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Why didn't the chachamim revoke their takana requiring Wednesday weddings when the government decreed that brides would be violated before their husbands? The shiur argues that when a takana doesn't cause the underlying problem but merely provides an opportunity for existing taavah, revoking it won't solve the danger but only removes rabbinic authority over marriage.
The Gemara (גמרא) discusses a takanas chachamim requiring weddings on Wednesday (Yom Revi'i), but notes that lo mitchu bo chachamim - they left the takana in place but didn't stringently enforce it due to sakana. The Gemara explains two possible decrees: either besulah nisus tehareg (virgin brides would be killed) or besulah nisus tibol hegemon tchila (virgin brides would first be violated by the hegemon). The fundamental difficulty Rabbi Zweig addresses is why the chachamim wouldn't simply revoke their takana when it led to such terrible consequences. If they maintained the takana for beautiful weddings or to avoid men having to go to beis din for claims against their wives, how could they allow brides to be violated just to preserve these benefits?
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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.
Kesubos 3b
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