1)

(a)Earlier in the Sugya, we connected the Berachah of 'Shome'a Tze'akah' with Shmuel, and that of 'Shome'a Tefilah', with Eliyahu. Others reverse the two Berachos: they connect Tefilah with Shmuel, and Tze'akah with Eliyahu. The latter presents a problem - because we do not find a Lashon of Tze'akah by Eliyahu (only of Tefilah, in Melachim - "Aneni Hash-m Aneni"), but not the former, since both the Lashon of Tefilah and that of Tze'akah occur in connection with Shmuel.

(b)To resolve the problem - we interpret "Aneni Hash-m Aneni" as a Lashon of Tze'akah (and not Tefilah, as we initially thought).

(c)Despite the fact that David and Shlomo lived long before Yonah, the Tana nevertheless places their Berachah last - in order to conclude with the Berachah on Eretz Yisrael (and David and Shlomo prayed for Eretz Yisrael - or because they established the Beis-Hamikdash, which is the most important institution in Eretz Yisrael).

(d)'Baruch ... Mashpil ha'Ramim' mentioned in the Beraisa in the name of Sumchus - (and not 'Baruch ... Merachem al ha'Aretz') is the text that ended the last of the six Berachos.

2)

(a)The Anshei Beis-Av are - the Kohanim who serve on any particular day of the week, whereas the Anshei Mishmar - are the Kohanim who are not due to serve on that day.

(b)The Beraisa ...

1. ... permits the Anshei Mishmar to drink wine in the night but not in the day - in case the workload on the Anshei Beis-Av becomes to heavy, and they are called to assist them (something that is unlikely to happen at night).

2. ... forbids the Anshei Beis-Av to drink wine both in the day and in the night - because they are busy with the Korbanos during both time periods.

(c)Based on what we just said, in order to be subject to the prohibition of drinking wine throughout the year, a Kohen would need to know nowadays - that his family was fixed to serve in the Beis ha'Mikdash (though he doesn't know which Mishmeres and which Beis-Av).

(d)In addition, in order to be forbidden to drink wine ...

1. ... for that specific week - he would need to know the name of his Mishmeres and on which week they served.

2. ... for that specific day - he would also need to know the name of his Beis-Av.

3)

(a)When the Tana says that the Kohen knows that his Beis-Av is fixed, he means - that he knows that it was not disqualified from the Kehunah (e.g. through a forbidden marriage).

(b)When Rebbi says ...

1. ... 'Omer Ani, Asur Lishtos Yayin Le'olam' - he means that according to the Chachamim, every Kohen should be forbidden to drink wine at any time (even if he does know to which Mishmeres and to which Beis-Av he belongs).

2. ... 'Takanaso Kalkalaso' - he means 'Kalkalaso Takanaso' (the Kilkul of the Beis-Hamikdash not having been built for so long, is its Tikun); in other words, we no longer issue stringent rulings on the basis of the far-fetched likelihood that it will be built just today.

(c)The reason for his first statement is - because in the event that the Beis-Hamikdash is built suddenly, Kohanim will be called upon to serve with all the other available Kohanim at its inauguration (whether it is their turn or not).

(d)Abaye therefore concludes says that - if the Kohanim do drink wine nowadays, it must be because they hold like Rebbi.

4)

(a)The Kohanim are forbidden to have a haircut or to wash their clothes during their week of Avodah - in order to ensure that they do so before they begin to serve in the Beis-Hamikdash (similar to the decree issued by Chazal on Chol ha'Mo'ed).

(b)We learn from the Pasuk "Melech b'Yofyo Techezenah Einecha" - that a king always has to look smart (in which case he is obligated to have a haircut every day).

(c)The Beraisa obligates the Kohen Gadol to have a haircut every Friday - so that the Mishmar of Kohanim who began serving the following day should at the outset, see him looking smart.

5)

(a)We learn that 'Stam Nezirus Sheloshim Yom' - from the Pasuk in Naso "Kadosh Yihyeh ... " (and the numerical value of "Yihyeh" is thirty).

(b)We then learn from the 'Gezeirah-Shavah' "Pera" (in Yechezkel) from "Pera" (in Naso) - that (just like a Nazir is forbidden to cut his 'Pera', so too, may) a Kohen not leave a growth of hair for more than thirty days.

(c)Rav Papa asked Abaye how we know that "u'Pera Lo Yeshaleichu" does not mean that the Kohanim should not grow long hair at all (i.e. he should cut it by the twenty-ninth day [see Tosfos DH 'Lo' and note 2 of ha'Rav Renshburg]), to which Abaye replied - if it were so, then the Navi ought to have written 'Lo Yeshaleichu Pera' (rather than "u'Fera Lo Yeshaleichu").

