The Tosefta Blog

I juts posted the audio shiur for Berachot, Chapter 5, Part 2 on the Audio Shiurim page.

I just posted links to 3 more seforim on the Tosefta:

1) Tosefta Minchas Yitzchak and Shirei Mincha, by R’ Yitzchak HaCohen Shwadron – Zerayim

2) Tosefta Minchas Yitzchak and Shirei Mincha, by R’ Yitzchak HaCohen Shwadron – Shabbos

3) Tosefta Yam Yisachar, by R’ Yissachar Ber Carmoly – Beitza

Notes:

1. The Tosefta states a new law. It is not related to any Mishna.
2. There are no specific details for this requirement of what it is considered to be a beautiful tree or a beautiful person. It seems that it is up to every individual to decide based on their tastes.
3. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם מי שככה לו בריות נאות  – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, Who has such beautiful creations [in his world]. Since a person receives pleasure from looking at beautiful things he needs to thank God for creating them.

Notes:

1. The Tosefta states a new law. It is not related to any Mishna.
2. A rainbow is an optical phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth’s atmosphere. A rainbow can occur under various natural conditions. Most commonly it occurs if it rains while the sun is out. However it is also possible for it to occur if water is falling down and hits another water surface really hard creating mist on the sirface of the water and then the sun shining onto that mist, or if a geyser or hot water spring shoots out steam from the ground causing water droplets disperse in the air. I think that the Tosefta needs to specify that the rainbow needs to be in the cloud specifically to teach us that a person says this Beracha only on a rainbow that results from rain that comes down from a cloud and not on rainbow that results from water mist that rises from a waterfall or a hot water spring. Since this Beracha specifically commemorates God’s covenant with Noach that God will not destroy the world anymore through rain it makes sense to say it upon seeing the rainbow that results from rain and not that results from other things. However it is also possible that he Tosefta does not have any such intentions and is simply using the same expression as the Torah itself used (see Bereishit 9:13-14) that says that God placed the rainbow in the cloud. Based on that we would need to say this Beracha upon seeing any rainbow regardless of its cause.
3. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם נאמן בבריתו זוכר הברית – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, Who is trustworthy in His covenant [and] remembers the covenant. This Beracha is specifically referring to the event in the Torah (Bereishit 9:8-17) when after the endof the great flood God made a covenant with Noach that he will never destroy the world by using water again. As a sign of the covenant He placed the rainbow in the sky to remind people that even though it rains He will not destroy the world using rain.

Notes:

1. The Tosefta states a new law. It is not related to any Mishna.
2. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם יודע מספר כולכם. הוא עתיד לדון אתכם והוא עתיד להקימכם בדין. ברוך אתה ה’ נאמן בדברו מחיה המתים  – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, Who knows the number of all of you. He will judge you and He will raise you up in judgement. Blessed You Hashem Who is trustworthy in His word [and] Who revives the dead. The belief in the resurrection of the dead was considered by the Rabbis to be a basic and obligatory belief in Judaism. It was so essential that the Mishna (Sanhedrin 10:1) says that a person who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead is equated to a person who does not believe that God gave us the Torah from heaven and has no share in the world to come. This Beracha was intended to awaken the person and to remind him every time he walks into the cemetery that the people who are laying there will be alive one day and that God will make sure to resurrect them and judge them again. This truly made an impact on the person since he suddenly remembered that not only he cannot escape from God’s judgement by dying, but even once he died and was judged he will be resurrected and judged all over again together with everyone else, thus prompting him to behave himself and keep the Torah and the commandments.

