Achilah Gassah - The Halakhot of Eating

Achilah Gassah which can be translated as, "disgusting eating," is a halakhik concept that is defined by the legal parameters of eating. There is a question if Achilah Gassah saitisfies the halakhik requirements of eating. Now I hope that at least one of my loyal reasers is saying, "What in the world is a halakhik requirement of eating? It's really not that complicated - either I am eating or I am not!" Then I would have the opportunity to respond and say, "Wow that is a great question. But you should know by now that nothing is simple in the wide world of halakhah."

One of the interesting qualities of the halakhik system is that even simple actions like eating and drinking require precise legal definitions. Many of you may be familiar with the annual challenge to consume an olive's amount of matzah so fast that you might actually travel backwards in time. The reason for the need to quickly eat an unusually large amount of matzah is that people are trying to fulfill the legal requirements of eating. Most people would agree that eating a crumb of matzah would not accomplish the mitzvah of eating matzah. Thus it is reasonable to asy that there should be a minimum amount of matzah that you must eat at the seder. The only question in how much do you need to eat?

Chazal tell us that there is a halakhah l'Moshe m'Sinain (a very old halakhah) that in general, the minimum volume for eating is the volume of an olive. (כזית) I can hear your hearty laugh reverberating through cyberspace, "That is such a small amount of matzah, I have nothing to worry about on Seder night." Alas my poor friend, as I mentioned earlier - nothing is simple in the world of halakhah. The truth is that you must eat an olive's worth of lfour, which could be anywhere from a half a machine made matzah, to an entire box. Check with your LKR (Local Kabbalistic Rabbi) for specific guidelines. 

All of this brings us back to the topic of Achilah Gassah. The Gemara tells us that you cannot fulfill a mitzvah of eating with Achilah Gassah. So make sure that you are still a alittle hungry for the afikomen at the end of the seder. You don't want to finish your night of matzot and mitzvot with an act of Achilah Gassah.

CAT (Commonly Ambiguous Terms) - Mishneh Torah (Part II)

Another part of the gadlut of the Mishneh Torah (go read Part I if you are confused) is the literary structure. That is to say, appreciating how Rambam ordered the topics of the halakhot. In general, we give the Mishneh Torah the same textual status as the Mishnayot - there is not one word that is accidentally out of place. Not only does this status apply to the individual halakhot, but it also applies to the overall structure of the Mishneh Torah as a whole. Rambam thoughtfully and purposefully organized the 613 mitzvot into 14 books of the Mishneh Torah.

When I posted about Shas, I explained that Chazal organized the 613 mitzvot into 6 Sedarim (sections). Clearly Rambam made a significant break from Chazal’s organizational system when he wrote the Mishneh Torah. A brief analysis of how Rambam and Chazal organized the halakhot should be informative and hopefully entertaining (in a nerdy way).

Being a former teacher I am addicted to charts, and I made a special one for all of you. This chart has three columns:

• Column 1 lists the name of each book of the Mishneh Torah
  
• Column 2 lists the main topics of each book of the Mishneh Torah
  
• Column 3 lists where the main topics can be found in Shas
  

In the following weeks to come I will dedicate one post to each of the books of the Mishneh Torah. That post will analyze some of the organizational differences between Rambam and Chazal. I hope that these posts will discuss not only a philosophy of halakhah, but also a methodology for learning philosophy of halakhah.

Book of Mishneh Torah	Topics of Book of Mishneh Torah	Where the Topics are Found in Shas
מדע	Pre-requisite to halakhah: Knowing HaShem, Talmud Torah, Avodah Zarah, Teshuvah	Massechtot Kiddushin,  Avodah Zarah, and Yoma
אהבה	Shemah, Tefillah, Berachot, Tefillin	Massechtot Berachot, Menachot
זמנים	Shabbat, Chagim	Seder Moed
נשים	Marriage, Divorce	Seder Nashim (except Nedarim and Nazir)
קדושה	Forbidden Relationships, Niddah, Kashrut	Massechtot Yevamot, Kidushin, Niddah and Chullin
הפלאה	Shavuot and Nedarim	Massechtot Shavuot, Nedarim, Nazir and Arachin
זרעים	Laws of Agriculture	Seder Zeraim (except Berachot)
עבודה	Laws of the Beit HaMikdash and Communal Korbanot	Massechtot Zevachim, Menachot, Middot, Tamid, and Meilah
קרבנות	Laws of Individual Korbanot	Massechtot Pesachim, Chagigah, Bechorot, Temurah, Kritot and Horiyot
טהרה	Laws of Tumah and Taharah	Seder Taharot (except Niddah)
נזיקין	Laws of Damages and Murder	Massechtot Bava Kama, Sanhedrin and Makkot
קניין	Laws of Ownership and Slavery	Massechtot Bava Metziah and Kiddushin
משפטים	Laws of Renting, Borrowing Objects and Money, Inheritance	Massechtot Bava Metziah, Bava Batra and Shevuot
שופטים	Laws of Sanhedrin, Testimony, Mourning and Kings	Massechtot Sanhedrin, Horiyot, Shavuot, and Moed Katan

