Weekly DAFootnotes Bava Metzia 100-106 Issue #32 18-24 Adar 5762 / 2-8 March 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 ===================================== OF MAN AND MIRACLES When David attempted to convince King Saul that he was capable of overcoming the Philistine giant Goliath who was taunting Israel and blaspheming against Hashem, he related an incident that had occurred while he was tending his father's sheep. A lion and a bear pounced upon the herd and carried away a lamb. David pursued them and seized the lamb from the teeth of the lion. When this huge beast turned on him, David grabbed it by its beard and killed it along with the bear although he had no weapon in hand (Shmuel I 17:34-36). Although on the surface it seems that David related this incident to demonstrate that he possessed the physical prowess needed for conquering the Philistine giant it is apparent from our gemara that it was a Heavenly miracle that enabled David to win that battle against fierce animals. If a hired shepherd leaves his flock in the field and enters the city, and that flock is subsequently attacked in his absence by a lion or a wolf, we do not categorically hold him responsible for the damage caused on the assumption that had he been together with his flock he could have warded off the attack. The beraita tells us that we must rather make an evaluation of the circumstances in order to determine whether the shepherd would indeed have had the ability to defend his flock. Why, asks Rabbi Sheishet, does the owner of the sheep not have the right to claim compensation in all circumstances from the shepherd on the grounds that he was indeed negligent since had he been present at the time of the attack he might have been successful against any odds in the same way that David was able to overcome both the lion and the bear? The response to this challenge given by the gemara is that the shepherd can counter with the argument that had the owner been worthy of a miracle it should have happened even without anyone being present. An example of such a miracle which the shepherd can cite is the one which occurred to Rabbi Chanina ben Dossa. When this exceptional tzaddik was falsely accused of maintaining goats who were causing damage to local fields he declared: "If they are causing damage then let bears consume them. But if they are not causing damage then let each goat come home tonight with a bear impaled on its horns." That evening each goat indeed came home carrying a bear on its horns. Rashi, in his commentary on Shmuel, cites a Midrash that explains the miracle which happened to David with the lion and bear as a Heavenly sign to him that he would someday miraculously overcome another powerful threat for the sake of his people. Bava Metzia 106a THE FAITHFUL REMNANT OF ISRAEL "The remnant of Israel will not do any injustice, nor shall they speak falsely, nor shall there be found in their mouths a language of deception." (Tzefaniah 3:13) This prophecy about the time when Hashem will remove the haughty and deceitful sinners from amongst His people and leave behind only the humble ones who will be perfect in their honesty is applied by our Sages in a number of places as a current characteristic of our people. In our own gemara it is applied by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel to the strict fulfillment of an agreement. If someone contracted to rent the use of a field in exchange for a share of its crops there is a difference of opinion as to whether he may make any change in the type of crops specified in the agreement. There is a consensus that if the agreement was for planting barley he cannot plant wheat instead because it depletes the land much more than barley. But if they agreed on wheat there is an opinion in our mishna that he has a right to switch to barley because the owner is actually benefiting from this change. Rabban Shimon, however, rules that he cannot do so because this constitutes a violation of his commitment, something which is not to be done by "the remnant of Israel." In Mesechta Kiddushin (45b) the Sage Abaye applies it to a question which arose in regard to the kiddushin (betrothal) of a minor which is valid only with her father's consent. The case in question was one in which the parents of a young girl debated over whether to marry her to someone in the father's family or someone in the mother's family. When the father finally gave in to his wife a celebration was held preceding the actual kiddushin. While the guests were eating and drinking the disappointed suitor from the father's family came to the girl upstairs and made kiddushin. When the question arose as to whether we must be concerned that the father, who had initially wanted his daughter for that relative, may have consented to his kiddushin and granted it validity, Abaye cited the above passage as proof that once the father had given his word that his daughter would only be married to his wife's relative there is no need to suspect that he reneged. A third application is in Mesechta Pesachim (91a) in regard to how much we can rely on the promise given by authorities to release a prisoner from jail. If a Jew is in the prison of non-Jews and has been promised a release just in time for Pesach eve, we can include him in the group for which we are slaughtering the lamb as a korban Pesach since he will be able to join in eating its meat. But such a sacrifice cannot be offered for him alone since there is the possibility that the promise of his release will not be kept and the sacrificial meat may go to waste. If he is in a Jewish prison, however, Rabbi Yochanan states that we can slaughter the animal and offer it as a sacrifice for him alone if he was promised a release because "the remnant of Israel" will not go back on its word. (See Rashi for examples of imprisonment in Torah law which does not utilize imprisonment as part of its penal code.) Bava Metzia 106b ===================================== 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.