Today's daf
January 16, 2021 | Pesachim 56
This shiur has been dedicated by Steven Strauss and Sarah Brown, for the refua shleima of David Zev ben Sutel; and by Marge & Paul Silverstein, in memory of Marge’s mother, חוה בת מנחם מענדל ע''ה, on her yahrtzait; and by Simcha Solomon, l'eluy nishmas Reb Mickey Friedman, Moshe ben Tzvi zt''l, and l'eluy nishmas Sora Rivka Chaya bas Avrohom Shlomo, on her yahrtzait.
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and they would eat fallen fruit from beneath palm trees that shed fruit that had fallen on Shabbat; and they would designate the produce in the corner for the poor in a field of vegetables, which is exempt from this obligation even by rabbinic law. And the Sages reprimanded the people of Jericho for doing these three things.,GEMARA: Apropos the people of Jericho, who were reprimanded for some of their actions and not reprimanded for others, the Gemara cites a similar baraita. The Sages taught: King Hezekiah performed six actions. With regard to three of them, the Sages of his generation conceded to him; and with regard to three of them, the Sages did not concede to him. Due to King Hezekiah’s father’s wickedness, he dragged the bones of his father Ahaz on a bier of ropes and did not afford him the respect due to a king, and the Sages conceded to him. He ground the copper snake that Moses fashioned in the desert because Israel worshipped it, and the Sages conceded to him. He suppressed the Book of Cures, and they conceded to him.,And with regard to three actions, the Sages did not concede to him. He cut off the doors of the Sanctuary and sent them to the King of Assyria, and they did not concede to him because he thereby demeaned the Temple. He sealed the waters of the upper Gihon stream, diverting its water into the city by means of a tunnel, and they did not concede to him, because he harmed the local populace in the process and should have relied upon God (Me’iri). He intercalated the year, delaying the advent of the month of Nisan during Nisan, and they did not concede to him. The Gemara explains that he declared the first of Nisan to be the thirtieth of Adar and only then intercalated the year (see II Chronicles 30:2).,We learned in the mishna: They would graft palm trees the entire day of the fourteenth of Nisan. The Gemara asks: How did they perform this grafting? Rabbi Yehuda said: They brought fresh myrtle, strong beer made from the fruit of the laurel tree, and barley flour that was cast into a vessel, and forty days has not passed since it was ground. They boiled them together and poured the mixture into the core of the palm tree. They would also pour the mixture into all the other trees standing within four cubits of it. Had they not done so, the surrounding trees would immediately wither because the tree that received the treatment would grow faster at the expense of the surrounding trees. Rav Aḥa, son of Rava, said: They placed a branch of a male palm tree on the female, and by doing so the female tree would yield fruit.,We learned in the mishna that the residents of Jericho would bundle Shema. The Gemara asks: What does it mean that they bundled Shema? How did they do so? Rabbi Yehuda said that they recited: “Hear Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4), and they would not pause between words. Rava said: They would pause between words, but instead of reciting this verse in the proper manner: “That which I command you today, shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5), pausing after the word today; they would say: Today shall be on your heart, inferring: Today it will be on your heart, and tomorrow it will not be on your heart. The Sages taught in the Tosefta: How would they bundle Shema? They recited: “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God the Lord is One,” without pausing; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says: They paused, but they would not recite: Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.,The Gemara asks: What is the reason that we recite that passage: Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, even though it does not appear in the Torah? The Gemara answers: We recite it in accordance with that which Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish interpreted homiletically.,As Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that it is written: “And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather around and I will tell