(20a) Shev ve-al ta'aseh - Anshe Emet Synagogue

“Sit and Do Nothing” is Different
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 19b-20a
Bemidbar 6.1-8 j-t:u rcsnc
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If
anyone, man or woman, explicitly utters a
nazirite's vow, to set himself apart for the
LORD,
he shall abstain from wine and any other
intoxicant; he shall not drink vinegar of wine or
of any other intoxicant, neither shall he drink
anything in which grapes have been steeped,
nor eat grapes fresh or dried.
Throughout his term as nazirite, he may not eat
anything that is obtained from the grapevine,
even seeds or skin.
Throughout the term of his vow as nazirite, no
razor shall touch his head; it shall remain
consecrated until the completion of his term as
nazirite of the LORD, the hair of his head being
left to grow untrimmed.
Throughout the term that he has set apart for
the LORD, he shall not go in where there is a
dead person.
Even if his father or mother, or his brother or
sister should die, he must not defile himself for
them, since hair set apart for his God is upon
his head:
throughout his term as nazirite he is
consecrated to the LORD.
:r« ntK v¬J«nk t wv r¬C shu
Jh´t o·vkt ­T r
nt u k ºt r
Gh h´b Ck t ÆrC S
:wvk rh­Z vk rhºzb rs´b Ær«Sbk Ætk ph h³F v À tI t
v·T Jh t´«k r­f J . n«¬j u ih²h . n«¬j rhºZh Ærf J u ih³H n
oh¬jk oh²cbgu v ºT Jh t´«k Æoh cbg ,³ r J nkf u
:kft«h t¬«k oh­Jchu
ihÀH v ip´D n v ¹Ggh r¸Jt Ák«F n I r·
zb h´nh k«­F
:kft«h t¬«k d­zs g u oh²B m r
jn
I ·Jt«rk g r«ćght«k r g­T I ºr zb rs´b Æh nhkF
k¬SD vºh vh J«ś e wvk rh³Zhr Jt o ¹nH v ,t¸ «k ns g
:I Jt«r r¬ g G g r­P
:t«ch t¬«k ,­n Jp¬bk g wvk Irh ­ Z v h¬nhkF
o­vk t¬N Yht «k I º,«j´tkU Æuh j tk I ÀN tkU uh´c tk
:I Jt«rk g uh­v«kt rz¬b h²F o·,«n C
:wvk tU ­v J ¬s e I r·
zb h´nh k«­F
Rabbi Abe Friedman 1 afriedman@ansheemet.org
www.facebook.com/rabbiabe

Rashi, Berachot 19b
France, 1040-1105
Or for his sister. What does this teach us? -
Regarding a Nazir it is written, The whole time of
his dedication to Hashem, he shall not go near a dead
person, and immediately following it is for his
father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his
sister -- he may not become impure - all of which
were included in the general rule, he shall not go
near a dead person!
So why were they specified? For his father [he is
prohibited from becoming impure] - but not for
a Mitzvah Corpse.
And for his mother. What does this teach us? It
is not needed for a Mitzvah Corpse, as that is
derived from for his father. And they explained
it in Sifrei: To teach that if this Nazir was [also]
a Kohen, and thus had two instances of
holiness, he also may not become impure for
his mother, but he should become impure for a
Mitzvah Corpse. [N.B.: Although Rashi cites
Sifrei, this midrash actually appears in Bemidbar
Rabbah (Vilna ed.) 10.11 -ASF]
And for his brother. What does this teach us? If
he was the Kohen Gadol [who can not become
impure even for a relative] and also a Nazir, he
also may not become impure for his brother,
but he should become impure for a Mitzvah
Corpse
And for his sister. What does this teach us? If it
is not on this subject, teach about one who was
going to slaughter his Pesach sacrifice and
circumcise his son - that he should become
impure for a Mitzvah Corpse.
“Sit and Do Nothing” is Different
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 19b-20a
c sung yh ;s ,ufrc ,fxn h"ar
- rnuk sunk, vn u,ujtku
ch,f rhzbc
lhnxu 'tch tk ,n apb kg wvk urhzv hnh kf
tnyh tk u,ujtku uhjtk untku uhctk vhk
/uhv tch tk ,n apb kg kkfc uvkuf tvs ovk
/vumn ,nk yrp - uhctk ?utmh vnku
tk vumn ,n ouan 'rnuk sunk, vn untk
hrpxc vhk harsu /tepb uhctkns 'lhrymht
h,a vhkg uuvs 'ivf vz rhzb vhv ota sunkk
kct 'tnyh tks tuv untk 'tuv ;t ,uause
/vumn ,nk tuv tnyn
kusd ivf vhva hrv 'rnuk sunk, vn uhjtk
kct 'tnyh tk uhjtk tuv ;t 'rhzb tuvu
/vumn ,nk tnyn
'vzk ihbg ubht ot 'rnuk sunk, vn u,ujtku
kunku ujxp ,t yujak lkuva hnk ihbg uvb,
/vumn ,nk tnyna - ubc ,t
Rabbi Abe Friedman 2 afriedman@ansheemet.org
www.facebook.com/rabbiabe

