Chapter 4: The National Judiciary
Jurisdiction- the authority of the court to hear a case. Under the constitution, federal courts have jurisdiction in cases that involve federal laws, treaties and the deep interpretation of the constitution. They also hear cases involving two states and the federal government versus a state.
1. Appellate jurisdiction- hearing cases on an appeal.
2. Original jurisdiction- cases that are heard the first time. Usually, the lower courts have original jurisdiction.
3. Concurrent jurisdiction- when certain types of cases can be heard in state courts or in federal courts.
Structure of courts-
The federal court system has two types of courts:
1. Constitutional courts- federal courts set up by the constitution in Article III- Supreme court and lower, federal courts.
2. Legislative courts- sometimes called special courts. They hear cases that come from the power given to the legislative branch in Article I- war, taxing… Legislative courts have a narrower range of authority.
Underneath the constitutional courts are:
1. District courts- created by the Judiciary act of 1789. They are trial courts on a federal level. Every state has at least one district court. Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico also have one. There are ninety-four district courts in total. District courts hear all cases involving the constitution and federal laws. Eighty percent of federal cases are heard in district courts.
2. Courts of appeal- Congress created courts of appeal in 1891 to help the Supreme Court. Up until 1891, the Supreme Court was hearing all appealed cases, therefore they created lower courts- courts of appeal. They hear appeals from the district courts. They also review decisions made by federal agencies. There are thirteen courts of appeal, so the entire nation is divided into thirteen circuits. The courts of appeal only have appellate jurisdiction. A panel of judges only decided the cases in a court of appeal.
3. Supreme Court- the only court created directly by the constitution. It’s the highest court in the federal judiciary system. It’s the final authority in dealing with all questions regarding the constitution, federal laws, treaties… The Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction. Most of the cases that the Supreme Court has are coming from district or appellate courts. There are also cases coming from state courts if the constitution or federal law is in debate. The Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction in cases involving foreign governments and representatives of foreign governments. In some cases where the state is a party, the Supreme Court can have original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has a strong impact on political, economic and social forces in this country. Congress decides the side of the Supreme Court. The current size is nine members (it has been like this since 1869) - eight justices and one chief justice.
Judicial selection-
The president appoints federal judges with confirmation by the Senate. Under the constitution there are no formal qualifications for a judge. They serve during good behavior- if they behave, they serve for life. This allows them to be free of political pressure. They can be removed if they don’t behave by impeachment and conviction.
In the lower courts, the department of justice and the White House staff deal with most of the nominations. Senators of a particular state that is nominating the judge have senatorial courtesy- the Senator who represents his state is given courtesy to approve or disapprove the nominee. In courts of appeal, there is no senatorial courtesy because there are only thirteen circuits, so there would be too many senators to offer this courtesy to.
With regard to courts of appeal, when Senate has to approve justices, they scrutinize with a more critical eye.
Judicial selection for the Supreme Court-
Due to the importance of the Supreme Court, the president gives a lot of time and attention to nominating the judges. The president can only nominate someone to the Supreme Court if there is a vacancy. When considering a nomination, he takes many things into consideration:
1. Party affiliation.
2. Judicial philosophy.
3. Race, gender and religion.
4. Judicial experience.
5. Litmus test- tests your ideology- want to test your stand on hot issues.
6. Test acceptability- how you’ll be accepted by the Senate.
7. Contacts the American Bar Association- national organization of attorneys. Does this to help him understand the nominee.
8. Consults interest groups to see if they support or don’t support a nominee, and he can use their power to pressure the Senate.
9. Consults with other judges on the Supreme Court because it’s important that they get along with the nominee.
Almost all federal judges have some legal experience- lawyer, judge…
African Americans, Hispanics and woman were never heavily represented in the Supreme Court. LBJ appointed the first black judge to the Supreme Court- Thurgood Marshall. Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman in the 80’s- Sandra Day O’Connor.
How the Supreme Court works-
The term of the Supreme Court begins the first Monday in October and generally goes until June of the following year.
Thousands of cases are presented to the Supreme Court every year. Only a few hundred are actually heard. Most are denied- either because the Supreme Court agrees with the ruling or because they believe that it doesn’t discuss a significant point of law.
A case is represented to the Supreme Court in two ways:
1. Certificate- lower courts ask the Supreme Court about a specific procedure or law.
2. Writ of certiorari- when the Supreme Court directs the lower courts to send up the files of a lower case.
For a case to be accepted it must pass the rule of four- four of the nine judges must agree to hear the case. Many of the cases accepted are either ignored or disposed of in brief order because there was already a previous case that dealt with this specific situation. The justices must spend time researching the case. They have clerks that help them out. Then, they confer, research, confer, research… Throughout this whole process there is an informal vote going on.
Once the Supreme Court reaches a decision, they hand down their ruling in a written statement known as an opinion. Who writes up the opinion?
1. If the chief justice is part of the majority party, he either writes up the opinion or chooses who is going to do it.
2. If the chief justice is part of the minority party, the most senior member of the majority party either writes it or chooses someone to do it.
There are different kinds of opinions:
1. Majority opinion- there is a majority of justices who agree with the ruling and the reasons for the ruling.
2. Concurring opinion- agree with the ruling, but not with the reasons.
3. Dissenting opinion- judge who disagrees with the majority opinion.
The opinions of the Supreme Court are important because they set a precedent for the future.
Judicial philosophy:
1. Judicial activism- also called judicial intervention. This is heavy involvement. The courts are very involved in policy. Judicial activists believe in applying the constitution in all areas- social, political and economic, in particular where human rights have been violated or some condition exists.
2. Judicial restraint- feels the court doesn’t take the initiative on social and political issues. They should act strictly within the confines of the constitution. They feel that they should go along with what Congress does so long as it doesn’t violate a clear provision of the constitution.
Generally, judicial activists have a more liberal philosophy. Judicial restraint demands limited usage of judicial powers- they feel that they should allow the other branches of Congress to be stronger.
There have been many different types of courts:
1. Roger Taney- he was the chief justice during the Civil War era. He passed down certain rulings which helped bring about the Civil War, such as the Dred Scott decision. Also, during the war he approved of the broad powers that Lincoln took.
2. FDR- when FDR was president during the New Deal era, the courts were full of controversy. Congress passed New Deal laws and when the Supreme Court nixed some of them, Roosevelt wanted to change the court because they weren’t running along with him. He wanted to add judges to the court- Court Packing. Congress never agreed with Roosevelt on this. But, in his favor, chief justice Charles Evans Hughes and associate justice Owen Roberts switched how they were voting. It was a “switch in time to save nine”.
3. Warren court (1953- 1969)- considered the most activist court ever. Chief justice Earl Warren passed many civil rights rulings such as:
a. Brown vs. Board of Education
b. Gideon vs. Wainwright
c. Miranda vs. Arizona
4. Burger court (from 1969)- Warren Burger’s court was a drop more conservative than the Warren court with regard to the rights of the defendant:
a. Roe vs. Wade- permitted abortion.
b. USA vs. Richard Nixon- ruled that the president doesn’t have executive privileges over his tapes and he must hand them over.
c. Board of Regents of California vs. Allan Bakkey- ruled against the use of quotas, but they were for affirmative action- giving underprivileged children a head start.
5. William Rhenquist (1986- 2005)- from the most restrained of courts. This was the most conservative court in American history. They didn’t overturn any rulings, but they limited further liberal rulings. In another abortion case, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, they didn’t overturn Roe vs. Wade.
6. Roberts court- John Roberts is the chief justice today and he continues the conservative movements.
Judicial activism vs. judicial restraint is argued until today. Some feel that it’s not in the court’s rights to get involved, but others feel that it is the court’s right to protect the people.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Political Science- Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Legislative Branch
Structure of Congress:
1. Membership- how many people?
a. House of Representatives- 435 members.
b. Senate- 100 members.
2. Terms of office-
a. House of Representatives- elected every two years for two years. They can run for office as often as they please.
b. Senate- serves a six year term, but the terms are staggered so that every two years, one- third of Congress is elected. The question of limiting a senator’s number of terms has come up often, but so far the Supreme Court has ruled that it can only be imposed by a constitutional amendment.
3. Qualifications-
a. House of Representatives- must be twenty-five, a US citizen for seven years and live in the district that he was elected by.
b. Senate- must be thirty, a US citizen for nine years and live in the state that he was elected by.
4. Constituency- the area that you represent-
a. House of Representatives- specific district.
b. Senate- state.
Organization of Congress:
1. Congress is in session for two years. It begins January 3 of odd numbered years. Each term is divided into two one- year sessions.
2. The president can, if he so wishes, call a special session in case of emergency.
3. Each house chooses its own leadership and rules.
Election to Congress:
The constitution guarantees each state at least one member to the House of Representatives. Members are chosen from districts within each state.
Some practices related to Congressional representation-
1. Apportionment- states are divided into districts based on population. Initially, as the population grew, districts were added and so were members to the House of Representatives. But it was realized that the numbers were going to get out of hand, so in 1910, the number of House members was capped at 435. Now, they reapportion every ten years- shuffle districts according to the population.
2. ?????
3. Getting elected to Congress-
a. ????
b. Senate- the constitution guarantees every state equal representation in the Senate. Originally, senators were chosen by the state governments. But this changed in 1913 with the seventeenth amendment- direct election of senators by the people.
c. Incumbent effect- the idea that the incumbent usually wins re-election. Why?
i. Name recognition
ii. Credit claiming- you can say all of the positive things that you have accomplished.
iii. Casework- ????
iv. More visible- can use certain privileges, such as franking privileges, to communicate with you on a continuous basis.
v. Media coverage- they are being written up about in newspapers.
vi. Fundraising- people donate more money to the incumbent.
vii. Experience in campaigning.
viii. Records
4. Leadership in Congress- the majority party in each house controls the leadership positions.
a. Leadership in the House of Representatives-
i. Speaker of the House- most powerful member in the House and the whole Congress. He’s the presiding officer of the House. He:
1. Assigns bills to the committees.
2. Controls the floor debates.
3. Appoints party members to the committees.
ii. Majority party leader- he’s the Speaker of the House’s assistant. He plans the Speaker of the House’s legislative program with him- legislative actions, policies…
iii. Minority party leader- he is the voice for the minority party. He leads the opposition.
iv. Whips-
1. Help the floor leaders.
2. Direct the other members of the House as to how to vote.
3. Tell them when there is an upcoming vote.
4. Keep track of the votes.
5. Pressure members to vote along party lines.
b. Leadership in the Senate-
i. Vice president- presiding officer of the Senate according to the constitution, but he doesn’t do much- he serves as the tie breaker.
ii. President pro-tempure- the president of Senate. He’s the senior most member of the majority party, but this is mostly a ceremonial position. However, when the vice president can’t, he serves as president.
iii. The real leaders are the majority party floor leader.
5. The committee system- most of the work of Congress gets done in committees because when work is divided, it gets done more effectively. How is the leadership divided into committees? The committee chairpersons are from the majority party. They are chosen at special meetings. The heads set an agenda of what they are going to focus on this session of Congress. They also assign members to sub-committees.
Investigative committee- decides whether the committee will hold public hearings and which witnesses to call up by the hearings. They help manage floor debates when a bill is presented.
Members serve on committees that will help influence legislature for their district or state, for example: a representative from Iowa would join the Agriculture Committee.
Types of committees:
a. Standing committees- permanent committees which deal with issues that are always applicable.
b. Select committees- temporary committees which are set up for a specific purpose. They are usually set up for investigative purposes.
c. Joint committees- made up of House of Representative and Senate members. They could join for investigative purposes or to form standing committees.
d. Conference committees- temporary committees of both House and Senate members when they want to confer on bills and other issues.
Caucus- an informal group formed by different congressmen.
Congressional staff and support-
Congressmen have huge, fully staffed offices paid for by tax dollars. Committee members have staff working for them and there are sub committees working under them. There are also support agencies working for everyone.
Role of the Congressmen:
1. Policy makers- set public policy by making laws.
2. Representative roles- they represent the people and vote according to what the people tell them. But they also vote according to their own research and opinion.
3. Constituent’s servants- they must help the constituent with his problems.
4. Committee members- they all work on committees.
5. Politicians- they are out there, working to get reelected.
Privileges of the Congressmen:
1. Allowance for offices- at home and in Congress.
2. Travel allowances.
3. Free franking.
4. Immunity from arrest.
5. Immunity from libel or slander lawsuits- this is in Congressional debates.
Powers of the Congressmen:
1. Legislative powers-
a. Expressed powers- powers written straight out in the constitution.
b. Implied powers- powers that are implied by the elastic clause.
c. They have limitations to their powers- denied powers. These are written out in Article I, Section 8 of the constitution:
i. Ex post facto laws.
ii. Suspend the writ of habeas corpus.
2. Non- legislative powers-
a. Electoral powers- the House chooses the president if there is a tie and Senate chooses the vice president.
b. Amendment powers- can propose an amendment with a two- thirds vote.
c. Impeachment powers- the House brings to trial and Senate acts as the jury. They can impeach any civil officer.
d. Executive powers in the Senate- ratify treaties with a two- thirds vote and approve presidential appointments with a majority vote.
e. Investigative powers- can review any of the executive policies.
Lawmaking process:
1. A bill starts in the House of Representatives or Senate. All revenue bills begin in the House.
2. Bills get assigned to committees. They study it, research and work on it.
3. After many months of study, hearings and work, when it is ready to be voted on, the rules committee in the House of Representatives sets rules for the debate.
4. On the Senate and House floor, the bill is debated, corrected and voted on. If it passes, it goes to the House.
5. If the House and Senate bills are the same, it goes straight to the president. If not, it goes to the conference committee. By the conference committee, they can’t add on any new material, they can only revise.
6. Goes to the president. He either signs it or vetoes it.
7. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two- thirds vote.
Legislative tactics- attempts by Congressmen to get legislation either passed or not passed:
1. Caucuses- informal group which forms a voting block to stop or pass legislation.
2. Filibuster- talk so much that the legislation can’t be passed. This only takes place in the Senate. In the past ten years they have added a cloture that if sixty out of one hundred vote for the guy to shut his mouth, he must.
3. Pork- barrel legislation- laws that are passed to help your particular state or district.
4. Logrolling- if you vote to pass one man’s legislation, he’ll vote to pass yours.
5. Riders- additions to a law that have no connection to the law, but were just stuck on to get passed. Sometimes, bills have so many riders attached that they are called Christmas tree bills.
6. Amendments- add or change legislation.
7. Conference Committees- if the committee rejects a bill, then it is done.
8. Lobbying- special interest groups or the president or anyone tries to convince the Congressmen to pass a bill in their favor.
9. Legislative veto- Congress can veto an action of the president. This was declared unconstitutional in 1983.
Who influences the Congressmen?
1. Constituents- you will vote for them if they do what you want.
2. Other law makers and staff can convince congressmen to vote in a certain direction. Senior members also influence newer members.
3. Party influence- you go according to party lines, or else…
4. The president- he lobbies, speaks to the public and invites them for dinners at the White House.
5. Lobbyists and other interest groups- speak to the legislatures and convince them.
Structure of Congress:
1. Membership- how many people?
a. House of Representatives- 435 members.
b. Senate- 100 members.
2. Terms of office-
a. House of Representatives- elected every two years for two years. They can run for office as often as they please.
b. Senate- serves a six year term, but the terms are staggered so that every two years, one- third of Congress is elected. The question of limiting a senator’s number of terms has come up often, but so far the Supreme Court has ruled that it can only be imposed by a constitutional amendment.
3. Qualifications-
a. House of Representatives- must be twenty-five, a US citizen for seven years and live in the district that he was elected by.
b. Senate- must be thirty, a US citizen for nine years and live in the state that he was elected by.
4. Constituency- the area that you represent-
a. House of Representatives- specific district.
b. Senate- state.
Organization of Congress:
1. Congress is in session for two years. It begins January 3 of odd numbered years. Each term is divided into two one- year sessions.
2. The president can, if he so wishes, call a special session in case of emergency.
3. Each house chooses its own leadership and rules.
Election to Congress:
The constitution guarantees each state at least one member to the House of Representatives. Members are chosen from districts within each state.
Some practices related to Congressional representation-
1. Apportionment- states are divided into districts based on population. Initially, as the population grew, districts were added and so were members to the House of Representatives. But it was realized that the numbers were going to get out of hand, so in 1910, the number of House members was capped at 435. Now, they reapportion every ten years- shuffle districts according to the population.
2. ?????
3. Getting elected to Congress-
a. ????
b. Senate- the constitution guarantees every state equal representation in the Senate. Originally, senators were chosen by the state governments. But this changed in 1913 with the seventeenth amendment- direct election of senators by the people.
c. Incumbent effect- the idea that the incumbent usually wins re-election. Why?
i. Name recognition
ii. Credit claiming- you can say all of the positive things that you have accomplished.
iii. Casework- ????
iv. More visible- can use certain privileges, such as franking privileges, to communicate with you on a continuous basis.
v. Media coverage- they are being written up about in newspapers.
vi. Fundraising- people donate more money to the incumbent.
vii. Experience in campaigning.
viii. Records
4. Leadership in Congress- the majority party in each house controls the leadership positions.
a. Leadership in the House of Representatives-
i. Speaker of the House- most powerful member in the House and the whole Congress. He’s the presiding officer of the House. He:
1. Assigns bills to the committees.
2. Controls the floor debates.
3. Appoints party members to the committees.
ii. Majority party leader- he’s the Speaker of the House’s assistant. He plans the Speaker of the House’s legislative program with him- legislative actions, policies…
iii. Minority party leader- he is the voice for the minority party. He leads the opposition.
iv. Whips-
1. Help the floor leaders.
2. Direct the other members of the House as to how to vote.
3. Tell them when there is an upcoming vote.
4. Keep track of the votes.
5. Pressure members to vote along party lines.
b. Leadership in the Senate-
i. Vice president- presiding officer of the Senate according to the constitution, but he doesn’t do much- he serves as the tie breaker.
ii. President pro-tempure- the president of Senate. He’s the senior most member of the majority party, but this is mostly a ceremonial position. However, when the vice president can’t, he serves as president.
iii. The real leaders are the majority party floor leader.
5. The committee system- most of the work of Congress gets done in committees because when work is divided, it gets done more effectively. How is the leadership divided into committees? The committee chairpersons are from the majority party. They are chosen at special meetings. The heads set an agenda of what they are going to focus on this session of Congress. They also assign members to sub-committees.
Investigative committee- decides whether the committee will hold public hearings and which witnesses to call up by the hearings. They help manage floor debates when a bill is presented.
Members serve on committees that will help influence legislature for their district or state, for example: a representative from Iowa would join the Agriculture Committee.
Types of committees:
a. Standing committees- permanent committees which deal with issues that are always applicable.
b. Select committees- temporary committees which are set up for a specific purpose. They are usually set up for investigative purposes.
c. Joint committees- made up of House of Representative and Senate members. They could join for investigative purposes or to form standing committees.
d. Conference committees- temporary committees of both House and Senate members when they want to confer on bills and other issues.
Caucus- an informal group formed by different congressmen.
Congressional staff and support-
Congressmen have huge, fully staffed offices paid for by tax dollars. Committee members have staff working for them and there are sub committees working under them. There are also support agencies working for everyone.
Role of the Congressmen:
1. Policy makers- set public policy by making laws.
2. Representative roles- they represent the people and vote according to what the people tell them. But they also vote according to their own research and opinion.
3. Constituent’s servants- they must help the constituent with his problems.
4. Committee members- they all work on committees.
5. Politicians- they are out there, working to get reelected.
Privileges of the Congressmen:
1. Allowance for offices- at home and in Congress.
2. Travel allowances.
3. Free franking.
4. Immunity from arrest.
5. Immunity from libel or slander lawsuits- this is in Congressional debates.
Powers of the Congressmen:
1. Legislative powers-
a. Expressed powers- powers written straight out in the constitution.
b. Implied powers- powers that are implied by the elastic clause.
c. They have limitations to their powers- denied powers. These are written out in Article I, Section 8 of the constitution:
i. Ex post facto laws.
ii. Suspend the writ of habeas corpus.
