People do not confuse night and day, even when they don't know what time it is. Similarly, when the time of day is close to dawn or dusk, you know... The investigation into this question delves into witness checking - to confirm testimony, to validate their reliability - with time as one of the means of checking accuracy. How much leeway do we need to establish a specific hour (in the absence of clocks)? Also - How much discrepancy is acceptable between witnesses? And what about chametz times? W...
Dec 03, 2020•20 min•Season 4Ep. 12
The previous daf focuses on the time for Bedikat Chametz. On this daf, we delve into some of the rationale underlying the timing, with an eye to making sure that the rabbis' views are consistent across topics. Which, itself, is an interesting premise. Also - the discussion of what hour in the day (sha'ot zemaniot) to finish eating and then burning chametz. With an unidentified (thus far) hour between the two end times. Plus: A new dispute between R. Yehudah and R. Meir. Namely, when two witnesse...
Dec 02, 2020•23 min•Season 4Ep. 11
The question of a majority and certainty, and how it has impact on the assumptions that determine whether and how one needs to check for chametz. But what if you see a mouse bring chametz into one of two houses? What's the certainty? And what do you have to do? The Gemara notes that mice don't leave crumbs, as compared to a child who might have done the same thing - and leaving crumbs. Plus other mouse cases, when you can't be sure that the mouse and/or the chametz is the same that you saw going...
Dec 01, 2020•19 min•Season 4Ep. 10
NOTE: This daf deals with infant loss in a graphic way. From the mishnah, if, after you've done Bedikat Chametz, there's a weasel that brings the food from place to place, despite your search, you don't need to worry about that final transfer. This, once you've checked, you've checked, or the search would literally be never-ending. The Gemara's underlying discussion about things that are certain as compared to things that are possible veers into the discussion of miscarriage, and it's a heavy di...
Nov 30, 2020•18 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Pesachim 8 - How and where to check for chametz during the official check. Does a wine cellar need to be searched? Oil storage? Liquor (or beer)? Fish? Salt? Candles? Wood? Dates? Shouldn't there be just a rule of thumb for storehouses! Also: Those on their way to do mitzvot are not harmed. But sometimes they do! Commonplace danger seems to be left to the responsible activity of the mitzvah-doer. What about after you've done the mitzvah and need to return home? Plus: Isn't Jerusalem the most spe...
Nov 29, 2020•27 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Pesachim 7 - When on Passover Eve does the prohibition against owning chametz kick in? And what if you use the items that you would have sold during the time after that time - will it work? What changes with that moment of prohibition. Also, what should the language be for the blessing upon burning chametz? The discussion relies on biblical verses as possible ways of formulation - and the application here is unusual in unexpected ways (when the verses aren't being used to derive halakhah nor as ...
Nov 28, 2020•22 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Pesachim 6 : More interplay between Jews and non-Jews, and ownership of chametz (by a non-Jew) in a Jew's space. Note the historical acknowledgement that Jews could not always, or usually, rent to a non-Jew (Syria being the counter example). Also, the significance of the requirements to check for chametz kicking in (or not) for those who are not home from 30 days before Pesach. Also: Thr concept of Ein Mukdam u-Meuchar ba-Torah -- no chronological order in the Torah -- and that of "kelal u-prat ...
Nov 27, 2020•22 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Pesachim 5: Delving into Midrash Halakhah - on the verses that address the prohibition of chametz being found in one's home on Pesach, together with the prohibition against eating chametz. And then the mitzvah of eating matzah. Which brings us to a discussion of the word "rishon." And the challenge of handling Midrash Halakhah, as compared to Halakhah. Similarly, there are differences of opinion with regard to what source is used, and so on. Buy none regarding the basic practice. They certainly ...
Nov 26, 2020•27 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Pesachim 4: Who's Who - Rabbi Hiya. Another example of using euphemism for more refined speech. Also, everyone agrees that "Or le-14" means the evening, but why the evening? Possibly because we have zeal to do mitzvot at the first possible moment. But that principle usually means the morning. But people are at home at night. And you get that pinpoint light in the dark. Also - how reliable are the people who claim a house has been checked for chametz? What if that person is a woman? A slave? A mi...
Nov 25, 2020•21 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Pesachim 3: The Gemara finally asks - why didn't the mishnah just say "night"?? Using the positive version of negative words (tahor (pure) and eino tahor (not pure), instead of tameh (impure - admittedly, this distinction is less strong in English). The agenda, though, is clearly to speak always in a refined manner. So what then IS refined speech, especially given how the bar moves in society... But then the Gemara also prioritizes brevity. So refined language can trip you up, and the Gemara is ...
