האם הרבי היה מאשר את שם הפודקאסט הזה?

00:00 So the name of the podcast is Hilchos Hamashiach, which, if you think about it, is a little bit of a funny name to give to such a podcast because seemingly it undermines the whole inion of learning about Mashiach. Because the source of this term is in Gemara. It's twice. It's once in Maseches Zevachim and once in Maseches Sanhedrin. And the Gemara there is discussing Halacha, which is pertinent to Mashi- in the times of Mashiach. And the Gemara, Rav Yosef asks a question, "Hilchos Hamashiach?" Why are we, why are we discussing such a Halacha if it's not relevant Bizman Hazeh? There's even a Sikha where the Rebbe says that it's being there. The Rebbe speaks there about learning about the Besamim Geus and the Rebbe says that it shouldn't be learned in a way even of Hilchos Hamashiach, but rather in a way even of Halacha L'maase that it's Negea Bereg Shel Acher Ze. So when we were naming the podcast, we had some qualms with giving it such a name. Um, so we have to understand besides for the name, more importantly, why is this-- why are we talking learning about these things if the Gemara seems to take issue with discussing Yon, which are not Negea Bizman Hazeh? Also would like to discuss, um, the different approaches amongst daily Israel, namely the Rebbe and the Chafetz Chaim in regards to learning Hilchos Hamashiach. Um, there seems to be a different emphasis, um, where the Rebbe spoke about it and the way the Chafetz Chaim

01:25 koacht in it. So let's start with exploring the term Hilchos Hamashiach. So as we mentioned, it's once in Maseches Sanhedrin, once in Maseches Zevachim. Um, in Sanhedrin speaking there about a certain Chi of Misah. Um, and in Zevachim it's discussing, uh, Halacha in regards to Pigul. And the Gemara paskins a certain way, and Rav Yosef says, "Hilchos Hamashiach? Why are you passing a Halacha which is not relevant Bizman Hazeh?" So frekt abaya. Wait a second. So maybe let's not learn the whole Shechitas Katchim. That's, uh, in, in, in Shas, uh, Maseches Zevachim is known as Shechitas Katchim. Elah mai. Derash veKabul Schar. There's a mitzvah to learn even parts of Torah which are not Negea L'maase. So Rav Yosef explains what Rashi expli- explains in Maseches Zevachim. My problem is not learning the Halachas and discussing the Halachas. My problem is why are you paskening? Rav Yosef maintains that you only should pasquin if it's Negea L'maase. Something which is, which is only relevant to when Mashiach comes. We should learn about it, but we shouldn't pasquin. Okay, so right away we see that the issue is not learning, the issue is the, the paskening. But even B'negea Tepsak, Tosfos already points out that we find many instances in Shas where the Gemara does pasquin Halachas that are only relevant to Yom Mashiach. So first Tosfos wants to say maybe it's because those Halachas also have an Afgameena. We can learn something about from them also Bizman Hazeh, how to act. But then Tosfos says,

03:06 "No, there are certain cases where it's exclusively about the times of Mashiach," and nevertheless, Mar paskins, and we don't have it in the-- and, and we don't ask the question, "Hilchos Hamashiach." So there are several answers in the Rishonim. Um, we'll mention two that Tosfos says. So first answer Tosfos gives in the name of Rabinu Chaim Kohen, one of the great Talmidim of Rabbeinu Tam, who's a Kohen in many instances, times in Tosfos. The fact that he's a Kohen is, is very relevant to what he's saying. Um, for example, there's, uh, he said that, um, if, if he was there when Rabbeinu Tam passed away, he would have been Metameh them because a Tzadik he held is not Metameh. Is, is-- there's no Tumas Mes. Also, uh, anyhow, so Rabbeinu Chaim Kohen, he limits the Klal of Hilchos Hamashiach, and he says it on-- there's two criteria that when we ask this question that we shouldn't be discussing it. Number one, it has to be speaking about Mashiach's com-- in the times of Mashiach, and obviously. And the secondly, it has to be s- discussing an Aveira, like in the two, uh, cases that we brought, the two Gemaras. Maseches Zevachim is speaking about capital punishment. Clearly, there was an Aveira done. And the Maseches Zevachim, it's speaking about the Halachas of Pigul, which is a, is Serkaris. What are-- what is the rationale behind this? Why, what are the-- why these two? So Tosfos doesn't explain, but in other Rishonim, in Tosfos Rishon, Maseches

