TB Bekhorot 31 I’m the Taxman

The end of the fourth chapter of our massekhet discusses the disqualification of a person whose is suspect of violating halakha or other unacceptable behaviors. One such person who is disqualified the tax collector. “The Sages taught in a baraita: Initially, the Sages would say with regard to one who is a ḥaver and became a tax collector that he is rejected from his status as a ḥaver. Even if he later resigns from his position as a tax collector, he is not accepted. In later generations they went back to saying that if he resigns from his position as a tax collector he is like any other person and may be accepted once again as a ḥaver.” (TB Bekhorot 31a, Sefaria.org translation)

“A ḥaver denotes a member of a society or order ("chaburah," "chaburta," "k'neset" = "aggregation," "company," "union"), or of a union of Pharisees, for the purpose of carrying out the observance of the laws of food purity to their fullest possible development. In their eyes, any person whose observance of the food purity or tithing laws was doubtful was an am ha'aretz, whose contact was defiling.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaver_(title)) To become a ḥaver, had to appear before three people and swear or promise that he will carry out the observance of the food purity to the full possible development. A ḥaver had to be a pious and scrupulous person in his behavior.

Like all governments, Rome needed taxes to be collected to run smoothly. Rome farmed out to individual people the job of collecting taxes. Each tax collector was told how much he had to collect. Rome didn’t care how much the tax collector collected on top of that amount. Tax collectors were known to charge much more than the tax to line their pockets. People resented paying these exorbitant taxes after paying the mitzvot Torah obligates them for the upkeep of the Temple. They also felt that the tax collectors were collaborating with the enemy.

Some things never change especially about paying taxes. The Beatles summed up the high tax rate they had to pay in England in the song Taxman.

One, two, three, four
One, two (one, two, three, four!)

Let me tell you how it will be

There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman
Yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five per cent appear too small?
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cause I'm the taxman
Yeah, I'm the taxman

I'll tax the street
(If you try to sit, sit)
I'll tax your seat
(If you get too cold, cold)
I'll tax the heat
(If you take a walk, walk)
I'll tax your feet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMdcE8jdz70)

Being a tax collector during the Roman occupation was inconsistent to say the least with the vision, goals, and purpose of a ḥaver. Consequently, a tax collector could not be a ḥaver.

The Gemara proceeds to tell the following story about a tax collector who resigns and was re-accepted as a ḥaver. “The Gemara relates that one time the Sages needed Rav Huna bar Ḥiyya for a certain matter. Rabba and Rav Yosef and four hundred pairs of Sages ascended to his home. When he heard that they were coming, he tied for them four hundred chairs [takhtekei] to sit on. Eventually the Sages heard that he had become a tax collector. They sent him the following message: Go to your important position as a tax collector, and go to your former status, as we no longer need you. He sent to them the following message: I have repented and am no longer a tax collector. Rav Yosef did not go to him, but Rabba went to him.

“Rav Yosef said in explanation of why he did not go: We learn in a baraita that even if such an individual resigns from his position as a tax collector he is not accepted. Rabba said: We learn in the baraita that in later generations they went back to saying that if he resigns from his position as a tax collector he is like any other person and may be accepted once again as a ḥaver.” ( (TB Bekhorot 31a, Sefaria.org translation)

 

Paying teachers who teach Torah is a relatively new phenomena. TB Bekhorot 29

Daf TB Bekhorot 29 lists mitzvot one is not allowed to accept payment for. Surprisingly one is teaching Torah. “This halakha is also taught in a baraita: “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God commanded me” (Deuteronomy 4:5). Just as I learned from God for free, so too, you learned from me for free. And from where is it derived that if one cannot find someone to teach him for free that he should learn even by giving payment? The verse states: ‘Buy the truth, and do not sell it; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23). And from where is it derived that one should not say: Just as I learned by giving payment, so too, I will teach it by receiving payment? The verse states: ‘Buy the truth, and do not sell it.’” Sefaria.org translation)

