Daily Talk

The Coal and the Flame

A man lends his neighbor a hot coal, and separately lets him light a candle from his flame. They look like the same gift - but the law says they are opposites. The coal may travel only as far as its owner may walk; the flame goes wherever its carrier goes, and the giver loses nothing at all.

Shevitat Yom Tov 5Monday, July 6, 2026

The Coal and the Flame

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About This Talk

Shevitat Yom Tov 5: carrying that must depart from the weekday manner, gifts sent but not as a market caravan, and the festival boundary that your very possessions carry with them - your things bound by your steps, but a shared flame belonging wholly to whoever holds it.