A Mother-in-Law's Oil, and the Fire Between Husband and Wife
A Mother-in-Law's Oil, and the Fire Between Husband and Wife
Part of Halacha, Hashkafa and Parenting · 6:14
A short piece on the halachic relationship between a mother-in-law and son-in-law, framed through a cautionary story and the metaphor of fire in marriage.
Audio Transcript
ืืืจื ืื, she said to her, ืืื ืืืงืฉืื ืืืฉืื ืืืคืจืกืื, go get put yourself on oil of ืืคืจืกืื, balsam oil which is, the mother-in-law said to the daughter-in-law, put yourself on ืืืชื, ืืืชื, why the Gemara have to explain who, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, okay, but she hated her so much, you'll see. Farkert. ืืืื ืืืืงืฉืื, ืืืงืฉืื, so she got dressed and she put all this perfume on her. ืื ืืชื, when she came, ืืืจื ืื, she said to her, ืืื ืืืืืง ืฉืจืื, go light a candle. Light a candle, right? ืืืื ืืืืืง ืฉืจืื, so she went to light the candle, ืืื ืคื, so the mother-in-law standing and blew that fire, and it caught on herself, ืืื ืคื ืื ืืจื, she blew the fire ืืืืืชื ื ืืจื, killed her. The daughter-in-law. Killed the daughter-in-law. Because she was full of oil. Yeah, she put make, she told her special, no, she told her put yourself on oil and she planned to kill her. So, she did this and this. So, this is a very strange story. Okay. to be careful with your mother-in-law! Everyone should be careful of his mother-in-law. Just kidding. Huh? Is this
where the source... No, that's not only place. Actually, a son-in-law and a mother-in-law, the Gemara says, are close. The Gemara says, farkert, there's a chashash, there was a person that lived in the same house as his mother-in-law and the chachamim put him in cherem because he got too close to her. I mean, the Gemara says, a mother-in-law and a son-in-law are close, a mother-in-law and his daughter-in-law, they hate each other. And one of the six women, it says, that you don't trust, I guess when a person comes and says that this man died, you trust him, even if it's one ืขื and his wife could remarry and she's not an agunah. But not... And even if a woman comes, it's a woman which normally a woman is ืคืกืื ืืขืืืช. In this case, she's ื ืืื ืช, once. But there's six women who are not believed, one of them mother-in-law, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, because these are people who don't like each other. Okay, this was I modern the story. Okay, what's next? He's teaching us the oil is very volatile. That's a joke and watch out from your mother-in-law. He's teaching about balsam oil. They're talking about oil, talking about oil. Be careful with balsam oil, it's highly volatile. Okay. Good. Flammable. Yeah. Okay. And also, don't stand too close to the fire. That's that's another thing, okay. Okay,
we're holding here ืืดื, the next thing. That happened to my son on a date. Oy va'avoy! He was on a date in New York City, and the girl, they they they want to They don't want to have curly hair, they want to have straight hair. So they call they go They put on some Chinese No, it's a special You have to go to a special shop where they Chinese your hair and they make it real They take curly hair and make it straight, they put in real strong chemicals. So, it has chemicals in it. So, they had a candle in the middle of the thing and she went close and whoop, her hair caught on fire. What did he do about the date? The date is gone. It's over. The date The date is gone. Did uh Yeah, he had to put it out. But at least he knew the story of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter