I'm already in the top here. Right in the beginning of נו״ן אל״ף. Yesterday we learned about a plague that was in one place. And in Rav's neighborhood, it wasn't, and that wasn't because of the zechut of Rav, because of the zechut of this one guy who used to lend out his shovel and his things to bury people. Then, the Gemara continues. בדרוקרת, in a city called דרוקרת, הוא דליקיתא, there was a big fire. ובשיבבותיה דרב הונא לא הות דליקתא, in the area of Rav Huna, there was no fire. סבור מינה, they thought משום זכותא דרב הונא דנפיש. So the reason why there's no fire is his zechut. אתחזי להו בחלמא, so the people who thought so saw in a dream, that Rav Huna, נפישא זכותיה טובא. Rav Huna has a great zechut. והא זוטרא הויא ליה לרב הונא, and that his zechut should stand here, that because of that, the fire shouldn't reach his area, that's small things for him. That's not really because of him. Yeah. For him, it's small. אלא משום ההיא איתתא, because of this woman, the zechut of this lady, דמחממא תנורא, she would warm up heat up her oven, ומשאלא לשיבבותיה. Then, she would let other neighbors use it. In other words, she used up wood or whatever it took the fuel, and she'd let other people use. That zechut, and since it was in fire that she had the zechut, that's why her zechut that there was no fire in that that area. Just so It seems like a small thing, but these small things have a big effect. Right. Right, yeah. Yeah, and here also, fire to fire. How would they know? How would they know? So, Hashem showed them a dream. Hashem showed them, yeah. זאגט די Gemara ווייטער,

אמרו ליה לרב יהודה, they said to Rav Yehuda, אתו קמצי, that grasshoppers are coming. And we know when grasshopper come, then it eats up all the things, and then it says one of the times that you fast, that you make a גזירת תענית is when you see there's a an infestation of these grasshoppers. They said, \"We saw them coming.\" גזר תעניתא, so he made a fast day. אמרו ליה, they said to him, לא קא מפסדי. These are not going to They're not doing any damage. You don't have to make a taanit. אמר להו, what he said to them, what, זוודא אייתו בהדייהו? What, they're bringing food along? They're bringing snacks along that they won't eat up our food? How about they're going to eat up our food, and certainly it's dangerous. אמרו ליה לשמואל, they said to Shmuel, איכא מותנא בבי חוזאי. In חוזאי there is a plague, people are dying. They were, but they said it it looks like they they were going to eat. Yeah, that's what he said, \"I see that the future they're going to eat. Even if they're not eating now, they're going to eat. You think they have storage of food with them?\" They said to Shmuel, איכא מותנא בבי חוזאי. In חוזאי there's dead people, there's a plague. גזר תעניתא. He made a taanit. אמרו ליה, they said to him, והא מרחק? But it's far. In חוז- In חוזאי. And it's far. No. That's maybe a different girsa. Where is it? Oh, here it says בחזירי, yeah. Okay, this girsa says בבי חוזאי. So they said, \"For this far,\" cuz חוזאי is like Mechoza, I think that's where Rava lived, but but Shmuel was not in that area. אמר, he said, לית כמאברא דפסיק ליה. In between that city and our city, there is no river, there's nothing that to say it can't cross, that it'll stop. If it's going, it's going to travel, and it'll get to us too. So, they were made into the Oh. That's what it is.

