After a quick recap of our Mishnah which discusses various Mitzvot that women, slaves and minors are exempt from, we continue with the theme of obligations in Mitzvot.
Women are obligated in making the Kiddush prayer on Shabbat. Even though it is a positive Mitzvah bound by time – still they are obligated in it. The Gemara debates if it is rabbinical in nature or if perhaps it is a Torah obligated Mitzvah. Why all the fuss – and what practical difference does it make?! The Gemara explains.
Thereafter, the Gemara asks about womens’ Mitzvah of reciting the Birkat HaMazon prayer after having eaten a bread meal. Is it a rabbinical obligation to do so, or is it a Torah obligation? Again – why all the fuss? What practical difference does it make? The Gemara discusses.
The Gemara (of our Mishnah) ends off with a piece of Aggadic material offering an insight into the greatness of the Jewish people who thank God for the food they have eaten even for the most minimally accept amount – even though they not be satisfied completely.
We begin a new Mishnah. Our Mishnah discusses a big theme in Torah. It concerns a man who has had a seminal emission. He becomes impure and cannot partake of certain things as a result – at least until he has immersed himself in a Mikvah. The Mishnah says that he can contemplate the Shema in his heart but he may not recite the blessings that pertain to the Shema.
The Gemara discusses the concept of thought and whether it is to be understood in the same sense as speaking. After all, if it is considered like speaking, then why not just speak! And if it is not considered speaking, then why think these words?!
The Gemara will follow on in our next lesson concerning the idea of thought and speech and how we relate to thought being considered to be speech (or how we do not relate to it being so.)
