ERUVIN 21 (10 Elul) - This Daf has been dedicated in memory of Sheina Basha (daughter of Yakov and Dora) Zuckerman, who passed away on 10 Elul, by her children and sons in law.

1)

(a)When is even a person permitted to draw water from the 'Pasei Bira'os' and drink it there?

(b)'ve'Lo Yemale Adam Mayim ve'Yiten Lifnei Behemto, Aval Memale Hu ve'Shofech Lifnei Beheimah ve'Shosh Me'elehah'. What does the Gemara mean when it asks 'Mah Ho'il Roshah ve'Rubah shel Parah?'

(c)How does the Gemara answer this question?

1)

(a)Even a person may draw water from the well in the Pasei Bira'os and drink it there - if the well is wide, making it difficult for a person to clamber down it.

(b)Seeing as the Beraisa forbids filling a bucket of water from the well of Pasei Bira'os and placing it in front of one's animal, what does our Mishnah mean, asks Rav Anan, when it permits doing so, provided the head and most of the animal is inside. (See Tosfos, who explains that either Rav Anan understands that 'Lo Yemalei' of the Beraisa includes when he is holding both the bucket and the animal, or he holds that, when the owner is holding the bucket and the animal, 'Roshah ve'Rubah' is not necessary - otherwise, in either case, the Kashya would be easily answerable.)

(c)The Gemara answers - that the Beraisa is not speaking by a regular case of Pasei Bira'os, but one which leads, not to the street (as in most cases) but to a feeding-trough stands at the entrance of the area of the Pasei Bira'os (part of it actually inside the entrance), and the animal is standing in a house immediately behind the trough (as it already explained on the previous Amud - though for different reasons).

2)

(a)What are 'Burganin' and what is their Halachic significance?

(b)Why did the Halachah of 'Burganin' not apply in Bavel?

(c)Why did 'Pasei Bira'os' not apply in Chutz la'Aretz?

(d)What does 'Aval Ipcha, Avdinan' mean?

2)

(a)Burganin - are small temporary guards' huts, which increase the outside extremity of the town - provided they are within seventy Amos of the last house .

(b)'Burganin' did not apply in Bavel - because Bavel was full of pools of water, which rendered them useless.

(c)'Pasei Bira'os' did not apply in Chutz la'Aretz (which did not include Bavel) - because people did not tend to travel from one town to the other (as they did in Bavel) - therefore there was no D'var Mitzvah (like the Olei Regalim) to permit Pasei Bira'os - and we learnt above that Chazal only permitted Pasei Bira'os for the benefit of the Olei Regalim (including similar type Mitzvos).

(d)'Aval Ipcha Avdinan' - means that 'Burganin' did apply in Chutz la'Aretz, and 'Pasei Bira'os' in Bavel.

3)

(a)In the second Lashon, Rav is quoted as saying that neither Burganin nor 'Pasei Bira'os' were applicable either in Bavel or in Chutz la'Aretz. According to this Lashon, why did ...

1. ... 'Burganin' not apply in Chutz la'Aretz?

2. ... 'Pasei Bira'os' not apply in Bavel?

(b)How far was it from Barnash to the Shul in Daniel?

(c)Having just ruled that 'Burganin' does not apply in Bavel, on what basis was it permitted to walk from one to the other on Shabbos?

3)

(a)According to the second Lashon ...

1. ... 'Burganin' did not apply in Chutz la'Aretz either - because there were many thieves, who would steal the actual huts, thus rendering them useless.

2. ... 'Pasei Bira'os' did not apply in Bavel - because there was an abundance of water - and Chazal permitted Pasei Bira'os only because of the water shortage of the Olei Bavel (when they arrived in Eretz Yisrael for Yom-Tov).

(b)The distance between Barnash and the Shul in Daniel - was three Parsah (twelve Mil).

(c)It was permitted to walk from one to the other on Shabbos - because of all the ruins of old buildings that still remained between them, which included many walls. These have the Din of a house, and are considered an extension to the town, even though they are no longer inhabited.

4)

(a)What is the source for the Shi'ur of seventy and two thirds' Amos of 'Burganin'?

4)

(a)The Seventy and two thirds' Amos of 'Burganin' - is rooted in the Beis Sasayim of the Mishkan, which was seventy and two third Amos squared (as we learnt at the beginning of the Masechta).

5)

(a)What is it that David ha'Melech, Iyov and Yechezkel failed to explain?

(b)Yechezkel spoke of 'Kinim' and 'Hegeh'. What do these mean?

(c)Zecharyah ben Ido (the prophet) eventually explains the extent of the Mitzvos (though it is obvious that his explanation cannot be understood literally). He describes Torah as a folded scroll of twenty Amos by ten, written on the back as well as on the front. Considering that Yeshayah describes Heaven and Earth as a Zeres, what fraction of Torah does that make the world?

