1)

(a)The three sins listed in our Mishnah are punishable by death - because, Hash-m said 'I placed inside you a Revi'is of blood, and I warned you about the Mitzvah of blood (Nidah); I called you (Yisrael) 'Reishis', and I warned you about the Mitzvah of 'Reishis' (Chalah); the Neshamah that I placed inside you is called 'Ner', and I warned you about the Mitzvah of Hadlakas Ner (on Shabbos). If you do not observe these Mitzvos, then I will remove your Neshamah, and your blood and your title 'Reishis' will lose their significance.(These three represent the three parts of man - Nefesh, Ru'ach and Neshamah - see Maharsha).

(b)One of the reasons that these Mitzvos were given to women is because they are the ones who normally run the household. The other is - because Chavah spilt the blood of Adam, who was the first (Chalah) of the world, causing his lamp (the Neshamah) to be extinguished.

2)

(a)Five reasons are given as to why a woman dies specifically at childbirth.

1. 'When the ox falls, sharpen the knife' means - that Hash-m strikes a person when he is down already, sparing Himself the need to have to knock him down (in order to minimize the extent of Divine intervention).

2. 'The maidservant is guilty of many sins; let her be punished for them all with one stroke' means - that since the woman is already being punished for the sin of Chavah, through childbirth, one takes the opportunity to punish her for all her other sins at the same time.

3. 'Leave the drunkard; he will fall by himself' - that the woman is already down, and needs to pray for her recovery. Hash-m will not answer her (if she is guilty), and she will die automatically.

4. 'The shepherd is lame, and the goats are fast; but the reckoning will arrive when they get to the pen' - that as long as the woman is healthy, the Satan cannot find her guilty, because she has sufficient merits to save her from falling. It is when she is already in a state of danger (and needs more merits to escape), that he has it much easier (as Chazal have said - 'the Satan accuses at the time of danger').

5. 'At the door of the shop, there are many relatives and friends, but not at poverty's door' - that as long as the woman is healthy, she has many friends (angels who will defend her), but when she is at death's door, all her friends desert her, and she has nobody to speak on her behalf - because her Mazal is weak.

3)

(a)The equivalent method used by Hash-m to punish a man, is by punishing him whilst he is crossing over a bridge, or doing something else potentially dangerous - such as sitting beside a rickety wall.

(b)Rav refused to go on a ferry together with a gentile, in case he (the gentile) was due to be punished, and he would go down with him. Shmuel made a point of crossing with a gentile - because, he argued, the Satan does not strike two nations simultaneously.

(c)Rebbi Yanai would inspect the ferry-boat for leaks before crossing - because, he claimed, Hash-m does not so readily perform miracles with people, and, even if He does, the miracle will detract from his merits.

(d)We learn from the Pasuk (said by Ya'akov) "Katonti mi'Kol ha'Chasadim u'mi'Kol ha'Emes ... " - that a person's merits diminishafter Hash-m has performed miracles with him.

4)

(a)We learn from the Pasuk ...

1. ... "Ki Yipol ha'Nofel Mimenu" - that the person who is due to fall must bring proof of his innocence. Consequently, a person should always Daven to Hash-m that he should not become ill, so that he should not be called upon to have to prove his innocence;

2. ... "Ki Yipol ha'Nofel Mimenu" - that the man who fell off the roof did so because he was guilty and destined to fall off from the moment that he sinned (which is why the Torah calls him a 'Nofel' even before he has fallen). Nevertheless, the person who failed to put up a parapet is guilty, and will be punished for causing the man's death, because Hash-m brings about punishment through a person who is guilty.

5)

(a)We tell a dying man - to confess his sins (as a matter of formality), because all dying men confess.

(b)We compare a man who ...

1. ... goes out into the street - into a domain where there are fights and where there are creditors, to someone who is being taken by a police-officer to court.

2. ... has a headache - to someone whose head is placed in the pillory.

3. ... is seriously ill, and is confined to bed - to someone who is awaiting trial in a court for capital crimes.

(c)According to ...

1. ... the Tana Kama, a man stands a chance of recovery - if he performs Teshuvah and good deeds, in which case, even if one in a thousand angels that he has created through his deeds, speak in his defense, he will recover.

2. ... Rebbi Eliezer, the son of Rebbi Yossi ha'Gelili - even if one part in a thousand of the Angel who is accusing him (in other words, if one of the sins that he performed has one good side to it, and that one good side speaks in his favor, he will survive.

