9 votes

Why was a bat kol able to settle the dispute between Battei Hillel and Shammai?

The Encyclopedia Talmudit entry on “Bas Qol”, the paragraph about its impact on halachah focuses on the apparent conflict between the conclusion one would get from the Tanur Akhnai story and from the ...
Micha Berger's user avatar
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9 votes
Accepted

Eruvin 43a: Who was Yosef the Demon?

Adding to @Dov's answer, Yosef the Shed was a shed who would assist the sages by giving them info on shedim, as Sforno writes on Vayikra 17:7: "חקת עולם תהיה זאת שלא יזבחו לשעירים אף על פי שלא ...
Harel13's user avatar
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8 votes

How did they use to sleep in the shul?

The Shaarim Metzuyanim Bhalacha page 264 writes that it is lav davaka that he slept in the shul, but rather slept in a room near the shul. Text:
sam's user avatar
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7 votes

How did they use to sleep in the shul?

It is worth noting that a talmid chacham is allowed to sleep in shul. The Mishna Berurah over there on the Shulchan Aruch that you cite writes: טו) אין ישנים וכו' - ומיירי באנשים דעלמא אבל לת"ח ...
Dov's user avatar
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6 votes
Accepted

What tool did Raban Gamliel use to determine how close his ship was to the port?

So this is a really fascinating topic that has bamboozled many meforshim and thinkers over the years. The Talmudology website here helps to comprehensively break it down. He first notes Rashi who says:...
Dov's user avatar
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6 votes

Eruvin 43a: Who was Yosef the Demon?

There doesn't seem to be much to work off. The only thing I have to add is the following: As has been noted, he also appears in Pesachim 110a - Interestingly, in both instances Rav Steinsaltz zt"...
Dov's user avatar
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5 votes

Why in Yom Kippur davening do we make mention of the Gemara that it would have better not to have been created?

This is actually the opening of a piyyut, the rest of which has been omitted, which begins: אנוש איך יתכפר וכל מעשיו בשפר נכתבים בספר. It can be found in full in Daniel Goldschmidt's מחזור לימים ...
magicker72's user avatar
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5 votes

Eruvin 51a: Using Deception to Assert an Opinion?

This is cited as law by R. Abraham Gombiner in Magen Avraham O.C. 167:1 אם שמע דין ונראה לו שהלכה כך מותר לאמרו בשם אדם גדול כי היכי דליקבלי מיניה If one hears a law and it seems to him that the law ...
Alex's user avatar
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4 votes

Eruvin 43a: Who was Yosef the Demon?

The (אור זרוע (ח"ב עירובין סי' קמז speak a bit about him. Rashi on the page says that שדים do not keep shabbos. However, the אור זרוע quotes his rebbi ר' יהודה החסיד who says that the שדים ...
Reinstate Monica's user avatar
3 votes

What tool did Raban Gamliel use to determine how close his ship was to the port?

It could be a tube on a stand at a fixed angle. When looking through it you can only see what what its pointing at and you always know how far the furthest item is from you. For an example how this ...
Efraym's user avatar
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3 votes

How did they use to sleep in the shul?

We find that it is permissible for anyone to sleep in a shul if there is a necessity: לצורך ב"ה מותר לאכול ולישן בתוכו ומטעם זה ישנים בליל יום הכפורים בב"ה: For the needs of the synagogue, ...
Mordechai's user avatar
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3 votes

What were they thinking following contradictory leniencies in Challah 4:7?

As you noticed, they indeed changed the halacha to follow Rabban Gamliel in all cases, as Rav Kahati explains. (עיין בבלי עירובין ו, ב; ז, א) לפי שאין לאחוז שתי קולות הסורות זו את זו The reason as ...
sabbahillel's user avatar
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2 votes

What were they thinking following contradictory leniencies in Challah 4:7?

R. Yitshak ben Malkitsedek of Simponto explains in his commentary to the Mishna there that indeed, originally they followed the leniencies of both, but in the course of time, they learned the teaching ...
mevaqesh's user avatar
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2 votes
Accepted

Netzach, Selah, Vaed - what is the difference between these words?

