I have a question. Why on earth do we need to know all of the details about schlichos. It is clear from the first piece of gemara that we can use one for kedushin, which is what the whole gemara is about. Once we already know that we can use a messenger for kedushin because it says so in the mishnah, we don’t need to deal with the concepts of schlichos in this masechet. My question is: If we are focusing on kedushin in this masechet, then why do we need to go through all of the halachot regarding schlichos, shouldn’t this be dealt with in a different masechet?
(This is a good opportunity for people to comment and answer)
it was put here because when people memorized the gemora this was the easiest way of memorizing it. since we have the concept of messenger then the first thing the brain does is question where that concept came from making it easier to memorize rather than putting it next to some random other mishneh
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brad and also we know that there is no other serious source for Shlichus, and the Gemara often goes on tangents. Thus, this is actually the perfect place to discuss Shlichus once we learned that you're allowed to use a messenger for Kiddushin. For this reason, Rav Asher Weiss makes sure to reference our Gemara (because of how crucial this Shlichus talk is).
ReplyDeleteThe Gemara is not usually known to exactly stay on topic. The Gemara found a perfect opportunity in discussing shlichos. Rabbi Goldberg once told me that Rabbi Yehuda Hannassi only learnt what his students wanted to learn. If the students felt like they wanted to learn about the Shema, they would learn it right then and there. Doing this promotes learning "lishmah." Afterwards, Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi organized everything they learnt in categories.
ReplyDeleteThe Torah is not like any other subject where you must learn in a certain topic. Torah is meant to be learnt just for the sake of learning. This is precisely why the Gemara sees no problem in delving into the issues and intricacies of Schlichos.
I think that it is important because our Gemara is a perfect lead-in to Shelichos. But you can ask a lot of questions like this. I think other examples can be given of when the Gemara seemingly goes off on "tangents." But if topics aren't covered in these "tangents," where else are they supposed to be covered?? Who would even think about these topics if it weren't for the "tangents?"
ReplyDelete