Thinking Talmudist Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, texas. This is the Thinking Talmudist Podcast.

00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Good afternoon everybody. Welcome back to the Thinking Talmudist.

00:16
Before we begin with our Talmud today in tractate Baba Basra 8b, I want to just address what was discussed before we went online about the power of prayer on Purim. Yesterday was the fast of Esther, on Sundays going to be Purim. Purim, our sages tell us, is one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar. Like we mentioned Purim, yom Kippur is compared to Purim. Why? Purim is a day where we have the ability to reveal the hidden. Yom Kippur does the same. We have within us all the goodness. Sometimes it's covered with sin, sometimes it's covered with mistakes. It's covered with things that we've done wrong and we're able to remove that with atonement. Purim, we're able to do that in a much more powerful way.

01:12
That's why getting drunk is a mitzvah on Purim only. Only just a disclaimer. If anybody has any issues with alcohol, I beg you, please do not drink. Even though it's a mitzvah to get drunk on Purim, it's not a mitzvah. If you're struggling with alcoholism, okay. If you have any type of addiction with alcohol, it's a very serious thing. I'm not kidding. Serious disclaimer you have no mitzvah and you have a responsibility not to touch any alcohol if this is something you struggle with. But for those of you who may not be struggling with it, it's a mitzvah to get drunk. Why? Because you're drunk, you're able to reveal a certain part of yourself which is the real self, the real you. On Yom Kippur, you're able to do that as well. Through atonement, you reveal what your real desires are, what your real connection is, and you have remorse for things that you may have done wrong. Okay, but we know khalaposhet yad, notnim lo.

02:03
Whoever opens their hand collecting for charity on Purim, we give them. It's also every day of the year Our sages tell us. It's not exclusive to Purim, it's every day of the year we give. When someone opens up their hand asking for charity, you give them. It doesn't have to be a sizable sum, it has to be something. You don't leave a person empty-handed. If that's the case, our sages tell us the Hasidic masters share with us this great secret. When we open our hands on Purim and ask from Hashem, hashem gives us Khalaposhet yad. If you open up your hands to Hashem and you say Hashem, look, I have nothing but you.

02:45
Now, this is a theme we've talked about in several of our classes recently, of how, when we wash our hands for Nettilat Yadim, what do we do? The Allah says, after you wash your hands, what do you do? You raise up your hands like this, while you're reciting the blessing of Al-Nettilat Yadim and this what are you doing when you say this? It's the symbol of someone who's giving in, giving a white flag in war. When someone is surrendering, what do they do? They pick up their hands. Why? Because they're saying I have no more power. You've got me, you've got me. What we're doing, when we raise up our hands to our head and we say Baruch Atah, blessed, are you.

03:26
Hashem, on the Nettilat Yadim, on the mitzvah of, on the commandment of washing our hands, what we're saying is Hashem, we surrender our arrogance to you. We realize that everything comes only from you. This is not from me doing something. Oh, I think I'm so capable, oh, I think I'm so talented, I am such a great salesman, I am such a clever marketer. No, no, no, no, no, no. Everything comes from Hashem. And when we are able to surrender and open up our hands and say Hashem, look, I have nothing, it's all from you, when we're able to display that kind of humility and honesty and vulnerability. That's when Hashem says, ah, ah, this is the person I want to give to and that's why we wash away our arrogance. We wash away. We have to do it every single time we eat bread.

04:25
Bread is the hardest product to create, which is why it's the highest level of blessing on foods. When you say the blessing on bread, it fulfills all the other blessings except for wine, but all the other blessings, everything else they eat inside the meal, is qualified within the blessing of Hamotzi. That's it. But before we make that blessing, before we recite the blessing, we have to wash our hands. Why? Because someone could think someone can get to a point of arrogance with a think you know where this bread comes from. My heart earned money. It's me. I did this. It's my accomplishment and my success. We're breaking bread now because I am able to afford it and I'm able to pay for it, and it's my success. Wash away that thought. Wash away that thought that it's yours. You immediately start our meal. Wash away the thought of arrogance. And how do we start our day every single morning With the same process we wash our hands and we lift up our hands by Both of those washings, saying I show him I really have nothing. It's all you. I Was talking to a friend of mine yesterday.