2. Non- legislative powers-
a. Electoral powers- the House chooses the president if there is a tie and Senate chooses the vice president.
b. Amendment powers- can propose an amendment with a two- thirds vote.
c. Impeachment powers- the House brings to trial and Senate acts as the jury. They can impeach any civil officer.
d. Executive powers in the Senate- ratify treaties with a two- thirds vote and approve presidential appointments with a majority vote.
e. Investigative powers- can review any of the executive policies.
Lawmaking process:
1. A bill starts in the House of Representatives or Senate. All revenue bills begin in the House.
2. Bills get assigned to committees. They study it, research and work on it.
3. After many months of study, hearings and work, when it is ready to be voted on, the rules committee in the House of Representatives sets rules for the debate.
4. On the Senate and House floor, the bill is debated, corrected and voted on. If it passes, it goes to the House.
5. If the House and Senate bills are the same, it goes straight to the president. If not, it goes to the conference committee. By the conference committee, they can’t add on any new material, they can only revise.
6. Goes to the president. He either signs it or vetoes it.
7. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two- thirds vote.
Legislative tactics- attempts by Congressmen to get legislation either passed or not passed:
1. Caucuses- informal group which forms a voting block to stop or pass legislation.
2. Filibuster- talk so much that the legislation can’t be passed. This only takes place in the Senate. In the past ten years they have added a cloture that if sixty out of one hundred vote for the guy to shut his mouth, he must.
3. Pork- barrel legislation- laws that are passed to help your particular state or district.
4. Logrolling- if you vote to pass one man’s legislation, he’ll vote to pass yours.
5. Riders- additions to a law that have no connection to the law, but were just stuck on to get passed. Sometimes, bills have so many riders attached that they are called Christmas tree bills.
6. Amendments- add or change legislation.
7. Conference Committees- if the committee rejects a bill, then it is done.
8. Lobbying- special interest groups or the president or anyone tries to convince the Congressmen to pass a bill in their favor.
9. Legislative veto- Congress can veto an action of the president. This was declared unconstitutional in 1983.
Who influences the Congressmen?
1. Constituents- you will vote for them if they do what you want.
2. Other law makers and staff can convince congressmen to vote in a certain direction. Senior members also influence newer members.
3. Party influence- you go according to party lines, or else…
4. The president- he lobbies, speaks to the public and invites them for dinners at the White House.
5. Lobbyists and other interest groups- speak to the legislatures and convince them.
Political Science- Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Executive Branch
Qualifications for president:
1. Thirty-five years of age.
2. Naturally born citizen.
3. Must live in the country for fourteen years prior to his election.
Historically, presidents have been:
1. White, males.
2. Have political or military background.
3. Married (though Buchanan was a bachelor).
4. Of northern European ancestry.
The concept of popularly elected presidents is an American invention. The constitution set up an electoral college that would vote for the president. Today, however, the electoral college is no more than a number and the president is elected by the people. Up until the twenty- second amendment in 1951, a president could run for an indefinite amount of terms. Now, a president can only serve two terms of four years each.
Succession and disabilities-
The constitution says that if a president can no longer serve, the vice president takes over- he acts as president but doesn’t have the official title of president.
The twenty-fifth amendment discusses the idea of succession and disability-
1. Succession- if the president dies, the vice president becomes president and he chooses a new vice president.
2. Disability- if the president is unable to do his duties, but is alive, the vice president is the acting president. How do you know if the president is ill?
a. He informs Congress that he is too ill to perform his duties.
b. If the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet inform Congress that the president is unable to perform his duties.
The president can resume his duties after he tells Congress that he is well. However, if the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet disagree, Congress has twenty-one days to assess the president’s situation, and by a two-thirds vote, they decide.
Impeachment and removal-
The constitution gives the House of Representatives the right to issue articles of impeachment. If accused, the president can either resign or stand trial. At the trial, the Senate is the jury and the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.
The road to the White House-
There are two ways to get elected to the White House:
1. The president dies.
2. You are elected.
Most presidents have been elected. Many have had previous political experience.
The president is elected by the Electoral College. The Electoral College was set up by the constitution, but was changed almost immediately due to the introduction of political parties. Each state has a different number of electors- same as the state’s House and Senate members.
In the general election, you vote for the candidate of your choice. The constitution really wanted that you vote for electors, who will vote for the president. In December, the electors go to Washington D.C.- they cast two votes- one for president and one for vice president, and it’s counted up in Congress.
Today, in order to win the election, you need 270 electoral votes. If no candidate receives the majority of 270 votes, then the House chooses. If no vice president receives a majority of votes, the Senate chooses the vice president.
Over the years of American history, ambitious Americans have never desired the role of vice president.
Constitutional duties of the vice president:
1. President of the Senate and serves as the tiebreaker.
2. Decides the presidential disability with the Cabinet.
Because the vice president may someday become president, the formal qualifications for president apply to the vice president as well. There is one difference though- he can serve an unlimited number of terms. The vice president is usually chosen at the National Convention- the president officially chooses his vice president. The president often chooses a vice president who will balance out his ticket in some way. In recent years, since Kennedy’s assassination and attempts at Ford and Reagan’s lives, people are more focused on who they choose as vice president.
Today, the vice president is given more duties:
1. Takes part in Cabinet meetings.
2. Acts like the president’s representative when meeting with foreign countries.
Article II in the constitution outlines the powers of the president. The system of checks and balances sometimes limits the president, but the power of the modern president has increased because the president has shaped his position. In the Sixties and Seventies, historian Arthur Schlesinger discussed the idea of the imperial president- he said that the president is becoming too powerful. Historian Richard Neustadt said that the president’s powers lie in the ability to persuade others either through negotiations, influence or compromise. From 2002- 2008, Bush and Cheney tried to expand the powers of the presidency.
Duties of the president:
1. Executive powers-
a. Enforces laws, treaties and court decisions.
b. He can issue executive orders- has the power of a law.
c. Appoints and removes officials.
d. Has emergency powers.
e. Presides over the Cabinet and the executive officers.
2. Legislative powers-
a. The constitution declares that every year he give a State of the Union Address- identify the country’s problems, present solutions and discusses legislative proposals.
b. Issues the annual budget and economic reports.
c. Signs and vetoes bills.
d. He proposes legislation and then uses his influence to get it passed.
e. He calls for special sessions of Congress.
3. Diplomatic powers- as chief diplomat, he:
a. Appoints ambassadors and other diplomats.
b. Negotiates treaties and executive agreements- have the same power as treaties, but are quick arrangements between countries.
c. Meets with foreign nations.
d. Can extend and withdraw recognition.
e. Receives foreign dignitaries.
4. Military powers-
a. Serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces.
b. Has the final decision making powers in matters of national and foreign defense.
c. In charge of maintaining domestic order.
5. Judicial powers-
a. Can grant pardons, reprieves and amnesties.
b. Appoints judges to federal judiciary.
6. Party powers-
a. President is the head of his political party.
b. Chooses the vice president.
c. Strengthens the party by helping party members get elected. The expression used is that he is “riding on the president’s coattails”.
d. Gives party members jobs- patronage.
e. Influences the party policies.
There are limits on the presidential powers. To avoid abuse of an executive, the founding fathers made sure that there are checks on the president.
1. Congressional checks-
a. Override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote.
b. Impeach him.
c. Approve his appointments.
d. Power of the purse- can decide how much money the president gets to spend. In 1974, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment act was passed- denied the president the right to refuse to spend the money that Congress budgeted. It also gave Congress a greater role in the budgeting process.
e. Legislative powers- can pass laws that limit the president- War Powers Act.
f. Legislative veto- Congress can veto an act that the president or Cabinet does. In 1983, this was declared unconstitutional.
2. Judicial checks-
a. Judicial review of executive actions.
3. Political checks-
a. Public opinion.
b. Popularity.
c. How much attention the media gives him.
Presidential character-
Political scientist James Baber examined the importance of the president’s personality and character and discussed how it shapes both him and the presidency. He divided this into four types, based on childhood and other experiences-
1. Active positive- takes pleasure in his work, adjust easily to new situations and is confident in both himself and his work.
a. FDR
b. Truman
c. Kennedy
d. Ford
e. Carter
f. Bush
2. Active negative- is a hard worker but doesn’t enjoy his work, is insecure in his position and may be obsessive or antagonistic.
a. Wilson
b. Hoover
c. LBJ
d. Nixon
3. Passive positive- easygoing, wants agreement from others and may be overly confident.
a. Taft
b. Harding
c. Reagan
4. Passive negative- dislikes politics and tends to withdraw from close relationships.
a. Coolidge
b. Eisenhower
Bureaucracy- systematic way of organizing a large administration in charge of carrying out all day to day operations. The federal government is the largest bureaucracy in the US. It employs 2.8 million people.
Three basic principles of bureaucracy:
1. Hierarchal authority- the people at the top have the power over the people on the bottom, like a pyramid.
2. Job specialization- everyone has a specific job or duty.
3. Formal rules- rules and procedures which must be followed.
History and growth of a bureaucracy-
At the beginning of this nation, in order to work in the government, one had to be at a certain level and there were certain qualifications one had to meet. He also had to have political acceptability. Then came the spoils system- give jobs to your political supporters. During the Age of Reform, they tried instituting competitive exams, but there wasn’t enough government funding so it flopped. In 1883, the Pendleton Act was passed- civil service exam. They did this because President Garfield was shot and they felt that it was due to the fact that he put his friends in office and someone who thought that they deserved a position killed him. In 1939, the Hatch Act was passed- if you are a government worker, you can’t be involved in political activity. This was really meant to keep Communists out of the government. In 1978, they Civil Service Reform Act was passed- it created more bureaucracy. It created the office of personal management- this office recruits and trains government workers and also discusses salaries.
The federal bureaucracy is divided into four parts:
1. Cabinet departments- there are fifteen cabinet departments. Each cabinet is headed by a secretary except the Department of Justice, which is headed by an attorney general. The cabinets have fully stocked offices. All have been set up by Congress (the first three by Washington) and every president chooses his cabinet, but Senate must approve it.
2. Independent executive agencies- these independent executive agencies have power, but don’t have cabinet status, like NASA. These people work specifically with the president.
3. Regulatory agencies- agencies that are here to regulate businesses. The ICC regulates railroads and the SEC regulates the stock exchange.
4. Government corporations- the government carries out businesses like the post office. These businesses are set up by Congress.
Influences on the bureaucracy:
1. The president- he chooses the people and he can issue an executive order, like limiting their budget.
2. Congress- approves the people. They can also pass laws affecting the budget. They can additionally write all kinds of legislation.
3. Iron triangle- a three way work relationship between cabinet members, Congressional agencies and special interest groups.
4. Issue networks- groups that work on an issue. These networks are not permanent like the iron triangle.
Qualifications for president:
1. Thirty-five years of age.
2. Naturally born citizen.
3. Must live in the country for fourteen years prior to his election.
Historically, presidents have been:
1. White, males.
2. Have political or military background.
3. Married (though Buchanan was a bachelor).
4. Of northern European ancestry.
The concept of popularly elected presidents is an American invention. The constitution set up an electoral college that would vote for the president. Today, however, the electoral college is no more than a number and the president is elected by the people. Up until the twenty- second amendment in 1951, a president could run for an indefinite amount of terms. Now, a president can only serve two terms of four years each.
Succession and disabilities-
The constitution says that if a president can no longer serve, the vice president takes over- he acts as president but doesn’t have the official title of president.
The twenty-fifth amendment discusses the idea of succession and disability-
1. Succession- if the president dies, the vice president becomes president and he chooses a new vice president.
2. Disability- if the president is unable to do his duties, but is alive, the vice president is the acting president. How do you know if the president is ill?
a. He informs Congress that he is too ill to perform his duties.
b. If the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet inform Congress that the president is unable to perform his duties.
The president can resume his duties after he tells Congress that he is well. However, if the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet disagree, Congress has twenty-one days to assess the president’s situation, and by a two-thirds vote, they decide.
Impeachment and removal-
The constitution gives the House of Representatives the right to issue articles of impeachment. If accused, the president can either resign or stand trial. At the trial, the Senate is the jury and the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial.
The road to the White House-
There are two ways to get elected to the White House:
1. The president dies.
2. You are elected.
Most presidents have been elected. Many have had previous political experience.
The president is elected by the Electoral College. The Electoral College was set up by the constitution, but was changed almost immediately due to the introduction of political parties. Each state has a different number of electors- same as the state’s House and Senate members.
In the general election, you vote for the candidate of your choice. The constitution really wanted that you vote for electors, who will vote for the president. In December, the electors go to Washington D.C.- they cast two votes- one for president and one for vice president, and it’s counted up in Congress.
Today, in order to win the election, you need 270 electoral votes. If no candidate receives the majority of 270 votes, then the House chooses. If no vice president receives a majority of votes, the Senate chooses the vice president.
Over the years of American history, ambitious Americans have never desired the role of vice president.
Constitutional duties of the vice president:
1. President of the Senate and serves as the tiebreaker.
2. Decides the presidential disability with the Cabinet.
Because the vice president may someday become president, the formal qualifications for president apply to the vice president as well. There is one difference though- he can serve an unlimited number of terms. The vice president is usually chosen at the National Convention- the president officially chooses his vice president. The president often chooses a vice president who will balance out his ticket in some way. In recent years, since Kennedy’s assassination and attempts at Ford and Reagan’s lives, people are more focused on who they choose as vice president.
Today, the vice president is given more duties:
1. Takes part in Cabinet meetings.
2. Acts like the president’s representative when meeting with foreign countries.
Article II in the constitution outlines the powers of the president. The system of checks and balances sometimes limits the president, but the power of the modern president has increased because the president has shaped his position. In the Sixties and Seventies, historian Arthur Schlesinger discussed the idea of the imperial president- he said that the president is becoming too powerful. Historian Richard Neustadt said that the president’s powers lie in the ability to persuade others either through negotiations, influence or compromise. From 2002- 2008, Bush and Cheney tried to expand the powers of the presidency.
Duties of the president:
1. Executive powers-
a. Enforces laws, treaties and court decisions.
b. He can issue executive orders- has the power of a law.
c. Appoints and removes officials.
d. Has emergency powers.
e. Presides over the Cabinet and the executive officers.
2. Legislative powers-
a. The constitution declares that every year he give a State of the Union Address- identify the country’s problems, present solutions and discusses legislative proposals.
b. Issues the annual budget and economic reports.
c. Signs and vetoes bills.
d. He proposes legislation and then uses his influence to get it passed.
e. He calls for special sessions of Congress.
3. Diplomatic powers- as chief diplomat, he:
a. Appoints ambassadors and other diplomats.
b. Negotiates treaties and executive agreements- have the same power as treaties, but are quick arrangements between countries.
c. Meets with foreign nations.
d. Can extend and withdraw recognition.
e. Receives foreign dignitaries.
4. Military powers-
a. Serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces.
b. Has the final decision making powers in matters of national and foreign defense.
c. In charge of maintaining domestic order.
5. Judicial powers-
a. Can grant pardons, reprieves and amnesties.
b. Appoints judges to federal judiciary.
6. Party powers-
a. President is the head of his political party.
b. Chooses the vice president.
c. Strengthens the party by helping party members get elected. The expression used is that he is “riding on the president’s coattails”.
d. Gives party members jobs- patronage.
e. Influences the party policies.
There are limits on the presidential powers. To avoid abuse of an executive, the founding fathers made sure that there are checks on the president.
1. Congressional checks-
a. Override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote.
b. Impeach him.
c. Approve his appointments.
d. Power of the purse- can decide how much money the president gets to spend. In 1974, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment act was passed- denied the president the right to refuse to spend the money that Congress budgeted. It also gave Congress a greater role in the budgeting process.
e. Legislative powers- can pass laws that limit the president- War Powers Act.
f. Legislative veto- Congress can veto an act that the president or Cabinet does. In 1983, this was declared unconstitutional.
2. Judicial checks-
a. Judicial review of executive actions.
3. Political checks-
a. Public opinion.
b. Popularity.
c. How much attention the media gives him.
Presidential character-
Political scientist James Baber examined the importance of the president’s personality and character and discussed how it shapes both him and the presidency. He divided this into four types, based on childhood and other experiences-
1. Active positive- takes pleasure in his work, adjust easily to new situations and is confident in both himself and his work.
a. FDR
b. Truman
c. Kennedy
d. Ford
e. Carter
f. Bush
2. Active negative- is a hard worker but doesn’t enjoy his work, is insecure in his position and may be obsessive or antagonistic.
a. Wilson
b. Hoover
c. LBJ
d. Nixon
3. Passive positive- easygoing, wants agreement from others and may be overly confident.
a. Taft
b. Harding
c. Reagan
4. Passive negative- dislikes politics and tends to withdraw from close relationships.
a. Coolidge
b. Eisenhower
Bureaucracy- systematic way of organizing a large administration in charge of carrying out all day to day operations. The federal government is the largest bureaucracy in the US. It employs 2.8 million people.
Three basic principles of bureaucracy:
1. Hierarchal authority- the people at the top have the power over the people on the bottom, like a pyramid.
2. Job specialization- everyone has a specific job or duty.
3. Formal rules- rules and procedures which must be followed.
History and growth of a bureaucracy-
At the beginning of this nation, in order to work in the government, one had to be at a certain level and there were certain qualifications one had to meet. He also had to have political acceptability. Then came the spoils system- give jobs to your political supporters. During the Age of Reform, they tried instituting competitive exams, but there wasn’t enough government funding so it flopped. In 1883, the Pendleton Act was passed- civil service exam. They did this because President Garfield was shot and they felt that it was due to the fact that he put his friends in office and someone who thought that they deserved a position killed him. In 1939, the Hatch Act was passed- if you are a government worker, you can’t be involved in political activity. This was really meant to keep Communists out of the government. In 1978, they Civil Service Reform Act was passed- it created more bureaucracy. It created the office of personal management- this office recruits and trains government workers and also discusses salaries.
The federal bureaucracy is divided into four parts:
1. Cabinet departments- there are fifteen cabinet departments. Each cabinet is headed by a secretary except the Department of Justice, which is headed by an attorney general. The cabinets have fully stocked offices. All have been set up by Congress (the first three by Washington) and every president chooses his cabinet, but Senate must approve it.
2. Independent executive agencies- these independent executive agencies have power, but don’t have cabinet status, like NASA. These people work specifically with the president.
3. Regulatory agencies- agencies that are here to regulate businesses. The ICC regulates railroads and the SEC regulates the stock exchange.
4. Government corporations- the government carries out businesses like the post office. These businesses are set up by Congress.
Influences on the bureaucracy:
1. The president- he chooses the people and he can issue an executive order, like limiting their budget.
2. Congress- approves the people. They can also pass laws affecting the budget. They can additionally write all kinds of legislation.
3. Iron triangle- a three way work relationship between cabinet members, Congressional agencies and special interest groups.
4. Issue networks- groups that work on an issue. These networks are not permanent like the iron triangle.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
הסטורי' 1
In 1390, King Ferdinand of Spain died. His son, Henry III, took over at the age of eleven. One of dukes by the name of Ferdinand Martinez saw this as an excellent opportunity to influence the young king. He was close with the royal family, so they listened to him He had an agenda and wanted it carried out. It took him one year to gather enough people to institute גזירות קנ''א.
At this time, the Jews were living peacefully and with little warning, they were persecuted. This began on ר''ח תמוז. Mobs of people went on a march to kill, burn, torture and steal. They gave people the choice- או נצרות או ימות.
The two main kingdoms that were affected were:
1. מלכות קסטיל
2. מלכות ארגון
Some people were killed or sold as slaves, but most were given the choice of Christianity or death. Many people gave up their lives על קדוש ה', but this is the first time recorded in history that many, many more chose to convert. The הלכה is that if one is given the choice by a גוי to convert or die, he must die. This is a יהרג ועל יעבור. There is never a choice to convert.