Notes:

1. Mishna 2 of chapter 9 mentions that upon hearing bad news a person says the Beracha, Dayan Haemet. The Tosefta states additional things on which this Beracha is said. In addition, the Tosefta mentions another Beracha that is said in similar cases.
2. A Kushi literally means a person who came from the land of Kush. Kush was the land that was located south of the 1^st cataract if the Nyle river. Nyle has 6 major cataracts, which are shallow stretches located between Aswan and Khartoum where the water’s surface is broken by numerous small boulders and stones lying on the river bed. The 1^st cataract is located in Aswan. Today, the area of Kush is primarily located in the modern Sudan although its most northern section is located in the modern-day southern Egypt. Although the Greeks called it Aethiopia (Αίθιοπία) (see Septuagint, Psalms 72:9 and 74:14) it should not be confused with the modern-day Ethiopia. The Kushites, also known as Nubians, are black Africans who are particularly dark skinned, as opposed to, for example, blacks from the modern-day Ehtiopia who are somewhat lighter skinned. In Talmudic literature the word Kushi is used to refer to any black person regardless of what country he was from. Obviously seeing a black person in the Land of Israel in Talmudic times was a rare occurrence and therefore required a Beracha.
3. The word Borek is only present in the Vienna manuscript. It is not present in all other manuscripts and printed editions of the Tosefta. It is also not clear what it means in this context. Prof. Saul Lieberman in Tosefta Kepshuta proposes that it is probably a misprint and the correct reading should be בוהק which means “white scurf”, scaly or shredded dry skin, such as dandruff, however it is unclear what skin condition this would be referring to since dandruff is a very common occurrence and would not require a Beracha. The word בוריק in this context also refers to some kind of a skin condition, although unclear which one. Usually it is used in reference to wine, meaning effervescent wine, wine which boils by itself while going through the intial process of fermentation. The word comes from the Hebrew root ברק which means “lightning, shining, or bright”. It cannot be that in this context it means “albino” since the Tosefta further on mentions a Lavkan which means white or albino in Greek. It is not possible that this word is referring to simply a blond haired person, since 27% of the Greek swere of Nordic type and had blond hair. See Angel, J. Lawrence, A racial analysis of the ancient Greeks: An essay on the use of morphological types. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 2, n.s., no. 4, Dec. 1944. Due to the obscurity of the meaning of this word I have left this it untranslated in the main text.
4. Talmud Bavli (Bechorot 45b) says that the word Gichor means red. The etimology of this word is unclear. Since the rest of the decriptions on this list in the Tosefta are talking about skin conditions this is also referring to a skin condition. It is doubtful, if not impossible, that it is referring to ethnically red-skinned people such as American Indians, since there was no possibility in Talmudic time for an American Indian to appear in the Middle East or in the Mediterranean region. Therefore I think that it is referring to a readhead person who specifically has red spotted skin with a lot of red freckles. I am not sure why this was considered a strange site since it seems that many Greeks had red hair and freckles at least mildly. See W. Sieglin, Die blonden Haare der indogermanischen Volker des Altertums. Munich: J. F. Lehmanns Verlag, 1935. Approximately 1% to 2% of the human population has red hair with upto 10% in Ireland. See National Geographic Magazine, September, 2007 and Earnest A. Hooton, Stature, head form, and pigmentation of adult male Irish, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Volume 26, Issue 1, 1940, p.229-249. It seems that the Tosefta is referring to someone who has an extreme case of red freckles and very bright red hair which is generally is a rare site.
5. The Hebrew word Lavkan comes from the Greek words λενκόζ (leukoi) and λεύχη (leuchan) both of which mean “white”. It is most probably referring to an albino person who has white hair and white skin due to the lack of melanin pigment. Such site would be rather rare, but occurs in all ethnic groups and therefore very possible in Land of Israel in Talmudic times.
6. The Hebrew word Kipeach comes from the Greek word κυφός (kyphos) which means “hump”. It is referring to a severly hunchback person, who has a big hump on his back.
7. The Hebrew word Nanas comes from the Greek word νάνος (nanos) meaning “dwarf” or “midget”. The Tosefta is referring specifically to a person who has a medical or genetic condition that stunts the person’s growth, generally known as dwarfism.
8. The Tosefta is most probably referring to a person who was born deaf and is therefore mute as well, since he could not communicate in any intelligent way. Sign language did not come into use until the 16^th century CE, so in Talmudic times seeing a deaf-mute person made an impression on people.
9. The Hebrew term Shoteh which literally means “fool” is a general descriptive term for anyone who cannot make his own decisions due to some kind of mental impairement from birth. See Mishna Niddah 2:1 which deferentiates between a woman who was born mentally retarded (Shotah) and a woman who lost her mind later during her life time (Nitrefah Daatah). Being mentally-retarded includes someone who has temporary insanity during the time of his insanity. See Talmud Bavli (Bava Kama 28a).
10. Since a drunk person is not capable of making decisions and acts a lot like someone who is mentally retarded he is included in the category of strange people as well.
11. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם משנה הבריות – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, who changes creatures.
12. The term Kitea refers to anyone who is crippled, because he is missing some limb, usually legs or arms. However, I belive that in this Tosefta it is specifically referring to a person who is missing both legs.
13. Chiger refers to someone who is limping or lame, meaning that they still have their limbs but they do not work properly. The Tosefta is most probably referring to someone who has some kindof a defect with his legs and cannot walk.
14. Boils can refer to a variety of skin conditions due to various deceases, including leprocy.
15. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם דיין האמת – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, the True Judge. This Beracha is said upon hearing bad news (see Berachot Mishna 9:2) as well as at a funeral. It would seem that the Tosefta requires to say this Beracha upon seeing these various afflicted people, because in Talmudic times they were considered to be as good as dead, since they could not work. It is hard to imagine for us why someone who is lame, because their leg was broken and did not properly heal, should be considered to be as good as dead, since there are plenty of jobs that such a  person can do. It is possible that the Tosefta considered only physical jobs and not desk jobs therefore significantly limiting such a person. Talmud Bavli (Nedarim 64b) quotes a Beraita that lists 4 people that were considered to be as good as dead: a poor person, a leper, a blind person, and a childless person. A cripple and a lame person are not mentioned. It is also plausible that the Tosefta required this Beracha to be said on someone for whom we should feel extra pitty due to their plight although then it should have also included the deaf person as well. Talmud Bavli (Berachot 58b) and Talmud Yerushalmi (Berachot 9:1, Daf 63b) explain that the difference between these two lists is not because of what kind of affliction these people have, but rather due to the fact if they were born with it or it happened to them later. So for example if a person was born blind then the Beracha would be Meshane Habriot, but if he became blind later in life then the Beracha would be Dayan Haemet. However, this is Gemara’s way to get out of contradictions between contradicting statements and is not necessarily the original meaning of this Tosefta.