6)

(a)Initially, we explain why nowadays, the Kohanim are not forbidden to have a hair-cut - just like they are not forbidden to drink wine unless they are actually going to serve in the Beis ha'Mikdash.

(b)We object to this answer however, on the grounds that this is according to Rebbi, and we ultimately explain that even according to the Rabanan, the Kohanim are permitted to have a hair-cut, in spite of the prohibition of drinking wine - because in the event of the Beis Hamikdash being re-built, it does not take long to have a haircut before going to serve there.

(c)They cannot however, drink wine and, should the Beis Hamikdash be built, walk one Mil (eighteen minutes) or sleep for a very short period of time (to shake off the drunkenness) - because of Rav Nachman quoting Rabah bar Avuhah, who confined that advice to someone who drank up to a Revi'is of wine, but that, if one drank more than that, a little sleep or a short walk would cause him to become even more drunk than before.

(d)According to Rav Ashi, the reason that Chazal forbade Kohanim to drink wine nowadays but not to have a haircut - is because, whereas a Kohen who serves after drinking wine, desecrates the Avodah, a Kohen who serves with long hair does not.

7)

(a)The Torah specifically writes that a Kohen who drinks wine and then performs the Avodah is Chayav Misah. The Beraisa learns that the same applies to a Kohen who does the Avodah with more than a thirty day growth of hair - because the Pasuk in Yechezkel compares the two, so that, just as the former is Chayav Misah, so is the latter.

(b)We can learn Halachos from Yechezkel that are not mentioned in the Torah - in the form of an an Asmachta (a hint to what we already know). The real source however, is 'Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai'.

(c)As a precedent, we have the 'Hekesh' from another Pasuk in Yechezkel "Kol Ben Neichar Arel Lev v'Arel Basar Lo Yavo el Mikdashi" - from which we learn that a Kohen who is an Arel (who did not have the Bris Milah) may not serve in the Beis-Hamikdash (which is really a Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai), in the same way as one who is an Arel Lev (who serves idols).

(d)This presents Rav Ashi (who said earlier that, whereas a Kohen who serves after drinking wine desecrates the Avodah, a Kohen who serves with long hair does not) with a Kashya - because the same Hekesh which teaches us that a Kohen is Chayav Misah for performing the Avodah with long hair, should also teach us that he desecrates the Avodah (in which case, there will be no reason to permit a Kohen to have a haircut nowadays, any more than to drink wine)!?

(e)We answer this Kashya by restricting the Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai only with regard to the Chiyuv Misah, but not with regard to desecrating the Avodah (some texts do not have this answer, and remain with a Kashya, like the Gemara in Sanhedrin does. See also Tosfos Sanhedrin 22b. DH 'Ela').

8)

(a)Chazal fixed a Yom Tov (on which it is forbidden even to make a eulogy) from the first of Nisan until the eighth, 'because ...

1. ... the Tamid was established' - with reference to the bitter Machlokes between the Perushim (the Chachamim) and the powerful Tzedokim, who maintained that a Yachid could bring a Korban Tzibur (from the Pasuk in Pinchas "es ha'Keves Echad Ta'aseh ba'Boker ... "), until the Perushim finally convinced them that he could not (from the Pasuk there "es Korboni Lachmi ... Tishmeru.

2. ... Shavu'os was established' - with reference to another bitter Machlokes between the Perushim and the Baytusim (a sect similar to the Tzedokim), where the latter claimed that Shavu'os (and therefor the first day of the Omer) must always fall on a Sunday ("mi'Mochoras ha'Shabbos", because they claimed, due to Hash-m's love of Yisrael, He gave them two consecutive days of relaxation, Shabbos and Yom Tov). There too, the Chachamim's overcame the Baytusim at that time.

(b)Chazal included the first of Nisan in the Yamim-Tovim d'Rabanan, in spite of the fact that it is Rosh Chodesh, on which fasting and eulogizing are anyway forbidden - in order to include the day before (the twenty-ninth of Adar) in the prohibition to fast.

(c)The fact that it is the day before Rosh Chodesh would not have been sufficient reason to forbid the twenty-ninth of Adar - because Rosh Chodesh is a Yom Tov d'Oraisa, and a Yom Tov d'Oraisa does not require 'Chizuk' (reinforcement).

(d)By the same token, they found it necessary to include Pesach in the Yom Tov d'Rabanan, on which fasting and eulogizing are anyway forbidden - in order to include the day after Yom Tov in the prohibition of fasting (which it would not have been, merely because it is the day after Yom Tov, since Yom Tov is d'Oraisa, as we just explained in connection with Rosh-Chodesh).