Introduction to Meseches Horiyos

The backdrop of Mesaches Horiyus is the Shoigeg. Specifically, the idea that if a person does an aveira, even b'shoigeg, he needs kapara. Which, if you think about it for a moment, is a little bit of a chiddush. You would think that if a person would violate one of the 365 lavin in the Torah, and he does it with some form of malice, he was a meizid, he needs kapara. But, to the extent that he did it unintentionally, he's a shoigeg, why should he need kapara? Stating that it's clear from the Torah that even someone that does an aveira b'shoigeg needs kapara. Just to give a few examples. Number one, the korban chatas. The korban chatas, which is maybe the korban in terms of the amount of sugiyah Torah and amount of sugiyah Shas that we have that are nogeia it is brought for someone that does certain aveiros b'shoigeg. A retzeiach b'shoigeg has to go to galus. The parsha of me'ilah is primarily discussing somebody that benefited from kodshim b'shoigeg. The intricate parsha of tumas mikdash v'kodshav discusses somebody that was tamei and b'shoigeg either ate kodshim or entered the Beis Hamikdash. There are many places in the Torah that if a person does an aveira, even b'shoigeg, he needs kapara. The question is, why? If you look in the Rishonim, there seem to be two primary machloksim, both of which are mentioned very succinctly by the Ramban in his Sha'arei Teshuvah. It's in the chelek of Sha'arei Teshuvah that's called Yissurim Shel Ahavah. It's Ois L'Shlam Teshuvah. The Ramban says, "U'mah cheto?" What is the chet of the person that did an aveira b'shoigeg? Says [snorts] the Ramban, "Shelo nizhar b'atzmo." The chet is that he wasn't more careful. "V'lo hayah yarei v'chareid al divrei Hamakom Baruch Hu." And he wasn't [snorts] afraid. He wasn't sitting from the words of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. "Shelo yichal v'lo ya'aseh davar ad sheyei'evdak yafah yafah v'yiskal l'yado davar shehu mutar v'raui lo." >> [snorts] >> The things they write so shallow kodshim Baruch Hu. "V'al derech hazu hutam chet hashogeg b'chol ha'aretz." Says the Ramban, the first reason why somebody that does an aveira b'shoigeg needs kapara is "Shelo nizhar b'atzmo." He should have been more careful. It's true, there was no malice, but not there was there was negligence. And because of the fact that he was negligent, he's what we would refer to in Chazal as a posheia. It's for that reason he needs a kapara. Says the Ramban, "V'oi," there's another reason. "Shekol davar ha'asur," anything that a person does that's asur, "m'lacheichan nefesh," it makes the soul dirty. "U'm'tamei oisah." And it makes it tamei. "D'chasiv," as the pasuk says, "V'nefesh ki semam." "L'ficha," it's for that reason nikra shoigeg chotei. Says the Ramban, there's another reason. And that is, an aveira is something that's dirty. An aveira is something that's tamei. If somebody falls into the mud unintentionally, he's going to be dirty. If somebody touches tumah unintentionally, he's going to become tamei. In the same vein, says the Ramban, if somebody does an aveira and he does it unintentionally, it doesn't matter, he's still going to be m'luchlach, he's still going to be tamei. In other words, two reasons why someone that does an aveira b'shoigeg needs kapara. The first, "Shelo nizhar b'atzmo," he's a posheia. And because he's a posheia, it's for that reason he has some level of achrayus for what it is that came about as a result of his p'shia. Number two, an aveira is a davar m'luchlach, it's a davar tamei. And if a person comes in contact with luchlach or tumah, even if he does it b'shoigeg, he is going to be somehow impacted by it. And it's for that reason the person that does that aveira, even b'shoigeg, >> [snorts] >> is going to need kapara. As it relates to Mesaches Horiyus, the component of shoigeg that the mesechta focuses on is the korban chatas. It's actually the kodshim component. And in a way, Mesaches Horiyus is a little bit of a bridge between what it is we've been