Reb Eliezer

שבת לד,ב

We will discuss Ben Hashamoshos. There are three views in the duration of a מיל mil 2000 amos, a techum shabbos. It is measured by the time a middle stature individual walks it. In SA O’CH 261,1 the RMA says a mil is 1/3 of an hour minus a 1/30 of an hour which 20 – 2 = 18 min and the Mechaber in SA O’CH 459,2 says that a mil is a quarter hour and 1/20 of an hour that is 15 min plus 3 min = 18 min. In YD 69,6 says around 1/3 of an hour being 20 min. The GRA there hold that a 4 mil is 1 1/2 hr. or 90 min making a mil 22 1/2 min. The Rambam holds that a mil is 24 min. Ben Hashmoshas is 3/4 of a mil 3/4 (18) = 3 (4 1/2) = 13 1/2 min. according to the SA. There is a an argument when Ben Hashmoshas starts. The Yereim (Rav Eliezer Mimetz) holds that is by the shkiah, so ben hashmoshas would be 13 1/2 min before shkiah. The Geoinim hold that Tzetz Hakochovim (middle size stars determine night) so ben hashmoshas 13 1/2 min starts after shkiah until Tzetz Hakochovim. The Rabbenu Taam in Tosfas says that there are two shkias. One when the sun starts to set and the other coincides when the middle stars appear with night when the sun completely disappears. The four mil, 4(18) = 72 min starts from the first shkia and ends at the second shkiah.
According to the Behag, the women accept shabbos when they light candles and the ashkenazim who make a brocho on shabbos after lighting, place there hands on there eyes in order not to enjoy the light until after the brocho. The men accept shabbos through their davening.
There is a safek how to pasken, many are stringent before shabbos and after shabbos. Before shabbos we accept the Yereim with a mil of 24 min lighting 18 min before shkiah. After shabbos we follow the Rabbenu Taam using 18 min as a mil, so work is done 72 min after shkiah or 90 min from lighting candles which is easy to remember. Others hold like the Geonim. The Chabad Baal Hatanyeh paskens in his SA Harav like the Rabbenu Taam but changes his view like the Geonim in his siddur which was written later.

שבת לד,א

The three things mentioned in the mishna is said Yom Kippur Kol Nidrei Night to emphasize the fear of the day. עשרתם, the ten days of teshuva passed, we should have done teshuva, ערבתם, Erev Yom Kippur passed and הדליקו את הנר how frightening it is after the candles have been lit for Yom Kippur.
ספק חשיכה ספק אינה חשיכה its obvious if not one than the other? Answers the Tosfas Chadoshim on the Mishnayos a beautiful answer. The first part applies to Erev Shabbos as maybe it is already night, already shabbos and the second part applies to motzei shabbos as maybe it is not night yet, still shabbos.

שבת לב,ב

It says אם יהי-ה חטאכם כשנים כשלג ילבינו If you recognize that you are a sinner and therefore you see it as red, they will turn white as snow. This might be the reason why we put a red ribbon on a baby. The children c’v are punished because of our sins. If we do teshuva by recognizing them, we save them.

שבת לג,ב

When the goyim build is a question whether they do it for themselves. We find by Bilom when he got up early, he was told that Avraham Avinu preceded him by the Akeda. He wanted the benefit for getting up early and the Jews should learn from him with what fervor and passion to do mitzvos the way he does aveiros. Similarly we could learn from the goyim how to do mitzvos.

Out of place should be inserted for שבת לא,ב

The wicked say that time is short let us enjoy ourselves. The Mishnah says at the end of Kinim (3,6) that the elder the older they get the smarter they get whereas the fools the older they get the more foolish they become. Explains the Yaaros Devash, in the beginning, maybe the foolish are right. There is a lot of time to enjoy ourselves but as time goes by we should recognize אם אין אני לי מי לי if I don’t help myself spiritually, who will. So the smart understand that time is running out and we must do things for Olam Habo and thereby they become smarter as time goes by whereas the fools become more foolish because they let time run out with their enjoyment and they don’t do anything to gain Olam Habo, They compare this to a person who is given an opportunity to amass great wealth. He is taken to a place filled with precious stones, jewelry and gold. He is told whatever you can collect within a certain time belongs to you. He admires and enjoys looking and playing with the tapestries and beauty of the place figuring that he still has time to collect the wealth. Waiting to the last minute, an accident happens and he falls and is unable to collect practically anything. So he gets thrown out from the place without anything. Let us not wait to that last minute but do mitzvos and maasim tovim all of our life.

שבת לא,ב

יראת שמים
Why doesn’t it say יראת השם? The Chasan Sofer says that we should see the sky and learn from it. It is made of אש and מים, fire and water. They are able to coexist. Simiarly, we with different minds should learn to coesist. That is why the Torah starts with a beis indicating different people’s understanding but the aseres hadibros with aleph indicatiing unity.
מי שיש בו יראת שמים דבריו נשמעים as mentioned before, he does not have to speak. His yirash shomaim are his words as people trust him that he is telling the trurh and he has their interest on his native mind.
The Klei Yokor explains this is the meaning כל מחלוקת לשם שמים סופו להתקיים as the waters were separated by creation to create the heavens. The arguments should be for the benefit of unity.

שבת כז,ב

The Baal Akedah says that techeles is a middle color the most comfortable to the eyes. Similarly, the Kol Aryeh says that מן are the middle letters of the aleph beis depending if we include the ending letters in the middle or at the end. The middle letter is the 14th. If included then the מ is the middle letter otherwise the נ is the middle letter.

The Ksav Sofer explains that by Korach they put on a taiis completely of the techeles and wanted to know if it requires tzitzis. They wanted to know how Moshe Rabbenu felt about the closeness of the them to Hashem. If someone is very close and loves someone, he does not need a reminder but a picture of him. The techeles is a picture of kavayochel Hashem whereas the tzitzis is a reminder. The reminder is something out of the ordinary, so the picture would not serve as a reminder.

The Chasan Sofer explains the pasuk ונתנו על ציצית הכנף פתיל תכלת And you shall place on the tzitzis a corner, we don’t place a corner on the tzitzis? it should have said ונתנו על הכנף ציצית פתיל תכלת? So he says that the word על means over here ‘because’ as we find על אשר לא עשתה meaning that we should make a corner on the garment because of the kiyum of the mitzva of tzitzis.