Yoma 38 - May 19, 8 Sivan

This week's learning is sponsored by Dodi Lamm and Tina Lamm in memory of their beloved Uncle and Father-in-law, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Nachum Ben Meir Shmuel v’ Perel. "Rabbi Lamm taught us that Torah was a gift given by God equally to men and women. He championed women’s learning in passionate speeches. He expanded women’s learning in practice by, for example, instituting the post-graduate Talmud program at Stern. And Rabbi Lamm lived these values at home. He loved to learn with his daughters, nieces, and granddaughters and took great pride in their Torah accomplishments. Rabbi Lamm would look upon our group’s learning with great joy. He would be delighted to know that more women than ever before in Jewish history are accessing, internalizing, and developing Talmud knowledge. May we continue to enjoy the pleasures of Torah as we complete ALL of Shas - together."

What miracle happened with the doors to the Temple that Nikanor brought from Alexandria? The mishna lists a number of families of kohanim that were mentioned in a negative light as they were excellent at what they did but didn't share their secrets with others, like the Avtinas family who knew how to prepare the incense properly and the Garmu family who knew how to prepare the showbread, Hugras ben Levi who knew how to sing in a special way and ben Kamtzer who had a unique way of writing. The sages tried to replace Beit Avtinas and Beit Garmu but couldn't find others who could do it as they could and when they rehired them, the families only agreed to come back if they would receive double wages. Why was it important to them to not reveal their secrets? The gemara compares different aspects of righteous people as compared to evil people, particularly regarding the mentioning of their names and the blessing associated with the mention of a righteous person and the disparagement associated with the mention of an evil person. Other statements regarding the righteous are brought. One who continually does good, will be protected from sin and one who sins will not.