“The Rambam (פרק ג' מהל' תלמוד תורה הלכה י') rules that it is forbidden to involve oneself in Torah alone and survive on Tzeddakah, and not do any other work which will enable him to earn a living, and to do this is in fact a Chillul Hashem, and a disgrace to the Torah, because it is prohibited for one to derive benefit from the words of Torah in this world; he then cites some of the sources presented above to back up this view that one must have a means of support for himself other than Torah.  The Rambam reiterates this position, albeit in brief, in his Peirush HaMishnayos in Nedarim (פרק ג' משנה ד'), and he rules this way as well elsewhere in his Mishneh Torah (פרק י' מהל' מתנות עניים הלכה י"ח), saying that even a great Talmid Chochom must engage, if necessary, in even a disgusting type of work rather than accept money from others, and he cites examples of Gedolei Yisrael who had menial jobs and refused to accept money offered to them by other people.  This position is also quoted by the Tur (יורה דעה סימן רמ"ו); in the Shulchan Aruch, the Ramo (שם סעיף כ"א) writes that one should not plan to become wealthy by being involved in Torah, because one who thinks that he will, will not achieve the crown of Torah, and then he too quotes the position cited by the Rambam (שם) and by the Tur (שם) prohibiting one to derive personal benefit from the Torah.” (Rabbi Michael Taubes, https://www.koltorah.org/articles/receiving-payment-for-teaching-torah-by-rabbi-michael-taubes)

Over time, practical economic realities made full-time unpaid Torah scholarship impossible, leading to widely accepted exceptions.

The Chasam Sofer too (שו"ת חתם סופר חלק חושן משפט סימן קס"ד) writes that because the Torah will be lost unless people will get paid to be involved in its study, it is permissible today to derive personal benefit from the Torah, and he says as well that the community must hire someone whose job it is to be available for Torah guidance.  Rav Moshe Feinstein (שו"ת אגרות משה יו"ד חלק ב' סימן קט"ז) agrees to this position as well, and encourages people to accept whatever rewards are necessary in order to continue to grow and develop in terms of Torah.  A full analysis of this subject, including a description of many of the sources cited above, is presented in the Sefer Shaarei Talmud Torah (שער ו' פרק ג'), while a brief synopsis is presented by the Mishnah Berurah, in his Biur Halacha (אורח חיים סימן רל"א בד"ה בכל), who notes that under certain conditions, even the Rambam would agree that one may get paid for one's involvement in Torah. (Rabbi Michael Taubes, https://www.koltorah.org/articles/receiving-payment-for-teaching-torah-by-rabbi-michael-taubes)

Here are some other rationalizations why teachers deserve to get paid today.

Compensation for Time (Sechar Batalah): Teachers are technically paid not for the sacred knowledge itself, but as compensation for lost working time or wages they could have earned elsewhere.

Childcare and Supervision: Payment for teaching young children is permitted because it includes watching, disciplining, and caring for the students rather than just pure instruction.

Written vs. Oral Law: Some authorities distinguished between the Written Torah (Mikra) and the Oral Law (Gemara/Talmud), though standard communal practice evolved to support rabbis and educators through full-time stipends.

Communal Need: Later authorities—such as Rabbi Yosef Karo (Kessef Mishneh)—ruled that setting aside the rule is permissible under the principle of Eis la'asos la-Shem (it is a time to act for God to keep Torah from being forgotten)

 

TB Bekhorot 26b Definition please

The first part of the Mishnah on daf TB Bekhorot 26b discusses the laws of bekhorot, firstborn cattle and sheep outside the land of Israel and the Temple no longer stands. In this situation the laws of the bekhorot are no longer consider Torah laws, but only rabbinic prohibitions. “Until when must an Israelite tend to and raise a firstborn animal before giving it to the priest? With regard to a small animal, e.g., a sheep or goat, it is thirty days, and with regard to a large animal, e.g., cattle, it is fifty days. Rabbi Yosei says: With regard to a small animal, it is three months.” (Sefaria.org translation) When the Temple stood in the land of Israel, the unblemished firstborn may be offered up as a sacrifice on the altar any time after eight days. A blemished animal may be eaten by the kohen any time he wishes after the same eight day waiting period.

