Extending the protest time TB Baba Batra 30

A purchaser only needs to keep the bill of sale for three years. The original owner has to protest claiming he did not sell the property sometime during those three years to regain his property. With this protest the purchaser has to produce the bill of sale to prove he is the new owner. If buyer has lived in the home or used the property for those three years and the original owner never protested, he has presumptive ownership.

Today’s daf TB Baba Batra 30 teaches that there are extenuating circumstances that extends the protest limit time of three years. “There was a certain person who said to another: What do you want with this house of mine? The possessor said to him: I purchased it from you and I worked and profited from it for the years necessary for establishing the presumption of ownership. The claimant said to him: I was in the outer marketplaces, and was unaware that you were residing in my house, and therefore did not lodge a protest, so your profiting does not establish the presumption of ownership. The possessor said to him: But I have witnesses that every year you would come here for thirty days and had an opportunity to know that I was residing in your house and to lodge a protest. The claimant said to him: I was occupied with my business in the marketplaces for those thirty days. Rava said: A person is apt to be occupied with business in the marketplace for all of thirty days, and accepted his claim.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rava accepts the following two extenuating circumstances to extend the time the original owner has the right to protest. First, he has to be away from home on business for long periods of time. Being away for long periods of time how could he know somebody was squatting on his land! Secondly, he has to be too busy in the marketplace selling all the goods he purchased abroad during the month he is at home to find the time to officially protest the squatter in front of a court. Although the Gemara here doesn’t mention a third requirement, obviously the original owner has to have a second home. Even coming to his second home he might not know somebody is living in his other house. If he doesn’t have a second home and returns to his domicile and finds a squatter, he would have to protest immediately and ask the court to throw him off his property.

Why davka three years? TB Baba Batra 28-29

 In massekhet Kiddushin we previously learned that a person acquires something using one of three methods, cash, documentation, and hazakah (חֲזָקָה), a proprietary act. Chapter 3 of our massekhet which begins on daf TB Baba Batra 28 provides a qualified additional understanding of what a hazakah is. “With regard to the presumptive ownership of houses; and of pits; and of ditches; and of caves, which are used to collect water; and of dovecotes; and of bathhouses; and of olive presses; and of irrigated fields, which must be watered by people; and of slaves; and all similar property that constantly, i.e., throughout the year, generates profits, their presumptive ownership is established by working and profiting from them for a duration of three years from day to day. If the one in possession of the property can prove that he worked and profited from it for the previous three full years, there is a presumption that it belongs to him, and would remain in his possession if another were to claim that the property belonged to him or to his ancestors.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Hazakah, presumptive ownership, requires three continuous years of occupancy or use otherwise the original owner can object and claim that the property still belongs to him. Presumptive ownership requires more than just three years of continuous occupancy. The hazakah has to include a valid claim (ta’anah-טענה) like I bought it, I inherited it, or it was gifted to me. 

The Gemara wants to know where did the Mishna come up with the number three. The Gemara first suggests that there is an analogy between the three years of presumptive ownership to the case of a forewarned ox (shor mu’ad- שׁוֹר הַמּוּעָד) that has gored separate three times. With the fourth goring, the owner of the ox has to pay full damages. The Gemara shows that the analogy is far from perfect. In fact, in the end, this analogy only works for Rabbi Yishmael who only requires three consecutive harvests and not three consecutive years. “But with regard to a field of trees, once he gathered his produce, and then harvested his olives, and then gathered his figs, these three harvests are the equivalent of three years. Rabbi Yishmael is of the opinion that three harvests are sufficient.” (Sefaria.org translation)

On daf TB Baba Batra 29 Rava provides the reason why the rabbis, who don’t accept the above analogy, require three years. “Rava said a different reason: A person is careful with his document detailing his purchase of land for the first year after the purchase, and he is also careful for two and three years. For more time than that, he is not careful and might discard the document if no one has lodged a protest concerning his possession of the land. Therefore, the Sages ruled that after three years have passed, he can prove his ownership by means of presumptive ownership.” (Sefaria.org translation)

You can imagine safekeeping documents back during Talmudic times was not easy. No matter what period of time a person lived, storage space for important documents is limited. Back in Talmudic days, a person was only expected to keep important documentation for three years. The person could either repurpose the material document was written upon or discarded it. Today the IRS only expects a person to keep his documentation for seven years.