05:35
I said do you realize that we come to this world without any clothes and we leave this world without any clothes? What type of clothes do we wear? Shrouds? It's nothing. It's made out of, out of cotton, nothing. Why To remind us, just by the way, very interesting thing a baby comes into this world. Our hands are always clenched when they leave.

05:58
When people leave this world, hopefully, after 120 solid years of productivity, we leave like this with our hands open. Why? Why do we leave our hands open? Because when we come into this world, we say, oh, I'm gonna get everything, I'm gonna accomplish everything, and when we leave, we're like I left with nothing. We leave with nothing. We need to realize that everything is from Hashem and Therefore, if everything is from Hashem, who am I to start feeling arrogant? Who am I to start feeling so? When we come on, poor him, and we say, hashem, we've got nothing, call a, push it. Yeah, we open our hands. We say look, we have nothing. We're not claiming anything, that it's our doing. We realize it's all you're doing. No team law. She says I'm gonna give you even more, because if you have the proper relationship, with a proper understanding of your priorities, shem says that's a good representative that I can bestow more goodness on them.

06:54
So this is just an introduction to the holiday of Purim. Hopefully this podcast gets out before Purim. Maybe, maybe not, we'll see. But either way, if you're listening on the interwebs Facebook, youtube, twitter and all the other and and on our zoom, let's utilize this day of Purim on Sunday, from Saturday night or Sunday night Utilizes as a time to pray, open your heart, ask for anything you want, because whatever you ask for, shem gives you.

07:25
It's a great power. Well, not tell means to take, yes, but it also means to wash, so you could use it as a double, a double understanding. Yeah, no, tell means to take, right, but the? Again, this is all in a Kabbalistic realm and a Hasidic realm of Understanding. On the very basic level, we wash our hands so we clean our hands so that we can we can eat the bread without getting infections. I mean, there's a very practical application for it as well. But the Allah doesn't only share with us practical things. There's always a deeper, spiritual, kabbalistic route to everything. Okay, we're good. Okay, let's start now with. Let's continue now with Tractate Boba Basra 8b. We were talking about ethical standards regarding charity, charity collectors, philanthropy, etc. Etc.

08:17
A bio relates certain practices of his teacher, rabah, that Concerned communal charity matters. Oh, my rabbi, may Ray shloy have a yosef mar at Ceefi. The big Nishta Abaya said originally, the master, who was rabba, would not sit upon the mats belonging to the city's synagogue. The mats had been purchased with money from the charity fund and Rabba did not wish to benefit from what he felt was a misuse of public monies. Cave on the shmiah leha, the tanya. However, once rabba heard that which was taught in this brisa mentioned above, that you can reallocate funds, remember, if you had extra funds in the communal platter, you can move it to the. Remember that to. You can move it to the charity box. And if you had extra money in the charity box, you can move it to the community platter, and the authorities in each community have the right to reallocate all of the, the surplus, to other causes.

09:22
So, for example, in, in, in in government, which is there's no fraud in government, ever, guys. Okay. So in government where there's, for example, they, they, they, almost every single state that has a bridge or a road, a toll road. They say the toll road is only going to be for a limited amount of time, till we pay for the roads, renovation, stuff. That that's never happened. It's never. Never taken away a toll, ever. Every time they tax you, it's a new tax that will never go away. But they're supposed to say, listen, we have two billion dollars excess from toll income and now we're just gonna, we're gonna take away all the tolls. And that doesn't happen. It doesn't happen, right, but that's the way it should be. Now, with that surplus, they could say you know what? Now we're gonna build parks and we're gonna put more park benches and we're gonna make paths for people to jog and make and things like that that they can reallocate again, assuming that it was collected with honesty and all of that to begin with, okay, but not getting. That's not our topic today.

10:30
And the city officials are authorized to divert access charity funds to any communal purpose that they desire. Village annosa, lachoma shi yurtsu. They can change the purpose, the allocation, to anything that they desire. Have a yasiv then, only then, he would sit upon the mats, for he realized that the allocation was valid till this point. He didn't feel like it was valid.