Notes:

1. The Tosefta says a new law about Berachot. It is not related to any Mishna.
2. The Hebrew word אוכלסין comes from the Greek word όχλος (ochlos) which means a crowd. Talmud Bavli (Berachot 58a) says that this law applies only to large crowds of Jews, however for large crowds of Non-Jews there is a different Beracha. However from this Tosefta there is no such indicaton and I would assume that the Tosefta means crowds in general, regardless of who they are. This also makes sense in the context since the Beracha that the Tosefta says to say on seeing large crowds, Chacham Arazim, emphasizes that God knows the thoughts of each individual eventhough each person is unique, which applies to all people and not just to Jews. Also, the Tosefta does not indicate how large the crowd has to be, but Talmud Bavli (Berachot 58a) indicates that it must be at least 600,000 people. However from this Tosefta there is no such indication and the Meiri seems to be agree with that (See Bet Habechira, Berachot 58a, Haroeh Ochlusei Yisrael) that according to the Tosefta this Beracha can be said even on a small crowd if it consists of impressive individuals.
3. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם חכם הרזים – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, Who is wise [to know] secrets. There is actually an argument between the Rishonim (Medieval Authorities) if this Beracha has to be said in its full form including the words “אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם” or it can be said without it exactly as it is written in the Tosefta. I have noted in the translation according to the opinion of the Ri (Rabeinu Yitzchak Ball Hatosafot) who says that it has to be said in its full form, since that seems to be the opinion that makes most sense. The Tosefta simply uses an abbreviated language as it is commonly used through out Talmudic Litarerature and does not write the full text of the Beracha so that it would have been easier for students to memorize it, since that is how it was learned prior to being written down. For a full discussion of both opinions see the Rashba (Berachot 54a, Vekatav Haraavad).
4. This Beracha emphasizes God’s omniscience (that He knows everything), since all people are unique and have look and think differently, despite which God knows about all of them and knows all of their thoughts.
5. Both statements of Ben Zoma are about appreciation of other people. It is fitting for Ben Zoma to make such statements, because it seems to me that he was unemployed and spent his time studying Torah the whole day so he relied on others to take care of him. Ben Zoma lived in the end of the 1^st, beginning of the 2^nd Century CE. His full name is Shimon Ben Zoma, but he never received the title Rebbi, because he never became a full member of the Sanhedrin, but rather stayed a student. See Talmud Bavli (Horayot 2b). It seems to me that the reason he never became a full member of the Sanhedrin was because he never got married and never had any children, which was a requirement for members of the Sanhedrin, (See Tosefta Sanhedrin 7:3) thus preventing himself from receiving the title Rebbi. I have to admit that it does not say anywhere in the Talmudic literature that Ben Zoma never got married, but it is a good assumption, because he is often mentioned together and compared to Ben Azzai (see Talmud Bavli, Horayot 2b) about whom Talmud Bavli (Ketubot 63a) says that he was briefly engaged to Rebbi Akiva’s daughter, but then decided not to marry her since he wanted to devote all of his life to studying Torah and not get involved with raising a family. Based on this I also assume that both Ben Zoma and Ben Azzai were not engaged in any trade, but rather studied Torah the whole day. The Talmudic literature does not mention anywhere that they were envolved in any kind of trade or business. It seems that Ben Zoma was poor since he is the one who says in the Mishna (Avot 4:1): Who is a rich person? The one that is happy with his portion.
6. During the pilgrimage holidays, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot very large numbers of people came to the Bet Hamikdash. We can imagine how many there were there based on how many Muslims come today to the Temple Mount during the holiday of Ramadan. In 2007, for the first Friday prayer of Ramadan, 93,000 Muslims showed up on the Temple Mount as was reported by various news outlets. It is clear that the Temple Mount has the capacity to hold over 600,000 people, although barely, that the Talmud Bavli requires to say the Beracha of Chacham Arazim as was mentioned above in note 1, since today the Al-Aqsa Mosque situated on the Southern side of the Temple Mount holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time, bearing in mind that the space required for each person is roughly 0.8m x 0.5m to enable the submissive kneeling in prayer. On Fridays at noon, during the fasting month of Ramadan, and particularly the 27^th of Ramadan (Lailat El-Qadr), the area is filled to virtual capacity. Although it is theoretically possible to say this Beracha in the presence of 600,000 people, I am convinced that Ben Zoma said his quote with a much smaller quantity of people. Since the Tosefta implies that Ben Zoma’s quote was equivalent to the Beracha of Chacham Harazim it is obvious that the Tosefta does not agree with Talmud Bavli’s requirement of having 600,000 people present in order to say this Beracha.