04:35 Yoma, it explains that because when Mashiach comes, everyone's gonna be doing the right thing. Am Echad Tzadikim. As the Rama writes, "Lo Yesh Lakolel Kulam Le'asos Hashem Uvad." So B'meila, there's an internal Stira between discussing Halacha when, about when Mashiach comes, when it's speak- when it's an Aveira, because those two things don't, they don't jive. And there's other explanations in the Acharonim, but that's the Bier that says in Rishonim of, well, how come you need these two criteria? So that's the answer of Rabbeinu Chaim Kohen. Another answer Tosfos gives is that only Rav Yosef had this issue of paskening Hilchos Hamashiach, but the other Am Ha'arets were not Mekabel it, and that is the... And, and B'meila, only over here Rav Yosef asked this question. But in the other places, Gemara doesn't ask it because I guess Rav Yosef wasn't around them in the discussions for whatever reason that that's not the accepted view of the other Am Ha'arets. Now, why Davka Rav Yosef had this problem? Um, so I saw a nice Pshat from Rav Reuven Margolies, a Sefer, uh, it's printed in, in, in Margolies Hayam and Netzutz Ha'or. And Rav Reuven Margolies from the great scholars of past generation, encyclopedic knowledge of Torah, um, and very Gishmekes form. So he explains as follows. He says, "We find elsewhere, um, that Rav Yosef was of the opinion that Mitzvas B'teilis Lo Asah Levei." And therefore you can-- a person could be buried with kilayim because even if he'll have trisa mesim and he'll

06:10 stand up in the same clothes, there won't be any more any chi of mitzvahs when Mashiach comes. The mele, Rav Yosef said, doesn't make sense to, to pasken hilchot hamashiacha because when Mashiach comes, there will no longer be any hilchah. Come to this, that the other amira'im, they were the opinion that mitzvahs einam beteyles losodav, and that's the accepted view, that even when Mashiach comes, the te-- the, the halachas will still be nohig. So the mele, the other-- Rav Yosef had, uh, asked this question, the other amira'im didn't have a problem with it. Now, we all know that the Rambam wrote a sefer which paskens all the halachas, um, even halachas when Mashiach comes. So let-- how did the Rambam learn this Gemara? So you can't say that he learned like the answer of Rabbi Ben Yochanan because the Rambam paskens also those halachas about pigul and, and, uh, mitzvahs bezrin and all, and other averas which are gonna be Mashiach-- when Mashiach comes. So if you ask the Rambam, he learned, it seems, it seems, uh, that the Rambam learned like this answer of Toises, that it was davka Rav Yosef. That's what the, the Chavas Yair writes, Yoreh Bachrach, and, uh, the Chafetz Chaim in his nakdamah of his Sefer Halakotei Halachas. He writes that the same thing, that the Rambam learned like this answer. And the sim-similarly, the Smag, which also paskens the halacha, hilchot hamashiacha, they learned that, yeah, that it-- that the accepted view is that we should learn and

07:43 we should pask the hal-ha-halacha all in yoniim, even the ones which are negei al yomai samashiach. So what's pshat in the sikkah where the Rebbe says you shouldn't learn nefen hilchot hamashiacha? The Rebbe's quoting Rav Yosef in the context of when, when it's in a question. But lamaisah, the maskanah is, based on the way Toises explains and the Rambam, that yeah, learning hilchot hamashiacha is a positive thing. So it all depends on the tra. It depends how you're singing it. In Gemara, it's a question, but it, it's used elsewhere, and the Rebbe also used the hilchot hamashiacha bene chosah. Taka. We should learn hilchot hamashiacha. And just as a side note, there's many mamarei chazal that are-- that, uh, that in the source mean one thing, but the way they're used colloquially, it's used in a differ-- uh, bring out a different point. Uh, many such examples. Not just mamarei chazal, but pesukim also, uh, ki adam eitz hasadeh, um, amarti, revshanim medabeir-- uh, revshanim yediu chachmah, um, tza'anam alai safri, and so on. So bottom line, should we learn and, and halachas of yomai samashiach? The answer is yes. And that's what we find, um, amongst, uh, Yidden and, and Gedolei Yisrael and, and, and amongst Acharonim that, uh, these were halachas that were studied. Um, now the School of Brisk is famous for being oisek davka in chacham, although there it's more in the theoretical, not so much in the halachic aspect. Lamaisah, um, famous amongst them is the Chafetz Chaim, who was