10:55
Now, this is a whole ethical question. By the way, you know, cities get all of these tax monies from the constituents, from their residents, and the question is Weird do their priorities lie? So you have homeless people? Why don't we feed the homeless? Why are we putting plants Right? Because you still have to be a city, you still have to function as a city there. People right. It's good that you, that you want to help those who are homeless, and I think that the city spends a tremendous at least the city of Houston, I believe spends a fortune of money Feeding the homeless, feeding those who are unable to. You have the food pantries and you have all of these city Facilities that are available for them, but sometimes they prefer sleeping under the bridge anyway. But that's not the issue. The issue is how can you start spending a billion dollars on on all of this Gardening and and plants and making sure that the roadways are all right, okay, because you're not gonna have a city if you don't properly Upkeep its beautification. That's, that's part of the responsibility of the city. So it's another discussion we can get into a different time.

12:04
Abaya relates a second practice of robbers. Omar Abaya may raise, have a Ovid Mar Trey. Kisi Abaya, said originally the master, meaning grabba, would make two purses for donations he collected hard line near the armor one purse to hold money to be distributed to all porpoise, vechad la'aniye de Mosul, and one purse to hold money to be distributed to the poor of his city. Rabba originally kept separate accounts, since some contributions were designated specifically for the local poor, and that's the responsibility. By the way, we learned this in the Talmud Elsewhere, we'll also learn this in the Ram Bam, who gives us the priorities of charity.

12:57
Your family comes first, your city comes first. So before someone starts donating to the museum in Scottsdale, they should donate to their own community and to the things that are needed in their family and in their community. There's one exception to that, and that's Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the home of every Jew and therefore giving funds to Jerusalem is like giving funds to your own city. Also, there's another exception Torah scholars, those who study Torah. It's a merit for everyone and therefore us supporting Torah scholars is a merit to us and it's like we're giving to our own family.

13:44
The Talmud now says, however, once he heard that which Shmuel said to Rav Tachlifah, bar Avdimi, the son of Avdimi, make one purse and stipulate with it, with the community, regarding it. Rabah also made one purse and stipulated regarding it that the monies that he collects can be allocated as he wishes for any of his, and as long as that stipulation is made when people donate, it's not going to be an abuse, so to speak, of the charity that people are giving when it is allocated according to his, according to his calculation, according to his desire. Ravashi was able to simplify the procedure. Ravashi Amar Ano Asnuyyei Nami L'Otzrichono, that Ravashi said I need not even stipulate the whole kaosi, the kaosi for anyone that comes to donate money to the city's charity fund, which Ravashi administered, adaytei Didiosi. They comes to donate with the understanding that I shall distribute the funds at my discretion, and so I may give to whoever I wish, without stipulating before. And the Lomandava I know, yahiv Nolay, whoever I decide to give it to is who I give it to and I don't need to make that stipulation because everybody knows this is, you know, rabbi Wolby's charity fund and everybody knows like, for example, you have rabbis have a discretionary fund that people donate to. So does the rabbi have to stipulate who he's going to give it to? No, he doesn't have to stipulate, because we leave it to the discretion of the rabbi to give it to whatever he deems fit and therefore, when someone gives charity to such a designation, it doesn't need to have a stipulation in advance and therefore rabba did not need to pre disclose that it's, you know, a stipulation that all giving could be given to any cause that he desires. Okay, but I think there's a caveat here, and that is that every charity has a designation. Right, we have nine 501C3s, and 501C3s are designated for a specific cost.

16:18
Now, as long as there's no change in the bylaws or change in the minutes of a board meeting that disclose that there's a change to that policy, it has to stay designated for that meaning. A synagogue can't suddenly become a soup kitchen. A soup kitchen can't suddenly become a synagogue. There has to be a clear change or addition to that policy and as long as that is made and it's declared, that would be something which I believe, according to law and according to the Torah, would be proper to do, meaning you can't suddenly change it on your own whim. But when people know that they're giving money to, for example, torch, people know that when people give money to torch, what is it going to? To advance Torah study, right? So unless there's a stipulation otherwise, that it's going to become a fund to feed the poor, you know it can't be used and diverted Now if, god forbid, a nonprofit was to be absolved, that's a different story. You have to give it to another cause that will benefit the community and that we discussed in previous weeks. Okay, now that Gamorah relates an incident involving the law quoted previously, we just moved on to 9A in Talmud Baobah Surah that authorizes penalizing those who violate communal edicts. So that we see Hany Beitre Tabachy.

