Resources for Taanis daf 22

Daf A Week

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

  1. The גמרא relates that the students of אביי took the mattresses given to them by their host, אבא אומנא and appeared to be selling them. See the שפת אמת who asks what right they had since the גמרא in בבא מציעא דף ס"א says one is not allowed to be גונב על מנת למיקט (steal just to bother someone) or to steal on condition to pay back later. He answers that it must be the תלמידים of אביי knew that אבא אומנא recognized they were poor and had intended for them to take the mattresses. אבא אומנא might have been upset because he gave the mattresses to them to use, not to sell. Therefore, he responded that he didn’t suspect them of selling for themselves but assumed they needed to help someone with פּדיון שבויים. This also explains why he said, “I had already intended them for צדקה.” However, this answer would seem to be against at least the מאירי who says אבא אומנא didn’t need to give away the mattresses since he had only thought to give them to צדקה but had not verbalized this. According to the שפת אמת, he had not just thought this but had already given them away at the outset. See also the ריטב"א in בבא בתרא דף ה ד"ה רוניא who discusses this topic in his second answer and offers a great חידוש: he says one may steal something for a short period provided the intention is not to cause pain but rather to prove something.

 

  1. The גמרא says that אליהו pointed out several בני עולם הבא. Many אחרונים ask to clarify - aren’t most Jews בני עולם הבא? See the תורת חיים brought by the גליון הש"ס here who says most people need to go through many “hoops” before reaching עולם הבא such as גיהנום, חיבוט הקבר, etc. However, אליהו הנביא pointed out people who were ready for עולם הבא as is. See also the של"ה in פּרשת ואתחנן who says חז"ל used three different expressions in this regard and each one refers to another level: חלק לעולם הבא, מזומן לחיי העולם הבא, and בני עולם הבא. בני עולם הבא is the highest level.

 

  1. The גמרא says we pasken that we don’t fast for דבר (plagues) even during the week. Many ראשונים are bothered with how this fits with the beginning of the משנה that says explicitly a city that has דבר is מתריעין and the surrounding cities fast but aren’t מתריע (like the חכמים)? See the ר"ן who explains “not being מתריע even during the week for plagues” means we don’t fast back-to-back days (including שבת) until the plague goes away. Rather, we are מתריעין in the manner discussed earlier in the מסכתא, Mondays and Thursdays. See the ריטב"א who simply understands the first part of our משנה as talking about fasting in the nearby cities whereas the חכמים ושמעון התמני are discussing remote places who hear about the plagues. See also the רמב"ם in הלכות תעניות פּרק א' הל' א who disagrees with all of the above and says we are מתריעין על הדבר! See the לחם משנה there who says the רמב"ם must have understood the second part of the משנה as a different תנא from the first part of the משנה. The תנא קמא held you are מתריעין על הדבר, but not on שבת (and the רמב"ם paskened like this תנא since it is written as a סתם משנה). The חכמים held you are not מתריע at all and שמעון התמני held you are מתריע even on שבת.

 

  1. The משנה says that we are מתריעין on שבת for an individual being chased by a גוי or a ship about to sink. See the ר"ן who says this is the source to daven for people who are sick on Shabbos (even though typically one is not allowed make personal בקשות on שבת). However, he clarifies that the person must be in imminent danger just as the boat about to capsize. If the person, however, is not in immediate danger to life, they should not daven for that person on שבת.

********************************

Click here to download Shaklya v’Tarya Summary by Rabbi Chaim Smulovitz (in PDF)

Click here to download maarei m’komos by Rabbi Asher Millman (in PDF)

Click here to download Shaklya v’Tarya Summary by Rabbi Yaakov Blumenfeld (in PDF)