Prayer Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:03 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Prayer Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Good morning, it's so wonderful to be here Today. We are resuming our prayer podcast and we are up to the last part of what we call the korbanot, the offerings section of the morning prayer, the introductory prayers Before we begin. God willing, next week we're going to learn about the Kaddish and we're going to then begin the psuche de zimra, the verses of praise that we recite every morning, and it is really an incredible journey and I'm grateful that I'm able to learn and hopefully share this journey together with all y'all. Okay, so what is the last part of the offerings section of prayer? That is, reb Yishmael's b'raisa. Okay, what's the Reb Yishmael's Breisa? Okay, what's the Rebbe Yishmael's Breisa? Rebbe Yishmael's Breisa?

01:07
A Breisa is a teaching of the Talmud that was not inserted into the Talmud, so not every part of the Talmud was put into the Talmud. Some parts were then put into the Midrash, like this one was put into the introduction of the Sifra, which is the Midrash on the book of Leviticus, and Rabbi Shmuel made a compilation of all of the different ways in which you can learn the Torah. There are different tools that are required in order to understand the Torah that there are different tools that are required in order to understand the Torah. A brisa is a compilation of teachings and traditions from the Tanakhim, the early sages, that was not included in the Mishnah but is used in the Talmud to support or clarify discussions. The Aramaic term brisa translates to external, milgav umilabar, external, referring to teachings that were kept outside the final version of the Mishnah. Okay, so now what's this Breisa?

02:15
We're going to go through the Breisa in a minute, but I want to just talk a little bit about the importance of it and why we recite it as part of our prayer. We don't learn other things, other parts of Talmud. So remember, we mentioned that it's important for every person to learn written Torah, mishnah and Talmud every day. It's very important and we do that because we read earlier. We read verses from the Torah we read in Mishnah. If you remember last episode, we talked about the Eizahu Mekoman, which was a Mishnah, in Tractate Zavachim, chapter 5. We did that whole chapter and that's a part of what we study. And now we're learning a Breisa, which is fulfilling the obligation of studying a piece of Talmud every day. So by reciting these, we fulfill all aspects of Torah study.

03:09
But there's something more. The Zohar tells us that all of Torah is a form of Hashem's name. When we study Torah, what are we doing? We're not just learning laws. We're not just learning instruction. We're learning God's communication. We're learning God's name. That's essentially what we're doing, which is why you can sometimes come.

03:37
I know I've had this before. I studied by my rabbi. I didn't always understand what he was talking about. I had no idea. Sometimes I had no idea I would come in, no idea what he's talking about. By the time I left an hour later, I was no smarter than I was when I walked in. But I was uplifted Because you're conversing in the name of Hashem and that's transformative. And that's what we're doing when we learn these principles. And it teaches us how to apply the Torah, teaches us how to apply the guidelines of Hashem's name.

04:16
Hashem's design descends into this world through His 13 channels. We know the 13 attributes of mercy. These 13 principles are the biblical teachings through which those channels are transmitted. Our sages tell us that they're parallel one to the other. Each of the 13 attributes of mercy parallel each of these 13 principles of rabbi ishmael in how to learn the torah. The 13 principles parallel the 13 attributes of mercy. They bring compassion into life. They bring compassion into our world.

05:01
Okay, we know that the number 13 is a very powerful number. You know there were 13 rivers in the Garden of Eden. We know that there are 13 times that we recite the word baruch, which means blessed, in the beginning of our morning morning prayers in our baruch Sha'amar. We have 13 praises of Hashem in the Yishtabach, which is at the end of that section. We have 13 blessings of request in the Amidah. We have 13 names of Hashem in the Ten Commandments. We have 13 fires that are listed in the portion of Vayet Hanan talking about Moshe's prayer, the fire of the offerings, 13 times.

05:51
13 times in last week's Torah portion, in Genesis. 13 times the word light is mentioned during creation and we know that when a boy turns 13, when a girl turns 12, but particularly 13, he is now elevated to an adult status. He has a bar mitzvah. It says about Gan Eden, about the Garden of Eden. 13 times in the portion of Genesis of Bereshit. And we know that Echad, we say Hashem, elokeinu, hashem, echad, hashem, our God is one. Echad is the numerical value of 13. And we know that Hashem loves us. The first commandment in the Shema is V'ahavta and you should love Hashem Ahava is the numerical value of 13. You guessed it. So we see, the number 13 is very, very essential in our communication with God, and it's not a coincidence that Rabbi Shmuel was able to define the study of Torah into 13 different categories.

