Rabbi Abba was a Babylonian amora who straddled the second and third generation of Babylonian amorim. He was an outstanding student of Rav Huna and Rav Yehudah. Today’s daf TB Beitzah 38 tells us that he made aliyah and settled in the land of Israel. We go on to learn that he didn’t make a good first impression with the sages there.
The issue he addresses is one of
annulment (בִּיטוּל). In
halakhah, repeal by a majority (בִּיטוּל ברוב) is
a rule that branches off from a majority law in halakhah, and says that a mixture of something prohibited with something permitted, we
will rule this mixture according to the majority, i.e. the minority that
interfered with the majority will be annulled. The whole mixture shall be
permitted.[1]
Travel limitations of
2000 amot beyond the market area of a
town (תחום
שבת) on the Festival are the same as on Shabbat. The case under
discussion concerns a woman borrowing some ingredients she needs to bake her bread.
“And
similarly, a woman who borrowed spices from another to put in a dish,
or water and salt to put in her dough, these foods, i.e., the
dish and the dough, which contain ingredients belonging to both parties, are
as the feet of both of them; they are limited by the travel limitations of
both parties (Think of a Venn diagram. Since the women are part owners of the
dough, the dough can only travel in the common shaded area. -gg”) (Sefaria.org translation) Rabbi Abba applied the idea of
annulment to the travel limitations of 2000 amot.
“The Gemara relates: When
Rabbi Abba ascended from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael, he said: May it be
God’s will that I say a statement of halakha that will be
accepted by my listeners in Eretz Yisrael, so that I will not be put to
shame. When he ascended, he found Rabbi Yoḥanan, Rabbi Ḥanina bar
Pappi, and Rabbi Zeira, and some say he found Rabbi Abbahu, Rabbi Shimon
ben Pazi, and Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa, and they were sitting and saying
in a discussion of the mishna: Why is this the halakha with
regard to dough? But let the water and salt be considered nullified
in the dough, and the status of the dough should follow its flour rather
than its minor ingredients, such as water and salt. Rabbi Abba said to them:
“If one’s single kav
of wheat became mingled with ten kav of another’s wheat, shall the
latter eat all eleven kav and rejoice? One does not allow his
property to become nullified into someone else’s property. The same applies to
water and salt in dough. The Sages laughed at him. He said to them: Did I
take your cloaks from you that you are putting me to shame? They again
laughed at him.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
The Hatam Sofer
explains that Rabbi Abba’s prayer was inappropriate. He should not have prayed
that his teaching will be accepted or for self-aggrandizement that the sages would
think he is a great scholar. Rabbi Abba should have been concerned how it will be
received. He should have prayed that what he is teaching is correct. The goal
of all of our learning and life in general should be the ascertainment of truth.
The sages
should not have laughed so quickly. The discussion continues where I left off
and into tomorrow’s daf. Stay tuned.
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