[78a - 53 lines; 78b - 44 lines]
1)[line 1]מצרי שניMITZRI SHENI
(a)Only the grandchild of an Egyptian or Edomite convert may marry into the Jewish people as stated in Devarim 23:8-9 (Yevamos 76b). One who marries a first or second-generation Egyptian or Edomite convert transgresses a Lav ha'Ba mi'Chlal Aseh. This prohibition applies to both male and female converts. If an Egyptian woman married to a Egyptian man converts while she is pregnant, the child who is born is a Mitzri Sheni (second-generation Egyptian).
(b)According to most opinions this prohibition does not apply today because the Egyptians and Edomites about whom the Torah speaks have become lost among the nations (SEFER HA'CHINUCH # 563, 564).
2)[line 4]מחזיר גרושתוMACHZIR GERUSHASO
(a)It is forbidden for any Jew to remarry his wife after divorcing her, if she married someone else in the interim (who subsequently divorced her or died), as the Torah states, "Lo Yuchal Ba'alah ha'Rishon Asher Shilechah, Lashuv l'Kachtah..." (Devarim 24:4). This Isur applies only if she was married after the initial divorce; if she was raped, her ex-husband may remarry her.
(b)The Tana'im argue as to whether the ex-husband is prohibited from remarrying her if she became engaged (but not married) to someone else after the initial divorce (Yevamos 11b).
3)[line 43]עובר לאו ירך אמו הואUBAR LAV YERECH IMO HU
There is a dispute about whether "Ubar Yerech Imo" - "a fetus is no more than a part of its mother's thigh" (i.e. it is considered part of the same entity as its mother), or whether the mother and its fetus are considered to be two different entities.
4)[line 44]כמפריש שתי חטאות לאחריותK'MAFRISH SHTEI CHATA'OS L'ACHRAYUS- like one who separates two animals for surety for a Korban Chatas (so that if one gets lost he will offer the second one)
5)[line 48]וולד חטאת למיתה אזילVLAD CHATAS L'MISAH AZIL (CHAMESH CHATA'OS MESOS)
There are five Chata'os that are put to death by locking them up without food until they die:
1.The offspring of a Chatas
2.The Temurah (see Background to Yoma 50:10) of a Chatas
3.A Chatas, the owner of which has died
4.A Chatas of a sheep or goat that became a year old (and is therefore invalid as a Korban Chatas), the owner of which brought a different Chatas to atone for his sins
5.A Chatas that was lost and was later found with a Mum, the owner of which brought a different Chatas to atone for his sins (Temurah 21b)
6)[line 49]קרקפנא חזיתיה לרישך ביני עמודיKARKAFNA! CHAZISEI L'REISHACH BEINEI AMUDEI- (a) Great Skull (prominent person)! I saw your head (your teacher, i.e. Rabah bar Nachmani) between the pillars (of the Beis ha'Midrash of Rebbi Yochanan) (TOSFOS to Eruvin 22b DH Karkafna); (b) Great Person! You have hit upon the exact teaching of Rebbi Yochanan as if you personally had been present in his Beis ha'Midrash! (RITVA ibid.)
7)[last line]רובו ומקפיד עליו חוצץRUBO U'MAKPID ALAV CHOTZETZ (CHATZITZAH)
(a)Certain Mitzvos require that there be no intervening substance (Chatzitzah) between the person performing the action and the substance upon which or in which the action is performed. Among these Mitzvos are Tevilah (immersion in a Mikvah), where the person's skin must touch the water, and the Avodah (Divine service) in the Beis ha'Mikdash, during which a foreign substance must not intervene between the Kohen and the Kli Shares (sanctified utensil), or between the Kohen's feet and the floor of the Azarah.
(b)An intervening substance that covers the majority of one's body and that a person minds (and would normally remove) causes a Chatzitzah that disqualifies immersion in a Mikvah.