you what will occur to you in the end of days” (Genesis 49:1). Jacob wanted to reveal to his sons when the complete redemption would arrive at the end of days (see Daniel 12:13), but the Divine Presence abandoned him, rendering him unable to prophesy. He said: Perhaps the Divine Presence has abandoned me because, Heaven forfend, one of my descendants is unfit, as was the case with my grandfather Abraham, from whom Ishmael emerged, and like my father Isaac, from whom Esau emerged. His sons said to him: Hear Israel, our father, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. They said: Just as there is only one God in your heart, so too, there is only one in our hearts. At that moment Jacob our father said in praise: Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever, as all his children were righteous.,The Rabbis said: What should we do? Shall we recite this verse? But Moses our teacher did not say it in the Torah as part of Shema; let us not recite it. But Jacob said it. In order to resolve this dilemma they established that this passage should be recited surreptitiously. Rabbi Yitzḥak said that the school of Rabbi Ami said: This is analogous to the daughter of a king who smelled the fragrance of the dried spices stuck to the bottom of the pot and craved to eat them. What can she do? If she tells her servants to give it to her, she will be disgraced, as the dried spices are a contemptible food. However, if she does not say she wants to eat them, she will endure suffering. Her servants began to bring them to her surreptitiously. One should conduct himself in that manner in similar cases of uncertainty.,Rabbi Abbahu said: The Sages instituted that the people should recite it aloud due to the grievance of the heretics. It was instituted to prevent the heretics from claiming that the Jews are surreptitiously reciting inappropriate statements. The Gemara adds: In Neharde’a, where there are no heretics, they recite it surreptitiously even now.,The Sages taught a related matter in the Tosefta: The people of Jericho performed six actions, three in keeping with the will of the Sages and three against the will of the Sages. And these are what they did in keeping with the will of the Sages: They would graft palm trees the entire day of the fourteenth of Nisan; and they would bundle Shema; and they would harvest grain before the omer offering was brought. And these are what they did against the will of the Sages: They would pile the harvest before the omer; and they would make breaches in the walls of their gardens and their orchards to feed fallen fruit to the poor during drought years, so that the poor could take the fruit that had fallen on Shabbat and Festivals; and they would permit the use of consecrated branches of carob and of sycamore trees. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir.,Rabbi Yehuda said to him: It is inaccurate to formulate it in that manner, as if they acted in keeping with the will of the Sages then. If that were so, all people would do so, not only the residents of Jericho. Rather, formulate it in this manner: Both these three acts and those three were performed against the will of the Sages. With regard to three the Sages reprimanded them; and with regard to three the Sages did not reprimand them. Since one could contend that the latter are permitted and the people of Jericho had already performed them, the Sages chose not to reprimand them.,And these are what they did for which the Sages did not reprimand them: They would graft palm trees the entire day; and they would bundle Shema; and they would harvest and pile grain before the omer offering was brought. And these are what they did for which the Sages reprimanded them: They would permit the use of consecrated branches of carob and of sycamore trees; they would make breaches in the walls of their gardens and orchards on Shabbat and Festivals, in order to feed the poor fallen fruit during drought years; and they would designate for the poor the produce in the corner in a field of vegetables. And the Sages reprimanded them for those actions.,The Gemara asks: And does Rabbi Yehuda maintain that this harvest performed by the residents of Jericho was against the will of the Sages? Didn’t we learn in a mishna: The people of Jericho would harvest before the omer, in keeping with the will of the Sages, and they would pile the grain before the omer, against the will of the Sages, but the Sages did not reprimand them?
