Mesechtas Arachin

Mesechtas Arachin is the fifth tractate in Seder Kodashim of the Mishnah. This tractate deals with the laws of vows and consecrations for the maintenance of the Temple. Laws of vows are also discussed in other tractates in Seder Kodashim, but Mesechtas Arachin focuses on two special types of consecration vows - a vow to donate to the Temple treasury the equivalent value of a person, and the consecration of "Sdeh Achuzah" (ancestral fields in the Land of Israel that came to a person through inheritance from the original division of the land in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun). Additionally, the tractate deals with "Nidrei Charamin" (vows of destruction) and other vows.

The Maggid of Mezritch

The Maggid of Mezritch said that the understanding of Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli in Mesechtas Arachin is from the perspective of the soul, as Rabbi Meir stated, "A person's soul will teach him."

The Alter Rebbe

The Alter Rebbe had a custom during a certain period that anyone who wanted to become close to him had to ask him a question in Nigleh (revealed Torah). It is told about the Chassid Rabbi Hillel of Paritch that in his early days, he would travel from town to town where the Alter Rebbe was passing through during his wanderings. However, in every town he reached, the Alter Rebbe had already preceded him and left the city. Because of this, he never met him face to face. On one occasion, Rabbi Hillel decided to be clever and arrived at a planned town before the Alter Rebbe's arrival, and hid under the table where he was expected to expound on Chassidus, while preparing a difficult question he wanted resolved in Mesechtas Arachin. When the Alter Rebbe entered, he heard him saying in his holy melody, "The young man who has a question in Mesechtas Arachin should first evaluate himself, and only then come and ask." When Rabbi Hillel heard this, he fainted on the spot under the table, and only got up after the Alter Rebbe had finished his profound discourse on Chassidus and had already left the town.

The Rebbe explains this incident by stating that Mesechtas Arachin proves that the true value of every Jew is not measured according to the visible divine service, evidenced by the fact that the value of every Jew of the same age is equal regardless of differences in their level of divine service.

A similar expression was said by the Alter Rebbe to one of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon named Rabbi Yosef Kalbo: "If one thinks they know the simple meaning of Arachin – then they do not know."

The Rebbe's Explanations

In the tractate, among other things, the obligation of rebuke is explained: From where do we know that one who sees something improper in his fellow is obligated to rebuke him? As it is said, "You shall surely rebuke." The Rebbe investigates whether this is a new mitzvah, or if it is an additional obligation in all mitzvot, that just as one must fulfill the mitzvah, so too must one rebuke another when they are not fulfilling the mitzvah.

Additional Explanations

• 15a. Ten trials. Likkutei Sichos vol. 23, p. 104 (p. 119)
• 16b. Until striking. Toras Menachem vol. 18, p. 260 (p. 260)

External Links

• Mesechtas Arachin