where there was a fire or something and and people were afraid No, a woman was drowning, they were afraid they touch the woman. He told them, ืืกืื ืฉืืื! What it says there? Everybody knows, ืืกืื ืฉืืื ืืืื ืืฉื ืืืืขื ืื ืืจื. He says, I can't save her because Yeah, yeah. So he might He put out the fire, but it wasn't a It wasn't uh It was not a ืืกืืื for a good date. I can I can imagine! That sounds good. Okay, zogt di Gemara, yeah, we're holding ืืดื. Was your wife around? Huh? Was your wife around? Nothing. Oh, she is coming. ืืืฉ ืืืฉื Oh, she wasn't going to be a mother-in-law. Okay. Okay, okay, this ืืฉ! Yeah. Cause you have fire between the Yeah. If it
don't No, if it goes good, it's ื-ื, ืฉืืื ื ืฉืจืืื ืืื ืืื. If it doesn't go good, then you both have a situation. Like ืืืดื says, ืืฉ ืืืืื ืืฉ. Yeah, that's not so bad. Fire and and wood is the problem, fire and fire is good if they were good. Yes, ืืืื ืื ืืืจื, ืืื ืืื ืขืื ืืชืืฉ ืฉืืื ืืืื ืืฉื? What happened to the ืชืืฉ? We know that one of the skins that they used in the time of Moshe Rabbeinu for the Mishkan was ืขืืจืืช ืชืืฉืื from ืชืืฉ. Now, we have no idea we're We don't have a ืชืืฉ nowadays. What happened to the ืชืืฉ? ืืืจ ืจ' ืืืขืืจ, ืจ' ืืืขืืจ ืืืจ ืจ' ืฉืืขืื ืื ืืงืืฉ, ืจ' ืฉืืขืื ืื ืืงืืฉ, ืืืืจ ืืื ืจืื ืืืืจ, ืจืื ืืืืจ used to say, ืชืืฉ ืฉืืื ืืืื ืืฉื ืืจืื ืืคื ื ืขืฆืื ืืื. There was at the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, the ืชืืฉ was a special It was a special animal, a creature. ืืื ืืืจืืขื ืื ืืืืื, and chachamim have no ืจืืื, ืื ืืื ืืื ืืื ืื ืืื ืืืื ืืื, whether it's a chaya or a beheima. And there's a difference of chaya and beheima, because of a lot of halachot. A chaya is the the doesn't need ืืืกืื ืืื, a beheima does. A chaya, the cheilev is mutar, a beheima, the cheilev is asur. I mean ืืงืจื ืืืช ืืืชื ืื ืืืฆืื, it has one horn on its forehead. ืืืคื ืฉืขื ื ืืืื ืื ืืืฉื, it's boonk, happened, a temporary thing, der Oybershter made it come, ืืขืฉื ืืื ื ืืฉืื ืื ืื ื, and he made the Mishkan and it got hidden, so we have no more ืชืืฉ. History then, we have a single-horned Was it considered unicorn. What is it? A unicorn. Yeah, unicorn. No, no, I think it means a kind, because one animal was not enough to make all the skins. A big animal. No. Then the Gemara says, ืืืงืืืจ ืงืจื ืืืช ืืืชื ืื ืืืฆืื, since it says it has one had one horn on his forehead, ืฉืืข ืืื ื ืืืืจื ืืื, it seems that it was a kasher animal, right? ืืืืืจ, it was it was it said, ืฉืืจ ืฉืืงืจืื ืืื ืืจืืฉืื, the ox that Adam Harishon was makriv, we know that the day Adam Harishon was created, he brought a korban to the Aibershter. What did he bring? A shor. And that ืฉืืจ, ืงืจื ืืืช ืืืชื ืื ืืืฆืื, had a one horn in his forehead, ืฉื ืืืจ... How did he know it was How did he know it was mutar to be ืืงืจืื ืืืชื? Because you can't bring a korban with a tereifah animal. And since he brought a korban of this... Who told him he has the right to bring a korban? Noach was told was was told him. Noach was also not told. He was not told? He understood himself. It says that he understood, since the Eibershter told him to bring seven... But the pasuk says, ื ืชืชื ืืื ืืช ืื ืืืจืง ืขืฉื. The pasuk was matir him the meat. To eat! To eat. So if it's matir this, just a a... A korban not, a korban they knew. And but but Adam Harishon didn't have a pasuk like that, so how did he know? He didn't eat it. No, he didn't eat the korban, no, he didn't eat the meat, but to bring a korban, because today...