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Week 41 - Friday - 8 September 2000

ROSH HASHANAH: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 8

"And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed…" (Ex. 17:11). But could the hands of Moses make war or lose a war? It is rather to teach you, As long as Israel was looking upwards and subjecting their hearts to their Father in Heaven - they prevailed, and if not - they fell. Likewise, you may say, "Make for you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live" (Num. 21:8). But could the serpent cause to die, or could the serpent cause to live? Rather when Israel looked upwards and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven - they were healed, and if not - they perished. A deaf-mute, an imbecile, and a minor cannot fulfill an obligation on behalf of the many. This is the general rule: whoever is not liable to an obligation, cannot fulfill that obligation on behalf of the many.

Kehati

Incidental to the preceding mishnah, an aggadic midrash is cited here, to teach that everything depends upon the intention.

"And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed…" - this verse is stated in the Biblical narrative of Amalek's war with Israel, in the Torah section of Beshalah, in which the following is related: "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua: 'Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek…' So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed." The mishnah asks:

But could the hands of Moses make war or lose a war - can it be that the hands of Moses wage war with Amalek or break Israel's strength in the fighting? It is rather to teach you - the passage teaches you, As long as Israel was looking upwards and subjecting their heart to their Father in Heaven - they prevailed, and if not - they fell - Tosefot Yom Tov writes: "It is possible, in my opinion, that the raising of Moses' hands signified that Israel should look upwards and subject their hearts to Heaven." The Mekhilta cites another version: "But could the hands of Moses give strength to Israel or could his hands smash Amalek? Rather, as long as he raised his hands upwards, Israel looked at him, and believed in the One who ordered Moses to do so, and the Holy One, blessed be He, would perform miracles and wonders for them."

Likewise, you may say, "Make for you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that whosoever is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live" - before this it is written: "And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this miserable bread.' And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses: 'Make for you a fiery serpent….'" Here also the mishnah asks the question:

But could a serpent cause to die, or could the serpent cause to live? Rather when Israel looked upwards and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven - they were healed, and if not - they perished - we learn from this that everything depends upon the intention. Resuming the discussion of fulfilling the obligation of blowing the shofar on behalf of others, the mishnah teaches that a person can do so only if he himself is liable to that obligation: A deaf-mute, and imbecile - who acts in a foolish manner, loses things given to him, or tears his garments, etc. (Hag. 3;2), and a minor - who is less than thirteen years and one day old (Hameiri); all these are not liable to the commandment of the shofar, and therefore they cannot fulfill an obligation on behalf of the many - According to one opinion, a person who is deaf but can speak may also not fulfill this obligation on behalf of others, for the essence of the commandment is "to hear the sound of the shofar", and since he does not hear, he is exempt.

This is the general rule: whoever is not liable to an obligation, cannot fulfill that obligation on behalf of the many - i.e., whoever is not liable to the congregation, such as a deaf-mute, an imbecile, or a minor; however, a person who is liable but has already fulfilled his obligation, may do so on behalf of others, for even after fulfilling his personal obligation, he is still responsible for his fellow, who has not yet done so. However, this applies only to obligatory blessings, i.e., the blessings for the performance of a commandment, as for instance the blowing of the shofar, in which case even the person who has already fulfilled his obligation may recite the blessing for his fellow and blow, and his fellow hears. Regarding, however, the blessings for enjoyment (birkhot ha-nehenin) (excluding the blessings connected with commandments, such as the blessing over wine recited during kiddush, etc.), a person may not recite the blessing on behalf of his fellow, for the blessing for enjoyment is not an intrinsic obligation, since a person is not obligated to eat and drink, rather whoever wishes to enjoy something is obligated to recite the blessing, for it is prohibited to enjoy material things without a blessing, and it is proper that the person who enjoys the pleasure should recite the blessing. Regarding these blessings, therefore, the person who recites them on his own behalf may include others, but the person who has already done so for himself may not recite the blessing on behalf of others (Hameiri; see also Tiferet Yisrael).

