Friday, December 08, 2006

Rosh Hashana 4a - Bal T'achar Tzedaka

There are 3 opinions in the rishonim regarding bal t'achar by tzedaka (aside from the waiver of Rabbeinu Tam brought by tosafos and the Ran).
1. Tosafos - when aniyim are present the violation is immediate, when no aniyim are present the violation is after 3 regalim.
2. Rashba - Violation of positive mitzvah immediately, and bal t'achar after 3 regalim.
3. Ran - Violation of both positive and negative is immediate.
The Rashba asks on Tosafos that if when aniyim are present you are in violation immediately, then when one is near the mikdash and kohanim are present in the mikdash you should be in violation immediately? I found a Chasam Sofer (Y.D. 242:4) who answers for Tosafos that since generally one is not near the mikdash with kohanim waiting to bring the korban, the torah delays the obligation until regel when it is normal to be there and have kohanim around. But by tzedaka, since it is normal for aniyim to be accessible, the torah is mechayev immediately when the aniyim are actually around. He is medayek from the gemara 6a "i would have thought that tzedaka is 3 regalim, kamasham lan that since aniyim are common, it is immediate". The gemara doesn't say "since aniyim are around" but rather "since aniyim are common" - meaning that since it is common for them to be around the Torah was mechayev you immediately. With this he also explains why when aniyim are not around it is dependent on regalim (acc. to Tosafos), since during regel when everyone is oleh regel, aniyim are common to be around (I noticed this to be true in Yerushalaim, even not during the regel). Therefore, tzedaka when aniyim are not around is like korbanos that is dependent on regel when it is common for aniyim and kohanim to be around.

1 comment:

Yossie Schonkopf said...

i just want to add the classic analysis of the argument tosfos has with the rashba:
tosfos holds that you may not be late at all, and when the due date is you are over on b"t. but the rashba holds you may be late up until 3 regalim after your due date, therefor, even though anyim are around that makes it due now, but you still have up to 3 regalim to be late before your over on b"t.