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Pesachim 104


QUESTION: The Gemara mentions different opinions how one should conclude the blessing of Havdalah: The Tana'im, in a Beraisa, argue whether one should say "Soder Bereishis" ("the Organizer of Creation") or "Yotzer Bereishis" ("the Maker of the Creation"). Rebbi Yosi b'Rebbi Yehudah says that one should say "Mekadesh Yisrael" ("the Sanctifier of Israel").

Rav rules like Rebbi Yosi b'Rebbi Yehudah, that one should say "Mekadesh Yisrael." Shmuel rules that one should say, "ha'Mavdil Bein Kodesh l'Chol" (which is our practice). Even though that is not the opinion of any of the Tana'im in the Beraisa, Shmuel is following the opinion of another Tana, as the Rashbam (DH u'Shmuel) explains.

The Gemara relates that Abaye "cursed" the person who follows Rav's opinion and says "Mekadesh Yisrael" in the blessing of Havdalah. What upset Abaye so much about saying "Mekadesh Yisrael" that he had to curse the one who says that?


(a) The RASHBAM perhaps alludes to this question when he explains that the phrase "Mekadesh Yisrael" implies that the *only thing in the world* which Hashem sanctified was Yisrael. Other things in the world are also sanctified (such as the Beis ha'Mikdash)! Perhaps that inaccurate implication of "Mekadesh Yisrael" is what upset Abaye.

(b) RAV ELAZAR MOSHE HA'LEVI HOROWITZ suggests that we know that at one point in history, the gentiles decided that the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, should be Sunday. If a person mentions Kedushah on Motza'ei Shabbos and says "Mekadesh Yisrael," the heretics would use that as a proof that they are the true people of Israel and that Sunday is the day that is holy.. Therefore, Abaye did not want that phrase being used in Havdalah on Motza'ei Shabbos.

This hypothesis also explains why he "cursed whoever follows the opinion of Rav," when the Tana Rebbi Yosi b'Rebbi Yehudah used the same expression in his Havdalah. In the days of the Rebbi Yosi b'Rebbi Yehudah, the heretics had not yet disseminated their corrupt ideas, so at the time there was nothing wrong with ending Havdalah in such a manner.

QUESTION: Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi ruled that when reciting Havdalah, a person should mention only those forms of separation that appear in the Torah.

However, the Gemara says that when Yom Tov falls on Motza'ei Shabbos, one says "ha'Mavdil Bein Kodesh l'Kodesh" in the Berachah of Havdalah, to express that Hashem separated between the Kedushah of Shabbos and the Kedushah of Yom Tov. Where does the Torah ever mention a separation between Shabbos and Yom Tov? The Torah does not even make explicit mention of the separation between the Kedushah of Shabbos and the lack of Kedushah of the rest of the week (see RASHBAM, DH v'Chosem)!


(a) It seems from the Rishonim that the stipulation that a Havdalah be mentioned in the Torah only applies to what is mentioned as part of the main text of Havdalah. The Berachah at the end of Havdalah, though, need not be limited to what is mentioned explicitly in the Torah.

(b) The ME'IRI, though, offers another answer. He asserts that we *do* find mention in the Torah of a separation between two types of Kedushah. The verse says that in the Mishkan, the purpose of the Paroches is to separate between the Kodesh and the Kodesh Kedoshim (Shemos 26:33). This is the source that there is a separation between two types of Kedushah, and therefore it will apply to the separation between the Kedushah of Shabbos and the Kedushah of Yom Tov as well.


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