אמרו ליה Rav Nachman, they said to Rav Nachman, איכא מותנא בארעא דישראל. There are people dying in Eretz Yisrael. גזר תעניתא, so he made a taanis in his city. אמר, and he said, אם גבירה לא לקת, שפחה לא כל שכן? If the mistress, the the boss gets plagued, so the maid certainly will. And since Eretz Yisrael is like the boss, if it happens there, then we've got to worry too, and he made a taanis. That makes no difference. Here, it's not because of the שטח. Here's not because of the space. It is because of Eretz Yisrael. Nope. We'll do that What do you mean? In that case, every once in a while when there's bad things going on down there, it's hashpaah, yeah. So, spiritually speaking, it's going to happen. There's a plague in Eretz Yisrael, there's going to be a plague who knows how many thousand miles away. Yeah, it's not miles, that's the boss and if there it happens, it's כל שכן to the other people. זאגט די Gemara ווייטער, אבא אומנא הוה אתי ליה שלמא כל יומא ממתיבתא דרקיע. Abba Umna used to get a hello from the מתיבתא דרקיע every day. A bas kol used to come out to him and say hello to him, say how are you. לאביי ממעלי שבתא למעלי שבתא, אביי got every Friday. לרבא ממעלי יומא דכיפורי למעלי יומא דכיפורי, got only only every Erev Yom Kippur. What is this, a bas kol? These are each of them getting a bas kol? Yeah, getting a hello from שמים. Yeah. Rashi says, בת קול אומרת. He was called אומנא, why is he called אומנא? אומנא is a person who's מקיז דם. Doctor. מקיז דם, he drew blood. He was those people used to be like a guy used to drew blood. So, he used to get a hello every day, a bas kol used to come to him every day. Must be he proved that like how is his greater than Rava's? We'll see in a second. הוה קא חלשא דעתיה דאביי. Wasn't a complaining bas kol, like it says in Pirkei Avot a bas kol comes out every day and says אוי? No, this is not complaining, it was a good bas kol, saying hello, fine, how are you. So, Abaye felt bad על דאבא אומנא, said Abba Umna is greater than me? And he gets a bas kol every day and I get only once a week? אמרו ליה, so they said to him, I guess מן השמים, לא מצית למיעבד כעובדיה דאבא אומנא. You cannot do something that he does, he does something special. Let's see what it is, not doesn't even sound so special. מאי עובדיה דאבא אומנא? What does he do?

דכי הוה עביד מילתא, when he would do something, מילתא usually was used when they used to draw blood. הוה עביד ליה דוכתא דגברי לחודיה ודנשי לחודיה, he had two places, one for men, one for women. That's one thing, that's already one thing, that he had special places for, for tzniut purposes. Since when you give a, when you draw blood, obviously you reveal part of the body, so he didn't want that the men should see the women. Used to be from the foot, no? They do it from the foot. Wherever, whichever part, it's so separate rooms, number one. And second thing, הוה ליה לבושא, he had a garment, דאית ביה קרנא, that had a like a needle, had a horn, דהוה בזיע בכיסולסא, that would he would put it on and that would that that thing sticking out on the other side would stick in and that would draw the blood, that would make it bleed. So, what did he have that for? דכי אתיא איתתא, if a woman would come to draw blood, מלביש לה, he would put it on, so he wouldn't, כי היכי דלא לאסתכולי בה, he shouldn't look, like this you have to say she's wearing clothes, you have to pick up the clothes, so lechatchila he had a garment that the other side of the garment, he would put on the garment, cover her completely, and there was a needle inside and the needle would do it. והוה ליה דוכתא דצניע, he had a hidden place, למירמא ביה פריטי, where the people would have to pay, put in the money. Because he was a doctor, like he's דאית ליה, רמי ביה, anybody who had money would put in. דלית ליה, someone who didn't have, הוה אתי ויתיב, would come, sit there together with everybody else, ולא יכסיף. And wasn't embarrassed. Like this a person would come and can't pay, he would feel embarrassed. No one knew, because no one knew who dropped in the money or not. He made it special in such a way that people could come, everyone