Rosh Hashanah 16 - October 25, 19 Cheshvan - a podcast by Michelle Cohen Farber

Today’s daf is sponsored by Stacey Goodstein Ashtamker in memory of her beloved mother Arlene Goodstein whose 6th yahrzeit is today. "My mother was a very special woman who loved to learn and who was especially committed to Judaism and built a strong Jewish home. She would be amazed that I began this daf yomi journey and that I have been studying the daf every day for close to 2 years. She is especially missed today, as tomorrow her oldest granddaughter Chana will marry Iddo in the holy city of Jerusalem. We are sure she is with us at this moment and will be dancing with us tomorrow night."

There are four times a year the world is judged – on Pesach for grain, on Shavuot for fruits, on Rosh Hashanah people appear before God like the benei maron (sheep) and on Sukkot for water. How exactly are we judged for grain on Pesach?  Does this relate to the wheat that is already growing or for the new crop that will be planted later in the year? In the end, it is understood that each crop gets judged twice – each Pesach for the crop that is already growing as well as the crop that will be planted. The Gemara brings a braita with four different opinions about when the world is judged and none of these opinions matches the Mishna. To resolve this a braita is recorded in the name of Rabbi Yishmael that matches the opinion in the Mishna. Why does Rabbi Yosi (quoted in the braita) hold that people are judged every day and why did he not hold like Rabbi Natan who held that they are judged every hour? The same verse used to answer that question is used to teach that if a king and the community are going in front of the judge, the king goes first either because it’s not appropriate to make the king wait outside or better to let him go before the judge gets angry from dealing with all the sins of the others. If, according to most of the opinions, people are judged once a year, then why do we pray daily?  Perhaps our prayers for the sick are only meaningful according to Rabbi Yosi who holds that we are judged on a daily basis? Our prayers also could also be understood according to others, as Rabbi Yitzchak holds that prayers can be effective even after God has decreed what will be. A braita connects between the offerings brought on the holidays and the item for which we are judged at that time. We use the shofar made from a ram on Rosh Hashanah to remind God of the akeida/binding of Yitzchak – blowing the shofar is as if we bound ourselves before God. Rabbi Yitzchak explained that some blasts are done sitting (before the silent prayer) and some standing (during the silent prayer) in order to confuse the Satan. A number of other statements of his are brought regarding a number of different issues including, one is judged only based on his deeds now, as learning from Yishmael in the Torah, what can be done to change a heavenly decree, one should visit one’s Rabbi as well as purify oneself on the holidays. Derivations from the verses are brought for each statement. On Rosh Hashanah three books are opened – for the righteous, the average and the evil people. Immediate decisions are made for the righteous and the evil, and the average people’s judgment is detained until Yom Kippur. Two different verses are brought as the source for the concept that there are three books. Beit Shamai discusses the same three categories of people in the context of the resurrection of the dead – what will happen to each type?

Further episodes of Daf Yomi for Women - Hadran

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Website of Michelle Cohen Farber