The Weekly Daf #24 Bava Metzia 30-36 Week of 13 -19 Av 5754/21-27 July 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ========================================================================= Teacher Or Supporter -- Who Comes First? If you come across objects lost by o Your father and o Your Torah teacher and are able to only return one of them to its owner... ...your teacher must be given precedence. Your father brought you into this world but the man who teaches you Torah wisdom brings you to the World to Come. Bava Metzia 33a This is true only when the teacher receives no compensation. But if he is not prepared to teach for free and the father provides the salary then the father's lost object takes precedence. In similar fashion, if a benefactor or group of benefactors provide the salary which motivates the rabbi to teach, then the benefactor's object takes precedence to that of the teacher. Sefer Chassidim Par. 585, cited by Sifsei Cohen (66) on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 242:34 ========================================================================= Poverty Is A Poor Excuse Your own lost object takes precedence over all others... ...even that of your father or your teacher. The Torah source for this is the passage (Devarim 15:4) "But there shall be no poor among you" which indicates that a person should avoid poverty. Nevertheless, warned Rabbi Yehuda in the name of the Sage Rav, one who strictly adheres to this selfish avoidance of poverty will eventually suffer poverty. Although you are not obligated to give others precedence over yourself you should go beyond the letter of the law except in a case of substantial loss. Otherwise, consistent selfishness will detach you from charity and kindness and bring upon you the punishment of poverty. Bava Metzia 33a ========================================================================= SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: dafyomi - "The Weekly Daf," Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into and comments on the seven pages of Talmud studied this week. Always interesting and CONTROVERSIAL reading! ask - Ask the Rabbi Column. Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh, of Ohr Somayach Jerusalem, answers YOUR questions on Judaism. weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion, plus summaries of commentaries from various sources. Designed for ALL readers, from INTRODUCTORY to ADVANCED. parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion. Includes the answers so you can check yourself! os-special A list devoted to bringing to you all the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach Institutions. Sho'el U'meshiv Join our "virtual Beis Medrash" and R. Efraim Yawitz will try to find you an answer to your question on Gemara, Rishonim, or Acharonim on any level welcome. This is NOT a list, but an exclusive one-on-one service offered by Ohr Somayach. Set your subject to "SHOEL:" and send your mail to the "newman" account. There is NEVER a charge for any of the above lists (though your local information provider, such as Prodigy or CompuServe, might charge a nominal fee). To subscribe to any of these lists, send the message: subscribe {listname} {firstname} {lastname} to: listserv@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il This address is only for SUBSCRIPTIONS. If you have any comments, questions and suggestions, we'd love to hear them! Send them to: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il Remember, these are all INTERNET addresses. Compuserve users must preface the address with "INTERNET:" ========================================================================= Dedication opportunities are available for The Weekly Daf Please contact us for details. ========================================================================= Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= (C) 1994 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission.