WEEKLY DAFootnotes #26
Bava Metzia 58-64; Issue #26
6-12 Shevat 5762 / 19-25 Jan. 2002
HONOR THY WIFE
When Avram (before Hashem changed his name to Avraham) came to Egypt to escape the famine in Eretz Canaan, his wife Sarah whom he presented as his sister in order to avoid his being slain as an obstructive husband by the lustful Egyptians was taken to Pharaoh's palace. Avram was generously rewarded because of her, says the Torah (Bereishet 12:16), and he came into possession of many animals and servants.
The Torah does not identify who Avram's benefactor was. Rashi, in his commentary on Torah, draws from the context of the passage that it was Pharaoh who showered these gifts upon whom he assumed to be the older brother of the beautiful woman he hoped to make his own. Rabbi Chelbo, in our gemara, saw in the Torah's deletion of the identity of the benefactor an indication that it was actually the One who has the power to bless His creations with prosperity. It may be suggested that the two interpretations are complementary - Hashem put it into Pharaoh's mind to enrich Avram.
An important lesson is taught by Rabbi Chelbo on the basis of his interpretation. While giving of gifts "because of her" is easily understood as the ruler's way of finding favor with Sarah's "brother," if we view Hashem as the true benefactor it must mean that He blessed Avram "in the merit of his wife." This led Rabbi Chelbo to counsel us to be extremely careful in honoring our wives because a man's home is blessed only in the merit of his wife. The Sage Rava applied this lesson by counseling his townspeople of Mechuza to honor their wives in order to achieve prosperity.
Bava Metzia 59a
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
One of the most common mistakes made is in regard to the Eighth Commandment of "Thou shalt not steal."
The common misconception that this refers to stealing money is dismissed by the gemara (Sanhedrin 86a) on the basis of one of Rabbi Yishmael's thirteen rules for Torah interpretation which is part of our shacharit (morning) service. The true nature of a vague point, he states in his twelfth principle, can be determined by seeing the context in which it appears. In the same Torah passage (Shmot 20:13) with the ban on stealing are the sixth and seventh commandments prohibiting murder and adultery. Since these are both capital sins punishable by death we must conclude that the stealing mentioned here refers to the kidnapping (and forced labor or sale into slavery resulting from such kidnapping) for which there is also a death penalty (Devarim 24:7).
Our own gemara, which is discussing the theft of money rather than kidnapping, cites the passage (Vayikra 19:11) which the aforementioned gemara in Sanhedrin determines as meaning theft of money on the basis of the very same principle of seeing it in its context which is all about financial wrongdoing. On the very next line the gemara cites a beraita which also quotes this passage. The trouble is, however, that an error has crept into the printing of most Talmud editions and instead of repeating the "lo tignovu" (plural) found in Vayikra the "lo tignov" of the Ten Commandments was printed. The Gaon of Vilna, in his footnotes, makes the necessary correction. But the "Torah Ore" footnote which directs us to the passage containing "lo tignov" seems to have ignored this point and has perpetuated the popular misconception regarding the Eighth Commandment.
Bava Metzia 61b
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