כדתניא שמעון העמסוני ואמרי לה נחמיה העמסוני היה דורש כל אתים שבתורה כיון שהגיע (דברים ו, יג) לאת ה' אלהיך תירא פירש אמרו לו תלמידיו רבי כל אתים שדרשת מה תהא עליהן אמר להם כשם שקבלתי שכר על הדרישה כך אני מקבל שכר על הפרישה עד שבא ר"ע ודרש את ה' אלהיך תירא לרבות תלמידי חכמים
But according to those Tannaim who employ this verse for a different exegesis. [viz.] for half ransom and damages for children,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ransom, v. Ex. XXI, 28-30, 35f; it might be thought, by comparing these verses, that half ransom is payable in this case. (Damages for child, v. ibid. 22) . I might think that the same holds good when the damage is done by a man's ox Therefore 'but the owner of the ox shall be clear (E.V. quit) ' teaches that he is free from both.');"><sup>18</sup></span> how do they know [that] the use of the hide [is forbidden]?
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
שאו את ראש . The word את is difficult, as well as other apparently superfluous words. Even if we allow for the fact that Shimon Ha'Amsuni explained every את in the Torah and when he was stymied by one particular את in the verse "et hashem elokecha tira,” he abandoned his attempt altogether (compare Pesachim 22b). The fact remains that we have to explain whatever we can. Rabbi Akiva explained also the one et that had stymied Shimon Ha-amsuni by saying that not only G–d but also Torah scholars must be shown reverence (Bechorot 6). Another difficulty is that when counting the Israelites, the word את appears in front of the word כל, i.e. Numbers 1,2, שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל, thereby joining the Israelites to the previous "אהל מועד", whereas when the Levites are counted in 3,15, the word כל appears after the object of the count, the בני לוי. It says viz: פקוד את בני לוי לבית אבותם למשפחותם, כל זכר וגו', instead of as in 1,2, שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל. Still another unusual inconsistency is found when we compare the respective counts of the Kehatites, Gersonides and Merarites. The Torah writes in 4,2: "נשא את ראש בני קהת," and in 4,21 we read: "נשא את ראש בני גרשון," whereas in 4,29, we read: בני מררי למשפחותם, לבית אבום תפקוד אותם, without the word את. Why this change in the wording? Nonetheless, the word את, is mentioned also with מררי, in 4,30: כל הבא לצבא לעבוד את עבודת אהל מועד. On the other hand when the Torah describes the function of the Kehatites in 4,3, it says: כל בא לצבא לעשות מלאכה באהל מועד." Strangely, the word את is missing here. When the function of the Gersonides is discussed in 4,23, the word את is also missing.
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