17:51
There were those two butchers, the Avdi in Yonah, bahadah Adadi, who stipulated between themselves the whole man, the Avdi, the Yomad the Chavre that if anyone slaughters an animal on a day reserved for his colleagues so it means Mondays your day, tuesdays my day, wednesdays is your day, thursdays is my day, right, nekru Lema'scheh, we, the other butchers, will penalize him and rend the animals hide to prevent him from profiting from his wrongdoing. Meaning we have special rules that we created and if you break those rules, we have the right to penalize you for not keeping your agreement. One of the butchers acted wrongfully Ozilhad minayu. Avid biyomad chavre. One of the butchers went and slaughtered an animal on a day reserved for his colleague, khoru Lema'scheh. The other butchers, as per the stipulation, they rent the animals hide and that would ruin it and now they won't be able to sell it. They can't sell it to a scribe to write a Torah scroll on it. The hide is valuable. You can make real beautiful Texas boots from it. The offending butcher sought damages for the ruined hide, maintaining that the agreement was not binding. We had a conversation about it, but it's not binding. Also, look, I made the robber, so now all of the butchers.

19:19
The litigants came before Rava for a judgment and Rava obligated the other butchers to pay for the hide, for he concurred that the butchers had no authority to make such an agreement. You can't arbitrarily make a decision that this is your policy of how I work with other stores, with other competitors. This is the way I work. If you sell flowers on the day that I sell flowers, or you sell candies on the day that I sell candies, then I'm going to burn your shop down. You can't make such a stipulation. That's completely arbitrary and it's not binding.

20:04
Ravyeimar challenged Rava's ruling. From the Brisa quoted above. He says Asfi Ravyeimar Bar Shlambio, leravo Ravyeimar, the son of Shlambio retorted to Rava V'laa Sia al-Kitsitson. But the Brisa stated and the officials are further authorized to find those who transgressed their stipulations we see that the community is empowered to enforce its edicts. Why then were the city's butchers not entitled to damage the offending butcher's hide, as per their stipulation? L'oha Hadir-le Rava.

20:46
Rava did not reply to Ravyeimar, but let his ruling stand. He didn't pay attention to him. The Gamor explains the reason for Rava's silence. He didn't respond. He gave one of those duly noted you know. So why not? Amar Ravpapo, shapir Ovedoloy Ahadir-le Midi.

21:09
Ravpapo said Rava did the right thing by not offering a response to Ravyeimar Hanimili Heikhodilekhodomkhooshof. For those words of the Brisa that says that they can make stipulations is where there's no distinguished person in the city Avaleheikhodiiko-odomkhooshof. However, where there is a distinguished person in the city lav-kul-kiminu-dimasne then the community officials are not empowered to stipulate without his participation. Certainly, rava qualified as a distinguished person. Thus, since the butchers in the city acted without consulting him, their stipulation was invalid and for that reason Rava declared them liable for the damaged heights. It was due to his humility that Rava withheld from reasoning with Ravyeimar. He didn't need to answer to what Ravyeimar said.

22:10
Rava was the highest authority in his town, and how can you make stipulations without bringing it to the clergy before putting out some, you know, ambiguous edict Like this is what we're going to do. You can't just do such a thing when you have an authority in your town. So this is, I think, is a lot that we can learn from this. Meaning is that there needs to always be a hierarchy of responsibility and understanding. Just so that you get a picture here, my grandfather, when I would come to ask him questions that were halachic questions, my grandfather would always say I'm not a post-it, I'm not a halachic authority.

22:56
He was a big rabbi, very respected, very renowned. But in other areas, in other matters, when it comes to matters of education policy, parenting, when it comes to schooling, when it comes to ethical, moral dilemmas, they would ask him. But when I came to halachic decisions, he said this is not my sphere of competency. There are others. My grandfather was very knowledgeable in those areas as well, but he felt that you go to a rabbi who that's his profession. His profession is halachic rulings.

23:37
So I think it's important for a person to know their limitations. You have to know this is your area of expertise and that's what you can preside on and where it's not your expertise, let someone else who is an expert there handle it. But sometimes if a person is arrogant, if a person isn't self-conscious of their limitations, they can think like no, because I'm the leading figure in the community, I make all decisions. That's not always the case. And here Rava, who was the superior personality in the community, without any doubts, he didn't need to respond to Rav Yamar and he didn't need to change his ruling just because someone said something. It was clear by Rava's status in the community that he was the authority and therefore we're butchers made rules without first getting clearance from the authority. That was an unacceptable behavior. Okay, makes sense. Okay, all right.

