מועד קטן כג

A תלמיד once asked his friend why fleas are black. “It’s because they’re in mourning for their forefathers who were killed,” the friend responded. “If so, why are they jumping all around?  They should be sitting on the floor like אבלים” the תלמיד said. It’s because of סכנה, the friend replied. If they sat on the floor, someone could kill them and סכנה is דוחה אבלות. “If that’s so,” the תלמיד asked, “why don’t they sit on the floor on שבת and יום טוב, when it’s אסור to kill a living creature?”  His friend responded: “עם הארץ!  Don’t you know that there’s no אבלות on שבת and יום טוב?”

05/10/2021