The Gemara wants to know where the numbers 30 and 50 come from. Rav Kahana derives these numbers based on an interpretation of two verse by connecting the redemption of the firstborn with sheep and the 50 days of the omer between Passover and Shavuot with oxen.

“Rav Kahana said: They are derived from a verse, as the verse states: “You shall not delay to offer of the fullness of your harvest, and of the outflow of your presses; you shall give to Me your firstborn sons. So you shall do with your oxen, and with your sheep; seven days it shall be with its mother, on the eighth day you shall give it to Me” (Exodus 22:28–29). The second part of verse 28 is juxtaposed to the second animal mentioned in verse 29. This juxtaposition teaches that just as a firstborn son is redeemed when he is thirty days old (Numbers 18:16), so too a sheep is given to the priest only when it is thirty days old.

“The verses also state: “You shall not delay the fullness of your harvest, and of the outflow of your presses…So you shall do with your oxen” (Exodus 22:28–29). Just as the first fruits are brought on the festival of Shavuot, fifty days after Passover, so too the firstborn oxen are given to a priest when they are fifty days old. Here, the first part of verse 28 is juxtaposed with the first animal mentioned in verse 29.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The Gemara challenges these numbers and ask why not 60 days, the first 30 days plus another 30 days? “The Gemara answers: The interpretation of the verse with regard to the exact amount of time was given only to the Sages (לֹא מְסָרְךָ הַכָּתוּב אֶלָּא לַחֲכָמִים.), and they determined that the owner must take care of his ox for fifty days.” (Sefaria.org translation) “Since the Torah itself did not reveal the length of this additional waiting period, we can conclude with certainty that it gave you over to the Sage’s, who will explain to you the reason {for waiting precisely 50 days}, and you should comply with their teaching(Rashi)” (Art Scroll edition, page 26b4, note 28)  The Gemara is teaching us that the rabbis are not legislating law. They are just defining what the verse means.

Another example of this definitional role of the rabbis is the intermediate days of a holiday, Khol Hamoed-חוֹל הַמּוֹעֵד). These days are not holy days, moed, nor are they regular weekdays, khol. Some work is prohibited and some work is permitted. The rabbis are not legislating only defining what work is prohibited and what work is permitted.

Making each step count #Noakh#Noach#devartorah#parashathashavua

People who want to feel better, reduce stress, and shed unwanted pounds are discovering that walking may be the best exercise of all. A fitness philosophy of 10,000 steps a day, which first took hold in Japan, has gained popularity in other countries. Experts advise starting slowly and working toward a higher goal, realizing each day that every step counts.

It’s even more important to stay spiritually fit by “walking with God,” which the Bible describes as an intimate, growing relationship with the Lord. “Enoch walked with God for three hundred years” (Genesis 5:22). “Noah was a just man, righteous in his generations. Noah walked with God” (6:9).

We can walk with God. We talk with Hashem as we daven and at other times of the day, observe His commandments, and enjoy His presence. We trust His guidance when we cannot see what lies ahead. It is not just the destination that’s important, but the journey we take together.

There’s no better time than now to begin walking with God, because each day every step counts.

