Rosh HaShanah 15 a.

In Israel the land goes through a seven year cycle. The first year you give 2% of your crop to any priest, 10% to any Levi, and 9% you take to Jerusalem with your family to eat there after giving one basket to the Temple. Or you could redeem the fruit. Put its value in silver and when you have time take the silver to Jerusalem and there buy fruit and eat it there. Same goes for year 2. Year 3 everything is the same but the second tithe is given to a poor person. Years 4 and 5 are like year 1. year 6 is like year 3. Seventh year you rest.  Vegetables you count the year by when they are picked.
Fruit you consider to be part of the year it became ripe. Wheat you count by when it got to be a third of its growth. And Estrog is a kind of fruit that can stay on the tree for several years. So how do you count it? So it is not like a normal fruit that has one specific time it be be considered to be ripe. This ambiguity leads us to the argument between Raban Gamliel, Rabbi Eliezer and the sages in a city called Usha.

Incidentally none of the above has anything to do with לקט שכחה ופאה. [When harvesting, if you drop something you have to leave it for the poor. If you forgot something you have to leave it for the poor. And the corner of your field you have to leave for the poor.] "Poor" in this context has a legal definition. It does not mean anyone can take. They have to be in fact poor.]






Synopsis:
 I want to present a question on Tosphot. In essence Tosphot says Rabah could have answered Abyee and said he is going like Rabban Gamliel. I ask that that would simply put the question of Abyee back into the end of the statement of Rabah. At the end of this essay I answer my question.

(1) Just to  present the basic ideas here: Raban Gamliel says for an fruit called an Estrog  we go by the time it becomes ripe for ערלה רבעי ושביעית  [the first three years when all fruit is forbidden, and the seventh year] and by the time it is picked for מעשר Maasar [The tenth that is given to the Levi]. Rabbi Eliezer says we go by the time of ripening for everything. The Sages in Usha decided we go by the time of picking for everything. (For example let's say you  have an estrog that became ripe during the seventh year and you pick it on the eight year. Then to RG it would have the obligations of the seventh year but also be obligated in tithes. To RE it would only be obligated in tithes.]

(2) Rabah said an estrog of the sixth year going into the seventh is not obligated in ביעור nor in Maasar. An estrog of the seventh year going into the eight is obligated in ביעור but not maasar.

(3) Abyee asked, The last part of Rabah is OK because he is being strict but what about the first part? It is OK that he is obligated in ביעור because we go by ripening but what about the Maasar? If we go by ripening then why is he not obligated in Maasar?

(4) Rabbah answered: everyone is going into his field and you want him to be obligated in Maasar?

(5) Tosphot says Rabbah could have answered he is going Rabban Gamliel.

(6) My question is that would have thrown the question of Abyee back on the end of the statement of Rabah instead of the first part.

The End

That is all I have to say. But just to be a little more clear let me just ask you what is Abyee thinking? You have to be careful here because Abyee asks בשלמא הסיפא להחמיר "The end is OK because Rabba is being strict." In what way is he being strict?

The only way this question of Abyee makes any sense is if you look at it in this way: Abyee knows there is an argument whether we go by the time of ripening or of picking. He sees that Rabbah is going by the time of ripening because of ביעור. And that would force the estrog not to be obligated in Maasar. But he see that Rabbah is right even if we would go by the time of picking because there is a decree for people to let go of ownership of the fruit of  property in the seventh year. So even if we are strict still there is no obligation of maasar.

But in the beginning of the statement of Rabbah why would he not be obligated in Maasar?



A  simple way to look at all this is thus: The end of the statement of Rabah is like Rabbi Eliezer. The beginning is  like Rabban Gamliel. You can't have both. Abyee thought that Rabah had decided like R Eliezer. Ripening alone determines everything. But then the beginning is a question. Tosphot wants to say that Rabah could have answered the beginning is like Rabban Gamliel. But then I ask how does that help us? We would be left with the end of Rabah's statement which would not make sense.


What I am saying is if you could say the beginning is RG and the end RE then we would be OK. But obviously you cant do that. So Raba  says the end is RE and the beginning he has an answer for. Fine. So Tosphot wants to say he could have reversed this? How? The beginning is RG and the end what? In the eight year there is no reason for him not to be obligated in Maasar to RG!

