Resources for Taanis daf 21
Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman
- The גמרא says that זו גם איש נחום was lying in bed in a house that was about to collapse. He advised his תלמידים to first take the כלים out of the house and only then take him out since as long as he was in the house, it would not collapse. See the ארי גבורת who asks the obvious question: we just learned on the previous דף that one should not put himself in סכנה and if he does, it reduces his זכותים!? He answers with the following important חידוש: although one is not allowed to put himself into a סכנה, if he ends up in such a situation to no fault of his own, he does not need to leave quickly (provided he knows he has many זכותים). It also does not reduce his זכותים to remain there. That is why זו גם איש נחום was able to let them take him out only after the כלים.
- The גמרא says if there is a plague found amongst pigs, we need to fast since a pig’s stomach is similar to that of a human. תוספות here says from this we learn that (although יהודים and גוים have different physical properties as the גמרא in מס' שבת explains it as due to יהודים being worried about מצוות) if there is a plague amongst גוים, יהודים should fast since we are at least as similar to גוים as we are to pigs. See the ר"ןand ריטב"א here who bring others that disagree and say יהודים and גוים are two separate nations and are judged separately, as opposed to animals who have the same דין as their owners. Therefore, when גוים get sick, יהודים don’t need to fast. See the קרן אורה here who has the following fascinating הערה: typically, יהודים don’t own pigs (as we may not raise them). Since it is likely גוים who own any pigs and yet the גמרא says if we find a plague amongst the pigs, the יהודים nearby should fast, it should then be a clear proof against the ר''ן. When just the property of גוים get sick and it proves dangerous for יהודים, then certainly when the גוים themselves get sick it is dangerous for יהודים as it says, כיון שניתן רשות למשחית אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע. He does not give an answer to this question against the ר''ן.
- The גמרא says if three people die in three days in a small city of 500, they need to fast. However, רב נחמן בר רב חסדא enacted a fast even if the three people died in one day. רב נחמן בר יצחק asked him if he was following ר' מאיר who said an ox that gored three times in one day is also considered a מועד. The simple reading of the גמרא is that it goes without saying thatwe do not pasken like ר' מאיר. However, see או"ח סימן קי"ד where the טור quotes the opinion of the מרוטנברג מהר"ם who explains that although the גמרא says after only 30 days of saying הטל מוריד one can assume in a case where he day dreamed during the ברכה that he likely said the correct words, it really doesn’t require thirty actual days. You can just say הטל מוריד ninety times in one day and we can then apply the דין of ר' מאיר. See the אברהם מגן there in יג ס"ק who asks this would seem to be against our גמרא which says we don’t pasken like ר' מאיר. Moreover, the שו"ע himself paskens like the opinion of מרוטנברג מהר"ם and yet in תקע"ו סימן he paskens that one does not fast if all three people died in one day. The אברהם מגן answers that our גמרא and the שור are fundamentally different than the case of מוריד הטל. A שור can have a “bad day” so to speak. There can be something dangerous or noxious in the air one day that causes people to die. By contrast, if one’s mouth become accustomed to saying הטל מוריד, that habit would presumably remain even on a different day.
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