Nov 24, 2020•27 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Why the plural, " pesachim" ? There are several components to Pesach, including the time before Pesach that is necessary for preparation. And so we start with the biblical verses that establish those rules of no leaven in one's home on Pesach. And the analysis of these pages on the opening mishnah is dramatically different from what we've spent real time with before. Namely, word play on how the discussion of checking the home for chametz (leavening) pre-Pesach begins. [What's What: Midrash Hala...
Nov 23, 2020•27 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Wrapping up! Impure creepy-crawlies in the Beit HaMikdash - what's a kohen to do? How is one to remove it? Raising questions on how space is allocated within the Temple itself. Note also R. Kahane's prioritizing kohanim for service in the Temple, even if that priest has some kind of blemish that should invalidate him from doing the service. Plus, the final stretch: if one is outside of techum Shabbat, and Shabbat starts, can one enter the techum? R. Shimon is lenient, and maintains that that len...
Nov 22, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 105
Scatter salt on the ramp in the Beit HaMikdash, to make sure that the priests don't slip. Also, several places to draw water on Shabbat. There's a beraita that suggests this was a Temple-only list, but the Gemara says that you can put straw down on a muddy road that's hard to pass. Anywhere that is, not just the Mikdash. How is the straw case different from the salt case, that the latter is Temple only and the former is everywhere? Also - the story of Ulla visiting on Shabbat, when someone comes...
Nov 21, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 104
The instruments in the Beit HaMikdash on Shabbat did sometimes need repair. Was that allowed? If so, when and how? How integral was the music to the service? When can a knot be used? When must the string be tied in. A bow? Would that even work, in terms of the sound? Also: Wart removal in the Beit HaMikdash. Yes, ick. But only in certain ways, and only in the Temple. Which brings us to a discussion of the korban Pesach, and how it was prepared to the Beit HaMikdash outside of the Mikdash itself ...
Nov 20, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 103
Bolts - how they need to attached, and how the requirements for them differ in the Temple as compared to everywhere else. Also, the significance of Mehoza [What's What - where's where??], together with Rava... Also, the framing of this daf (and several) with regards to distinctions of practice, especially in the Beit HaMikdash, as compared to the rest of the country - when it comes to rabbinic enactments (shevut). Plus - moving on to a discussion of tents - establishing a tent on Shabbat being p...
Nov 19, 2020•20 min•Season 3Ep. 102
Dedicated in memory of Lester Osband, Eliezer ben Avraham Nechemiah, Yardaena's grandfather a"h, whose yahrzheit is 2 Kislev. || A series of mishnayot checking the boundaries of what's allowed on Shabbat, ostensibly about carrying, but, it turns out, not only. To wit, a back door that is relatively makeshift, where opening the door fundamentally seems problematic in term of "building." Note how the Gemara elaborates beyond the mishnah here. Also: The story between R. Yehoshua and a heretic, and ...
Nov 18, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 101
When a tree reaches low to the ground, if as low as 3 tefachim from the ground, you can carry under them. If you actually can. Plus: Halakhic mention of "shev ve-al ta'aseh" and "bal taschit" (and "bal tigra"). Now: No spousal rape. Unequivocally. Moreover, the relationship between husband and wife has bearing on their children - with negative ramifications for those from the union of a man who did go ahead and force his wife after all, and very positive ramifications for the couple when the wif...
Nov 17, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 100
One who urinates or spits from the private domain to the public domain seems to need to bring a sacrifice. But how does this act of transfer include both uprooting from the one place and coming to rest in a new place? Perhaps the person's thinking compensates for the lack of a defined space. Specifically, leaving and landing in a space of 4 tefachim, or that one's aim indicates that the 4 tefachim are not critical. [What's What: Truly, again?] Also - Resh Lakish on public spitting. Also - Thr wi...
Nov 16, 2020•28 min•Season 3Ep. 99
3 mishnayot - 1. One reading from a book (a scroll), and the book unfurls because of an incline, he can pull it back, because he's still holding onto it. But what if it rolls off the roof? Isn't it on the ground? That can't be okay. Which leads to the tension between taking care to protect Shabbat by not carrying and taking care to protect the words of the holy the texts. 2. Limiting the details of the next mishnah. What can you put in the public domain? Fragile ones only? What if there are two ...
Nov 15, 2020•20 min•Season 3Ep. 98
What happens when you have found tefillin - a machloket between R. Meir and R. Yehudah, specifically regarding new tefillin. How you know you have old tefillin vs. new becomes significant. Also, the significance of checking old tefillin... Also: The case of saving children - from out in the public domain to remove to somewhere more sheltered. What about carrying a barrel - do you really have to carry a barrel? Water becomes the case study. Narrowing the case to facilitate the logic...
