Weekly DAFootnotes Bava Metzia 79-85 Issue #29 27 Shevat - 3 Adar 5762 / 9-15 Feb 2002 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ===================================== NEW! Don't miss the new book by Rav Mendel Weinbach "The Weekly Daf" on Daf Yomi by Targum/Feldheim ===================================== BEYOND THE BEYOND The Torah imperative to go beyond the letter of the law in reaching compromises was discussed in an earlier issue (Bava Kama 10a). Our gemara cites the following passage in Mishlei (2:20) to develop an even higher standard of going "beyond the letter of the law": "That you shall walk in the ways of the good people and observe the course of the righteous." The application of this lofty standard is the guidance which the Sage Rav gave to his disciple Rabbah bar Bar Chanah. The latter had hired movers to transfer some barrels of wine from one place to another. As a result of their negligence the barrels fell and broke. Since he had suffered a significant loss because of them he confiscated some garments belonging to them as payment. When they came to plead before Rav he instructed his disciple to return the garments. Asked if this was a legal requirement on his part despite the fact that the movers were indebted to him for destroying his wine, Rav replied that this was expected of him as a fulfillment of "to walk in the ways of the good." But these movers were not content with this gesture of going beyond the letter of the law. After receiving their garments in return they once again pleaded with Rav that they had worked so hard all day moving the wine barrels and were now left with no wages to purchase food to still their hunger. When Rav instructed his disciple to pay them their undeserved wages he was once again asked if this was a legal requirement. This time Rav quoted the second half of the above passage urging one to "observe the course of the righteous." Since King Solomon had already urged going beyond the letter of the law in the first half of the passage, Rav concluded that the second half was a call to go even "beyond that beyond" in showing consideration for others. Bava Metzia 83a TURNING DROSS INTO GOLD How important it is for Torah scholars to reach out to those who did not have the opportunity to learn Torah finds expression in the gemara's description of the Heavenly reward for one who teaches Torah to the son of one who is ignorant of Torah and was therefore denied a Torah education. He will have such merit, says Rabbi Yehuda in the name of the Sage Rav, that even if Hashem issues a punitive decree He annuls it because of this teacher of Torah. The source cited for this is a passage in Yirmiyahu 15:19: "If you shall extract something precious from something cheap you shall be like My mouth." Transforming an unlearned person into a Torah scholar, says the prophet in the name of Hashem, will give the teacher's mouth the same power, as it were, as that of his creator and enables him to annul Heavenly decrees. An interesting twist in interpreting this passage is presented by one of the great commentaries, Rabbi Yashayahu Pento (RYAP). He raises a problem in regard to this special reward which seems to be limited to the tzaddik (righteous person) who turns an ignorant student into a Torah scholar. Elsewhere (Mo'ed Katan 16b) our Sages teach us that every tzaddik has the power of annulling an adverse decree of Hashem. What then, he asks, is the unique reward of this particular tzaddik? His solution to this problem is based on a careful analysis of the subtle difference in the text of the two seemingly contradictory statements. In the case of every tzaddik we read that he has the power to annul the Heavenly decree, while in regard to the Torah-teaching tzaddik it is stated that Hashem annuls the decree because of his merit. This, then, is the crucial difference between the two. Every tzaddik has the power to have a Heavenly decree annulled by imploring Hashem to do so. The Torah-teaching tzaddik need not even open his mouth to make such a request. The meaning of the word "ke'fee" in the above-cited passage is therefore to be interpreted as "like the mouth of the tzaddik" and not like the mouth of the Creator. Turning dross into gold by teaching Torah to someone who did not have a Torah background bestows upon one such merit that he achieves, without requesting it, the same powerful effect of decree annulment as does the request coming from the mouth of any tzaddik. Bava Metzia 85a ===================================== If you like this e-mail please share it with a friend. ===================================== To subscribe to this list please e-mail DafYomi-subscribe@ohr.edu To unsubscribe e-mail DafYomi-unsubscribe@ohr.edu Weekly DAFootnotes is now available as part of the Ohr Somayach Interactive AvantGo channel! See www.ohr.edu for details. ===================================== (C) 2002 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.