78b----------------------------------------78b
8)[line 4]הלך אחר פגום שבשניהםHALECH ACHAR PAGUM SHEBI'SHENEIHEM- follow the one with the greater flaw (when determining the status of the children)
9)[line 14]ונתיניןV'NESININ (NESININ)
(a)In the times of Yehoshua, the Giv'onim (members of the Chivi nation, one of the seven nations whom the Jewish people were commanded to destroy upon entering Eretz Yisrael) came and presented themselves before Yehoshua as if they came from a far-off land. Since they claimed not to be residents of Eretz Yisrael, they requested to be converted and to make peace with the Jewish people. After Yehoshua agreed to accept them, it was discovered that they were one of the seven prohibited nations. Having already accepted them, Yehoshua did not want to break his oath and covenant with them (even though they tricked him and the oath was uttered in error) so as not to cause a Chilul HaSh-m. Yehoshua accepted them and appointed them to be woodchoppers and water drawers to supply the needs for the sacrificial service on the Mizbe'ach (Yehoshua 9:3-27). In the times of Moshe Rabeinu, Giv'onim also came to be converted as they did in the times of Yehoshua, and Moshe also made them woodchoppers and water drawers (Yevamos 79a, based on Devarim 29:10). These people became known as "Nesinim," (from the root "Nasan," to give) since they were "given over" by Moshe and Yehoshua ("va'Yitenem..." - "And he appointed them...," Yehoshua 9:27) to perform the tasks of chopping wood and drawing water.
(b)The Nesinim are not permitted to marry someone who was born Jewish, just like Mamzerim. RASHI and TOSFOS (Kesuvos 29a and elsewhere) argue as to whether they are prohibited mid'Oraisa or mid'Rabanan. The Gemara (Yevamos 79a) states that Moshe Rabeinu "decreed" regarding the Nesinim of his generation, and Yehoshua extended the "decree" to last as long as the Mishkan or Beis ha'Mikdash would stand. David ha'Melech later extended the "decree" to include all time, even if the Beis ha'Mikdash would be destroyed (because of the trait of cruelty that the Nesinim exhibited, which showed that they were not worthy of uniting with the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yakov). According to Rashi, these decrees were prohibitions against marriage, and as such the prohibition against marrying Nesinim is an Isur mid'Rabanan. According to Tosfos, these decrees were appointments of servitude. The prohibition against marrying them, though, is mid'Oraisa, since the Torah commands against marrying the seven prohibited nations even if they convert to Judaism (Yevamos 76a).
10a)[line 20]דון מינה ומינהDON MINAH U'MINAH- judge from it and [entirely] from it, i.e. an analogy must be carried through so that the case deduced agrees throughout with the case from which the deduction was made
b)[line 20]דון מינה ואוקי באתראDON MINAH V'UKI B'ASRA- judge from it but place the deduction in its own context, i.e. let the case deduced by analogy be regulated by the rules that are appropriate to that case itself
11)[line 25]בשבבותיהB'SHIVEVUSEI- in his neighborhood
12)[line 27]"ויקרא המלך לגבענים ויאמר אליהם והגבענים לא מבני ישראל המה [כי אם מיתר האמרי ובני ישראל נשבעו להם ויבקש שאול להכתם בקנאתו לבני ישראל ויהודה]""VA'YIKRA HA'MELECH LA'GIV'ONIM VA'YOMER ALEIHEM..." - "And the King called the Giv'onim, and he said to them - and the Giv'onim were not from Bnei Yisrael [but from the remnants of the Emori, and Bnei Yisrael had sworn to them.... And Shaul wanted to smite them, when he was zealous on behalf of Yisrael and Yehudah.]" (Shmuel II 21:2) (SHAUL AND THE GIV'ONIM)
See below, entry #15.
13)[line 34]פוסקי צדקה ברביםPOSKEI TZEDAKAH B'RABIM- one who pledges to give charity in public
14)[line 34]"נשיאים ורוח וגשם אין""NESI'IM V'RU'ACH V'GESHEM AYIN..."- "Whoever boasts of a gift that he did not give is like clouds and wind without rain." (Mishlei 25:14) - Rashi to Ta'anis 8b offers an alternate explanation, wherein the word "Ayin" refers to the clouds, the wind, and the rain, and as such the verse means, "Whoever boasts of a gift which he did not give is like a year without clouds, wind, or rain."
15)[line 41]שהרג נוב עיר הכהניםSHE'HARAG NOV IR HA'KOHANIM- When David was running away from King Shaul, Achimelech, the Kohen Gadol, aided him by providing him with bread and a sword, as recorded in Shmuel I 21:2-9. As a result, King Shaul charged Achimelech and all the Kohanim of the city Nov with treason and had them killed by Do'eg ha'Adomi (ibid. 22:9-19).