שבת Date: 21 Kislev, 5774 (12/13/14) – Yevamos#70 {Tani}

“FREE” COMPARISONS

[70b top] Gemarah: The words “toshav” and “sachir” are superfluous by a Pesach offering and we may learn out a Gezeirah Shaveh (one of the thirteen principles of Biblical hermeneutics; it links two similar words from dissimilar verses in the Torah). We apply one of them to the derivative verse (by Terumah where the same words are used) and apply one of them to the instructive verse (where Pesach has the same words). This allows a Gezeirah Shaveh to be learned from the words which are “free” on two sides teaching us that an uncircumcised person is forbidden to eat Terumah [just as by a Pesach offering, an uncircumcised person is forbidden to partake in it, so too, by Terumah, an uncircumcised person is forbidden to eat it].

Prac-T-cal Tidbits: All too often we think that we never have enough time. Just as words in a verse need to be “free” in order to derive lessons from, so too we need to “free” up our time in order to make room for the most important aspect of our lives: Torah learning. If people cannot ‘find’ time for Torah learning, then they are really wasting their time away throughout the day, and they are not truly “free” people.