Asmachta (Talmudical hermeneutics)

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In Talmudical hermeneutics, asmachta is an allusion found in the Hebrew Bible for rabbinical prohibitions or any other Halakha. It's an exception in the talmudical hermeneutics, since it doesn't base the law on the cited verse, but uses the verse as a hint.

Contents

Sometimes it isn't clear whether the verse has been quoted as an asmachta or as a source, which can lead to controversy over the de'oraita or derabanan quality of the law. An example of such a case is the controversy over berakhah she'eina tzricha or berakhah levatala, the prohibition to say a prayer outside its context. The Talmud says "Anyone who recites an unnecessary blessing violates the biblical prohibition: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ". [1] While Maimonides sees it as a source, [2] the Tosafists see it as an asmachta. [3]

Examples

Meaning

According to Maimonides, this is only a mnemonic the sages gave, as an aid to memory. [7] The Kuzari makes a similar statement. [8]

Yom Tov Asevilli (the Ritva) objects to Maimonides' explanation, and claims that God himself devised the various asmachta sources and embedded them in the Torah as allusions to be used by the sages. [9]

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כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. וְאֵילּוּ שֶׁאֵין לָהֶן חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִייַת הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶפִּיקוּרוֹס.
All of Israel have a part in the World to Come. But the following have no part in the World to Come: One who says that the resurrection of the dead is not biblical, or that the Torah is not from Heaven, or the Epicurean.

כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מַטָּעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר. וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְאֶפִּיקוֹרֶס.
All of the Jewish people have a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, for My name to be glorified”. And these [are the exceptions,] the people who have no share in the World-to-Come [...] One who says: There is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah, and one who says: The Torah did not originate from Heaven, and an epikoros[.]

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References

  1. Berachot 33a
  2. Mishneh Torah, Berachot 1, 15: "Whoever recites a blessing unnecessarily takes the name of God in vain and is like one who swears in vain."
  3. The Aramaic source text: "ומשום דמברך ברכה שאינה צריכה וקעבר משום בל תשא ליכא דההיא דרשה דרבנן" (Tosafot on Rosh Hashanah 33a)
  4. Leviticus 15, 13 King James Translation.
  5. Chullin 106a: "From here the Sages based washing of the hands upon a verse from the Torah."
  6. The Hebrew source text: "ארץ חטה ושעורה וגפן ותאנה ורמון ארץ זית שמן ודבש ואמר רב חנין כל הפסוק הזה לשיעורין נאמר חטה לבית המנוגע דתנן הנכנס לבית המנוגע וכליו על כתפיו וסנדליו וטבעותיו בידו הוא והן טמאין מיד היה לבוש כליו וסנדליו ברגליו וטבעותיו באצבעותיו הוא טמא מיד והן טהורים עד שישהה בכדי אכילת פרס פת חטין ולא פת שעורין מיסב ואוכל בליפתן שעורה דתנן עצם כשעורה מטמא במגע ובמשא ואינו מטמא באהל גפן כדי רביעית יין לנזיר תאנה כגרוגרת להוצאת שבת רמון דתנן כל כלי בעלי בתים שיעורן כרמונים (דברים ח, ח) ארץ זית שמן (ודבש) ארץ שכל שיעוריה כזיתים כל שיעוריה סלקא דעתך הא איכא הני דאמרינן אלא אימא שרוב שיעוריה כזיתים דבש ככותבת הגסה ביום הכפורים אלמא דאורייתא נינהו ותסברא שיעורין מי כתיבי אלא הלכתא נינהו וקרא אסמכתא בעלמא"(Succa 5).
  7. Maimonides' introduction to his Mishnah commentary. "The answer will be that it is 'a law of Moshe from Sinai,' and the sizes do not have a source from which to extrapolate them by one of the ways of reasoning, and they do not have a hint in all of the Torah, but [rather] this commandment was associated with this verse as a [mnemonic], so that it will be known and remembered, but it is not the subject of the verse."
  8. Kuzari 3:73. "There is a wide difference between these injunctions and the verse. The people, however, accepted these seven laws as tradition, connecting them with the verse as aid to memory."
  9. Ritva commentary to tractate Rosh Hashana, page 16a, in the paragraph starting with the word 'Tanya'; Hebrew source text: "שכל מה שיש לו אסמכתא מן התורה העיד הקדוש ברוך הוא שראוי לעשות כן אלא שלא קבעו חובה ומסרו לחכמים, וזה דבר ברור ואמת ולא כדברי המפרשים האסמכתות שהוא כדרך סימן שנתנו חכמים ולא שכוונה התורה לכך, חס וחלילה, ישתקע הדבר ולא יאמר, שזו דעת מינות הוא, אבל התורה העידה בכך ומסרה חיוב הדבר לקבעו חכמים אם ירצו, כמו שכתוב ועשית את הדבר על פי הדבר אשר יגידו לך ולפיכך תמצא החכמים נותנין בכל מקום ראיה או זכר או אסמכתא לדבריהם מן התורה, כלומר שאינם מחדשים דבר מלבם, וכל תורה שבעל פה רמוזה בתורה שהיא תמימה וחס ושלום שהיא חסירה כלום".