Jews and Domestic Help
The Gemara in Nedarim 41a states:
בחוםר כל א״ר אמי אמר רב בלא ושטיח נר ובלא שלחן רב חםדא אמר בלא אשח רב ששת אמר בלא שמש
In the Tochacha, the pasuk says that you will "Have to Serve God While Having Nothing"
There are a number of opinions as to what "Nothing" means. Rabi Ami says it refers to not having a spread to put down under your food or not having even a candle to see while you eat or not having a table. Rav Chisda says it means not having a wife. Rav Sheshes says without a "Shamash" literally not having "Help". Seems a bit strange that "Nothing" would refer to a servant or even a maid or cleaning lady. One would think that having "Help" almost constitutes some kind of luxury.
Chazal in the Mishna in Berachos ch.2 state that "Yisrael Bnei Milachim hem" Yisrael are considered princes regarding halachik practice and presumably regarding general behaviors. A litvashe woman married to one of the scholars at the Mirrer Yeshiva got to Shanghai with the Mirrer Yeshiva, had no money and very little food. When eventually Rabbi Avraham Kalmanovitz sent some money to the Yeshiva in Shanghai, the married couples with children were the first to receive the funds. This litvishe woman got one dollar for starters. This dollar should have been enough to purchase some food items and maybe a bit more at most. However, she took that first dollar, went out to the marketplace and found a local Chinese woman to help her clean the house and take care of her baby. Here you have a fresh refugee, with no money, just entering a new and foreign land, going out the first day she has a dollar and hiring a local native citizen as a domestic helper. That is the definition of Yisrael Bnei Milachim. It is not strange at all for someone from the Yisrael culture to comprehend the fact that "Bechoser Kal" "not having anything" would refer to not having domestic help.
בחוםר כל א״ר אמי אמר רב בלא ושטיח נר ובלא שלחן רב חםדא אמר בלא אשח רב ששת אמר בלא שמש
In the Tochacha, the pasuk says that you will "Have to Serve God While Having Nothing"
There are a number of opinions as to what "Nothing" means. Rabi Ami says it refers to not having a spread to put down under your food or not having even a candle to see while you eat or not having a table. Rav Chisda says it means not having a wife. Rav Sheshes says without a "Shamash" literally not having "Help". Seems a bit strange that "Nothing" would refer to a servant or even a maid or cleaning lady. One would think that having "Help" almost constitutes some kind of luxury.
Chazal in the Mishna in Berachos ch.2 state that "Yisrael Bnei Milachim hem" Yisrael are considered princes regarding halachik practice and presumably regarding general behaviors. A litvashe woman married to one of the scholars at the Mirrer Yeshiva got to Shanghai with the Mirrer Yeshiva, had no money and very little food. When eventually Rabbi Avraham Kalmanovitz sent some money to the Yeshiva in Shanghai, the married couples with children were the first to receive the funds. This litvishe woman got one dollar for starters. This dollar should have been enough to purchase some food items and maybe a bit more at most. However, she took that first dollar, went out to the marketplace and found a local Chinese woman to help her clean the house and take care of her baby. Here you have a fresh refugee, with no money, just entering a new and foreign land, going out the first day she has a dollar and hiring a local native citizen as a domestic helper. That is the definition of Yisrael Bnei Milachim. It is not strange at all for someone from the Yisrael culture to comprehend the fact that "Bechoser Kal" "not having anything" would refer to not having domestic help.
posted by funnyfundamentalist at 12:58 PM
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