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The rabbi who made up halachot
Home » Daily Peppers
Yaron Yadan 04/01/2009
The rabbi who made up halachot

In the Talmudic era it was customary to offer various aromatics like myrtle and persimmon oil (the modern persimmon does not produce a fragrant oil and what persimmon was then used is unclear). The sages discussed which blessing should be recited first. According to the study hall of Shammai one should first say the blessing on the fragrant oil — Blessed is He who gives pleasant oil — and then the blessing on the scent of the myrtle — Blessed is He who created fragrant trees. According to the study hall of Hillel one should first say the blessing over the scent of the myrtle and then the blessing on the fragrant oil. According to the sage Rabban Gamliel one should first make the blessing over the fragrant oil because it has multiple uses ( as a lotion and for fragrance) while the myrtle has only one use (fragrance). One of the scholars, Rabbi Yochanan, ruled that one must first bless on the fragrant oil. There was an incident in which one of the sages, Rav Papa, went to visit the home of another sage and was given fragrant oil and myrtle. Rav Papa first blessed in the myrtle and only then on the fragrant oil. His host asked him: The law states that one should first bless on the fragrant oil. Rav Papa answered him: One of the sages, Rava, ruled that one should first bless on the myrtle and then on the fragrant oil, as the study hall of Hillel said, and I follow this opinion. The scholars said that Rav Papa lied and made up this Halachic opinion because he was embarrassed about his Halachic mistake; to cover his mistake he made up a Halachic ruling.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 43b)

About the Author

ירון ידען View all posts by Yaron Yadan

ירון ידען (נולד בטבריה ב-8 בדצמבר 1961) הוא פעיל חברתי ומייסד ארגון "דעת אמת" העומד בראש מפלגת אור.

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