learning and what we're going to be in the home stretch of Shas, which is Seder Kodshim. We're two weeks away from the first Mishnah of Mesaches Z'vachim. But, Horiyus deals really with the kodshim component of shoigeg, specifically the korban [snorts] chatas. So, I think it's just kedai to very, very briefly refresh our memory in terms of what exactly the korban chatas of the shoigeg is. And with that, we'll be able to jump into the mesechta. So, a person that does an aveira b'shoigeg, that had he done the meizid, he would have been chayav kareis, he has to bring a a korban chatas. The korban chatas itself, the animal, can be either a kisbah, a female sheep, or a se'irah, a female goat. So, the chatas always had to be a nekeivah. And when the man on the street is chayav chatas, he gets to choose between a sheep and a goat. Either it's going to be a kisbah or it's going to be a se'irah. Now, there are certain types of chataos where the ones are a little bit more nuanced. It's what's known as a korban oleh v'yored. It's a korban oleh v'yored, it's not a korban oleh, it's a korban chatas. It's a korban chatas with a type of korban actually depends on the financial status of the chotei. So that it's not automatically, unequivocally going to be the kisbah or the se'irah. If he could afford the kisbah or the se'irah, that's what it's going to be. If he can't afford that, he has the option to bring two torim or two bnei yonah. And if he can't even afford that, he's b'dalei dalos, then he brought a korban mincha. When he's bringing the kisbah or the se'irah, in the vernacular, it's known as a chatas kavua. If he's doing an aveira that's subject to financial status, then the chatas that he's bringing is what's known as the oleh v'yored. The Torah says that if a person was oved avodah zarah b'shoigeg, he's chayav chatas because avodah zarah is a davar sheyesh dinei kareis. That person, however, when he brings the korban, doesn't have the option to bring either the kisbah or the se'irah. It's a pasuk in the Torah, that person has to bring the se'irah. Another subcategory of the chatas is also a parsha in the Torah. In the event that the Kohen Mashiach, that's the Kohen Gadol who was mashuach b'shemen hamishchah, if he does an aveira b'shoigeg sheyesh dinei kareis, the halachah is his chatas was not a kisbah or se'irah, it's not the se'irah, but rather was a par. He brought a bull. The melech who did an aveira b'shoigeg sheyesh dinei kareis, his chatas was a sa'ir. So, it's a goat, but not a female, but rather it's a male. In the event that roiv of Klal Yisrael did an aveira b'shoigeg and they did it al pi Rosh Beis Din, as we're going to see very much in Horiyus daf beis, they had to bring what's known as the par he'elem davar shel tzibur, which, trick question, was a par, right? It's called the par he'elem davar shel tzibur. So, again, it's being brought for doing an aveira b'shoigeg sheyesh dinei kareis, and what is the animal? The animal's going to be a par. And finally, in the event that roiv of Klal Yisrael did an aveira b'Hirosh Beis Din, the proverbial par he'elem davar shel tzibur, but the aveira was avodah zarah, there too, the parsha is a little bit unique. Klal Yisrael had to bring a par and a sa'ir. A little tricky. The par was an olah and the sa'ir was a chatas. Again, what's the recap? Your classic chatas was either a kisbah or se'irah. Stating that is the parsha of oleh v'yored. In the event that a person is bringing a korban chatas because he was oved avodah zarah, it has to be the se'irah. The Kohen Gadol brought a par. The melech, the nasi, brought a sa'ir. The par he'elem davar shel tzibur was a par. And in the event that it was avodah zarah that roiv of Klal Yisrael did, it's a par and a sa'ir. The par, ironically, shifts from being a chatas, now it's going to be an olah. And it's the sa'ir, it's the goat, that's going to bring a chatas. It's these halachos that's very much the topic of the very short mesechta that we're about to learn. Just one technical thing that's