Whom did you hear that said: Reprimanded and did not reprimand? It is Rabbi Yehuda, as Rabbi Meir uses the terminology: In keeping with the will and against the will. And yet, Rabbi Yehuda is teaching in the baraita that they would harvest in keeping with the will of the Sages. The Gemara answers with a question: And according to your reasoning, these three activities listed in the mishna, for which the Sages did not reprimand them, are actually four: Grafting palms, bundling Shema, harvesting, and piling. They are not three activities, as stated. Rather, delete harvest from the mishna here. Harvesting should not be listed with the activities for which the Sages did not reprimand them.,It was taught in the mishna: They would permit the use of consecrated branches of carob and of sycamore trees. The Gemara explains the reason: They said: Our fathers consecrated only the tree trunks, and therefore we can permit the consecrated branches that have grown from the branches of carob and of sycamore trees. The Gemara explains that we are dealing with the growth that came afterward, and they hold in accordance with the one who said: There is no misuse of consecrated property with regard to subsequent growth. And the Rabbis hold: Although there is no misuse of consecrated property, in any case, there is a prohibition.,It was taught in the baraita that the residents of Jericho created breaches so that during years of famine the poor could take fruit that fell on Shabbat and Festivals. Ulla said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This dispute between the residents of Jericho and the Sages is with regard to dates no longer attached to the tree that fell onto the upper palm branches [makhebedot]. The Sages hold: We issue a decree to prohibit taking these dates, lest one climb the tree and pick dates still attached to the tree. And the people of Jericho hold: We do not issue a decree lest one climb the tree and pick dates. However, with regard to dates that fell onto lower palm branches [keifin], everyone agrees that taking fruit from these branches is permitted.,Rava said to Ulla: But aren’t they are set-aside, as they are not prepared as food before Shabbat, since they fell from the tree on Shabbat itself? Any item prohibited during twilight on Shabbat eve remains prohibited throughout day, even if circumstances change. And if you say: These dates are not set-aside, since they are fit for consumption by domestic ravens, which can fly and gather the dates still attached to the tree, now, an item that is prepared for use for a person is not considered prepared for use for dogs, as we learned in a mishna that Rabbi Yehuda says: If the animal was alive and not a carcass on Shabbat eve, it may not be fed to dogs on Shabbat because it was not expressly prepared for that purpose. Is food prepared for ravens considered prepared for a person? While it was alive, the animal was prepared for human consumption during twilight; nevertheless, it is prohibited to feed its carcass to the dogs.,Ulla said to Rava: Yes, an item that is prepared for consumption for a person is not prepared for dogs, as any item that is fit for a person, one does not remove it from his thoughts; it remains exclusively for the use of a person. However, an item that is prepared for ravens is also prepared for the use of a person. Any item that is fit for the use of a person, his thoughts are upon it. Although initially it is available only to ravens, a person is prepared to eat any food that becomes available to him. That is Ulla’s version of the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish.,When Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said a different version of that which Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This dispute is with regard to dates that fell onto the lower palm branches, as the Sages hold: An item that is prepared for ravens is not prepared for a person. And the people of Jericho hold: An item that is prepared for ravens is prepared for a person. However, with regard to the dates on upper branches, everyone agrees that they are prohibited, as we issue a decree lest one climb the tree and pick dates.,We learned in the mishna: And the residents of Jericho would designate for the poor the produce in the corner [pe’a] in a field of vegetables. The Gemara asks: And aren’t the people of Jericho of the opinion of that which we learned in a mishna: A principle was stated with regard to the produce of the corner of the field: Anything that is food, and is protected, and grows from the ground, and is gathered as one, and one brings it in to store for preservation is obligated in the halakhot of the produce in the corner of the field?,The Gemara elaborates on each criterion in the mishna. Anything that is food; this comes to exclude the after-growths of woad and safflower. These plants are used as dyes and not for food. Therefore one need not designate the produce in the corners from them. And is protected; this comes to exclude ownerless crops. And grows from the ground; this comes to exclude truffles and mushrooms, which, unlike other plants, do not draw sustenance from the ground. And is gathered as one; this comes to exclude the fig tree, whose fruit is gathered throughout an extended period, as the figs do not ripen together. And one brings it in to storage for preservation; this comes to exclude vegetables, which cannot be stored for lengthy periods.,Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Here we are dealing with turnip heads, which can be stored for an extended period of time, and they disagree with regard to bringing it in to storage for preservation by means of another substance. Turnips are not stored alone. In order to store them, one preserves them in vinegar or a similar substance (Rabbeinu Ḥananel). One Sage, the residents of Jericho, holds: Storage by means of another substance such as vinegar is considered storage. And one Sage, i.e., the Sages, holds: It is not considered storage, and therefore one need not designate produce from the corner of the field from turnips.,The Sages taught: Initially, they would designate the produce in the corner of the field from turnips and cabbages. Rabbi Yosei says: They would do so even from leeks [kaflot]. And it was taught in another baraita: They would designate the produce in the corner of the field from turnips and leeks. Rabbi Shimon says: They would do so even from cabbages.