Yesterday’s daf TB baba Kama 51b and today’s daf TB Baba Kama 52 digresses and discusses acquisitions. We know that a person acquires property one of three ways, the transference of money, they transference of a sign document, and hazakah (חֲזָקָה), doing something that shows ownership. Does a person acquires a cistern (בּוֹר) by “one who sells a cistern to another, once the seller conveys his bucket to the buyer for drawing water from the cistern, the buyer acquires the cistern?” (Sefaria.org translation) Similarly, does a person acquire a house when the seller hands over the keys? We also know that a person acquires movable property by pulling it (מְשִׁיכָה) or by conveying it (מְסִירָה). When buying a flock of sheep, does the buyer acquire by the mashkukhit? “The Gemara asks: What is this mashkukhit? Here, in Babylonia, they translate it as a bell [karkashta] that the shepherd rings and whose sound the flock follows. Rabbi Ya’akov says: It is referring to the goat that goes at the front of the flock that they follow.” (Sefaria.org translation) The basic answer to all three questions is the buyer does acquire a cistern, house, or flock under those circumstances.
When it
comes to Torah study, I don’t believe in coincidences. My short devar Torah yesterday and the conclusion
of the above sugiya with deal with leadership. In
yesterday’s Torah portion, Vayigash Joseph sent his brother’s back to the land
of Canaan to bring the father back down to Egypt. “They went up from Egypt and
came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, “Joseph is
still alive; yes, he is ruler over the whole land of Egypt. His heart went
numb, for he did not believe them.” (Gen. 45:25-6) Menachem Mendel of Kotz
explained why Jacob didn’t believe it his sons. Joseph the Tzadik, a completely righteous person, couldn’t remain a tzadik and still be part of the
government. These two ideas contradict each other. Congressman George Santos
was expelled from Congress because of his many alleged crimes and the front
runner for the presidency of the GOP is a man who’s been indicted 91 times. The
court has already found him guilty of rape and fraud. These two examples seem
to prove the Kotzer Rebbe correct. Therefore it is incumbent upon us in the
upcoming special elections in primaries that we do our due diligence, and vote
for people or more like Joseph than George.
Today’s sugiya concludes with a warning how are
behavior impacts our leadership. “a certain Galilean taught in the presence
of Rav Ḥisda concerning this goat: When a shepherd is angry with his
flock, he renders the goat leading [lenaggada] them, i.e.,
the mashkukhit, blind. Similarly, when God is angry with the
Jewish people, he appoints unsuitable leaders for them.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Just as we
demand ethical public service, we must demand ethical behavior from ourselves.
Otherwise we get what we deserve.
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