And he heard that a near relative of his had
died - Could he become impure for them?
You say that he should not become impure. -
Since it is time for slaughtering the Pesach
sacrifice - and the obligation of the Pesach is
upon him, which incurs karet [if one fails to
offer it] - if he becomes impure he will be
prevented from offering the Pesach; and to
circumcise his son is also a commandment that
incurs karet. And some say that this is all
stated about the Eve of Pesach, when
circumcising his son prevents the Pesach.
“Sit and Do Nothing” is Different
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 19b-20a
tnyh kufh 'uhcuren
- ,n uk ,na gnau
/ovk
- tnyh tk ,rnt
,yhja ,bugu khtuv
tuva jxpv ,cuj uhkg vkju - thv jxpv
kunku 'jxp ,uagkn kyc tnyh ot - ,rfc
hcrgc hrnts ,htu 'thv ,rf ,umn hnb ubc ,t
/jxpv cfgn uhrfz ,khns 'rnte hnb ohjxp
N.B.: Although one does not need to be ritually pure to circumcise a son,
presumably if the man stops to bury his relative on the Eve of Pesach he
will not have time to both circumcise his son and offer the Pesach.
According to the Torah, if any member of his household remained
uncircumcised when Pesach began, he would be restricted from
participating in the Pesach sacrifice, and thus incur karet. Consequently,
if he stops to bury the relative and then circumcises his son, he will not
have time to offer the Pesach sacrifice; but if he skips the circumcision, he
will still fail to offer the sacrifice since his son remains uncircumcised.
It is otherwise difficult to understand Rashi’s line of reasoning, “and to
circumcise his son is also a commandment that incurs karet,” since the
failure to circumcise incurs karet for the son, if he does not circumcise
himself upon reaching the age of legal majority. Consequently, although
circumcision does involve karet, it is not parallel to the earlier case of the
Pesach, where the father’s exposure to karet overrides the general
obligation to tend to a relative’s burial. -ASF
Rabbi Abe Friedman 3 afriedman@ansheemet.org
www.facebook.com/rabbiabe

Rashi, Berachot 20a
France, 1040-1105
“Sit and Do Nothing” is Different
Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 19b-20a
t sung f ;s ,ufrc ,fxn h"ar
But he does become impure for a Mitzvah
Corpse. - And that is human dignity, and it
overrides a Biblical matter.
A case of “sit and do nothing” is different. -
Many things were permitted to override a
Biblical matter - because of a “fence” or because
of human dignity - where the thing was not
actively overridden, but he sat in his place and
the Torah matter was overridden on its own,
such as blowing the shofar and [waving] the
lulav on Shabbat, and a linen garment with
tzitzit, and many others like them in Yevamot
(90b). But to actively override - no; and one
who wears sha’atnez overrides with a definite
action, as he is wearing it.
But the physical impurity that they permitted
so the Kohen and the Nazir could become
impure for a Mitzvah Corpse, where they
actively override on account of human dignity
and it is not a case of “sit and do nothing,” this
is the reason we do not extrapolate from it -
because there [in the case of a Kohen] human
dignity is not pushing aside an active
prohibition, since from the outset when the
prohibition of impurity was stated, it was not
stated regarding a Mitzvah Corpse, just as it
was not stated regarding relatives.
But returning a lost object or [slaughtering] the
Pesach - these apply to all Israel, but when in
conflict with human dignity they can be pushed
aside; therefore you must admit that their
pushing aside is not active, but rather in
passivity the mitzvah is pushed aside. But in a
case of sha’atnez, where he actively pushes it
aside - we are warned to be cautious about it.
sucf tuvu - vumn ,nk tuv tnyn kct
/vru, rcs vjusu ',uhrcv
urh,v ohcr ohrcs - hbta vag, ktu ca
sucf hbpnu dhhx hbpn vru, rcs ruegk
'ohsh vagnc rcs reug ubhts tfhv ',uhrcv
'uhktn regb vru, rcsu 'unuenc cauh tkt
',hmhmc ihsxu ',cac ckuku rpua ,ghe, iudf
kct /(wc 'wm ;s) ,unchc tcuy uvhh,uufsu
ureug ohtkf acukvu 'tk - ohshc regn
/uacuk tuva 'ann vagnc
tnyhk rhzbku ivfk vr,uva vhpud ,tnuyu
sucf hbpn ohshc regn tes 'vumn ,nk
tngy ubhhv 'tuv vag, ktu ca utks ,uhrcv
,uhrcv sucf utk o,vs - vhbhn ibhrnd tks
c,fbaf trehgns 'vshs vag, tk hjss tuv
'c,fb vumn ,n kg tk - vtnuys vag, tk
/ohcurev kg c,fb tka oaf
'rntb ktrah kfk - jxpu vsct ,cav kct
ubhhv ljrf kg ',ujsk ub,b ,uhrcv sucf kmtu
vjs, u,chahc tkt ohshc vbht i,hhjss
- vjsh uhsh vagncs ohtkf kct /vumnv
/u,rvztc rhvzv
Rabbi Abe Friedman 4 afriedman@ansheemet.org
www.facebook.com/rabbiabe