(29) And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that sojourneth among you. (30) For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the LORD. (31) It is a sabbath of solemn rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; it is a statute for ever.
- What is the context of these verses?
- What specific rules for Yom Kippur is the Torah giving us here?
(כט) בחדש השביעי בעשור לחדש תענו את נפשותיכם.
אחר שהכתוב אומר "ותתענג בדשן נפשכם" ידענו כי הענוי הפך התענוג והוא הצום
ועוד "ונפש נענה תשביע" שטעמו כמו "ותפק לרעב נפשך" כי דרך דברי הנביאים להכפל
ואחר שיש לנו קבלה אין צורך לחפש ואין עניתי בצום נפשי ראיה בעבור זכר צום והכלל כל עינוי שימצא במקרא דבק עם נפש הוא הצום
on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls
Since there is a verse (Isaiah 55:2) which tells us "Give heed to Me, and you shall delight in the richest food," (and) we know that affliction is the opposite of delight, therefore (affliction must mean) fasting. We see this also in (Isaiah 58:10) "and you offer your compassion to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted creature" -for it is the way of Prophetic literature to speak in parallels, and since we have a tradition on the phrase's meaning, we needn't search, But, in Psalm 35 we find, "I afflicted myself by fasting"a proof for the terms meaning on the use of the word fast.
And here is the general rule: any time עינוי/affliction is used in scripture in association with נפש/soul it means to fast.
- LOOK UP THE VERSES!
- What is Ibn Ezra trying to prove here? Why do you think he goes through so many hoops to do so?
- What differences from the description of Yom Kippur in Lev 16 do you find in this source?
- What do you think HaZal might do with these differences?
(א) יום הכפורים אסור באכילה ובשתיה וברחיצה ובסיכה ובנעילת הסנדל ובתשמיש המטה. והמלך והכלה ירחצו את פניהם. והחיה תנעול את הסנדל, דברי רבי אליעזר, וחכמים אוסרין.
(1) On Yom Kippur, it is forbidden to eat, to drink, to wash, to anoint, and to wear leather shoes and to have sexual relations. The King and the bride may wash their faces, and the newly delivered mother may wear leather shoes: the words of Rabbi Eliezer; and the Sages prohibit this.
- What other forbidden activities has the Mishnah added to Yom Kippur?
- What surprises you about this list
- What categories of people have been released from these requirements?
- Why might HaZaL have allowed for these leniencies?
for Rabbah and R. Joseph taught in the other books of the School of Rab: Whence do we know that it is forbidden on the Day of Atonement to anoint oneself, to wash, to put on shoes, and to have marital intercourse? Therefore the text reads: [It] is a Sabbath of solemn rest [unto you].
שבתון - וגבי עינוי כתיב וכי היכי דשבתון האמור בשבת אסמכו ביה רבנן שאר מלאכות שלא היו במשכן ואינה מלאכה גמורה ה"נ שבתון דגבי עינוי דכתיב שבתון הוא לכם ועניתם להוסיף על עינוי אכילה ושתיה קאתי:
Solemn Rest: and this language is used here in reference to (self) affliction, and because that same term, "solemn rest/שבתון" was used by HaZaL to hint at the long list of labors that were not done in the Tabernacle, and are not explicitly labor, here too, "שבתון" is written in the context of "you shall afflict yourselves" to add on to the afflictions of eating and drinking.
- How does the Talmud (through the lens of Rashi) find a source for the "other" self-afflictions?
- What categories of people are released from these requirements?
- Why might HaZaL allow for these leniencies?
מ"ט מלך? משום דכתיב (ישעיהו לג, יז) מלך ביפיו תחזינה עיניך כלה מאי טעמא? כדי שלא תתגנה על בעלה.
אמר ליה רב לר' חייא כלה עד כמה? אמר ליה כדתניא אין מונעין תכשיטין מן הכלה כל שלשים יום
החיה תנעול את הסנדל משום צינה
Why [may] a king [wash his face]?-Because Scripture said: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.(Isaiah 33:17) Why [may] a bride [wash her face]? — Lest she become unattractive to her husband. Rab said to R. Hiyya: How long [does] a bride [enjoy this privilege]? He replied: As it was taught: One must not withhold her adornment from the bride during the full thirty days [after the wedding]. The woman after childbirth may put on shoes to avoid a cold.
- Why does the Talmud allow the king and bride to wash their faces?
- How about a new mother wearing shoes?
- What surprises you about these rules? How might the Bavli's thinking be useful to contemporary Halacha?