1)

(a)Rebbi Zeira - was nicknamed 'Ketina Charich Shaki (the short man with the scorched thigh' [as the Gemara in Bava Metzi'a relates]).

(b)Rebbi Avahu paid him a visit - because he was ill).

(c)The latter promised - to make a Se'udah for the Rabbanan in the vent that he (Rebbi Zeira) was cured.

2)

(a)When, at the Se'udah that subsequently took place, he (Rebbi Avahu) said to Rebbi Zeira 'Lishri lan Mar', he meant - that he should recite 'ha'Motzi' on behalf of all the guests.

(b)Rebbi Zeira objected based on a statement of Rav Huna - whom he referred to 'Rav Huna haBavli' - because he (Rebbi Zeira) had jus moved from Bavel to Eretz Yisrael.

(c)According to Rav Huna - it is the host who recites 'ha'Motzi'.

3)

(a)Rebbi Avahu however, held like Rebbi Yochanan in the name of Rebbi Shimon, according to whom ...

1. ... the host is the one who ought to recite 'ha'Motzi' (because he hands out the pieces of bread generously, whereas the one to recite ...

2. ... Birchas ha'Mazon is - the guest, so the he is able to bless the host.

(b)The initial text of the B'rachah that the guest recites on behalf of the Ba'al ha'Bayis is ' 'that the host should mot be ashamed in this world, nor embarrassed in the World to Come.

(c)To this, Rebbi added three basic requests: 1. Concerning the success of the host's business ventures and the location of both the host and one's own property; 2. That the Satan should have jurisdiction neither over the host nor over oneself and - and that no sinful thoughts of any sort enter one's own mind or that of the host.

4)

(a)According to Rav Nachman, Mezuman ends with 'Nevarech (she'Achalnu mi'Shelo'). Rebbi Sheishes maintains - that it ends with 'ha'Zan es ha'Kol.

(b)We suggest that their Machlokes is equivalent to the Machlokes between two Beraisos, one which says that Birchas ha'Mazon comprises two and three, the other - three and four.

(c)Assuming that 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' is not d'Oraysa, how do we initially explain the Tana that says ...

1. ... 'two and three' - to mean 'Nodeh' and 'Rachem' when there is no Mezuman, and 'ha'Zan', 'Nodeh' and 'Rachem' when there is.

2. ... 'three and four' - to mean Birchas ha'Zimun, 'ha'Zan', 'Nodeh' and 'Rachem'.

5)

(a)We reject that suggestion however, by explaining the Beraisos according to the respective opinions of Rav Nachman and Rav Sheishes. According to Rav Nachman, both Tana'im hold 'until Nevarech', and the Tana who holds 'two and three' - holds that, laborers (who need to go to work), combine Birchas ha'Aretz (Nodeh) and 'Boneh Yerushalayim'.

(b)Whereas according to Rav Sheishes, both Tana'im hold 'until ha'Zan', and he establishes that the the Tana who holds 'three and four' -holds that 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' is d'Oraysa.

6)

(a)Rav Yosef proves that ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv is not min ha'Torah 0 from the fact that 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' is not min ha'Torah - from the fact that laborers omit it from the text.

(b)Whereas Rav Yitzchak bar Shmuel bar Marsa in the name of Rav proves it from the format of the B'rachah - which begins with a Baruch but does not end with one (and not vice-versa [se we will now explain])

(c)The source for this is a Beraisa which states that 'All B'rachos begin and end with 'Baruch, with three exceptions; Birchas ha'Peiros, Birchas ha'Mitzos', 'any B'rachah ha'Semuchah la'Chavertah' - and the B'rachah after the Sh'ma (both in the morning and at nighttimes).

(d)The reason that ...

1. ... the first two exceptions do not end with a 'Baruch' - because there is nothing extra after the first B'rachah over which to insert it.

2. ... a B'rachah ha'Semuchah la'Chavertah does not begin with a Baruch is - because it follows on after the first B'rachah of

(e)... 'Emes ve'Yatziv' (and 'Emes ve'Munah') does not begin with a Baruch - because (in spite of the interruption of the Sh'ma itself) - they are Semuchah to the B'rachah before the Sh'ma.

7)

(a)Rav now proves from the conclusion of the Beraisa 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv begins with a Baruch, but does not end with a Baruch' - that 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' is an independent B'rachah (which was inserted later by the Rabbanan).

