Torah Down Under

How do you know that Haman sang anim zemiros – as it says asapra kevodecha – umetargeminon may I cut your honour’s hair. What was Haman’s surname? Weiss, as it says Parshandasa Ve’eis Dalphon Ve’eis … (you need to be chassidish for this to work, but it’s not worse than Uncle Moishe where “shalom, our home” only rhymes if you’re American) ************************************************************ The first mishna in Megilah says that the megillah can be read on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of Adar. Small villages read the megillah on the Monday or Thursday preceeding Purim when they go into the nearby towns for the yom ha’kenissah. The Bar Tenura explains that they would go to the town either to go to beis din or to hear krias ha’torah and as they did not know how to read the megillah one of the townspeople would read the megillah for them. The gemara brings various derashos to include the 12th and the 13th, however the gemara says that you do not need a passuk to inc...

The possuk says ve’osu li mishkan ve’shochanti be’sochom – The Rambam explains that this is a mitzva to build the mishkan and also the beis hamikdash .   Building the mishkan was not dochech Shabbos –we learn the 39 melachos from the fact that building the mishkan was ossur on Shabbos. The gemara says in Shevuos (15b) that building the beis hamikdash is also not docheh Shabbos and Yom Tov.   It is not clear then building the beis hamikdash would always not be docheh Shabbos, however…   The mishna in Rosh haShana (30a) says that Rabbon Yochonon ben Zakai instituted that the whole day of the bringing of the omer (the 16th of Missan) chodosh should be ossur. התקין רבן יוחנן בן זכאי ... ושיהא יום הנף כולו אסור The gemara explains that although when there is no beis hamikdash chodosh can be eaten from alos on the 16th, however mehera yibaneh beis hamikdash and people will say that last year we ate chodosh on the 16th so this year we can also. They will not...

This week’s sedrah mention various types of nizokin (damages): A person who damages another person; עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן שֵׁן תַּחַת שֵׁן יָד תַּחַת יָד רֶגֶל תַּחַת רָגֶל. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a leg for a leg.” A pit: - וְכִי יִפְתַּח אִישׁ בּוֹר אוֹ כִּי - יִכְרֶה אִישׁ בֹּר וְלֹא יְכַסֶּנּוּ וְנָפַל - שָׁמָּה שּׁוֹר אוֹ חֲמוֹר. בַּעַל הַבּוֹר יְשַׁלֵּם כֶּסֶף יָשִׁיב לִבְעָלָיו וְהַמֵּת יִהְיֶה - לּוֹ “If a man uncovers a pit or if a man digs a pit and he does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall pay, he shall return money to its owner and the carcass will belong to him.” An ox that causes damage: - וְכִי יִגֹּף שׁוֹר - אִישׁ אֶת - שׁוֹר רֵעֵהוּ וָמֵת וּמָכְרוּ אֶת - הַשּׁוֹר הַחַי וְחָצוּ אֶת - כַּסְפּוֹ וְגַם אֶת - הַמֵּת יֶחֱצוּן. אוֹ נוֹדַע כִּי שׁוֹר נַגָּח הוּא מִתְּמוֹל שִׁלְשֹׁם וְלֹא יִשְׁמְרֶנּוּ בְּעָלָיו שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם שׁוֹר תַּחַת הַשּׁוֹר וְהַמֵּת יִהְיֶה - לּוֹ Fire: כי תצא א...

Metzamtezem – Indirect murder The sixth of the aseres hadibros is lo tirzach – you should not murder. The mishna says in Sanhedrin ((ע״ו ע״ב that if someone was submerged in water and someone else came and held then down then the second person is chayav misoh . The gemara explains that even although the murderer did not commit an act of murder (and this is only gerama ) nevertheless he is still chayav . This halacha is learnt from a passuk: אמר שמואל דאמר קרא (במדבר לה, כא) או באיבה לרבות את המצמצם We learn from the passuk of או באיבה that confinement is chayav misoh . The gemara brings a machlokess between Ravina and Rav Acha Bar Rav if this halacha applies to other nizokin . The case in the gemara is that someone tied up someone else’s animal in the sun, so it died. Do you have to pay for the animal, or maybe because this is only gerama you are patur? The Rambam paskens like Ravina that you are chayav. What about other issurin? The Rambam says that in other issurin, metza...