An Explanation of Synonyms in Tana"ch by Rabbi Sh'lomo Aharon Wertheimer (pp. 240-241) differentiates the 3 terms in the following way: Netzach - continuous existence without change Sela - continual ...
WAF's user avatar
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2 votes

Mikvah Math for the Sea of Shlomo

With regards to the short Amah, Rashi in Sukkah 5b (s"v Hanicha) says that there are three types of amos: 5 tefachim (20 etzba'os), 6 tefachim (24 etzba'os) and 6 tefachim + 1/2 etzbah (24 1/2 etzba'...
Y K's user avatar
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2 votes

Understanding Moses' four-fold way of study (Eruvin 54b)

The Gemara a little further on asks two questions about this process; וְלִיגְמְרוּ כּוּלְּהוּ מִמֹּשֶׁה! כְּדֵי לַחֲלוֹק כָּבוֹד לְאַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו, וְכָבוֹד לַזְּקֵנִים. With regard to the manner ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
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2 votes

What tool did Raban Gamliel use to determine how close his ship was to the port?

פַּעַם אַחַת לֹא נִכְנְסוּ לַנָּמָל עַד שֶׁחֲשֵׁכָה. אָמְרוּ לוֹ לְרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, מָה אָנוּ לֵירֵד. אָמַר לָהֶן, מֻתָּר אַתֶּם, שֶׁכְּבָר הָיִיתִי מִסְתַּכֵּל, וְהָיִינוּ בְתוֹךְ הַתְּחוּם עַד ...
Shmuel's user avatar
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2 votes

Why Moses' way of teaching Israel left Yehoshuah out (Eruvin 54b)?

I heard from my Rabbi a very interesting explanation given by Rabbi Menashe Klein in his work ספר הקנינים (Sefer HaKinyanim). Rabbi Menashe Klein writes (Sefer HaKinyanim, p. 39): להם יהושע וזה א&...
Shmuel's user avatar
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1 vote

Why Moses' way of teaching Israel left Yehoshuah out (Eruvin 54b)?

Rabbi Ouri Cherki suggests that the differing sources on who received the Torah from Moshe (the one in Eruvin and Avot 1:1, "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and passed it to Yehoshua") ...
Harel13's user avatar
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1 vote

Why Moses' way of teaching Israel left Yehoshuah out (Eruvin 54b)?

According to the Meiri in his introduction to Avos, Yehoshua stayed in the tent the entire time, so he heard the Torah 4 times from Moshe too, based on the verse that says Yehoshua never left the tent....
N.T.'s user avatar
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1 vote

Where does "animal morality" come from?

Note: The following is my opinion and is based primarily from the written Torah. The Bible seems to take it for granted that animals naturally have some form of morality, wisdom/understanding, and ...
Aaron's user avatar
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1 vote

Where does "animal morality" come from?

Rav Hutner (Mamarei Pachad Yitzchak, Pesach) implies that that which animals display good traits is a true reflection of a godly nobleness that is inherent in the nature of that animal. On a similar ...
pcoz's user avatar
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1 vote

Why make an eruv with just a single-owner courtyard? (Eruvin 85)

According to Rashi (whose explanation of the Mishna you are following), the gemara is teaching two separata halachos regarding the gatehouse to the private courtyard: One who lives only in the ...
user18037's user avatar
  • 487
1 vote

What were the "pieces" of Moses' transmission of the Oral Law?

The Rambam in his Introduction to his Pirush Hamishnah starts off with this Gemara and says it means a Mitzvah with all its explanations From Sefaria דע כי כל מצוה שנתן הקב"ה למשה רבינו ע"ה ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
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1 vote

Why Aharon, Itamar and Elazar were not part of the 70 elders?

The inital group of 70 were explicitly commanded to be brought from the 12 tribes (6 from each tribe). As explained by Rashi in Beha'aloscha 11:2, 70 of the 72 from the twelve tribes were chosen by ...
sabbahillel's user avatar
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1 vote

What happens when you have conflicting conditions?

Shulchan Aruch Even haezer 143, 10 הַנּוֹתֵן גֵּט לְאִשְׁתּוֹ ...אִם הִתְנָה עָלֶיהָ שֶׁתִּתֵּן לוֹ מָאתַיִם זוּז, וְחָזַר וְהִתְנָה בִּפְנֵי שְׁנַיִם שֶׁתִּתֵּן לוֹ שְׁלשׁ מֵאוֹת זוּז, כְּבָר ...
user15464's user avatar
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1 vote

Orally designating a Shabas place without a landmark

The Gemara (Eruvin 50b) seems to relate to your question and based on Rashi's explanation you have to designate an identifiable spot. Even saying "around that stone" is sufficient. However, just ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
1 vote

How could we learn behavior from animals?

In regards to question C, the Ben Yohada on that Gemara states that we would indeed learn the bad behavior as well, which is exactly why we needed to have the Torah and not leave it with just the ...
Chatzkel's user avatar
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