gets service, and then he expects everyone to put in the money. Those that can, those that can't is good. Like Harvard. Like? Harvard. That's what Harvard did? They have a special place. Dr. Waugh, Dr. Weiss. וכי הוה מסתרמי ליה צורבא מרבנן, if a תלמיד חכם would come to him, אגרא מיניה לא שקיל, wouldn't take any money from him. He, lechatchila he said I don't charge you. This is Rav who? This is Rav, this is no, not Rav, Abba Umna, a simple, he wasn't, yeah. ובתר דקאי, דקאי, יהיב ליה פריטי. And after he would finish, and some, different girsa is, if he would have people who are poor, not only wouldn't he take money, after they finished, he would give them money, ואמר ליה, and he would say זיל הבר נפשך, go cure yourself, go go on a vacation, go get healthy, go buy healthy food. He would give him extra, not only wouldn't charge him, but he would Yeah, you can't argue with that. Obamacare. Oh, yeah, punkt. Punkt. Yeah. Make you laugh. Yeder einer lakht. No, some people some people are crying. No, no, yeder einer lakht. Nisht kein gelechter. Yeah. זימנא חדא, so they told they told Abaye this is something that he's doing, something special and me'meila you can't do it. He has that that business, that's his his issue, so me'meila he could do it. But the ikar is tzniut, one of the things here, the main thing is that's how tzniyusdike he was. This is like like like Dr. like Dr. Zelenko's son, thanks to Dr. Zelenko. He's still the same thing. When he was also, if if a woman he would turn around, he would take a needle like this. No, but he was a he was a you wouldn't believe this, he was a good doctor. He actually in Europe yet before the war, he wrote books on medicine which were studied in the schools. I mean, now I guess it's outdated, but they studied in the schools. But he was the Rebbe's doctor, so when he gave a Rebbe would send to him just for a לבוש אין דרך הטבע, just as I told you once, I once heard, I was standing there when this Robinson came to the Rebbe. Now, Robinson was the one that he's the father-in-law of Rabbi here, no? The doctor. Not the doctor! Used to be for an assistant here. Simon, no? Milton Simon. His father-in-law, he's a Lubavitcher. He doesn't tell anybody. His father's name was Robinson. He was used to be a very rich man. He paid for the for the mortgage of 770 תש״י, and he paid for the printing of the Zeh Yinachamenu. So I was there once and he was there by that Never said a word about Well, I'm telling you, ask him. Now, I don't know if you could ask him, but so I standing 770 upstairs, and the Rebbe stood in the חפץ, this is it, and the Rebbe davened mincha there. I don't remember when it was, and he was standing not far, and after mincha he walked over to the Rebbe. Like this, they wouldn't let anybody do it, but him, and the Rebbe was mekabel him, he did a lot for Lubavitch, he was in Chicago. But then already, he didn't have any money. So, I was standing there first, so I heard, he walks over He lost his money? Yeah, he lost the money. First he walks over to the Rebbe and he says to the Rebbe, \"I don't feel good. I don't feel good, so what should I what ask for a bracha?\" So, I heard these words from the Rebbe's mouth, the Rebbe said to him, \"Go to Dr. Zeligson, און דאס וועט זיין די כלי אין דרך הטבע.\" In other words, Zeligson is a doctor, but that's going to be in In other words, derech hateva he said these words: \"דאס וועט זיין די כלי אין דרך הטבע.\" So the Rebbe used to use him. The Rebbe once told Rav Shmuel Levitin about Dr. Zeligson, said, \"וואס מיינט איר, ער היילט? What do you think that he cures?\" That's what he said, what? Though, my father once, my father went into yechidus, also didn't feel good, so he told him, so the Rebbe said, \"Go to Dr. Zeligson, ער וועט אייך געבן aspirin. ער וועט אייך געבן aspirin און גמרנו.\" Anyway, but he used to do this. He used to mamash when the woman would come, he would look like this and give her a needle. That's for sure. Did the Rebbe say that? No, I didn't hear that. No. It's probably true. Anyway, so this is all about this Abba Umana, how chashuv what what he did.