 

TB Bekhorot 18 The difference between teffilin and lulav when comes to borrowing the

Daf TB Bekhorot 18b discusses who is obligated of the giving the bekhor, the firstborn of a sheep or cattle, to the kohen when somebody gives another person a sheep to guard. That sheep is kept together with the homeowner’s sheep. Only one of the sheep is a firstborn. One of the sheep dies, but nobody knows which one was the firstborn. Rabbi Akiva holds the onus of proof that the living sheep is the firstborn lies upon the  kohen. “Rabbi Tarfon holds: The homeowner transfers to the priest a portion of his courtyard so that the priest should acquire the firstborn offspring located there, because it is suitable for him that the mitzva of giving the firstborn to a priest should be performed.” (sefaria.org translation)

The desire to observe a mitzvah is underlying principle Rabbi Tarfon’s approach. The owner of the courtyard wants to observe the law of the firstborn; consequently, he transfers a portion of his courtyard to be kohen so that the firstborn automatically goes to the kohen.

Rabbi Tarfon’s approach has a practical halakhic ramification. A person goes to shul and doesn’t have a pair of tefillin. He sees the teffilin laying on the bench. May he use them without asking permission? The Shulkhan Arukh Orakh Hayim, Siman 25, Seif 12 rules yes. The presumption is the owner of the tefillin is happy and please when a mitzvah is performed using his property.

Nevertheless, there are key conditions and limits.

·        Location: You may only use the tefillin in the exact area or room where the owner left them. You cannot take them home or to a different building.

·        Occasional Use Only: It must be an occasional or one-time use; you cannot borrow them regularly or systematically without asking.

·        No Objections: If you know or suspect the owner is particular (or if there is a note/sign forbidding use), you may not use them.

·        Cleanliness and Condition: The borrower must be clean and unkempt/sweat-free. If the owner is present, you should always ask rather than assume permission.

·        Restoration: If the straps or tefillin were folded when you found them, you must refold/tidy them back up after use.

Unlike teffilin this presumption that the owner of the  lulav and etrog is happy that a person is using his lulav and etrog without permission is not applicable. We learn that the lulav and etrog must be owned by the person and not borrowed or stolen on the first day of Sukkot. The Torah states, "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day..." (Leviticus 23:40).

The Hebrew word lakhem (לָכֶ֜ם/ "for yourselves") is interpreted by the Sages to mean that the four species must strictly belong to you, rather than being borrowed or stolen. This ownership requirement applies explicitly to the first day of Sukkot (or the first two days outside of Israel, where Yom Tov is observed for two days). From the second (or third) day onward, one may borrow someone else's set.

If someone wants to let another person use their lulav and etrog on the first day, they typically transfer legal ownership as a temporary conditional gift (matanah al t'nat le-hakhyil), after which the recipient can return it.

 

 

 

My response to Mamdani's October 7 tweet

October 8, 2026

Dear Mr. Mayor,

Yesterday should have been a day for New Yorkers to stand with the victims of  October 7^th , their families, and all still living with the trauma of Hamas’ unprovoked barbaric attack. If Hamas had not attacked Israel, Israel would not have entered into a war in Gaza sparing both life and property.

Instead you chose to respond to the grief of Jewish New Yorkers by advancing false and inflammatory attacks against Israel. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists whose charter demands the murder of all Jews worldwide. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who cruelly murdered over 1200 innocent civilians Jews, Arabs, and foreign workers and took around 230 hostages back into Gaza and held some of them for nearly 2 years. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who sexually abused some of those hostages.

Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who spread the lie about Israeli genocide in Gaza. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who built a tunnel system consisting of command centers, supply depots, and prison cells underneath hospitals, schools, mosques, and private homes. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who use their own civilians as human shields. Hamas prevented their own civilians to leave areas Israel warned that will be targeted. Hamas prevented their own civilians to enter their tunnel system whose length rivals the New York City subway system as bomb shelters. Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who stole humanitarian food aid from their fellow Gaza citizens and then sold it to them with a high markup.

Shame on you. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who padded the death toll with people who were part of the terrorist armed forces, who died of natural causes, and innocent civilians who were killed by their own missiles that fell short of the target, and innocent civilians. Taking all those people in account, the ratio of armed combatants to innocent civilians is 1:1, an unheard of low ratio especially in such a congested urban area. You chose to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists who murder their own people who protested against their rule.

