The Weekly Daf #34 Bava Metzia 100-106 Week of 23-29 Tishrei 5755 / 28 Sept.-4 Oct. 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ========================================================================= A Mixture of Miracles The Rule: A man leases a field for the purpose of cultivating it but his crop is wiped out by a locust plague which strikes the entire area. Since he is the victim of a regional disaster and not just his individual poor fortune he may deduct his loss from the rent he owes. This is true, however, only if he actually planted the crop. If he failed to even plant he cannot claim that his crop would anyway have been annihilated because the owner can contend that he might have been the beneficiary of the sort of divine protection which is promised to the deserving by King David in Psalm 37:19. The Challenge: A shepherd leaves the flock he is hired to watch and enters town. If the flock is attacked by a lion in his absence we make an evaluation of whether the shepherd would have been capable of successfully defending the sheep had he been there. The shepherd bears no responsibility if the evaluation is that he would have been helpless in normal circumstances. Why can his employer not claim that had the shepherd been there he might have been the beneficiary of divine protection and the shepherd would have overcome the attacker as young King David did the lion and the bear? The Resoution: The shepherd can refute the challenge of his employer by arguing that if he was deserving of such miraculous protection then the animals would have protected themselves against their attackers as did the goats of the saintly Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa who returned from pasture with bears in their horns. Bava Metzia 106a ========================================================================= Bypassing the Trespasser A man who bought an entire shipload of wine and had no place to store it asked a woman if she would rent him space. When she refused he married her and received the storage area he needed. No sooner had he stored the wine than he wrote a get and divorced her. She retaliated by selling some of his wine to hire porters to remove the remaining wine from her storage place to the street. Bava Metzia 101b (Although this fellow got his just deserts and similar action can be legally taken against anyone who appropriates storage space without permission or through deceit, the Rambam notes that it is praiseworthy to go beyond the letter of the law by bringing the matter to the attention of the court so that it can rent space for the violator and save most of his goods.) ========================================================================= This Winter in Israel! Spend this coming Winter Break in Israel for as little as $599 -> JLE Israel Winter Seminar '94/'95 <- 3 weeks of study and touring, optional Ulpan, and structure encounters with Israeli Dignitaries Departure December 22 Optional free week of touring Jan 8-15 for Jewish men between the ages of 19 and 30 with demonstrated academic achievment and a sincere motivation to explore their roots. Minimum scholarship price: $599 Covers round trip ticket, room, board, tuition and tours College Students in the State of New York who have never been to Israel, and who are still undergraduates may qualify for a FULL SCHOLARSHIP -- an ALL EXPENSE paid trip! For information: o send E-Mail to Rabbi Zalman Corlin o in the U.S. call toll-free 800-431-2272 (212-344-2000) o Outside N. America, send E-Mail to: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= Dedication opportunities are available for The Weekly Daf Please contact us for details. ========================================================================= Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= (C) 1994 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission.