1)

(a)Someone who sees a location where a miracle was performed on behalf of Yisrael recites the B'rachah - 'she'Asah Neis le'Yisrael ba'Makom ha'Zeh'.

(b)Examples of this are - the place where Yisrael crossed the Yam-Suf and the River Yarden and the stone on which Moshe Rabeinu sat during the battle with Amalek.

(c)If the location is one where a miracle occurred to oneself however - one says 'she'Asah li Neis ba'Makom ha'Zeh'.

(d)Besides oneself - one's son and grandson are obligated to recite his B'rachah whenever they see the spot where the miracle occurred.

2)

(a)Upon seeing a location in Eretz Yisrael from which Avodah-Zarah was uprooted, one recites the B'rachah - 'Baruch she'Akar Avodah-Zarah me'Artzeinu (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

(b)If one recites one of these B'rachos without mentioning Malchus - one is not Yotzei (and has to repeat the B'rachah) ...

(c)... because any B'rachah that does not contain the Name of Hash-m [Havayah] and Malchus is not considered a B'rachah.

3)

(a)The Tana now lists Zikin, Zeva'os, lightning, thunder and winds. 'Zikin' means either shooting stars or - comets (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

(b)'Zava'os' are - earth-quakes.

(c)The Tana is referring specifically to storm-winds (as he explicitly states).

4)

(a)Upon seeing ...

1. ... (or hearing) any of any of those in the last list, one recites the B'rachah - 'she'Kocho u'Gevaraso Malei Olam' (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

2. ... mountains, hills (presumably famous ones), seas, (unique [see Tiferes Yisrael]) rivers or deserts - one recites 'Oseh Ma'aseh Bereishis'.

(b)For someone who sees the Yam ha'Gadol - (any one of the seven seas (see also Tosfos Yom Tov and Tiferes Yisrael), R. Yehudah pres'rachah - 'she'Asah es ha'Yam ha'Gadol'.

(c)One is obligated to recite the B'rachah in the latter goup - if one has not seen them for at least thirty days.

(d)If someone wishes to recite ...

1. ... 'Oseh Ma'aseh Bereishis' over the first group - he may (since they too, are included in the work of the creation, as the Pasuk writes in Tehilim "B'rakim la'Matar Asah").

2. ... 'she'Kocho u'Gevuraso ... 'over any of the items in the second group - he is not permitted to do so (because it would simply be untrue to say that).

5)

(a)Over ...

1. ... the first rain of the season, and for ...

2. ... good news (that is shared [Tosfos Yom Tov]), one recites -'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv'.

3. ... bad news - 'Dayan ha'Emes'.

(b)One only recites 'ha'Tov ve'ha'Meitiv' over rain - if one owns land jointly with somebody else (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

(c)If one owns ...

1. ... no land at all, one says the Tefilah 'Modim Anachnu Lach ... al Kol Tipah ve'Tipah she'Horadt lanu ... '.

2. ... land, but not in partnership somebody else - one recites the B'rachah 'Shehechiyanu'.

6)

(a)One recites 'Shehechiyanu' over a new house or new clothes (see Tiferes Yisrael, notes 14 & 15) - even if one already has a similar house or clothes.

(b)The B'rachah one recites over a field that has been flooded and that year's crops are ruined is - 'Baruch Dayan ha'Emes' ...

(c)... even if the excess water will ultimately raise the quality of his field, ensuring bumper harvests in the years to come.

(d)The Tana teaches us that one needs to recite 'Shehechiyanu' over a valuable object that one finds - even where, by not handing it over to the king's men, one becomes subject to beatings upon discovery (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

7)

(a)The Mishnah describes a retroactive Tefilah - as a 'Tefilas Shav' (a vain Tefilah).

(b)One example of 'Tefilas Shav' is a case where one Davens that his pregnant wife should give birth to a boy. This statement will not apply however, if one Davens within the first forty days of pregnancy (before the baby is physically formed).

(c)The Tana's second example of a T'filas Shav is - where a traveler hears a scream from the vicinity of one's house, and prays that it should have been a member of one's family who sceamed.

8)

(a)the gist of the two Tefilos that ythe Tana Kama requires one to recite upon entering a large city (see Tosfos Yom Tov) is - a request that Hash-m brings one into the town in peace, and thanks for His having taken one out safely (Ibid.).

(b)According to ben Azai - one recites four Tefilos, two upon entering, and two when one leaves ...

(c)Before entering - one prays that Hash-m will bring him into the town in peace, and after he has entered, he thanks Him for having arrived at his destination safely.