CAT (Commonly Ambiguous Terms) - Mishneh Torah (Part I)

I am currently reading, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, and it is a wonderful book. However, when he discusses Albert Einstein (Chapter 8) and his General Theory of Relativity (of E=MC² fame) - he quotes C.P. Snow. Mr. Snow made the following observation about Einstein’s theory: 

‘Without it (the General Theory of Relativity),’ wrote Snow in 1979, ‘it is likely that we should still be waiting for the theory today.’

In other words: if Einstein had not discovered this theory, no one else would have.

I have no idea how anyone can make this type of statement. There are plenty of examples of similar ideas and theories having been discovered by different people all the time. It is a little like the Top 100 People in the History of the World - how do you actually decide who is number 5 and who is number 50? I honestly find these types lists and exaggerated statements to be a source of significant irritation.

Nevertheless, I am going to be a hypocrite and go against everything I just said! Rambam’s Mishneh Torah is one of the greatest works of Rabbinic literature from the period of the Rishonim. And I am pretty sure that this is not an exaggeration.

The Mishneh Torah is a law code, which attempts to posken every halakhah from the Gemara. It is a milestone in the history of the development of psak halakhah because it is the first law code since the Gemara that attempted to claim to be a book of authoritative psak halakhah for all of the Jewish people. (The earliest law code is the בעל הלכות גדולות (BeHaG), but it was not meant to be as authoritative over all the Jewish people.)

However, the reason that I am awed by the gadlut of the Mishneh Torah is because of its modern literary flexibility. In simpler words, it is amazing how the Mishneh Torah becomes a subject for almost all of the types of Torah learning.

o        Halakhah - A bit obvious, I guess.

o        Gemara - Thanks to R. Chaim and the Briskers, Rambam is just as much a part of learning Gemara as Rashi and Tosafot. (maybe more, gasp!)

o        Machshava - Certainly Sefer Madda was actually written as much a work of Machshava as Halakhah. There are also many other pieces throughout the Mishneh Torah which have become cornerstones of Machshava.

o        Parshanut - This is a little bit of a stretch, but even the Ramban will quote the Mishneh Torah from time to time.

Alas, I was recently convinced that the Rambam is not a kabbalist and thus the Mishneh Torah has nothing to add to Kabbalah. (I have not even looked at the cover of Menachem Kellner’s book on this subject. Also, you do not have to go much farther than the first chapter of the Tanya to see that he quotes Rambam. So maybe some of you out there in the blogosphere will disagree with me.)

As you can see from the title of this post - there is still more to come concerning Rambam. Stay tuned!

Photo Credits - travel.webshots.com

CAT (Commonly Ambiguous Term) Tu B’shvat

Today is Tu B’shvat (the Hebrew calendar date: 15th of Shvat=ט''ו בשבט) and everyone knows that it is the Jewish tree hugging holiday. And some of you may even know that it is really the Rosh HaShanah for trees. But why does a tree need a Rosh HaShanah? Should I go outside and blow shofar for the trees in my yard? A quick look at the original source  for Tu B’shvat should clear up a lot of confusion. (Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 1:1)

באחד בשבט ראש השנה לאילן כדברי בית שמאי בית הלל אומרים בחמשה עשר בו.

Beit Shammai says that the Rosh HaShanah for trees is on the first of Shvat. Beit Hillel says that it is on the 15th of Shvat.

We once again posken the halakhah of this machloket like Beit Hillel and celebrate the new year for trees on the 15th of Shvat. The Mefarshim of the Mishnah tell us what we are actually celebrating: the arcane subject of Terumat and Ma’asrot (agricultural tithes). The halakhah is that you can only tithe fruit that has grown in the same calendar year. Tu B’shvat marks the beginning of that calendar year. Thus, apples that grew in the month of Tishrei cannot be grouped together with apples that grew in the following month of Adar. Those apples are from separate years and must be tithed individually. All of you fellow Israelis, any fruit that has started budding today cannot be be tithed with any fruit you may have sitting around in your refrigerators. Please consult your LOR (Local Orthodox Rabbi) for any halakhah l'maaseh questions.

