A coincidence is just God working His miracles incognito Eruvin 50

Yesterday’s daf is in honor of my son Hillel’s birthday who was born on Yom Kippur.

I learned a new Talmudic principle when I studied yesterday’s daf TB Eruvin 50 on Yom Kippur. “Rabba said: Anything that cannot be accomplished sequentially even simultaneously it cannot be accomplished כׇּל דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ בְּזֶה אַחַר זֶה  אֲפִילּוּ בְּבַת אַחַת אֵינוֹ.” (Sefaria.org translation) The classic example of this principle at work is the following. A man is forbidden to marry two sisters (Leviticus 18:18).  If a man marries a woman with huppah and kidushin, he cannot marry his wife sister. Even if he gives her a ring and says the ritual formula for marriage, he is not married to his wife sister because the prohibition. If this bachelor stands before two sisters and gives them each a ring and says, “Behold, you both are betrothed to me with these rings…,” neither sister is betrothed based on this principle if you can’t do something sequentially, because it is prohibited by Jewish law or physically impossible, the action can’t be accomplished simultaneously either.

Abaye raised three objections to Rabba’s principle. Each objection was rejected because the situation described was unique; consequently, Rabba’s principal stands. Rabbi Abraham Twersky says that a coincidence is just God working his miracles incognito. Two of the three examples illuminate something about Yom Kippur.

The second case concerns the animal tithe מַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה, Three times a year, the owner of a herd of kosher animals would gather all the animals born during the preceding period into an enclosure and let them out one by one. Every tenth animal would be marked with red paint to indicate that it was sacred. (Adapted from Sefaria.org translation)This image of sheep being counted one by one is suggested in massekhet Rosh Hashana to be the inspiration for the prayer Unetaneh Tokef. “On this day we all pass before You, one by one, like a flock of sheep. As the shepherd counts his sheep, making each of them pass underneath his staff, so You review every living being, measuring the years and decreeing the destiny of every creature.”

The third case concerns the thanks-offering תּוֹדָה. 40 loaves of bread accompanied this sacrifice, 10 of which were matzot, unleavened bread. A person offered this thanks-offering in gratitude for what God had done for him. One person alone could not have finished the eating all the meat the sacrifice provided and the 40 loaves of bread within the 24 hour time limit. The best way a person to show his gratitude was to share the thanks-offering and 40 loaves of bread with family and friends especially when it had to be all eaten within 24 hours. Obviously, this sacrifice could not be offered up erev Yom Kippur because there would be no way all that food could be eaten before the fast began. Because Psalm 100, a Psalm of Thanksgiving מִזְמוֹר לְתוֹדָה, accompanied the thanks-offering, in remembrance of the Temple rite erev it is not recited Yom Kippur and on Yom Kippur day. Psalm 100 also is not recited on erev Passover and during this holiday because of the 30 loaves of leavened bread which is prohibited on Passover.