09:32 also a Kohen, and, um, he even opened up a kollel chacham for Kohanim to study the halachas of, uh, Korbanot. Um, there's also a, a sefer from the Aruch HaShulchan, um, called Aruch HaShulchan HaAsid. I think he gave it the name Aruch HaShulchan, but, uh, it's known as Aruch HaShulchan HaAsid. Besides for the, on, uh, the four Chalkei Shulchan Aruch, he also has on the Ka-chacham, Taaris, and Zera'im. And the Chafetz Chaim has a Sefer Halakotei Halachas on, on chacham. Anyhow, let's talk a little bit about the, the, as we mentioned, the different emphasis, um, between the Rebbe and the Chafetz Chaim. So, um, learning about Mashiach can be divided into two categories, a very broad category and a more n- and a narrower category. The narrower category is halachas which directly discuss the person Mashiach and the process of geulah and the society nigle of the Torah and say what it means on the deeper levels in pimiyus haTorah. And then there's hilchot hamashiacha in general, any halacha which is relevant to the times of Mashiach. And those halachas are very, very broad. Um, you know, all the halachas of the whole-- basically the whole chacham, Taaris, and Zera'im, a lot of it is, uh, derabanan mizman is a lot of it. You need to have rebbeish ve'ala, some things, things that will only be when Mashiach comes. Those are, those are together hilchot hamashiacha. Um, but they're-- even though they're not directly discussing Mashiach and geulah, but they-- they're halachas which become relevant

11:13 as a result of Mashiach's arrival. So the Chafetz Chaim, that was his focus, on these halachas. Ma she'en ken, the Rebbe spoke more about the parts in Torah which, um, speak about Mashiach directly. So the Chafetz Chaim's sefer is on, um, is on the whole chacham. Um, the Rebbe gave out the, the Biurim and Ramam Dvar Malchus on the last two halachas in Ramam which speak about hilchot melech hamashiach. And when the Rebbe spoke about learning about Mashiach, he mentioned the Gemara in Sanhedrin, the Gemara in the end of Sotah, in Sa-- in Parek Chelek. The halacha-- the, the parts in Torah which, which, which speak about Mashiach himself. And if you look at the reasons why behind what the koch in these, in, in, in, in these, uh, in hilchot hamashiach, you can understand the sheidish of the, of this difference. By the Chafetz Chaim, it was a very practical thing. It's like he writes in, in, in one of his farim that we need to, we, we need to know what to do. The same way, um, you know, you prepare for a Yom Tov. You, you don't do-- you don't wait till the last minute. You do . You can't-- You gotta, you gotta-- You come in ready. So we're expecting Mashiach's arrival every day. We gotta know what to do. He writes, "What type of bush would it be if Mashiach's gonna come and we don't-- and not even one coin knows how to shech the carbon? Are you gonna ask?"

12:40 We learned from Rabbi Sherpin last week that Eliyahu Hanavi's gonna be around, and he'll be able to answer all our shailas. So he says, "That's only in the case of a doubt." But when there's often a halachas of things that we-- that are-- there's no, there's no doubts about, we gotta know them ourselves. You can't rely on Eliyahu Hanavi for that. So it was a very practical concern. It was born out of the anticipation and expecting mash-- the Mashiach's arrival every, every s-- every minute. But it was so b'meila, we have to, we have to know what to do. The same we have to know, you have to teach a bar mitzvah bachur how to put on tefillin in advance. You have to know what to do when Mashiach comes. By the Rebbe, the reason about learn-- for learning in Yanigul Mashiach was in order to bring about Mashiach's arrival. The mesech and tazria metzora, that was the concept, that this is the-- when a-- when, when Yidden this-- learn these halachas in Torah, and that makes it a reality in the world as well. like the Rebbe explained in the different sechas. So you can put it like this. By the Chafetz Chaim, Mashiach's arrival is this cause, the siba, and as a result of that, we need to learn. By the Rebbe, the cause is the learning, and as a result of the learning, that brings about Mashiach's arrival. And that's why we have this nafkomin of what to put the main emphasis.