06:59
The study of Torah means there's different ways in which we can understand and derive Torah. We have to know something else very important this is something fundamental and that is that rabbis cannot make up rules. Rabbis cannot make up laws. Everything that's in the Torah is locked in. It's God's Torah that he gave to us. We can't add to it, we can't subtract from it, we can't change it. This is God's prescription for how the world operates, for how the world operates, and, as such, we need to understand the principles through which we can derive Jewish law. So, for example, we want to know is it prohibited or permitted for me to ride an elevator on Shabbat? Well, the Torah doesn't talk about elevators. The Torah doesn't talk about electricity. The Torah doesn't talk about a diesel engine pickup truck. So what am I going to do now? How do I apply this? Well, these are the 13 principles of application. You're not changing the rules of the Torah. You're applying it through the fundamental principles delineated here in this Bressa. So it's crucial for us to understand these principles. We're not going to go into all of them, we're going to explain just a few of them, but it's important for us to know and to remember that these 13 principles are the essence of the Torah that we have today.

08:33
The famous Reb Nassim from Breslov explains that Hashem can be understood in general and in specific ways. You can see God in a very general way, which is I know that Hashem runs the world. Then, in a very specific way, I can internalize his mitzvahs, his commands, I can make it mine. When we learn something, we're making it his mitzvahs, his commands, I can make it mine. When we learn something, we're making it personal. We're taking something which is out there in general, out there in the world, and I'm making it mine. It's not just out there, it's not just the general. Yeah, in theory, we believe there's a God. Yeah, I know that Hashem is creator of heaven and earth. Yeah, I believe that there's a God. Yeah, I know that Hashem is creator of heaven and earth. Yeah, I believe that. But how do I make it personal? How do I make it mine? We make that through the study of Torah, with the Torah we study becomes our own, where the Talmud says that when someone comes to the heavenly courts, after we pass on from this world, they ask us did you study Torah? No, that's not what they say. Is Talmud be Yaddo? Is it in your hand? Is it yours In your hand? Not that you did I just study. There's one level of study, but then there's another level of making it our own, adding to it, making it personal, making it mine, owning it. It's my Torah. I'm able to come up with new ideas. I'll just warn you about that.

10:01
I said this story not long ago, but I'll repeat this. I once went to my rabbi and I was very excited because I was learning the Parsha, the weekly Torah portion, and I had a really interesting idea. So I go to my rabbi and I tell him my idea and he really liked it and he says, okay, what's your source? And I looked at him what do you mean? What's my source? I have no source. So he closes the book and says find a source and then come back to me.

10:33
You can't just say ideas. It's fundamental, it's a fundamental principle. You have to have a source and then come back to me. You can't just say ideas. It's fundamental, it's a fundamental principle. You have to have a source for things and when we learn things here in our class don't just say, oh, the rabbi said it, that's the way it is. The rabbi said it. He's not going to lie to us. No, what's your source, rabbi? Bring the source Now.

10:55
Typically I don't declare the sources in middle of class because then you'll have people say one second, where is it the Zohar? Where exactly? What chapter? Then it becomes an interruption for the class. You said tractate Sanhedrin, how do I spell that? And then it becomes complicated for people to so after class I've had many, many people after class ask me Rabbi, you said something, what's your source for that? And I will always share the source. I have my own notes here where I write the sources for what I teach.

11:30
So the 13 principles teach us that we can live the world to come in this world. We can live Gan Eden, we can live the Garden of Eden right here. And that's through the study of Torah. Rebbe Kiva Eger, one of the great sages of yesteryear. He said asked him what do you want in Olam Haba, like in the world to come? Hopefully we'll all attain that. What do you want in Olam Haba, like in the world to come? Hopefully we'll all attain that. What do you want? He says all I want. Give me a Torah, give me a Talmud and give me a shtender, a something to hold it up. That's it. That's for me. I'm good, that's what I need. I don't need anything else. We should all be blessed to merit to that.