By choosing נצרות, there was a huge חלול ה'. But the people who chose this really didn’t want to be Christians. They are called אנוסים- they were forced to convert and did it only to save their lives and they expected the whole issue to blow over. But the נוצרים expected them to act like Christians. This caused trouble because when they realized that there were so many disloyal Christians, they killed them because they were heretics.
The whole גזירות קנ''א lasted for only three months and then settled down. However, the אנוסים were still expected to be נוצרים. Some places weren’t reached by the mob and where therefore not affected.
About 2,000 Jews converted, causing an enormous חלול ה'.
In 1413, there was a debate in טורטסה. This was the longest debate between נוצרים and Jews- it lasted for a year and a half. This debate was started by a מומר. The Jews were represented by ר' יוסף אלבו. He was not given a chance to say the truth and the Jews “lost”. The outcome of this debate was that Yidden couldn’t learn גמרא. The law enforcer at this time was not strong though, and they got around it.
In 1469, there was a royal marriage between Ferdinand of ארגון and Isabella of קסטיל. When they married, these two kingdoms united. They wanted to unite the whole Spain, and the Jews helped monetarily and with advice.
An inquisition is a court to make inquests on the religious practices of their followers. The Christians always had such a court system, but did not always have to use it. Now, however, there were so many heretics. Many people were tried, claimed disloyal, burnt and then their properties taken by the inquisition courts.
The first public burning, auto da Fe, took place in 1481. The inquisition was not against frum Jews. It was against disloyal נוצרים.
In 1483, טרקמדה became the grand inquisitor. He was very strong and powerful. In the first few years, 30,000 אנוסים became victims throughout Spain. The inquisition continued for the next 350 years. Books were put out for גוים on how to find אנוסים and maids were bribed to turn in their masters. Before people were burnt, they were tortured mercilessly.
The inquisition made a big, formal judgment- people were given thirty to forty days to confess. They were tried by a judge and witnesses came and told of their disloyalties. Public burnings were often at weddings and other public celebrations. אנוסים had to attend such burnings and appear to be excited so as not to be suspected of being disloyal. Anyone who couldn’t attend had to bring a doctor’s note.
תקופת האחרונים- ספרד:
ר' דן יצחק אברבנל- he wrote a פירוש on תנ''ך and often included information of what was going on in Spain at that time. He came from Portugal. His father had been a financer to the king of Portugal. When his father died, he took over. When the king died, his son became the new king and he wanted to kill the אברבנל. He ran to Spain in order to save his life. When Ferdinand found out about him, he chose him as his finance minister, mainly to help with war against the אלמוחדים. Eventually, the war was won in early 1492.
Now that Ferdinand had gained control of the entire Spain, he wanted everyone to be a Christian, so he made גירוש ספרד. The אברבנל tried to convince him not to do it and tried to bribe him. He almost had him convinced, but טרקמדה convinced the king to go ahead with it.
The גזירה was signed on March 31, 1942 for July 31, 1942- ז' אב- by this date must either convert or leave. Most of the people left by boat and when they came to the harbor, they passed three boats that were preparing to go to America- Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. This shows us that the עת וים to get rid of us really was bringing us to our survival today, which is because of America.
When they saw that the גזירה was around ט' אב time, they realized that it was from ה' and their אמונה was strengthened.
The captains of the ships knew that the Jews were rich so they took their money and dumped them in the water or on an island. The Jews were faced with sickness, starvation and death, but they remained steadfast in their אמונה. There was a woman who escaped Spain with three children. Her first two died on the way and when she only had one left, she said, “ה', whatever You do, I will remain Your servant”.
Where did the Jews go?
1. Portugal
2. Italy
3. North Africa
4. Ottoman Empire- Turkey
5. Russia
6. Poland
The אברבנל was given the option of staying, but he left with the Jews- just like משה, who grew up in פרעה’s palace but "ויצא אל אחיו". This defines a גדול.
Columbus went to America with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Legend has it that he was from a family of אנוסים. His wife was Jewish. Also, he didn’t leave Spain until י' אב because he didn’t want to go during the “nine days”. He wrote ב''ה on his manuscripts and had a tremendous library of ספרים. He left before inspectors could inspect his ships because he had many אנוסים with him who were escaping to America. Many of them invented sea faring instruments that were used widely after.
ר' יוסף יעבץ- people called him חסיד יעבץ because he was such a great צדיק. He lived during this time and explains to us what was going on.
Sheet- What was the reason for losing the land? Because they left the תורה- "על עזבתם את תורתי"- they didn’t have the proper חשיבות התורה, just like by I חרבן בית . Though there were many people sitting and learning, something was missing. משל- someone’s tooth is hurting. It looks fine, but when he goes to the dentist and they take an x-ray, you can now see how damaged the tooth really is on the inside. Now, there were never as many people sitting and learning in yeshiva as there were in the time of the גירוש. So what wrong was really going on in the inside? The people who were learning can be divided into three groups:
1. People who learnt for six or seven years from great people, but afterwards began to learn secular knowledge and they felt regret for what they had learnt first.
2. Left תורה completely and busied themselves with the גשמיות of עוה''ז.
3. Held onto the תורה, but only learnt it as an intellectual pursuit, to sharpen their minds.
These people learnt not for the purpose of coming close to ה' or to do. There was only a minority who learnt לש''ש and they couldn’t protect their generation.
At the time of גירוש ספרד, there were many people who converted, but many didn’t. Those that didn’t were the simple people of the nation. Someone said, “The reason that they were thrown out of Spain was because of their many עבירות. Those that were so proud of their חכמה converted, but the woman and עמי הארץ gave up their lives.” Really, these weren’t simple people- they were people whose basis for אמונה was pure and unadulterated. They realized that ה' is the only One and with the protection of their אמונה, they stood strong and didn’t convert, giving up their lives על קדוש ה'. Those that were influenced by Greek philosophy and other strange and foreign חכמות, they couldn’t be pure in their אמונה because their heads were full of other impure things. The women were so strong and they influenced their husbands to remain strong and not convert. This pure אמונה kept the Jews in place when the נסיון came.
At first, Portugal, under king Jayo, let people in for a large sum some of money. The next king, Manuel, understood the greatness of having Jews in his country. He realized that they were a great asset and would make his country economically strong.
Manuel wanted to marry the daughter of King Ferdinand. But one of the conditions was that he expel the Jews. He had to make the choice between his marriage and the Jews- he chose her. In 1946, four years after the Inquistion was גירוש פרטגל.
This expulsion was much more difficult because Manuel really wanted the Jews to stay, so he made it harder for them to leave. He forcibly took the children and converted them. He thought that by doing so, parents would stay because they wouldn’t leave their children. Some sneaked their children and left, but most didn’t. Additionally, anyone who left had to leave by way of the capital city. There they were given the choice to convert or become slaves. Many became slaves.
מקומות פליטי של גולי ספרד ופרטגל:
The following פסוקים are to give us חיזוק as כלל ישראל go through difficult times- ה' promises us that He will never forsake us:
1. "ואף גם זאת בהיותם בארץ אויביהם לא מאסתים ולא געלתים לכלותם להפר בריתי אתם כי אני ה' אלוקיכם" (ויקרא כו, מד)- they disgusted ה', but not enough that ה' is going to destroy them. I’m not going to break My treaty with them, ברית בן הבתרים, I am ה'.
2. "ואני זאת בריתי אותם אמר ה' רותי אשר עליך ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך ומפי זרע זרעך אמר ה' מעתה ועד עולם" (ישעי') – I made a treaty with ב''י that My תורה won’t leave from you, your children or your grandchildren forever.
Havens:
1. Ottoman Empire- ה' prepared this place as a haven for כלל ישראל to run to. How? In 1453, the Sultan took over Constantinople and changed it from Christian to Muslim. They captured this area and then went on to capture more lands- this was the start of an empire. At this time, they invited the Jews to come but most didn’t take advantage of this offer. In 1492, after the גירוש, there was an influx of many Jews. The sultan realized that the Jews could help build up his country. He said about the king of Spain, “Can you call such a king wise? He impoverished his own country, thereby enriching mine”.
The Ottomans were a ruthless, barbaric people and weren’t good at business. They were good to the Jews though, because they needed them as doctors, bankers, business men and other officials. Constantinople was the nerve center of the Byzantine Empire and from here they started conquering the rest of the world. This empire lasted from 1453 until after WWI, but the last hundred years were very weak. Constantinople became Istanbul- Jewel of the city. The Jews called Istanbul קושתא.
Next, the Ottomans took over the Balkan Peninsula:
a. Hungry
b. Romania
c. Yugoslavia
d. Bulgaria
e. Serbia
f. Greece
In 1517, they captured the Middle East area, including:
a. א''י
b. Syria
c. Egypt
d. Saudi Arabia
e. North Africa
At this time, the רב was referred to asחַכַם .
Jewish communities:
a. Istanbul- at this time, Istanbul was the biggest Jewish community in the world. The רב was ר' משה בן אליהו קאפשאלי (1410-1500). He was a known מקובל and his דרך in עבודת ה' was סגוף הגוף- afflicting the body. Some people who are extremely comfortable in this world will choose to afflict themselves with יסורים. This דרך is only for certain individuals. He was strict with himself, but kind and caring with others. The sultan revered him and sometimes even asked him for advice. When an influx of גולי ספרד came to Istanbul, he taxed the wealthy businessmen in his community so he could have money to help them settle in.
Whenר' משה בן אליהו קאפשאלי died, ר' אליהו מזרחי (1450-1525) took over. He was born in Istanbul; his family had left Spain before the Inquisition. He wrote a פרוש on רש''י- he reconciles where רש''י and the רמב''ם disagree. He continued to help the גולי ספרד. He was also held in great reverence and was supported by the sultan. He was a רבי to many people who became חכמים in the Ottoman Empire.
b. Salonika- this is present-day Greece. There was a קהילה living here from before בית שני. This is from the oldest קהילות in Europe. It lasted until WWII, but the 1500s was its time of glory. During this time, it thrived. The majority of people living there were Jews. It was a port city. Many Jews were busy with sea trade. Since the port was controlled by Jews, it was closed on שבת. Salonika was known as an עיר ואם בישראל- mother city.
אחרונים:
1. ר' יעקב אבן חביב (1455-1516)- he was from the גולי ספרד. During the גרוש, he ran to Portugal. Four years later was the expulsion from Portugal. On his way out, they snatched his son לוי. They forced a ceremony on him to make his a Christian. ב''ה, they got him back and they ran to Salonika. He built up a whole community there and he was the רב. He wrote the עין יעקב- stories of the גמרא. This became an important ספר for the working class who didn’t have the time or ability to delve into different סוגיות of גמרא. He didn’t live to finish his ספר- it was finished by his son the רלב''ג- ר' לוי בן ר' יעקב אבן חביב
2. מהר''י אבן לב- ר' יוסף אבן לב (1500-1580)- he was a דין in the ב''ד. He was an extremely strong and outspoken personality and he wasn’t afraid to impress פסקי הלכה even on the most wealthy חשובי העיר. He tried to help the poor people and stuck up for their rights. This caused rich people to hate him, but he stood up for what was right. Once, a wealthy person lost a דין. He was upset, and after the case, he was discussing it with the מהר''י אבן לב. The rich man slapped him across the face. This was a huge חלול ה'. There were people standing around and they didn’t do anything. The מהר''י אבן לב was so despaired that he tore his clothing. That night, there was a huge fire that claimed around 200 lives.
At this time, the Jews were living peacefully and with little warning, they were persecuted. This began on ר''ח תמוז. Mobs of people went on a march to kill, burn, torture and steal. They gave people the choice- או נצרות או ימות.
The two main kingdoms that were affected were:
1. מלכות קסטיל
2. מלכות ארגון
Some people were killed or sold as slaves, but most were given the choice of Christianity or death. Many people gave up their lives על קדוש ה', but this is the first time recorded in history that many, many more chose to convert. The הלכה is that if one is given the choice by a גוי to convert or die, he must die. This is a יהרג ועל יעבור. There is never a choice to convert.
By choosing נצרות, there was a huge חלול ה'. But the people who chose this really didn’t want to be Christians. They are called אנוסים- they were forced to convert and did it only to save their lives and they expected the whole issue to blow over. But the נוצרים expected them to act like Christians. This caused trouble because when they realized that there were so many disloyal Christians, they killed them because they were heretics.
The whole גזירות קנ''א lasted for only three months and then settled down. However, the אנוסים were still expected to be נוצרים. Some places weren’t reached by the mob and where therefore not affected.
About 2,000 Jews converted, causing an enormous חלול ה'.
In 1413, there was a debate in טורטסה. This was the longest debate between נוצרים and Jews- it lasted for a year and a half. This debate was started by a מומר. The Jews were represented by ר' יוסף אלבו. He was not given a chance to say the truth and the Jews “lost”. The outcome of this debate was that Yidden couldn’t learn גמרא. The law enforcer at this time was not strong though, and they got around it.
In 1469, there was a royal marriage between Ferdinand of ארגון and Isabella of קסטיל. When they married, these two kingdoms united. They wanted to unite the whole Spain, and the Jews helped monetarily and with advice.
An inquisition is a court to make inquests on the religious practices of their followers. The Christians always had such a court system, but did not always have to use it. Now, however, there were so many heretics. Many people were tried, claimed disloyal, burnt and then their properties taken by the inquisition courts.
The first public burning, auto da Fe, took place in 1481. The inquisition was not against frum Jews. It was against disloyal נוצרים.
In 1483, טרקמדה became the grand inquisitor. He was very strong and powerful. In the first few years, 30,000 אנוסים became victims throughout Spain. The inquisition continued for the next 350 years. Books were put out for גוים on how to find אנוסים and maids were bribed to turn in their masters. Before people were burnt, they were tortured mercilessly.
The inquisition made a big, formal judgment- people were given thirty to forty days to confess. They were tried by a judge and witnesses came and told of their disloyalties. Public burnings were often at weddings and other public celebrations. אנוסים had to attend such burnings and appear to be excited so as not to be suspected of being disloyal. Anyone who couldn’t attend had to bring a doctor’s note.
תקופת האחרונים- ספרד:
ר' דן יצחק אברבנל- he wrote a פירוש on תנ''ך and often included information of what was going on in Spain at that time. He came from Portugal. His father had been a financer to the king of Portugal. When his father died, he took over. When the king died, his son became the new king and he wanted to kill the אברבנל. He ran to Spain in order to save his life. When Ferdinand found out about him, he chose him as his finance minister, mainly to help with war against the אלמוחדים. Eventually, the war was won in early 1492.
Now that Ferdinand had gained control of the entire Spain, he wanted everyone to be a Christian, so he made גירוש ספרד. The אברבנל tried to convince him not to do it and tried to bribe him. He almost had him convinced, but טרקמדה convinced the king to go ahead with it.
The גזירה was signed on March 31, 1942 for July 31, 1942- ז' אב- by this date must either convert or leave. Most of the people left by boat and when they came to the harbor, they passed three boats that were preparing to go to America- Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. This shows us that the עת וים to get rid of us really was bringing us to our survival today, which is because of America.
When they saw that the גזירה was around ט' אב time, they realized that it was from ה' and their אמונה was strengthened.
The captains of the ships knew that the Jews were rich so they took their money and dumped them in the water or on an island. The Jews were faced with sickness, starvation and death, but they remained steadfast in their אמונה. There was a woman who escaped Spain with three children. Her first two died on the way and when she only had one left, she said, “ה', whatever You do, I will remain Your servant”.
Where did the Jews go?
1. Portugal
2. Italy
3. North Africa
4. Ottoman Empire- Turkey
5. Russia
6. Poland
The אברבנל was given the option of staying, but he left with the Jews- just like משה, who grew up in פרעה’s palace but "ויצא אל אחיו". This defines a גדול.
Columbus went to America with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Legend has it that he was from a family of אנוסים. His wife was Jewish. Also, he didn’t leave Spain until י' אב because he didn’t want to go during the “nine days”. He wrote ב''ה on his manuscripts and had a tremendous library of ספרים. He left before inspectors could inspect his ships because he had many אנוסים with him who were escaping to America. Many of them invented sea faring instruments that were used widely after.
ר' יוסף יעבץ- people called him חסיד יעבץ because he was such a great צדיק. He lived during this time and explains to us what was going on.
Sheet- What was the reason for losing the land? Because they left the תורה- "על עזבתם את תורתי"- they didn’t have the proper חשיבות התורה, just like by I חרבן בית . Though there were many people sitting and learning, something was missing. משל- someone’s tooth is hurting. It looks fine, but when he goes to the dentist and they take an x-ray, you can now see how damaged the tooth really is on the inside. Now, there were never as many people sitting and learning in yeshiva as there were in the time of the גירוש. So what wrong was really going on in the inside? The people who were learning can be divided into three groups:
1. People who learnt for six or seven years from great people, but afterwards began to learn secular knowledge and they felt regret for what they had learnt first.
2. Left תורה completely and busied themselves with the גשמיות of עוה''ז.
3. Held onto the תורה, but only learnt it as an intellectual pursuit, to sharpen their minds.
These people learnt not for the purpose of coming close to ה' or to do. There was only a minority who learnt לש''ש and they couldn’t protect their generation.
At the time of גירוש ספרד, there were many people who converted, but many didn’t. Those that didn’t were the simple people of the nation. Someone said, “The reason that they were thrown out of Spain was because of their many עבירות. Those that were so proud of their חכמה converted, but the woman and עמי הארץ gave up their lives.” Really, these weren’t simple people- they were people whose basis for אמונה was pure and unadulterated. They realized that ה' is the only One and with the protection of their אמונה, they stood strong and didn’t convert, giving up their lives על קדוש ה'. Those that were influenced by Greek philosophy and other strange and foreign חכמות, they couldn’t be pure in their אמונה because their heads were full of other impure things. The women were so strong and they influenced their husbands to remain strong and not convert. This pure אמונה kept the Jews in place when the נסיון came.
At first, Portugal, under king Jayo, let people in for a large sum some of money. The next king, Manuel, understood the greatness of having Jews in his country. He realized that they were a great asset and would make his country economically strong.
Manuel wanted to marry the daughter of King Ferdinand. But one of the conditions was that he expel the Jews. He had to make the choice between his marriage and the Jews- he chose her. In 1946, four years after the Inquistion was גירוש פרטגל.
This expulsion was much more difficult because Manuel really wanted the Jews to stay, so he made it harder for them to leave. He forcibly took the children and converted them. He thought that by doing so, parents would stay because they wouldn’t leave their children. Some sneaked their children and left, but most didn’t. Additionally, anyone who left had to leave by way of the capital city. There they were given the choice to convert or become slaves. Many became slaves.
מקומות פליטי של גולי ספרד ופרטגל:
The following פסוקים are to give us חיזוק as כלל ישראל go through difficult times- ה' promises us that He will never forsake us:
1. "ואף גם זאת בהיותם בארץ אויביהם לא מאסתים ולא געלתים לכלותם להפר בריתי אתם כי אני ה' אלוקיכם" (ויקרא כו, מד)- they disgusted ה', but not enough that ה' is going to destroy them. I’m not going to break My treaty with them, ברית בן הבתרים, I am ה'.
2. "ואני זאת בריתי אותם אמר ה' רותי אשר עליך ודברי אשר שמתי בפיך לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך ומפי זרע זרעך אמר ה' מעתה ועד עולם" (ישעי') – I made a treaty with ב''י that My תורה won’t leave from you, your children or your grandchildren forever.
Havens:
1. Ottoman Empire- ה' prepared this place as a haven for כלל ישראל to run to. How? In 1453, the Sultan took over Constantinople and changed it from Christian to Muslim. They captured this area and then went on to capture more lands- this was the start of an empire. At this time, they invited the Jews to come but most didn’t take advantage of this offer. In 1492, after the גירוש, there was an influx of many Jews. The sultan realized that the Jews could help build up his country. He said about the king of Spain, “Can you call such a king wise? He impoverished his own country, thereby enriching mine”.
