Pesachim 32: Rav Kook’s “Kemach”

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The Mishna (31b) teaches that if the teruma was hametz (i.e. it had been baked into bread), and it was accidentally eaten on Pesaḥ, the person who ate it needs to pay its value together with the penalty – even though hametz on Pesaḥ is ordinarily considered to have no value.

Steinzaltz (OBM) writes that our daf’s argument between Abba Shaul and the chachamim can be explained by a Yerushalmi where the Tanna Kamma understands giving the “holy thing” to the kohen as commanding that a minimum amount (a ka-zayit) must be given to the kohen; only then will the penalty be in place. Abba Shaul understands that the “holy thing” given is the penalty for misusing the teruma itself.

Bezalel Naor, my friend has made significant contributions to the scholarship of Hassidut, and the brilliant insight Rav Kook brought to explain our sugya from the Yerushalmi (cited by Steinzaltz (OBM) above, led us to discuss a recent publication...Pinkesei haRa’ayah.

Pesachim 31: The Darker Side of Moneylending

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A Jew borrowed money from a non-Jew, and left some chametz (think whiskey or vodka) in the non-Jew’s house as a collateral. If after Passover the Jew defaults on the loan, the non-Jew remains in the possession of the chametz as a repayment. We therefore can say that the chametz was already in non-Jewish hand on Passover retroactively, and now it is not forbidden for use.

By contrast, if it was a non-Jew who borrowed the money and left his chametz in the Jewish house, then, if after Passover the non-Jew defaults on his loan, the chametz becomes Jewish retroactively, and is therefore forbidden for use, as chametz owned by a Jew on Passover.

This leads us to the notion of moneylending and the fraught relationship between the Jew and the Aristocracy of Europe in financing among other, things its wars.

Pesachim 30: What’s a Ma’shehu Between Friends? Avogadro’s Limit

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However, some things "never" become batel; they are assur even b'mashehu, that is, even in the smallest amount. The classic example of this is chametz which is assur even in the minutest proportions.

THIS REMINDS ME OF HOMEOPATHY! AND AVOGADRO'S LIMIT...

AND JOBI'MS "THE WATERS OF MARCH"

Pesachim 29: It’s a Dog’s Life

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Pesachim 28: Stocks and Pillories

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Pesachim 27: Netziv on Symbolism of Matza

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The Netziv turns our notion of chametz/matza on its head

What is the symbolism that leaven and unleaven represent in the Temple?

Leaven represents fulfillment, a process which has gone its due course. The ultimate and supreme form of flour and water is a leavened loaf.

Unleaven, on the other hand, is "not yet" what it aspires to be; it figuratively represents the beginning of a yet-unfulfilled process. It is presently immature and unripe. It is in the early stages of a journey.

Pesachim 26: Benefit From A Prohibited Item Without Intent

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Consider a case where one is planning to do something permitted, but in the course of it an additional forbidden pleasure comes his way. For example, he plans to travel to a certain destination, but on his way there is an idolatrous temple, from which there comes a fragrant smell of idolatrous spices. Should one avoid this nevertheless?

Pesachim 25: Mai Chazit - Whose Blood Is Redder?

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Not only is it forbidden to eat hametz during Pesah, deriving other benefit from it is prohibited as well. In order to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between eating and deriving benefit from forbidden foods, the Gemara compares hametz to other things forbidden by the Torah, including basar be-halav (meat and milk) and kilei ha-kerem (wheat grown in a vineyard).

One point the Gemara makes very clearly is that in a case of piku’ah nefesh – of danger to human life – we dispense with all of these rules.

Similar to the sugya in Sanhedrin 74, the logic of "whose blood is redder" is examined including the famous diyuk of Reb Chaim of Brisk

Pesachim 24: איסור הנאה and Pharmaceuticals

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Pesachim 23: Lifnei Iver and Conflicts of Interest

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Governments, international agencies and health systems have an obligation to ensure, to the best of their ability, adequate provision of health care for all.

However, this may not be possible during a pandemic, when health resources are likely to be limited.

