The Weekly Shtikle - Lech Lecha

This week's parsha begins with Avraham, (then known as Avram), being commanded to leave his homeland to a "land to be named later." This is one of the ten tests which Avraham faced throughout his life. R' Ephraim Eisenberg, z"l, in the name of his father-in-law R' Mordechai Gifter, z"l, asks a rather simple question. Leaving one's homeland to an unknown destination is indeed a difficult venture and worthy of note. But surely it pales in comparison to the challenge that Avram faced in Ur Kasdim where he entered a burning furnace rather than give up his belief in HaShem. Why does the move from Charan get explicit attention while the experience at Ur Kasdim is barely hinted to?

 

Ramban (46:15) deals specifically with the omission of the Ur Kasdim episode, despite the great miracle that occurred there. He writes that only miracles which are predicted by prophets are recorded in the Torah. R' Gifter addresses the difference between Ur Kasdim and lech lecha. He says that if one truly and absolutely embraces a certain set of beliefs, it is easily possible to make this belief such an integral part of one's being that he will sacrifice his life in defense of it. As noble as martyrdom is, to the martyr, it is almost logical. Today, we are unfortunately all too familiar with a perverted version of this reality. To Avraham, belief in HaShem was so essential to his existence that giving his life for it came almost naturally. Leaving his home, however, is something that Avraham did not quite comprehend. After all, he did not even know where he was going. This was not something that came naturally to him. It was therefore a clearer demonstration of Avraham's absolute dedication to HaShem's every command, much like the test of akeidas Yitzchak.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: King #5

Dikdukian: Vekoyei (le'iluy nishmas Dedi, a"h)

AstroTorah: Quality not Quantity by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The Uncountable Stars

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

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The Weekly Shtikle - Noach

There has been a question bothering me this whole week. It will seem somewhat simplistic at first – so much so that even a preschooler might know the answer. Why did Noach send the birds out as scouts? (Indeed, the purpose of the initial sending of the raven is a matter of dispute.) Now, it should be rather obvious. After all, it states clearly in the pasuk (8:8) that this was done to see if the waters had decreased. But was the actual purpose of knowing that? In the pesukim that follow it is clear that Noach did not seem to follow up once he confirmed that the waters had in fact decreased when the dove did not return. He eventually observed for himself that the land was dry. And then he exited when instructed by HaShem. So, what was the ultimate intention behind Noach's actions?

I did finally find a comment by Panei'ach Raza which offers some insight on this. He is actually addressing a separate difficulty – why did Noach simply sit back and trust that HaShem would take him out in the right time? Why did he feel he needed his own intervention to be aware of the current conditions? He answers (quoting another source) that Noach did not know when his time inside the ark was going to end. He only had a finite amount of food on board. He needed to know if he was getting close to being able to leave in order to gauge whether he needed to ration the food.

I feel this topic is still in need of further discussion, especially since Panei'ach Raza himself is not happy with this approach. I welcome any suggestions.

***

On the lighter side (since, as illustrated below, the teiva was quite heavy): A good friend of mine and noted author, Mordechai Bodek, wrote a humourous book called Extracts From Noah's Diary. Check it out!

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Al Pi Cheshbon: The Weight of the Teiva and The Constant Rate of Recession 
AstroTorah: Sailing the Friendly Skies by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The World's First Boat?

AstroTorah: Interesting Calendrical Facts About the Mabul

Dikdukian: Noach's Three Sons

Dikdukian: Different Ways to Wake Up

Dikdukian: Take it Easy

Dikdukian: Geshem vs. Gashem

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Bereishis

Today, 28 Tishrei, is the 22^nd yahrtzeit of my dear friend, Daniel Scarowsky, z"l.

This week's shtikle is dedicated leiluy nishmaso, Daniel Moshe Eliyahu ben Yitzchak.

 

The shtikle is dedicated as a zechus for all of our brethren in Eretz Yisrael who are enduring the current ordeal, specifically those who are on the front lines defending our nation, including many close family members.

 

The Torah (1:16) refers to the sun and the moon as shnei hame'oros hagedolim, the two large luminaries but concludes by referring to the sun as the maor hagadol and the moon as the maor hakaton. On this pasuk there is the well-known Rashi, quoting the Midrash, that the moon and the sun were created equal but the moon complained that "two kings cannot share one crown." Therefore, it was reduced to a smaller luminary. However, this is certainly an allegorical understanding of the pasuk. What, then, is the simple understanding?

