BSD
Sukkah 48b (2)
Shvat 16, 5783. February 7, 2023
We continued the topic of ניסוך המים.
1- משנה – And the appointee says to the one pouring the water into the silver basin: Raise your hand, so that his actions would be visible, as one time a צדוקי intentionally poured the water on his feet, as the צדיקים did not accept the oral tradition requiring ניסוך המים. In their rage all the people pelted him with their אתרוגים.
The גמרא in Yuma 26b (below) quotes our Mishna to establish that ניסוך המים took place in the morning during שחרית. As Rashi explains, the proof is from the אתרוגים that were hurled at the צדוקי.
We mentioned the Ritvah that asks there : This incident occurred in ירושלים where the Minhag of many was to walk around all day holding on to the ‘ד מינים. Sukka 41b.
?וא״ת והלא אנשי ירושלם נוטלין היו לולביהן כל היום כדאיתא התם
The Ritva concludes that the proof is from the words ‘all the people pelted him with their אתרוגים. ‘All the people’ implies a time when there is a large crowd and not just individuals.
2- We discussed the issue of using the Esrog to pelt someone. Besides the issue of ביזוי אוכלין there is also the Mitzvah aspect of the Esrog; הוקצה למצוותו .
The above Ritva has an interesting line:
וי״ל דהא פשי׳ דכיון שהכירו בו שהוא צדוקי זהו כבודו של אתרוג לקדש בו השם לענין כזה:
3- We discussed the Yerushalmi that tries to figure out if the 3 צדוקים stories in ש”ס were talking about the same fellow.
1- Our Mishna with the צדוקי not pouring the water properly.
2- The צדוקי who put the קטורת on the coals prior to entering the קודש קדשים.
3- The צדוקי that dragged out the process of the burning the פרה אדומה until after nightfall.
4- We discussed the cryptic גמרא describing a seemingly foolish argument between two heretics call ששון ושמחה.
Anyone with a good explanation please come forth next week.
5- The topic of always turning to the right in the בית המקדש and when circling the מזבח.
6- Discussed the מזבח and the importance of it being perfectly square. See here.
7- The Yerushalmi in שבועות and other places that:
- Swearing that one saw a square snake as wide as the beams of an olive is considered a שבועת שוא.
- At the time of creation ‘nothing was created in a perfect square’.
- What does this ‘nothing’ include? Animals? Food items?
8- Question to the Rebbe in 1948 by Reb Sholom Rivkin about a quote in a מאמר where it seems to say that some items were created square.
The Rebbe’s response here.
The Rebbe’s mentioning that salt crystals are square.
9 – Suggestion that perhaps the building a perfectly square מזבח is the ultimate לעבדה ולשמרה. The human improvement on מעשה בראשית, by ‘creating’ something that Hashem Himself didn’t do.