Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
The Talmud (see below) suggests that the pit Yosef was thrown into had snakes and scorpions in it. R. Barukh Epstein (Torah Temimah, 37:24) wonders: What were the brothers thinking? The whole point of putting Yosef in the pit was to not kill him (37:22). So why would they put him in there if it had snakes and scorpions?
Check out these two statements found together on the same page of the Gemara, and taught by the same group of people. Can you figure out how they help R. Epstein answer his question?
אָמַר רַב כָּהֲנָא, דָּרַשׁ רַב נָתָן בַּר מַנְיוּמִי מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי תַּנְחוּם: נֵר שֶׁל חֲנוּכָּה שֶׁהִנִּיחָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה — פְּסוּלָה, כְּסוּכָּה וּכְמָבוֹי.
וְאָמַר רַב כָּהֲנָא, דָּרַשׁ רַב נָתָן בַּר מַנְיוּמִי מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַב תַּנְחוּם: מַאי דִכְתִיב ״וְהַבּוֹר רֵק אֵין בּוֹ מָיִם״? מִמַּשְׁמַע שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״וְהַבּוֹר רֵק״ אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ מָיִם? אֶלָּא מַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר ״אֵין בּוֹ מָיִם״ — מַיִם אֵין בּוֹ, אֲבָל נְחָשִׁים וְעַקְרַבִּים יֵשׁ בּוֹ.
Rav Kahana said that Rav Natan bar Manyumi taught in the name of Rav Tanhum: If Hanukkah candles are 20 amot (around 30 feet) above the ground, they are invalid.
And Rav Kahana said that Rav Natan bar Manyumi taught in the name of Rav Tanhum: Why does the pasuk say (about where Yosef was thrown), “and the pit was empty, there was no water in it” (Bereishit 37:24)? The words “there was no water in it” teach us that there were snakes and scorpions in it.
The Torah Temimah observes that the problem with Hanukkah candles being 20 amot high is that it’s hard to notice things that far up.
Based on that, he suggests that Yosef’s pit might have been 20 amot deep, so the brothers weren’t able to notice the snakes and scorpions in it! (But if they had noticed them, they wouldn’t have put him down there.)
Publicizing miracles
It’s important for Hanukkah candles to be visible to people outside because they are meant to achieve פַּרְסוֹמֵי נִיסָּא (parsomei nissa). This means that they publicize God’s miracles. Parsomei nissa is the reason that we light in windows and doorways. It’s also the reason that there’s a maximum height for Hanukkah candle placement, and a minimum too (3 tefahim, which is around 10 inches off the ground).
But what if you live in an apartment building? It might be that you live more than 20 amot above ground! How do you fulfill parsomei nissa from a high floor?
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