Being right – Pesachim 2

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We all would like to be right all the time. But there are some dangers to have the right on your side without questioning it. I always had a distaste for people who claimed (or gave the impression that) they had morality on their…

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A people of rebels – Eruvin 98

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Joel, Eruvin 98 ends with a mishna that teaches -amongst other things- that one may stand in a private domain and move things in a public domain. This means, for instance, that if one is in his own house, and sees a potato on…

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Where do we live? – Eruvin 92

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Last week the weather was better than expected, and the Dutch Mule Corps, the Dutch Jewish motorcycle club -after some discussion of course- went for a ride. And what a ride it was! If you’re interested you can check out the first, second and…

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How to drink responsibly (Eruvin 65)

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Rav Sheishet is quoted to have said that the Jews should not be held responsible for their sins, as they were “drunk without having drunk wine” due to all the hardships they encountered during the continued state of exile. A lame excuse. Everyone is…

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Emotions (Eruvin 52)

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Joel – Todays daf also speaks about substance over form. The Gemara brings in Raba bar Rav Chanan whose custom it was to go from Artibbena to Pumbedita on Shabbat and formally acquired residence in Tzinta, which was located between the Shabbat limits of…

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Helping without knowledge (Eruvin 44)

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When a person is outside of the area he can walk (his techum, which is 2.000 amot from his residence), he is only allowed to walk an additional 4 amot (one ama is 6 handbreadths). There was an an incident which is recorded on…

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Every day anew (Eruvin 38)

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Various psalms mention this “new song”, but then the same old psalm follows. The solution: just as you can’t step into the same river twice, you can’t sing the same song twice. Every time a song is sung, it is different in intensity, stirs…

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