The Mishna at first glance seems to be jumble of ideas tossed together. Truly some edition separate Hillel’s lesson however in the Vilna Shas edition the two Rabbis’ lessons are joined. Since the Mishna was originally oral it would be necessary in order to preserve the text’s integrity the Mishnayoth would be arranged to facilitate memorization and not haphazardly. Consequently there should be a common thread connecting the various teachings.

Rabbam Gamliel‘s teaching on the surface…

The word Pras is commonly translated as reward in the context of compensation however that is imprecise. Rabbi Ovadiah Bartenura ZT’L ZY’A explains Pras as when an employer pays a worker when there is no obligation or expectation to receive wages. Such as a small child or spouse doing household chores.

The analogy is fascinating as it implies two lessons while one should serve G-D with no expectation anything of special. However those things that are essential for one’s existence one…

Passover is bookended in miracles. Though the Seder with all the pre-holiday anticipation and ritual may dominate the Jewish psyche when contemplating Passover however the Seventh and in the Diaspora the Last day of Passover commemorate the splitting of the Yam Suf. Unlike any other national experience the Torah declares that when Bene Yisrael lived through that day’s miracles “ . . . . [A]nd the nation feared G-D and they believed in G-D and His servant Moshe.”(Shemot 14:34). Therefore the…

The Passover Haggadah quoting the Mishna (Pesachim 10:5) asserts that the Exodus was not a static historic event but one that applies to all Jewry throughout history.

Rabbi Chaim David Aluzi ZT’L ZY’A known popularly as the Chidah explained that at the moment of redemption Bene Yisrael were at a low ebb. Bene Yisrael had descended to the Forty Ninth level of spiritual impurity and had the nation remained any longer in Egypt Bene Yisrael would have slid to the Fiftieth level of…