RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:FLAX:FIRE:LIABILITY
Shalom:
Our prayers of entreaties, our bakashah, to Ha Shem for the folks suffering from the fires in California.
Certainly the Torah and the Talmud make it very clear that we as humans are responsible for our actions, and more than that have a responsibility to foresee to what our actions may lead. Hence must take care that our actions do not cause damage to property or person.
It doesn't get much clearer than this in Exodus 22:5 : "He that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution". If some one is caught and convicted of being a fire bug, it would be virtually impossible for him to pay damages for the millions of dollars lost in California, and a jail sentence would not be teshuvah for the suffering ex-homeowners.
In Talmud Bavli in Tractates Shabbat and Moadim Hanukah laws are discussed. Shabbat brings Hanukah into play because the rabbis discuss what oil is to be used for lighting and what kind of materials are to be used for wicks. Materials for the lamps are discussed, even if one can use an egg shell as a container for oil to kindle a Shabbat or Hanukah 'candle.' Moadim discusses Hanukah as its own holiday and the reasons for it and the customs. Its mentioned in Rosh Ha Shana, Bava Batra, Yoma and many other Tractates as well in the Bavli.
The Gemora in Moadim states: "In the days of the Hasmonean Matityahu, son of Yochanan the high priest, and his sons, when the iniquitous Greco-Syrian kingdom arose against Your people Israel, to make them forget Your Torah and to turn them away from the ordinances of Your will, in Your abundant mercy You arose for them in their time of distress, waged their battle, executed judgment, avenged their wrong, and delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and insolent ones into the hands of those occupied with Your Torah. Both unto Yourself did you make a great and holy name in Your world, and unto Your people did You achieve a great deliverance and redemption…"
You may recognize this as what we now call the Al Ha-nissim prayer.
While the Talmud Bavli is full of references to Hanukah, the Talmud Yerushalmi does not. In reality it is only concerned about Hanukah lamps as being a fire safety hazard.
"In the case of a camel was carrying flax and walked on a public road and the flax it was carrying poked into a store and caught fire from the lamp of the storekeeper and set fire to the building: the owner of the camel is liable.
If the storekeeper had left his lamp outside, the storekeeper is liable.
R. Judah says: If it was a Hanukkah lamp, he is exempt (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Bava Kamma 6:8)
Regarding this last teaching, he is exempt because he left it here by right.
And the sages say: One way or the other, he is liable. For example, those who spread sukkah roofing over their shop doors on a public road during Sukkot do so by right. But if someone came along and was injured by them, the storekeeper is liable. (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Bava Kamma 6:8)"
I have discussed in the past why Hanukah is not discussed in Yerushalmi and even why the rabbis of Judea didn't want the holiday celebrated at all. The Maccabees, the heroes of the victory against the Syrian-Greeks, soon under their Greek name the Hasmoneans, became some of the worst kings and priests the Hebrews had ever seen. Their moral corruption and infighting, brother versus brother, was obscene. Many chose sides in the bloody Priest versus Rabbi wars,[ or Hebraism versus Judaism wars], causing rabbis to flee to Egypt. They took over the priesthood and the kingship even though they were neither Cohans or from the Davidic line. At one point the Talmud relates a Hasmonean king killed so many rabbis, he could not get enough for a minyon for the Beracoth Ha Mazon (only 3 men were needed). This is also why the 4 Books of the Maccabees do not appear in the TaNaK but appear in the Catholic version of the so -called 'Old' Testament.
The Pesikta Rabbati was written in 845 CE and has 8 homilies devoted to Hanukah. The Talmud Yerushalmi was closed more than 400 years before. Hanukah isn't left out of Yerushalmi because it is included in the Pesikta Rabbati. It is my contention based on other writings that the Rabbis had no love for the Hasmoneans , especially since they invited (!!!) the Romans circa 60 BCE to help them rule Judea. The rabbis see that as the beginning of the end of self rule for Jews and the beginning of the Roman Diaspora which many of us are still in.