One last note - the halakhik term fruit applies to produce that grows on trees. (That is why we say tree hugging and not vine hugging.) Olives are halakhik fruit, but strawberries are not.

Happy Tu B’shvat.

CAT (Common Ambiguous Term) - SHAS

Shas is not just an Israeli political party, it is also an acronym for Shishah Sidrei Mishnah - all the six orders of the Mishnah. In the yeshivish vernacular shas generally refers to the entire Gemara (Talmud Bavli). Recently a couple of bar mitzvah boys in my neighborhood finished learning the entire Mishnah for their bar mitzvah and this learning was called, “Shas Mishnah.” (As an aside - it is quite an impressive accomplishment both for the parents and the child.)

The six orders of the Mishnah are:

·         Zeraim - Laws of Agriculture

·         Moed - Laws of Shabbat and the Chagim

·         Nashim - Laws of Marriage and Divorce

·         Nezikin - Laws of Damages and Civil Laws

·         Kodshim - Laws of Korbanot and the Beit HaMikdash

·         Taharot - Laws of Ritual Purity

The mnemonic to remember them is: זמן נקט (Zeman Nekat)

One of the reasons I wanted to explain this CAT, is that a lot of machshavah can be learned from how Chazal organized the halakhot and mitzvot in shas. (See Pri Taddik on Chanukkah for an example of this type of machshavah.)

I just started a new chavrutah and we are learning the Tzidkut HaTzaddik by R. Tzaddok HaKohen. R. Tzaddok opens with an analysis of why does shas begin with Massechet Berachot. Unfortunately, I cannot summarize his ideas now and I am forced to leave you in agonizing suspense. I promise not to abandon my faithful readers for long. (I believe I may actually have four readers! I am working hard not to get too big headed.) 

C.A.T. - PADRES (PARDES)

Pardes is a Hebrew word which is generally translated as garden, or orchard. However, Pardes is also an acronym which has a specific meaning in the area of Parshanut (exegesis). It refers to the idea that a pasuk can be explained on four different and distinct levels. Here is a general overview of these four levels of meaning:

·         Pshat - Literal Meaning

·         Remez - Hinted Mystical Meaning

·         Drash - Midrashic (Homiletical) Meaning

·         Sod - Secret (Mystical) Meaning

Kabbalists generally change the order Remez and Drash, and thus Pardes becomes Padres. (Not to be confused with a baseball team that is located in southern California.) The Parshanut moves from the most literal explanation of a pasuk, to a mystical secret (like tzimzum) which is almost completely divorced from the meaning of the pasuk. An oversimplification of the Padres model of parshanut is that a pasuk can be analyzed in four ways:

·         Pshat - What the pasuk actually says or means.

·         Drash - A moral lesson that can be learned from a single pasuk or a group of pesukim.

·         Remez - A mystical lesson that can be learned from the Gematria of a single word or a group of words.

·         Sod - A mystical concept that is based on one word, or even one letter.

As we continue to explore the concept of Padres in future posts, there will be a number of examples of the parshanut of Padres in action.

Photo Credit © Adrian van Leen for openphoto.net CC:PublicDomain

Who Were These Chazal People Anyway?

C.A.T. - Common Ambiguous Terms

It seems that I have a relentless affinity for acronyms and alliterations. Thus, I have created a new category in my blogs, C.A.T.’s. These are terms that can be commonly heard in a variety of Jewish settings, but alas they are not precisely defined. It is a little like meeting new people, and then forgetting their names. After a couple of weeks it seems to rude to admit that you forgot their names, but it also makes conversation awkward. (An extreme example of this was immortalized in Seinfeld - hamavin yavin)

Similarly, let’s say that during the course of your Jewish education you did not learn exactly the term Chazal means. Now as an adult it can be embarrassing to admit this fact, since everyone else seems to know what the term means. For example, someone might say, “I was just reading Chazal the other day, and it was really interesting.” As you will see in a moment, this type of sentence actually does not make sense.

Chazal Defined

Chazal is an acronym (hurray!) which stands for Chachameinu Zichronam L’Vrachah - Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory. More specifically it refers to the Rabbis who were active during the period of the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Rabbis of the Mishnaic period lived from roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE and are also referred to as the Tannaim. The Rabbis of the Talmudic (Gemara) period lived from roughly 200 CE to 600 CE and are also referred to as the Amoraim. Collectively, these are the authors of the Mishnah, Gemara, and Midrash; more precisely their statements were collected and redacted in different legal and homiletic works.

In short, the term Chazal refers to Rabbis or sages who lived between the years of 200 BCE and 600 CE. And that is the C.A.T. of the day.