13:53 Now, just to be clear, the Rebbe also spoke about learning hilchot Mashiach in general. Um, but I-- if I'm not mistaken, that wasn't the main emphasis. The main emphasis was learning poshut about Mashiach and Gulah themselves. And there's some-- another interest- interesting thing we mentioned about the inyan that we poshut have to know what to do. The Moshe Feinstein writes that, um, that we need to, we need to learn these halachas because we need to have Yidden when Mashiach comes that are gonna be able to pasken and know what to do. And, uh, der zelt that, uh-- It's interesting that he writes this because they say that Take, he-- that Moshe once had to have a surgery, and he was very perturbed that it might make him a ba'al mum. And a ba'al mum is not able to, uh, is not able to, is not, uh, able to be part of the Sanhedrin. Al kol panim, I wanna just end off with a, a nice word I saw from, uh, the Noam Elgodon, who's a talmid of the Talmidi Amagid, Melkon Dejensk and others. So he has a Sefer on Tehillim called Amaris Toharis. And, um, in Kapitel Kuf Yutes on the Pasuk sav-- um, "Sibarti l'Yeshua shel Hashem tzeisecha sisi," he brings to the Gemara in Shabbos that says when a person comes to Milah, they ask him a few questions. And two of them are, "Tzipisa l'Yeshua," which Rashi writes there, "L'dvarei ha-nevdim." Rashi is coming to Bavon there. It seems like he's

15:18 trying to say it's not the personal Yeshua, but the Yeshua of Klal Yisrael. So that's one question. Did you wait for the-- Did you, did you await the salva-salvation? And sec-- And after that, they say, "Palpalta b'chachma." Palpalta is a hard word to translate. Just to speak to somebody says he thinks you have to translate a fiery logic. Palpalta. B'chachma, wisely. So he asks, number one, what is the sequence here? Why do we ask this qu-- the, the, the, the question palpalta b'chachma after tzipisa l'Yeshua? And what is the addition of the word b'chachma? Obviously, we're talking about the person, the, the, the pilpul-- When we're talking about pilpul shel hevel, pilpul, pilpul srak, we're talking about palpalta b'chachma. Why do we-- why is it necessary to add that word? And he explains as follows. In that same Gemara there in Masechet Shabbos, it-- the Gemara dashes a pasuk. And the Gemara says that chachma goes on seider kochim. So he s- explains like this. He says, first they ask a person, "Tzipisa l'Yeshua?" Did you wait to Gulah? And if the answer is in the affirmative, then the next question is, so palpalta b'chachma, did you learn seider kochim? Did you make-- Did you-- If you take, uh, expect the Mashiach's arrival, so then did you prepare yourself? Did you learn the halachas which are relevant to know when Mashiach comes? So as L'maav Chachidim, we don't have to go very far. We-- poshut, all we have to do is, uh, pay attention to

16:43 our learning in Rambam. A lot of times, you know, we, we learn the halachas of tefillin and krishma, where, you know, because these are things we do or we, we feel that these, you know, we, we give it special attention. But if we realize that all the halachas that are discussed there, even the halachas in, in, in the other sefarim which are l'mos HaMashiach, we have to realize that these are halachas we gotta know. And, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's halacha l'maase. It's hilchot HaMashiacha v'nechusa. Just wanna finish off with a little question I was thinking about, um, both in the Gemara Sanhedrin and in, in Zevachim. One is speaking about, as we said, misas bes from Sanhedrin, and one is speaking about pigul. And a vyas has a problem because l'chayei d'tselch HaMashiach is only gonna get when Mashiach comes. Um, l'chayei d'ah, there's a little bit of a question because aside the Sanhedrin, we know the Yamam says that Sanhedrin can come before the Gulah. And also about pigul, the halacha is makrim carbon nisaf el pi she'ein bayis. We know the opinions that, that they were able to be makriv a carbon even before Mashiach comes, um, at least according to some opinions. So just, um, food for thought, uh, about how wise this, wise vyas of saying this is only gonna get when Mashiach comes. Al kol panim, we should be zecher, lumid l'lamid lishmer v'lasseis all the halachas and Torah, vyas Mashiach tzedkenu kariv mamash.