Gefet: Gemara, Perushim and Tosfot

An in-depth (Iyun) Gemara shiur with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz (Episode 79)

Bava Metzia 72 75

Are witnesses who testified about a loan with interest considered valid?

The Mishnah at the end of the perek clarifies that witnesses violate the lav of "lo tesimun alav neshech" , and Tosafot explains that sometimes they also violate the prohibition of "lifnei iver". In light of our sugya, it's difficult to understand how the gemara on Daf 72 says that a document attesting to a loan with interest is considered valid. How could it be that it's a valid document if the witnesses are violating halakha, and those who violate halakha are invalid witnesses?! Tosafot offers a fascinating solution to this problem -- join us for a deep time as we approach the end of the perek.

Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboration with Yeshivat Drisha

Learn more on ⁠Hadran's website

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain

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What are the principles upon which the heter iska is built? How do we understand the role of legal circumvention in upholding Jewish law and life?

Questions? Comments? Email [email protected]

For more on Chazal’s legal circuvmentions, check out my new book, Circumventing the Law. It’s available

Gefet: Gemara, Perushim and Tosfot

An in-depth (Iyun) Gemara shiur with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz (Episode 78)

Bava Metzia 64

Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboration with Yeshivat Drisha

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Learn more on Hadran's website

On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer

⁠⁠⁠Sources⁠⁠⁠

Bava Metzia 70-80

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain

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Similar to ona’at mammon, in which neither the consumer nor the seller may perform it (consumer can’t underpay; seller can’t overcharge), the prohibition of taking interest applies to both borrower and lender (borrower can’t give it; lender can’t charge/accept it). How does this factor impact our understanding of what the prohibition of interest (ribit) is all about?

Dr. Elana Stein Hain – [email protected]

Gefet: Gemara, Perushim and Tosfot

An in-depth (Iyun) Gemara shiur with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz

What have we learned from the story of Akhnai's oven? The Tosafot teaches us new things and challenges what we previously knew.

Bava Metzia 59

Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboration with Yeshivat Drisha

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study

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The gemara in Bava Metzia 58b states that oppression with speech (ona’at devarim) is a greater sin than oppression with finances (ona’at mammon). One reason given is because while the latter affects money, the former affects the “self.” This distinction is well-worn among Chazal, both in terms of protecting/harming someone’s possessions vs. their person and in terms of using one’s own possessions vs. one’s own person to do good. We will examine this distinction in this shiur.

Gefet: Gemara, Perushim and Tosfot

An in-depth (Iyun) Gemara shiur with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz

As we approach Pesach, we'll look together at the sugya of "Mi ShePara," and will explore how, throughout the laws of transactions and the laws of shomrim, the words that we say become both ethically and legally meaningful even before legal action has been taken. Can words alone obligate me?

Sources

Bava Metzia 49

Gefet with Rabbanit Yael Shimoni and Shalhevet Schwartz is in collaboration with Yeshivat Drisha

Din & Daf: Conceptual Analysis of Halakha Through Case Study with Dr. Elana Stein Hain

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The Gemara describes ona’at mammon as overcharging (or underpaying) for portable items. This seems far afield from the description of ona’ah in the Torah (Vayikra 25). What does the discrepancy between the two tell us about the various dimensions of ona’at mammon?

Dr. Elana Stein Hain – [email protected]

On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer

⁠⁠Sources⁠⁠

Bava Metzia 48