The Ottomans were a ruthless, barbaric people and weren’t good at business. They were good to the Jews though, because they needed them as doctors, bankers, business men and other officials. Constantinople was the nerve center of the Byzantine Empire and from here they started conquering the rest of the world. This empire lasted from 1453 until after WWI, but the last hundred years were very weak. Constantinople became Istanbul- Jewel of the city. The Jews called Istanbul קושתא.
Next, the Ottomans took over the Balkan Peninsula:
a. Hungry
b. Romania
c. Yugoslavia
d. Bulgaria
e. Serbia
f. Greece
In 1517, they captured the Middle East area, including:
a. א''י
b. Syria
c. Egypt
d. Saudi Arabia
e. North Africa
At this time, the רב was referred to asחַכַם .
Jewish communities:
a. Istanbul- at this time, Istanbul was the biggest Jewish community in the world. The רב was ר' משה בן אליהו קאפשאלי (1410-1500). He was a known מקובל and his דרך in עבודת ה' was סגוף הגוף- afflicting the body. Some people who are extremely comfortable in this world will choose to afflict themselves with יסורים. This דרך is only for certain individuals. He was strict with himself, but kind and caring with others. The sultan revered him and sometimes even asked him for advice. When an influx of גולי ספרד came to Istanbul, he taxed the wealthy businessmen in his community so he could have money to help them settle in.
Whenר' משה בן אליהו קאפשאלי died, ר' אליהו מזרחי (1450-1525) took over. He was born in Istanbul; his family had left Spain before the Inquisition. He wrote a פרוש on רש''י- he reconciles where רש''י and the רמב''ם disagree. He continued to help the גולי ספרד. He was also held in great reverence and was supported by the sultan. He was a רבי to many people who became חכמים in the Ottoman Empire.
b. Salonika- this is present-day Greece. There was a קהילה living here from before בית שני. This is from the oldest קהילות in Europe. It lasted until WWII, but the 1500s was its time of glory. During this time, it thrived. The majority of people living there were Jews. It was a port city. Many Jews were busy with sea trade. Since the port was controlled by Jews, it was closed on שבת. Salonika was known as an עיר ואם בישראל- mother city.
אחרונים:
1. ר' יעקב אבן חביב (1455-1516)- he was from the גולי ספרד. During the גרוש, he ran to Portugal. Four years later was the expulsion from Portugal. On his way out, they snatched his son לוי. They forced a ceremony on him to make his a Christian. ב''ה, they got him back and they ran to Salonika. He built up a whole community there and he was the רב. He wrote the עין יעקב- stories of the גמרא. This became an important ספר for the working class who didn’t have the time or ability to delve into different סוגיות of גמרא. He didn’t live to finish his ספר- it was finished by his son the רלב''ג- ר' לוי בן ר' יעקב אבן חביב
2. מהר''י אבן לב- ר' יוסף אבן לב (1500-1580)- he was a דין in the ב''ד. He was an extremely strong and outspoken personality and he wasn’t afraid to impress פסקי הלכה even on the most wealthy חשובי העיר. He tried to help the poor people and stuck up for their rights. This caused rich people to hate him, but he stood up for what was right. Once, a wealthy person lost a דין. He was upset, and after the case, he was discussing it with the מהר''י אבן לב. The rich man slapped him across the face. This was a huge חלול ה'. There were people standing around and they didn’t do anything. The מהר''י אבן לב was so despaired that he tore his clothing. That night, there was a huge fire that claimed around 200 lives.
Monday, November 15, 2010
משלי- כעס ומריבה
The גר'א divides ספר משלי into three parts:
1. חכמה - פרק א-ט talk about acquiring חכמה through יראת ה' and gives us משלים of how not to acquire חכמה.
2. מוסר - words of מוסר that שלמה said בסדר אמרם.
3. תורה- but doesn’t אשת חיל fall into this category? It’s a משל to תורה.
טו:כד אורח- דרך
למשכיל- לאדם החכם
סור- שהוא מנע
משאול מטה- גיהנום
מ''ד אורח- teaches us the way that a person should live his life: חיים ל מעלה- a life full of רוחניות and a life that goes upward. If he lives like this, at the end of his life he’ll go to גן עדן. Otherwise, he’ll go to גיהנום.
רבינו בחיי A smart person realizes that this world is nothing and "אורח חיים למעלה"- עוה''ב is what is real. He therefore separates himself from the תאוות of עוה''ז and doesn’t focus on them, "למען סור משאול מטה". משל- a person who is living in a temporary home doesn’t invest in it, rather he waits to invest until he has a permanent home. נמשל- in עוה''ז, we should only be busy with becoming closer to ה' and get ourselves ready for our permanent home of עוה''ב.
שאול מטה אורח חיים למעלה
תאוות עוה''ז העולם הקבוע ועיקרי= עוה''ב רבינו בחיי
גיהנום עצה: להחיות חיים של עלי' מ''ד
אורח= אוֹרֵחַ. The נשמה is a guest in עוה''ז, it’s trapped and uncomfortable.
טז:כה עמל תעמלו- תעבוד קשה לזה
אכף- הכריח
פיהו- הפה שלו
This פסוק is written in a question form.
מלבי''ם נפש עמל תעמול- a פה with its תאוות can force a רוחניותדיק person to busy all day with its requests. This is really just a משל to all תאוות. Some people let their תאוות engulf them and they are constantly busy with them. The real you is your נשמה. Many times, your wants and drives are really those of your נשמה, but you stuff them up with גשמיות. You can’t have two עקרים in life and if you don’t work on yourself, the גשמיות will take over. One must suppress his גשמיות so that his רוחניות can take over. Though certain things in life may seem exciting, by choosing the right thing you’ll ultimately be happy. Don’t give up your נשמה. Story- Esther was sent to Siberia, were everyone wore certain vests and boots. She couldn’t afford them, so she worked hard until she had enough money to buy them. When she was finally able to buy them, she did and felt so good about herself. Eventually, she was able to leave Siberia. On the train back to Moscow she was wearing these garments and a little boy pointed at her and commented on her strange garments. She realized that these were the garments of Siberia and they were disgraceful, so she immediately removed them. נמשל- when we come to עוה''ב, we are going to be so embarrassed because what we worked so hard for in this world is really a huge בזיון.
מכתב מאליהו Two stories from the גמרא:
1. A man was sleeping in a graveyard and he overheard two people talking- one wanted to go check out the world, but the other one didn’t want to come because she was buried in cheap טכרחים.
2. A man was sleeping in a graveyard and he overheard two people talking- one wanted to go check out the world, but the other one didn’t want to come because she wasn’t wearing any makeup.
A person’s פנמיות is established in this world and it stays with him forever. The degree to which a person connects to רוחניות in עוה''ז is how much he’ll enjoy in עוה''ב.
גר''א sheet A person is called "הולך", in contrast to מלאכים who are constantly standing and are therefore called "עומד". If you’re not going up, then you are going down. R’ Keller says that it can be compared to an escalator.
ר' אהרן
משה נח
איש האלוקים איש צדיק
↑ ↓
איש מצרי איש האדמה
What caused נח’s ירידה? The פסוק says, "ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם". ויחל נח= נעשה חולין- became desecrated in some way. אדם saw a מבול that destroyed the world. Now, it was up to him to build up the world. His מבט should have been, “What does ה' want from me?”, a רוחניותדיק outlook, an outlook of עלי', because in life if you’re not going up then you’re going down.
What caused משה’s עלי'? The פסוק says, "אתה החילת להראות את עבדך את גדלך ואת ידך החזקה"- when משה wanted to go into א''י, before he asked, he praised ה' with this פסוק. משה used the word "החילת"- started. You have just started to teach me and I have so much more to grow. A person can go either up or down and משה was going up. Even א''י- he wanted to go in so that he could grow.
Words that are a manifestation of anger: annoyed, aggravated, irritated, resentful, frustrated.
Why is it important to be aware of these הרגשות? Society has no control over their anger and doesn’t know how to deal with things. When a person allows these feeling to build up, they lose control. This is a מידה that escalates if not dealt with.
רמב''ם sheet א- in all מידות, a person should act בדרך בינוני. How? They shouldn’t get mad at every little thing, but they shouldn’t be like a dead person with no feelings. He should be a בינוני- get mad about big things.
ב- כעס is a really bad מידה. A person should distance himself to the opposite extreme. One should train himself not to get mad even at things that deserve such a reaction.
א and ב seem to contradict each other! Story- R’ Yisrael Salanter was giving מוסר, and the whole time he was murmuring to himself, "כעס הפנימה, לא כעס הלב". If you want to teach people not to do something wrong, you should act as though you are mad so that they’ll learn. But on the inside, you must be calm. When a person uses כעס, it shouldn’t be a כעס פנימי, it should be a כעס חיצוני- external and not controlling.
Someone who’s a כועס is a בעל עבירה:
1. Connection between anger and doing חטאים- someone who gets upset will be חוטא.
2. "כל הכועס..."- Someone who gets angry can find all kinds of גיהנום ruling over him- "הסר מברך...".
ח''ח When a person does a חטא, he gets a specific עונש for that חטא. But a בעל כעס does so many עבירות, so he gets so many punishments.
כט:כב איש אף- כעסן
יגרה- יתחיל
מדון- מריבה
רב- פשע
מ''ד איש אף- a כעסן instigates fighting.
רב פשע- why? Because when he’s made, he doesn’t pay attention to what he does and therefore he has many עבירות. A כועס is also כופר בעיקר- "אפילו שכינה אינה חשובה כנגדו".
What’s the connection between כעס and כפירה? When דוד was running away from אבשלום, שמעי בן גרא came out and cursed him. דוד’s people told him to kill שמעי, but דוד said to leave him alone because he realized that it’s from ה'.
מקורות sheet התנאי השני- ה' knows every detail of every person’s life- nothing is bypasses. You may think that He spaces out, but He never does. Everything that happens is with ה'’s ידיעה. Not one step is taken without הסך הדעת- every step is guided.
התנאי הששי- a person must believe that no בריאה can harm or benefit you- you must realize that it’s not from the person, but from ה'. It’s a נסיון from ה'- don’t be upset at ה'. דוד understood that the צער had to come on him and that it’s from ה'. When a person has כעס, it’s like he’s כופר בה' because when he gets mad, he’s forgetting that it’s from ה'. When you put ה' into the picture, you’ll get rid of כעס.
מקורות sheet בודאי שהכעסן ענש- whoever has a brain in his head, he’ll run from כעס like a person runs from fire. Because of this bad מידה, he’ll be חייב on יום הדין in עוה''ב.
יט:יט גדל חמה- בעל כעס
נשא ענש- מקבל עונש
ועוד תוסיף- עוד יהי' עוד
מ''ד גדל חמה- why will a בעל כעס get punished? Because the nature of a בעל כעס is to do bad to someone who upsets him. If someone will try to save the person from the בעל כעס, the בעל כעס will get angrier. If he’s opposed, he’ll still find a way to do what he wanted to and he’ll get an עונש.
מאירי If you spoil a child, when he grows up, he’s going to be an angry frustrated person (גדל חמה) and will therefore get an עונש (נשא ענש). If you think that you are going to be able to fill in for him (כי אם תציל) like you did when he was little, there will be no end to it (ועוד תוסיף).
גר''א A child brought home a note from his רבי that he acted badly, and the father got so mad. This is the wrong reaction- don’t get mad. גדל חמה, נשא ענש- one who is mad should hold off the עונש. Then, when he does punish, it must be only with the intention of saving the child from a bad future (כי אם תציל). Only with this intention can you do so, and you can give the punishment in the little increments that the child needs (ועוד תוסיף). Do not act immediately and never punish out of anger!
We should keep in mind the way to be מחנך. Really, the system of hitting a child works well. Do not forget that you must exert enough power over the child. Just remember not to do it out of anger.
גדל חמה
כעסן מ''ד:
בן המפונק מאירי:
האב הכועס על בנו גר''א:
If you are בכעס, you lose your חכמה and if you’re a נביא you’ll lose your נבואה. Where do we learn this from?
יד:כט ארך אפים- אדם שלא כועס, סבלן
רב תבונה- יש לו הרבה חכמה
וקצר רוח- כעסן, בלי סבלנות
מרים אולת- מעלה טפשות
מ''ד If you are ארך אפים and don’t get mad quickly, you’ll be a חכם. If you’re a כעסן and quickly get angry, you are choosing טפשות over חכמה because anger causes טפשות.
We see this with משה and אלישע:
1. משה- when the בנות מדין were ב''י מחטיא in ערבות מואב, ה' told משה that ב''י should fight מואב. But ב''י killed the men and kept the woman alive. משה was angry that they kept the woman alive because the woman caused them to sin. After that, the תורה discusses הגלת כלים, which was taught by אליעזר and not משה because he lost his חכמה because he got mad.
2. אלישע- he lost his נבואה because he got mad. יורם מלך ישראל was a רשע and he went to battle against מואב. He asked יהושפט מלך יהודה to help him, and they went to fight together. But there were problems on the battlefield, soיורם said that they should ask אלישע. אלישע answered, “Why don’t you go ask your נביאי הבעל?” It was מוסר, but it was said out of anger. It says in the following פסוק, "ויבקש מנגו" to restore his נבואה.
If they got mad לש''ש, why were they punished?
שיחות מוסר They weren’t punished. It’s a cause and effect- because you are angry, you lose clarity. Why? Anger and impatience are a מצב where you are unable to think.
ר' יונה Someone who doesn’t act immediately and waits until his mind settles to take action, this waiting causes ישוב הדעת, which means that he has חכמה. "ומי שהוא ארך אפים הוא בעל ישוב".
כעס and מריבה in the house is compared to a little worm or bug that eats away at the house until it is destroyed. There are small things that come up and get between you until they eat away at you and destroy your whole relationship.
A brother who gets a פשע from his brother is as strong as poles that block the door.
יח:יט a brother who was hurt by his brotherאח נפשע-
מקרות עז- יותר מעיר חזקה
ומדנים- ומריבות
כברוח ארמון- כמנעול ארמון
ר' הירש Two ways to explain:
1. If someone’s brother gives him a פשע, it’s harder to be מפסיק the מריבה than to enter a strong city.
2. The מריבה between two brothers is like a rod that blocks the door so that you can’t enter. They have this metal rod- מנעול- by the king’s palace because it’s very strong. This rod stops a relationship.
Why is מחלוקת in the family so strong? Since you’re close, you are much more hurt and it makes a worse feeling.
מ''ד There’s an opposite translation:
1. Even though his brother did a פשע and hurt him, when something happens to his brother, he’ll hold onto him and support him like a fortified city.
2. מחלוקת between brothers is like the lock by the palace- although it may be put into place, it doesn’t ever stay there for so long. It’s always being opened again and again.
We see the two sides of the coin: According to ר' הירש, it’s very חמור. According to מ''ד, it’s not so serious. It’s important to know both sides- if you are the one who was hurt, remember מ''ד. If you’re the פושע, remember ר' הירש.
When a person gets angry, many things happen in his body. These things happen because if a person is in a dangerous situation, they help. But if the person is just getting annoyed, it will cause damage to the body.
ר' מלר כעס= עכס. כעס is a poison for our bodies.
י:יב תערר- תגרם
מדנים- מריבות
פשעים- חטאים
תכסה אהבה- מכסה אהבה
What causes fights to happen is not what occurs, but rather the lack of love between people.
מ''ד שנאה- the lack of love between people is what awakens these fights.
Even if a big thing happens, if it happens between friends, it doesn’t turn into such a big deal. We must work on loving and caring.
מלבי''ם שנאה תעורר מדנים- there is a difference between these three words:
1. ריב- the activity of fighting. This could be on something unimportant.
2. מריבה- the reason for the ריב.
3. מדון- if the reason for the ריב must be figured out in court. מדון- ל' דין. It means objective- it’s not a ריב, you just don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. But even מדונים really aren’t objective- there are feelings between the two parties involved. People that are really close don’t allow things to become issues. אהבה can cover huge things.
רש''י When ב''י were in מצרים, they served ע''ז and despite this, ה' was willing to take them out. So why didn’t משה give them מוסר if they were leaving anyway? At certain times of אהבה, ה' will ignore חטאים. But when ב''י cause ה' not to be happy with them because they are חוטא and there’s a negative relationship, the old חטאים come up and old חשבונות come up. That’s why years later, יחזקאל gave ב''י מוסר for this.
"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגינו"- חדשו מעשיכם ומכסה אני על פשעיכם- if ב''י are in the right mode and are in a מצב of אהבה where they want to get close to ה', He judges them with כסוי עונות.
Sometimes, a person may have issues with something that someone did to them. It teaches us how to deal with it.
כה:ח לרב- להתקוטט
פן- שמא
באחריתה- בסופה
בהכלים- כאשר יביש
מ''ד אל תצא- don’t incite a fight quickly. First, you must investigate if what you thought happened actually happened. If you don’t check it out, you may blame someone for something that he didn’t really do- don’t jump! Take the time to check it out.
ט Once you’ve checked it out and you see that it’s true, how do you confront the person?
ריבך- הריב שלך
ריב- תריב
את- עם
אל תגל- לא לגלות
מ''ד ריבך ריב- even if you find him guilty after investigating, only discuss him- don’t bring in other family members, for example: your father was a robber, your grandfather was a robber…
א''ע Don’t bring in something that you’re not supposed to know about.
מאירי Don’t tell other people about the fight.
סוד של אחר מ''ד:
סוד אחר שידע לך א''ע:
סוד לאחר מאירי:
כו:יז מחזיק באזני כלב- כמו אדם שאוחז באזנים של הכלב
עבר מתעבר- הכועס
על ריב לא לו- על ריב של אחרים
מ''ד מחזיק באזני כלב- the טבע of a dog is that if it’s fighting with another dog and you try to pull it away, it will bite the hand that pulls it away. By coming into a fight, the person deflects the anger onto himself.
ילקוט שמוני This פסוק is talking about בלעם- ב''י and מואב were fighting. בלעם joined, and as a result, he got a worse punishment than בלק מלך מואב.
ר' חיים שמולוויץ- "חכמת נשים בנתה ביתה..."- this is referring to the wife of און בן פלת. "...אולת בידי' תהרסנה" - referring to the wife of קרח. Who was און בן פלת? He was with קרח, but not at the time that he was killed. Why not? Because of his wife. He told her what was going on and she said that this is the fight of קרח and משה, why are you getting yourself involved? But he was still נמשך בענין, so his wife put him to sleep and when the men came to get her husband, she uncovered her hair. What’s the great חכמה here that she’s who the פסוק is talking about? When there’s excitement brewing, it’s hard to think straight and you become a part of the anger.
כ:ג By keeping yourself out of ריב, you are brining כבוד to yourself.
שבת- שהוא נח
וכל אויל- וכל טפש
יחגלע- יהי' מתגלה לכל
מ''ד כבוד...- Why will he get כבוד? Because when people talk a lot during מריבה, their foolishness comes out.
ר' יונה "בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר: כסו, כוסו, כעסו"- there are three things through which you can really see a person:
1. How he spends his money.
2. When he gets drunk.
3. When he gets mad- does he say things that he wouldn’t usually say?
מלבי''ם Someone who enters a ריב because someone embarrassed him, he’ll just get more embarrassed and the purpose for which he entered won’t be fulfilled. Also, by entering, he is showing that there is some truth to the source of his embarrassment. Story- before WWII, the rav was considered the head of the community. The rav in א''י was R’ Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik. There was an election between Zionists and Chareidim. The Zionists hung up bad signs. The Chareidim wanted to hang up signs to counter these, but R’ Soloveitchik said not to. In this election, the Chareidim won by a landslide.
יט:א שכל אדם- החכמה של האדם
האריך אפו- שהוא מאריך אף
ותפארתו- השבח הגדול והמעולה שלו
עבר על פשע- שהוא מוחל אנשים מפני החטאים שהוא עשו לו
מ''ד שכל האדם האריך אפו- the שכל of a person tells him not to start a fight.
ותפארתו- if he does this, people will praise him and say עבר על פשע.
גר''א There are two דרגות of a person who doesn’t get mad:
1. האריך אף- he fells bad, but he doesn’t want to make a fight so he controls himself.
