Talmud Tips

For the week ending 29 March 2014 / 27 Adar II 5774

Succah 55 - Beitza 6

by Rabbi Moshe Newman
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“What a child says in public was heard either from his mother or father.”

This is the “folk saying” that Abaye cites in our gemara in order to explain the negative speech of Miriam bat Bilga, who was the daughter of the leader of one of the 24 shifts of kohanim who served in the Beit Hamikdash. She spoke derisively about the Altar, and as a result her entire family was penalized regarding their service in the Beit Hamikdash since her negative talk was a result of hearing this negative type of talk at home.

  • Succah 56b

“It is something that will be permitted (‘davar she’yesh lo matirin’) and anything (forbidden) that will be permitted is not nullified even in a mixture of a thousand (permitted objects).”

Our gemara states this rule to explain why an egg laid on Yom Tov is still forbidden to eat on Yom Tov even if it became mixed with a very large number of eggs that were laid before Yom Tov and otherwise permitted to eat. But why is this so since according to Torah law such a forbidden object should be nullified and permitted in a mixture of a majority of permitted objects? The reason is because our Sages were strict to make a special prohibition not to rely on this nullification, since it is something that will be permitted later on without nullification. “Why eat it now as something in a state of ‘prohibition’ when it can be eaten later in a state of ‘permission’ (Rashi).”

  • Beitza 4b

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