We finished tractate Bava Kama and had a siyum on finishing this tractate. The siyum was especially celebratory, as Efroni finished the entire Talmud! Efroni accomplished this over the last four years or so. For 3 of these years, he was serving in the IDF as a soldier, but was able to set aside time for Torah study. This is very inspiring to all of us, I know it inspires me to take a look at the daily daf!
From the final page of tractate Bava Kama, we learned that a carpenter can keep the saw dust from his work, as long as the work is performed on his premises, and he is using a adze, which is a tool that leaves small particles of saw dust. If the carpenter is working on the owners premises, or is using a tool like a hatchet, all scrap and dust becomes the property of the owner.
We continued our discussion of Torah v’Derech Eretz, from Leo Levy’s book. We learned that it is not appropriate to pay someone for doing tasks for which they have an obligation. For example, we have an obligation to teach each other Torah. However, it is appropriate to reimburse people for their expenses. So in many cases, we may pay a Torah scholar such as a Rabbi, however this pay is reimbursement for expenses, in the form of opportunity costs.
We discussed some more about the payment of judges. A judge has an obligation to not take a bribe. However there is no obligation for someone to not bribe a judge. This is to encourage bribe givers to talk and report their bribes. Obviously if one is going to get in trouble, he is motivated to keep his mouth shut. So we give automatic immunity to one of the parties, in order to encourage people to talk.
We discussed some more about how Judaism is a religion of obligations, and not a religion of rights. For example, we have an obligation to give tzedukah, however the needy do not have a right to this help. We all have an obligation to do our best to not put ourselves in a position of needing tzedukah. We discussed that we may need to work while studying Torah. This work may be serving in the army, as Efroni has done.
We discussed how doctors have an obligation to help heal people, so they can not "profit" from their activities. However, we have an obligation to reimburse them for their expenses, which includes the enormous opportunity cost they incur. We discussed how the work of doctors helps people. Eliona pointed out that this help can be mental as well as physical. Cosmetic surgeons in particular, help people mentally.
This Shabbos we discussed parsha Nitzavim, including commentary from Rav Yeager. We discussed how in the parsha we are told of our covenant with Hashem, that would not only be binding on us, but be binding on future generations as well. We discussed that with this covenant we and our children are guaranteed a “net plus” of rewards and benefits, so it is a great honor, and not necessarily unfair to be born into this.
We discussed the concept of free will that is mentioned in the parsha. We are all human, and have the freedom to choose whether or not to keep our part of the deal with Hashem. Hashem does not want us to be robots and automatically follow the covenant. He wants us to freely choose to follow the covenant.
We discussed how much of our judgement, is collective. On Rosh Hashanah, we should take inventory of how us as a whole are keeping the covenant. At the same time, we should do an inventory of ourselves. But much of the focus is on us as a community and nation.
Yaki shared that unlike many situations in life, with our holidays the order of things is judgement and then forgiveness. Yaki shared that on Rosh Hashanah, the focus is on judging the direction of our life rather than where we are absolutely. If we are not headed in the right direction, we have an opportunity to correct this during the period of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, if we are now headed in the right direction, we can be forgiven for where we are in an absolute sense. Even if we are in a good place absolutely, we all have room for more growth. None of us are Hashem, so none of us will ever be perfect.
David shared that on Rosh Hashanah we should not be negative and fearful because of the gap between where we are, and where we want to be. This applies to us in modern life, as well as the Jews when returning to Israel after the destruction of the temple. If we see a very large gap, and an enormous mountain to climb, we should still celebrate that we now have Hashem with us, and put the focus on the future (as we discussed last week), and celebrate where we are going.
We discussed how the Shofar wakes us up, to take inventory both as individuals and collectively, to make changes that will point us in the right direction. Rosh Hashanah is a festive day in which we celebrate our closeness with Hashem and how this relationship has and will benefit us. We discussed how just like with other Yom Tov, we want to wear our best clothes, and eat our best food.
David shared about the importance of being positive on this holiday. When we are positive, we are more likely to focus on our strengths. These create a base for us to build on. David shared that if there is no base then we are hopelessly trapped, as there is nothing to support and propel us into the coming year.
David shared that Hashem looks after our EM. I would also like to share that Hashem helps me remember and write these notes every week. I would like to wish everyone a Shana Tova, and thank you for your participation at our em and learning, and reading the notes. Our learning definitely helps have a positive and meaningful RH, I know it helps me.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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