The Mishna back on daf TB Pesakhim 35a concludes with “However, one may not fulfill one’s obligation to eat matza made with …prepared loaves of matza that are brought with a thanks-offering, or to the wafers brought by a nazirite[1]…” (Sefaria.org translation) The second half of today’s daf TB Pesakhim 38 analyzes why a person cannot fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah on Passover with the matzah brought in conjunction with the Thanksgiving sacrifice (קרבן תודה). Just as a reminder, 40 loaves of bread were brought in conjunction with the Thanksgiving sacrifice. 30 loaves were matzot and 10 were hametz.
Rabba and Rav Yosef each bring a scriptural proof why a person cannot fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah on Passover with the matzah brought in conjunction with the Thanksgiving sacrifice. I just want to focus on Rabba’s reasoning. “The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived? Rabba said: As the verse states: “And you shall guard the matzot” (Exodus 12:17). This verse teaches that one may use only matza that has been guarded from becoming leavened for the purpose of matza, i.e., with the intention of fulfilling one’s obligation of matza with it. This explanation excludes this matza, which was prepared for a nazirite or a thanks-offering and which was not guarded for the purpose of matza but for the purpose of a sacrifice.”
I think Rabba is teaching us how hard it is to divide our intention and attention. Better we should focus on one mitzvah at a time. I think this is a very important lesson for us who try to multitask. Gregg Krech writes:
“Well, David Meyer and his colleagues at the University of Michigan set out to measure the effects of multitasking and found that switching from one task to another actually makes you less efficient, not more efficient. In related research, Prof. Marcel Just of Carnegie Mellon University used a brain-imaging machine to evaluate the effects of multitasking. He found that when two different parts of the brain are working on two different tasks, the brain works less efficiently, meaning that less brain power in total was directed at both tasks than would have been used if only one task was done at a time…
“I am a realist. I’m not suggesting that you should abandon multitasking. For many of us this may not be realistic given the demands of our life and our schedule. But if you do too much of it, you begin to lose the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. You’ll find that it is harder to become absorbed in what you’re doing and experience the state of ‘flow’ that Mihaly Csikszentmihialyi describes in his book Finding Flow…
“Retraining your mind may not be easy. But you may find that there are benefits at the spiritual and psychological level. Computers may be capable of multitasking 24 hours per day. But the human soul may need to do things differently.
“In the kitchen, when you are
cutting vegetables, cut vegetables. Don’t talk, and don’t look here and there.
If somebody tries to get your attention, stop cutting and give her your full
attention or ask her politely to let you finish first. You can avoid many
kitchen accidents by this simple practice, but more than that, you are teaching
your mind to make one-pointed attention a habit in everything you do.-Eknath
Easweraw, meditation teacher”[2]
[1] [1]
A nazarite is a person was taken a vow not to cut his hair, pear his nails, nor
drink any product made from grapes for at least 30 days. Samson is the most
famous nazirite in the Bible. We shall begin studying the tractate Nazir on
January 25, 2023. So stay tuned.
[2] For
full article, follow this link: http://www.todoinstitute.com/library/working_with_your_attention/multitasking_madness.php#more
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