Dvar Torah on Hadran of Gemara



HADRAN

TEN SONS OF RAV PAPPA

Chanina bar Papa was a wealthy man who, whenever he completed a tractate, used to make great celebrations to which he invited his ten sons, as well as many others. As a result, he brought glory to the Torah, which was reflected in the scholarly attainments of his sons. The nation, therefore, honors Rav Pappa and his family by mentioning them at every siyum. Esoterically, Rav Pappa represented Moshe and the names of his sons symbolize the Ten Commandments, as demonstrated below. לפי רמ"א (רבי משה איסרל"ש)

|10 Sons of Pappa |10 Commandments |10 Utterances |

|פפא |Moshe speaks with Hashem |Need to start again (like Simchas Torah does with |

| |פה אל פה |Bereshis) |

| |אנכי גמטריא 81 (פא) |תורה נקראת ראשית |

|חנינא בר פפא |לא יהיה לך וגו' |בראשית |

| |Do not have mercy (לא תחנם) on idol worshipers, the |World was created with Chesed |

| |opposite of concept of mercy towards all | |

|רמי בר פפא |לא תשא |יהי אור |

| |Raising and exalting (רממות והתנשאות) another to a similar|Separation of light as reward for the future (similar |

| |place as HaShem |to Terumah) |

|נחמן בר פפא |לא תעשה לך פסל |יהי רקיע |

| |After making an idol one see it is nothing and has regrets|Waters cried and HaShem had regrets and comforted the |

| |(נחם) |waters with promises to be poured on the Altar |

|אחאי בר פפא |לא תרצח |שני המארות |

| |First murder between brothers that forgot they were |At first the Sun and Moon were created twins, like |

| |brothers |Yaacov and Esav |

|אבא מרי בר פפא |כבד את אביך |נעשה אדם |

| |Honor your father |One father to all |

|רפרם בר פפא |לא תנאף |ישקו המים |

| |Temptation makes contact with the fluttering (רפרף) of the|Fish in the water are examples of proper conduct פריה |

| |eyelashes |ורביה |

|רכיש בר פפא |לא תגנוב |נתתי לכם כל עשב |

| |Do not desire improper possessions (רכוש) |Main purpose of possessions is to provide food & |

| | |nourishment |

|סורחב בר פפא |לא תענה |יקוו המים |

| |Serach was a witness regarding bones of Yosef |Allows earth to appear in proximity to the Mishkan סרח |

| | |המשכן |

|אדא בר פפא |שבת |תדשא הארץ |

| |אדא גמטריא ששsix days of the week |Mist (אד) went up |

|דרו בר פפא |לא תחמוד |תוצא הארץ נפש חיה |

| |Do not covet another’s house (wife) דירה |Animals were created to serve humans |

| | |Placed under burdens (רדו) |

|Rav Papa [pic] |

|Rav Papa belonged to the fifth generation of the Amoraim of Babylon. He lived about 1,600 years ago. He was a student of Abaye and Rava in Pumbedisa. |

|When Rava died, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak became head of the academy in Pumbeditha, and Rav Papa established a Yeshiva in Nehardea, where many students |

|came to study under him. |

|Rav Papa's father was a well-to-do merchant, and he fully supported Rav Papa throughout the many years of his study. Later Rav Papa became |

|self-supporting. He engaged in making beer from dates, and also traded in poppy seeds from which oil was made. Rav Papa became a rich man, and he was |

|able to support many of his poor students. |

|Rav Papa, as a great scholar and a businessman, was quite familiar with human nature, for he had gathered considerable experience in his travels, and in|

|his dealings with all kinds of people. He was therefore wise in matters of the world, and many are the sayings and proverbs in the Talmud which display |

|his practical wisdom. We will mention a few of them: |

|"At the door of a house full of food, there are many brothers and friends, but at the door of hunger there are no brothers and no friends." |

|"Let a quarrel stand over night, and it will disappear by itself." |

|"Anyone who acts in the midst of anger is likely to destroy his house." |

|"Be quick in buying a field, and slow in taking a wife." |

|"Step down a rung to choose a wife; step up one, to choose a friend." |

|"People say, 'If your wife is short, bend down to whisper in her ear.'" |

|"When the grain runs out of the jar, conflict comes into the house." |

|"If you wish to talk to a wool-washer, do not be ashamed to call him out to the gate and sit down near him." |

|After Rava's death, many of his prominent students came to Rav Papa, and acknowledged him as their teacher. Some of them sometimes embarrassed him with |

|difficult questions, but Rav Papa used to pray that they should not be punished by G-d for shaming him in public. One bright student was Rav Shimi bar |

|Ashi (who later became the father of the great Rav Ashi, who, together with Ravina, edited the Babylonian Talmud). Rav Shimi often asked Rav Papa |

|difficult questions. Once, Rav Shimi overheard his teacher praying to G-d to deliver him from Shimi's embarrassing questions, and never again did he ask|

|any more such questions. This shows the humility of Rav Papa, for he could have expelled any difficult student from the Yeshiva, but he swallowed his |

|pride. |

|Rav Papa had a unique distinction of being blessed with ten sons, all of whom were great scholars. |

TEN SONS OF RAV PAPPA

WHAT WAS THE MERIT OF RAV PAPPA?

Rema says the Rav Papa was a self-made rich man who honored Chachamim by sponsoring a meal at conclusion of learning of each Gemara; or that he named his 10 sons in honor the 10 Utterances. Yeshuos Shimshon mentions that Rav Pappa had mercy on all the Rabannan always concerned for all opinions.

MENTIONING THE NAMES OF THE TEN SONS IS A SEGULA FOR REMEMBERING

Sefer Yochasin brings that mentioning the names of the ten sons of Rav Papa seven times helps one to remember one’s learning.

TEN SONS AND THE COMPLETION OF THE GEMARA

Sefer Metaamim writes that when Rav Ashi and Ravina standardized the text of the Gemara they requested that the ten sons of Rav Papa review the text for errors. Thus, they are mentioned at the conclusion of each mesecta as a confirmation of the accuracy of the text.

GEMATRIA OF THE NAMES OF THE TEN SONS

Choshev Yisrael says that the gematria of names of bar Pappa and his ten sons adds up to 2696, which is the same number as the total number of dafim (pages) in the Talmud Bavli (standard today is 2711). Therefore, mentioning Rav Papa and his 10 sons at the conclusion of each Gemara we are praying that we will have the ability to finish the entire Shas.

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