In Hasmonean- ruled times Cheshvan 23 was commemorated as the day on which the stones of the altar which were defiled by the Greeks were removed from the Holy Temple. That is today, November 21, 2008.
We also know that the Yerushalmi tends to wax spiritual. And flax is one of the area's first cultivated crops. And flax has a beautiful blue flower, the color blue that we associate with Israel, its flag, the tallit, etc.
So what is Yerushalmi really teaching us? Is it teaching us legal liability as does the entire Tractate Bava Kamma?
Every year on Hanukkah we add a special prayer of thanks (Al Ha Nissim) in the Shemoneh Esrei and Grace after meals. In this prayer we express our gratitude to God for delivering the Jewish people from the hands of our enemies. On Hanukkah we mention the Maccabees who as a few individuals stood up against the mighty army of the world conquering Greek/Syrian Empire. We say "You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the willful sinners into the hands of those who occupy themselves with the study of Your Torah." We can understand that it was a miracle that the huge and mighty Greek army was delivered into the hands of the five sons of Matisyahu, the High Priest. But what was miraculous about the impure and wicked being delivered into the hands of the righteous students of Torah?
We can answer this question with a story from pre-World War II in the Town of Brisk, Lithuania. A secular theatre group performed a play with the intent of mocking the words of the sages. They showed a scene of the Jewish army going into war based on the teaching of the Talmud (Bavli Tractate Sotah 44a) that only righteous people who are free of sin would be allowed to join the Jewish army ( Rashi on Deut: 20:8). The players were dressed up as elderly scholars who had spent all their days studying Torah and who were clearly not fit for warfare.
Some God-fearing inhabitants of Brisk were outraged by this mocking performance and went to the Rabbi of the town to protest. To this the Rabbi answered, "But they are right. These are the kind of people who merit God's assistance to overpower the enemy."
When we mention that God delivered the Greek/Syrian army into the hands of a few righteous scholars, we are talking about people who had no real training in warfare and in their purity had never been involved in any fights. This is why the rabbis finally agreed to allow Hanukah in as a holiday, for it was not by the human sword that the Hebrews won, but by God's might. The rabbis made sure this quote from Zechariah was in the Haftarah during Shabbat that falls in the 8 days of Hanukah.
But what of this flax and fire?
However, we may be able to understand this on a deeper level. In the beginning of the Torah portion that falls near or in Hanukah, Vayeishav, Rashi quotes two Midrashim (Tanchuma 1 and Rabba 84:5). The Midrash tells a parable about a flax merchant who travels into a city with huge bundles of flax on his camels. A local blacksmith sees the merchant and wonders aloud where could there possibly be enough room for all this flax. A wise bystander, who hears the smith's wonderment, comments to him, "One tiny spark emerging from your billows will burn down all of the flax." So, continues the Midrash, at the end Vayishlach (a week before), the Torah lists all the leaders of the descendants of Esau.
When Jacob foresaw these future leaders of his wicked brother, he wondered, "Such a mighty people, who will be able to conquer them?" Comes the Torah in this week's portion (Beresheit 37:2) and says, "These are the chronicles of the family of Jacob, Joseph …" i.e. Joseph will conquer them.
The Midrash explains this with a quotation from the Prophet Ovadiah (1:18) who predicts and says: "And the house of Jacob will be like a fire, and the house of Joseph will be like a flame. And the house of Esau will be like straw and it will be ignited and consumed. And there will not be a remnant of the house of Esau, so says God." One spark will emerge from Joseph (Mashiach ben Joseph who will precede Mashiach ben David), and this spark will burn down and consume all of them. The huge bundles of flax appear so mighty compared to the minute spark. However, as long as the tiny spark is alive it has the power to consume all of the flax.
