the Minchat Chinuch understood Rambam to require such honour even after the parents have passed away. One is also obligated to honour an older sister; see sources cited in Torah Temimah to Shemot 20, note 86.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The philanthropy of Nakdimon ben Gurion

Hi,

"Was Nakdimon ben Gurion not philanthropic? We have learned, "They said regarding Nakdimon ben Gurion that when he left his home for the study hall, they spread silks beneath him, and then paupers would come and fold them up [and take them]!" 

"If you want, one could suggest that he did it for his own honour. 

"Alternatively, he didn't do as much as was expected from him. As people say: According to the camel, the burden."

ונקדימון בן גוריון לא עבד צדקה? והתניא: אמרו עליו על נקדימון בן גוריון, כשהיה יוצא מביתו לבית המדרש, כלי מילת היו מציעין תחתיו, ובאין עניים ומקפלין אותן מאחריו! איבעית אימא: לכבודו הוא דעבד. ואיבעית אימא: כדבעי ליה למיעבד לא עבד, כדאמרי אינשי: לפום גמלא שיחנא. 

(Talmud, Ketuvot 66b-67a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Rebbe's asceticism

Hi,

"When Rebbe [Rabbi Yehudah haNasi] died, he spread his ten fingers heavenward and said, 'Master of the Universe! You know that I worked in Torah with my ten fingers, and I did not benefit even [the measure of] the little finger!...'"

(Talmud,  Ketuvot 104a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Personal responsibility

Hi,


"If one says they should not bury him from his assets, we do not listen; he cannot enrich his children and make the community responsible."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 68a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Do not upset your wife

Hi,

"Rav Rechumi was regularly before Rava in Mechoza; he would normally come home every Erev Yom Kippur. One day his learning drew him. His wife was looking, 'Now he'll come, now he'll come,' and he did not come. She grew upset, and tears fell from her eyes. He was sitting on the roof; the roof fell away beneath him, and he died."

(Talmud Ketuvot 62b)

Have a good week,
Mordechai

Zionists

Hi,

"[A verse, Psalms 87:5, says,] And regarding Zion it will be said: A person and a person have been born in it; Gd will establish Zion above.

"Rabbi Meisha, grandson of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, explained: This refers to a person who is born in Zion, and a person who longs to see it.

"Abayye said: One of them [Israelis] is worth two of us [Babylonians]."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 75a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Rebbe's instructions to his children

Hi,

"When Rebbe was dying, he said, 'I need my children.' His children entered, and he told them: Be careful of your mother's honor. In addition, make sure that the lamp will always be lit in its place, the table should always be set in its place, and the bed should always be arranged in its place."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 103a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The popularity of a Torah scholar

Hi,

"Abbaye said: If a Torah scholar is beloved to his city, it isn't that he is good. Rather, it's because he does not rebuke them in heavenly matters."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 105b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Burial in Israel - on the other hand

Hi,

"Ulla regularly travelled to Israel, but he died outside Israel. When they told R' Elazar, he said, 'You, Ulla, will die on tamei soil?!'

"They then told R' Elazar, 'The casket has arrived.' He said to them, 'There is no comparison between being absorbed while alive and being absorbed posthumously.'"

(Talmud, Ketuvot 111a)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Rabbi Akiva and Ben Kalba Savua

Hi,

"R’ Akiva was a shepherd for Ben Kalba Savua. His daughter saw that R’ Akiva was tzanua and good, and she asked him, 'If would accept kiddushin from you, would you go to yeshiva?' He replied, 'Yes.'

"They eloped secretly, and she sent him to yeshiva. Her father heard, evicted her from his home and vowed that she could not benefit from his property.

"R’ Akiva went and sat in yeshiva for twelve years. When he returned, he brought with him twelve thousand students. He heard an elderly man say to her, 'How long will you remain in living widowhood?' To which she replied, 'If he would listen to me, he would stay another twelve years!'

"R’ Akiva said, 'I am doing this with permission!' He returned and sat in yeshiva for another twelve years.

