Reb Eliezer

Thinking (hirhur) of Torah does it need a brocho? In SA O’CH 47,4 it is paskened that hirhur is not like speech and no brocho is required. The GRA says that learning Torah is exception as it says והגית which means hirhur, so we should not learn like that without a brocho, MB s’k 7 there.

ברכות כ,ב

The Noda Beyehuda in his commentary Dagul Mervovo on SA O’CH 171,2 questions how can men, who davened maariv already Friday night, be motzei kiddush the women who don’t usually daven maariv, so their chiyuv is biblical whereas the men’s chiyuv is only rabbinical? To answer that they have arevus, the Rosh says that men don’t have arevus for women. Rav Akiva Eiger ztz’l answers that for the mitzvos were women are also mechuyav like men there is arevus.

Maybe, the answer is that the mitzva of lulav was not completely eliminated as it still exists since the chazal iinstituted to take it the rest of the days.

The Rashba in Rosh Hashanah 15,1 asks the question, how could the chazal make a gezara to eliminate shofar on Shabbos when the Torah says to blow? He answers that baal tigra (diminish) does not apply to the chachomim. Does he argue on the Rambam above? As the first day sukkos is the only biblical mitzva. of lulav, did chazal remove the the biblical mitzva completely if it falls on shabbos? The Taz YD 117, says that if a mitzva is specified to do it even on shabbos, they cannot remove it. From the pasuk it looks like we should take the lulav on the first day even it falls on shabbos. They ask a question why do we asser on shabbos to blow shofar because of carrying and not because of making music? They answer that then they would eliminate shofar completely on both days.

We should be careful not the speak about bad things, giving an opening to the satan by reminding him about bad things. If we do, we should use the expressions לא עלינו. not on us, חס ושלום, חס וחלילה, have mercy on us, רחמנא לצלן, Hashem protect us. There is a hungarian saying, don’t paint the devil on the wall.

ברכות יח,ב

Shiva should be sat in the house where the niftar lived as he comes back to the place where he lived.
Every custom there indicates that we must rely on others and we are not an island.
The sudas havroah being provided with food is an example of this idea. The shiva call and davening in the
house of the niftar is anoth example. We cover the mirror to realize that we need others and not to see only
ourselves.

The difference Menochas (34,2) Tosfas beginning Hakora Kora, between Rashi and Rabbenu Taam’s tefilin is the placement of the parshiyos. The writing is in order. Rashi’s view קדש, והיה כי יביאך, שמע, והיה אם שמע whereas according to the Rabbenu Taam, the last two are reversed הויות באמצע , shma at the end. The Aruch Hashulchan above says that both are true Rashi’s for this world and the Rabbenu Taam Taam’s for next world. They found a pair of tefilin in the kever of Chazkiah like Rashi, so the Darishe said maybe they hid it there because it was pasul.

Above should be, he has heaven in mind.

ברכות יז,ב

When we do some chumra openly that others don’t do is considered יוהרא a sign of haughtiness, gaiva.
Putting on Rabbenu Tam’s tefilin, says the Aruch Hashulchan O’CH 34 after a long discussion that since many people currently put it on, it is not consirered yuhara. Similarly following the Rabbenu Taam waiting for 72 minutes, 4 mil after shkia on motzei shabbos as paskened by the Mechaber O’CH 261 is not yuhara.

The mishna at the end of Maseches Menochos אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט בלבד שיכוין לבו לשמים whether one adds or diminishes as long as יe has the heaven in mind. Rav Ovadya Yosef in Yabia Omer YD (10,29), take the word אך which diminishes is followed by letters לב, take the word גם which adds, the letters preceding it are also לב indicating that in either case we come together at לב, רחמנא לבא בעי doing it for the right reason
לראש -לעשות רצון אבינו שבשמים.