24:46
The Gamoran out continues. The Gamoran discusses another law pertaining to charity collectors. We do not reckon the disbursements of charity funds with the charity collectors, meaning the people who solicit funds, the people who are collecting funds. They're not the ones you start dealing with how it's being distributed, meaning it should be different people. And similarly, we do not reckon the expenditures of the temple funds with the temple treasures. And even though there is no proof for the practice, there is an illusion to this practice from the Torah. Why? Because it says in Kings 2, chapter 12, verse 16,. It says I'll yodom losseh laoseh amolokhe k'be'emunohim osim. And they would not reckon with the men meaning the treasures into whose hand they deliver the money to give to those who perform the work or repair the temple, for they, the treasures, dealt faithfully. Okay. So we see here that those who collected the money were not the ones who you'd bother as to how it's being spent.

26:16
Revoluzor recommends a procedure used in the temple Amor. Revoluzor says aaf alpish yeh shlola adam gizbor nemon besochbeisoh, even if a person has a trusted treasure in his household, yotsur f'imne, he should bind and count his money before giving it to the treasure. Sh'inem arvyotsuru f'imno. And they bound up and counted the money. So this is a very interesting thing.

26:48
When it's very nice that you have someone who's trustworthy, who's managing your money, always double check. You know. It says Kesef, which means money, is the acronym for Kesef. Sofrim pah maim. You always count money twice. Count money twice. Now there's another Talmud that tells us that if one who counts their money regularly is putting an evil eye on their money, you don't have to check your account. Oh, how much money do I have? Where's my stock holding? Where's my retirement fund? How's it going? How's it going? Let it be Because blessing is more prevalent when something is hidden from the eye. When something is hidden from the eye, you're allowing blessing to be bestowed upon it. So here we're saying that when you give money to your treasure to distribute that money, make sure you count it and you're careful over it and you're able to take an accounting.

27:50
Now, if you remember what happened in the collecting of the funds with Moshe, moshe collected the money for the tabernacle, for the temple those are going to be built. All the silver and the gold and the copper and the wood and all of the fabrics, every single ounce, every single carat of gold was counted publicly and disclosed publicly. Remember, moshe says and this is the total of all of the gold and all the silver and all the copper and all the mirrors and all of the cloths and all of everything. Why? Because nobody should think that Moshe was stealing anything. Moshe gave the exact quantity of how much gold was used for the manure and how much gold was used and how much copper and how much. Everything was disclosed, exactly where it went to. Because it's very, very, very well. You don't trust Moshe. Come on, moshe. If you don't trust Moshe? Who do you trust? But Moshe felt the responsibility to disclose where everything went, so that nobody should have any doubts.

28:59
Now it's something else that you need to know, and that is that Moshe was independently very, very wealthy. Why was he very wealthy? What did he do? So our sages tell us that Moshe was so humble and so busy doing the needs of the Jewish people when the Jews were getting all of the loot from the Egyptians and collecting the gold and the Rolexes and all of the the fancy purses and they were getting all of that during the plague of darkness, where they're identifying it. And then, when they were leaving with the plague of the firstborn, they got it. They said what are you talking about? You don't have a Rolex I saw in that first drawer, you have In the second drawer, you have that earring and that, all of that, etc. Etc. So the Egyptians gave it. Just go, take it and go.

29:48
What was Moshe doing then? Moshe was collecting the wood that was brought down by Jacob 210 years earlier. That was going to be used for the tabernacle, because part of the tabernacle was wood. All of those woods were already planted in Egypt earlier. Moshe was then busy with that and then he was collecting the bones of Joseph. So everyone was collecting all the loot. From the Egyptians. Moshe comes, everyone's. All these riches. And they have a dear. Their donkeys are filled and filled and filled with all of these riches. Don't forget Egypt was the number one nation in the world. Their wealth was unparalleled. It was the most powerful country in the world.