7. It is unclear what does the Hebrew word לוגמא literally mean. Adolph Jellinek explains (Devarim Atikim, Leipzig, 1844, entry Lugma in Sefat Chachamim) that it means a mouthful and not a cheekful, and comes from the Arabic word Lukma which means a mouthful. Michael Sokoloff writes (Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Bar Ilan University Press, 2002, entry Lugma) that it is a Syriac word which means a jaw or a Mandaic word which means a cheek. Both Syriac and Mandaic are dialects of Aramaic. It is important to pin this down exactly since a cheekful is a measure of volume equivalent to how much an average person can hold inside one of his cheeks where as a mouthful is how much he can hold in his whole mouth. A cheekful is less than half of a real mouthful, since a mouthful includes both cheeks plus the center of the mouth. From Talmud Bavli (Yoma 80a) it seems that the literal meaning of Maleh Lugmav means a mouthful since Shmuel specifically points out that in the Mishna it is not meant literally, but rather it is referring to just a cheekful (i.e. when a person moves the liquid to one side of his mouth). This implies that the word Lugma in the singular form would refer to just one cheek where as Maleh Lugmav in the plural form would refer to both cheeks together meaning the whole mouth. I have chosen to translate it in this Tosefta as mouthful even though it is written in the singular form since it makes more sense as an English expression and it is not talking about specific measurements.
8. Ben Zoma is specifically talking about planting grain and not anything else since he outlines the 10 steps that it takes to produce bread from grain.
9. I have written the text as it appears in the Vienna manuscript, namely first planting and then plowing. However in the Erfurt manuscript these two words are reversed, plowing is mentioned first and then planting. Technically both versions are correct, since both methods were used. Talmud Bavli (Shabbat 73b) explains that in the Land of Israel people planted first and then plowed, because the land is hard and the seeds would nto get buried underground if they were not plowed over, where as in Babylonia they first plowed and then planted, because the land is soft and the seeds make their way down by themselves. It makes more sense that Ben Zoma would express himself according to the practice of the Land of Israel, since that is where he lived, namely planting first and then plowing. It is also possible that people plowed their fields twice, before and after planting, although the Gemara implies that it was not necessary to do so under normal circumstances.
10. Reaping is the step of the actual harvesting where the stocks of grain are cutoff using a scythe or a sickle.
11. After the stocks of grain have been cut they are bound together into sheaves so that they can be transported to the threshing floor. A sheaf is a large bundle of grain.
12. Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of the grain from the inedible chaff that surrounds it. Threshing was done by beating the grain against the threshing floor using a tool called a flail. Another method of threshing was done by having donkeys or other large animals walking in a circle on the threshing floor and stepping on the grain.
13. Winnowing is the step in which the chaff is actually removed from the grain. In Talmudic times it was done by throwing the grain up in the air and the wind blowing away the lighter chaff while the heavier kernels of the grain would fall back down.
14. After the chaff is removed the grain is tossed around in a wooden tray to separate from it the stones and lumps of soil which clung to the roots when the grain was reaped. This step was called selecting, since the good portion of the grain was selected from the bad dirt.
15. Once the grain was isolated from various other particles it was ground into flour. In Talmudic times this was done using a grinding stone. There were generally two sizes of grinding stones. A small one that was spun by hand and a large one which was spun by an animal, usually an ox or a donkey, while walking around in a circle.
