No community start suggestion yet.
Why does our Gemara (גמרא) permit wounding (chabura) for biah while daf 22b forbids extinguishing a candle for non-food purposes? Tosafot offers two approaches: either biah mitzvah (מצוה) permits even machshir actions, or chabura is actual ochel nefesh melacha while extinguishing is only machshir that requires ochel nefesh justification.
The shiur analyzes a complex Tosafot on Kesubos 7a addressing an apparent contradiction between two Talmudic passages. Our sugya permits chabura (wounding) for biah on Yom Tov, while the Gemara (גמרא) on daf 22b forbids extinguishing a candle (kibui ha-ner) for non-food purposes. Tosafot presents two resolutions to this seeming inconsistency. The first teretz suggests that biah constitutes a mitzvah (מצוה), and for mitzvah purposes, even machshir melachos become permitted. This approach implies that extinguishing a candle is normally forbidden as machshir, but would be allowed for the mitzvah of biah. However, this creates a difficulty since the Gemara on 22b explicitly states that according to Rabbi Yehuda, machshir is permitted, yet still forbids extinguishing the candle there.
Looking for the full summary?
Full access is available to members of the TUF Alumni Association or the Yam Hagadol Foundation.
Already a member? Let the admin know!
Dedicate a Shiur in Gemara
L'ilui nishmas a loved one. In honor of a simcha or yahrzeit. As a zechus for a refuah sheleimah. Your dedication helps carry Rabbi Zweig's Torah to learners around the world.
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.
Kesubos 7a
Looking for the full transcript?
Full access is available to members of the TUF Alumni Association or the Yam Hagadol Foundation.
Already a member? Let the admin know!