2. עבר על פשע- in his heart, it’s all totally clear.
Clear logic dictates not to get mad, but the real שבח on a person is when he can completely forgive. On these people it says, "ואהביו נמצאת השמש בגברתו". What’s the connection between this פסוק and the person who is מוחל? The moon was trying to minimize the sun and by not answering back, the sun got bigger. The same thing applies by חרפה- sometimes, it feels like you have been minimized or diminished, but by not answering back, you are much bigger and greater.
טז:לב טוב ארך אפים- טוב מאריך אך
מגבור- מאדם שכובש אנשים
ומושל ברוחו- כובש כעסו
מלוכד עיר- מאדם שהוא כובש עיר
מלבי''ם טוב ארך אפים מגבור- why is he considered stronger? Because fighting an external enemy isn’t harder than fighting an internal enemy.
רש''י מושל ברוחו- he is כובש his יצר.
גר''א What’s the difference between a גבור and לוכד עיר? The גבור kills people, but the לוכד עיר wants them, so he doesn’t destroy them.
A person has two כוחות that are מקורות for this חטאים:
1. כוח הכעסני
2. כוח התאוני
An ארך אפים is greater than a גיבור even though they are both functioning in the same way. The גיבור is eradicating the enemy and the ארך אפים is eradicating his anger. A מושל ברוחו and לוכד עיר are put together because they both want the thing, they’re just reigning it in and putting it under their control. We have תאוות, but we must desire to do the right thing.
1. חכמה - פרק א-ט talk about acquiring חכמה through יראת ה' and gives us משלים of how not to acquire חכמה.
2. מוסר - words of מוסר that שלמה said בסדר אמרם.
3. תורה- but doesn’t אשת חיל fall into this category? It’s a משל to תורה.
טו:כד אורח- דרך
למשכיל- לאדם החכם
סור- שהוא מנע
משאול מטה- גיהנום
מ''ד אורח- teaches us the way that a person should live his life: חיים ל מעלה- a life full of רוחניות and a life that goes upward. If he lives like this, at the end of his life he’ll go to גן עדן. Otherwise, he’ll go to גיהנום.
רבינו בחיי A smart person realizes that this world is nothing and "אורח חיים למעלה"- עוה''ב is what is real. He therefore separates himself from the תאוות of עוה''ז and doesn’t focus on them, "למען סור משאול מטה". משל- a person who is living in a temporary home doesn’t invest in it, rather he waits to invest until he has a permanent home. נמשל- in עוה''ז, we should only be busy with becoming closer to ה' and get ourselves ready for our permanent home of עוה''ב.
שאול מטה אורח חיים למעלה
תאוות עוה''ז העולם הקבוע ועיקרי= עוה''ב רבינו בחיי
גיהנום עצה: להחיות חיים של עלי' מ''ד
אורח= אוֹרֵחַ. The נשמה is a guest in עוה''ז, it’s trapped and uncomfortable.
טז:כה עמל תעמלו- תעבוד קשה לזה
אכף- הכריח
פיהו- הפה שלו
This פסוק is written in a question form.
מלבי''ם נפש עמל תעמול- a פה with its תאוות can force a רוחניותדיק person to busy all day with its requests. This is really just a משל to all תאוות. Some people let their תאוות engulf them and they are constantly busy with them. The real you is your נשמה. Many times, your wants and drives are really those of your נשמה, but you stuff them up with גשמיות. You can’t have two עקרים in life and if you don’t work on yourself, the גשמיות will take over. One must suppress his גשמיות so that his רוחניות can take over. Though certain things in life may seem exciting, by choosing the right thing you’ll ultimately be happy. Don’t give up your נשמה. Story- Esther was sent to Siberia, were everyone wore certain vests and boots. She couldn’t afford them, so she worked hard until she had enough money to buy them. When she was finally able to buy them, she did and felt so good about herself. Eventually, she was able to leave Siberia. On the train back to Moscow she was wearing these garments and a little boy pointed at her and commented on her strange garments. She realized that these were the garments of Siberia and they were disgraceful, so she immediately removed them. נמשל- when we come to עוה''ב, we are going to be so embarrassed because what we worked so hard for in this world is really a huge בזיון.
מכתב מאליהו Two stories from the גמרא:
1. A man was sleeping in a graveyard and he overheard two people talking- one wanted to go check out the world, but the other one didn’t want to come because she was buried in cheap טכרחים.
2. A man was sleeping in a graveyard and he overheard two people talking- one wanted to go check out the world, but the other one didn’t want to come because she wasn’t wearing any makeup.
A person’s פנמיות is established in this world and it stays with him forever. The degree to which a person connects to רוחניות in עוה''ז is how much he’ll enjoy in עוה''ב.
גר''א sheet A person is called "הולך", in contrast to מלאכים who are constantly standing and are therefore called "עומד". If you’re not going up, then you are going down. R’ Keller says that it can be compared to an escalator.
ר' אהרן
משה נח
איש האלוקים איש צדיק
↑ ↓
איש מצרי איש האדמה
What caused נח’s ירידה? The פסוק says, "ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם". ויחל נח= נעשה חולין- became desecrated in some way. אדם saw a מבול that destroyed the world. Now, it was up to him to build up the world. His מבט should have been, “What does ה' want from me?”, a רוחניותדיק outlook, an outlook of עלי', because in life if you’re not going up then you’re going down.
What caused משה’s עלי'? The פסוק says, "אתה החילת להראות את עבדך את גדלך ואת ידך החזקה"- when משה wanted to go into א''י, before he asked, he praised ה' with this פסוק. משה used the word "החילת"- started. You have just started to teach me and I have so much more to grow. A person can go either up or down and משה was going up. Even א''י- he wanted to go in so that he could grow.
Words that are a manifestation of anger: annoyed, aggravated, irritated, resentful, frustrated.
Why is it important to be aware of these הרגשות? Society has no control over their anger and doesn’t know how to deal with things. When a person allows these feeling to build up, they lose control. This is a מידה that escalates if not dealt with.
רמב''ם sheet א- in all מידות, a person should act בדרך בינוני. How? They shouldn’t get mad at every little thing, but they shouldn’t be like a dead person with no feelings. He should be a בינוני- get mad about big things.
ב- כעס is a really bad מידה. A person should distance himself to the opposite extreme. One should train himself not to get mad even at things that deserve such a reaction.
א and ב seem to contradict each other! Story- R’ Yisrael Salanter was giving מוסר, and the whole time he was murmuring to himself, "כעס הפנימה, לא כעס הלב". If you want to teach people not to do something wrong, you should act as though you are mad so that they’ll learn. But on the inside, you must be calm. When a person uses כעס, it shouldn’t be a כעס פנימי, it should be a כעס חיצוני- external and not controlling.
Someone who’s a כועס is a בעל עבירה:
1. Connection between anger and doing חטאים- someone who gets upset will be חוטא.
2. "כל הכועס..."- Someone who gets angry can find all kinds of גיהנום ruling over him- "הסר מברך...".
ח''ח When a person does a חטא, he gets a specific עונש for that חטא. But a בעל כעס does so many עבירות, so he gets so many punishments.
כט:כב איש אף- כעסן
יגרה- יתחיל
מדון- מריבה
רב- פשע
מ''ד איש אף- a כעסן instigates fighting.
רב פשע- why? Because when he’s made, he doesn’t pay attention to what he does and therefore he has many עבירות. A כועס is also כופר בעיקר- "אפילו שכינה אינה חשובה כנגדו".
What’s the connection between כעס and כפירה? When דוד was running away from אבשלום, שמעי בן גרא came out and cursed him. דוד’s people told him to kill שמעי, but דוד said to leave him alone because he realized that it’s from ה'.
מקורות sheet התנאי השני- ה' knows every detail of every person’s life- nothing is bypasses. You may think that He spaces out, but He never does. Everything that happens is with ה'’s ידיעה. Not one step is taken without הסך הדעת- every step is guided.
התנאי הששי- a person must believe that no בריאה can harm or benefit you- you must realize that it’s not from the person, but from ה'. It’s a נסיון from ה'- don’t be upset at ה'. דוד understood that the צער had to come on him and that it’s from ה'. When a person has כעס, it’s like he’s כופר בה' because when he gets mad, he’s forgetting that it’s from ה'. When you put ה' into the picture, you’ll get rid of כעס.
מקורות sheet בודאי שהכעסן ענש- whoever has a brain in his head, he’ll run from כעס like a person runs from fire. Because of this bad מידה, he’ll be חייב on יום הדין in עוה''ב.
יט:יט גדל חמה- בעל כעס
נשא ענש- מקבל עונש
ועוד תוסיף- עוד יהי' עוד
מ''ד גדל חמה- why will a בעל כעס get punished? Because the nature of a בעל כעס is to do bad to someone who upsets him. If someone will try to save the person from the בעל כעס, the בעל כעס will get angrier. If he’s opposed, he’ll still find a way to do what he wanted to and he’ll get an עונש.
מאירי If you spoil a child, when he grows up, he’s going to be an angry frustrated person (גדל חמה) and will therefore get an עונש (נשא ענש). If you think that you are going to be able to fill in for him (כי אם תציל) like you did when he was little, there will be no end to it (ועוד תוסיף).
גר''א A child brought home a note from his רבי that he acted badly, and the father got so mad. This is the wrong reaction- don’t get mad. גדל חמה, נשא ענש- one who is mad should hold off the עונש. Then, when he does punish, it must be only with the intention of saving the child from a bad future (כי אם תציל). Only with this intention can you do so, and you can give the punishment in the little increments that the child needs (ועוד תוסיף). Do not act immediately and never punish out of anger!
We should keep in mind the way to be מחנך. Really, the system of hitting a child works well. Do not forget that you must exert enough power over the child. Just remember not to do it out of anger.
גדל חמה
כעסן מ''ד:
בן המפונק מאירי:
האב הכועס על בנו גר''א:
If you are בכעס, you lose your חכמה and if you’re a נביא you’ll lose your נבואה. Where do we learn this from?
יד:כט ארך אפים- אדם שלא כועס, סבלן
רב תבונה- יש לו הרבה חכמה
וקצר רוח- כעסן, בלי סבלנות
מרים אולת- מעלה טפשות
מ''ד If you are ארך אפים and don’t get mad quickly, you’ll be a חכם. If you’re a כעסן and quickly get angry, you are choosing טפשות over חכמה because anger causes טפשות.
We see this with משה and אלישע:
1. משה- when the בנות מדין were ב''י מחטיא in ערבות מואב, ה' told משה that ב''י should fight מואב. But ב''י killed the men and kept the woman alive. משה was angry that they kept the woman alive because the woman caused them to sin. After that, the תורה discusses הגלת כלים, which was taught by אליעזר and not משה because he lost his חכמה because he got mad.
2. אלישע- he lost his נבואה because he got mad. יורם מלך ישראל was a רשע and he went to battle against מואב. He asked יהושפט מלך יהודה to help him, and they went to fight together. But there were problems on the battlefield, soיורם said that they should ask אלישע. אלישע answered, “Why don’t you go ask your נביאי הבעל?” It was מוסר, but it was said out of anger. It says in the following פסוק, "ויבקש מנגו" to restore his נבואה.
If they got mad לש''ש, why were they punished?
שיחות מוסר They weren’t punished. It’s a cause and effect- because you are angry, you lose clarity. Why? Anger and impatience are a מצב where you are unable to think.
ר' יונה Someone who doesn’t act immediately and waits until his mind settles to take action, this waiting causes ישוב הדעת, which means that he has חכמה. "ומי שהוא ארך אפים הוא בעל ישוב".
כעס and מריבה in the house is compared to a little worm or bug that eats away at the house until it is destroyed. There are small things that come up and get between you until they eat away at you and destroy your whole relationship.
A brother who gets a פשע from his brother is as strong as poles that block the door.
יח:יט a brother who was hurt by his brotherאח נפשע-
מקרות עז- יותר מעיר חזקה
ומדנים- ומריבות
כברוח ארמון- כמנעול ארמון
ר' הירש Two ways to explain:
1. If someone’s brother gives him a פשע, it’s harder to be מפסיק the מריבה than to enter a strong city.
2. The מריבה between two brothers is like a rod that blocks the door so that you can’t enter. They have this metal rod- מנעול- by the king’s palace because it’s very strong. This rod stops a relationship.
Why is מחלוקת in the family so strong? Since you’re close, you are much more hurt and it makes a worse feeling.
מ''ד There’s an opposite translation:
1. Even though his brother did a פשע and hurt him, when something happens to his brother, he’ll hold onto him and support him like a fortified city.
2. מחלוקת between brothers is like the lock by the palace- although it may be put into place, it doesn’t ever stay there for so long. It’s always being opened again and again.
We see the two sides of the coin: According to ר' הירש, it’s very חמור. According to מ''ד, it’s not so serious. It’s important to know both sides- if you are the one who was hurt, remember מ''ד. If you’re the פושע, remember ר' הירש.
When a person gets angry, many things happen in his body. These things happen because if a person is in a dangerous situation, they help. But if the person is just getting annoyed, it will cause damage to the body.
ר' מלר כעס= עכס. כעס is a poison for our bodies.
י:יב תערר- תגרם
מדנים- מריבות
פשעים- חטאים
תכסה אהבה- מכסה אהבה
What causes fights to happen is not what occurs, but rather the lack of love between people.
מ''ד שנאה- the lack of love between people is what awakens these fights.
Even if a big thing happens, if it happens between friends, it doesn’t turn into such a big deal. We must work on loving and caring.
מלבי''ם שנאה תעורר מדנים- there is a difference between these three words:
1. ריב- the activity of fighting. This could be on something unimportant.
2. מריבה- the reason for the ריב.
3. מדון- if the reason for the ריב must be figured out in court. מדון- ל' דין. It means objective- it’s not a ריב, you just don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong. But even מדונים really aren’t objective- there are feelings between the two parties involved. People that are really close don’t allow things to become issues. אהבה can cover huge things.
רש''י When ב''י were in מצרים, they served ע''ז and despite this, ה' was willing to take them out. So why didn’t משה give them מוסר if they were leaving anyway? At certain times of אהבה, ה' will ignore חטאים. But when ב''י cause ה' not to be happy with them because they are חוטא and there’s a negative relationship, the old חטאים come up and old חשבונות come up. That’s why years later, יחזקאל gave ב''י מוסר for this.
"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגינו"- חדשו מעשיכם ומכסה אני על פשעיכם- if ב''י are in the right mode and are in a מצב of אהבה where they want to get close to ה', He judges them with כסוי עונות.
Sometimes, a person may have issues with something that someone did to them. It teaches us how to deal with it.
כה:ח לרב- להתקוטט
פן- שמא
באחריתה- בסופה
בהכלים- כאשר יביש
מ''ד אל תצא- don’t incite a fight quickly. First, you must investigate if what you thought happened actually happened. If you don’t check it out, you may blame someone for something that he didn’t really do- don’t jump! Take the time to check it out.
ט Once you’ve checked it out and you see that it’s true, how do you confront the person?
ריבך- הריב שלך
ריב- תריב
את- עם
אל תגל- לא לגלות
מ''ד ריבך ריב- even if you find him guilty after investigating, only discuss him- don’t bring in other family members, for example: your father was a robber, your grandfather was a robber…
א''ע Don’t bring in something that you’re not supposed to know about.
מאירי Don’t tell other people about the fight.
סוד של אחר מ''ד:
סוד אחר שידע לך א''ע:
סוד לאחר מאירי:
כו:יז מחזיק באזני כלב- כמו אדם שאוחז באזנים של הכלב
עבר מתעבר- הכועס
על ריב לא לו- על ריב של אחרים
מ''ד מחזיק באזני כלב- the טבע of a dog is that if it’s fighting with another dog and you try to pull it away, it will bite the hand that pulls it away. By coming into a fight, the person deflects the anger onto himself.
ילקוט שמוני This פסוק is talking about בלעם- ב''י and מואב were fighting. בלעם joined, and as a result, he got a worse punishment than בלק מלך מואב.
ר' חיים שמולוויץ- "חכמת נשים בנתה ביתה..."- this is referring to the wife of און בן פלת. "...אולת בידי' תהרסנה" - referring to the wife of קרח. Who was און בן פלת? He was with קרח, but not at the time that he was killed. Why not? Because of his wife. He told her what was going on and she said that this is the fight of קרח and משה, why are you getting yourself involved? But he was still נמשך בענין, so his wife put him to sleep and when the men came to get her husband, she uncovered her hair. What’s the great חכמה here that she’s who the פסוק is talking about? When there’s excitement brewing, it’s hard to think straight and you become a part of the anger.
כ:ג By keeping yourself out of ריב, you are brining כבוד to yourself.
שבת- שהוא נח
וכל אויל- וכל טפש
יחגלע- יהי' מתגלה לכל
מ''ד כבוד...- Why will he get כבוד? Because when people talk a lot during מריבה, their foolishness comes out.
ר' יונה "בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר: כסו, כוסו, כעסו"- there are three things through which you can really see a person:
1. How he spends his money.
2. When he gets drunk.
3. When he gets mad- does he say things that he wouldn’t usually say?
מלבי''ם Someone who enters a ריב because someone embarrassed him, he’ll just get more embarrassed and the purpose for which he entered won’t be fulfilled. Also, by entering, he is showing that there is some truth to the source of his embarrassment. Story- before WWII, the rav was considered the head of the community. The rav in א''י was R’ Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik. There was an election between Zionists and Chareidim. The Zionists hung up bad signs. The Chareidim wanted to hang up signs to counter these, but R’ Soloveitchik said not to. In this election, the Chareidim won by a landslide.
יט:א שכל אדם- החכמה של האדם
האריך אפו- שהוא מאריך אף
ותפארתו- השבח הגדול והמעולה שלו
עבר על פשע- שהוא מוחל אנשים מפני החטאים שהוא עשו לו
מ''ד שכל האדם האריך אפו- the שכל of a person tells him not to start a fight.
ותפארתו- if he does this, people will praise him and say עבר על פשע.
גר''א There are two דרגות of a person who doesn’t get mad:
1. האריך אף- he fells bad, but he doesn’t want to make a fight so he controls himself.
2. עבר על פשע- in his heart, it’s all totally clear.
Clear logic dictates not to get mad, but the real שבח on a person is when he can completely forgive. On these people it says, "ואהביו נמצאת השמש בגברתו". What’s the connection between this פסוק and the person who is מוחל? The moon was trying to minimize the sun and by not answering back, the sun got bigger. The same thing applies by חרפה- sometimes, it feels like you have been minimized or diminished, but by not answering back, you are much bigger and greater.
טז:לב טוב ארך אפים- טוב מאריך אך
מגבור- מאדם שכובש אנשים
ומושל ברוחו- כובש כעסו
מלוכד עיר- מאדם שהוא כובש עיר
מלבי''ם טוב ארך אפים מגבור- why is he considered stronger? Because fighting an external enemy isn’t harder than fighting an internal enemy.
רש''י מושל ברוחו- he is כובש his יצר.
גר''א What’s the difference between a גבור and לוכד עיר? The גבור kills people, but the לוכד עיר wants them, so he doesn’t destroy them.
A person has two כוחות that are מקורות for this חטאים:
1. כוח הכעסני
2. כוח התאוני
An ארך אפים is greater than a גיבור even though they are both functioning in the same way. The גיבור is eradicating the enemy and the ארך אפים is eradicating his anger. A מושל ברוחו and לוכד עיר are put together because they both want the thing, they’re just reigning it in and putting it under their control. We have תאוות, but we must desire to do the right thing.
Friday, November 12, 2010
בקיאות- ד
רש''י ב לא תספו- don’t add on, for example five פרשיות in a set of תפילין.
ספורנו לא תגרעו- you do we need this צווי- we know that you can’t take away from מצוות? Because sometimes, a reason for a מצוה is given so someone may think that the reason doesn’t apply to him so he could do whatever he wants. Example: שלמה had many wives and horses… because he thought that id didn’t apply to him, and he was נכשל.