"When he returned, he brought 24,000 students with him. His wife heard and went out to greet him... When she reached him, she fell on her face and kissed his foot. His attendants pushed her away, but he said, 'Leave her be; mine and yours are hers.'

"Her father heard that a great man had come to the city, and he said, 'I will go to him, and perhaps he will nullify my vow.' He came to R' Akiva. R' Akiva asked him, 'Did you intend this vow even if he would become a great man?' To which he replied, 'Even if he would learn one chapter, or one halachah!'

"R' Akiva said, 'I am he.' Ben Kalba Savua fell on his face and kissed his foot and gave him half of his assets."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 62b-63a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Of children and grandchildren and hope

Hi,

"Shemuel told Rav Yehudah, 'Sharp one! Do not be on the court [alt. edition: "among those"] to transfer inheritance, even from a bad son to a good son – for you do not know what sort of seed will emerge from him."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 53a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The extent of our tzedakah obligation

Hi,

"Our sages taught: If an orphan comes to get married, we rent a house for him, we arrange a bed and all necessary implements, and we pay for him to get married, as it is written (Deuteronomy 15), “[Give him] whatever he is lacking, which is lacking to him.” ‘Whatever he is lacking’ refers to a house, ‘that is lacking’ refers to a bed and table, and ‘to him’ refers to getting married, as it is written (Genesis 2), “I will make to him a helpmate opposite him.”

"Our sages taught: ‘Whatever he is lacking’ means that we must support him, but we are not instructed to enrich him. ‘That is lacking to him’ means even a horse to ride and a servant to run before him.

"It is said of Hillel the Elder that he purchased a horse for a pauper whose parents had been wealthy, and he hired a servant to run in front of the horse. Once Hillel could not find a servant, and so he ran in front of the pauper for 3 mil (about 3 kilometers), himself."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 67b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Soft ears

Hi,

"One should not make empty speech available to his ears; they are the most easily singed part of the body." [This plays on their physical texture to teach a lesson.]

(Talmud, Ketuvot 5b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Earlobe

Hi,

"Why does the ear, which is entirely tough, have a soft lobe? So that one who hears inappropriate speech will be able to bend the lobe into the ear."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 5b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Put your fingers in your ears

Hi,

“Why are a person’s fingers like pegs… meaning, why are they smoothed, like pegs? So that one who hears inappropriate speech will be able to place his fingers in his ears.”

(Talmud, Ketuvot 5b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Offering compliments

Hi,

“How do they dance before the bride?

“Beit Shammai said: They praise the bride according to her particular traits. Beit Hillel said: They say, ‘She is a pretty and favored bride.’

“Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: If she was lame or blind, would we still say she was a pretty and favored bride? The Torah says, ‘Distance yourself from falsehood!’

“Beit Hillel said to Beit Shammai: According to you – If someone made a bad purchase in the market, should people praise it in his eyes, or degrade it in his eyes?

“Based on this, the sages said: One should always be pleasant with others.”

(Talmud, Ketuvot 16b-17a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Living in Zion and Longing for Zion

Hi,

“[Psalms 87:5 says:] And regarding Zion it will be said: A person and a person have been born there, and Gd will establish it above.

"Rabbi Meisha, grandson of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, explained this passage: This refers to a person born in Zion, or a person who hopes to see Zion.

"Abayye said: One of them [Israelis] is worth two of us [Babylonians].”

(Talmud, Ketuvot 75a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Transcending our legal obligations

Hi,

"A man sold land to Rav Pappa, in order to raise money to purchase oxen. In the end he didn’t need the money, and so Rav Pappa returned his land. Rav Pappa transcended the line of the law."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 97a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Death of the righteous

Hi,

"Rabbi Chiyya bar Gamda taught in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Shaul: When a righteous person leaves this world, the ministering angels say before Gd, 'Master of the Universe! So-and-so the righteous person has come!'

"Gd then says, 'Let the righteous people come and greet him.' They come and say, 'May he come in peace,' and then they rest on their beds."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 104a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai