We come across one of the most famous vignettes in the
Talmud in today’s daf TB Shabbat 49. Just a little background before we go and
study the text. Today the tefillin boxes containing the scrolls are hard and we
generally put them on for the morning service, Shacharit. Back in Talmudic times
their tefillin were not like ours. The boxes that contain the scrolls were soft
and men wore them all day long.
Under the leadership of Bar Kochba the Jews rebelled against
the Roman Empire the second time between 132-135 C.E. Ultimately, the Romans
crushed the rebellion but at a great cost. Knowing that the Jews were a stubborn
people and were likely to rebel again, they did everything in their power to
prevent this from happening. They made Jerusalem a pagan city, renamed it as Aelia
Capitolina, and prohibited Jews from entering it. They also promulgated
laws prohibiting the observance of Judaism on pain of death. During the Yom
Kippur service we read about the 10 martyred rabbis of this period who
continued to observe and teach the Torah and paid the ultimate price. Rabbi
Akiva is the most well-known of these martyrs. Now onto the story.
“GEMARA: Since
doves’ wings were mentioned in the mishna, the Gemara cites a related story: Rabbi
Yannai said: Donning phylacteries requires a clean body, like that
of Elisha, Man of Wings. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of
the statement that donning phylacteries requires a clean body? Abaye said:
It means that one may not break wind while donning them. Rava said:
It means that one may not sleep in them.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Tosefot gives a
third reason we don’t wear tefillin at night lest we fall asleep with them on. Tefillin
are as holy as a Torah scroll because they are identical in many ways. The tefillin
boxes contain four different passages from the Torah. These passages are written
exactly as a Torah scroll is written, on parchment, with special natural ink, and
with a quill by a scribe. Since the tefillin are holy we should always be
mindful of what they symbolize and mean. When we are asleep, we cannot be
mindful of them at all. Consequently, Jewish law forbids wearing tefillin at
night.
“The Gemara asks: And why did they call Elisha Man
of Wings? Because on one occasion the evil kingdom of Rome issued a decree
against Israel that, as punishment, they would pierce the brain of
anyone who dons phylacteries. Nevertheless, Elisha would don them and
defiantly go out to the marketplace. One day, an official [kasdor]
who was appointed to enforce the decree saw him; Elisha ran away from
him, and the official ran after him. When the official reached
him, Elisha removed the phylacteries from his head and held them
in his hand. The officer asked him: What is that in your hand?
Elisha said to him: It is merely a dove’s wings. A miracle was
performed: He opened his hand, and, indeed, it was found to be a
dove’s wings. Therefore, in commemoration of this miracle, they
would call him Elisha, Man of Wings.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Today’s daf also gives to explanations how the rabbis came
to the conclusion that there were 39 prohibited activities (מלאכות). “Rabbi Ḥanina
bar Ḥama said to them: They correspond to the labors in the Tabernacle. All
types of labor that were performed in the Tabernacle are enumerated as primary
categories of labor with respect to Shabbat. However, other labors, even if
they are significant, are not enumerated among the primary categories of labor
since they were not performed in the Tabernacle. Rabbi Yonatan, son of Rabbi
Elazar, said to them that so said Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yosei ben
Lakonya: They correspond to the instances of the words labor, his
labor, and the labor of, that appear in the Torah a total of forty-less-one
times.” (Sefaria.org translation) I
encourage you to go to Shabbat 49b to continue learning about this
disagreement.
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