Ein Yaakov – Lesson 014b – Eruvin 41 – Precedence of the Rishonim; Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya; Bruriah; Vocalizing Torah Study

Podcast (shiurim): Download (Duration: 44:43 — 20.5MB)

Speaker: Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Rosenfeld ז”ל. Ein Yaakov. Which Rishonim (first commentators on the Torah) take precedence in decisions of Torah Law? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chaninya, wisest of all rabbis in his generation. Bruriah, Rabbi Meir’s wife. The importance of speaking/vocalizing the words of the Torah. Serving a Talmid chacham (wise Rabbi) is greater than Torah study.
00:00 – [End of previous shiur (lesson).] If a man with a contentious wife accepts his fate with love, he is spared from Gehinnom. All suffering is for one’s benefit.
04:45 – [New shiur]. In a debate to determine the application of halakha (Torah Law), which rabbis take precedence?
08:20 – Regarding a Kohen leaving Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) to go to a place of impurity. The halakha follows Rabbi Yossi’s ruling.
14:25 – In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his six students (in the Idra Zuta) are compared to the menorah (candelabrum) in the sanctuary. Rabbi “Shashiya” is an acronym for these six students.
16:46 – The hearts of the Rishonim (First Rabbis) were as wide as the vestibule leading to the “heichal” in the Holy Temple. In later times, the hearts of the rabbis became “smaller in wisdom”.
21:45 -The difference between the heichal and the ulam in the holy Temple illustrates the difference between the Rishonim and the Later Rabbis. The Later Rabbis add greater combined depth.
27:48 – The story of how Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, known as “the wisest rabbi of his time”, was only outwitted three times: by a woman, by a young boy, and by a young girl.
34:00 – The long-short road versus the short-long one. If a statement contains two conflicting elements, which one takes precedence?
35:15 – Bruriah, the wife of Rabbi Meir, had a broader knowledge of Torah than most rabbis of her time. Her meeting with Rabbi Yossi HaGlili and examples of her wisdom.
37:15 – The Torah remains with one who “speaks/vocalizes the words of Torah”. Rabbi Shmuel called Rabbi Yehuda “shinena” (sharp mind).
38:40 – A retentive memory (“Sinai”) and a sharp mind (“Okeh Harim”) are usually mutually exclusive unless one vocalizes the words of Torah. Example given.
40:02 – A death penalty averted for being a Tzaddik’s mesharet (servant). Stating a Torah Law in the presence of one’s rabbi is punished by death by the Hand of Heaven. How did Yehoshua escape the death penalty for stating a law in the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu? Serving a talmid chacham (wise Rabbi) is greater than Torah study.