Answer: Just like could answer for Abyee and say the decree to  let the fruits of the seventh year be open for all makes that the estrog is not obligated in tithes so we can answer the same for Rabah



טו: ) ראש השנה
 אני רוצה להציג שאלה על תוספות. תוספות אומר רבה היה יכול לענות אביי ולומר שהוא הולך כמו הרבן גמליאל. אני שואל שזה היה שם את השאלה של אביי בחזרה לסוף הדין של רבה. (1) רק כדי להציג את הרעיונות הבסיסיים כאן: רבן גמליאל אומר לאתרוג אנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של חנטה לערלה רבעי ושביעית וזמן לקיטה למעשר. רבי אליעזר אומר שאנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של חנטה לכל דבר. רבותינו באושא החליטו שאנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של לקיטה לכל דבר. (2) רבא אמר אתרוג של שישית שנכנסה לשביעית אינו מחויב בביעור ולא במעשר. אתרוג של השנה השביעית שנכנסה לשמינית מחויב בביעור אבל לא במעשר. (3) אביי שאל, הסיפא של רבה הוא בסדר כי הוא רוצה להחמיר, אבל מה לגבי הרישא? זה בסדר שהוא מחויב בביעור משום שאנחנו הולכים לפי זמן חנטה, אבל מה לגבי מעשר? אם תלכו לפי חנטה, אז למה הוא לא מחויב במעשר (4) רבה ענה: כולם נכנסים לשדה שלו ואתה רוצה שהוא יהיה מחויב במעשר? כמו חולית של ים לגבי אבדה. (5) תוספות אומר שיש לרבה יכולת לענות שהוא הולך כרבן גמליאל. (6) השאלה שלי היא שזה היה זורק את השאלה של אביי בחזרה על הסיפא במקום הרישא
  כדי להיות יותר ברור תן לי רק לשאול אותך מה אביי חשב?  אביי שואל "בשלמא הסיפא להחמיר" "הסוף הוא בסדר כי רבה רוצה להחמיר ." הדרך היחידה לשאלה זו של אביי להיות  הגיונית היא אם אתה מסתכל על זה בדרך זו: אביי יודע שיש מחלוקת אם נלך לפי שעת חנטה או של לקיטה. הוא רואה שרב הולך לפי הזמן של חנטה בגלל הביעור. ושזה מאלץ את האתרוג לא להיות מחויב מעשר. אבל הוא רואה  שזה נכון גם אם היינו הולכים לפי הזמן של לקיטה כי יש תקנה  להפקיר את הפירות שחנטו בשביעית. אז גם אם אנחנו מחמירים, עדיין אין חובה של מעשר. אבל בתחילת הדיון של רבה למה שהוא לא יהיה מחויב מעשר? דרך פשוטה להסתכל על כל זה היא כך: סוף הדיון רבה הוא כמו הרבי אליעזר. ההתחלה היא כמו הרבן גמליאל. לא יכול להיות שניהם. אביי חשב שרבה החליט כמו רבי אליעזר. חנטה לבדה קובעת הכל. אבל אז הרישה היא קשה. תוספות רוצה לומר שרבה היה יכול לענות ההתחלה היא כמו הרבן גמליאל. אבל אז אני שואל איך זה יכול לעזור לנו? אנחנו נשארים עם הסיפא של רבה שהיה לא הגיונית. אני עדיין לא זכיתי להיות מסוגל להבין תוספות


תירוץ: תוספות מכווין לומר שרבה יכול לומר גם לפי שיטת רבן גמליאל שזה שיש תקנה להפקיר את הפירות שחנטו בשביעית גורם שאפילו שהולכים במעשר אחר זמן לקיטה האתרוג היה הפקר אינו יכול להיות חייב במעשר.

My idea about Fear of God as being a goal goes back to my reading a book of Musar by Isaac Blazzer

And he got it from a commentary on the Rambam.  The idea is this: One verse says, "Do the commandments of God in order to come to fear him." Another verse says, "Fear Him in order to come to do his commandments." This looks like a contradiction. Answer: There are two kinds of fear of God. One is fear of punishment. The another is awe of Him. So the verses mean,- have the lower fear to do the commandments, and do the commandments to come to awe of God.

In any case we do have awe of God as being a primary goal. Along with that there are benefits of fear of God. One is length of days. That means that people stop wasting your time. You get longer days when you have to waste less time.

So how does one go about coming to fear of God? Or rather how does one come to the lower fear of God?