Our daf discusses the halacha of “Lifne Iver” prompting a review of talmudic ethics in various modern scenarios ending with COVID vaccination distribution.

Pesachim 22: Until Rabbi Akiva Came

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Pesachim 21: Benefit from Chametz

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Upon attaining freedom from the physical slavery of Egypt, we rejected the “fleshpots of Egypt” (Shemot 16:3). We rejected the emphasis on physicality, and embrace, as servants of the Lord, a life of simplicity.

Our lives were now “theocentric;” God is at the center, and not our own will and desires. We eat, therefore, not chametz, but matza, “lechem oni,” the simple, poor-man’s bread.

The whole halachic construction and laws and details and minhagim is based on this.

Pesachim 20: Accommodations for the Love of the Divine

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Chibat hakodesh is the dispensation with the usual laws of imparting Tum’ah due to the heightened awareness/love for the Mikdash/ Divine which leads us to contemplate the concessions of Divine love comparing Rumi with the Baal Shem Tov.

Pesachim 19: Needle in the Flesh, Heart’s Needle

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Our Daf discusses a needle that was found in sacrificial meat, with the result that the meat is impure, but the hands and the knife are pure. How could that be? This leads us to the poem "Heart's Needle" by pulitzer prize poet W.D Snodgrass and his struggle to remain a father to his daughter...

Pesachim 18: Tum’ah, Solids vs Liquids

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A discussion regarding "Bo Bayom” that fateful day when they appointed Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Akiva taught: “And every earthenware vessel into which any of them falls, whatever is in it shall be impure [yitma], and you shall break it” (Vayikra 11:33)., the daf discusses differences between liquid and solid states in imparting Tum’ah, which leads us to a review of the mechanics differences in states of matter ….and those of the heart too!

Pesachim 17: Haggai and Chanukah

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An esoteric discussion of the kinds of liquids producing tum’ah leads to a citation from Haggai interrogating the priests, which informs Rav Yoel Bin Nun on a wonderful historical review of Chanukah.

Though the sacrifices might be technically pure, sinful acts are equivalent to offering impure sacrifices. Haggai emphasizes that such sacrifices were harmful to the relationship between the Jewish people and God.

Pesachim 16: “Dust of their Feet”

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The notion that the Kohen Gaold’s Tzitz can expiate certain infractions of tum’aah leads us to the biography of the controversial figure and martyrdom of Yossi ben Yo’ezer

Pesachim 15: “A Sword is like a Corpse”

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Even though I am not a kohen I felt a profound inner revulsion in disturbing the sanctity of the human body when I arrived in medical school in 1969. The dissection lab was divided into groups of 8 medical student with 4 on each side of the corpse for dissection.

Clearly one had to pass this rite of passage (and pass the anatomy examinations) in order to proceed to clinical medicine.

I approached my anatomy instructor, a religious Christian who came down from Cambridge to tutor us, and expressed my concerns.

He fully understood and allowed me to observe the entire 18 months without ever touching the corpse. I felt the divine hand present in this moment.

Pesachim 14: Tuma as Contagion

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Even though I am not a kohen I felt a profound inner revulsion in disturbing the sanctity of the human body when I arrived in medical school in 1969. The dissection lab was divided into groups of 8 medical student with 4 on each side of the corpse for dissection.

Clearly one had to pass this rite of passage (and pass the anatomy examinations) in order to proceed to clinical medicine.

I approached my anatomy instructor, a religious Christian who came down from Cambridge to tutor us, and expressed my concerns.

He fully understood and allowed me to observe the entire 18 months without ever touching the corpse. I felt the divine hand present in this moment.

Pesachim 13: Elijah Not Welcome Erev Shabbes

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Perhaps Elijah the Prophet will come on Shabbat and establish prophetically that the teruma is not ritually impure…

But no worry: Our daf speaks of Elijah being unable to arrive on Erev Shabbes or Yom Tov:

I was thinking about Elijah and being welcome after Shabbat in havdala and during the Seder night…and the poem by Yala Korwin: we didn’t dare to sing and open the door for Elijah

How do we relate to Elijah now?