BSD

Suka 34a

1st. Adar 7 , 5782. February 8, 2022

1- We again learned the Mishna concerning ערבות. The גמרא cites opinions whether or not they actually need to grow on a river bank. Tosafos says that since according to Abba Shaul, our ערבות must be from a plant that is adjacent to a river as the literal translation of ערבי נחל. 

We mentioned the Rosh (and others) who says that he has never seen this in practice. The words ערבי נחל mean a species that usually grows on a river bank. 

The Alter Rebbe 647, 1 agrees and uses the term רוב מין זה גדל על נחלי מים. 

2- Going back to the question of dates of a Lulav tree and if it a prerequisite to use one only if the tree actually bears fruit – we mentioned the Rogatchover, Rambam, Lulav P7:

אך גבי לולב אם צריך דוקא שיהיה מן דקל שעושה תמרים

His point is that it must indeed produce fruit or at least be a species that is fruit bearing. (Meaning that a species of a fruit bearing palm tree that is located in a cold climate that hinders the growth of fruit would also be Kosher). 

His interesting proof is from the Gemara in Menochos 27a  that says concerning the ד’ מינים that 2 of 4 come from fruit bearing trees and two do not. He asks why is it only two?

דארבעה מינים שבלולב שנים מהם עושין פירות ושנים מהן אין עושין וקשה הא גם בהדס יש פירות

A הדס also produces berries as we discussed at length in previous shiurim.

The Rogatchover derives from this that the Kosher הדס is when it does not have fruit! As the הלכה is that if it has berries that are black or red it is פסול since then the berries are considered fruit. (as opposed to green ones). 

Conversely, the גמרא, when it says that 2 of 4 produce fruit,  it meant to say that the 2, Lulav and Esrog, must produce fruit! 

3 – We continued to discuss the concept of when is it Shabbos and Yom Tov למעלה. Since there are different world time zones causing Shabbos and Yom Tom to occur at different times on earth, when is it Shabbos and Yom Tom in עולמות הרוחניים?   

We learnt the text of the Alter Rebbe that explains that it actually corresponds to the location of each individual. 

Shabbos is here

This week we looked at  perhaps a somewhat different take on this.  

In short- There is an expression in the זהר “The שכינה is constantly present among בני ישראל on Shabbos and Yom Tov, even on Shabbos that is on a weekday”

What does ‘Shabbos of the weekday’ mean?  Is it שבת or חול? 

We spoke about Reb Yehuda Rosanes who lived in קושטא or  Constantinople,  Turkey, today called Istanbul. He is known for the massive book on the Rambam, the משנה למלך. Additionally he penned a Book of Droshos called פרשת דרכים. 

 

In one (#23) of the דרשות he  writes about this perplexing Zohar. One explanation offered is that Shabbos can also be a weekday when someone is lost in a desert, not knowing what day of the week it is.

היה מהלך במדבר ואינו יודע אימתי שבת – מונה ששה ימים ומשמר יום אחד

The Halachah is that he needs to count 6 weekdays and the seventh day is ‘his Shabbos’. In a sense, that would be a ‘Shabbos of the weekday’. 

He then offers another explanation concerning the time zones. ‘We believe that just as there are weekdays and Shabbos on earth, there is also this difference in heaven. Such as in regards to the  גיהנום on Shabbos. 

So what time zone is used למעלה? 

The consensus amongst Kabbalists is that Shabbos is primarily established on the Shabbos hours of  Yerushalayim, the other time zones are merely an offshoot of the Shabbos hours of Yerushalayim. So in heaven, that is the ‘real Shabbos’. 

So in a sense, outside ארץ ישראל, all other times around the world are a weekday in comparison to the ‘real’ Shabbos in Yerushalayim. And that is the meaning in the זהר: Shabbos and Yom Tov and that is on a weekday. Meaning a Shabbos that is outside Yerushalayim when in  Yerushalayim it is a week day! 

Does this jive with what the Alter Rebbe writes? 

You be the judge.