זימנין חדא שדר אביי זוגא דרבנן למיבדקיה. Once, אביי wanted to check him out, see אביי felt bad that he had a בת קול talk to him every day and אביי only had once a week. So he heard this, that what he did, and then he also sent once two חכמים, two תלמידים to check him out. איספינו, he came came to his house, took him to the house, ואוכלינו, he gave him to eat, ואשקינו, gave him to drink, ומך ליה ביסתרקי בליליא, and at night when he went to sleep, he gave him very put him on very expensive sheets and קאלדרעס and rugs that they to the they should sleep on, should be soft, they should be good. לצפרא, in the morning, כרכינהו, when they woke up, they rolled up the the sheets and the the pillows or whatever Took it away? ואייתינהו לשוקא. They took it to the marketplace. Okay. ולמחר סרק להו לשוקא. They took it to the marketplace. No, he went to the marketplace the next morning, ואשכחינהו, and he found them and he saw it. He saw that they're carrying his stuff. אמרו ליה, they went over to and they said to him, לשיימינהו מר, היכי שוו? Could you You're a businessman, didn't tell him anything. Could you evaluate how much this is worth? אמר להו, בהכי והכי שוו. He gave them a price, this and this how much it's worth. אמרו ליה, they said to him, דילמא שוו טפי? He said, maybe it's worth more? אמר להו, he said, בהכי אשקול להו. I'm ready to buy it. No, not I paid for it, I'm ready to buy it from you for this amount that I said. אמרו ליה, so then they said to him, דידך נינהו. They're really yours. ושקלינהו מינך, we took it from you. Okay. אמרו ליה, and they said to him, במטותא מינך, please, במה חשדתינן? What did What were you חושד us? When we you saw us walking with this in the street, what did you think? Were you חושד that we're really stealing from you? אמר להו, he said, אמינא, I said to myself, דילמא פדיון שבוים איקלע להו לרבנן, maybe they're collecting money, they need a lot of money for פדיון שבוים, וכסיפא להו מילתא למימר, and they're embarrassed to ask me for it, so they thought they'll take it and sell it, and they'll get money for פדיון שבוים, not that you meant to steal. אמרו ליה, so they said to him, השתא נשקלינהו, here, take it back. In other words, we just wanted to test you. Abaye sent to test and see how he would react. So now that we saw what that you really weren't חושד us, here, take it back. אמר להו, so he said to them, מההיא שעתא, from that moment when I saw it happen in my mind, I thought you're collecting for פדיון שבוים, אסחתינהו לדעתאי לצדקה. So I made up my mind that I'm going to give it, pay you for it, so the money will go to tzedakah, so I'm not He had the right, it was a mistake! This whole thought was only a taut. But nevertheless he wouldn't take it he wouldn't take it back, and he said the money goes for tzedakah. So he paid them, then he took it back? Yeah, he paid them or he took the money, took the stuff, and took the money against the stuff, whatever, but he gave he gave the money for tzedakah, because his mind was made up. But it's not that על פי דין is מחויב. Normally, if you make up your mind, you're not מחויב. If you say you're מחויב, making your mind is also it says a hiddur, but you're not. But here he didn't he made up his mind על יסוד of some taut. He thought that that this what And when they told him it's not, we're just testing you, so his whole מחשבה was a mistake. Nevertheless, it came into his mind, I mean, this is why the בת קול came to him every day. So it's interesting to see here, Abaye learned Torah so much, he it doesn't seem like he was a big תלמיד חכם. He's a doctor. Yeah, but he did מעשים טובים, and it shows what מעשים טובים are. Yeah. Was a doctor. איך he has to be מסתכל on this, on the דעה. וואס ער זאגט סתם, ער האט געדארפט לערנען, ער איז מסתכל תלמיד חכם איז נישט, ער האט נישט געקענט לערנען, ער איז א חסיד, וואס קען נישט לערנען, איז ער דאך אה, so וואס ער איז, ער איז א חסיד, שרייט? אה, נישט קענענ- נישט קענענדיג לערנען און פארדעסוועגן געווען אזא פרומער, איז ער א חסיד. דאס יא. דאס יא. Now you got it. Yeah, yeah, now you're right. You're right. Yeah, yeah. That the fact that he did such things, such a הרגש, without even being a big תלמיד חכם. ער איז מסביר, ער שרייט, ער איז גערעכט, ער איז גערעכט. So he could have given this tzedakah without taking the rugs back. The rugs were his to begin with, the other So, yeah, they gave it back to him. Why shouldn't he take it back? I didn't I didn't say he took it back. I imagined he took it back. Why shouldn't he take it back? They were his rugs! Yeah, they were his rugs, and since he thought this amount of money and he said to give it for tzedakah, so he gave it to tzedakah anyway. But they had no right to do this. That's a That's a שאלה, you know? It's true, it's a שאלה, because the Gemara says in בבא מציעא,

