Yevamot 62 - May 8, 7 Iyar

This week’s learning is sponsored by the Mondrow family in loving memory of Bessie “Nanny” Mauskopf, Basha Leah bat Meir Yehudah and Tzivyah Chayah. “She was a woman that exemplified the true meaning of Torah by the way she conducted herself. She was a wise kind and gentle person. May her neshama have an aliyah”. Today's daf is sponsored in honor of Gabrielle Altman by her children. “We are in awe of her commitment to learning Torah and the Daf. We love you so much and thank you for being a role model and showing us how to live with humility while giving to your community.” Today's daf is sponsored by the Hadran Zoom group in memory of Dr. Dennis Kuchar. “Our hearts mourn with you, our dear friend Di Kuchar, on the loss of your husband of over 40 years. Di, you are a vibrant member of the Hadran Zoom community, the force behind our Pesach cookbook and a warm face we see at every Zoom shiur. Your love for Torah and your passion for impact, action, and מעשים טובים were undoubtedly also present in the home and life that you and Dennis built together. המקום ינחם אתכם... With love and comfort, your Hadran Zoom family.” On what basis does Beit Shamai hold that one needs to have two sons in order to fulfill the mitzva of having children? On what basis does Beit Hillel hold one son and one daughter? Beit Shamai based his opinion on Moshe Rabbeinu who had two sons and then separated from his wife. Beit Hillel disagrees as he says that this is one of the three things that Moshe did on his own and afterward God supported his decision. The reason had nothing to do with having fulfilled the mitzva but he separated from Tzipora for a different reason. What are the other two things? Rabbi Natan had a different tradition about the debate between Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel. Two versions of his tradition are brought. Can a convert fulfill the mitzva with children born before the conversion? Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish disagree about this. Their opinions are consistent with a debate they have about whether a convert’s eldest son born after the conversion (in the event that he had sons previously) had the law of a bechor, firstborn. Rabbi Yochanan brings a source to raise a difficulty against Reish Lakish, but it is resolved. If one of one’s children dies, is the mitzva fulfilled anyway? Rav Huna and Rabbi Yochanan disagree on this issue. Two questions are raised against Rav Huna’s position from tannaitic sources discussing that one can fulfill one’s obligation through grandchildren. One is resolved, the other is not. Do grandchildren count in all cases? On what may it depend? What is the source for this? Rabbi Yehoshua has a third position regarding the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply – according to him, even after having two children, one needs to continue to have more children, as derived from a verse in Kohelet 11:6. The verse is used by Rabbi Akiva to stress the importance of learning and teaching Torah. Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of students and they all died in one period between Pesach and Shavuot because they did not respect each other. In the end, Rabbi Akiva passed on his Torah to five students – Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosi, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamoa. Rabbi Tanchum says in the name of Rabbi Chanilai that one who is without a wife is lacking many things, including peace, Torah, bracha, etc. From where are each of these derived? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi explains that there are certain situations when a husband is obligated to have intercourse with his wife, if she so desires. From where are these derived? One of them could be derived from another verse. What does the verse of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi add? A braita is brought which stresses the importance of treating one’s wife well, as well as other commendable behaviors.