Perek ha'Mocher es ha'Sefinah

1)

(a)

Someone who sells a ship automatically sells, among other things, the 'Toren', the 'Nes' and the 'Ugin'. What is/are ...

1.

... the 'Toren'?

2.

... the 'Nes'?

3.

... the 'Ugin'?

(b)

What is the connection between Ugin and the Pasuk in Megilas Rus "ha'Lahen Te'agenah"?

(c)

What does the Tana say about the slaves who work on the ship, the leather sacks and the goods for transportation?

(d)

Under which circumstances will they too, be included in the sale?

2)

(a)

The 'Manhigin' are the oars, and we cite Pesukim from Yechezkel to prove it. What would we have included instead of the oars, were it not for those Pesukim?

(b)

The Beraisa adds Isk'la and Bor Mayim to the list of things that are sold together with the boat. 'Bor Mayim' is a reservoir containing drinking water. What is 'Isk'la'?

(c)

Rebbi Nasan in a Beraisa inserts 'Bitzis' to the list, and Sumchus, 'Dugis'. What is the definition of the two?

(d)

In that case, why did the Tana'im give them different names?

3)

(a)

The forthcoming stories, mainly concerning Rabah bar bar Chanah, which are not to be taken literally, may well be meant to teach us the greatness of Hash-m. What else might be coming to teach us?

(b)

Why are the stories inserted in this Perek?

(c)

The sailors told Rabah (bar bar Chanah) about a flame of white fire that would go in front of a wave that threatened to sink a ship. What was it really?

(d)

How did the sailors deal with it (causing it to die down)?

4)

(a)

If the distance between one wave and the next was three hundred Parsah, what was the wave's height?

(b)

What did such a wave once do to Rabah bar bar Chanah? What did he see there?

(c)

How big did the star appear to him?

(d)

What would have happened had the wave tossed him any higher?

5)

(a)

What did the next wave shout to the one ahead of it? What did it think it was doing?

(b)

What did the first wave reply?

(c)

What did Rabah bar Chanah see Hurmin (or Hurmiz) the son of Lilis doing on the tip of the wall of Mechuza? Who were Hurmin and Lilis" What was their relationship?

(d)

What act of Divine Kindness did Rabah bar bar Chanah then relate in connection with this episode?

6)

(a)

One day Hurmin saddled two donkeys, which he then placed one on each of the two bridges of the River Rugnag. What did he do next (despite the fact that the two bridges were not close to each other)?

(b)

What was it that rendered his stunt even more impressive?

(c)

The demon-king's men killed him for one of two reasons; one of them, because the fact that Hurmin did this in full view of the people, led the king to believe that he was divulging his secrets to them. What is the other?

(d)

According to this latter explanation, what was Hurmin doing mixing with humans?

73b----------------------------------------73b

7)

(a)

Rabah bar bar Chanah related how he saw a newly-born 'Re'eim' (a kind of Chayah [a wild ox, according to some commentaries] with long horns), which was four Parsah long. Which mountain did he compare it to?

(b)

If its neck was three Parsah, what was the size of the place where its head lay on the ground?

(c)

What happened when the Re'eim defecated in the River Yarden?

8)

(a)

He also saw a frog the size of the town Akra of Hagrunya. How many houses were there in Akra?

(b)

If a serpent swallowed the frog, what swallowed the serpent?

(c)

What did Rabah bar bar Chanah comment on the tree on which that raven perched?

(d)

What did Rav Papa bar Shmuel comment about Rabah bar bar Chanah's testimony?

9)

(a)

When Rabah bar bar Chanah was once traveling in a boat, he saw how a certain insect (possibly a stickleback) entered a fish's gills. What ...

1.

... happened to the insect?

2.

... catastrophe ensued?

(b)

Sixty towns ate from it and sixty towns salted what was left. What use did they make from one of its eye-balls?

(c)

What did Rabah bar bar Chanah find them doing with its bones, when he returned a year later?

10)

(a)

On another such occasion, what prompted Rabah bar bar Chanah to leave his ship to stretch on the back of a large fish?

(b)

Why did the fish turn over? How was Rabah bar bar Chanah saved from drowning?

(c)

In another episode, how long did it take for his ship to sail from the fin beside the fish's head to the fin beside its tail?

(d)

In which direction were they traveling?

11)

(a)

According to the testimony Rav Dimi gave when he arrived from Eretz Yisrael, how long did it take for the ship to travel sixty Parsah?

(b)

How else did he prove the amazing speed of the ship?

(c)

What did Rav Ashi mean to say when he explained 'ha'Hu Gild'na de'Yama Hava'i'?

12)

(a)

Rabah bar bar Chanah was once traveling in a boat when he saw a certain bird standing in the water. What led him to believe that the water was not deep?

(b)

Where was the bird's head?

(c)

What did the bas-Kol (a Heavenly Voice) announce, when Rabah bar bar Chanah wanted to enter the water to cool himself?

(d)

Why, after seven years, had the carpenter's ax still not landed (besides for the depth of the water)?

(e)

Why did Rav Ashi quote the Pasuk in Tehilim "ve'Ziz Sadai Imadi"? What does this Pasuk have to do with the current episode?

13)

(a)

Why were the feathers of the geese that Rabah bar bar Chanah came across in the desert falling off? What did he see underneath them?

(b)

Why did one of the birds raise its wing and another its thigh?

(c)

What did Rebbi Elazar mean when he said that Yisrael would have to give reckoning (for their sins)? What did that have to do with the geese?

14)

(a)

Rabah bar bar Chanah was once travelng n the desert in the company of an Arab merchant. What unusual power did the Arab possess?

(b)

He even used the earth to find out how far they were from water. How far were they from water when Rabah bar bar Chanah posed the question ...

1.

... the first time?

2.

... the second time

(c)

How did Rabah bar bar Chanah test the arab's expertize?

(d)

What was the result?