Some days I have a hard time finding anything interesting in the daf to write about. Some days I have something to write about, but don’t have the time for one reason or another to set my thoughts down. Today is a day that the daf is a gold mine of material to write about. So instead of trying to write about just one thing, I’m going to share some famous sayings and midrashim on today’s daf TB Sanhedrin 37 with you because this daf is the source for them.
When a Jew is committed to observe the Torah and mitzvot, temptation won’t rule him or
her. “The phrase “set about with lilies
(Song of Songs 7:3) is said
in praise of the Jewish people, as they do not breach even a fence made of
lilies, since the Jewish people observe both Torah law as well as rabbinic
ordinances and decrees.
“And this is
like an incident involving Rav Kahana, as a certain heretic said to Rav
Kahana: You say that it is permitted for a menstruating woman to
seclude herself with a man, i.e., her husband. Is it possible to set
fire to chips of kindling and not have them blaze and
burn? How can the couple be relied upon not to engage in sexual intercourse?
Rav Kahana said to him: The Torah testifies concerning us that we are “set
about with lilies,” as the Jewish people do not breach even a fence
made of lilies.” (Sefaria.org translation)
No Jew is so
far away from his/her heritage that he/she doesn’t has the potential to observe
the mitzvot. “Reish Lakish says
that the source to rely on them not to transgress is from here: “Your
temples [rakkatekh] are like a pomegranate split open” (Song of
Songs 6:7), which teaches that even the empty people [reikanin]
among you are as full of mitzvot
as the pomegranate is full of seeds. (According to Jewish folk tradition,
the pomegranate has 613 seeds corresponding found in the 613 commandments of
the Torah-gg) Rabbi Zeira says that the source is from here: The
verse states concerning the occasion when Isaac blessed Jacob: “And he
smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the
smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed” (Genesis
27:27). Do not read “his garments [begadav]”; rather, read: His
traitors [bogedav], meaning that even traitors and sinners among the
Jewish people have qualities “as the smell of a field that the Lord has
blessed.”” (Sefaria.org translation)
Some of the
most famous midrashim quoted in sermons and in books are found in the second
Mishna on this daf. They reinforce
the unique value of each human being and his/her irreplaceableness.
“The court
tells them: You should know that cases of capital law are not
like cases of monetary law. In cases of monetary law, a person
who testifies falsely, causing money to be given to the wrong party, can give
the money to the proper owner and his sin is atoned for.
In cases of capital law, if one testifies falsely, the blood of
the accused and the blood of his offspring that he did not merit to
produce are ascribed to the witness’s testimony until eternity. “The proof for this is as we found with
Cain, who killed his brother, as it is stated concerning him: “The voice of
your brother’s blood [demei] cries out to Me from the ground”
(Genesis 4:10). The verse does not state: Your brother’s blood [dam],
in the singular, but rather: “Your brother’s blood [demei],”
in the plural. This serves to teach that the loss of both his brother’s blood
and the blood of his brother’s offspring are ascribed to Cain (this
is why I teach my students that the Nazis did just kill 6 million Jews. Because
these Jews never had an opportunity to have children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren etc., they murdered millions upon millions more Jews-gg)…
“The court
tells the witnesses: Therefore, Adam the first man was created alone,
to teach you that with regard to anyone who destroys one soul from the
Jewish people, i.e., kills one Jew, the verse ascribes him blame as
if he destroyed an entire world, as Adam was one person, from whom the
population of an entire world came forth. And conversely, anyone who
sustains one soul from the Jewish people, the verse ascribes him credit as
if he sustained an entire world
“The mishna cites another reason Adam
the first man was created alone: And this was done due to the
importance of maintaining peace among people, so that one person will
not say to another: My father, i.e., progenitor, is greater than your
father. And it was also so that the heretics who believe in multiple
gods will not say: There are many authorities in Heaven, and each
created a different person.
“And
this serves to tell of the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as
when a person stamps several coins with one seal, they are all similar to
each other. But the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, stamped
all people with the seal of Adam the first man, as all of them are his
offspring, and not one of them is similar to another. Therefore, since
all humanity descends from one person, each and every person is obligated to
say: The world was created for me, as one person can be the source of all
humanity, and recognize the significance of his actions.” (Sefaria.org translation)
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