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A Short Snap Shot of Rabbi Arthur Segal
Rabbi Haggai was leaning on Rabbi Zeira. They passed someone carrying a load of chips. Zeira said to him: bring me a chip for a toothpick. He retracted and said: Don't bring me a thing, for if you do, everyone will do the same, and the man's load of chips will be lost. (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Hallah 4:5).''
''Rebbi Aba bar Zemina was a tailor. Once, he went to sew garments and repair them at the house of a non-Jew living in Rome. The Roman offered Rebbi Aba bar Zemina non-kosher meat and told him to eat it.
"I cannot eat such food," the tailor answered.
"If you don't eat this" said the Roman "I will kill you"
"If you want to kill me, kill me," said Rebbi Aba bar Zemina, "I will not eat food that the Torah forbids us."
"Now let me tell you what I had in mind," said the Roman. "My intention was just the opposite. Had you eaten the meat, I would have killed you, for a person needs to be strong and courageous in his faith. A Jew must be a Jew. Similarly, a Roman must be a Roman. Since you did not eat the meat, you may live."
"Had Rebbi Aba bar Zemina," said Rebbi Mana "listened to the words of the Rabbis, he would have eaten the meat. For, in a case like this, the Torah permits us to sin to protect our lives . (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Sheviit ch.4)
So who is Shimon Bar Kahana? Or is the question today is who and where is Bar Refeali? Shimon bar Kahana is a Tanna of the second generation. Some halakic sayings of his have been preserved in the Mishnah, all of which have been transmitted by Simeon ben Gamaliel (Sheḳ. viii. 5; Ket. ii. 8; Men. xi. 9). He is identical with Simeon ben Ha Segan , in whose name Simeon ben Gamaliel also transmits halakic sayings (Tosef., Parah, xi. 6). Kahana means from the Priestly family and Segan is a role in the priesthood as deputy to the High Priest. By himself he doesn't appear too often in the Talmud. Here is one other time:
"Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel said: I myself once saw Rabbi Simeon Ben Kahana drinking terumah (offering) wine in Akko. He told me: "This wine came to be from Sicilia.'' [ Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Hallah 4:60b]. Now do we note the incongruity here? On one hand Simeon ben Kahana just learned to be scrupulously honest, and on the other hand he is drinking wine in Akko, on the coast, a day's journey from the Temple in Jerusalem, that was meant to be an offering for the Temple.
Yet we have some interesting rulings about 'borrowing' items:
A squatter need not pay rent, provided that the owner has not served him notice and the dwelling is not normally rented out. It is a case of "one gains without loss to another." Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 364:6.
There is a dispute about one who "borrows" without the permission of the owner. One rabbi says that he is a legal borrower; another says that he is a thief. Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Batra 88a .
Unauthorized "borrowing" of an item that cannot be damaged by handling is never considered to be theft. Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Metzia 41a .
It is permitted to take a tallit of someone else and make the blessing over it... Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 14:4.
This only applies to occasional use when performing a mitzvah. Bach to Tur, Orach Chaim 14:4 .
It is forbidden to steal even the slightest amount. Yet if it is something that no-one is bothered about, it is permitted... But the Talmud Yerushalmi forbids this, as an act of piety. Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 369:1 .
So with much interest, the Talmud Yerushalmi is much stricter with rigorous honesty than the Bavli or even later Medieval Judaism was.
Jewish gonifs are nothing new, but our Rabbis dealt with them better.
A butcher in Tzipori would deceive the local Jews and sell them non-kosher meat as being kosher. One Shabbat night, he got drunk, climbed to the roof, fell off and died. Dogs surrounded him where he fell and were licking the blood. Neighbors came to ask R' Chanina if they could move him, and save him from the dogs [a corpse on Shabbat normally, may not be moved.]
"The Torah says," R' Chanina answered, "do not eat non-kosher meat -- rather feed it to the dogs (Shemot 22). This butcher stole what belonged to the dogs. Therefore, leave them alone that they may recover their loss. (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Terumot ch.8).
In summation, as individual Jews, honesty is not a choice, it must be a way of life. If we are ever blessed to have a true Jewish government in Israel, we must demand from them to obey such rules as well. As for the USA and the present government in Israel, we need to understand, that folks can talk Bible or Torah when it suits them to do so, but few live by its teachings.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Arthur Segal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Jewish Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC
Bluffton, SC
Savannah, GA
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