רש''י ו ושמרתם- זו משנה- you should learn.
ועשיתם- do them.
כי הוא חכמתכם ובינתכם- by doing מצוות, the גויים will think that you’re smart.
ספורנו ז כי מי גוי...- you do we need the גויים to think that we’re smart? ה'’s close to us and this shows that we’re the chosen עם. If we weren’t smart, it would be a חלול ה'.
ספורנו לא תגרעו- you do we need this צווי- we know that you can’t take away from מצוות? Because sometimes, a reason for a מצוה is given so someone may think that the reason doesn’t apply to him so he could do whatever he wants. Example: שלמה had many wives and horses… because he thought that id didn’t apply to him, and he was נכשל.
רש''י ו ושמרתם- זו משנה- you should learn.
ועשיתם- do them.
כי הוא חכמתכם ובינתכם- by doing מצוות, the גויים will think that you’re smart.
ספורנו ז כי מי גוי...- you do we need the גויים to think that we’re smart? ה'’s close to us and this shows that we’re the chosen עם. If we weren’t smart, it would be a חלול ה'.
בקיאות- ג
רש''י יא מיתר הרפאים- the only one who was left from the מלחמה from the four kings and the five kings in the time of א''א.
באמת איש- באמת עוג.
יא His bed was nine אמות by four אמות, עוג sized. (His hand breadth was huge!)
רשב''ם When he was a baby, his cradle had to be made out of iron because he was so big that he would have broken anything else.
יב-כב These are the boundaries of עבר הירדן. We got it from סיחון and עוג. Who got it? ראובן, גד, חצי שבט מנשה.
דעת זקינים ואתחנן אל ה'- in גמטרי' it equals 515. משה davened to ה' 515 תפילות.
רש''י כג ואתחנן- he davened for a מתנת חינם. משה had many זכותים and מעש''ט, but he didn’t ask because of his זכותים. Where did he learn this from? חטא העגל. ואתחנן could also be one of the ל' of תפילה.
בעת ההיא- after they capture עבר הירדן.
Why was משה so desperate to go into א''י? He wanted to keep theמצוות התלויות בארץ .
רש''י כד ה' אלוקים- even in דין, he has רחמנות.
את גדלך- ה'’s goodness.
ואת ידך- your right hand that’s stretched out to everyone.
החזקה- ה' is כובש ברחמים the מדת הדין.
רש''י כה ההר הטוב הזה- ירושלים.
לבנון- the בהמ''ק, which is מלבין the עבירות of ב''י.
רש''י כו למענכם- because of You. You caused me that I can’t go into א''י because of מי מריבה.
רש''י כז ראה בעיניך- you wanted to see the good of the land, I’ll show you the whole entire א''י.
אוה''ח ראה בעיניך- you are going to go up to the pinnacle of the mountain and see the whole א''י. Why do you need the word בעיניך? He’s going to see with his naked eyes, without binoculars.
רש''י כח וחזקהו ואמצהו- with words. He shouldn’t be scared that just because משה was punished because of ב''י he’ll also be. ה' promised him that he’s going to go into א''י and give out נחלות.
כי הוא יעבר- in order for ב''י to win, יהושע has to go out with them. When they fought against עי, he stayed back and davened and people died. When יהושע davened, ה' said "קם לך"- get up and go fight.
רש''י כט ונשב בגיא...- they got attached to ע''ז but even though they sinned, ה' forgave them and they are going into א''י. But He didn’t forgive משה.
באמת איש- באמת עוג.
יא His bed was nine אמות by four אמות, עוג sized. (His hand breadth was huge!)
רשב''ם When he was a baby, his cradle had to be made out of iron because he was so big that he would have broken anything else.
יב-כב These are the boundaries of עבר הירדן. We got it from סיחון and עוג. Who got it? ראובן, גד, חצי שבט מנשה.
דעת זקינים ואתחנן אל ה'- in גמטרי' it equals 515. משה davened to ה' 515 תפילות.
רש''י כג ואתחנן- he davened for a מתנת חינם. משה had many זכותים and מעש''ט, but he didn’t ask because of his זכותים. Where did he learn this from? חטא העגל. ואתחנן could also be one of the ל' of תפילה.
בעת ההיא- after they capture עבר הירדן.
Why was משה so desperate to go into א''י? He wanted to keep theמצוות התלויות בארץ .
רש''י כד ה' אלוקים- even in דין, he has רחמנות.
את גדלך- ה'’s goodness.
ואת ידך- your right hand that’s stretched out to everyone.
החזקה- ה' is כובש ברחמים the מדת הדין.
רש''י כה ההר הטוב הזה- ירושלים.
לבנון- the בהמ''ק, which is מלבין the עבירות of ב''י.
רש''י כו למענכם- because of You. You caused me that I can’t go into א''י because of מי מריבה.
רש''י כז ראה בעיניך- you wanted to see the good of the land, I’ll show you the whole entire א''י.
אוה''ח ראה בעיניך- you are going to go up to the pinnacle of the mountain and see the whole א''י. Why do you need the word בעיניך? He’s going to see with his naked eyes, without binoculars.
רש''י כח וחזקהו ואמצהו- with words. He shouldn’t be scared that just because משה was punished because of ב''י he’ll also be. ה' promised him that he’s going to go into א''י and give out נחלות.
כי הוא יעבר- in order for ב''י to win, יהושע has to go out with them. When they fought against עי, he stayed back and davened and people died. When יהושע davened, ה' said "קם לך"- get up and go fight.
רש''י כט ונשב בגיא...- they got attached to ע''ז but even though they sinned, ה' forgave them and they are going into א''י. But He didn’t forgive משה.
בקיאות- ב
כלי יקר רב לכם סב- It’s a reference to us- we are in גלות אדום and we can’t get out of it. We’re circling round and round. We’ll have no כח over עשו until משיח comes. But the entire time that we are in גלות, we must keep a low profile and not show off our successes so that עשו doesn’t become jealous and angry with us. "פנו לכם צפון"- צפון means to be hidden.
רש''י ה עד מדרך כף רגל-
1. Not even one footstep in their land.
2. Won’t get it until משיח will come.
בעל הטורים Why does עשו have a זכות? "ירשה לעשו" is גמטרי' of בשביל מצות כיבוד אב.
עמון and מואב you also can’t touch. By עמון it’s even stricter- you can’t even scare them. Why not? Because these two nations came out of לוט and daughters because of the צניעות of עמון’s mother- she didn’t call her son explicitly by what happened, unlike מואב’s mother- מאב.
רש''י טו- טז It says in the פסוק that ה' spoke to משה after the חוטאים במרגלים died. But all the other times since שליחות המרגלים it says "ויאמר" and not "וידבר"- only now. Why? Because ה' was not comfortable being משרה his שכינה to the same degree.
רש''י כה תחת כל השמים- Everyone heard about the מלחמה of סיחון and עוג, even the sun- it stood in the sky and didn’t set.
רש''י כו ממדבר קדמות- even though ה' didn’t command me to call to סיחון in שלום, he learnt it from סיני, from the תורה- before ה' gave it to ב''י, he appealed to עשו and ישמעאל in peace even though He knew that they didn’t want it. So משה learnt from סיני to be קודם בשלום.
לה בזזנו- took animals as ביזה. When כלל ישראל finished fighting סיחון, they took many animals as spoils. This is in contrast to when they fought עוג- it says בזנו. This is a ל' of בזיון- they didn’t take animals here because they already had so many.
רש''י ה עד מדרך כף רגל-
1. Not even one footstep in their land.
2. Won’t get it until משיח will come.
בעל הטורים Why does עשו have a זכות? "ירשה לעשו" is גמטרי' of בשביל מצות כיבוד אב.
עמון and מואב you also can’t touch. By עמון it’s even stricter- you can’t even scare them. Why not? Because these two nations came out of לוט and daughters because of the צניעות of עמון’s mother- she didn’t call her son explicitly by what happened, unlike מואב’s mother- מאב.
רש''י טו- טז It says in the פסוק that ה' spoke to משה after the חוטאים במרגלים died. But all the other times since שליחות המרגלים it says "ויאמר" and not "וידבר"- only now. Why? Because ה' was not comfortable being משרה his שכינה to the same degree.
רש''י כה תחת כל השמים- Everyone heard about the מלחמה of סיחון and עוג, even the sun- it stood in the sky and didn’t set.
רש''י כו ממדבר קדמות- even though ה' didn’t command me to call to סיחון in שלום, he learnt it from סיני, from the תורה- before ה' gave it to ב''י, he appealed to עשו and ישמעאל in peace even though He knew that they didn’t want it. So משה learnt from סיני to be קודם בשלום.
לה בזזנו- took animals as ביזה. When כלל ישראל finished fighting סיחון, they took many animals as spoils. This is in contrast to when they fought עוג- it says בזנו. This is a ל' of בזיון- they didn’t take animals here because they already had so many.
בקיאות- א
ספר דברים is משה’s last will and testament. It takes place in the last thirty seven days of משה’s life. It includes:
1. תוכחה
2. משנה תורה
3. Seventy new מצוות
4. Many אזהרות about עבודה זרה
At this point, ב''י had already captured סיחון and עוג.
רש''י א אלה הדברים- ספר דברים opens up with תוכחה. משה mentions all the places that ב''י angered ה'. He ties them up and hints at them.
רמב''ן Before משה starts explaining the תורה, he gives תוכחה. Why?
1. To let us know the חסד that ה' does for us- we sinned, but ה' still acts with such רחמים.
2. The second time you do an עבירה, it’s much worse. רביו יונה sheet- שלמה המלך compares this ענין to a dog- a dog eats terrible things. When he throws them up and eats it again, its that much more disgusting then when he ate it originally. So too, the fool does an עבירה, it’s bad. The next time, it’s that much worse.
3. It pays- there’s something called תשובה. You may think that you did חטאים so you’re not going to go into א''י. Know that it pays- ''כי עמך הסליחה למען תורא''. ה' gives us the opportunity to do תשובה.
''כי בקה ה' צור עולמים''- ה' created worlds with 'י' and 'ה'. עוה''ב was created with a 'י', the smallest letter, to show us that the smallest amount of people get there. עוה''ז was created with 'ה'- it’s very easy to fall out, but ה' created a way for us to get back in. We see from here that תשובה was created with הריאת העולם.
רש''י אל כל ישראל- משה is about to give מוסר to ב''י. He gathered everyone so that no one could say “had I been there I would’ve answered משה”. Anyone who wanted to say anything in their defense could say it now.
The פסוק lists a bunch of different places. They are referring to the different עבירות that ב''י did:
1. מדבר- ב''י complained when they ran out of מצה.
2. ערבה- referring to the חטא that ב''י did בערבות מואב- בעל פעור.
3. מול סוף- different things that ב''י did by the ים סוף.
4. פארן- what they did by the מרגלים.
5. תפל לבן- refers to when ב''י complained about the מן- תפלו על המן שהוא לבן.
6. חצרת-
a. מחלקת קרח
b. מרים got צרעת here and ב''י waited for her. After this, ב''י sent out the מרגלים. They should have learnt from מרים, but they didn’t.
7. די זהב- refers to the חטא העגל.
אוה''ח בעבר הירדן- you are supposed to give someone מוסר when they are in a calm and receptive mode. משה gave מוסר when they were בעבר לירדן because he saw that they were calm and had reached the point where they would listen to מוסר.
רש''י ב אחד עשר יום מחרב- it takes eleven days to get from חרב (הר סיני) to קדש ברנע, but it only took three. ב''י left הר סיני on כ אייר and on כט סיון they sent the מרגלים from קדש ברנע, in מדבר פערן. In between כ אייר and כט סיון- they were in קברות התאוה for thirty days and they also waited for מרים for a week. (40-37-3 = 3 days.) Why did ה' make it only take three days? The שכינה wanted to hurry ב''י into א''י. But because of what you did wrong, you had to wander for forty years.
רש''י ג Why is it a good time to give מוסר right before one dies?
1. You only have to give it once-
2. The person you rebuked doesn’t have to see you again and be embarrassed.
3. The person you rebuke shouldn’t have טעינות.
4. The person who you give מוסר to shouldn’t feel like they have to run away from you and go to someone who’ll have a bad השפעה on them.
We learn this out from יעקב that he didn’t give מוסר until right before he died.
He started giving מוסר on א' שבט.
ד ב''י have already captured סיחון and עוג.
רש''י אחרי הכתו- if משה wouldn’t have given מוסר until right before they went into א''י they would have said that משה didn’t do them any good, all he did was criticize them and he doesn’t have the כח to bring them into א''י. Therefore, he waited until סיחון and עוג were captured, then he gave מוסר.
סיחון אשר שב בחשבון- if סיחון wasn’t strong but lived in חשבון, it would have been hard to capture them because the place was hard. If סיחון had lived somewhere else, it would have been hard to capture them because the king is hard. Here, there was a hard king in a hard place.
רש''י ה הואיל- it means החתיל.
The תורה was written over in seventy languages. No matter where you are in גלות, the תורה comes with you.
רש''י ו רב לכם שבת- פשט: you spent enough time. דרש: you accomplished a lot by living on this mountain- הר סיני.
רש''י ח באו ורשו- it wouldn’t have been a כבוש if not for the מרגלים. They would have just gone in and taken א''י- there would have been no need for war.
יא He’s giving ב''י a ברכה that ה' should times them by one thousand.
רש''י אלף פעמים- ב''י told משה that he’s limiting their ברכה that ה' promised א''א that they are going to be so many that you won’t be able to count them. משה said, I’m giving you my ברכה and ה' is giving you His. So why do they need משה’s ברכה? ה'’s has strings attached- you must do what He wants, but משה’s ברכה comes regardless.
רש''י יב טרכחם- this teaches us that ב''י were a טורח- they kept משה busy. If they saw that their friend was losing in דין, they would bring in more עדים, therefore judges were added.
ומשאכם- they were אפיקורסים. If משה came out of his tent early, they said that he had no שלום בית and if he came out of his tent late, they said that he was plotting against them.
וריבכם- they were kvetches.
רש''י יג אנשים- צדיקים.
חכמים- כסופים-
1. חתם סופר- they have a striving to be good.
2. ש''ח- חמודים- speak clearly.
3. חכם עיניו בראשו.
נבונים- מבין דבר מתוך דבר. What is the difference between a חכם and a נבון? A חכם can be compared to a banker- he sits by the table and checks money, but only if people bring him money. Otherwise, he has no work. A נבון is like a merchant- if no one comes to him, he takes what he has and goes further with it.
רש''י יד ותענו אותי... - ב''י were happy with this idea. But they should have been disappointed. They should have wanted to learn from משה, who had צער on the תורה. They were happy that they had שרים because they thought that since they didn’t know them, they could bribe them.
רש'י יז כקטן וכגדול תשמעון-
1. If a judge has two monetary cases before him, he may feel that he should deal with the bigger one first- they should both be equally important.
2. If you have a poor man and a rich man, you shouldn’t make the poor man win so that he can get פרנסה.
3. If the rich man losses, and it’s only a small amount of money, the judge may tell everyone that he won so that he isn’t embarrassed and afterwards tell him privately that he owes the poor man money. He can not do this- everything you do must be done openly.
לא תגרו מפני איש- don’t be afraid of anyone. If you are a judge and you take from someone not בדין, you are making it that ה' has to go and pay it back.
רמב''ן כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא- when you are judging, don’t judge for man, judge for ה' and He will be with you- you’re working for Him. ה' wants that there should be משפט in this world, and He put you to do it in His place.
רש''י תקרבון אלי- because he said these גאווהדיקwords, he didn’t know how to judge by בנות צלפחד and he had to ask ה'.
רש''י יט המדבר הגדול והנורא- there were snakes so large and thick like beams and the scorpions were like bows.
ספורנו ונלך את כל המדבר הגדול והנורא- this was a journey that no one would make because there were big snakes and scorpions. ה' did all of this to shorten the way so that they could get to א''י quickly, before they would be חוטא. It didn’t help though.
רש''י כב ותקריבון אלי כלכם- they came בערבובי'. This was in contrast to הר סיני, where they came in an orderly fashion- this was the correct way.
וישבו אתנו דבר- in the language that they spoke. Knowing the language helps psychologically.
רש''י כג וייטב בעיני הדבר- it was good in his eyes, but not in their eyes. If it was good in his eyes, why is he giving them מוסר? משל- when you are buying a car, you ask many questions. If the dealer answers with confidence, you know that you can trust him. נמשל- ב''י should have had אמונה in משה. If he thought that א''י was good, they should have trusted him and not sent people to go check it out.
רש''י כה ויאמרו טובה הארץ- יהושע and כלב both said that it was good.
רמב''ן ויאמרו טובה הארץ אשר ה' אלוקינו נתן לנו- they all said that the land is good, but there are scary people in it. Then, משה left. Ten of the מרגלם went to כלל ישראל’s tents and said that it’s an ארץ אוכלת יושבי' because they were scared of the giants. They had to wait for משה to leave because otherwise he would have said that originally you said that it was fantastic!
לז משה said that because of the חטא המרגלים, he couldn’t go into א''י. But ה' said that he couldn’t go in because of מי מריבה, so why does it say hear that it’s because of the מרגלים?
כלי יקר If ב''י would have had אמונה and not sent out the מרגלים, there would have been no חטא המרגלים- the source of the חטא was the lack of אמונה. Who was responsible for this? משה because he was not מאמין them- he didn’t make them believe. Why? Because he didn’t make a קדוש ה' by מי מריבה. ב''י’s חטא, which stemmed from the חוסר אמונה is an indication of משה’s חטא, therefore he couldn’t go into א''י.
רש''י מד כאשר תעשינה דבורה- just like when a bee stings it immediately dies, so too the אמוראים- the minute they touched ב''י, they died- ה' punished them.
1. תוכחה
2. משנה תורה
3. Seventy new מצוות
4. Many אזהרות about עבודה זרה
At this point, ב''י had already captured סיחון and עוג.
רש''י א אלה הדברים- ספר דברים opens up with תוכחה. משה mentions all the places that ב''י angered ה'. He ties them up and hints at them.
רמב''ן Before משה starts explaining the תורה, he gives תוכחה. Why?
1. To let us know the חסד that ה' does for us- we sinned, but ה' still acts with such רחמים.
2. The second time you do an עבירה, it’s much worse. רביו יונה sheet- שלמה המלך compares this ענין to a dog- a dog eats terrible things. When he throws them up and eats it again, its that much more disgusting then when he ate it originally. So too, the fool does an עבירה, it’s bad. The next time, it’s that much worse.
3. It pays- there’s something called תשובה. You may think that you did חטאים so you’re not going to go into א''י. Know that it pays- ''כי עמך הסליחה למען תורא''. ה' gives us the opportunity to do תשובה.
''כי בקה ה' צור עולמים''- ה' created worlds with 'י' and 'ה'. עוה''ב was created with a 'י', the smallest letter, to show us that the smallest amount of people get there. עוה''ז was created with 'ה'- it’s very easy to fall out, but ה' created a way for us to get back in. We see from here that תשובה was created with הריאת העולם.
רש''י אל כל ישראל- משה is about to give מוסר to ב''י. He gathered everyone so that no one could say “had I been there I would’ve answered משה”. Anyone who wanted to say anything in their defense could say it now.
The פסוק lists a bunch of different places. They are referring to the different עבירות that ב''י did:
1. מדבר- ב''י complained when they ran out of מצה.
2. ערבה- referring to the חטא that ב''י did בערבות מואב- בעל פעור.
3. מול סוף- different things that ב''י did by the ים סוף.
4. פארן- what they did by the מרגלים.
5. תפל לבן- refers to when ב''י complained about the מן- תפלו על המן שהוא לבן.
6. חצרת-
a. מחלקת קרח
b. מרים got צרעת here and ב''י waited for her. After this, ב''י sent out the מרגלים. They should have learnt from מרים, but they didn’t.
7. די זהב- refers to the חטא העגל.
אוה''ח בעבר הירדן- you are supposed to give someone מוסר when they are in a calm and receptive mode. משה gave מוסר when they were בעבר לירדן because he saw that they were calm and had reached the point where they would listen to מוסר.