(d)Before leaving - he prays to Hash-m for a safe exit, and once one is safely outside the town, he thanks Him for the safe exit (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

9)

(a)When the Tana writes that one is obligated to recite a B'rachah over the bad just as he recites one over the good - he means that one should say it with the same conviction and even with the same Simchah (see Tosfos Yom Tov & Rishon le'Tzi'on).

(b)He learns this from the Pasuk in Va'eschanan "u've'Chol Me'odecha" - which he interprets to mean with whatever measure Hash-m metes out to oneself (based on the word ["Me'odecha"] which he sees as a derivative of 'Midah').

(c)This is actually his alternative interpretation of the phrase. He first learns from it - that one should love Hash-m with all one money (see Tos. Anshei Sheim).

(d)And he learns from ...

1. ... "be'Chol Levavcha" - that one should love Hash-m with both one's Yeitzer-Tov and one's Yeitzer ha'Ra (see Tiferes Yisrael & Tosfos Yom Tov).

2. ... "u've'Chol Nafsh'cha" - that one should love Him even as He takes one's life (see Meleches Shlomoh).

10)

(a)A person should not - behave in a light-headed fashion in line with the eastern gate of the Beis-Hamikdash ...

(b)... because - the eastern gate is in line with the Kodesh Kodshim, since all the gates are actually in line with one another (the Eastern Gate, that of the Ezras Nashim ... the Ezras Yisael ... the Ulam ... the Heichal and the Kodesh Kodshim).

(c)The Tana is speaking - with regard to the period of the first Beis-Hamikdash (see Tosfos Yom Tov & Meleches Shlomoh).

(d)Beside the dust on his feet, one may not enter the Har ha'Bayis (the Temple Mount) - holding one's staff, wearing shoes or girded with a money-belt (or wearing vest, but no shirt).

11)

(a)One is not permitted to make it a 'Kapendarya' - (a short cut) ...

(b)... the acronym of 'a'de'maKiFNa DARI, Eyul be'HA (rather than go round the rows of houses, let me go through here).

(c)We learn that spitting in the area of the Har ha'Bayis is forbidden - from a 'Kal va'Chomer from ythe prohibition against wearing shoes, even though that is not as disgusted as spitting (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

12)

(a)We learn from the Pasuk in Nechemya ...

1. ... "Kumu Barchu es Hash-m Elokeichem min ha'Olam ve'ad ha'Olam" - that instead of the regular conclusion of a B'rachah, they would say 'Baruch Atah Hash-m Elokei Yisrael min ha'Olam (Chonein ha'Da'as'), which is what they used to say during the era of the first Beis-Hamikdash.

2. ... "vi'Yevarchu Sheim Kevodecha" - that, instead of 'Amen', they used to respond with the Pasuk 'Baruch Sheim K'vod Malchuso Le'olam Va'ed".

(b)In the era of the second Beis-Hamikdash however, they changed the text to 'min ha'Olam ve'ad ha'Olam' - because the Minim (the heretics who did not believe in Techi'as ha'Meisim) were pointing to this as proof that there is only one world.

13)

(a)We learn from Bo'az (in Megilas Rus), who greeted the harvesters with the words "Hash-m Imachem" - that one is permitted to greet a friend using the Name of Hash-m.

(b)We might have thought otherwise - because it seems degrading to use Hash-m's Name in honor of His creations.

(c)The harvesters response was - 'Yevarech'cha Hashem'.

14)

(a)We nevertheless need the Pasuk ...

1. ... in Shoftim "Hash-m imcha Gibor ha'Chayil" - (said by the angel to the Shofet Gidon) - to teach us that - it was not just a statement of Bo'az made of his own bat, but that even an angel did the same thing.

2. ... in Mishlei "Al Tavuz, ki Ziknah Imecha" - which is a warning not to despise the words of our leaders (such as Bo'az), but to learn from them (see Tosfos Yom Tov).

(b)We might otherwise have thought - that the Name of Hash-m mentioned by the angel who spoke to Gidon was (not part of the greeting at all, but) a message that he should take heart because Hash-m was with him.

(c)And we learn from the Pasuk in Tehilim...

1. ... "Eis La'asos la'Hashem" - that sometimes one is even permitted to negate the Torah when it is for the sake of Hash-m.

2. ... "Bakeish Shalom ve'Radfeihu" - especually when it is for the sake of peace (such as greeting one's friend).

(d)R. Nasan inverts the Pasuk, and explains it as 'When they annul your Torah, it is time to issue decrees for the sake of Hash-m (see Tosfos Yom Tov & Tiferes Yisrael).