1)

(a)Rav Yehudah sent Avidrana (a Nochri) a gift on the day of his festival - because he knew that he did not worship idols (and would not therefore go and thank his god for the gift).

(b)Rav Yosef queried Rav Yehudah from the Beraisa that we just learned, which requires the Ger Toshav to accept 'Geirus' in front of three Talmidei-Chachamim. He replied - that this is only necessary with regard to the obligation to sustain him.

(c)Rabah bar bar Chanah Amar Rebbi Yochanan described a Ger Toshav who fails to perform the B'ris Milah within twelve months as - a Nochri Miyn (a heretic).

(d)To reconcile this with Rav Yehudah (assuming Avidrana to have been a Ger Toshav of long standing), we establish Rebbi Yochanan - where the Ger specifically declared that it was his intention to do so, and then allowed a year to pass without doing anything about it.

2)

(a)Rava did the same as Rav Yehudah with a Nochri by the name of bar Sheishach. When he went to visit him, he discovered him - sitting in a rose-bath up to his neck surrounded by naked prostitutes.

(b)When bar Sheishach asked him whether Yisrael were destined to enjoy such bliss in the World to Come, he replied - that their bliss was not tied up with the fear of the kingdom, in the way that it is with the nations in this world.

(c)When ...

1. ... bar Sheishach retorted that he no reason to fear the Emperor - a messenger arrived from Rome, calling on bar Sheishach to appear before the Emperor.

2. ... Rava said 'Amein' after bar Sheishach's B'rachah (that any eye that wishes to see evil occur to Yisrael [an Ayin ha'Ra], whose G-d fulfils their every wish, should fall out - his eye fell out.

(d)The connection between our Sugya and the two Pesukim that we are about to quote is that both of them would have been appropriate for Rava to have quoted to bar Sheishach. The Pasuk ...

1. ... in Tehilim "B'nos Melachim bi'Yikrosecha Nitzvah Sheigel li'Yeminecha" - because as Rav Papi explains, it refers to a prostitute sitting on the right of K'lal Yisrael ("Sheigal li'Yeminecha") in their honor ("bi'Yikrosecha" means 'in your honor') in the World to Come.

2. ... in Yeshayah "Ayin Lo Ra'asah Elokim Zulasecha, Ya'aseh li'Mechakeh lo", quoted by Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak - because it speaks of a superior existence in Olam ha'Ba, the likes of which no eye has ever yet beheld.

3)

(a)We learned in our Mishnah that if a Nochri hired a Yisrael to do other work, then he may accept his wages, even though he subsequently asks him to transport a barrel of Yayin Nesech. When we say that he does not need to have said 'le'Itosei Erev', we mean that - he does not necessarily need to ask for its transportation only after the rest of the work is completed.

(b)The Beraisa however - does indeed require the Nochri to ask him to transport the barrel of Yayin Nesech in the evening, for the rest of his wages to be permitted.

(c)Abaye therefore establishes our Mishnah where the Nochri added 'le'Itosei Erev'. Rava however, reconciles the two without changing our Mishnah - by establishing it when he stipulated 'Ha'aver li Chavis Chavis bi'Perutah' (in which case the transportation of each barrel is paid for independently) and 'Ha'aver li Me'ah Chavi'os be'Me'ah P'rutos', where the payment of the hundred P'rutos covers all the barrels (including the barrel of Yayin Nesech, without which he will not receive his renumeration).

(d)We prove Rava correct - from a Beraisa which draws the same distinction.

4)

(a)The problem with the continuation of the Mishnah 'ha'Socher es ha'Chamor Lehavi alehah Yayin Nesech, S'charo Asur' is that - it appears to duplicate the Reisha ('ha'Socher es ha'Po'el La'asos Imo be'Yayin Nesech ... ').

(b)And we answer that the Tana needed to add this Halachah because of the Seifa, which permits the owner to receive his rental even though the Nochri places his flask containing Yayin Nesech on the donkey's back which teaches us that - a hirer has no right to place his flask of wine on the donkey's back (or so we initially think), because if he had, the Tana would not have permitted such a transaction.

(c)The Beraisa permits - the owner of the donkey to place (only) his coat, his jar of wine and enough food for the entire journey on the donkey's back, and the hirer, barley and straw (for the donkey) and food for (only) one day.