Correction does much, but encouragement does more! #Pinkhas#devartorah#parashathashavua

Being a preacher's kid (a p.k. in the vernacular) is never easy. Just ask my children what it is like to live in a glass fish bowl. I once read about a little boy, a p.k., who had been naughty. In exasperation, the father prayed to God that his son would be naughty again. He specifically mentioned a number of bad things the boy had done. Not long afterward the mother heard the 6-year-old sobbing. When she asked what was wrong, the heartbroken boy cried out, "Daddy always tell God the bad things about me. He never tells him the good things I do!"

I know that that child had a legitimate complaint. In fact, it underscores a shortcoming that is common to many of us. Instead of recognizing the good in people, we tend to notice all their faults. I think that is why God gave Pinkhas a covenant of peace after he slew the two offenders in last week's parasha in jealous righteousness. Although Pinkhas' action stopped the plague, God did NOT want this to be the normative behavior. He much preferred Aaron's (Pinchas' grandfather's) approach of "loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures and attracting them to the study of Torah." (Pirke Avot 1:12)

Let us be more ready to commend them to condemn. When we see good in others, let's tell them. It will encourage them and perhaps that is exactly what they need. Correction does much, but encouragement does more!

Shabbat Shalom

Being a leader means taking responsibility TB Baba Batra 22

 In the midst of discussing what is fair and unfair competition on daf TB Baba Batra 22, we learn that Rav Dimi of Neharde’a brought dried figs on a ship the Babylonia to sell them. If he was a scholar, the Exilarch was going to give him a monopoly to sell those figs. Rav Adda bar Abba was sent to test Rav Dimi’s scholarship. In my opinion he asked him not only a difficult question, but also described an unrealistic case. Not surprisingly, Rav Dimi didn’t know the answer. Rav Adda bar Abba humiliated him and did not grant him any opportunity to sell his figs. His figs went bad and he lost his money. Rav Dimi went to Rav Yosef to complain what Rav Adda bar Abba did to him. Rav Yosef said that God will punish Rav Adda bar Abba. Indeed Rav Adda bar Abba died.

Rav Adda bar Abba was one of Rava’s outstanding students. He also learned Torah from Abaye. Consequently, he was an important scholar during Rav Yosef’s lifetime. His death was not insignificant. Who caused his death? Three sages came forward and accepted the responsibility of his death.

Sage #1 “Rav Yosef said: I punished him, i.e., I am to blame for his death, as I cursed him. Rav Dimi from Neharde’a said: I punished him, as he caused my loss of dried figs. Abaye said: I punished him, i.e., he was punished on my account because he did not exhibit the proper respect for me. As Rav Adda bar Abba said to the Sages: Instead of gnawing the bones in the school of Abaye, you would do better to eat fatty meat in the school of Rava, i.e., it is preferable to study with Rava than with Abaye.”

Sage #2 “And Rava said: I punished him, as when he would go to the butcher to buy a piece of meat, he would say to the butchers: I will take meat before Rava’s servant, as I am greater than he is.”

Sage #3 “Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: I punished him, i.e., he was punished because of me, as Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak was the head of the kalla lectures, the gatherings for Torah study during Elul and Addar. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak would teach the students immediately following the lesson taught by the head of the academy. Every day, before he went in for the kalla lecture, he reviewed his lecture with Rav Adda bar Abba, and then he would enter the study hall for the kalla lecture.

“On that day Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, seized Rav Adda bar Abba, because they had not been present at the conclusion of Rava’s lecture. They said to him: Tell us how Rava stated these halakhot of animal tithe. Rav Adda bar Abba said to them: Rava said this and Rava said that. Meanwhile, it grew late for Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak, and Rav Adda bar Abba had not yet arrived.

“The Sages said to Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: Arise and teach us, as it is late for us. Why does the Master sit and wait? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said to them: I am sitting and waiting for the bier of Rav Adda bar Abba, who has presumably died. Meanwhile, a rumor emerged that Rav Adda bar Abba had indeed died. The Gemara comments: And so too, it is reasonable to conclude that Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak punished him, i.e., he died as a result of Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak’s statement, as the unfortunate event occurred just as he announced that Rav Adda bar Abba’s bier was on its way.” (Sefaria.org translation)

These three sages teach us an important aspect of leadership. A true leader takes responsibility for his actions. Convicted felon former Pres. Trump has never taken any responsibility for the crimes he was found guilty nor has he taken any responsibility for the felonies that still have to be adjudicated. I agree with the New York Times that he is unfit to serve as our president. Convicted felon Sen. Robert Menendez also has refused to take responsibility for his crimes of bribery. He too is unfit to serve as a senator. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito refused to take any responsibility for the American flag flying upside down at his home. He shifted the blame solely on his wife. I also believe for this and other reasons Justice Alito is unfit to serve.