It is accepted that learning Musar  is at least a small step in this direction. ["Musar" means classical medieval books of Jewsih Ethics and also the book written by the disciples of Israel Salanter.]

The Rambam hints in Mishna Torah at the idea that learning Physics and Metaphysics brings to fear of God and also is a fulfillment of that commandment. But he says this much more openly in the Guide for the Perplexed. And he is not talking about Kabalah. He says openly when he mentions these things he is referring to the Physics and Metaphysics of the ancient Greeks.

It is the month of Elul. So I recommend starting a daily session in Musar, Physics and Metaphysics.

The Musar should probably not include books that disparage learning the natural sciences since they are in contradiction to the Rambam.
So one should mainly learn the books of Musar of the Rambam and his son Avraham, חובות לבבות אורחות צדיקים and the books that went along with the Geonic schools of Saadia Gaon, etc.

And if you are learning Physics and Metaphysics with the above stated intention then you don't need to worry of you understand it or not. However if you have trust in God that he will grant to you understanding and just say the words eventually you will understand.

[I know some people were not thrilled with learning natural sciences, but their opinion is usually presented as straightforward Torah when in fact that opinion is quite contrary to the opinion of the Rambam. Besides that I am seen plenty of people that do the Torah alone thing, and rarely do I see anything that is even conceivably close to fear of God,-- though I admit there are some exceptions.]

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Fear of God is mentioned a few times in the Bible as being very important.


I have seen this a lot. You walk into some yeshiva and it seems like everyone is half asleep. And even when they are awake I get the definite impression that they could not care less about what the Gemara says. Their learning Torah could not be any more apathetic and pathetic. They are clearly there for one purpose alone. To get the kollel check at the end of the month.

The only places I saw different were NY Lithuanian Yeshivas.  But I was not in Ponovicth or Brisk and I would assume they would be like the places I saw in  NY.

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In my first yeshiva, the Rosh Yeshiva and his son, Moti, emphasized learning in depth and review..
 I had a kind of mental battle with this, because I wanted to make "progress."

To me it made no sense to sit on one page of Talmud for two weeks at a time when I had not finished even one tractate!

Now however I see the wisdom of their approach.  I have seen a lot of people that learn fast and learn a lot, --but can't "learn." That is they have no understanding of what is going on in any Tosphot or Gemara or even halachah.
 In any case, I did try to make progress along with doing sessions in depth. What I found helpful at the beginning of my studies was doing each little paragraph in the Pnei Yehoshua about 10 or more times. And I recommend this to others  that are at the beginning of their learning. [This is of course only if you are not in a situation where you can hear a class from an authentic Lithuanian Rosh Yeshiva. But there are not many of these authentic types around except in NY, and in a few places in Israel like Ponovitch or Brisk.

This ten times each Pnei Yehoshua approach is a good introduction to learning. But the best thing is to have a decent Rosh Yeshiva or at least a good learning partner. If you can't find this, then at least get yourself a Pnei Yehoshua, the חידושי הרמב''ם by Reb Chaim Soloveitchik, and the Avi Ezri by Rav Elazar Menachem Shach.  Of these three the last is the best --by far.


There is a lesson here for STEM people also. At least for myself I have found that two sessions are helpful in math and physics. One an in depth session. I try to find some core subject and review a section ten or more times. And I also have a fast session where I just say the words and go on.


There is also a lesson here for Jews and Christians. It is important for everyone to have a good idea of what the Torah is about. It does not matter what religion you are. No issues facing Americans today would not even begin to be issues if people learned Gemara. Nothing would be left unsolved.
Issues like the second amendment would be clear. Everyone  has a right to self defense. The homosexuals would be put it their place. Right to private property would be clear, And many other issues also. [No one would vote for a slave to become the president Woe to the land for whom its king is a slave.]


There is also a modern day problem associated with my advice to find an authentic Rosh Yeshiva. The sad truth is most are not authentic. Most are frauds and it is a mitzvah to let people know about this.  Certainly people that have not learned in an authentic Lithuanian yeshiva can't learn.  And if they can't learn but pretend to be talmidei chachamim then they are by definition liars. But there are many who have been in a Litvak Yeshiva but still can't learn and don't have Torah values.
The insane religious world  often pretends to be Torah scholars. And this gives a bad reputation to authentic Torah scholars.
מפרסמים את החנפים מפני חילול השם

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