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Why can witnesses make someone a ben gerusha or ben chalutza if it's eidus she'ata yochel l'hazem (testimony you cannot contradict)? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction between testimony establishing facts for the world versus putting a psak directly on the person. When beis din cannot put a formal psak on someone, there's no kashas zamam liability for false witnesses.
This shiur addresses the complex question raised by Tosafos (תוספות) in Makkos regarding how witnesses can make someone a ben gerusha (son of a divorcee) or ben chalutza when such testimony constitutes eidus she'ata yochel l'hazem (testimony that cannot be contradicted through hazamah). The fundamental issue is how beis din can accept such testimony and how the principle of kashas zamam (making false witnesses suffer what they intended) applies. Rabbi Zweig begins by examining the position of the Ritva, who distinguishes between ben gerusha (which is d'oraisa) and ben chalutza (which is only d'rabbanan). Rav Yehuda in Tosafos Kiddushin questions this distinction, arguing that even for d'rabbanan matters, witnesses who testify falsely violate lo sa'aneh and should receive malkos. The shiur then explores why Tosafos in Kesubos asks a different question than our Tosafos - focusing on how the witnesses receive malkos rather than how the person becomes disqualified.
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Why does halacha forbid entering dangerous places if everything happens by Divine decree? The shiur examines the debate between Rashi and Tosfos on traveling at night, developing a fundamental distinction: Rashi holds one must avoid even deserved punishments that Hashem delays through mercy, while Tosfos holds the prohibition addresses self-inflicted harm through free will. This framework reveals how people rationalize self-destructive behavior as "hashgacha."
Why does the Gemara praise hospitality to scholars as a unique mitzvah rather than ordinary hachnasas orchim? The shiur distinguishes two mitzvahs: hachnasas orchim (providing for those in need) and connecting to talmidei chachamim (cleaving to God through scholars). Yisro's meal for the Jewish leaders wasn't charity—it was his way of bonding with those transformed by Torah, teaching that learning must fundamentally change who we are.
Makkos 2a
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