worth mentioning before we start the mesechta. And that is that if you look at the mesechta and you have a little bit of a t'fisas ayin on what a daf Gemara is supposed to look like, we're five plus years in, Rashi doesn't look so much like Rashi. Tosafos doesn't look so much like Tosafos. This looks like one of those mesechtas where Rashi's mish Rashi and Tosafos is mish Tosafos. So, just two thoughts. Number one, Rav Reuven Margolies in his first comment on the Tosefta says that it's pashtei to any maven and any loimed that Rashi in Mesaches Horiyus is written in a different signon. And as a result, it certainly doesn't feel like this is Rav Yitzchaki. It doesn't feel like this is our Rashi. But says Rav Reuven Margolies, I'll prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that it's actually not Rashi. And you know what his proof is? There's one time in Mesaches Horiyus on daf yud beis that Rashi quotes a la'az. He brings a word in another language, k'darko b'kodesh. The word that Rashi quotes is a Latin word. Says Rav Reuven Margolies, every single place there's a la'az in Rashi in Shas or in his peirush on Tanach, the word is always Old French. One time it's Latin. Says Rav Reuven Margolies, it can't be Rashi. Rashi, we know, didn't speak Latin. Rashi spoke Old French. Says Rav Reuven Margolies that who is Rashi? So, the Chacham Moreh in his shiur, he says, "I don't know." But lulei d'mistafeina, we know in the end of Mesaches Makos, we don't have Rashi. And who took over? Rashi's son-in-law, the Rivon. Says Rav Reuven Margolies, take a look in the end of Mesaches Rashi, there's one place where there's a la'az. And that one la'az word is also Latin. So, the Rivon, we know, was a m'malei makom for Rashi. We also know that he spoke Latin. So, maybe it's shaya s'meiglech that the peirush Rashi on Mesaches Horiyus is the Rivon. But either way, his classic investigative raya that this is not Rashi from the fact that the one la'az that we have over here is Latin and every la'az in Rashi is not Latin, every la'az in Rashi is Old French. To know this, you would have to, number one, be pretty smart, and number two, speak Old French and Latin, I think. But the bottom line is, this is Rav Reuven Margolies' raya as it relates to Rashi. As it relates to Tosafos not being Tosafos, so just to share something very interesting, and that is There's a classic work that was written on Massekhet Horiyos and other Massekhtos as well that's known as the Be'er Sheva. Classic Ben Ish Chai classic, right? Who is the Be'er Sheva? So, the Be'er Sheva was Rabbi Yissachar Ber Eilenburg. He was a talmid of the Levush. He was a talmid of the Sma. If you look at his bio, it says he was also the Rebbe of the Baal Gedolei Terumah. Rav in Italy for a short period of time. But, the Be'er Sheva is one of the great great acharonim kiyadua. [clears throat] The Sefer Be'er Sheva is called Be'er Sheva because it was written as a peirush on seven Massekhtos. The seven Massekhtos that he wrote on are Massekhet Horiyos, Massekhet Tamid, the first perek of Massekhet Krisos, which is considered one even though it's not its own Massekhet, the last perek of Massekhet Krisos, perek Mashuach Milchamah and perek Eglah Arufah in Massekhet Sotah, and perek Cheilek. It's called Be'er Sheva cuz it's written on those seven I said Massekhtos, but it's Massekhet/prakim within Massekhtos. Horiyos, Tamid, first perek of Krisos, last perek of Krisos, perek Mashuach Milchamah and Eglah Arufah in Sotah, which is six, and finally perek Cheilek, which is seven. In the hakdamah to his sefer, he writes, "Why am I writing a sefer dafka on these seven chalakim in Shas?" He says, "Cuz those seven chalakim have one thing in common, there's no Tosafos." And being that there's no Tosafos, I felt he nichu makom ligdor, and the Be'er Sheva said, "I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to write a peirush on Tosafos." Now, he says, "If you're going to look at my peirush, you're going to say it's not mamash a Tosafos, but I'm