Beyond the Daf - Hadran

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain In this week’s daf (Menachot 93a-b), the mishnah declares that women do not lay their hands (semicha) on their korbanot. This seems to be the position within mishnah, as corroborated in Kiddushin (36a, Mishnah 1:8). However, in another tannaitic source - the Sifra (Midrash Halakha on Vayikra) - R. Yose and R...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The mishnah bases the prohibition to buy required korbanot from ma’aser sheni money (=i.e., money used to redeem ma’aser sheni produce) on the korban Pesach. After all, in both Egypt and in the desert, people did not yet separate ma’aser sheni, so they certainly did not use the money to buy the animals for t...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. How do we renew ourselves on Passover night? Thanks to studying Tractate Menachot during the war, we can reflect together on the matzah we eat on Passover night. It seems that besides being bread of poverty and bread of redemption, it has another characteristic. This characteristic is connected to the Omer offering that allows th...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. In our discussion lies hidden, within Rashi as preserved in the manuscript “Otzer,” an interpretation of the Talmud that links the birds of the metzora with the goats of Yom Kippur. Together, we will uncover this “treasure” with the help of the Tosfot on the passage, and delve deeper to understand the meaning of this surprising c...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The mishnayot of chapters 4 and 5 of Menachot mention flour offerings brought as korbanot by a non-Jews to the Beit Hamikdash. In this shiur, we will examine the logic and parameters of offerings by non-Jews inside and outside the Mikdash. Menachot 73 Dr. Elana Stein Hain – dinanddaf@hadran.org.il For more D...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. Though its discussion of the minchat haomer, our sugya arrives at sefirat haomer – a mitzvah that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Tosafot on our sugya cites several disagreements with the Ba’al Halachot Gedolot, which we’ll use to open the door to a number of fundamental conceptual and halakhic questions about the nature of...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain This week’s daf yomi discusses the traditional understanding of the term ממחרת השבת for beginning sefirat ha-omer not as Sunday, but as the second day of Pesach. In this shiur, we will examine logical justifications for this understanding, each of which shed light on the various themes of both Pesach and Sha...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. Join us for a case study in the different ways rishonim can solve interpretive problems: by providing practical solutions or offering conceptual reformulation. Our sugya deals with the waving of a mincha – an action which the Kohen and the owner participate in together. Their cooperation creates a problem: it generates a chatzitz...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain Mishnah Zevachim 5:3 delineate two flour offerings that may not contain oil or frankincense: the most impoverished type of sinner’s korban, as well as the flour offering given in the case of a sotah, a woman suspected of adultery. What is the logic behind denying these korbanot oil and incense? What does thi...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. Our sugya develops into a discussion of tithes and offerings (terumot and ma’aserot) and states that it is possible to designate them through thought alone. Tosafot has a distinctive approach in explaining what kind of thought is being referred to. We will follow their approach and examine their statements in different contexts,...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The opening of chapter 5 of Menachot rules/observes that only the Korban Todah (Thanksgiving offering) and the Shtei HaLechem (Two Loaves) on Shavuot include/are comprised of chametz. In this shiur, we attempt to understand why chametz is not permitted on the mizbeah (altar) and why chametz is used specifica...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The mishnayot in Menachot running from 3:5 to 4:4 discuss whether different aspects of certain halakhic performances are מעכב each other, i.e., can you have one without the other and still have fulfilled a valid mitzvah/religious act. This concept actually reveals a lot about Jewish law - especially regardin...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. Are women obligated to wear tzitzit? If not — why? And could there be a problem with women performing this mitzvah even if they are exempt? Join us for as we explore this question from its inception in midrash halakhah until today. Gefet Ep 208 Menachot 42 Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboratio...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The daf this week discusses the principle that a positive commandment can override a negative commandment where necessary, specifically motivated by the case of wool techelet on a linen garment for tzitzit. What is the logic behind this concept, and how does it reflect on the question of when the ends do and...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. The Gemara in Menachot posits that a “Cohen who does not admit” is not permitted to benefit from the matanot kehunah. What sort of Cohen would fall under this description? The rishonim and acharonim have different perspectives on this question – and their answers will open a window into a deeper theological debate: what is heresy...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. Our gemara quotes a mishnah from Masechet Shekalim that deals with a halakhic question: do Cohanim contribute machatzit hashekel? As we try to understand this mishnah in depth, we’ll realize that it opens the door to a broader conversation about the nature and definition of the tzibbur, or the collective. What is a tzibbur, and w...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. “Rashi tefillin” and “Rabbeinu Tam tefillin” : they’re terms we’ve all heard, and our daf finally gives us the opportunity to better understand the machloket between grandfather and grandson. What’s the debate about? How do each of their tefillin look? How did each of them read the gemara? And, practically – which tefillin do we...

The evolution of the golden Menorah from the Temple to the State of Israel and what does archaeology teach us about the shape of the Menorah? Menachot 28-29 On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer Learn more on https://hadran.org.il/

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain Menachot 33b suggests that the mezuzah is a protective device. How are we to understand this concept? Menachot 33 Dr. Elana Stein Hain – dinanddaf@hadran.org.il For more Din and Daf: https://hadran.org.il/channel/din-daf/

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. The Gemara describes many difficulties that Moshe encountered in making the Menorah. What was the unique challenge of the Pure Menorah? Why is the making of the Menorah mentioned four times in the Torah? Join us for an in-depth Aggadic study as we explore the secrets of the Pure Menorah. Gefet Ep 204 Menachot 29 Gefet with Rabban...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain Back on Shevuot 7b we discussed the systemic problem of tum’ah meeting kedusha. We will use the case of the kohen gadol’s diadem - the tzitz - to take a step back and examine the different ways that halakha handles the confrontation between tum’ah and kedusha. Menachot 25 Dr. Elana Stein Hain – dinanddaf@had...

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain This week’s daf yomi introduces the ruling of R. Zera that a situation that allows for the flour and oil to be mixed in the korban mincha (e.g., a vessel that can hold enough for that mixing) is both necessary and sufficient even if that mixing is never done. This is a fascinating concept - namely that poten...

An unwanted thought can disqualify an Offering. Why? What is the power of thought and what is its importance in the world of action? Menachot 12-16 On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer Learn more on https://hadran.org.il/

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain The Chumash presents the sin of piggul as eating a korban past its allotted time. Chazal, however, explain it as intending to eat (or do other parts of the worship) past the allotted time. How should we understanding this difference? In this shiur, we will examine a few approaches to the gap between peshat (...

Gefet- Gemara, Perushim, and Tosafot, an in-depth Iyun gemara shiur. The _omer_ sacrifice, brought on the second day of Pesach, renders chadash (new grain) permissible to eat. Or, at least, that's what we thought -- until, as we begin Masechet Menachot, we encounter the position of R. Yochanan and Reish Lakish, who contest that assumption. What, then, permits chadash? And what, for them, is the si...