(b)Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak proves the same thing from the fact that - 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' is omitted from Birchas ha'Mazon in the house of an Aveil (as we shall now see).

8)

(a)According to the Tana Kama, the fourth B'rachah of Birchas ha'Mazon in the house of an Aveil is 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv'. Rebbi Akiva says - 'Baruch Dayan Emes'.

(b)In answer to the Kashya on the Tana Kama 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv In, Baruch Dayan Emes, Lo?' - we explain that what the Tana Kama means is 'Af ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' (in addition to 'Baruch dayan Emes').

(c)Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak has proved from the opinion of Rebbi Akiva - that 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv is not d'Oraysa (otherwise how could the Chachamim omit it in the house of an Aveil?).

9)

(a)Mar Zutra one recited Bichas Birchas ha'Aveil ('Keil Emes, Dayan Emes. Shofet be'Tzedek ... ') in 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' - when he paid Rav Ashi a visit, and one of the latter's relatives died.

(b)The gist of the B'rachah is that Hash-m rules over us, that we are subservient to Him and that He does as He sees fit, because all His ways are just, and we are forever obligated to thank Him and to bless him. He ended the B'rachah with - 'May the One who repairs the breaches in Yisrael repair this breach in Yisrael for life'.

10)

(a)According to Rav Z'vid in the name of Abaye, when the third person who continued eating after answering Mezuman finishes his meal, he must recite Birchas ha'Mazon from the beginning. The Rabbanan maintain - that he continues from 'Nodeh L'cha' ...

(b)The Halachah is - like the Rabbanan.

11)

(a)The Resh Galusa commented to Rav Sheishes (in spite of acknowledging that he [Rav Sheishes] and his colleagues were sages) - that the Persians were greater experts in 'the needs of a Se'udah'.

(b)When two people were eating together, the senior participant would seat himself first and the other person, above him, and when there were three - the third person would sit below him.

(c)Rav Sheishes objected to ...

1. ... that inasmuch as - if the senior person wants to speaks with his eating partner, he will need to sit up and turn round in order to do so.

2. ... to the Persian Minhag that the senior person washed Netilas Yadayim first before eating in that - it will require him to wait quietly with washed hands for Birchas Birchas 'ha'Motzi'.

(d)Resh Galusa counters Rav Sheishes' ...

1. ... first objection - by pointing out that the Persians commonly indulged in hand signals, in which case the senior participant does not need to sit up and turn round to speak to his eating colleague.

2. ... second objection - in that as soon as he washed, they would bring in his table with the food on it, thereby enabling him to begin eating immediately.

12)

(a)Rav Sheishes objected to the Persian Minhag that the senior person washed last - in that this meant that he had to sit with dirty hands until everybody else has finished washing.

(b)Which the Resh Galusa countered - by informing that the Persians would not remove the table from the senior participant until everybody had finished washing Mayim Achronim, thereby allowing him to continue eating during the interim.

(c)Rav Sheishes refuted all these Persian customs in one fell swoop - by citing a Beraisa which negated all of them.

13)

(a)According to the Beraisa, when there are ...

1. ... two people eating, the senior participant sits - on top, and the other participant, below him, and when there are ...

2. ... three people, he sits in the middle, with the second above him, and the third below him.

(b)The reason that the second does one not sit below and the third one above (to enable him [the senior participant] to speak with him without having to turn round) is - in order not to belittle the second participant by placing him lower down than the third one.

(c)The first to wash ...

1. ... Netilas Yadayim - is the senior participant (whose table is immediately placed in front of him).

2. ... Mayim Achronim, if there are five people - is the swenior participant.

(d)In the event that there are more than five participants - the junior participants wash first, until the last five, at which point the senior participant washes.

(e)The Tana then rules that the first of the five last people to wash Mayim Achronim - is the one who recites Mezuman.

14)

(a)The previous ruling supports a statement of Rav Chiya bar Ashi in the name of Rav who said - that the first person of the last group to wash Mayim Achronim is the one who will recite Birchas ha'Mazon.

(b)Rebbi once instructed Rav, when he and his uncle Rebbi Chiya were sitting with him, after they had just eaten - to go and wash his hands.

(c)Rav reacted to that - by trembling (because he thought that Rebbi was scolding him for sitting at table with dirty hands.

(d)Rebbi Chiya told him - that, to the contrary, he was honoring him with Bensching Mezuman.

(e)Rebbi Chiya referred to him as 'bar Pachsi' - by which he meant 'Son of distinguished people'.