30:36
They say that the level of Materialism in Egypt was just incomprehensible. So what do we have? We have Moshe being busy with all of the Things that were needed for the Jewish people in the desert, while the Jewish people were busy with collecting all of their wealth. Hashem says you'll never lose out by doing the right thing. And when Moshe Created the second tablets out of sapphire, he was chiseling it out. Hashem says those chiseled pieces from the sapphire tablets are gonna be for you. That's gonna be your Gift that you received. Because you're doing all the right things. You get all of those extra pieces of sapphire, as ages tell us that it was worth more than everybody else's riches. Okay, that was Moshe's gift now, but still, moshe wanted to make sure that there was no question about his integrity, and that's the job of every institution, of every charity, is to ensure to their donors that every penny is used Appropriately and there's no money that's being wasted, no money that's being squandered or that's being used inappropriately.

31:52
Okay, now the Talmud continues. And the Talmud says the Gomorrah now discusses which applicants for assistance must be investigated Amar Avhuna, boatkin limousine. Or who says we investigate the eligibility of a pauper that asks for food, the aim boatkin Lichzus. And we do not investigate the eligibility of an Inadequately dressed pauper that asks for clothes. Rather, we fulfill the request immediately. So the guy comes with tattered clothes. You're gonna say, oh, but maybe at home he has a tuxedo, maybe maybe this individual has some hidden riches that we don't know about that you're worried about. Regarding Food, you're not worried about that. Regarding clothes, probably because nobody will humiliate themselves and come with, you know, looking all disheveled and with tattered clothes when they really do have.

32:51
Revunah offers two sources for his ruling e by the same across. I can bring you a biblical verse, the e by the same as far. Or I can bring you a rational argument e by the same as far, oh, if you wish to say from a rational source. Oh, come evasi. This inadequately clothed applicant debased himself by appearing before the charity administrators in his willful attire, and If he were not truly in need, he would not do so. Thus, there was no reason to investigate whether he owns proper clothing. The high lo come evasi. And the other applicant does not debase himself by merely claiming that he's hungry. Thus, the administrators must investigate whether he's telling the truth.

33:45
Okay, revunah now advances his scriptural source. You said that there's a first for this. What's your proof? All right, that's the our key to this. We should rename this thinking comedist. What's the proof? Back it up. What's your source? So what's the scriptural source for saying that you do investigate when someone asks for food, but you don't investigate if someone asks for clothes?

34:09
E by is a mokro and if you want, I'll bring you a verse to prove this. Hello Poros la rov la chmecha, will you not break your bread for the hungry bishin ksiv? It says the word break is poros is written with a sin and not with a samach, so that it could read poros means clarify. Thus the verse instructs us clarify when someone asks for food, first investigate and clarify whether this, the supplicant, is Truly hungry for a husband ksiv. But there, with regard to those who lack adequate clothing, it is written Kittire or Rome Vichy. So when you see the naked you shall cover them. Kittire la altar. The verse implies that clothing should be provided when you see him. You see him now, not clothes appropriately, that is, immediately upon being apprised of his need, without first investigating whether it is authentic.

35:30
Immediately, I want to share with you a beautiful story, since it's almost Pesach time. It's 30 days from Pesach, so it's one of the times that in yeshivas the students would go home. Yeshivas would be closed for Pesach usually and the students would go home. My great grandfather was the spiritual leader in the yeshivan Slobodka, and his rabbi was the altar, the sage of Slobodka, and Every single student that would come to say goodbye before he would go home to visit his parents. Of course they'd give him a. He'd give a huge embrace and a hug and a kiss.

36:11
The student is like a, is like a child. But he would ask him pick up your feet, I want to see your shoes. The student would have to pick up his shoes and he'd say you can't go home like this. Your mother can't see you with tattered clothes. And the rabbi would give him money, say go buy shoes before you go home. You can't go home with shoes that are torn. You can't go home with shoes that are disrespectful. Your mother's gonna look at you and say that's that's the way you're. You're, you're walking around the Yeshiva, that's the way a scholar is walking around. She'll be disgusted and upset that her son is walking around like that. Go get clothes before you go home, go get shoes before you go home. The rabbi would evaluate.

