Sotah - Daf 33
- Contradiction if tefillah can be in any language
The Mishnah taught that tefillah can be said in any language. The Gemara explains: רחמי היא – It is a request for Hashem’s mercy, therefore כל היכי דבעי מצלי – however he wants, he can pray. Rashi adds that in the language he understands, he will better focus. The Gemara asks that Rav Yehudah said: לעולם אל ישאל אדם צרכיו בלשון ארמית – A person should never ask for his needs in Aramaic, because Rebbe Yochanan said that malachim do not attend to his tefillah in Aramaic, because they do not know it. The Gemara answers: הא ביחיד הא בצבור – This advice against praying in Aramaic is for a single person praying alone, whose prayer requires the help of malachim, whereas this Mishnah’s statement that one can pray in any language is for a congregation, whose prayers do not require assistance. The Gemara challenges Rebbe Yochanan’s statement, that malachim do not know Aramaic, by relating two incidents in which the Kohen Gadol heard a bas kol from the Kodesh Hakadashim speaking in Aramaic. It answers either that a bas kol is different, since its role is to convey messages, or that it was Gavriel, who knows all languages (since he taught them to Yosef).
- Machlokes about the location of Har Gerizim and Har Eival
The Mishnah stated that Har Gerizim and Har Eival are near Shechem. This is the subject of a machlokes in a Baraisa. The passuk lists numerous identifying features of these mountains: "בעבר הירדן" – across the Yarden, "אחרי דרך מבוא השמש" – far from the direction of the sun’s coming, "בארץ הכנעני הישב בערבה" – in the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the plain, "מול הגלגל" – opposite Gilgal, "אצל אלוני מרה" – near Elon Moreh. Rebbe Yehudah holds like our Mishnah and interprets the passuk: “Across the Yarden” means מעבר לירדן והלאה – across the Yarden and far beyond. “The sun’s coming” meansמקום שחמה זורחת – the place of the sun’s rising (east), so “far from” its coming means far to the west. He then identifies their location as in the land of the כותים, near Shechem, which we derive from a gezeirah shavah that Elon Moreh is near Shechem. Rebbe Elazar bar Rebbe Yose declared he disproved the כותים’s philosophy (of believing תורה שבכתב and not תורה שבעל פה) by challenging them how they determined the identity of Elon Moreh. Rebbe Elazar disagreed with Rebbe Yehudah and explained “across the Yarden” to mean סמוך לירדן – near the Yarden (on its western side), because the passuk instructs them to perform the Blessings and Curses "בעברכם את הירדן" – when you cross the Yarden, implying shortly thereafter. Accordingly, he explains “the sun’s coming” to mean מקום שהחמה שוקעת – the place of the sun’s setting, so “far from” its setting would mean to the east, closer to the Yarden. He further challenged Rebbe Yehudah by asking that the area he described is mountainous, not “plains.”
- How Klal Yisroel crossed the Yarden re: how the Aron was carried
A Baraisa describes how Klal Yisroel crossed the Yarden: בכל יום ארון נוסע אחר שני דגלים – Every day, the Aron traveled behind two groups, והיום נסע תחילה – but today, it traveled first, as the passuk describes the Aron as "עובר לפניכם" – passing before you. בכל יום ויום לוים נושאין את הארון – Every day, Leviim carried the Aron, והיום נשאוהו כהנים – but today, Kohanim carried it, as is seen from the passuk’s description of the Aron’s entering the Yarden. Rebbe Yose says: בשלשה מקומות נשאו כהנים את הארון – In three places the Kohanim carried the Aron: כשעברו את הירדן- When they crossed the Yarden, as above, וכשהסיבו את יריחו – when they surrounded Yericho during their conquest of Eretz Yisroel, וכשהחזירוהו למקומו – and when they returned it to its place in the Beis Hamikdash when it was built by Shlomo.
