This is the rule: Anything and everything in the Torah -- both written and oral -- is relevant and necessary for me to live my everyday -- so to speak -- mundane life. I know that is the rule and I believe it. None the less, it is often feels like "decree of the King"; I am forbidden wear mixtures of wool and linen, forbidden to eat bacon, the ashes of the red heifer make one clean and the other impure, and every word and story in the Torah -- written and oral -- is relevant to my daily life.
Take, for example, the medrash that the residents of the soon to be Eretz Yisrael spent the 40 years that Jews were "wandering" in the wilderness hiding their valuables in the walls of their houses. Later the Jews moved in and started normal life, including regular commerce and moving around. Houses would be sold and bought. It could be several dozens or even hundreds of years before the valuables were discovered in the walls. The question naturally arises, to whom does that property belong? The original owners were long gone, of course; and, anyway, there property was lost to the conquering nation (us). But did it belong to the current owners or to the previous owners? As well all know a person's courtyard (generally) works to acquire stuff for him, certainly his house.
The mishna says that the property belongs to the owner at the time it was found. Tosafos explains that something that is hidden in a way that it may never be found is not acquired till actually found. Fine, fine, the medrash turns out to be important to a mishna, which in turn requires an explanation by Tosafos. So that medrash has affected me now as part of my regular gemara learning, but that's still not my daily life.
The Ha'ga'os Ashri (I heard in a shiur by R' Shraga Kallus) uses this Tosafos in a case where a junk dealer found and then sold a lead box. The buyer (for whatever reason) scraped the side of the box and found it was actually a silver box covered in lead. Based on this Tosafos, which is explaining a mishna, which is describing the halachic consequences of the medrash, the Ha'ga'os Ashri paskens that the buyer -- not the junk dealer -- keeps the box, because the silver was not likely to be discovered. Fine, fine... so this medrash is relevant to an obscure halacha. Still not my daily life.
Later poskim discuss whether getting a rare bill in change is the same thing as the box. On the one hand, the money changer apparently doesn't know and is unlikely to discover the true value of this dollar bill; so maybe it's like the silver box covered in lead. On the other hand, it is not hidden from view; he just doesn't know its value. The generally accepted halacha (as I confirmed with R' Fuerst) is that the bill, or at least its value, belongs to the money changer, not the receiver.
Fine, fine, still a pretty obscure halacha; I mean, how often does that happen... um... wait... oops... just a few weeks ago I took a 20$ bill to the vasikin money changer, who gave me a 10$, a 5$, and five 1$ bills -- one of which looked a bit odd. Woo hoo! It was a 1957 silver certificate! The year I was born. I was so excited! It it more rare than a regular one dollar bill, and one in circulation is worth between two and four dollars. I though nothing more about it (except excitement at having bill that came into the world the same year that I did), until I heard that shiur by R' Shraga Kallus discussing that mishna, the Tosafos, the ha'Ga'os Ashri, and the rare bill case. That night is when I clarified with R' Fuerst that I did, in fact, owe the extra value back to the vasikin tzedaka box.
So that medrash just obligated my in returning three dollars. That's pretty darn daily, mundane life!
One question: what was the status of that three dollars in my pocket? Was it lost or stolen money that I was returning? What difference does that make? Watch for an upcoming TftD real soon, בעזרת השם.
Take, for example, the medrash that the residents of the soon to be Eretz Yisrael spent the 40 years that Jews were "wandering" in the wilderness hiding their valuables in the walls of their houses. Later the Jews moved in and started normal life, including regular commerce and moving around. Houses would be sold and bought. It could be several dozens or even hundreds of years before the valuables were discovered in the walls. The question naturally arises, to whom does that property belong? The original owners were long gone, of course; and, anyway, there property was lost to the conquering nation (us). But did it belong to the current owners or to the previous owners? As well all know a person's courtyard (generally) works to acquire stuff for him, certainly his house.
The mishna says that the property belongs to the owner at the time it was found. Tosafos explains that something that is hidden in a way that it may never be found is not acquired till actually found. Fine, fine, the medrash turns out to be important to a mishna, which in turn requires an explanation by Tosafos. So that medrash has affected me now as part of my regular gemara learning, but that's still not my daily life.
The Ha'ga'os Ashri (I heard in a shiur by R' Shraga Kallus) uses this Tosafos in a case where a junk dealer found and then sold a lead box. The buyer (for whatever reason) scraped the side of the box and found it was actually a silver box covered in lead. Based on this Tosafos, which is explaining a mishna, which is describing the halachic consequences of the medrash, the Ha'ga'os Ashri paskens that the buyer -- not the junk dealer -- keeps the box, because the silver was not likely to be discovered. Fine, fine... so this medrash is relevant to an obscure halacha. Still not my daily life.
Later poskim discuss whether getting a rare bill in change is the same thing as the box. On the one hand, the money changer apparently doesn't know and is unlikely to discover the true value of this dollar bill; so maybe it's like the silver box covered in lead. On the other hand, it is not hidden from view; he just doesn't know its value. The generally accepted halacha (as I confirmed with R' Fuerst) is that the bill, or at least its value, belongs to the money changer, not the receiver.
Fine, fine, still a pretty obscure halacha; I mean, how often does that happen... um... wait... oops... just a few weeks ago I took a 20$ bill to the vasikin money changer, who gave me a 10$, a 5$, and five 1$ bills -- one of which looked a bit odd. Woo hoo! It was a 1957 silver certificate! The year I was born. I was so excited! It it more rare than a regular one dollar bill, and one in circulation is worth between two and four dollars. I though nothing more about it (except excitement at having bill that came into the world the same year that I did), until I heard that shiur by R' Shraga Kallus discussing that mishna, the Tosafos, the ha'Ga'os Ashri, and the rare bill case. That night is when I clarified with R' Fuerst that I did, in fact, owe the extra value back to the vasikin tzedaka box.
So that medrash just obligated my in returning three dollars. That's pretty darn daily, mundane life!
One question: what was the status of that three dollars in my pocket? Was it lost or stolen money that I was returning? What difference does that make? Watch for an upcoming TftD real soon, בעזרת השם.
Comments