We need to elect this coming November honorable men and women who admit responsibility for their actions. When they do, I am sure that the American people will treat them fairly and mercifully as we have done with past leaders.

 

 

God still watches over us #Balak#devartorah#parashathashavua

There was no blood, no bump, not even the start of a bruise after 2-year-old Braden fell and smacked his head on a TV stand in his Chesapeake home last fall. His parents, Brad and Jennifer Hennis, dashed to his side to inspect his injury. Seeing nothing, they cautioned him to be careful and let him return to his toys. At dinnertime, Jennifer’s mother, Nancy Bennett, arrived to babysit. Learning that Braden’s afternoon nap had been brief, she thought nothing of his dozing on his Elmo couch 

Aware of his earlier fall, however, she worried when she couldn’t wake him all the way up to change him into pajamas. He was extremely groggy, she remembers. So after placing him in his crib, she left his bedroom door open. About a half hour after putting him down, Nancy heard Braden vomiting. “I was really scared,” she says. She called Jennifer and Brad, who rushed home and called 911.

Braden’s parents had no way of knowing that when he struck his head, a skull fracture occurred. The fracture tore an underlying artery on the covering of his brain, creating a massive clot, known medically as an epidural hematoma. The hematoma was rapidly increasing pressure on the brain, whose tissue is like a sponge. The harder the brain is squeezed, the less life-giving oxygen can get to its cells.

After successful emergency brain surgery operation as well as in hospital rehabilitation, Branden miraculously recovered. Today, his doctors say that open bedroom door helped save Braden’s life. (https://www.chkd.org/about-us/publications-and-reports/patient-stories/nick-of-time/)

Like Branden, the Israelites experienced God’s intervention at a vulnerable time in their history. While traveling through the wilderness, they came within sight of King Balak of Moab. Terrified of their conquests and their vast population, Balak engaged a seer named Balaam to place a curse on the unsuspecting travelers (Numbers 22:2-6).

But something amazing happened. Whenever Balaam opened his mouth to curse, a blessing issued instead. “I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it,” he declared. “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; . . . God brought them out of Egypt” (Numbers 23:20-22). God preserved the Israelites from a battle they didn’t even know was raging!

During these difficult times with the war still raging  in Gaza and anti-Semitism on the rise , whether we see it or not, God still watches over us today. May we worship in gratitude the One who calls us blessed.

 

The movement towards universal Jewish education TB Baba Batra 21

Joshua ben Gamla was one of the last High Priests during the Second Temple period. King Agrippas II appointed him to that position. Joshua ben Gamla was murdered when the Second Temple was destroyed. Although the rabbis disparaged the way he became the High Priest, they were not shy to praise him for the good that he did. On today’s daf TB Baba Batra 21 we learn that Joshua ben Gamla laid the foundation for universal male education. The Gemara lays out the four stages how Jewish education expanded to include more and more students.

Stage #1 “As Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a father would have his father teach him Torah, and whoever did not have a father would not learn Torah at all. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that allowed them to conduct themselves in this manner? They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [otam] to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you yourselves [atem] shall teach, i.e., you fathers shall teach your sons.

Stage 2 “When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in Jerusalem. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that enabled them to do this? They interpreted the verse: “For Torah emerges from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3). But still, whoever had a father, his father ascended with him to Jerusalem and had him taught, but whoever did not have a father, he did not ascend and learn. (According to Tosefot ד"ה כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה, educating children in Jerusalem would be very beneficial because the students would see Kohanim, Levites, and Israelites involved in holy work and observing mitzvot inside and outside the Temple. All this holy work would inspire the students to study Torah harder and better)

Stage #3 “Therefore, the Sages instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in one city in each and every region [pelekh]. And they brought the students in at the age of sixteen and at the age of seventeen. (Children younger than the age of 16 were old enough to travel such a long distance to the local region; consequently, they were exempt from attending school.-gg)

Stage #4 “But as the students were old and had not yet had any formal education, a student whose teacher grew angry at him would rebel against him and leave. It was impossible to hold the youths there against their will. This state of affairs continued until Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven. With regard to the matter at hand, since this system was established for the masses, the neighbors cannot prevent a scholar from teaching Torah in the courtyard.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Universal Jewish education for boys was unique to Judaism throughout the ancient and medieval world. Only at the beginning of the 20^th century was Jewish education extended to girls in the Bais Yaakov schools.