לא תגנוב אפילו על מנת למיקט, לא תגנוב אפילו על מנת לשלם תשלומי כפל. If you know that a person needs money, but if you'll give him tzedakah, he won't take, he'll be embarrassed. So what will you do? You steal from him, and then you have to pay double! So then you're giving it back and you're going to pay you're doing, so the דין is it's אסור, it's an איסור לא תגנוב. לא תגנוב אפילו על מנת לשלם תשלומי כפל. על מנת למיקט, make a joke. Sometimes, you know, some guys want to, \"I'll teach you a lesson, you weren't careful with your things, I'll show you how people could steal.\" So people steal it and when they come into, \"Nu, then you give it back. You see what I did? Somebody else could have stolen it.\" You're not allowed to do that. So it's a it's a good kashya, how did they do this? They are They're always doing that with the airport security. They're always trying to show you you didn't make good airport security, \"Look, we've been through, we did this, we did that.\" And they fire the guys, right? Okay, so the guy gets snooped, everybody's able to do the give the do the mitzvah, the tzedakah, maybe it's worth it for him? Who did that? He didn't do that, they The one who stole it, and he wants to pay The guys are big chachamim. and he wants to pay double. But they don't want to pay double, they they just want to give Not in this case, in the case you just said, in Bava Metzia. Oh, you're not allowed to, so it's an aveirah! You're not allowed to, but what about the But why would they do it? The Berditchever was always disguising himself and going around giving people stuff. Yeah. Didn't he uh What kind of What's wrong with that? trying to figure out what he did. No, he didn't steal! trying to remember how he did it. Didn't steal! Can't remember. Huh? Were they not שלוחי עבירה? שלוחי עבירה, they did I mean, they did it! אין שליח לדבר עבירה. Check out, they didn't Nobody told them what to do this. They did it themselves, they wanted to check out how he's going to say it. So the עולניה... It's a it's a good she'eilah, they went that far. First they saw that he gave them food, and that was also Their curiosity got the best of them, they went rabbanan, the Gemara refers to them as rabbanan. No, they weren't going to pay double here. Right, right, but you're not allowed to steal, no? You're not allowed to take it. Maybe if he didn't have in mind What could it be they didn't have? Huh? K'kinyan. At the end of the day, what does Hakadosh Baruch Hu want from you? And the person who steals על מנת לשלם תשלומי כפל could also be b'lo kinyan. Without a kinyan? Yeah, but no one will know, no. They could not make a in his mind he could think not a kinyan. How could they make not a kinyan? They picked it up, they took it, they made a kinyan. Ela mai, you could have a kavanah not to be koneh. So then So then, איפכא מסתברא, every person could steal על מנת לשלם תשלומי כפל, and that's not called stealing because he's not mechaven to be koneh. Then he's not paying double. But no Beis Din will know. So, like the מקושש עצים. המקושש עצים לשם שמים נתכוון. So the Berditchever writes in Kedushas Levi, actually, that he didn't he wasn't מחלל שבת, because it's a מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה. He meant it lechatchilah only for the reason of showing, so he didn't need it. So it's a מלאכה שאינה צריכה מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה you're not chayav, so you he wasn't מחלל שבת. So how did they kill him? So how did they kill him? But the Beis Din doesn't know that. אין לו לדיין אלא מה שעיניו רואות. If it looks like you're mechaven, he made it sound and the Beis Din had to kill him. The בית דין can't

say, \"Well, I really Anybody could say, \"I wasn't מכוין.\" If If the מעשה that he does is shows that you're מכוין, so בית דין kills you. The Noda Biyehudah says that when it comes to בית דין של מטה, you don't know the kavanah, teshuvah doesn't help! Anyway, let's just finish one more line. כוליה חלש דעתיה דרבא אדאביי, and רבא felt bad that אביי gets a bat kol every week, and he got once a year Erev Yom Kippur. אחזו ליה בחלמא, they showed him a חלום, ואמרו ליה, they said to him like this: מסתייך, for you is enough דקא מגנא זכותך אכולא אכולא כרכא. Your zechut is מגין, protects the whole city. Don't worry, he's not so bad. What about the שבויין? Were they really were they really שבויין, or did they just pretend to be? Much longer than that. Why did they take the rugs? Wait, he was only a Rosh Yeshiva after אביי. He thought he thought maybe they were. Maybe they were. The question is maybe they were. Relatives to the No, they did it to test him. Yeah. No, they wouldn't steal from him. שבת חנוכה.