Opinion & Comment
Alei Vrodim — a Treasure Trove

Pearls and peirushim, collectible phrases and commentary on maseches brochos are found in Alei Vrodim, which was published last year when the Daf Hayomi study began that masechta. Its several hundred pages were compiled and arranged by HaRav Shlomo Levinstein, who is well known for his shiurim and droshos, together with his colleague, HaRav Tzvi Kreiser.

Some of the commentaries are aimed at explaining the simple textual meaning, while others weave in various gemoras quoted in this tractate. And interspersed among these are facts and good practices to stir up audiences to greater yiras Shomayim and dedication in serving their Creator.

Here are some more samples.

Part II

Whoever Transgresses the Words of our Sages Deserves Death

Daf 4b: HaRav Yehuda Petaya zt'l, one of the Kabboloh sages from Iraq, explains in his work Minchas Yehuda how our Talmudic Sages were able to add on to the commandments of the Torah — for does it not state in the Torah itself, "You shall not add on to the word which I command you"?

He explains this idea by way of parable. A man once went to a doctor who told him to pulverize certain herbs and steam them and drink the teas — one teaspoon in the morning and one in the evening. He was to measure the amounts of each ingredient very carefully without omitting any or increasing the amount, as well. If the instructions were not followed precisely, the tonics could even prove poisonous.

The man went and did everything exactly as he had been told and put the resulting potion in a bottle. Along came someone and asked, "Why are you putting it in a bottle? The doctor didn't say anything about that! You are adding to his instructions!"

Replied the patient, "On the contrary. The bottle preserves all the salubrious qualities of the brew so that they don't evaporate and go to waste."

So is it with the directives of Chazal. They do not come to add but to conserve everything of the medicines and nostrums that Hashem gave us. Is it obvious that were it not for their safeguards, we would surely transgress the commandments themselves.

Said Rav: Whoever Is Accustomed to Eating Small Fish Will Never Suffer from Stomach Trouble

Daf 40: We find it mentioned in Otzar Hayediyos that Rav had stomach trouble, as is explained in maseches Shabbos, and Shmuel healed him. He said that if fish oil heals when one is already sick, then eating small fish prevents one from getting sick. Perhaps the reason that he used to sign his name in the shape of a fish, as is mentioned in Gittin, is due to this.

He continues that it is evident why whoever transgresses the words of Chazal is deserving of death, which is not true of most commandments of the Torah itself.

It is very elementary. What were to happen if someone punctures the bottle? All of the medicine would seep out. That is the problem.

He adds that he heard that R' Yonoson Eibshitz zt'l was once asked by the king why one who transgressed the rulings of our Sages deserved death, whereas if he transgressed a commandment of the Torah he was not punishable by death (see Ya'aros Dvash I, Drush 2).

He replied: "It is thus by you in your kingdom, as well. Let me give you an example. If someone commits murder, is he punished by death?"

"Surely."

"How much time does it take until he is executed?"

"Well, first there is a trial, complete with evidence, testimonies, witnesses, defense and prosecuting attorneys. Finally, the sentence is passed down whether to execute the defendant or not."

"And what is the law if someone attempts to break into the palace? May the guards kill him on sight or must they also take him to court and await judgment?"

"In such a case, they don't wait. The moment a stranger attempts to enter, he is shot to death."

"Why?" asked the rabbi. "Where is the logic here?"

"It has to be that way! In fact, the guard who kills him will even receive a prize for being alert on his post."

The rabbi then said, "This is exactly how it is with us. If someone transgresses a law in the Torah, he must be judged and the circumstances looked into. But if someone wishes to violate a safeguard of our Sages who are the watchmen of the Torah, that is, if someone attempts to break down the protective fence, he is immediately shot. He has incurred the death penalty."

With this Torah-given authority, Chazal ordained many safeguards, many protective measures in various areas to shield the Torah. A snake strikes at the heel of a person, which is a dispensable part of the body. And yet, a person can die from its bite since it eventually affects those organs which sustain life and are indispensable. Similarly, one who violates a safeguard may think that he is not doing anything serious, that he is only striking at the heel and not at a fundamental part of the Torah. But this is not true, for he is violating the very heart of the Torah.

Of this was it said, "Whoever breaks through the fence shall be bitten by a snake." Why?

Because the snake was the first creature to breach a boundary. Chava attempted to protect herself by imposing the stricture of not even touching the Tree. Along came the snake and pushed her against it, thereby violating her safeguard and thus causing her to actually eat the fruit.

Were it not for the safeguards and barriers which a person erects for himself, who knows how far he would go? The Medrash brings an example of a horse galloping through the city streets in a frenzy. Were it not for the bit and rein in the hands of the rider, who knows what damage he would inflict! The rein of his master restrains him however, and prevents him from running amok.

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The Dubno Maggid gave a beautiful parable to illustrate this concept, explaining the verse in Eichoh 1:9, "Her filthiness was in the hem of her skirts; she took no thought of her last end; therefore, she came down astonishingly."

A man once saw a beautiful tablecloth in his friend's home and wished to buy one like it. The salesman warned him that he must first sew up the edges of the tablecloth, lest it begin to unravel. Since the tailor who owned a sewing machine lived at the far edge of town, the buyer decided to forgo the sewing and use the tablecloth as it was. But he very quickly saw his error, for when it began to unravel, it was already too late to do anything.

The buyer rushed off to the store and complained about the faulty merchandise but the latter chided him angrily. "I warned you in time. You did not heed my warning and did not sew a hem to prevent the unraveling. It is not my fault, but yours! Did you think that only the edge would remain unraveled? There was nothing to stop it from coming altogether apart!"

The filth was in the hem of the skirt, at the edge. There are people who lightly dismiss the safeguards at the fringes of a commandment and say that this is only a marginal mitzvah. "I can overlook this, while being strict with the body of the more important mitzvos."

But, warns the Dubno Maggid, a person cannot make his own restraints and strictures; he is not reliable to maintain a vigil. His downfall begins with the hem, the outer limit, and continues to make its infringements with a sudden, drastic plummeting downwards where there will no longer be any boundaries to restrain him.

HaRav Shabsai Yudelevitz zt'l compared this to a man who ascended all the way to the rooftop of a tall building and then began climbing over the protective railing.

"Whatever are you doing?" people asked him.

"Don't worry," he reassured the spectators. "I only intend to jump down one floor . . . "

It begins with a small step, a small infraction, but the downfall is astonishingly rapid and accelerated. Who can stop him midway?

When one falls, one falls all the way!

The Meshech Chochmoh comments on the verse in Parshas Bo, "And you shall not go . . . " relating it to the times of Ezra, when the people transgressed many rabbinical strictures and went so far as to marry gentiles. This did not happen in Egypt, for the Jews preserved the boundaries and safeguards established by their ancestors: they did not change their names, their manner of dress or their language.

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