6)

(a)According to others - a woman is also likely to die at childbirth for washing her baby's dirty clothes on Shabbos, or for calling the Aron ha'Kodesh 'Arna' (common sins, in those days).

(b)An Am ha'Aretz is likely to die young for calling the Aron ha'Kodesh 'Arna' - or for referring to a Shul as a central meeting- place.

7)

(a)Rebbi Yossi describes the three Mitzvos of a woman as three 'Bidkei Misah', Another Tana, as three Divkei Misah'. The other Tana holds like the Tana of our Mishnah, Rebbi Yossi, like Rebbi Elazar - who says that women die for the above sins not 'Yoldos' - when they give birth, but 'Yelados', meaning that they die young. Therefore, Rebbi Yossi describes the three sins of a woman as 'Divkei Misah', which cleave to her, and cause her to die young. Whereas the other Tana learnt like the Tana of our Mishnah, that the woman who transgresses them dies at childbirth. Consequently, he referred to them as 'Bidkei Misah' - which examine her and kill her, if she is guilty, as we learnt above.

(b)When Rebbi Shimon ben Gamliel says 'Hilchos Hekdesh, Terumos u'Ma'asros, Hein Hein Gufei Torah, ve'Nimseru le'Amei ha'Aretz' - he means that, in spite of the significance of Hekdesh, Terumos and Ma'asros, the Torah leaves them in the hands of individuals, even Amei ha'Aretz, and trusts them in their dealings with Talmidei Chachamim, without asking them to prove that their movable objects are not Hekdesh, and that their crops have been Ma'asered.

8)

(a)Apart from the intrinsic Isur, one should avoid making Nedarim at all costs, because, due to Nedarim that are not kept, one's wife or one's young children, will die.

(b)We learn from the Pasuk "la'Shav Hikeisi es Beneichem" - that one's children die because of false oaths, which are called 'Shevu'os Shav, and (in conjunction with the end of the Pasuk "Musar Lo Lakachu") that when Hash-m strikes our children it is not for nothing, but because we do not learn Torah (which is also called Musar).

(c)Initially, Rebbi believed that the Pasuk referred to Bitul Torah, but when he heard Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon's interpretation, he accepted it, and retracted.

9)

(a)Some Tana'im learn that children die because the parents are lax in the Mitzvah of Mezuzah from the second Parshah of the Shema, from the juxtaposition of "Lema'an Yirbu Yemeichem ... " to Mezuzah. Others learn from there that children also die because of the sin of Bitul Torah - because "Lema'an Yirbu Yemeichem ... " refers also to Talmud-Torah, which is mentioned two Pesukim earlier.

(b)Yet others learn from the Pasuk "ve'Gam bi'Chenafayim Nimtze'u Dam Nafshos Evyonim Neki'im" - that one's children ("the poor innocent souls") will die because of one's laxness in the Mitzvah of Tzitzis.

10)

(a)For keeping the Mitzvah of Tzitzis carefully, each Jew will receive two thousand, eight hundred servants, ten from each of the seventy nations - for each of the four corners on which one puts Tzitzis.

(b)The repercussions of ...

1. ... Sin'as Chinam (baseless hatred) are threefold - constant strife at home, one's wife losing her children and one's children dying young.

2. ... laxness in the Mitzvah of Chalah are - no blessing in one's storehouses of wine, corn and oil; the soaring of prices in the market-place and the crops that one sows, being eaten by others. (From this section and onwards - until Daf 33, 2b - the Gemara appears to be speaking mainly about the reward and punishment for communal behaviour).

3. ... of observing the Mitzvah of Chalah is - an ongoing blessing in one's home.

11)

(a)For negating the Mitzvah of Terumos and Ma'asros - there is no dew or rain, food becomes expensive, there is no profit to be made and people try, in vain, to make a livelihood.

(b)The reward for observing Terumos and Ma'asros is - rain and a bumper harvest the following year.

(c)The Pasuk "Ad Beli Dai" means - until one's lips get worn out from crying 'Enough!'

12)

(a)The repercussions of the sin of theft is - a plague of locusts, hunger, and people eating their own children.

(b)The women of Mechuza used to eat from their husbands stocks and not work, which is akin to theft; alternatively, eating and drinking without working resulted in their eating and drinking excessively. This, in turn, caused their husbands to steal, in order to provide for their excessive needs.

(c)The Gemara explains "Ish Besar Zero'o Yochelu"- as if it had written, instead of "Zero'o" - "Zar'o", to prophecy that, for the sin of theft (which is mentioned in the Pasuk in Amos - quoted in the Gemara), they would eat their own children in their hunger.