רש''י ב אחד עשר יום מחרב- it takes eleven days to get from חרב (הר סיני) to קדש ברנע, but it only took three. ב''י left הר סיני on כ אייר and on כט סיון they sent the מרגלים from קדש ברנע, in מדבר פערן. In between כ אייר and כט סיון- they were in קברות התאוה for thirty days and they also waited for מרים for a week. (40-37-3 = 3 days.) Why did ה' make it only take three days? The שכינה wanted to hurry ב''י into א''י. But because of what you did wrong, you had to wander for forty years.
רש''י ג Why is it a good time to give מוסר right before one dies?
1. You only have to give it once-
2. The person you rebuked doesn’t have to see you again and be embarrassed.
3. The person you rebuke shouldn’t have טעינות.
4. The person who you give מוסר to shouldn’t feel like they have to run away from you and go to someone who’ll have a bad השפעה on them.
We learn this out from יעקב that he didn’t give מוסר until right before he died.
He started giving מוסר on א' שבט.
ד ב''י have already captured סיחון and עוג.
רש''י אחרי הכתו- if משה wouldn’t have given מוסר until right before they went into א''י they would have said that משה didn’t do them any good, all he did was criticize them and he doesn’t have the כח to bring them into א''י. Therefore, he waited until סיחון and עוג were captured, then he gave מוסר.
סיחון אשר שב בחשבון- if סיחון wasn’t strong but lived in חשבון, it would have been hard to capture them because the place was hard. If סיחון had lived somewhere else, it would have been hard to capture them because the king is hard. Here, there was a hard king in a hard place.
רש''י ה הואיל- it means החתיל.
The תורה was written over in seventy languages. No matter where you are in גלות, the תורה comes with you.
רש''י ו רב לכם שבת- פשט: you spent enough time. דרש: you accomplished a lot by living on this mountain- הר סיני.
רש''י ח באו ורשו- it wouldn’t have been a כבוש if not for the מרגלים. They would have just gone in and taken א''י- there would have been no need for war.
יא He’s giving ב''י a ברכה that ה' should times them by one thousand.
רש''י אלף פעמים- ב''י told משה that he’s limiting their ברכה that ה' promised א''א that they are going to be so many that you won’t be able to count them. משה said, I’m giving you my ברכה and ה' is giving you His. So why do they need משה’s ברכה? ה'’s has strings attached- you must do what He wants, but משה’s ברכה comes regardless.
רש''י יב טרכחם- this teaches us that ב''י were a טורח- they kept משה busy. If they saw that their friend was losing in דין, they would bring in more עדים, therefore judges were added.
ומשאכם- they were אפיקורסים. If משה came out of his tent early, they said that he had no שלום בית and if he came out of his tent late, they said that he was plotting against them.
וריבכם- they were kvetches.
רש''י יג אנשים- צדיקים.
חכמים- כסופים-
1. חתם סופר- they have a striving to be good.
2. ש''ח- חמודים- speak clearly.
3. חכם עיניו בראשו.
נבונים- מבין דבר מתוך דבר. What is the difference between a חכם and a נבון? A חכם can be compared to a banker- he sits by the table and checks money, but only if people bring him money. Otherwise, he has no work. A נבון is like a merchant- if no one comes to him, he takes what he has and goes further with it.
רש''י יד ותענו אותי... - ב''י were happy with this idea. But they should have been disappointed. They should have wanted to learn from משה, who had צער on the תורה. They were happy that they had שרים because they thought that since they didn’t know them, they could bribe them.
רש'י יז כקטן וכגדול תשמעון-
1. If a judge has two monetary cases before him, he may feel that he should deal with the bigger one first- they should both be equally important.
2. If you have a poor man and a rich man, you shouldn’t make the poor man win so that he can get פרנסה.
3. If the rich man losses, and it’s only a small amount of money, the judge may tell everyone that he won so that he isn’t embarrassed and afterwards tell him privately that he owes the poor man money. He can not do this- everything you do must be done openly.
לא תגרו מפני איש- don’t be afraid of anyone. If you are a judge and you take from someone not בדין, you are making it that ה' has to go and pay it back.
רמב''ן כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא- when you are judging, don’t judge for man, judge for ה' and He will be with you- you’re working for Him. ה' wants that there should be משפט in this world, and He put you to do it in His place.
רש''י תקרבון אלי- because he said these גאווהדיקwords, he didn’t know how to judge by בנות צלפחד and he had to ask ה'.
רש''י יט המדבר הגדול והנורא- there were snakes so large and thick like beams and the scorpions were like bows.
ספורנו ונלך את כל המדבר הגדול והנורא- this was a journey that no one would make because there were big snakes and scorpions. ה' did all of this to shorten the way so that they could get to א''י quickly, before they would be חוטא. It didn’t help though.
רש''י כב ותקריבון אלי כלכם- they came בערבובי'. This was in contrast to הר סיני, where they came in an orderly fashion- this was the correct way.
וישבו אתנו דבר- in the language that they spoke. Knowing the language helps psychologically.
רש''י כג וייטב בעיני הדבר- it was good in his eyes, but not in their eyes. If it was good in his eyes, why is he giving them מוסר? משל- when you are buying a car, you ask many questions. If the dealer answers with confidence, you know that you can trust him. נמשל- ב''י should have had אמונה in משה. If he thought that א''י was good, they should have trusted him and not sent people to go check it out.
רש''י כה ויאמרו טובה הארץ- יהושע and כלב both said that it was good.
רמב''ן ויאמרו טובה הארץ אשר ה' אלוקינו נתן לנו- they all said that the land is good, but there are scary people in it. Then, משה left. Ten of the מרגלם went to כלל ישראל’s tents and said that it’s an ארץ אוכלת יושבי' because they were scared of the giants. They had to wait for משה to leave because otherwise he would have said that originally you said that it was fantastic!
לז משה said that because of the חטא המרגלים, he couldn’t go into א''י. But ה' said that he couldn’t go in because of מי מריבה, so why does it say hear that it’s because of the מרגלים?
כלי יקר If ב''י would have had אמונה and not sent out the מרגלים, there would have been no חטא המרגלים- the source of the חטא was the lack of אמונה. Who was responsible for this? משה because he was not מאמין them- he didn’t make them believe. Why? Because he didn’t make a קדוש ה' by מי מריבה. ב''י’s חטא, which stemmed from the חוסר אמונה is an indication of משה’s חטא, therefore he couldn’t go into א''י.
רש''י מד כאשר תעשינה דבורה- just like when a bee stings it immediately dies, so too the אמוראים- the minute they touched ב''י, they died- ה' punished them.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
תרי עשר- הושע יד
This is the הפתרה of שבת שובה- from פסוק ב until the end.
Sheet I) וישב is from the same שרש as תשובה. Where was ראובן? He was in middle of doing תשובה over the fact that he moved his father’s bed. ה' said, I never had someone who was חוטא and did תשובה. He promised ראובן that his grandson will be מזרז ב''י to do תשובה. This grandson is הושע, who said, "שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך".
ב stumbledכשלת-
ישראל-
1. רש''י- ב''י were split in two. שומרון, where the עשרת השבטים lived, was already found guilty. Now, הושע is talking to יהודה- telling them that if they don’t want to happen to them what happened to שומרון, they must do תשובה. משל- a king tells one province to look at another province that was punished so that they won’t turn out like that. "טלו לכם ימים"- take for yourself a few days and repent- this is referring to the עשי''ת.
2. מלבי''ם- he is talking to the המון עם- שומרון, the capital, and the leaders were חוטא, but don’t follow in their ways. We learn out from here that being מחטיא את הרבים is in the worst category- "כל המחטיא את הרבים אין מספיקים בידו לעשות תשובה" .
רש''י עד ה' אלוקיך- do תשובה before מדת הרחמים turns into מדת הדין.
כי כשלת- all these stumbling blocks that you have are because of your עבירות in both the spiritual and physical sense.
Sheet II) If ב''י are doing עבירות, why are they called ישראל (שר), and not יעקב (עקב)? Even when ב''י are on the lowest מדריגה, הושע calls out to them, "שובה ישראל"- know to where you have to be headed.
III) "שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך"- תשובה is so great that it reaches to the כסא הכבוד.
IV) תשובה is so great that it turns זדונות into שגגות. Proof: "שובה... וכשלת בעוניך". כשלת is a mistake and עוניך means on purpose. The גמרא explains that your purposeful עבירות will become accidental.
V) תשובה is so great that it turns זדונות into זכוות. So does it become a שגגה or a זכות? If he did it מיראה, it becomes a שגגה, but if he does it from אהבה then it becomes a זכות. R’ Baurch Ber Leibowitz – How could a זדון become a זכות? Because he realizes how bad his עבירה it, and through that recognition, it becomes a springboard for תשובה and the עבירה becomes a זכות for him.
מלבי''ם עד- this symbolizes distance. We’re far from ה' because of our חטאים. First, a person must do עזיבת החטא and חרטה. Once he does this, he bridges the gap and is no longer so far.
ר' יצחק "כי עונותי עברו ראשני"- it’s a משל to a man who’s going into a river. He has a tremendous burden on his head and he is sinking. He calls out for help. Someone says, I’m not coming in- throw off your burden, stretch out your arm and I’ll save you. נמשל- in life, we have many עבירות and we’re being pulled in by our יצה''ר. We scream out to ה' and He tells us- throw off your עבירות = עזיבת החטא, and then I will come save you- "הבא לטהר...". And once you get out, you must deal with your burden- you need real determination and a plan of action so that you don’t fall back in.
ג compensateונשלמה-
מ''ד קחו עמכם דברים- I’m not asking you for קרבנות. Be מתודה to ה' and that’s how you are going to return to Him.
כל תשא עון- really, it should be כל עון תשא- forgive the whole עבירה and take the good that we did.
ונשלמה פרים שפתינו- take ודוי instead of קרבנות.
מלבי''ם קחו- take things which will speak on our behalf= מצוות and מעש''ט.
Previously, it said "שובה ישראל" and here it says "ושבו אל ה'"- it seems to be redundant. Previously, your תשובה was תשובה מיראה, when you were far away. Now, "ושבו אל ה'"- now we could do תשובה מאהבה because we’re closer to ה'- "השב מאהבה...". We’re asking ה' to forgive the whole עבירה and we get a זכות in its place. Once our זדונות are turned into זכויות, we don’t have to bring a קרבן because all that we have left is a זכות.
ד you aloneאשר בך-
רש''י על סוס לא נרכב- it’s talking about מצרים because this is where the horses come from. We aren’t going to trust them.
מלבי''ם We must be like a יתום- a יתום has no physical reliance. He totally places his trust in ה'. We must come to the level of a יתום that we are totally reliant on ה'.
ה their wickedness משובתם-
ה' promises:
1. ארפא- I will forgive them.
2. אהבם נדבה- I will love them with a tremendous אהבה.
ממנו- it should say מהם, in ל' רבים. It teaches us that there’s an element of סליחה for the whole world if a יחיד does תשובה.
ו It’s a משל to לעתיד לבא, after ב''י do the perfect תשובה. Redemption comes together withתשובה and forgiveness.
blossom יפרח-
spread ויך-
מ''ד אהי' כטל ישראל- ה'’s love is not going to stop just like dew doesn’t stop.
יפרח כשושנה - כלל ישראל are going to grow like beautiful flowers, like roses, and their roots are going to spread out like the roots of the trees in the לבנון- forest in א''י which is beautiful, smells good and is famous for its cedar trees with strong roots.
רד''ק But roses don’t have strong roots! They are going to be beautiful like roses and strong like the roots of the trees in the לבנון.
מלבי''ם אהי' כטל ישראל יפרח כשושנה- there is a beautiful rose called the שושנת יריחו. It’s not implanted into the ground because it doesn’t have roots. The wind carries her to far lands and this rose is nourished through the dew. She blossoms in splendor- this is a משל to ב''י- we are beautiful like this rose and we’re cast from land to land, but ה' sustains us. ב''י are like this rose because we have no physical roots- we don’t place our trust in doctors, the stock market… ע''פ טבע, ב''י should have no existence. We are one hundred percent sustained from שמים.
ויך שרשיו לבנון- even though this rose’s roots were cut off- א''י was where we had a place and we were rooted in very deeply. Right now we have no roots, but "ילכו יונקותיו"- the soft, young branches are going to grow from where the other trees used to be. The new generation of children באחרית הימים which come after a generation smitten will sprout. It seems that everything is gone, but as long as the roots are still there, things will still grow.
ב''י are compared to an olive. Why?
1. The olive makes olive oil, which shines and makes light. כלל ישראל will shine and glow באור ה'.
2. Olive trees remain fresh all year long. So to, לעתיד לבא, we are constantly going to be in our perfect form and are going to constantly be successful.
מלבי''ם וריח לו כלבנון- ב''י even though they are still in גלות still have the smell of לבנון= א'י. What is the smell of א'י? The smell of קדושה and טהרה.
ח מ''ד ישבו ישבי בצלו- those that take refuge in the shade of ה', they’ll be calm and at peace.
רד''ק ישבו ישבי בצלו- they are going to return to א''י and dwell in the shade of ה'.
יחיו- הם יחיו את עצמם
רד''ק יחיו דגן- they are going to sustain themselves with מצוות the same way that people sustain themselves with grain.
like a vineכגפן-
רד''ק When you want to eat grain, you must grow, chop, eat and re-harvest. Maybe we’ll think that it’s going to be like this when משיח comes. "יפריחו כגפן"- we are going to be like a grapevine that is constantly giving.
מצוות are going to be like דגן- it’s a staple, but our הצלחה is going to be constant like the גפן’s הצלחה.
Three examples given of our constant הצלחה:
1. טל
2. זית
3. גפן
רד''ק זכרו כיין לבניו- the wines from עצי הלבנון have a reputation as being awesome wines. So to, לעתיד לבא, ב''י are going to have a good name.
ט אפרים= כלל ישראל
לעצביע- ע''ז
I’m going to fulfill his requestsאני עניתני-
ואשרנו- ואני אשגיח עליו
Get two things:
1. Going to answer him.
2. Supervise him.
ברוש tree that is fresh- כברוש רענן
כברוש- a massive tree, but the branches bend to the ground right near the roots.
ה' is compared to the ברוש because in His גדלות, he bends down to the needs of every little creature.
Examples of ה'’s greatness:
1. "ממני פריך נמצא"- all the פירות of הצלחה come from ה'.
2. "כי רם ה' ושפל יירא"
3. "המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות"
4. "ה' אלוקינו"- this לשון denotes individualized and personalized.
מהר'י קרא If a person wants to reach the top of the ברוש, it’s impossible. But when the branches are bent to the bottom, he can climb up to the top. If a person looks at תשובה, there’s really no way to achieve it. But when ה' comes to us, we can get there.
י ויבן אלה- מבין את זה
Three ל' of חכמה:
1. חכם- a חכמה that you have to be taught.
2. בינה- מבין דבר מתוך דבר.
3. ידיעה- concrete knowledge.
מהר''י קרא מי חכם ויבן אלה נבון וידעם- you have two ways in front of you: good and bad. Good people will shteig from it, but רשעים will fall. ה'’s דרכים are the same, but the choice is yours.
R’ Hutner- the last form of אפיקרסוס before משיח is denying בחירה.
מלבי''ם It’s talking specifically about "צדיק ורע לו..."- even though it doesn’t seem so explainable, a צדיק understands to such a degree with a clear ידיעה that everything is fair- "ישרים דרכי ה'...". A רשע stumbles over this- it doesn’t make any sense to him.
Sheet I) וישב is from the same שרש as תשובה. Where was ראובן? He was in middle of doing תשובה over the fact that he moved his father’s bed. ה' said, I never had someone who was חוטא and did תשובה. He promised ראובן that his grandson will be מזרז ב''י to do תשובה. This grandson is הושע, who said, "שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך".
ב stumbledכשלת-
ישראל-
1. רש''י- ב''י were split in two. שומרון, where the עשרת השבטים lived, was already found guilty. Now, הושע is talking to יהודה- telling them that if they don’t want to happen to them what happened to שומרון, they must do תשובה. משל- a king tells one province to look at another province that was punished so that they won’t turn out like that. "טלו לכם ימים"- take for yourself a few days and repent- this is referring to the עשי''ת.
2. מלבי''ם- he is talking to the המון עם- שומרון, the capital, and the leaders were חוטא, but don’t follow in their ways. We learn out from here that being מחטיא את הרבים is in the worst category- "כל המחטיא את הרבים אין מספיקים בידו לעשות תשובה" .
רש''י עד ה' אלוקיך- do תשובה before מדת הרחמים turns into מדת הדין.
כי כשלת- all these stumbling blocks that you have are because of your עבירות in both the spiritual and physical sense.
Sheet II) If ב''י are doing עבירות, why are they called ישראל (שר), and not יעקב (עקב)? Even when ב''י are on the lowest מדריגה, הושע calls out to them, "שובה ישראל"- know to where you have to be headed.
III) "שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך"- תשובה is so great that it reaches to the כסא הכבוד.
IV) תשובה is so great that it turns זדונות into שגגות. Proof: "שובה... וכשלת בעוניך". כשלת is a mistake and עוניך means on purpose. The גמרא explains that your purposeful עבירות will become accidental.
V) תשובה is so great that it turns זדונות into זכוות. So does it become a שגגה or a זכות? If he did it מיראה, it becomes a שגגה, but if he does it from אהבה then it becomes a זכות. R’ Baurch Ber Leibowitz – How could a זדון become a זכות? Because he realizes how bad his עבירה it, and through that recognition, it becomes a springboard for תשובה and the עבירה becomes a זכות for him.
מלבי''ם עד- this symbolizes distance. We’re far from ה' because of our חטאים. First, a person must do עזיבת החטא and חרטה. Once he does this, he bridges the gap and is no longer so far.
ר' יצחק "כי עונותי עברו ראשני"- it’s a משל to a man who’s going into a river. He has a tremendous burden on his head and he is sinking. He calls out for help. Someone says, I’m not coming in- throw off your burden, stretch out your arm and I’ll save you. נמשל- in life, we have many עבירות and we’re being pulled in by our יצה''ר. We scream out to ה' and He tells us- throw off your עבירות = עזיבת החטא, and then I will come save you- "הבא לטהר...". And once you get out, you must deal with your burden- you need real determination and a plan of action so that you don’t fall back in.
ג compensateונשלמה-
מ''ד קחו עמכם דברים- I’m not asking you for קרבנות. Be מתודה to ה' and that’s how you are going to return to Him.
כל תשא עון- really, it should be כל עון תשא- forgive the whole עבירה and take the good that we did.
ונשלמה פרים שפתינו- take ודוי instead of קרבנות.
מלבי''ם קחו- take things which will speak on our behalf= מצוות and מעש''ט.
Previously, it said "שובה ישראל" and here it says "ושבו אל ה'"- it seems to be redundant. Previously, your תשובה was תשובה מיראה, when you were far away. Now, "ושבו אל ה'"- now we could do תשובה מאהבה because we’re closer to ה'- "השב מאהבה...". We’re asking ה' to forgive the whole עבירה and we get a זכות in its place. Once our זדונות are turned into זכויות, we don’t have to bring a קרבן because all that we have left is a זכות.
ד you aloneאשר בך-
רש''י על סוס לא נרכב- it’s talking about מצרים because this is where the horses come from. We aren’t going to trust them.
מלבי''ם We must be like a יתום- a יתום has no physical reliance. He totally places his trust in ה'. We must come to the level of a יתום that we are totally reliant on ה'.
ה their wickedness משובתם-
ה' promises:
1. ארפא- I will forgive them.
2. אהבם נדבה- I will love them with a tremendous אהבה.
ממנו- it should say מהם, in ל' רבים. It teaches us that there’s an element of סליחה for the whole world if a יחיד does תשובה.