Nov 14, 2020•18 min•Season 3Ep. 97
On whether Shabbat is a time for tefillin - and how the need for intent (or lack thereof) has impact on the question of how or whether you bring in the found tefillin on Shabbat. Likewise, how the concert of bal tosif has impact on this question (which is connected to the question of intent, to be sure). Also: What about women doing positive time-bound mitzvot - women may not have to do them, but can they? What about women and tefillin? The cases of Michal, daughter of King Saul, the wife of Yon...
Nov 13, 2020•20 min•Season 3Ep. 96
Yes, it's a long one. The daf itself closes off the "eruvin" part of Masekhet Eruvin, and moves into the final stretch, which includes other concerns about carrying - specifically when there's no eruv. First, the end of the 9th chapter: Was R. Yosi trying to permit carrying for all future shabbatot or prohibit it? How does R. Yehudah fit in here? Also: More on mechitzot, partitions - including when you build a second story over two homes. And the precision of language in the mishnah... Plus: Cha...
Nov 12, 2020•33 min•Season 3Ep. 95
What happens when Rav and Shmuel get together, and disagree about a real-life situation in their midst? Also - 2 mishnayot that appear to be speaking broadly, where the Gemara narrows the cases. Specifically with regard to some basics about the spaces defined for eruvin. For example, if there's a large breach... Well, that's a basic case that we already know, so this must really be talking about something else. And also - a debate about how one week's status for an eruv and that particular Shabb...
Nov 11, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 94
When partitions delimit the space and make it more difficult to establish eruvin in that specific space. These kinds of mechitzot do not make one's life easier. Also, when you have 3 enclosures (karpef) - when is it okay to carry in them, and when are we supposed to be careful, lest one infer that one could carry in a karmelit, for example. And what about an upper embankment next to a lower embankment? When the gap is 5 tefachim, instead of the usual 10 -- do two five-handbreadth partitions comb...
Nov 10, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 93
More on R. Shimon and his opinion. Property with no owner that's near your own... Which discussion is fundamentally an answer to R. Shimon's opinion from the previous daf. Also: A large roof adjacent to a small roof, or a large courtyard adjacent to a small courtyard.... The larger one takes over. Which leads to practical implications for divorce, prayer, minyan, and hygiene.
Nov 09, 2020•15 min•Season 3Ep. 92
More on the situations that don't have eruvin - for example, the rooftops that are one domain do not join with other areas that don't have an eruv. Though you can carry within the courtyard - things that were already in the courtyard. Plus - R. Yehudah HaNasi was learning Torah with R. Shimon, they'd carry oil and a towel with them, for their shabbat trip to the spring. Plus - in the time of "danger" - decrees against the Jewish people - ends up being the kind of time that can't be used for prec...
Nov 08, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 91
Who's Who: Rami bar Hama. In the context of the case of carrying from what amounts to a private domain to a karmelit. Which is a pretty basic case, yet Rami bar Hama gets taken to task for being sloppy, despite being incisive otherwise. Also: carrying on boats... Pay attention to how Rav and Shmuel interact here. And what about an upside-down boat?
Nov 07, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 90
A new chapter - no-eruv eruvin. All the roofs of the city - one domain, or many? (R. Meir vs. Rabbanan) Certainly, the home itself is not the same domain as the rooftop (or the courtyard or an enclosure). But the idea of rooftops being their own domain makes sense in the way that people may use them. The Gemara notes that the same rooftops that may be lumped together as one domain are separate domains on the ground level, where each is one home, and therefore they should be treated as such (as e...
Nov 06, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 89
Regarding the leniency to use a towel on Shabbat - leave it to dry over a windowsill. The main concern is for wringing it out - and that isn't such a concern. Also - Stealing applies to Shabbat. Though of course the conclusion is that you don't get to claim stolen property on Shabbat. Plus - How to treat waste water, given the eruv permutations, on Shabbat. Dumping waste water via the hole in the floor of a balcony over water? Dumping into a pit in the yard? Dumping into a pit outside your priva...
Nov 05, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Who's Who: Hananya ben Akavya. What's What: Avel and Tzipori (towns). The case of a water channel that crosses one's property - do you need another partition? The example brought from the water channel from Tzipori to Avel. Note, though, that the size of the water channel matters. Plus: The case of a balcony over the water - specifically, over the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). And even a balcony over the balcony that is over the water. Plus: 3 permissions allowed to the people of Tiberias by Hanany...
Nov 04, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 87