5)

(a)David ha'Melech, Iyov and Yechezkel failed to explain - the extent of the Mitzvos.

(b)'Kinim' referred to by Yechezkel is an expression of punishment, and 'Hegeh' one of joy.

(c)If Torah is a folded scroll of twenty Amos by ten, written on the back as well as on the front - then when opened out and peeled (to add the back to the front). it will be eighty Amos by ten. And if the world is described as being a Zeres (half an Amah), then we have to reckon Torah as being a hundred and sixty by twenty (i.e. three thousand, two hundred) times the size of the world.

21b----------------------------------------21b

6)

(a)Mari bar Mar (the author of the last statement) also explained the Pasuk in Yirmiyah, that speaks of two copper pots, one containing high-quality figs, the other, rotten ones. What do these two pots represent?

(b)What does he learn from the Pasuk in Shir ha'Shirim "ha'Duda'im Nasnu Re'ach"?

(c)If, according to Rava, "ha'Duda'im Nasnu Re'ach" refers to young men who have not sinned, to whom does "ve'Al Pesachenu Kol Megadim" refer?

(d)And what does the continuation of the Pasuk "Chadashim Gam Yeshanim Dodi Tzafanti Lach" mean?

6)

(a)The two copper pots referred to by Mari bar Mar, one containing high-quality figs, the other, rotten ones - symbolized the Tzadikim and the Resha'im, respectively.

(b)He learns from the Pasuk "ha'Duda'im Nasnu Re'ach" - that even the Resha'im will give a good smell (in the World to Come).

(c)"ve'Al Pesachenu Kol Megadim", according to Rava - refers to the young Jewish women, who 'close their wombs' (from the Lashon of 'Agad' - to tie), opening them for their husbands only; Alternatively, they tell (from the Lashon of Magid - to tell) their husbands when they see blood and are forbidden to them.

(d)"Chadashim Gam Yeshanim Dodi Tzafanti Lach" - pertains to the new decrees which Yisrael formulated - and kept, over and above those which Hash-m decreed on them.

7)

(a)How does Rava explain the Pasuk in Koheles "ve'Yoser Meheimah Bni, Hizaher Asos Sefarim Harbeh"?

(b)What do we learn from the Pasuk in Koheles "u'Poretz Geder Yishchenu Nachash" which conforms with this?

(c)Why then, were these Mitzvos not included in the Torah?

7)

(a)Rava explains the Pasuk "ve'Yoser Meheimah Bni, Hizaher Asos Sefarim Harbeh" - as a warning to Yisrael to observe the Mitzvos de'Rabbanan more even than the Mitzvos mi'd'Oraisa, because whereas the former include many ordinary Mitzvos Asei or Lo Sa'aseh, for contravening any of the Mitzvos de'Rabbanan one is Chayav Misah.

(b)We learn from the Pasuk "u'Poretz Geder Yishchenu Nachash" - that someone who breaches the fence which the Rabbanan made around the Torah (i.e. he contravenes the Mitzvos de'Rabbanan), is Chayav Misah.

(c)The Torah did not include the Mitzvos de'Rabbanan in the Mitzvos - it did however, invite the Chachamim to initiate their own Mitzvos, even going so far as to warn us about their severity, as we just explained.

8)

(a)How does the Gemara attempt to explain the Pasuk in Koheles "ve'Lahag Harbeh Yegi'as Basar"?

(b)Why does the Gemara reject this explanation?

(c)How does the Gemara finally explain the Pasuk?

8)

(a)The Gemara initially explains the Pasuk "ve'Lahag Harbeh Yegi'as Basar" - to mean that someone who mocks the words of the Chachamim - is sentenced to be burnt in boiling excrement (see Gitin, 57a, where the Gemara relates that, in spite of the Gemara's objection here, that is the punishment which Yeshu receives in the World to Come).

(b)The Gemara rejects this explanation, because then Shlomo should not have written "La'hag", but "La'ag". "La'hag" means not 'to mock', but 'to speak'.

(c)The Gemara finally explain this Pasuk - to mean that each time that one involves himself (speaks) in Divrei Torah (however many times one learns some Torah topic or other), he finds it tasty (like the taste of meat).

9)

(a)What happened that day, to the daily cup of rationed water allotted to the captive Rebbi Akiva by his Roman captors?

(b)What was Rebbi Akiva's reaction to this, and why did he make that decision?

(c)Rebbi Yehoshua ha'Garsi served him in prison. What are the two possible meanings of 'ha'Garsi'?

(d)What did Rebbi Akiva's contemporaries say about him when they heard what he had done?

9)

(a)On that particular day - the prison guard, on the excuse that 'so much water' would only give Rebbi Akiva the strength to dig his way out to freedom, poured out half his meager ration.