ROSH HASHANAH: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 1

When the holy day of Rosh Hashanah fell on a Shabbat, in the Temple they would blow, but not in the medinah. After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai enacted that they would blow in every place in which there is a Court. Rabbi Eliezer said, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai enacted only for Yavneh. They said to him, It is the same whether Yavneh, or any other place in which there was a Court.

Kehati

When the holy day of Rosh Hashanah fell on a Shabbat, in the Temple they would blow, but not in the medinah - according to Rashi, "not in the medinah" means, neither in Jerusalem nor anywhere in Eretz Yisrael outside Jerusalem. According to Rambam, however, all of Jerusalem is called "the Temple," and this mishnah teaches that if the holy day of Rosh Hashanah fell on a Shabbat, they would blow in all Jerusalem, but not in the other cities of Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara explains the reason: the blowing of the shofar is not melakhah, (forbidden activity) and by Torah law it is permitted to blow on the Shabbat; the Sages, however, prohibited it, because since everyone is liable to this precept, but not everyone is expert in it, they enacted a prohibition lest a person take the shofar to an expert to learn, and would carry it a distance of four amot in the public domain. Therefore they would blow in the Temple, because Rabbinic prohibitions do not apply in the Temple. According to Rambam, they blew in all of Jerusalem as well, because since the Great Court was in Jerusalem, the prohibition did not apply in the city, because the Court would warn the people that it was prohibited to move the shofar in the public domain (Hil. shofar 2:9). However, according to one opinion in the Gemara, the prohibition against blowing the shofar on Shabbat is derived from the Torah, for in one passage the Torah states, "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of the blast of horns [zikhron teru'ah]" (Lev. 23:24), and in another passage it is written, "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month…it is a day of blowing the horn [yom teru'ah]" (Num. 29:1). Is it zikharon or yom teruah? When the holiday falls on Shabbat, there is only zikharon - the memorial (a remembrance) of the blowing, but when the holiday falls on a weekday, it is a yom (day) of blowing. The Jerusalem Talmud also gives this explanation. But in the discussion of this topic in the Babylonian Talmud, this reason is rejected, for if blowing the shofar is forbidden by Torah law, how could they blow it in the Temple? Furthermore, the blowing of the shofar is not a melakhah, as it was taught in a baraita: " 'You shall do no manner of servile work [melekhet avodah]' (Num. 29:1) - this excludes the blowing of the shofar and taking bread out of the oven which is an art but not melakhah." Thus the Gemara concludes that he reason is as explained above. The Jerusalem Talmud, however, explains that since the exact day of the New Moon - and, therefore of Rosh Hashanah - was known in the Temple, the Sages ruled that where the Festival sacrifices were offered up there would be a day of blowing - yom teru'ah on the Shabbat as well (see Jer. Talmud, R. H. 4:1; Vayikra Rabba. 29:10).

After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai enacted that they would blow - on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah that fell on Shabbat, in every place in which there was a Court - a Sanhedrin of twenty-three members (see Rashi in the Gemara); and even if the Court's permanent seat is not in that city and it only happened to sit there, they blow the shofar. According to one opinion, this applies even where there is a Court of three qualified judges (R. Yitzhak Alfasi; Rabbeinu Nissim). Rambam, as already mentioned, explains the reason, "Because the Court is zealous, and the people will not carry the shofar before the Court in the public domain, for the Court would warn the people" (Hil. shofar 2:9).

Rabbi Eliezer said, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai enacted only for Yavneh - which was the seat of the Great Court in his time, after the destruction of the Temple. This applied to any place to which the Great Sanhedrin was exiled, but not to any other Court. They said to him, It is the same whether Yavneh, or any other place in which there was a Court - there is no difference between Yavneh and any place in which there is a permanent Court similar to that of Yavneh, i.e., with twenty-three members (Rabbeinu Nissim). According to other commentaries, the shofar is blown on Shabbat also where there is a Court of expert and permanent members (R. Yitzhak Alfasi), but not in a place where a Court happened to be sitting. And even where there is a permanent Court, they blow only in Court, but not outside of it (Gemara; Rambam, ibid.).

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