By choosing to be on side the Hamas terrorists, murderers, and rapists, you not only inappropriately shifted the focus away from the victims of Hamas’ cruelty, but also placing Jewish New Yorkers at risk as anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to rise in our city.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Gary Greene

TB Bekhorot 7b If bees are not kosher, why is honey kosher?

The Mishnah on daf TB Bekhorot 5b teaches a very important kashrut law. “that which emerges from the non-kosher animal is non-kosher and that which emerges from the kosher animal is kosher.” (Sefaria.org translation) We can logically deduce that camel’s milk isn’t kosher because a camel isn’t a kosher animal and cow’s milk is because a cow is a kosher animal.

The Gemara asks and then answers despite the fact that a bee isn’t a kosher animal is honey is kosher for our consumption. “For what reason did the Sages say that the honey of bees is permitted? It is because they bring the nectar from the flowers into their body, but they do not excrete it from their body as a bodily excretion.” (daf 7b, Sefaria.org translation)

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz explains:

“…bees don’t make honey the same way that animals make milk or eggs, i.e., it’s not a product of their bodies. Rather, they make honey the way that you or I might make bread or a cake, i.e., by taking the necessary ingredients and processing them. 

“Honey is made from flower nectar, which is kosher. Bees don’t digest the nectar, they just mix it with saliva and store it in their honey sacs. In the hive, the bee regurgitates the honey, where it’s sealed in the honeycombs. Bees don’t secrete honey; you can squeeze bees all day long and you won’t get a drop. (Note: Don’t squeeze bees all day long.)

“There is a second opinion in the gemara that honey is permitted because of an inference from Leviticus 11:20: we may not eat non-kosher winged insects but we may eat the product of a non-kosher winged insect, specifically bee honey. This dissenting position only disagrees as to why honey is kosher; no one disagrees that honey is kosher.

“Royal jelly is different. Royal jelly is a secretion from glands in the bee. Unlike honey, royal jelly is a real product of the bee, and is therefore generally considered to be unkosher. One must also be careful of unfiltered honey that contains bee parts, which are not kosher. Honey could also be sold with non-kosher additives. It is therefore advisable to look for honey with appropriate kosher supervision.” (https://jewinthecity.com/2022/09/why-is-honey-kosher-if-bees-are-not/)

Bee honey is mentioned in the Bible several times, but “never is there an implication that it is a cultivated product. Apiculture developed many centuries later and is referred to in the time it. The ‘Biblical’ bees were wild bees, the honey they produced was considered public property. Anyone finding honey was free to eat his fill:

‘If you find honey, eat only what you need,
Lest, surfeiting yourself, you throw it up.’ Proverbs 25:16

‘Returning the following year to marry her, he (Samson)  turned aside to look at the remains of the lion; and in the lion’s skeleton he found a swarm of bees, and honey. He scooped it into his palms and ate it as he went along. When he rejoined his father and mother, he gave them some and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey out of a lion’s skeleton.’ (Judges 14:8-9)

‘Everybody (Saul’s army) came to a stack of beehives where some honey had spilled on the ground. When the troops came to the beehives and found the flow of honey there, no one put his hand to his mouth, for the troops feared the oath.’ (I Samuel 14:25-26)” (Nogah HarreuveniHareuveni, Nature in Our Biblical Heritage, page 12)

Interesting rabbinic tradition, Rashi, and other commentators identify the honey in the Bible as date honey or what is known as silan today and not bee honey.

Part of the Israelite declaration when handing his firstfruits to the kohen, he says: “Look down from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the soil You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.” (Deuteronomy 26:15) “This refers to dates” (Jerusalem Talmud Bikkurim 1:3)

“So, when GOD has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which was sworn to your fathers to be given you, a land flowing with milk and honey…” Text (Exodus 13:5) Rashi: “זבת חלב ודבש FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY — milk flows from the goats and honey flows from the dates and from the figs.”