The Mishnah Bruriah- installment 1

amother

Mauve

Wed, Sep 02 2015, 8:21 am

Bruriah was a gifted and unusually knowledgeable woman in Talmudic times. Pity no one at the time saw fit to record her teachings. Had they done so, we might have had this: I present you- Mishna Bruriah.
In order to celebrate the holidays with due enthusiasm, children are to receive new clothing.
How much is a parent obligated to spend per child?
Rivkah bas Leah says that the cap is $50 per child.
Esther bas Sarah says that it is $200.
Rochel bas Yocheved says that new tights or socks is sufficient.
B’mai K’mifligi? Regarding what is this dispute?
It was well known that Esther’s girls wore matching clothes on every day of the week, from elaborate hair bows down to shiny Venettinni shoes. For their brother’s bar mitzvah, they wore gowns and had their hair and makeup done. “Yom Tov is surely as important as a bar mitzvah,” she said.
Rochel allowed her children to wear whatever clothing they liked, often hand-me-downs from the neighbors. It was said that one of her girls once went one week without brushing her hair. “Even a symbolic garment is enough for simchas yom tov.” She said. But even she made sure that the children were freshly washed and wearing clean clothing when visiting her in-laws.
It was attempted to uphold Rivkah’s decision of $50 per child with no success. “What is good in Chicago is not good for Boro Park.” K’muvan. Moreover, in communities with overpriced boutique stores, $50 may only cover the cost of a single pair or MeMoi tights and a large bow with the wrong initial.
In communities with Marshalls, the same budget can buy a new dress and matching shoes, plus a cute kitchen gadget.
It was agreed that no child should feel inferior to the other girls in her shul, and that a newborn girl does not need to be matching her older sisters down to the oversized bow on her bald head.
Regarding this it is said, “Greater is spending money on food for guests than 1,000 dresses which will be outgrown and stained.” And that yom tov, Rochel and Esther sat at the same table, and all of their girls abandoned their yom tov dresses in favor of purim costumes from the dress-up box.

imasoftov

Fri, Sep 04 2015, 7:05 am

amother wrote:

Bruriah was a gifted and unusually knowledgeable woman in Talmudic times. Pity no one at the time saw fit to record her teachings.

I'd rather pick some other woman mentioned in the Talmud for this, and not one who could hold her own in debates with the rabbis, because people did record Beruria's teachings.

Most of these translations are from Soncino. The first Tosefta comes from a shiur at Machon Pardes and I don't know where the translation is from, the second is mine because I didn't find a translation of the full Tosefta. I improved (or at least changed) a few things here and there.

From when does [an oven] become tahor? Rabbi Halaftah from the village of Hanninah said: “I asked Shimon ben Hannanyah who asked the son of Rabbi Hanninah Ben Tradyon and he said when you move it from its place, and his daughter [Beruria] said when you disassemble its pieces. When these things were stated before Rabbi Yehudah ben Baba he said: 'the daughter spoke better than the son'
- Tosefta Kelim Kama 4:17

A door-bolt, Rabbi Tarfon declares tameh and the Sages tahor and Beruria says - one may remove it from one opening and hang it on another on Shabbat. When this was said before Rabbi Yehoshua, he said "Beruria spoke correctly".
- Tosefta Kelim Metzia 1:3

There were once some violent people in the neighbourhood of R. Meir who caused him a great
deal of trouble. R. Meir accordingly prayed that they should die. His wife Beruria said to him: How do you make out [that such a prayer should be permitted]? Because it is written Let sins cease? Is it written sinners? It is written sins! Further, look at the end of the verse: and let the wicked men be no more. Since the sins will cease, there will be no more wicked men! Rather pray for them that they should repent, and there will be no more wicked. He did pray for them, and they repented.
- Berachot 10a

A certain heretic said to Beruria: it is written: Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear. Because she did not bear is she to sing? She replied to him: You fool! Look at the end of the verse, where it is written, For the children of the desolate shall be more than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. But what then is the meaning of ‘a barren that did not bear’? Sing, O community of Israel, who resembles a barren woman, for not having born children like you for Gehenna.
- ibid

R. Jose the Galilean was once on a journey when he met Beruria. ‘By what road’, he asked her, ‘do we go to Lydda?’ — ‘Foolish Galilean’, she replied: ‘did not the Sages say this: Engage not in much talk with women? You should have asked: By which to Lydda?’
- Eruvin 53b

[Note: I think she was being sarcastic, and thought RY's question was already an attempt to limit the number of words - what he said was only four words in Aramaic, her replacement was two]

Beruria once discovered a student who was learning in an undertone. Rebuking him she exclaimed: ‘Is it not written: Ordered in all things, and sure? If it is ‘ordered’ in your two hundred and forty-eight limbs it will be ‘sure’, otherwise it will not be sure’
- ibid