“The Bais Yaakov movement was started by seamstress Sarah Schenirer in 1917 in Kraków, Poland.^[1] The first school building survives as apartments, and is marked with a bronze plaque.

“While boys attended cheder and Talmud Torah schools (and in some cases yeshivas), at that time, there was no formalized system of Jewish education for girls and young Jewish women.

“Schenirer saw that there was a high rate of assimilation among girls due to the vast secular influences of the non-Jewish schools that the girls were then attending. Sarah Schenirer concluded that only providing young Jewish women with a thorough, school-based Jewish education would effectively combat this phenomenon. She started a school of her own, trained other women to teach, and set up similar schools in other cities throughout Europe.

“She obtained the approval of Yisrael Meir Kagan (author of Chofetz Chaim), who issued a responsum holding that contemporary conditions required departing from traditional prohibitions on teaching women Torah and accepting the view that it was permitted. Following the Chofetz Chaim's approbation, the Bais Yaakov Movement in Poland was taken under the wing of Agudath Israel. Additionally, Schenirer sought and received approbation from Hasidic rabbis as well, most notably the Belzer Rebbe and the Gerrer Rebbe.^[2] Judith Grunfeld was persuaded to assist Schenirer. The original Bais Yaakov was a seminary of sorts, intended to train girls to themselves become teachers and spread the Bais Yaakov movement. Grunfeld would lead the seminary from 1924 to 1929.^[3]

“Girls who were taught in the Bais Yaakov movement used their education as psychological support to survive World War II and the Holocaust.^[4]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bais_Yaakov

Educating girls was one of the most important educational innovations in Jewish history. As Jewish women became more and more educated, they demanded equal opportunity in the Jewish community as its leaders. Today Jewish women are rabbis, cantors, teachers. Jewish women now lead major Jewish seminaries as well as heads of Jewish Federations and JCCs. The Jewish community has been enriched by all these women past and present.

 

What do you do with a worn-out Torah TB Baba Batra 20

Beginning on daf TB Baba Batra 19b and continuing on today’s daf  TB Baba Batra 20, the Gemara goes on a strange tangent. To understand the Gemara, we have to know some basic rules of corpse contamination, tumat met-טומאת מת. When a dead body is in a room, the tumah goes straight up to the ceiling, spreads over the ceiling, and then goes downward and contaminates everything in the room. Just in last week’s Torah portion Hukkat, we learn about this contamination and how to restore back to ritual readiness.

If two rooms or two houses have continuous walls, the corpse contamination does not that enter the second room or house. The wall serves as a barricade against the tumah. If there’s an open doorway between the two, the course contamination spreads to the second room or house. If there is a window (which is essential just a hole in the wall) that is larger than 3 tefakhim by 3 tefakhim, the corpse contamination spreads to the second room or house as well.

The Gemara discusses what things can be used as a barrier in a window to block corpse contamination. Things that can become ritually unready, tamai, like food or things that are not relatively permanent placed in the window do not block corpse contamination 

The Tosefta enumerates many effective barriers. One of them is a Sefer Torah. The Gemara challenges the idea that a Sefer Torah may be used. “The baraita teaches: A Torah scroll reduces the dimensions of a window. The Gemara challenges: But it is fit for reading; therefore, it might be removed. The Gemara answers: This is referring to a Torah scroll that is worn out and unfit for reading. The Gemara challenges: But one is required to place the Torah scroll in a repository (geniza-גניזה) for unusable sacred books; therefore, he will certainly remove it to be stored away. The Gemara answers: This is referring to one who determines that its repository will be there. In other words, it was placed in the window with the intent of storing it there in its worn-out state.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The answer that a window can serve as a geniza is difficult. We have previously learned “And Rava said: A Torah scroll that became worn out is interred and buried next to a Torah scholar, and in this regard, a Torah scholar is defined even as one who only studies the halakhot in the Mishna and the baraitot but is not proficient in their analysis. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: And when it is buried, it is first placed in an earthenware vessel, as it is stated: “And put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for many days” (Jeremiah 32:14).” (TB Megilah 26b) If there is no Torah scholar, one buries the Sefer Torah in an earthenware vessel in the ground in a cemetery. The Sefer Torah is buried in an earthenware vessel so it won’t rot quickly. There are those who teach that an earthenware vessel is not the only appropriate casket for the Sefer Torah. A wooden one will work just as well.

The Ritba solves our difficulty. He affirms that the Sefer Torah needs to be buried in the ground and should be buried in a special place like next to a scholar. He writes that in our sugiyah the Sefer Torah is placed in a window for a long period of time until an appropriate geniza for its permanent resting place is available.