I had the great zechut of finishing all of the Gemarra Bavli with my rav muvhak Rav Yechezkel Daum ztzl, twice in two cycles of seven years each. Two years ago I started learning Gemarra Yerushalmi with the intention of learning one daf every day. I soon discovered that I would have to devote an entire seder (4hrs) in order to finish a daf every day.There is no Rashi on the Yerushalmi and there are many girsaot often contradictory.Instead of the shakla vetaria (give and take discussion) of the Bavli, the Yerushalmi learns by tradition of rav letalmid with many maaseh rav as examples.In the end I did hattarat nedarim on my intention of doing .daf yomi, but I continue learning Yerushalmi one or two hours a day. So far I have finished Berachot,Peah, Demai, Kilayim,Trumot and most recently Ma'asrot.
I made the siyyum of masechet Ma'asrot in honor of the Yohrtzeit of my father in law, Abe Rich Alav Hashalom. who passed away 11 years ago erev Pesach. Another word for a siyyum is hadran, from the Aramaic meaning to repeat. We give thanks that Hashem has helped us to learn this masechet, may he help us to repeat and learn other masechtot in the future. The subject of Ma'asrot is the mitzvah of tithes, taking 10% of all agricultural produce for the Cohanim and Leviim. The last Mishna in Ma'asrot deals with the obligation of taking ma'aserot from grains and seeds. There are three dinnim:
1-The five grains;wheat oats spelt rye and barley must be tithed d'oreita and even grain that sprouted from what was tithed must again be tithed.
2-Kitniot (legumes) must be tithed derabbanan, and what sprouts from it is exempt.
3- Zir'onei gina (garden seeds) which are not ordinarily for human consumption are exempt from tithes.
The Gemarra brings a maaseh that came before R' Yochanan. A woman was carrying a basket of asparagus, some seeds dropped on the ground which sprouted. The question was asked whether or not maaser must be taken from the sprouts. Rav Yochanan ruled that the sprouts are exempt from all tithes.
One of the the talmidim who was present, Rabi Hiyya Bar Vah said to Rabi Yochanan that it is clear from the Mishnah that asparagus seeds are considered zironei gina and of course the sprouts are exempt even though the vegetable itself must be tithed.Rabi Yochanan replied disparagingly, "You Babylonian! I gave you the oyster and you show me the pearl? Had I not made the ruling you would not have been able to answer! Here we see the Yerushalmi typically learning the din from tradition and case law. We also see some of the tension between the Tannaim of Eretz Yisrael and those of Bavel.
Hadran alach masechet Ma'asrot
I made the siyyum of masechet Ma'asrot in honor of the Yohrtzeit of my father in law, Abe Rich Alav Hashalom. who passed away 11 years ago erev Pesach. Another word for a siyyum is hadran, from the Aramaic meaning to repeat. We give thanks that Hashem has helped us to learn this masechet, may he help us to repeat and learn other masechtot in the future. The subject of Ma'asrot is the mitzvah of tithes, taking 10% of all agricultural produce for the Cohanim and Leviim. The last Mishna in Ma'asrot deals with the obligation of taking ma'aserot from grains and seeds. There are three dinnim:
1-The five grains;wheat oats spelt rye and barley must be tithed d'oreita and even grain that sprouted from what was tithed must again be tithed.
2-Kitniot (legumes) must be tithed derabbanan, and what sprouts from it is exempt.
3- Zir'onei gina (garden seeds) which are not ordinarily for human consumption are exempt from tithes.
The Gemarra brings a maaseh that came before R' Yochanan. A woman was carrying a basket of asparagus, some seeds dropped on the ground which sprouted. The question was asked whether or not maaser must be taken from the sprouts. Rav Yochanan ruled that the sprouts are exempt from all tithes.
One of the the talmidim who was present, Rabi Hiyya Bar Vah said to Rabi Yochanan that it is clear from the Mishnah that asparagus seeds are considered zironei gina and of course the sprouts are exempt even though the vegetable itself must be tithed.Rabi Yochanan replied disparagingly, "You Babylonian! I gave you the oyster and you show me the pearl? Had I not made the ruling you would not have been able to answer! Here we see the Yerushalmi typically learning the din from tradition and case law. We also see some of the tension between the Tannaim of Eretz Yisrael and those of Bavel.
Hadran alach masechet Ma'asrot
Mazal Tov!
ReplyDeleteKT
Joel
RJR-Baruch tihyeh I know that Saba AH has nachat ruach from the Torah of his son (and daughter)and grandson. The maskana of the gemarra is that what sprouts from the grains of Torah is worthy of consuption by the Cohanin in the Bet Hamikdosh.
ReplyDeleteBimhera beyameinu