36:49
And I heard this week I got a phone call from one of the students in my brother's you, shiva, in Jerusalem now Yeshivas collect money before Purim. All the yeshivas collect money for the grooms in the yeshiva they get when they get married. They buy them a suit, they buy them a hat, they buy them the things that they need to help them out. So I said so. The student called me is my. My brother's student calls me. He says yo, we're collecting money for the yeshiva, for, you know, for for the Purim campaign. So I said, oh, for the tatt, which is those who this the assistants for the Torah scholars. He says no, no, we don't have that, neri Shiva. He says our rabbi, my brother, takes care of us so well that it won't come to a point where a groom is about to get married and doesn't have what he needs. He takes care of them already in advance and that's a really special Attribution to what goes on in that yeshiva that someone is a need, it doesn't need to be a Soon, to be married man to get what he needs Already as the student. In the yeshiva they take care of all the needs of every student and they ensure that they have what they need. So it doesn't need to be that someone is going home for Pesach. That will make that evaluation. It's already beforehand. They know what's going on with each student and everyone who needs they need for a bus ride, I'll give the money, money that they need for the bus ride. Whatever it is that every student needs and I think it's very, very, very, very commendable. That's the way it should be in every institution.

38:23
Okay, so now, interpreting the two verses differently review who the Reverses of who knows ruling, let's see what happens. Review the Omar boat can lose. Review this says no. We investigate the eligibility of an Inadequately dressed Popper that asks for clothes. The aim both kill mozonos. And we do not investigate the eligibility of a pauper who asks for food. He says I'm gonna bring you proof the opposite from the same verses. So the review to also offers two sources for his ruling. He buy you same as for. If you want, I'll give you a rational Argument. He buy same a crime. If you want, I'll give you a biblical Proof. He buy you same. As far as, if you want to say, you want to hear, you want to deduce from a rational argument, let's say as follows Hi come, it's a role a.

39:17
When one asks for food, they're probably suffering the pangs of hunger and we should not prolong the suffering While we verify their claim. They highlight come a tire lay. But when someone has clothes that they need, they're not physically suffering, maybe uncomfortable, but they're not physically suffering. Hence we must wait While we authenticate their claim. Review the now advances his scriptural source and he says he buy same a croff. You want to hear my biblical proof of this?

39:53
Hoh, hoh ksif here, regarding one who requests food, it is written Hello, froze, lara of lahmah, oh, we will not break your bread. Well, sorry, will you not break your bread for the hungry? Will you not break your bread for the hungry? The verse implies that one must froze, slay, altar. You must break the bread for them immediately. Will you not break your bread? Of course you will. You'll give it to them immediately. The kid the Kareen on, just as we read the word Poros, just like we read the word. The administrators should not delay feeding the supplicant in order to investigate him. But how? Six? Even later we see Kittira, or him Vichissi. So when you see the naked, you shall cover him, which implies Kishi Yirel huh. When it is apparent to you, meaning that they prove to you that they're not deceiving you, that's when you need to close them. Same verse is being used both ways.

40:57
The Gamorah offers corroborations to review this position. You, tanya Kavasey Dravihuda, anybody who tells you that it's just some rabbis doesn't understand the process that we go to prove each side of the argument. Tanya Kavasey Dravihuda, we have a Brisa that supports Dravihuda's opinion. Omar Kasuni. If a poor person says, clothe me, boudkin Akhara, we investigate him to determine that he truly needs it, parna Suni. But if someone says, provide me with sustenance, ain Boudkin, we don't investigate and we feed them immediately. That is a Brisa that we learned elsewhere.

41:42
Now, emishna establishes the criteria for determining eligibility for different forms of public assistance. Tanaan Haasam, we learned in Emishna. Ain Pohasin, la'ani, haover, mimokom, lomokom. We do not give a poor man who travels from place to place less than Mikikor Bipundion, me Arbus, in Besella we don't give less than a loaf of bread that costs a Pundion. When force us a flour cost, they sell it, meaning it's a certain value, monetary value, of food that you give Lawn. But if he stays overnight Nostun al-Law Parnasaslina we give him provisions for night lodging. Okay, so we give him food and we give him provisions for night lodging.

42:30
The Gomorrah asks my Parnasaslina, what is the provisions of night lodging? The Gomorrah answers Amaravpapuravpapa says poor yo uve sadyo, a bed and a pillow for his head. The Gomorrah again quotes the Mishna saying Shavas. If a poor person spends the Shabbas in a city Nostun al-Law Muzan Shalashudos then we give him the three meals for the Shabbas that one must eat on Shabbas. Okay, so we know there are three meals on Shabbas the Friday night Shabbas morning, shabbas afternoon and Shabbas before Shabbas departs. The Gomorrah now qualifies the above ruling Tano, we learned in Abraiso, imhoyamah ha-zir al-Apsachim. If a person, a poor person, had been collecting door-to-door anus cock-and-law, we are not bound to assist him with the donations of money from the charity fund, from the public charity fund. Once he has learned to collect on his own, he will be able to support himself. Okay, so now we don't need to give him from the charity fund if he's already collecting for himself in the community.