12:18
So let's learn a little bit of these, let's read it and then we'll go to explain it. Those of you who are online and not in our class here live in the classroom, and those of you who are on Zoom. In the description of this episode you'll have a link to a folder and that folder will have the printout so you'll be able to follow along with us. Rabbi Shmuel Omer. Rabbi Shmuel says I'm going to read it from the Arts Girl.

12:48
The Torah is elucidated through 13 rules. I'm going to read it first in Hebrew Hebrew. And then I'll read it in English l'lamad al atzme yotzo elo. L'lamad al kol kulo yotzo Kol dover. Shehaya b'chal v'yotze liton ton achar shehu kinyonu yotze l'hakir v'lo l'hachmir Kol dover. Shehaya b'chal v'yotze liton ton achar shehlo kinyonu yotze l'hakir u l'h. And then there's a special prayer that we recite when we're done this. When we're done reciting this, this Breisa, may it be your will, hashem, our God and God of our ancestors, that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and give us our share in your Torah. Okay, give us our share in your Torah, and may we us our shir in your Torah, and may we serve you there in reverence, as in the days of old and as in former years.

14:23
So what is a kalvachomer? We're going to go through a few of them, a few examples, and then we'll hopefully get a basic understanding. So the basic methodology of kalvachomer, which is the first one, the first methodology, the first principle, is what's known in Latin as a fortuori, and that means a stronger case. So let's give an example of this. If I tell you that Mr A is stronger than Mr B and Mr B can lift 100 pounds, so can Mr A lift 100 pounds? Well, he can at least lift 100 pounds, and this is the rule. You can't add to it. He can do at least that, so he can lift 100 pounds. I don't know if he can lift 101 pounds. I know for sure he can lift 100 pounds, and when we deal with a Calvachomer. That's what we can learn, that's it. We can learn that at least that he can do.

15:24
I'll give you another example, a very practical example that we've given multiple times. If the doctor tells you, listen, your diabetes is very serious and you cannot have a teaspoon of sugar, I come to your house and I see you drinking a whole bottle of sugar. I'm like, didn't your doctor say that you can't drink a teaspoon of sugar? He says, yeah, he said a teaspoon, he didn't say a whole bottle, right. But what do we know? It's a fortuary, right? The idea is it's obvious, it's right, it's obvious. Okay.

15:59
So the Torah gives us examples of a kalvachomer where we have something which is easier that we learn to something which is more severe. For example, the Torah tells us that Yom Tov is just like Shabbos, except for food preparation, which is permitted on Yom Tov on holiday. So a Jewish holiday is like Shabbos, with all the laws, except for preparation for food. In other words, the laws of Shabbos are known to be more stringent than those of holiday of Yom Tov. If something is known to be permitted on Shabbos, then kalvachomer meaning for to worry, it must be permitted on Yom Tov. Conversely, if something is known to be prohibited on Yom Tov on holiday kalvachomer it must be prohibited on Shabbos. Okay, so now we understand the kalvachomer. The Torah itself gives us an example of a kalvachomer, and this is in Numbers, the book of Numbers, chapter 12, verse 14.

17:05
After reprimanding Miriam, god sent her out of the camp for a week. Moshe asks for clemency for his sister, but God replied if her father had spit in her face, wouldn't she hide her face in shame for seven days? Definitely, if she would hide for a week after being chastised by her father, kalvar Chomer, she should leave the camp for a week after being chastised by God. Right, if her father did that to her, she'd be so embarrassed. If God is angry at her, she'd be so embarrassed If God is angry at her, shouldn't she? Now, that doesn't mean so logically, she should have to go out for two weeks, right, because it's you know, that's the way it works, right? It's more severe, no, no, no, no, we don't learn more than it, but at least it. If she would have left for seven days. Now she leaves for seven days and that's exactly how she was punished. She was punished for seven days, specifically seven days, and not more.

18:12
Okay, you want to do one more. One more methodology. Methodology number two Gezer HaShava. What's a Gezer HaShava?