ברכות יז,א

I will talk about לשמה learning Torah for its own sake. The gemora says in Shabbos (63,1) Tehilim 45,5
צלח רכב. יכול אפילו שלא לשמה – תלמוד לומר על דבר אמת you succeed if you ride (go) after the truth. Says the gemora one should learn maybe even not lishma? No follow the truth. This teaches us that lishma means learning to arrive to the truth. We find Pesochim (22.2) Shimon Hamosini was interpreting all esin (additions) in the Torah when he arrived to the pasuk to fear G-d, he did not know whom to add to it. So he wanted to abandon his whole lives work as he thought his whole interpretation was incorrect. He said I will get the same reward of not doing this interpretation as doing it. Rebbi Akiva included the fear of talmidei chachomim. How come Shimon Hamosini did not think of it? For him this was obvious as the chachomim get their knowledge from Hashem. So if Hashem felt that they were worthy of it, they deserve to be feared and respected, but Rebbi Akiva did not appreciate that requiring a pasuk because he was originally an am haaretz.

The gemora says in Maseches Nedorim (81,1) that EY was destroyed because they did not make a birchas hatorah. The Taz O’CH 47,1 explains this in great detail. The Ran says that the Torah was not chashuv in their eyes, Explains the Chasam Sofer over there that they thought that Torah is only beneficial to know how to do mitzvos, so in itself it does not require a brocho being only a hechsher mitzva. They didn’t realize that the Torah is beneficial when learning lishma to arrive to the truth and therefore it requires a brocho hence it is called Torah lishma, learning for its own sake to arrive to the truth. Rav Chaim says that the cheftza of Torah requires a brocho.

The Ben Ish Chai has another mashel for the yetzer hara:
As a man was limping along, another man came riding on a horse. Having mercy on him, he allowed him to sit on the horse in the front holding on to the rains. When they got into town, the one sitting in the front, says to the other, get off my horse. So at the din torah, he argues this is my horse as I am sitting in the front and holding the rains. The dayan realizes that he wants to take his horse, says we know it belongs to you but you should not have allowed him to sit in the front, holding the rains and take over the horse.
The nimshal is obvious. the yetzer hara arrives as a guest and then he takes over.

The Chasam Sofer gives us an eitza how to fight the yetzer hara.
It says in Tehilim (34,15) ס֣וּר מֵ֭רָע וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרָדְפֵֽהוּ Turn away from the bad and do good look for peace and go after it. He explains that there is always a conflict between the body and soul. We would like to make peace and resolve the conflict. So we should basically cycle through the making of peace and go after. We will create a small conflict between the body and soul by doing something inferior to the body and than make peace by letting the body get used to it. It has to be small such that the body will not get frustrated and reject it.

We find a tefila from Rebbi that we say every morning but we don’t mention yetzer hara. The question is what is the difference between satan hamashchis and yetzer hara? The yetzer hara does different functions, first he influence us to sin and then becomes an accuser.
It says Koheles (11,9) שְׂמַ֧ח בָּח֣וּר בְּיַלְדוּתֶ֗יךָ young man enjoy your youth and then it says וְדָ֕ע כִּ֧י עַל־כָּל־אֵ֛לֶּה יְבִֽיאֲךָ֥ הָאֱלֹקים בַּמִּשְׁפָּֽט realize that for all G-d will take you to judgement. The gemora in Shabbos (63,2) asks that it is a contradiction? It answers that the first part is the yetzer hara and the second part the yetzer tov. The Dubner Magid says that they are both the yetzer hara. He gives a mashel, there was a poor man who was looking around for a place to stay over. The only thing he had is a small back back that he carries on his shoulders. A joker gives the impression that he cares about him by telling him come to my hotel and enjoy yourself. After two weeks staying there the proprietor of the hotel tells him to pay up. He has to hand over the little he has. Going outside saddened, he meets this joker laughing and then he seems to have mercy on him by telling him go back and now fill yourself up to your hearts content as he can’t take anything else away from you.
This is how the yetzer hara operates, first he gets people to sin and then he says there is no help for you and you might as well continue on sinning. He turns into an accuser saying it’s one thing to sin a little but you continue on sinning.

ברכות טז,ב

We mentiion Rav’s tefila for benching Rosh Chodash. Our girsa is ימלא ה’ כל משאלות לבנו Hashem should fullfil our whole will of our heart has an alternate meaning that the name of Hashem should be come complete (currently its half but we are asking to become full)) לטובה for the good as sometimes we don’t know what is good for us.