meratzeh ein, and the pen is already open, and the parchment is already in front of you, so we're going to be meirach a little bit." But, this is what he writes. Now, it's interesting, he talks a little bit about how he came about this patant. Like, where did this einfall come from? Asher heier einof, that he should go bemakom Tosafos and he should write this peirush. So, he's very personal in this hakdamah. I'll just read one excerpt. He says, "Ach zoys hoysoli hasivah litrik atzmi uli konais lifnaider lifnei min chitzosi. Ki ein ba'ayim ro'isi siyata dishmaya bikant maponim shoynim kasha hischalti limud im chaveirim makshivim likoylim Massekhet Horiyos." He said, "I saw when I started teaching Massekhet Horiyos, I had a special siyata dishmaya." Now, when did he start teaching Massekhet Horiyos? It was yoima demisagri bachurei amonim. It was at the time that the rabonim were off shekayrim ba'artzainu and ba'artzainu as well bein hazmanim. That's what he says. He started teaching Horiyos bein hazmanim. Velisha al aiti, and when I did it, I never had a machshavah veloyal machshavti klal lachabeishum davar alah. I never thought I was going to write a peirush. Rak liyoiski gorso nafshi letavah lehashlim Massekhet Tachas Bein Hazmanim. Says the Be'er Sheva, "I was bein hazmanim, and I wanted to learn a Massekhet." And the reason he wanted to learn a Massekhet was kedei she'uchal leshalem es nidri im Yigmar Sham Ba'avim Limudei Koshos. Cuz I made a neder takodesh baruch hu that one day I'm going to finish Shas. And I figured it's bein hazmanim now, let me chabrein something. Ubacharti leskulosim Massekhet Horiyos. So, I said, "Let's do Horiyos. It's a short Massekhet, right?" How many people have made mistake where they tried to sit down and learn Massekhet Horiyos like on a long flight there to Yisrael or something, right? Or on a Shavuos night. And then you open up Horiyos, and you're like, you know, I think Bava Basra might be easier. But, the bottom line is, said the Be'er Sheva, he sat down bein hazmanim, and he started learning Horiyos, and he had a siyata dishmaya as he started writing on it, and then from there he came to this einfall. He saw there's not a lot on Horiyos, let me write on something else that there's also not a lot on, and [laughter] he picked the seven chalakim in Shas where there's no Tosafos, and that's what he wrote. Now, it's actually interesting because if you look on your Gemara, if you refer to uh exhibit A, there is a Tosafos. Now, the Tosafos is a little bit different, it's on the bottom, right? It doesn't have the the same tzurah. Also, on most Gemaras, there's a little bit of a hakdamah that this Tosafos comes from Rabbi Elio ben Rabbi Avraham Halevi in Tignone. So, there's a whole shtikel Torah here. I uh heard from Rabbi Ephraim Kanarfogel, who's the big bakki in all things Baalei Tosafos. We've quoted him in the past. So, [snorts] he said that what's unique about Massekhet Horiyos is that the Tosafos in Massekhet Horiyos came from the German Baalei Tosafos. So, we know that the Baalei Tosafos were yeshivas, and they were in France and in Germany respectively. Every single Tosafos that we have comes from the French Baalei Tosafos, which is why they're all the einiklach of Rashi, who was French. Rabbeinu Tam and the Ri and the Rashba M'Shanz and the Rashbam kiyadua. There are two Massekhtos There are two Massekhtos where the Tosafos on the Massekhet comes not from the French Baalei Tosafos, but from the German Baalei Tosafos. One is Massekhet Sotah, the other one is Massekhet Horiyos. But, either way, the Be'er Sheva, Rabbi Yissachar Ber Eilenburg, clearly did not have a Tosafos on Massekhet Horiyos. Even our Tosafos in Massekhet Horiyos is clearly a little bit different. There's a manna shtana that needs to be asked as it relates to this Tosafos. Regardless, little bit of history regarding Rashi in Massekhet Horiyos, little bit of history regarding Tosafos on Massekhet Horiyos, and with that brief introduction, we jump in to another Massekhet in Shas.