D'Var Torah - Mattos
The Jewish people prepared for their journeys and ultimate conquest of
the Land of Israel. It was a scary proposition, but they knew that if they
followed Hashem's (G-d's) directives with faith and purity, then Hashem would
give them Divine protection success in their endeavors. The following true story
bears out this very principle:
There were two partners in the Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, a
century ago. It seems that one of them had started a business of dealing in
antiques and other discarded items. After a few years in business, it became
abundantly clear to him that he would never be able to make a go of the business
on his own. The business required capital investment and cash, and he did not
have the money to make a success of it.
He thereupon decided to
take in a partner to help him in the business. He took on a trusted and dear
friend and they worked diligently together to help the business expand so that
they would be able to feed their families from the profits of the
endeavor.
But, alas, the new partner also did not have money or
capital means and the business soon tottered on the brink of bankruptcy. So the
two partners decided that their only salvation was to bring into the business a
third partner, one who had money to invest in the business and provide it with
sufficient capitalization to allow it
to grow and prosper. One of the
partners was delegated to search for such a new partner, while the other
remained to continue running the business.
Before embarking on
the search for the partner who would save the business, the man repaired to the
synagogue to ask for Divine aid in finding this new partner. In the midst of
his prayers, he was struck by a startling thought. He said to the Lord: "Why
should I search for another partner, when you, O G-d, are the perfect partner
for us? You will be our third partner, and Your share of the profits will be
distributed for the support of the worthy Torah scholars and institutions of
Aleppo." Delighted with his deal, he rushed back to his partner to tell him the
great news.
"By your facial expression I see that you found us a
new partner," his partner said. "But tell me, is this partner reliable?" "He
is most reliable and has never failed anyone as of yet," was the excited
answer. "Does he have money for our business?" asked the suspicious partner.
"Money! He has unlimited funds and can
finance any endeavor," came the
response. "Who is he?" asked the partner. "I cannot describe the new partner
to you, nor can I give you his name. His only request is that the one-third
share of the profits that is rightfully due him be distributed to the Torah
scholars and institutions of Aleppo," was his answer.
The partner
mulled the matter over and then agreed to the new partner, unknown though he
was. Miraculously, the business took a great good turn of fortune and the two
partners became wealthy and kept their end of the bargain, always supporting the
scholars and institutions of Torah in Aleppo.
We thank Rabbi Rashi Simon for submitting
the above story told by Rabbi Berel Wein in the name of Rabbi Hayyim Sabato.
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5760
This week was our son Dovid's Bar Mitzvah. In place of my usual Dvar
Torah, here is his Bar Mitzvah Drasha (discourse) written by him:
There is a law in the Torah that if man "A" summons man "B" to Beis Din
-a jewish court- and claims that man "B" owes him 100 dollars and man "B"
claims that he already paid back fifty, man "B" must pay man "A" 50
dollars and swear that he doesn't owe the other fifty dollars. There is
a Gemara in Bava Metzia, daf gimmel, that discusses this matter. It asks
why does a person have to swear after admitting that he owes half. This
is based on a quote from Rabbah. Rabbah said "Mipnay mah amrah torah
modeh miktzas hataina yishbah, Chazaka ain adam mayiz panav bipnay baal
chovo. For what reason does the Torah say that one who confesses to part
of the claim must swear that he doesn't owe anything else, because there
is a psychological assumption that one will not be so brazen as to deny a
debt when standing in the presence of his loaner. Therefore, we should
believe him because according to Rabbah he would not lie in this
situation. And then the gemarah says "v'hai b'chulia ba'ee d'ludi lay"
meaning why doesn't the man B confess to the whole thing. Rashi explains
this line to mean "v'chi taima migo d'chashid ammamona chashid ashvuasa
v'lo n'rami shvuah aleha " if you say that he is suspected monetarily
then he is suspected that he will swear falsely so how can the rabbis let
him swear if you might make him swear falsely. The Gemara then says
v'hai d'lo odi ishtamutay hu d'ka mishtamut minay savar ad d'havah li
zuzi u'pharanh lay v'amar rachmanah rami shvuah aleha ki heichi d'ludi
lei b'chulia meaning that really he does not mean to deny the other, but
stalling and thinking that now he won't pay, but when he can afford it he
will pay, and because of this the Torah says you make him swear so that
he will be frightened into confessing. This came about because the
Rabbis, before he swears, scare the living daylights out of him by
telling him all the consequences of swearing falsely which usually made
people confess. Rashi explains the answer to mean that really the man B
is not suspected monetarily and therefore we know is not so brazen as to
swear falsely so therefore the Torah can make him swear and he will
confess. But that's not all folks. Since these Rabbis were obviously
Jewish there must be a different opinion and there is. Tosafos then
comes and tries to ruin Rashi's whole opinion. Tosafos brings down from
the gemara in daf vav that according to the gemara, one who is suspected
monetarily is not suspected of swearing falsely, therefore there is a
problem with Rashi's version of the gemara's question. Tosafos now tries
to answer the problem with Rashi. He says that according to the Rabbis
one who is suspected monetarily is not suspected of swearing falsely, but
according to the Torah he is suspected of swearing falsely. The Rabbis
based on their experience changed the procedure but Rashi might be saying
like the Torah. Tosfos now comes and destroys his answer. He says that
really on daf vav the oath must be taken according to the Torah so the
Torah's opinion is that one who is suspected monetarily is NOT suspected
of swearing falsely. Tosafos then gives his own version of the gemara's
question: Why does he need to swear. We should believe him 1. Because he
would not be brazen enough to lie 2. Because if he is lying he could tell
a better lie and deny everything. Tosafos then says the gemaras answer
is that he would not be brazen enough to just deny it, but he would be
brazen enough to deny half so he can pay the other half later, because he
doesn't feel like he is lying. He is merely stalling for time. Tosafos
now askes another question. He says if when he neniew half he is believed
to be stalling, why doesn't the gemora say that when he denies the whole
he is stalling like we say in tractate shavous; Rav Nachman says one who
denies the whole calim swears a shavuas hesis (oath) because we assume
someone will not sue someone unless he has a real claim. So we can ask on
that, if the defendant denies everything that according to the two
assumptions they are both telling the truth. So the answer is that the
defendant is stalling, so how can you not say that one who denies
everything is stalling. So Tosafos answers that even if he is stalling,
denying the whole thing has a certain level of brazenness so no one
would deny everything even if they want to stall.
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