daf bit: Bava Batra 48

According to a mishna cited in today's g'mara, a get [bill of divorce] extracted from the husband by pressure is valid if the pressure is applied by an Israelite, but not if it is applied by a non-Jew. (The g'mara notes, however, that the beit din may commission a non-Jew to flog the recalcitrant husband, saying "do what the Israelite tells you", and this is apparently ok.) Why is it not valid if the pressure comes from a non-Jew? Rabbi Mesharsheya says: the torah permits the pressure to come from a non-Jew, but the rabbis didn't want to give a Jewish woman a reason to keep company with a non-Jewish man and thereby gain release from her husband, so they ruled more stringently. (48a)

morning minyan

Today I led morning services. That's not unusual. Today this included Hallel; that's kind of unusual, and something I've only done about three times before. During Sukkot, Hallel includes some extra stuff, which I had not led before and was a little uncertain about. In particular, since I always just follow the leader on when to wave the lulav, and since work commitments prevented me from getting a refresher earlier this week, I wasn't sure I knew it correctly -- and in fact, Joe had to point out one place where I would have missed it otherwise (that final Hodu). There is also the small matter of not being able to hold the siddur at a good reading distance (for me) while also dealing with the lulav, so I did the best I could but had also memorized the key passages there. (For those who are wondering, David the torah reader always leads the special Sukkot processions, so I didn't do that.)

Before the service I asked Joe (the usual Hallel person, until he pushed me) a couple questions and he agreed to come up on the bimah with me for that part. But aside from that one correction he didn't have to do anything. I am pleased. Joe seemed very pleased, which makes me happy because he's my teacher there. Joe is the person who pushed me to start leading a weekday Conservative service at all, years ago, and more recently is the one who pushed me to lead Hallel (I'd always deferred to him).

(It's not that I don't want to lead services; I enjoy that and would like more opportunities in my own congregation. But even though I'm a regular I still think of myself as a visitor to this congregation; I'm not a member there nor even a member of that movement. I'm comfortable in this minyan but am mindful of the norms of hospitality, including that guests don't try to take over.)