16. Once the grain was ground into flour it was sifted using a sieve (a box with a  net with small holes in it) in order to separate large clumps of flour and remaining grain from the finer flour particles.
17. The flour was mixed with water and yeast and then kneaded (pounded and mushed around) in order to make dough.
18. Ben Zoma meant that he did not have to work hard to make bread, but rather he could go and buy bread that was already made.
19. Ben Zoma is specifically referring to clothing made from wool since he outlines the 7 steps that it takes to turn wool into a garment. Wool is the hair of sheep which was cut from the sheep using scissors.
20. Wool on a sheep is really dirty so once it is sheared it needs to be washed. This was done by two possible methods. The fleece (piece of wool that covers a side of the sheep) was placed inside a shallow river with small clean pebbles and letting the water flow over it. Or the wool was hand washed and scrubbed using some kind of a cleansing agent, usually white clay, urine, or ashes of certain plants. (See The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, entries Wool, Fuller) After washing the wool would become completely white.
21. After the wool was washed it had to be combed to remove the knots since on the sheep it is entangled. Combing was done by laying out the wool on a surface and combing it with a metal comb similar to the way a person combs his hair.
22. Once the wool was combed it could be dyed to give it a different color. This was an optional step since the wool could be left white. Dying was done by dipping the wool into a solution mixed with various chemeicals, usually plant or animals derivatives that gave the wool specific colors.
23. Once the wool was dyed it was spun into thread by twisting the fibers. There were various methods of spinning the thread.
24. Once the thread was ready it was woven into cloth. This was done on a loom. It should be noted that the process of weaving was divided into additional steps which were considered to be separate acts of work that are prohibited on Shabbat. See Mishna Shabbat 7:2. However it seems that Ben Zoma did not feel the necessity to outline them in his speech since they were simply substeps in the weaving process and could be included into the general category of weaving.
25. The cloth was finally taken and sewen into a garment.
26. Meaning that Ben Zoma could just go out and buy them without doing any extra work.
27. Since the Tosefta quoted Ben Zoma making a speech about appreciating other it quotes another statement of Ben Zoma that discusses appreciation of others.
28. The word pieces could be referring to any piece of food, but most probably refers to meat.
29. For a detailed discussion of the word Gluska see above chapter 4, Tosefta 11, note 3.
30. It is a little strange that Ben Zoma’s quote originally speaks in the plural, as if there were many guests, but then switches to the singular, referring nly to the person speaking. It is possible that he saying it in reference to a group of guests where one guest speaking for the rest of the guests. So originally he is speaking for all of them, but when it is time to really appreciate the host by saying that everything he did was only for him he is referring only to himself since that emphasizes his appreciation even more.
31. It seems that this addition is not a part of Ben Zoma’s speech, but rather something that the editor of the Tosefta added.
32. This verse is a part of Elihu’s speech to Iyov when Elihu is telling Iyov how great is God and how people do not understand God’s deeds. The verse is referring to previous verses where Elihu says that people do not have the right to tell God what to do or to say to God that He has commited injustice. Elihu emphasizes that Iyov must remember that in order to truly appreciate His deeds. So also a guest does not really have the right to say bad things about his host, since the host did him a favor by serving him and was not really obligated to serve him at all. This is my explanation, according to which this quote in the Tosefta is not specifically referring to either the good guest or the bad guest, but rather to how the guest should behave in general. However, Talmud Bavli (Berachot 58) speciflcally says that this verse is referring to the good guest. The Maharsha (Chidushey Agadot, Berachot 58b, Ben Zoma) explains that the Gemara means that this verse should be taken out of context and instead of talking about God it is talking about the guest who should remember what the host did for him and exalt and exaggerate about it, by mentioning how much food the host took for him and how many people served him, even if it is not necessarily true.

