QUESTION: The Gemara teaches that there several situations in which a man is permitted to touch the Amah. He is permitted to touch it by means of a clay potsherd, or a thick, hard rag or a small stone, by holding it from the Beitzim, by holding it below the Atarah, or if he is married. In all of these cases, there is no concern that any mishap will occur.

The RAMBAM (Hilchos Isurei Bi'ah 21:23) writes: "An unmarried man may neither touch his genitals, nor place his hands anywhere beneath his stomach. If he needs to relieve himself, he may not hold the Amah. If he is married, however, this is permissible. Whether he is married or not, he may not touch the Amah at all except when he needs to relieve himself."

Why does the Rambam not mention that it is permitted in the first three situations of the Gemara, and why does the Rambam permit the fourth situation (when he is married) only "when he needs to relieve himself"?

ANSWER: In the Gemara later (13b), Rebbi Tarfon rules that if a thorn is stuck in a man's stomach below his belt, he may not remove it. He reasons that "it is better to have one's stomach split than to go to Gehinom." Why does Rebbi Tarfon not suggest that the man simply use a thick, hard rag to remove the thorn? The ARUCH LA'NER proves from here that Rebbi Tarfon argues with the Gemara and does not permit one to touch the Amah under any circumstances. Accordingly, the Rambam is ruling in accordance with the view of Rebbi Tarfon.

If the Rambam follows the view of Rebbi Tarfon, then why does he permit touching the Amah when one needs to relieve himself?

The Gemara says that when Shmuel told Rav Yehudah to hold the Amah and urinate, Rav Yehudah was married. Accordingly, when the Gemara permits touching only the Beitzim, from the Atarah down, it permits doing so for only for a married man. This is exactly what the Rambam means when he writes that "if he is married, this is permissible"; that is, it is permissible to touch the Beitzim and below the Atarah. The only part that the Rambam prohibits a married man to touch when not urinating is the part between the Beitzim and the Atarah, which is called the Amah.

Since everyone agrees that Rav Yehudah was married, why does the Gemara not answer that Rav Yehudah was permitted to touch the Amah simply because he was married? The fact that the Gemara does not give this answer implies that even a married man should refrain from touching the Amah, since it is permitted to do so only when necessary, such as when relieving oneself. The Amora'im therefore explain that Shmuel would not have instructed Rav Yehudah to touch his Amah, since it was possible to avoid doing so by touching the Beitzim or below the Atarah, which a married man is permitted to touch.

QUESTION: Rebbi Yosi says that the Mashi'ach will not arrive until all of the Neshamos come out of the Guf. RASHI (DH sheb'Guf) explains that "Guf" refers to a spiritual holding room where all of the Neshamos await being born in the forms of physical bodies in this world. The simple explanation of Rebbi Yosi's statement seems to be that Mashi'ach will not arrive until all of the Neshamos are born in the form of children.

TOSFOS (DH Ad she'Yichlu) asks that this seems to contradict the Gemara in Shabbos (118b). The Gemara there states that if all of the Jewish people would observe two Shabbosos, then they would immediately merit the coming of Mashi'ach. How can Mashi'ach come if all of the children have not yet been born?

(a) TOSFOS answers that immediately prior to the coming of Mashi'ach, parents will have multiple births.

This is difficult to understand. If the entire nation would have observed a second Shabbos in the Midbar (as the Gemara in Shabbos discusses), then the week before that Shabbos there would have been enough multiple births born to account for all of the Neshamos that would have been born for the next 3,300-plus years (until today, as Mashi'ach has not yet arrived as of today)! That would have been an enormous number of births in one week, far beyond the realm of the natural (even if we assume that most people are Gilgulim of other Neshamos). How can Tosfos say that there simply would be multiple births?

The MAHARSHA answers that Tosfos may be understood in the context of another Midrash. The Midrash says that in Mitzrayim, one woman would give birth to 600,000 children. This obviously is not to be understood literally, but rather allegorically. The Maharsha explains that the Midrash means that one woman would give birth to a single Tzadik (such as Moshe Rabeinu) who would be equal to 600,000 people. Similarly, Tosfos means that immediately before the Jewish people observe a second Shabbos, the children born that week would be equal in their greatness to many Neshamos.

However, the TOSFEI HA'ROSH (whose explanations are often similar to those of Tosfos) says explicitly that they will give birth that week to sextuplets in order to empty the Guf of all the Neshamos. He does not seem to agree with the explanation of the Maharsha.

(b) The Tosfei ha'Rosh explains that when the Gemara says that the Mashi'ach will come when the Jewish people observe a second Shabbos, it is giving an alternate way for the Mashi'ach to come without the need for all of the Neshamos to be born. The merit of all of the Jewish people keeping Shabbos would override the requirement for the Neshamos to first leave the Guf in order for the Mashi'ach to come. (Y. MONTROSE)