Now we must remember that the rabbis in the Talmud call Esau the Father of the Romans. Forgot about Aeneas or Romulus and Remus and think about the conditions the rabbis were living in who wrote this under harsh Roman rule. Remember also how Tractate Sanhedrin, against everything that the priests taught about Hebraism, in its last chapter, discusses Olam ha Ba, bodily resurrection, and the duel Messiah theory.
The Talmud Yerushalmi isn't discussing liability, but spirituality.
There is always a spark of the divine soul in every Jew which can never be extinguished. That spark can consume all the foolishness and idle thought which confuse a person through our Yetzer ha Ra, and lead him on a straight path to Jewish Spiritual Renewal.
One is advised to always take the upright path; the median path, because this is the path of the Torah. The Maharal of Prague writes in Tiferes Yisroel, a triangle, or any thing which is threefold, is inherently stable because of its third side. This side keeps the structure from tipping over or leaning to the right or to the left. The Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 88a says regarding the giving of the Torah, "Blessed is the Merciful One who gave us a threefold Torah (Torah, Prophets and Writings), to the threefold people, (Cohen, Levi and Israel), by way of the threefold family (Moses, Aaron and Miriam) on the third day (of separation and purity), and in the third month (Sivan, third month from Nissan). This threefold quality (which has myriad expressions in Jewish sources), represents the stability and eternal nature of the Jewish people.
But before the camel and the flax is mentioned in the Talmud, the above mentioned blacksmith is liable for a fire in the building if a spark from his hammer and anvil caused it. The camel who has it flax so wide that it went into the shop's open window and touched a lamp inside so as to cause a fire is liable for damages as he had a wide load. Even in today's law, having a sign on the back of one's truck announcing one has a ''wide load'', does not relieve him of the damages he may cause because his load is wide or heavy.
On the other hand, if the store owner has his lamp outside of his shop, where traffic could knock it over and cause a fire, he is responsible. We can't blame the camel, and Mrs O'leary's cow can't be blamed for kicking over a lamp that started the Chicago fire. Judaism blames Mrs. O'leary.
Now while Rabbi Yehuda says if it was a Hanukah lamp the store owner is not liable, because the camel driver must know during the 8 days of Hanukah Jews place their Chanukeah outside so others can see them and be reminded of the miracle of God, Rabbina said in the name of Rab: ''That a Hanukah lamp must be put ten feet from the ground. If you think it should be more than ten, then he could have said "he should put it higher than the camel and its driver.'' Yet if we put one to too much trouble, he may not observe the mitzvah of lighting the Hanukah lights altogether.''
''Rabbi Kahan said:"Rabbi Nathan bar Minyomi explained in Rabbi Tanhum's name : A Hanukah lamp that is put higher than twenty feet is unfit, the same is true for a Sukkah or a marquee over an entrance.''
So we have a situation where the Bavli will let a store keeper not be liable for his Hanukah lamp causing a fire, if he took precautionary actions and made it 10 feet high, which should be high enough for the camel driver to see it and avoid it.
But Yerushalmi says, 'one way or another', if a shop keeper's Hanukah lamp causes a fire, that shop keeper is liable, and the same goes if he puts Sukkoth roofing material on his roof of his store, during Sukkoth, and it damages someone. Yerushalmi is saying, holidays or not, our man- to- man laws supercede ritual laws. Bavli is saying, if we are too strict one may not do the rituals.
Of course American jurisprudence follows Yerushalmi. If one's Christmas tree's electrical cord sparked and caused a fire to one's neighbor's home, one would not get a pass from the courts or a jury, because one was celebrating a religious holiday. I was caught speeding, on the way to do bikur cholem, and when I told this to police officer as my excuse, the cop asked if the patient was a goset. I had to get stopped by the only Jewish, and studied, cop in the town. I got a ticket (deserved). [A goset is a patient who will die in 3 days or less].
Shalom,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC
Bluffton, SC
Savannah, GA
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