A free account is required to play audio and download files.
No community start suggestion yet.
Why is Asara b'Teves—merely a siege on Yerushalayim—a fast day at all, and why does it carry the unique stringency of never being postponed? The shiur develops the yesod that geulah unfolds in four stages (the arba lashonos), and galus reverses them in mirror order. The siege was the first step back—undoing kabbalas haTorah, the fourth and highest stage of freedom. A person locked in place, unable to travel, loses his ben chorin status, and with it his capacity for Torah (תורה).
Rabbi Zweig opens with a fundamental difficulty: the Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Taanis (perek 5) lists four fast days—Tzom Gedaliah, Asara b'Teves, Shiva Asar b'Tammuz, and Tisha B'Av—in calendar order, not the order found in Tanach. More perplexing is the sequence of disasters tied to the churban of Yerushalayim itself: the siege (Asara b'Teves), the breach of the walls (Shiva Asar b'Tammuz), and the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash (Tisha B'Av). Why are these three stages each memorialized as separate fast days? A siege is merely the prelude to a breach, and a breach merely the prelude to destruction. What intrinsic tragedy is there in a siege that warrants its own day of mourning? The shiur's central chiddush is constructed on the principle of symmetry between geulah and galus. Just as Yetzias Mitzrayim unfolds in four stages—the arba lashonos of geulah (v'hotzeisi, v'hitzalti, v'ga'alti, v'lakachti)—so too galus must proceed in four corresponding stages, but in reverse. V'hotzeisi is the cessation of labor; v'hitzalti is the lifting of psychological pressure (perhaps symbolized by the taking of Egyptian wealth or the finality of makas bechoros); v'ga'alti is krias Yam Suf; and v'lakachti is kabbalas haTorah. The fourth and final stage of geulah, kabbalas haTorah, represents the culmination of freedom—ein lecha ben chorin ela mi she'oseik baTorah. Therefore, when Klal Yisrael begins to lose its freedom and slide back into galus, the first thing to be undone is precisely this highest madreigah—the status conferred by kabbalas haTorah. That first loss is marked by Asara b'Teves.
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!
Hilchos Taanis 5 (Rambam); Gemara Rosh Hashanah (dror); Yechezkel (b'etzem hayom hazeh)
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!
Dedicate a Shiur in Halacha
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.
Can korbanos be brought when the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed? The Rambam and Raavad debate whether "Hashem es Mikdasham" creates a din of Avoda during Churban. Rabbi Zweig develops a distinction: the Rambam holds kedusha Rishona enabled both korbanos and tefillah; the Raavad holds only tefillah remains when the edifice is gone, since Hashem's presence endures even without a physical structure.
Why don't the last eight verses of the Torah require a minyan to read? The shiur develops a fundamental chiddush in the Rambam: Simchas Torah has two distinct takanos of Kriat HaTorah — Zot HaBracha is read from the din of Yom Tov (inyan hayom), while VaYom Moshe is read from the din of Shabbos (siyum haTorah). This explains why a new minyan is required for the last eight verses, and why the Raavad's minhag of having the oleh read (not the baal koreh) signals that the final aliyah is purely Talmud Torah, not shemiat dvar Hashem.
Why does the Rambam rule that one may not violate even a shvus (rabbinic prohibition) on Yom Tov to obtain a shofar, yet permit shofar blowing on Shabbos Rosh Hashanah despite the gezeirah of carrying it to an expert? The Lechem Mishneh wrestles with an apparent contradiction: in Hilchos Shofar 1:4 the Rambam treats shvus like a full lav vis-à-vis the mitzvah of shofar, but in 2:6 he allows shofar on Shabbos even though it involves overriding both a lav and an asei.
When is a melacha on Yom Tov permitted? The shiur develops the Rambam's three-tiered framework distinguishing melachos that are food preparation itself (always permitted), food processing (permitted only l'tzorech achilah), and non-food melachos (always forbidden). The Magid Mishneh's explanation of "ho'il" emerges: intention cannot create a melacha where the act itself is inherently permitted.