5)

(a)This Beraisa seems to clash with what we just learned - inasmuch as the Tana permits the hirer to place his flask on the donkey's back (whereas we just concluded that this is forbidden).

(b)We answer this Kashya - by amending the reason in our Mishnah (not to the fact that he is not permitted to place the flask ... , but) because he would not detract from the rental by not making use of that right.

(c)The hirer will not be restricted to one day's food - if no food is available en route.

(d)Despite the fact that the Tana is speaking where food is available along the way, Rav Papa explains that the owner is permitted to take food for the entire journey, whilst the hirer may only take sufficient for one day - because, based on common practice, the onus is on the hirer to arrange his needs each evening when he arrives at the inn for the night, and not on the owner.

6)

(a)The father of Rav Acha b'rei de'Rav Ika was a wine-merchant. After pouring the wine into the flasks of his Nochri clients - he would transport it for them across the river on the ferry.

(b)The reason that ...

1. ... the clients returned the barrels, which were customarily included in the sale was - as payment for the wine.

2. ... his fellow Jews complained to Abaye about Rav Ika's practice - because they claimed that he was pouring out Yayin Nesech on behalf of his clients.

(c)Abaye answered ...

1. ... that - the wine only became Nesech once it touched the floor of the barrels.

2. ... when they asked him further that he wanted the wine to remain in the flasks (to prevent them from splitting, so that it would not become necessary to pour the wine back into the barrels) that - in fact, Rav Ika had previously stipulated that, even if the flasks split, they would not empty the wine into the barrels, and he therefore had no reason to want the wine to remain in the flasks.

(d)Crossing the flasks containing Yayin Nesech on the ferry was not forbidden, for one of two reasons; either because Rav Ika, who was 'the head of the river', arranged in advance with the ferryman, to cross his clients whenever they arrived, or - because he provided them with a permanent pass.

7)

(a)If Yayin Nesech falls on grapes, washing will suffice - provided the grapes are not split.

(b)If the wine falls on G'rogros (dried figs) or dates, the criterion that renders them Asur will be - 'Nosen Ta'am' (which is generally more than one in sixty).

(c)When a barrel of wine once spilt on to G'rogros that Bitus ben Zonin was transporting on a boat - the Chachamim permitted it.

(d)The Tana ends with the principle 'Kol she'be'Hana'so be'Nosen Ta'am Asur ... ', giving as an example of 'Eino be'Nosen Ta'am' as - vinegar that falls into a bean-stew. which is 'Eino be'Nosen Ta'am because it is 'Nosen Ta'am li'Fegam' (it spoils the taste rather than enhances it).

8)

(a)We amend our Mishnah, which talks about the Isur of Nosen Ta'am and illustrates it with the story of Bitus ben Zonin, which the Chachamim permitted - by adding to the Reisha 'Im Nosen Ta'am li'Fegam, hu Mutar'.

(b)Regarding a garment in which there is Kil'ayim that 'got lost', the Beraisa - forbids using it as a saddle-cloth for one's donkey (for fear that at a later stage, he might take it off and use it as a patch for his clothes).

(c)One may however - use it for shrouds to bury a deceased person.

(d)The Tana forbids selling it to a Nochri - for fear that the Nochri might then re-sell it to a Yisrael, who is not aware that it contains Kil'ayim.

9)

(a)When a barrel of wine spilt on a pile of wheat - Rava initially permitted selling it to Nochrim.

(b)Rabah bar Liva'i queried Rava, based on the Beraisa's previous ruling - which forbids selling to a Nochri, something that a Yisrael may later buy from him.

(c)Rava therefore retracted from his previous ruling - permitting the sale of the wheat only after the seller had first ground and baked it into bread, dispensing with the fear that a Yisrael might then re-purchase it from the Nochri (as this would then be forbidden). He added the clause 'she'Lo bi'Fenei Yisrael' - because if a Yisrael saw him selling it to a Nochri, he would be permitted to re-purchase it from the latter.

(d)In a case where wine fell on to grapes that were not split - our Mishnah permitted washing the grapes and eating them, Rav Papa attributes Rava's stringent ruling with regard to the wheat - to the fact that all grains of wheat contain a natural split (giving them a Din of being split even when they are whole).