Masai Selections from Rabbi Baruch Epstein

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    PARSHAS MASEI SELECTIONS

    From Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein

    INHERITING THE LAND UPON CONQUERING( ( ,

    , (' "

    So it is written in Sefer Yehoshua that the Cohanim carriers of the Aron stood in the Jordan River whileYehoshua stood on the west bank and the people stood on the east bank, while Yehoshua spoke thewords which Moshe had commanded.

    T.T. It appears that Yehoshua not only said the one verse, but the entire parsha (verses 53-56 . He did thisto fulfill the conditions of an oath (requires doubling of the conditions with first the positive and thenthe negative, plus requires saying the condition first and then the action to be done .

    THE LAND AND ITS BOUNDARIES( (' " ( ,

    Even though each tribe received a portion with prescribed boundaries as written in Sefer Yehoshua,nevertheless, the entire land was considered as if one bordered property.

    T.T. The practical difference is in regards to the law of Maaser of ones animals. If one owns 10 or moreanimals, you place the animals in a fenced area, and as they exit, the 10 th animal becomes Maaser. If you have five animals in Eretz Yisrael, and five outside of the land, they are not joined together to be

    obligated. However, if one has five animals in one Tribes portion and another five within close proximity (16 mil but in another Tribes portion, one does connect them and is obligated in Maaser.This is due to this concept that the whole land is considered one set of bordered property.

    ( , (' " ( T.T. Same practical different as above rgarding Maaser of ones animals. This is to say that Yardein has

    the same law as the Land of Israel. If one person owns five animals on the West side of the Yardeinriver and also five animals on the East side of the Yardein river, he performs Maaser.

    CITIES OF REFUGE( " , ( (

    We can not explain this as per the simple meaning, since these cities were only set up in Eretz Yisrael.Kesef Mishneh explains either it is referring to the cities in Ever HaYardein (other side of the river ,or is a case of a person from outside that Land that flees to these cities after an accidental murder

    T.T. Can not be the first explanation, because we never find Ever HaYardein referred as outside of theLand. Rambam brings another Sifri on a latter verse which explicitly limits these cities to withinthe Land. However, our texts do not have this Sifri. This is another example where the Rishonimhave certain portions of texts, and we do not have them.

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    EAST BANK

  • 8/14/2019 Masai Selections from Rabbi Baruch Epstein

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    PARSHAS MASEI SELECTIONS

    From Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein

    ,

    : - - The verse implies that the day after Pesach means the day after the offering of the Korban Pesach (14 th

    of Nissan , thus, the day after referred to in the verse means the 15 th of Nissan, even though that dayis Yom Tov. Need to remember that in the year of the Exodus from Egypt, the night of the 15 th was notsubject to the concept of guarding of Yom Tov. Further, regarding Korbanos, the night follows theday. Therefore, the command to eat the Pesach at the night of 15 th of Nissan was connected to the dayof the 14 th. Therefore, both the day of the 14 th and the night of the 15 th are called Chag haPesach.

    According to the Torah, the day of the 14 th is called Chag haPesach, but is not called Chag haMatzos.However, the Rabbis did call the day of the 14 th Chag haMatzos (Pesachim 13b .

    And this is an assistance to the Rema (Y.D. 399 that states no mourning on Erev Pesach (the 14 th . TheShach questions this law. However, the support of the Rema is that Erev Pesach is called a doubletype of holiday, Chag haPesach and Chag haMatzos.

    , It is known as an accepted tradition that the word refers to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin should judge and attempt to find merit for the defendants ( to save them . Thus, the court that kills oncein seven years is called blood-thirsty.

    The name must refer to a set group of judges, rather than the usual word usual of a gathered group,meaning a group gathered just for each case. It could not be that a random gathering of people thatthey should have the knowledge and capability to properly judge.

    Further, in Vayikra (4, 13 refers to the accidental wrong of the , can not refer to the entireJewish nation, since that would be impossible for everyone to do such an unintentional act. Thus,Chazal say these refers to the Sanhedrin who are not angels and have a possibility of committingerrors.

    The word Sanhedrin is from a Roman word (similar to the English word Senate , which indicates agathering of highly selected individuals. Thus, originally Moshe gathered 70 elders with himself asthe head into a specialized group.

    Therefore, the word can signify a gathering of selected individuals from the root word , and thus, can mean the Sanhedrin.

    Further, the Hebrew word is treated like a feminine word ( , , since thesource of the word is identified with .

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