Today’s
daf TB Gittin 28 uses the concept of chazaka (חזקה) to
explain the contradiction between the Mishnah and a baraita. Chazaka means
presumption. On our daf it means the
status quo.
“(The
Mishna teaches) In
the case of an agent who brings a bill of divorce to a woman, and
when he had left the husband was elderly or sick, the agent gives
her the bill of divorce based on the presumption that the
husband is still alive, and there is no concern that in the
meantime he has died, thereby canceling the bill of divorce.
“(In the Gemara) Rava explains: They taught that this
presumptive status exists only concerning an elderly man who has not
reached his years of strength, i.e., the age of eighty, and
an ordinary sick person, as the majority of sick people continue to
live and recover from their illnesses. But if the husband was an
elderly man who had reached his years of strength, or if he was moribund,
then, as the majority of moribund people proceed to die, he does not
have this presumptive status.
“Abaye raised an objection
to
Rava’s statement from a baraita: With regard to an agent who brings a
bill of divorce and left the husband when he was old, even one hundred
years old, he gives the bill of divorce to the wife, based on
the presumption that her husband is still alive. The
Gemara concludes: This is a conclusive refutation, and Rava’s statement
is rejected.
(Sefaria.org
translation)
Rashi ד"ה כֵּיוָן דְּאִיפְּלִיג explains that until
the age of 80 our presumption or chazaka isthe person is still alive. From age 80 to 90, this
chazaka expires and you assume the
person has died. The chazaka after
the age of 90 is reinstituted. You have assume the person is still alive.
I don’t have to tell you that people are living
longer. Visit the cemetery and you see on the older graves, people have died in
their 40s, 50s, and 60s. We see on the newer graves that people have lived past
their 80s and 90s. I have even known a couple of centenarians!
Nevertheless, our tradition teaches us how we
live our lives is more important than how long our lives are. Now would be a
good time to review two sugiyot we
have previously learned.
“The students of Rabbi Zeira asked him, and some
say that the students of Rav Adda bar Ahava asked him: To what do you
attribute your longevity? He said to them: In all my days I did not become
angry with my household, and I never walked before someone greater than myself;
rather, I always gave him the honor of walking before me.
“Rav Adda bar Ahava continued: And I did not
think about matters of Torah in filthy alleyways; and I did not walk
four cubits without engaging in Torah and without donning phylacteries;
and I would not fall asleep in the study hall, neither a deep sleep nor
a brief nap; and I would not rejoice in the mishap of my colleague; and
I would not call my colleague by his nickname. And some say that he
said: I would not call my colleague by his derogatory family name.
Ҥ The Gemara relates another
story about the righteous deeds of the Sages involving a dilapidated wall. Rava
said to Rafram bar Pappa: Let the Master tell us some of those fine deeds that
Rav Huna performed. He said to him: I do not remember what he did in his
youth, but the deeds of his old age I remember. As on every cloudy day
they would take him out in a golden carriage [guharka], and he would
survey the entire city. And he would command that every unstable wall
be torn down, lest it fall in the rain and hurt someone. If its owner
was able to build another, Rav Huna would instruct him to rebuild it.
And if he was unable to rebuild it, Rav Huna would build it himself with
his own money.
“Rafram bar Pappa further
relates: And every Shabbat eve, in the afternoon, Rav Huna would
send a messenger to the marketplace, and he would purchase all the vegetables
that were left with the gardeners who sold their crops, and throw
them into the river. The Gemara asks: But why did he throw out
the vegetables? Let him give them to the poor. The Gemara answers: If he
did this, the poor would sometimes rely on the fact that Rav Huna would
hand out vegetables, and they would not come to purchase any. This would
ruin the gardeners’ livelihood. The Gemara further asks: And let him throw
them to the animals. The Gemara answers: He holds that human food
may not be fed to animals, as this is a display of contempt for the
food.
“The Gemara objects: But
if Rav Huna could not use them in any way, he should not purchase the
vegetables at all. The Gemara answers: If nothing is done, you
would have been found to have caused a stumbling block for them in
the future. If the vegetable sellers see that some of their produce is left
unsold, the next week they will not bring enough for Shabbat. Therefore, Rav
Huna made sure that the vegetables were all bought, so that the sellers would
continue to bring them
“Another custom of Rav Huna
was that when he had a new medicine, he would fill a water jug
with the medicine and hang it from the doorpost of his house, saying: All
who need, let him come and take from this new medicine. And there are
those who say: He had a remedy against the demon Shivta that he
knew by tradition, that one must wash his hands for protection against
this evil spirit. And to this end, he would place a water jug and
hang it by the door, saying: Anyone who needs, let him come to the
house and wash his hands, so that he will not be in danger.” (TB Ta’anit 20a, Sefaria.org translation)
“Rabbi Elazar ben
Shammua was once asked by his disciples: To what do
you attribute your longevity? He said to them: In all my days, I
never made a shortcut [kappendarya] through a synagogue. Nor did
I ever stride over the heads of the sacred people,
i.e., I never stepped over people sitting in the study hall in order to reach
my place, so as not to appear scornful of them. And I never lifted my hands
for the Priestly Benediction without first reciting a blessing.”(Sotah 39a, Sefaria.org translation)
Instead of only asking God to add years to our
life, we should want to add life to our years.
“Years of strength” is based on the verse in Psalm 90:10 “The
span of our life is seventy years,
or, given the strength, eighty years;”