In In the Beginning: Biblical Creation and Science, a fascinating book reconciling the Biblical account of creation with modern science, Professor Nathan Aviezer offers an eye-opening interpretation. An astronomical body is measured both by its true size and by its apparent size or angular diameter. The apparent size specifies how large it appears to an observer on Earth. This figure is the ratio of the true size of the object to its distance from the Earth. This figure is expressed as the angle that the object subtends from the position of an observer on Earth. That means, if you were pointing to the bottom of the object, the apparent size is the number of degrees you must rotate your arm to be pointing at the top of the object. The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon. It is also exactly 400 times further away from Earth. As a result, the apparent size for the sun and moon are identical at 0.53 degrees! Even a layman will observe this as the moon fits exactly in front of the sun in a total solar eclipse, (such as the one this coming April.) Now we can understand the pasuk as follows: The first part of the pasuk is referring to the point of view of an Earth observer. From our point of view, the sun and moon are the biggest heavenly bodies and in fact, appear identical in size. The second part of the pasuk refers to the true size of the sun and moon.

Some friends of mine have offered alternative ways to understand the second part of the pasuk. While the first part may refer to the size, the second refers to the degree of illumination as the sun provides far more light than the moon. (This is notwithstanding the assertion of the wise men of Chelm that the moon is greater because it provides light in the darkness when we need it while the sun only provides light during the day.) Additionally, the moon is in fact the same size only when it is full. For most of the month, as it waxes and wanes, even in its size it is inferior to the sun. (Credit: Dr. Ari Brodsky)

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Do you Sea what I Sea

Dikdukian: And the Days Was
AstroTorah: Emunah in Time and Space

AstroTorah: The Two Luminaries

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shemini Atzeres / Simchas Torah

Our night seder chaburah is concluding meseches Taanis. On that occasion, I repurposed this older shtikle and used it to answer another difficult gemara.

 

On Shemini Atzeres we begin to recite "mashiv haruach umorid hagashem" as discussed at the beginning of the masechta. If one is unsure if they said it, Tur (OC 114) writes that this uncertainty, like many uncertainties in halachah, is decided by means of chazakah. That is, after thirty days of reciting the phrase properly, it is considered habitual and if one is uncertain as to whether or not they have recited it, they may assume that they have. Within the thirty days one must assume that they have not become accustomed enough and have likely omitted it and must repeat shemoneh esreih.

 

Tur cites a tactic from Maharam miRutenberg (and adds that his father, the Rosh agreed to this) to remedy this problem even within the first thirty days. On Shemini Atzeres, he would recite the beginning of the second blessing until "mashiv haruach, etc." 90 times corresponding to the 90 times he would say it during the 30 days. This allowed him to be considered accustomed immediately and if he ever was unsure whether or not he said "mashiv haruach" he would not have to repeat shemoneh esreih.

 

Tur also cites the source for this trick. The mishnah (Bava Kamma 23b) relates a dispute between R' Yehudah and R' Meir regarding the establishment of an ox as a goring ox (muad.) The pasuk (Shemos 21:29) teaches that if an ox has gored already yesterday and the day before, i.e. three times, it is considered "muad," prone to gore and the consequences change. R' Yehudah takes the words of the pasuk literally and requires that three gorings take place on three separate days. R' Meir, however, considers an ox prone for goring even if it gored three times in one day. His reasoning, employed by Maharam miRutenberg, is that if spaced out gores establish the ox as prone, certainly more frequent gores will establish the same. So too, if the recitation of "mashiv haruach" 90 times in 30 days establishes one as accustomed, certainly doing so in one day should accomplish the same.

 

The Magen Avraham and Ta"z attack this reasoning as the halachic conclusion of the gemara is in accordance with R' Yehudah. How then can Maharam MiRutenberg employ the reasoning of R' Meir?

 

It would seem the same question could be asked in a later gemara (21b.) Three residents of Drokart died on a single day and Rav Nachman bar Chisda declared a fast. This is recounted in the gemara immediately after it is explained, expounding upon the mishnah, that the prerequisite for a plague is three deaths spread out over three consecutive days. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, justifies his contemporary's ruling as being in accordance with R' Meir's opinion in Bava Kamma mentioned above. Here, too, how could Rav Nachman bar Chisda declare a fast based on an opinion which is not accepted?

 

The Drishah and Noda Bihudah (OC 26) give the identical answer to explain the Maharm miRutenberg. The reason why R' Yehudah disagrees with R' Meir is due to his literal interpretation of the pasuk. It is simply a gezeiras hakasuv in the specific case of shor muad. In theory, however, he completely agrees with R' Meir's logic. Therefore, although we rule halachically like R' Yehudah with respect to the laws of the ox, the reasoning of R' Meir is still valid and may be employed in our situation.

 

This can also be used to explain Rav Nachman bar Chisda in the later gemara. (However, if this understanding of the dispute in Bava Kamma is so compelling, we now need to understand why our mishnah would hold that it has to be spread out over 3 days.)

 

Have a good Shabbos and good Yom Tov.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: Come on, people!

Dikdukian: Do you sea what I sea

Dikdukian: And the Days Was

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

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