ו It’s a משל to לעתיד לבא, after ב''י do the perfect תשובה. Redemption comes together withתשובה and forgiveness.
blossom יפרח-
spread ויך-
מ''ד אהי' כטל ישראל- ה'’s love is not going to stop just like dew doesn’t stop.
יפרח כשושנה - כלל ישראל are going to grow like beautiful flowers, like roses, and their roots are going to spread out like the roots of the trees in the לבנון- forest in א''י which is beautiful, smells good and is famous for its cedar trees with strong roots.
רד''ק But roses don’t have strong roots! They are going to be beautiful like roses and strong like the roots of the trees in the לבנון.
מלבי''ם אהי' כטל ישראל יפרח כשושנה- there is a beautiful rose called the שושנת יריחו. It’s not implanted into the ground because it doesn’t have roots. The wind carries her to far lands and this rose is nourished through the dew. She blossoms in splendor- this is a משל to ב''י- we are beautiful like this rose and we’re cast from land to land, but ה' sustains us. ב''י are like this rose because we have no physical roots- we don’t place our trust in doctors, the stock market… ע''פ טבע, ב''י should have no existence. We are one hundred percent sustained from שמים.
ויך שרשיו לבנון- even though this rose’s roots were cut off- א''י was where we had a place and we were rooted in very deeply. Right now we have no roots, but "ילכו יונקותיו"- the soft, young branches are going to grow from where the other trees used to be. The new generation of children באחרית הימים which come after a generation smitten will sprout. It seems that everything is gone, but as long as the roots are still there, things will still grow.
ב''י are compared to an olive. Why?
1. The olive makes olive oil, which shines and makes light. כלל ישראל will shine and glow באור ה'.
2. Olive trees remain fresh all year long. So to, לעתיד לבא, we are constantly going to be in our perfect form and are going to constantly be successful.
מלבי''ם וריח לו כלבנון- ב''י even though they are still in גלות still have the smell of לבנון= א'י. What is the smell of א'י? The smell of קדושה and טהרה.
ח מ''ד ישבו ישבי בצלו- those that take refuge in the shade of ה', they’ll be calm and at peace.
רד''ק ישבו ישבי בצלו- they are going to return to א''י and dwell in the shade of ה'.
יחיו- הם יחיו את עצמם
רד''ק יחיו דגן- they are going to sustain themselves with מצוות the same way that people sustain themselves with grain.
like a vineכגפן-
רד''ק When you want to eat grain, you must grow, chop, eat and re-harvest. Maybe we’ll think that it’s going to be like this when משיח comes. "יפריחו כגפן"- we are going to be like a grapevine that is constantly giving.
מצוות are going to be like דגן- it’s a staple, but our הצלחה is going to be constant like the גפן’s הצלחה.
Three examples given of our constant הצלחה:
1. טל
2. זית
3. גפן
רד''ק זכרו כיין לבניו- the wines from עצי הלבנון have a reputation as being awesome wines. So to, לעתיד לבא, ב''י are going to have a good name.
ט אפרים= כלל ישראל
לעצביע- ע''ז
I’m going to fulfill his requestsאני עניתני-
ואשרנו- ואני אשגיח עליו
Get two things:
1. Going to answer him.
2. Supervise him.
ברוש tree that is fresh- כברוש רענן
כברוש- a massive tree, but the branches bend to the ground right near the roots.
ה' is compared to the ברוש because in His גדלות, he bends down to the needs of every little creature.
Examples of ה'’s greatness:
1. "ממני פריך נמצא"- all the פירות of הצלחה come from ה'.
2. "כי רם ה' ושפל יירא"
3. "המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות"
4. "ה' אלוקינו"- this לשון denotes individualized and personalized.
מהר'י קרא If a person wants to reach the top of the ברוש, it’s impossible. But when the branches are bent to the bottom, he can climb up to the top. If a person looks at תשובה, there’s really no way to achieve it. But when ה' comes to us, we can get there.
י ויבן אלה- מבין את זה
Three ל' of חכמה:
1. חכם- a חכמה that you have to be taught.
2. בינה- מבין דבר מתוך דבר.
3. ידיעה- concrete knowledge.
מהר''י קרא מי חכם ויבן אלה נבון וידעם- you have two ways in front of you: good and bad. Good people will shteig from it, but רשעים will fall. ה'’s דרכים are the same, but the choice is yours.
R’ Hutner- the last form of אפיקרסוס before משיח is denying בחירה.
מלבי''ם It’s talking specifically about "צדיק ורע לו..."- even though it doesn’t seem so explainable, a צדיק understands to such a degree with a clear ידיעה that everything is fair- "ישרים דרכי ה'...". A רשע stumbles over this- it doesn’t make any sense to him.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
דינים- הקדמה
Many of our הלכות are said straight out in the פסוק but many come from תשבע''פ or are learned out from תורה שבכתב. In the רמב''ם’s ספר הלכה, משנה תורה, he explains how הלכות got passed down. He goes through the forty דורות of מסורה from משה until ,רב אשי who wrote down what got passed down in the גמרא. So the גמרא‘s פסקי הלכות are very binding- they’re really from משה and הר סיני (heard from ה'). These forty people were great people and were responsible for passing down מסורה. רבינא ורב אשי were the last דור of אמוראים and were חותם the גמרא in בבל about one hundred years after ר' יוחנן did in א''י. The גמרא brings down a משנה (called מתניה) and then goes into a discussion which elaborates on it. The page of גמרא also has the פירוש of רש''י and בעלי תוספות who explain the גמרא. (They are ראשונים.) The גמרא explains the משנה and adds what relevant גזירות have been instituted. But the גמרא was not a ספר הלכה, but a ספר that explains תורה שבע''פ. Even the new גזירות in תשבע''פ are still מסורה because really it’s written in the פסוק and חז''ל knew how to figure it out. Also in the גמרא it says גדרים to prevent you from being נכשל. So these גדרים are not דאוריתא but have been instituted as a קיום of the פסוק, "ושמרתם את משמרתי"- we must guard against being נכשל. Even though it’s not דאוריתא, we have a חיוב דאוריתא to listen to חכמים- "לא תסירומכל דבר אשר יגידו לך".
משנה was not the only חבור in the time of the תנאים- also they were מחבר the מכילתא and other מדרשים. But that was all up to the אמוראים. In the time of אמוראים, only ר' יוחנן and רבינא ורב אשי were מחבר the גמרא because they were the last who had the כח of מסורה.
At this point, all ב''י were close enough to be under the same הלכות- they were in א''י and בבל. But then came the סבוראים- a short תקופה during which בבל’s ישיבות closed and was much מלחמה and traveling routes were closed off. People ran away. There was a lot of chaos so therefore had no real חבור. Then came the גאונים and suddenly ב''י were spread all over so there was a massive change in how הלכה was transmitted. Life was no longer centered around תורה. There were צרות and מלחמות and ב'י lived far away so you didn’t have many ב''י learning together in ישיבות. So the general public didn’t know the הלכה because so few people learnt and understood the חכמים and they were the ones who transmitted the הלכות. The פסק הלכה didn’t spread, so the גדולים would make תקנות just for their area, so not everyone had the same מנהגים anymore.
The פסקי הלכה after חתימת התלמוד was so different. There was no longer a grand סנהדרין who everyone listened to, therefore the מנהג from area couldn’t be enforced in another area. Additionally, we do not necessarily go along with the earlier פסק as apposed to the later פסק as they did before חתימת התלמוד because the earlier is no longer any closer to סיני. Anything up to חתימת התלמוד you must listen to but the פסקי הלכה that came after may not be for us to follow because we hold otherwise.
ר' גרשם was the leader of the whole אשכנז but not ספרד. He was the מאור הגולה but his פסקים didn’t reach ספרד. He realized that there were some practices that led to problems so he used the כח of חירם- excommunication to stop them. He instituted חירם on:
1. השגת גבול- going into someone else’s property or encroaching on his rights.
2. Reading other people’s mail.
3. A man can only marry one wife- ע''פ דין, you can marry as many wives as you want. ר' טרפון lived in a time of drought, so he married three hundred wives so that they could all get food- he was a כהן and got תרומות. This was something very new and difficult for
people to get used to. This doesn’t apply to ספרדים though.
After the סבוראים came the גאונים. Now, people started to get very distant. They tried to be מגלה the תעלומות because:
1. The גמרא is very deep.
2. It’s not written in a spoken language- was written in ארמית. This dialect was no longer spoken anywhere, so it was difficult for people to understand.
Their דרך הלמוד was ספרים of שאלות and תשובות. They wrote חבורים of איסור והיטר so that if you can’t learn גמרא, you will still know what to do. But by now, our צרות have overtaken us and we don’t know how to learn so very few people can understand the works that the גאונים simplified for us, and of course the גמרא and previous works are even more difficult.
So the רמב''ם wrote a ספר that is short and concise and gives the final פסק with no discussion so as to simplify the הלכה. The רמב''ם was so clear when he wrote his ספר, but we are holding 800-900 years later so for us it’s often hard and difficult to understand. He created this ספר so that they’ll need nothing else besides for this ספר and the תורה- that’s why it’s called משנה תורה.
There are 613 מצוות in the תורה:
1. 248 עשה- correspondent to the רמ''ח אורים.
2. 365 לא תעשה- correspondent to the מנין ימות החמה.
After all this which was documented in the רמב''ם’s ספר, there were more מחברים of ספרי הלכה and גדולי הפוסקים:
1. ראשונים-
a. ספרד-
i. ר' יצחק אלפסי (רי''ף)- he lived from 1013- 1103. He came from Fez, Morocco and ended up in ספרד. He wrote a פירוש on the גמרא. At his time, he was considered one of the sources of הלכה.
ii. ר' משה בן מימון (רמב''ם) - he lived from 1135- 1204 and he wrote משנה תורה.
iii. ר' שלמה בן אדרת (רשב''א)- he lived in the 1300s. He was also one of the גדולי פוסקי ספרד.
b. אשכנז-
i. רש''י ובעלי התוספות- wrote a באור on the גמרא so that you could understand the הלכות.
ii. רבינו אשר בן יחיאל (רא''ש)-he lived from 1250- 1327. He was the פוסק הדור in אשכנז and his פסקים are similar to רש''י and the תוספות because he got his שיטה from them.
iii. ר' יעקב בן אשר (טור/ בעל התורים)- he lived from 1280- 1340. He was the רא''ש’s son. He wrote a major חיבור in הלכה called the ארבע טורים- only has applicable הלכות. It is divided into four sections:
1. אורח חיים- deals with regular, day to day מצוות. They do no usually require פסקי הלכה because you don’t usually have to be דן the situation.
2. יורה דעה- הלכות כשרות, רבית, נדרים.
3. חושן משפט- monetary הלכות- דיני ממון, נזק.
4. אבן העזר- הלכות of marriage- .כתובות, גיטין, קדושין
2. אחרונים- started in the 1500s, around the time of גירוש ספרד. The famous פוסקים were:
a. ר' יוסף קארו (המחבר)- he left Spain, then went to Turkey and then א''י- during the תקופה of מקלבים. He was מחבר a lengthy פירוש on the ארבע טורים- called the בית יוסף. It was hard to find the הלכה למעשה though, because he went through all the discussions. He also wrote a more concise חיבור- the שלחן ערוך, which is basically הלכה למעשה. It follows חכמי ספרד and sometimes differs with אשכנז.
b. ר' משה איסרליס (רמ''א)- he wrote what אשכנז needed to know. He lived in Krakow at the same time as the בית יוסף. He wrote a lengthy פירוש similar to the בית יוסף’s with the דרך of אשכנז- it’s called דרכי משה. The concise shortened חיבור of הלכה למעשה is called הגה- מפה.
There was a lot more written on the שלחן ערוך. Then, in the 1900s, the ח''ח wrote the משנה ברורה, which is based on the שלחן ערוך and the רמ''א. The קצור שלחן ערוך is a daily guide to regular הלכות- it’s not a shortened version of the שלחן ערוך. The קצור שלחן ערוך doesn’t פסקין הלכות- it goes through the order of the day and months. It was written by ר' שלמה גאנצפריד.
Where do מנהגים come in? It says in the פסוק, "ואל תטש תורת אמך". חז''ל learn out from these words that one shouldn’t forsake מנהגים. מנהגים are really serious and very binding. One may even need הטרת נדרים to change a מנהג. For example, if someone doesn’t hold by eating gebrokst on פסח, it’s אסור for him to eat it. When one gets married, she assumes the מנהגים of her husband.
"לא תתגדדו"- when a גוי grieves, he cuts and maims himself. We have an איסור not to do this. But not just in a physical sense- one shouldn’t break himself up- make מחלוקת, even if you feel that it’s לש''ש.
Story- ר' נחום waited to light חנוכה candles until his wife came home because he said that שלום בית overrides lighting candles at the best time.
Story- there was an אבל davening for the עמוד during ספירה. He had forgotten to count ספירה, but ר' משה said that he should still count with a ברכה. When questioned about his פסק , he said that the man would be embarrassed because everyone would know that he had forgotten to count ספירה. כבוד הבריאות coupled with the צד that you can count with a ברכה even if you forget was the reason he פסקיןed like this.
משנה was not the only חבור in the time of the תנאים- also they were מחבר the מכילתא and other מדרשים. But that was all up to the אמוראים. In the time of אמוראים, only ר' יוחנן and רבינא ורב אשי were מחבר the גמרא because they were the last who had the כח of מסורה.
At this point, all ב''י were close enough to be under the same הלכות- they were in א''י and בבל. But then came the סבוראים- a short תקופה during which בבל’s ישיבות closed and was much מלחמה and traveling routes were closed off. People ran away. There was a lot of chaos so therefore had no real חבור. Then came the גאונים and suddenly ב''י were spread all over so there was a massive change in how הלכה was transmitted. Life was no longer centered around תורה. There were צרות and מלחמות and ב'י lived far away so you didn’t have many ב''י learning together in ישיבות. So the general public didn’t know the הלכה because so few people learnt and understood the חכמים and they were the ones who transmitted the הלכות. The פסק הלכה didn’t spread, so the גדולים would make תקנות just for their area, so not everyone had the same מנהגים anymore.
The פסקי הלכה after חתימת התלמוד was so different. There was no longer a grand סנהדרין who everyone listened to, therefore the מנהג from area couldn’t be enforced in another area. Additionally, we do not necessarily go along with the earlier פסק as apposed to the later פסק as they did before חתימת התלמוד because the earlier is no longer any closer to סיני. Anything up to חתימת התלמוד you must listen to but the פסקי הלכה that came after may not be for us to follow because we hold otherwise.
ר' גרשם was the leader of the whole אשכנז but not ספרד. He was the מאור הגולה but his פסקים didn’t reach ספרד. He realized that there were some practices that led to problems so he used the כח of חירם- excommunication to stop them. He instituted חירם on:
1. השגת גבול- going into someone else’s property or encroaching on his rights.
2. Reading other people’s mail.
3. A man can only marry one wife- ע''פ דין, you can marry as many wives as you want. ר' טרפון lived in a time of drought, so he married three hundred wives so that they could all get food- he was a כהן and got תרומות. This was something very new and difficult for
people to get used to. This doesn’t apply to ספרדים though.
After the סבוראים came the גאונים. Now, people started to get very distant. They tried to be מגלה the תעלומות because:
1. The גמרא is very deep.
2. It’s not written in a spoken language- was written in ארמית. This dialect was no longer spoken anywhere, so it was difficult for people to understand.
Their דרך הלמוד was ספרים of שאלות and תשובות. They wrote חבורים of איסור והיטר so that if you can’t learn גמרא, you will still know what to do. But by now, our צרות have overtaken us and we don’t know how to learn so very few people can understand the works that the גאונים simplified for us, and of course the גמרא and previous works are even more difficult.
So the רמב''ם wrote a ספר that is short and concise and gives the final פסק with no discussion so as to simplify the הלכה. The רמב''ם was so clear when he wrote his ספר, but we are holding 800-900 years later so for us it’s often hard and difficult to understand. He created this ספר so that they’ll need nothing else besides for this ספר and the תורה- that’s why it’s called משנה תורה.
There are 613 מצוות in the תורה:
1. 248 עשה- correspondent to the רמ''ח אורים.
2. 365 לא תעשה- correspondent to the מנין ימות החמה.
After all this which was documented in the רמב''ם’s ספר, there were more מחברים of ספרי הלכה and גדולי הפוסקים:
1. ראשונים-
a. ספרד-
i. ר' יצחק אלפסי (רי''ף)- he lived from 1013- 1103. He came from Fez, Morocco and ended up in ספרד. He wrote a פירוש on the גמרא. At his time, he was considered one of the sources of הלכה.
ii. ר' משה בן מימון (רמב''ם) - he lived from 1135- 1204 and he wrote משנה תורה.
iii. ר' שלמה בן אדרת (רשב''א)- he lived in the 1300s. He was also one of the גדולי פוסקי ספרד.
b. אשכנז-
i. רש''י ובעלי התוספות- wrote a באור on the גמרא so that you could understand the הלכות.
ii. רבינו אשר בן יחיאל (רא''ש)-he lived from 1250- 1327. He was the פוסק הדור in אשכנז and his פסקים are similar to רש''י and the תוספות because he got his שיטה from them.
iii. ר' יעקב בן אשר (טור/ בעל התורים)- he lived from 1280- 1340. He was the רא''ש’s son. He wrote a major חיבור in הלכה called the ארבע טורים- only has applicable הלכות. It is divided into four sections:
1. אורח חיים- deals with regular, day to day מצוות. They do no usually require פסקי הלכה because you don’t usually have to be דן the situation.
2. יורה דעה- הלכות כשרות, רבית, נדרים.
3. חושן משפט- monetary הלכות- דיני ממון, נזק.
4. אבן העזר- הלכות of marriage- .כתובות, גיטין, קדושין
2. אחרונים- started in the 1500s, around the time of גירוש ספרד. The famous פוסקים were:
a. ר' יוסף קארו (המחבר)- he left Spain, then went to Turkey and then א''י- during the תקופה of מקלבים. He was מחבר a lengthy פירוש on the ארבע טורים- called the בית יוסף. It was hard to find the הלכה למעשה though, because he went through all the discussions. He also wrote a more concise חיבור- the שלחן ערוך, which is basically הלכה למעשה. It follows חכמי ספרד and sometimes differs with אשכנז.
b. ר' משה איסרליס (רמ''א)- he wrote what אשכנז needed to know. He lived in Krakow at the same time as the בית יוסף. He wrote a lengthy פירוש similar to the בית יוסף’s with the דרך of אשכנז- it’s called דרכי משה. The concise shortened חיבור of הלכה למעשה is called הגה- מפה.
There was a lot more written on the שלחן ערוך. Then, in the 1900s, the ח''ח wrote the משנה ברורה, which is based on the שלחן ערוך and the רמ''א. The קצור שלחן ערוך is a daily guide to regular הלכות- it’s not a shortened version of the שלחן ערוך. The קצור שלחן ערוך doesn’t פסקין הלכות- it goes through the order of the day and months. It was written by ר' שלמה גאנצפריד.
Where do מנהגים come in? It says in the פסוק, "ואל תטש תורת אמך". חז''ל learn out from these words that one shouldn’t forsake מנהגים. מנהגים are really serious and very binding. One may even need הטרת נדרים to change a מנהג. For example, if someone doesn’t hold by eating gebrokst on פסח, it’s אסור for him to eat it. When one gets married, she assumes the מנהגים of her husband.
"לא תתגדדו"- when a גוי grieves, he cuts and maims himself. We have an איסור not to do this. But not just in a physical sense- one shouldn’t break himself up- make מחלוקת, even if you feel that it’s לש''ש.
Story- ר' נחום waited to light חנוכה candles until his wife came home because he said that שלום בית overrides lighting candles at the best time.
Story- there was an אבל davening for the עמוד during ספירה. He had forgotten to count ספירה, but ר' משה said that he should still count with a ברכה. When questioned about his פסק , he said that the man would be embarrassed because everyone would know that he had forgotten to count ספירה. כבוד הבריאות coupled with the צד that you can count with a ברכה even if you forget was the reason he פסקיןed like this.
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