Resources for Rosh Hashana daf 4

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Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

  1. The גמרא says that if a Jew gives charity על מנת שיחיה בני, he is considered a צדיק גמור. The נודע ביהודה’s son comments in אהבת ציון דרוש י' ד"ה ואיתא בפּ"ק דב"ב that here we see one does not need any כוונה למצוה at all! In fact, he says that all מצוות בין אדם לחברו don’t need any כוונת מצוה. In explanation of this, he quotes his father who explains that regarding מצוות בין אדם למקום, you need כוונה למצוה since the act of shaking a לולב is a completely meaningless act if not for the מצוה. However, by מצוות בין אדם למקום, it is a meaningful act whether or not you had כוונה למצוה. However, see the חפץ חיים in אהבת חסד ח"ב פּרק כ"ג אות ב who disagrees and says you always need כוונה למצוה. As far as our גמרא, he says that our גמרא is talking about someone who had כוונה למצוה and also that it should be a זכות that his son should live.
  1. The גמרא proves that כורש was מחמיץ by the fact he gave charity for ulterior motives. The גמרא says that this would be admirable for a Jew but wrong for a גוי. The obvious question is that according to תוספות earlier, כורש was in fact the son of אסתר making him Jewish! See the שו"ת הלכות קטנות ח"ב סימן ר" מwho says that a מומר is considered like a non-Jew and therefore needs to have the correct כוונה. That which we say אע"פּ שחטא ישראל הוא is only to be מחמיר on the person and not to be lenient.
  1. The גמרא says that צדקה is relevant to בל תאחר after three רגלים. תוספות here understands (based on a גמרא on ו דף) that if there are עניים around, one is עובר on בל תאחר See the רשב"א here who disagrees and says that one is never עובר on בל תאחר until after three רגלים as that is the גזרת הכתוב. See the ר"ן who has a third opinion and says that anything connected to the בית המקדשhas three רגלים to be brought. Anything not connected to the רגלים such as צדקה, לקט, פּאה needs to be brought right away. He explains that the ברייתא that says for all קרבנות, צדקה , etc. you have three רגלים , just meant to say that all of the items in the list one would be עובר after three רגלים, but in some instances one would be עובר sooner, such as anything not connected to the בית המקדש .

The רשב"א understands תוספות’s חילוק between צדקה and קרבנות to be giving טעמא דקרא. In other words, according to תוספות, the reason the Torah gave three רגלים for קרבנות is that Hashem wanted to give you ample time to get to ירושלים and bring your קרבן, whereas by צדקה, if the poor man is in front of you, you have had all the time you need. Therefore, the רשב"א asks that if תוספות is correct, it should result in the following: if you happen to be in ירושלים before three רגלים and there were כהנים available to bring your קרבן, you would be עובר on בל תאחר right away (see the מאירי on דף ו who brings an opinion that actually hold that way). See the דברי יחזקאל סימן י"ג אות ב who explains that תוספות did not mean to give טעמא דקרא. תוספות understood that בל תאחר just means that after whatever time the מצוה should have been done, you are עובר a לאו. The time the מצוה should have been done with regard to קרבנות happens to be three רגלים, and therefore you are עובר after three רגלים have passed. The חיוב for צדקה is immediate upon seeing a poor man, and consequently you are over בל תאחר right away. The רשב"א, however, understood that בל תאחר is the latest time the Torah is willing to wait for you to be יוצא your חיוב. As such, the גזרת הכתוב will not change for any of the מצוות listed.

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