43:41
The Gomorrah relates an incident in which this Brisa is invoked and reinterpreted. There was a certain pauper who was collecting door-to-door. Vosal came to Raphapah and he came in front of Raphapah requesting community assistance from the charity fund. Lomizdakikli and Raphapah did not bother with him even to give him money from the charity fund for a slice of bread, in accordance with the Brisa. Raphapah was subsequently challenged why didn't he give him money? So the Omelay Raphsamah berayed the Raphyeval Raphapah.

44:19
Raphsamah set Raphapah and Marlomizdakikli. If the master will not bother with the pauper's to assist them in a shachrin, a Lomizdakikli, then no other person will bother with him, for they will assume that he's dishonest. If you don't give, nobody's gonna give. I'm gonna say did he go to Raphapah? Did he give you from the community fund? He's like, no, he didn't want to give me. So now everyone's gonna say, oh, he's not giving, I'm not giving you. Obviously it's not warranted. And then Lemos, should he therefore die from hunger because you're not giving him? So Raphapah attempted to justify his decision on Marlay bohadetan yo.

44:58
But it was taught in a Brisa, imhaya ony amachaz yalapsachim. If he was a poor person who collected door to door ainas kakunlou, we are not bound to assist them with a donation from the charity fund. Hence your concern that others will be deterred from contributing their private funds to this pauper is unfounded. Why? Because people will give their own money but it doesn't come from the public funds if they're ready, if they know how to collect. It happens to be that it takes a certain level of commitment and devotion to go door to door to collect charity and, generally speaking, sometimes people ask me and say oh, do you trust that they're honest? And I say you know what? If someone is willing to go door to door to collect charity, they need the money. Even if they don't need it, they need it Okay. So it's a different form of charity. If they're not as honest as I would like them to be, I'll still be happy that I gave them, that I was able to help them and assist them in their challenging time, even if the challenge is just the fact that they humiliate themselves and come knock door to door.

46:17
Rev Salma challenged Rev Papa's interpretation of the Brisa. Amir Leh. Rev Salma said to Rev Papa ainas kakunlou lematonamiruba. When the Brisa says that we are not bound to assist them, it means with a large donation. That is not necessary, since the pauper can support himself by collecting door to door Avonnes, kakunlou, lematonamu etis. However, we are bound to assist him with small donations in order to signal to the residents of the city that he is truly a needy person. My dear friends, we're gonna stop here this week and, god willing, next week we will resume our Talmud studies.

46:55
Till then, sunday is a very special day for giving charity. It's a special day giving charity to poor people and unfortunately, our city does have people who are halachically considered to be impoverished and poor and therefore like has been done, thank you. Anybody who wants to fulfill the mitzvah of giving charity to the poor on the day of Purim, which is a special one of the four mitzvahs of the day, you're welcome to give me the money. I have it over here. It goes into a separate fund. I give it to the rabbi, who distributes it directly to the hand of the poor people.

47:35
Now, the proper amount to give is a mount for a meal, a typical meal. How much does a meal cost? Typically About $15-$20. Well, we're not talking about a steak dinner. We're talking about a meal. So therefore, this money is not going to torch. This money is not going to any other cause. It's going straight to the rabbi who's going to distribute it.

47:59
I don't distribute it. I did for a while and then I collaborated with another one of the community rabbis. It goes to poor people in our city, in our city. So if you want to give $5, $10, $20, I give the amount that it would be for a poor person, for every person in my family, to fulfill their mitzvah to that amount. My dear friends, it's also a mitzvah to eat a meal on Purim, a festive meal. It's also a mitzvah to give two items, two food items, to a friend and a mitzvah to hear the Megillah. We hear it Saturday night and again Sunday morning. So, my dear friends, my blessing to each and every one of you is a happy Purim and we should always be on the giving side, of charity, and we should have an unbelievable time connecting with Hashem and asking open up your hands and say Hashem, please, I'm that poor person, I'm opening my hand in front of you. Please fulfill my requests, have an amazing Shabbos and have an amazing Purim.