(b)Rebbi Akiva argued - that, seeing as someone who transgresses an Isur de'Rabbanan is Chayav Misah, it would be better for him to die naturally of thirst, rather than to die because he had contravened a Mitzvah de'Rabbanan.

(c)Rebbi Yehoshua ha'Garsi served him in prison. He was called 'ha'Garsi' either after his town, or because he was by profession, a bean-grinder.

(d)When Rebbi Akiva's colleagues heard of his Mesiras Nefesh for the Mitzvah of Netilas Yadayim - they said in admiration that, if he displayed such supreme Mesiras Nefesh in his old age (he was already one hundred and twenty years' old) when he was so weak, imagine what he must have been like in his younger years.

10)

(a)Which two Takanos did Shlomo ha'Melech institute?

(b)What was Hash-m's reaction to them?

10)

(a)Shlomo ha'Melech instituted - Netilas Yadayim (before eating) and Eruvei Chatzeros.

(b)Hash-m reacted by saying "Bni, Im Chacham Libcha, Yismach Libi Gam Ani" (Koheles).

11)

(a)What does the Pasuk in Shir ha'Shirim mean when it describes how Yisrael asked Hash-m to go out with them into the fields? Why the fields and not the cities?

(b)"Nalinah ba'Kefarim". Who are meant by the Kefarim, and what were Yisrael saying to Hash-m with these words?

(c)To whom was Shlomo referring, when he continued

1. "Parchah ha'Gefen";

2. "Pasach ha'Semadar";

3. "Henetzu ha'Rimonim"?

11)

(a)When Yisrael asked Hash-m to go out with them into the fields - they were in fact, asking Him not to judge them like city-dwellers, who were constantly guilty of theft, adultery, and false and vain oaths, but like farmers, who studied Torah in poverty.

(b)When Yisrael said to Hash-m "Nalinah ba'Kefarim, Nashkimah ba'Keramim" - they were telling Hash-m that they would show Him 'ha'Kofrim' i.e. people whom Hash-m had showered with goodness, but who had subsequently denied His Omnipotence; But they would also show Him the 'Keramim' i.e. the Batei Kenesi'os and the Batei Medrash, where He would see ...

(c)

1. "Parchah ha'Gefen" - refers to people who learn Tanach;

2. Pasach ha'Semadar" - to people who learn Mishnah;

3. "Henetzu ha'Rimonim" - to people who learn Gemara. They are the glory of Yisrael and their greatness.

12)

(a)What do we learn from the Pasuk in Melachim ...

1. ... "Vayedaber Sheloshes Alafim Mashal"?

2. ... "Vayehi Shiro Chamishah va'Alef"?

(b)And from the Pasuk in Koheles "Od Limed Da'as es ha'Am"?

(c)Which third Takanah, besides the two Takanos mentioned earlier, did Shlomo institute?

(d)What do Chazal mean when they say that, until Shlomo ha'Melech, Torah was like a basket without handles?

12)

(a)We learn from ...

1. ... "Vayedaber Sheloshes Alafim Mashal" - that Shlomoh ha'Melech gave three thousand parables on every topic of Torah;

2. ... "Vayehi Shiro Chamishah va'Alef" - that he gave a thousand and five parables on every de'Rabbanan;

(b)And from the Pasuk in Koheles "Od Limed Da'as es ha'Am" - that he fixed signs and comparisons by which to remember both the written and the oral Torah.

(c)Shlomoh ha'Melech also instituted 'Sheni'os la'Arayos (certain cases of Rabbinically-orientated incest).

(d)When Chazal say that, until Shlomo ha'Melech, Torah was like a basket without handles - they mean, that until Shlomo initiated the above Rabbinical decrees, Torah was not safe-guarded, just like a basket that does not have handles with which to hold it, is not safe.

13)

(a)What does Rav Chisda, quoting Mar Ukva, learn from the Pasuk in Shir ha'Shirim ...

1. ... "Kevutzosav Taltalim"?

2. ... "Shechoros ke'Orev"?

(b)Rabah explains it 'be'Mi she'Mashchir Panav ke'Orev'. How does Rava explain it? Why the analogy to a raven?

13)

(a)Rav Chisda, quoting Mar Ukva, learns from the Pasuk in Shir ha'Shirim ...

1. ... "Kevutzosav Taltalim" - that it is possible to Darshan on every single crown (of the Sha'atnez Gatz letters) heaps and heaps of Halachos.

2. ... "Shechoros ke'Orev" - that Torah is to be found by those who go early on the morning ("Shechoros" = Shachris) to the Beis-ha'Medrash and stay there until late at night ("ke'Orev" = Ma'ariv).

(b)Ravah explains 'be'Mi she'Mashchir Panav ke'Orev' - to refer to someone who is hard on his children (because he knows that Hash-m will look after them) like a raven (who forsakes its young, leaving Hash-m to come and feed it - which He does, by providing them with worms - according to the Medrash, by creating worms from their own dung).

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