I justed posted the audio shiur on Berachot Chapter 5.

I posted links to 3 more seforim today, 2 of which include 2 different scans. See #47-51 on the Seforim page, including a very rare edition of Magen Avraham commentary on the Tosefta Nezikin by the author of Magen Avraham on the Shulchan Aruch.

I just posted links to 3 more seforim on the Tosefta on the Seforim page. 2 volumes of Higayon Aryeh on Zerayim (#19) and Chulin (#21) and Perush of Rash Mishantz on the Tosefta of Androginus (Tosefta Bikkurim 2:2-6) (#46). This is a very rare edition of a forgotten manuscript that contains Rash’s commentary to these 4 Toseftot and the text of the Tosefta as well which differs slightly from the other Tosefta manuscripts.

I posted audio shiur on chapter 4 of Berachot and also 3 new seforim in German on the Seforim page.

Notes:

1. Mishna 1 of chapter 9 says that a person who sees an idol has to say a Beracha. The Tosefta expands on that law.
2. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם ארך אפים – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, Who is merciful. The reason this Beracha is said upon seeing an idol is because we praise God for being tolerant and merciful on idol worshippers that he did not outright destroy them and their idols.
3. ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם שעקר עבודה זרה מארצינו. יהי רצון מלפניך ה’ אלהינו שתעקר עבודה זרה מארצינו ומכל מקומות ישראל ותשיב לב עובדיהם לעבדך. – Blessed You Hashem, our God, King of the world, who uprooted an idol from our land. May it be Your will, Hashem our God, that [all] idol worship will be uprooted from our land and from all places where Jews [live], and may You return the heart of their worshipers to Your worship.
4. This Beracha implies that it is only said in the Land of Israel and not anywhere else, since it specifically says “from our land”. In fact in the printed editions of the Tosefta, the text of the Tosefta continues and says that this Beracha is not said outside of the Land of Israel, because the majority population there are Non-Jews, where as Rebbi Shimon argues on that statement and says that even outside of the Land of Israel this Beracha should be said, because in the future the Non-Jews will convert to Judaism. I have not included that section into the text since it does not appear in any Tosefta manuscript. It seems that it was included in the printed editions of the Tosefta, because that is the way it is quoted in Talmud Bavli (Berachot 57b) with some variations. However it seems clear that Talmud Bavli is not quoting this Tosefta, but rather a different Beraita.