Terms

Bitel – Nullified

Drash – To explain a verse allegorically.

Ivoilehu – “They asked them” – a way to introduce an information question (as opposed to a “reminhu” or “mait’vai” which are used to introduce a contradiction).

Mait’vai – A kasha (contradiction) from a more authoritative source (as opposed to a “v’iraminhu” which is a kasha from a source of equivalent authority.

Ta’ah – Mistake (unintentional act)

Tashlumim – “Making peace” – making up a missed prayer (davening) service. This is allowed only when events are beyond one’s normal control. Tashlumim cannot be done for the sake of convenience.

Concepts

A small circle next to a word is used like a footnote. In our case, the footnote is in the far right column and refers to the verse in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) Aleph.

Acronyms

Aleph-Tet’Lamed – “Im Timtzeh L’Omer”, meaning “If it is found, say”.

Tet’Shin – “Ta Shema”, meaning “Come hear”. Typically used to introduce an answer to an information question. Usually, this answer is not accepted.

Gemara

We continued on with the same gemara from class 3. We remember two obligations:

1. The mitvah of prayer
2. The mitzvah of prayer in its proper time

The class continues with:

Ivoilehu: They [the students] asked him: A person makes a mistake and misses
davening mincha. What is the halakha for davening ma’ariv twice?

Because it says [in the Torah] “And there was evening and there was
morning, the first day”, we know that the evening begins a new day.

Rabbi Cytrin discussed how this verse offers a possible answer for the question posed by the students. If evening begins a new day, then we cannot daven maariv twice (to make up the missed mincha). The new day has started and the chance to make up prayers from the previous day has passed. An additional argument in favor of this answer is the fact that prayer is modeled after the korbanot (offerings) of the Temple. In the times of the Temple, if the afternoon sacrifice was forgotten, the chance to make up that korban was nullified because the day had passed.

However, Rabbi Cytrin points out that there’s another possible answer. Since prayer is an act of seeking G-d’s compassion, as long as one has earnest sincerity, he is allowed to daven the extra ma’ariv service to make up for the missed mincha. The passing of a new day should not make a difference.

The gemara then continues:

R’Yochanan says: A person made a mistake and missed mincha. He can
Daven ma’ariv twice – don’t pay attention to the issue of the korbanot.

This passage backs up Rabbi Cytrin’s 2nd possible answer.

The gemara then brings in a kasha from a more authoritative source (mait’vai), a verse from Kochelet Aleph:

A corruption cannot be fixed and a lacking cannot be filled.

Bringing this verse into the discussion is a drash. Rabbi Cytrin says the phrase “a corruption cannot be fixed” refers to a person who does not say the Shema or does not daven. The phrase, “a lacking can never be filled” refers to a situation where friends have joined together to perform some mitzvah and another friend chooses not to join them – a missed opportunity. For the purposes of this gemara, this 2nd phrase is not relevant to the discussion.

What the first phrase “a corruption cannot be fixed” from this verse from Kochelet is saying is that “make up” prayer is not allowed and bringing this verse in goes against what R’Yochanan [who is an amora (sage in the times of the gemara)] said.

The gemara continues with:

R’Yitchak said in the name of R’Yochanan: What is this verse
[from Kochelet] talking about? It is referring to the case where the
corruption/violation is intentional [bitel]. The verse is not applicable to the
situation where an honest mistake [ta’ah] is made.