Avot302
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
Today's shiur is dedicated by Jay Slater
in memory of his father, Julius Slater,
M'shullam Zisa ben Aharon Pinchas v'Malka z"l,
whose Yahrzeit was on 2nd Marĥeshvan..
TRACTATE AVOT, CHAPTER FIVE, MISHNAH SIX (recap):
Ten things were created on Erev Shabbat at twilight. They are: the mouth of the earth, the mouth of the well, the mouth of the she-ass, the rainbow, the manna, the rod, the Shamir, the letters, the writing and the tablets. Some say that also the imps [were created at this time], Moses' grave and Abraham's ram. Some say that a wrench was made with a wrench.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
16:
The manna. This item is relatively simple. The manna is, of course, that manna to which we made full reference in Mishnah 4 of this chapter [
Avot 290 and Avot 291]. Modern writers, such as Erich von Dãnikken, have tried to explain the manna as a natural phenomenon – in my opinion not at all successfully. For the sages, however, there was no doubt at all: the manna was literally "bread from heaven" [Exodus 16:4] and everything connected with it was miraculous. All we have to do is to read about it as recounted in the Torah to appreciate why the sages thought that there could be nothing natural about the manna:
And God said to Moses, "I will rain down bread for you from the sky, and the people shall go out and gather each day that day's portion… In the morning there was a fall of dew about the camp. When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground… But when they measured it by the Omer, he who had gathered much had no excess,and he who had gathered little had no deficiency: they had gathered as much as they needed to eat. And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over until morning." But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed to eat; for when the sun grew hot, it would melt. On the sixth day they gathered double the amount of food, two Omers for each… [Exodus 16:4-22]
For the sages a substance which fell from heaven every morning, except Saturdays, and in double the regular amount on Fridays; which could be boiled and eaten and yet would melt in the sun's heat – such a substance was miraculous and was a 'quirk of nature' specially built into the divine programme at the dawn of history to answer to a specific problem at a specific time. Once that problem ceased so did the manna:
Encamped at Gilgal, in the steppes of Jericho, the Israelites offered the passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the month, toward evening. On the day after the passover offering, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land [of Israel], unleavened bread and parched grain. On that same day, when they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. The Israelites got no more manna; that year they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan. [Joshua 5:10-12]
To be continued.
DISCUSSION:
In Avot 298 we had occasion to mention the fate of Datan and Aviram, two of Korach's henchmen. The Torah says: Now Datan and Aviram had come out and they stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, their children, and their little ones.
Amnon Ron'el asks:
How did the youngsters rebel?
I respond:
They didn't, presumably. We have here a perfect example of the old concept of retribution according to which all the members of a person's family, indeed, his society, may be held responsible for his actions: collective responsibility. For a full review of this philosophy and its replacement see Berakhot 157 and Sanhedrin 057.
Similarly, in connection with Avot 299 Jacob Chinitz writes:
It seems to me that we cannot have it both ways: warding off evil coming as a result of the sins of the fathers, a la the doctrine of Ezekiel which says that punishment is not transferred from father to son, and by implication from the wicked to the righteous, and, at the same time assuming that benefits, such as Miriam's brook, are transferred from the Saint to the less saintly. Can We have Zekhut Avot without suffering the Avon Avot? Either way: if we take this transference as a natural result of goodness or sin, then it has to work both for goodness and for sin. If, on the other hand, God confers the benefits as a reward, or a gift,of the righteous to the less righteous, then why not assume that He transfers punishment from the wicked to the less wicked?
BMV Home and Search Machine | Avot Archive | Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Shiur Dedication | 
[What is this?]
Admin @ bmv.org.il is the address for discussion, queries, comments and requests. If your message appears in a shiur it will be attributed to you by name; otherwise please mark your message clearly "not for publication".
The shiurim of the Rabin Mishnah Study Group are usually sent out on Tuesday and Thursday.
The shiurim of the Halakhah Study Group are usually sent out on Monday.
Did you know? The Mishnah shiurim are also available in Hebrew. (Go to Subscribe/Unsubscribe above)
These shiurim are and will remain free of charge.
If you should enjoy one of them please consider making a secure online donation to the Masorti Movement, which sponsors them. Make sure that you indicate that your donation is for the "Virtual Beit Midrash" in the dropdown box for "My Gift Allocation". All donations to the Virtual Bet Midrash are tax deductable.
Please use this link to reach the Masorti Online 
Donation Form.
