Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Shabbat 232:4

בין במקום בהמ"ד בין שלא במקום בהמ"ד בזמן בהמ"ד אין קורין שלא בזמן בית המדרש קורין ואזדא שמואל לטעמיה דבנהרדעא פסקי סידרא דכתובים במנחתא דשבתא

Said R. Gamaliel to him, 'An ass came and knocked the lamp over!'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This story is discussed in Bacher, Ag. d. Pal. Am. 11, p. 424 n. V. also R.T. Herford, op. cit., pp. 146-154, though his conjecture that the story ends with a covert gibe at Christianity is hardly substantiated. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> AND WHY DO WE NOT READ [THEM], etc. Rab said: They learnt this only for the time of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>, but we may read [them] when it is not the time of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>. But Samuel said: We may not read them [on the Sabbath] even when it is not the time of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>. But that is not so, for Nehardea was Samuel's town, and in Nehardea they closed the prescribed lesson [of the Pentateuch] with [a reading from] the Hagiographa at minhah on the Sabbath?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As a Haftarah (q.v. Glos.) after the Reading of the Law: so Jast. V. Rashi; cf. supra 24a. [Aliter: They expounded a part of Scripture from the Hagiographa etc. V. Bacher, Terminologie s.v. trsx ');"><sup>11</sup></span> Rather if stated it was thus stated: Rab said, They learnt this only in the place of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>; but we may read [them] elsewhere than in the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>. While Samuel said: Whether in the place of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i> or elsewhere, at the time of the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., when the public lectures are given. ');"><sup>12</sup></span>

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

We have a rule that in case a fire breaks out on the Sabbath, that whenever it is permitted to save the book, i.e. Torah scroll, it is also permitted to save the protective cover that such a Torah scroll is wrapped in together with the scroll (Shabbat 116). The relative importance of the body compared to the soul is similar to the importance in halachah of the ark of the Torah scroll to the Torah scroll itself. This is why in the future when the world will be full of knowledge of the Lord-a spiritual achievement-also physical matter such as the body will benefit through resurrection. It too will be able to absorb such knowledge. This is one of the important aspects in which the present sin-polluted world differs from an ideal world. The inferior status of matter in our world had its origin in Genesis 6,6, where the Torah says: ויתעצב אל לבו, He (G–d) was saddened concerning his (man's) heart. G–d saw that man no longer was using his body correctly, that the only area of spirituality left was man's heart. If man had "seen" with his heart instead of merely with his "eyes," [part of physical matter. Ed.] man's fall could have been avoided. We know from Samuel I 16,7: "for man 'sees' with the eyes whereas G–d 'sees' with the heart." Only G–d sees with His "heart." Man's decline began when the tree of knowledge appealed to Eve's eyes (Genesis 3,6). The purpose of man's creation had been to have the body as perfect as the soul, the body to be the היכל, "Sanctuary," whereas the soul would be the קדשי קדשים, "the inner Sanctuary." Both body and soul would have enjoyed a life of intelligence.
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