18:19
A Gezer HaShava is a tradition of a known rule applying to a new case based upon an identical word or phrase in both cases. So if I use the same word, the exact same word, in two different places, you can now apply similar rules to both of them. For example, the Torah uses the word b'mo'ado, which is in its proper time, when referring to the Pesach offering. It also uses the word b'mo'ado referring to the daily Tamid offering, which is what we spoke about previously in the prayer podcast, both of them in numbers. Just as the Karban Tamid was brought in its proper time, even on Shabbos, so too the Pesach offering, the Paschal offering, was also to be offered in its proper time, that is, even on Shabbos, and this Gzer Shabbos put forth in the Talmud. The Talmud learns this why? Because it uses the same terminology and because it uses the same word. Because it uses the same terminology and because it's the same word, because it uses the same word, we apply the rules to both of them.

19:31
Another example we are told that a paid watchman who has had an object in Kir stolen must take an oath that he didn't lay his hands on what he was given to watch. So, for example, if I pay you to watch my wallet and then it gets stolen from you, so you have to come now to the Jewish court and you have to give an oath that you did not steal it. The Talmud clarifies that the oath is only between the two parties, not between their ears. Okay, if one of the parties should die before the case is settled, their children, their inheritors, cannot demand that oath, demand that oath. The details of the oath are not told to us regarding an unpaid watchman, but the Talmud applies them in that case as well, based upon the phrase that says that he did not lay hands in his fellow's property, which is found. Regarding the paid guardian as well, the same exact terminology and regarding an unpaid guardian in Exodus 22.

20:52
Unlike a kalvachomer, which is a strictly logical argument that anyone can propose, a gzereshaveh can only be put forth based upon a received tradition. So it means there's no gzerah shaveh that you can come up with now, unless it's already in the Talmud. A kalvachomra you can apply today, but it's a logical argument, but you cannot apply that same rule to a gzerah shaveh. Okay, and now we'll do one more. Okay, a binyan av, which is the third principle, the third methodology. A binyan av is a rule derived from a verse or from two verses that is applied to all cases that are similar to the one in the verse. So here are some examples the permission to prepare food on Yom Tov, on holiday, was only stated in regards to Pesach, only regarding Pesach. It says that From a Binyan Av, we apply this rule to all holidays, to Sukkot, to Shavuot as well. They're all in the same category of holiday and therefore, even though it doesn't say that specific principle, that permission of preparing food on Sukkot and Shavuot, we learn it as Binyan Av that it applies to them as well.

22:15
In Deuteronomy 19, verse 15, specifies that the testimony of one witness is inadmissible. From a Binyan Av, which is this principle, this methodology, it is determined that any place the Torah says witness, without such specification, it refers to testimony in general, which requires two witnesses. Over here, because it says one witness, it's specifically if it says that, but when it just says witness, it's specifically if it says that. But when it just says witness, it needs to be two witnesses. The Torah prohibits a man from marrying his sister, including a half-sister on his mother's side. When the Torah discusses the prohibition against marrying one's father's sister, we know from Abinion Av that this includes his father's maternal half-sister. Okay, so you understand, we have to, we learn to apply this. Okay, the Talmudic term Tzad HaShaveh, which is the equal means, an aspect in common, in common is used to determine what cases are similar for the purposes of applying laws from one case to another, and the Talmud analyzes the Torah's cases of fire and a pit in the public thoroughfare in order to apply laws from those cases to other forces and obstacles that might cause damage. We see this in the Talmud and which talks about different damages. So it's very important to understand.

23:51
We only did three of them. There are 13 of them and there's so much to learn to understand that Torah is not just a simple document that, yes, we can learn it on a very simple level. We can open up and we should, and I encourage everyone. Take a chumash, take your Torah, read it. We're only in the second portion. You can even catch up.

24:12
If you didn't do Bereshit, you do Bereshit. Read it, learn it, do Noach this Shabbos is going to be Parshas Noach and every week, do the portion of the week. It will enrich your life in ways that you can never imagine, you can never thought it was possible. Nope, we're done All right. My dear friends, this concludes this episode of the prayer podcast, and I want to thank you all for assisting me in this journey of learning together, of growing together, of elevating our prayers together and, hopefully, next week we will be looking into the special, special prayer that's recited so many times daily. It's something that we're all connected to, it's something that we all are familiar with, and that is the Kaddish. My dear friends, have a great week, drive safely. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for listening.

25:07 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.