Now Moses, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Another matter, “Moses was herding” – that is what is written: “Every word of God is pure” (Proverbs 30:5); the Holy One blessed be He does not bestow greatness upon a person until He tests them with a minor matter, and only then does He elevate him to prominence. There were two preeminently great ones whom the Holy One blessed be He tested with a minor matter, and they were found trustworthy and He elevated them to prominence.
He tested David with the flocks, and he led them only to the wilderness to distance them from robbery, as Eliav said to David: “With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness?” (I Samuel 17:28). This teaches that David observed [the halakha cited in] the mishna (Bava Kamma 79a–79b): One may not raise a small domesticated animal in the Land of Israel. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You have been found trustworthy with the flocks, come and herd My flock,’ as it is stated: “From the suckling ewes He brought him” (Psalms 78:71).
Likewise, regarding Moses it says: “He led the flock deep into the wilderness,” to remove them from theft [by grazing in fields belonging to others], and the Holy One blessed be He took him to herd Israel, as it is stated: “You led Your people like a flock in the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalms 77:21).
It is permitted to spit in a synagogue, and one should rub it with one's foot or cover it in dirt.
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There are four types among those who frequent the study-house (bet midrash):He who attends but does not practice: he receives a reward for attendance. He who practices but does not attend: he receives a reward for practice. He who attends and practices: he is a pious man; He who neither attends nor practices: he is a wicked man.
Rabbi Zeira said: The reward for attending the lecture is for running. Since most individuals attending the lecture did not fully understand the material taught, the primary reward for attendance was given for their intention to hear the Torah being taught, as evidenced by their rush to arrive.
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And Rabbi Abba said to them: Rabbi Yoḥanan did not say this, but he interpreted the verse as follows: “Blessed shall you be in the city,” means that there should be a bathroom near your table, but he did not refer to a synagogue. The Gemara adds: And Rabbi Yoḥanan conforms to his line of reasoning in this regard, as he says: There is a reward for the steps one takes to reach the location of a mitzva, and one who lives adjacent to a synagogue will not have the opportunity to earn this reward.
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And they said to him: This is what Rav said: “Blessed shall you be in the city” means that your house should be adjacent to a synagogue, and the phrase: “Blessed shall you be in the field” means that your property should be near the city. “Blessed shall you be when you enter” means that you will not find your wife in a state where it is uncertain whether she has the halakhic status of a menstruating woman when you come in from a journey, which would render her forbidden to you. “Blessed shall you be when you go out” means that those who emerge from you, i.e., your descendants, should be like you.
One who has a synagogue in their city and does not enter it to pray is called a bad neighbor and causes exile for himself and his children.
MISHNA:The mitzva of the omer is to bring the barley reaped for the meal offering from fields proximate to Jerusalem. If the barley did not ripen in the fields proximate to Jerusalem, one brings it from any place in Eretz Yisrael. There was an incident where the omer came from Gaggot Tzerifin and the wheat for the two loaves on Shavuot came from the valley of Ein Sokher.
GEMARA: The Gemara asks: What is the reason that the barley reaped for the omer meal offering should ideally be brought from fields proximate to Jerusalem? The Gemara answers: If you wish, say that it is because the verse states: “And if you bring a meal offering of first fruits to the Lord, you shall bring for the meal offering of your first fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, even groats of the fresh ear [karmel]” (Leviticus 2:14). This indicates that the grain should be soft and fresh. Consequently it should be brought from close by, not from a place where it might become stale and hardened during a long journey.
And if you wish, say instead that the reason is due to the principle that one does not postpone performance of the mitzvot. When presented with the opportunity to perform a mitzva, one should perform it immediately. Therefore, the barley for the mitzva of the omer meal offering in the Temple should be brought from the first crop encountered outside of Jerusalem.
Had I issued a ruling for you then, I would have forgotten the correct response, and I would have said to you, based on the accepted principle that in the case of a dispute between Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, that the eggs are permitted. However, Rava said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav with regard to these three issues, in connection to the sanctity of Festivals and Shabbat, whether his ruling is lenient, or whether it is stringent. This is one of those three cases in which the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rav.
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The significance of receiving divine reward can be learned from a widow, as there was a certain widow in whose neighborhood there was a synagogue, and despite this every day she went and prayed in the study hall of Rabbi Yoḥanan. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to her: My daughter, is there not a synagogue in your neighborhood? She said to him: My teacher, don’t I attain a reward for all the steps I take while walking to pray in the distant study hall?
One who travels and reaches a city and wishes to spend the night there - if there is a place within 4 mil ahead of him where they pray with 10 [men], one needs to go there. And behind him, he needs to go back up to a distance of 1 mil, in order to pray in with 10.
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