For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 5
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On our daf we learn a midrashic pun (frowned upon by the RAMABAM)
Bar Kappara taught: What is the meaning of that which is written:
יד וְיָתֵד תִּהְיֶה לְךָ, עַל-אֲזֵנֶךָ; וְהָיָה, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ חוּץ, וְחָפַרְתָּה בָהּ, וְשַׁבְתָּ וְכִסִּיתָ אֶת-צֵאָתֶךָ.
14 And thou shalt have a paddle among thy weapons; and it shall be, when thou sittest down abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee.
Deut 23:14
And you shall have a peg among your weapons [azenekha]” ?
Do not read it as: Your weapons [azenekha].
Rather, read it: On your ear [oznekha], meaning that if a person hears an inappropriate matter, he should place his finger, which is shaped like a peg, into his ears.
It is so that if a person hears an inappropriate matter, he will place his fingers in his ears.
The Gemora cites a braisa:"One should not hear unworthy things, because the ears are the most easily burned from all the other organs"
We explore the genetics and phylogeny of the earlobe, including the paleopathology of the ear in ancient papyri. How does modern science look upon the ancient Chinese auricular therapy for all sorts of diseases.