The first perek of Shevuot opens with this: shevuot shtayim she'hen arba, oaths that are two that are really four. The Torah spells out two cases, and the Rabbis show there are four. The same pattern shows up with entering the Temple while impure, carrying on Shabbat, and the shades of leprosy.

 

The rest of the perek moves to atonement: the goats and bull of Yom Kippur, the scapegoat, and the goats of Rosh Chodesh and the festivals. Different types of offerings, but the same idea. Hashem gives us more ways back than we would expect.

 

The perek teaches us something: even when the Torah says one thing, the Mishnah is able to expand on it and make it seem very different .

 

That’s how I remember learning with Grandpa, The text of the Mishnah was only the start. After we learned the text, he would pull out a slideshow and add so much more

 

Happy birthday, Grandpa!