41 Lessons
Ein Ayah Signs of Being Caught Up in Sin
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 207
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 207
Ein Ayah The Marketplace – Where Human Weakness Is
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 206
When a person goes out to the marketplace, he should view himself as one who was given over to a judge.
Ein Ayah Divine Plan or Human Initiative?
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 204
A Tannaic statement emanated from the school of Rabbi Yishmael: “Should the faller fall from it (mimeneu)” (Devarim 22:8). “Mimenu” implies that the faller was fit to fall from the six days of Genesis, as the Torah calls him a “faller” before he fell. The idea is that meritorious matters are brought about by meritorious people and negative matters by negative people.
Ein Ayah Enough to Know About Hardship
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 202
Rav Yitzchak the son of Rav Yehuda said: One should always request mercy that he will not become ill, for if he becomes ill, they say to him: “Present merit, and you will be freed of it.”
Ein Ayah Appreciating Sanctity
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 200
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elazar says: Due to two sins, ignorant people die: for calling the aron kodesh (ark holding Torah scrolls) arana (roughly, a closet) and for calling a beit knesset (synagogue) a beit am (house of the people).
Ein Ayah Decreased Activity for One who Relies on Miracle
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 194
Rabbi Yannai said: One should never put himself into a situation of danger and saying that a miracle will occur, as it is possible that the miracle will not occur, and if the miracle occurs, his merits will be lessened. This is what the pasuk [said by Yaakov] means: “I have become smaller due to all the kindness and the truth that You have done for Your servant” (Bereishit 32:11)
Ein Ayah Avoid Overstepping the Boundaries of Trust
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 192
Rav would not pass in a ferry in which a non-Jew was sitting, as he would say: “Perhaps there is a decree upon him, and I may be affected along with him.” Shmuel would pass only in a ferry in which a non-Jew was sitting, as he would say: “Anger against the members of two nations will not have dominion.” Rabbi Yannai would check [for holes in the ferry – Rashi]. Rabbi Yannai was consistent in his approach, as he would say: “A person should never stand in a place of danger and assume that a miracle will happen to him, for not always is a miracle done for him, and if a miracle does occur, it is subtracted from his merits.”
Ein Ayah Losing Sensitivity for that Which Is Frightening
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 178-8
[The gemara is based on p’sukim in Tehillim (73:4; 49:13), which are very hard to translate, especially if one wants to translate them according to p’shat and also wants to understand them in context of Chazal’s derasha. Therefore, we will bring the statements without the p’sukim upon which they are based.] Hashem said: It is not enough that the wicked are not afraid and saddened about the prospect of the day of their death, but their heart is as robust as the opening of a hall. This is as Rabba said: The wicked know that they are headed to death, but they have fat over their kidneys [to keep them from reacting appropriately]. This is despite the fact that they have not forgotten their destiny.
Ein Ayah Legendary Villain? Say, “No!”
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 176
Ulla expounded: That which it says, “Do not be evil very much …” (Kohelet 7:17), doesn’t that imply that it is only very much that one should not be evil, but he may be evil a little bit. Rather, [it is related to the idea] that one who ate garlic and his breath smells, should he once again eat garlic and have his breath smell [worse]?
Ein Ayah A Man of Fear of Sin
Ein Aya Shabbat CHapter B Paragraph 172-3
Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Elazar were sitting. Rabbi Yaakov bar Acha passed by. One said to his friend: “Let us stand up before him, for he is a man who is fearful of sin.” The other one said to him: “Let us stand up before him, for he is a man who is a son of Torah.”
Ein Ayah Keys for the Inner and the Outer Doors
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 169
Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Whichever person has Torah but does not have within him fear of Heaven is like a treasurer to whom they handed over the keys to the inner doors, but the keys to the outer doors they did not hand over. How will he be able to get in?
Ein Ayah Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 164
At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve (pilpul) into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”
Ein Ayah Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 162-3
At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”
Ein Ayah Preserving, Widening, and Perpetuating Goodness
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 162-3
At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him: “Did you do your dealings with honesty? Did you set time for Torah study? Did you involve yourself in procreation? Did you look forward to salvation? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?”
Ein Ayah Forcing the Liberated Soul to Deal with the Bitter Truth
Ein Aya Shabbat chapter B Paragraph 160
At the moment that they make a man enter his judgment [after his death], they ask him …
Ein Ayah Backing Up Emotions with Fear of Hashem
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 159
Reish Lakish said: What is referred to by the pasuk (Yeshaya 33:6): “And it shall be the belief of your times, the power, the salvations of, the wisdom of, and the knowledge”? “ The belief of” refers to the Order of Zeraim (agricultural laws); “your times” refers to the Order of Mo’ed (the holidays); “the power” refers to the Order of Women (family law); “the salvations of” refers to the Order of Nezikin (monetary law); “the wisdom of” refers to the Order of Kodashim (laws of the Temple); “and the knowledge” refers to the Order of Taharot (laws of purity). Even so, “fear of Hashem is its storehouse” (ibid.)
Ein Ayah The Place of the Talmudic Subjects in the World
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 153-4
Reish Lakish said: What is referred to by the pasuk (Yeshaya 33:6): “And it shall be the belief of your times, the power, the salvations of, the wisdom of, and the knowledge”? “Emunat (the belief of)” refers to the Order of Zeraim (agricultural laws); “itecha (your times)” refers to the Order of Mo’ed (the holidays)…
Ein Ayah Protection from Below and/or From Above
Ein Aya Shabbat B Chapter 2 Paragraph 151
[In this piece, the convert who had wanted to be a Kohen Gadol thanked Hillel for his faith in him.] He said: Hillel, the anvatan (humble and patient), may blessings rest on your head, for you have brought me close, under the wings of the Divine Presence.
Ein Ayah What It Takes to be a Kohen Gadol
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 145,147
There was another story, of a non-Jew who passed behind a shul and heard a teacher say: “These are the clothes they will make …” (Shemot 28:4). He asked who has such clothes and was told it is the Kohen Gadol. [He decided to convert in order to become Kohen Gadol, came before Shammai with the proposition, and was harshly rejected.] He came before Hillel, and he converted him. Hillel said: Is there such a thing as one who does not know how a king is to act who is appointed king? Go and learn the rules of kingship (i.e., how to be a Kohen Gadol). He went and read. Once he got up to “The ‘stranger’ who draws forward will die” (Bamidbar 3:10), he asked: “For whom is this pasuk written?” He said: “Even for David, King of Israel.”
Mesilat Yesharim Emotional Attachment is Not Enough
Ein Aya Shabbat Chapter B Paragraph 140-141
There was another story of a non-Jew who came before Shammai and requested of him: “Convert me on condition that you will teach me the whole Torah while standing on one foot.” Shammai pushed him with the amat habinyan (building measuring stick) that was in his hand.