In one of his sichos (which appears in siman 17 of Sefer Mada), the Rebbe explains that through studying Rambam in depth, one achieves a new understanding of the tractates of Shas, Mishnah and Gemara.
When one studies the Rambam with the Rebbe’s many explanations and commentaries, one is amazed to discover new meaning in the gemaras traditionally studied in yeshivos – to the extent that at times we discover that we never really understood even the basic meaning of the gemara or mishnah.
While there are many examples thereof, here is one sample that reveals new meaning in the first Mishnah of maseches Brachos, by means of an amazing, careful reading of the Rambam in Hilchos Bikkurim chapter 2 halacha 1:
At the very start of the Mishnah, ‘Me’eimasai korin es shema ba’arvin, misha’ah shehakohanim nichanasim le’echol bitrumasan’ = From when may one read krias shema in the evenings? From the time that the kohanim enter to partake of their terumah. The Tannah compares the time of krias shema to the time when kohanim who became impure, immersed, and waited for the sun to set and for evening to fall, may partake of their terumah.
Indeed, if a person recites kerias shema during bein hashemashos, at dusk, when it is a matter of doubt whether night has fallen, he has not fulfilled his obligation, because ‘when there is doubt with regard to a Scriptural obligation, the stringent path must be taken.’ Conversely, if one partakes of terumah during the bein hashemashos period, we rule that ‘when there is doubt regarding a rabbinical obligation, the lenient path may be taken,’ and this period is acceptable after the fact for partaking of terumah, which is not the case for reciting the shema.
The Rebbe explains that the mishnah’s meaning is incorporated in the Rambam’s wording in the above-mentioned halacha, ‘Bikkurim are only in effect when the Beis Hamikdash is standing’, but he does not add the second condition that is mentioned with regard to terumah, that it is conditional on all of the Jewish People entering the Land. This demonstrates that bikkurim is a Scriptural obligation even during the Second Temple era, when the ten tribes were not on Jewish soil.
We now understand that the Mishnah’s words ‘to partake of their terumah’ refer to bikkurim, as the gemara explains that bikkurim, terumah, and challah are all referred to as ‘terumah,’ but the possesive ‘terumasan’ – their terumah, terumah that is the kohanim’s property by right- is most appropriately used in reference to bikkurim, because terumah may be given to the kohen of the owner’s choosing and wherever he wishes to do so, while bikkurim must be presented to whichever kohen happens to be in the Beis Hamikdash. It is therefore referred to as terumasan, ‘their terumah’ – as its owner has no beneficiary rights to it.
