Resources for Taanis daf 25
Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman
- The גמרא tells the famous story of the daughter of רבי חנינא בן דוסא who accidentally put vinegar in her Shabbos candles instead of oil. רבי חנינא בן דוסא told her not to be sad since the One who said oil should burn can have vinegar burn instead. See the מכתב מאליהו in חלק א, עמוד 178 who explains that all of nature is just a set of habitual miracles. For example, we would be quite shocked to witness a man who had been buried and whose body had decomposed - grow into a six-foot-tall live person. Yet, we are not quite as amazed to observe a buried seed decompose in the earth - then grow into a large bush or tree. For those who possess a level of אמונה at which they understand nature as nothing short of a נס, there is no need to continue the “charade” and Hashem would even let vinegar burn.
- The גמרא says Hashem accepted רבי עקיבא’s תפילות and not רבי אליעזר’s תפילות, not because רבי עקיבא was greater, rather because he was מעביר על מידותיו. Many אחרונים ask that the גמרא seems to be a contradiction in terms: first it tells us that רבי עקיבא wasn’t greater than רבי אליעזר, but then it tells us that רבי עקיבא was מעביר על מידותיו while רבי אליעזר was not. Doesn’t this mean that רבי עקיבא was greater? See the מבי"ט in the בית אלוקים, שער התשובה פּרק ד who explains as follows: רבי עקיבא was by nature more inclined to sin than רבי אליעזר (רבי עקיבא was an עם הארץ the first 40 years of his life and had not been absorbed in רוחניות at that time). As such, רבי עקיבא was a “מעביר על מידותיו” in the sense that it was harder for him innately than it was for רבי אליעזר. Consequently, רבי עקיבא was not greater per se but rather had this specific מעלה. See also the ספר אור ישראל from רב ישראל סלנטר ז"ל in מאמר כ"ח who says that רבי עקיבא and רבי אליעזר simply had different approaches. רבי אליעזר was from the students of בית שמאי whereas רבי עקיבא was from the students of בית הלל. It was בית שמאי’s position to embrace קפּדנות for the honor of Torah (such as where he threw out the גר who wanted the Torah be taught to him while standing on one leg). בית הלל’s position was to always act with humility, and to be מעביר על מידותיו. Therefore, רבי עקיבא was answered as a מדה כנגד מדה.
- The גמרא shares that when Jews do ניסוך המים on סוכות, the תהום says “let us give rain as I hear the sound of the two friends” which refer to ניסוך המים and ניסוך היין. This is somewhat perplexing as one would think it is only the ניסוך המים that brings the rain and not the ניסוך היין which is brought all year long. See the אור החמה who says that both are needed since wine represents דין and water represents חסד, so the חסד is ממתיק the דין by being poured together. See also the קהילת יעקב in מנחות סימן ח who says that we see from our גמרא that the ניסוך המים and ניסוך היין are in a sense one מצוה on סוכות since they are both brought to be מרצה for rain. With this he answers the following question: the רמב"ם in פּרק י הלכות תמידין ומוספין paskens that ניסוך המים and ניסוך היין are performed at the same time. He asks why this isn’t a violation of doing two מצוות at the same time (אין עושים מצוות חבילות חבילות)? He answers that since they come for the same purpose, they are considered one מצוה.
- The גמרא says that רבי חנינא בן דוסא had some goats which he purchased. The גמרא asks (according to some גירסאות ) how he was allowed to own them since אין מגדלין בהמה דקה בארץ ישראל (which means Jewish areas, not just Israel)? Whether you have that גירסא or not, the question is never really answered. See the גבורת ארי who suggests that since the goats were bought for the purpose of השבת אבידה, one would be allowed to have them graze around Jewish areas since חז"ל were never מתקן their תקנה in a place of השבת אבידה. The other (perhaps) simpler answer he gives is that he must have had them graze in forests or the like where they would not be near other people’s fields.
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