1)

(a)Rebbi Elazar learns from the Pasuk in ...

1. ... Bereishis "Zachar u'Nekevah Bera'am, Vayikra es Shemam Adam" - that a man who does not have a wife is not called 'Adam'.

2. ... Tehilim "ha'Shamayim Shamayim la'Hashem, v'ha'Aretz Nasan li'Venei Adam" - that someone who does not own land is not called 'Adam' either.

3. ... Bereishis "E'eseh Lo Eizer k'Negdo" - that, if a man is worthy, his wife assists him, and if not, she becomes his opponent.

(b)Alternatively, "k'Negdo" can mean that - if he is worthy, she stands at his side (to assist him); and if not, she becomes a strap that lashes him.

(c)Eliyahu pointed out to Rebbi Yosi - that a man produces the wheat and the flax, but that it is his wife who bakes the bread and who weaves his clothes.

2)

(a)Rebbi Elazar learns from the Pasuk in ...

1. ... Bereishis "Zos ha'Pa'am, Etzem me'Atzamai u'Vasar mi'Besari" - that Adam actually tried mating with all the animals, and that it was only after he mated with Chavah that he found satisfaction. (Note: In this way, he could never turn round and accuse Hash-m of not providing with the best possible mate).

2. ... Lech-L'cha "v'Nivrechu Vecha Kol Mishpechos ha'Adamah" (that Hash-m said to Avraham) - that He was going to extract from him two grafts (or broods) [righteous converts] from him: Rus ha'Mo'aviah and Na'amah ha'Amonis (the wife of Shlomo, and mother of Rechavam, but more importantly, of many righteous kings who would subsequently rule over Yehudah).

3. ... Lech Lecha "v'Nivrechu Vecha Kol Mishpechos ha'Adamah" - that even the nations that live off the land (see b. 2) will be blessed on account of Yisrael.

4. ... Vayera "v'Nivrechu Vecha Kol Goyei ha'Aretz" (that Hash-m said to Avraham) - that even the ships that travel from France to Spain will be blessed because of Yisrael.

(b)Rebbi Elazar says that ...

1. ... the sailors will ultimately leave their ships and become farmers.

2. ... the Torah's use of the word "v'Yardu" in this connection - implies that farming is a lowly profession (see Tosfos DH 'she'Ein' and Agados Maharsha).

(c)Rebbi Elazar and other Amora'im stated that commerce is more lucrative than farming.

(d)Rava explains that whereas the proceeds of a hundred Zuz invested in farming is salt and fodder - the same hundred Zuz invested in business allows a person to eat meat and to drink wine every day.

3)

(a)When Rav Papa said that one should rather sow than buy - he meant that it is better to sustain one's family with the produce that one grows oneself, than to buy it in the market, because there is a Berachah in one's own produce (see also Rashi, Devarim 28:66).

(b)And when he said that it is better to sell before one becomes poor, he referred to household goods such as mats, but not to fine clothes - which may prove to be irreplaceable, when one needs them.

(c)Don't wait for a hole in the wall to widen until you are forced to replace the bricks, he said; on the other hand, rather replace the bricks than rebuild the entire wall - because whoever enters the building trade becomes impoverished.

(d)One should ...

1. ... jump at the opportunity to buy land - but choose a wife with great care (to make careful inquiries that she is not quarrelsome).

2. ... descend a level in searching for a wife (so that she will look up to him and not down) - but rise a level or two when choosing a friend (so that he should be able to look up to him and follow his example).

4)

(a)Rebbi Elazar explained that Hash-m brings punishment on the world - so that Klal Yisrael should learn to fear Him and do Teshuvah.

(b)When Rebbi Chiya blessed Rav, who was taking leave from him, that Hash-m should save him from something that is worse than death, he was referring to - a bad wife.

(c)Rav's wife subsequently used to switch whatever Rav requested from her. If he asked her to prepare lentils, she would deliberately prepare another kind of legumes and vice-versa.

(d)Rav Chiya his son tried to alleviate the situation - by taking the initiative and, whenever his father requested him to ask his mother for something that he knew she would switch, he made the switch himself.

(e)Rav forbade him to continue with that practice however - on the basis of the Pasuk in Yirmeyahu "Limdu Leshonam Daber Sheker" (which the Navi clearly frowned upon).

5)

(a)Rebbi Chiya used to bring his wife trinkets in spite of the fact that she was not a good wife - 'One must be grateful to our wives', he explained to Rav, 'if only for the fact that they bring up our children, and save us from sinning'.

6)

(a)When Rav Yitzchak asked his father, Rav Yehudah, to give him an example of the Pasuk "u'Motze Ani Mar mi'Maves es ha'Ishah" - he pointed to his own wife (Rav Yitzchak's mother).

(b)Rav Yehudah nevertheless cited his wife as the epitome of the first wife, from whom a man derives satisfaction - because whereas, on the one hand, she was very argumentative, on the other, she possessed the ability to make up very quickly.

(c)Abaye defines a bad wife as one who showers him with curses and insults, even as she lays him a nice table (so that, by the time meal-time arrives, he no longer has an appetite). Rava defines her as - one who would lay the table nicely, and then not join him for the meal.

(d)Rebbi Chama bar Chanina explains the Pasuk in Mishlei "Matza Ishah Matza Tov, v'Yafek Ratzon me'Hashem" - to mean that when a person marries, all his sins are blocked ('Mispakekin').

7)

(a)When, at weddings, the Bnei Eretz Yisrael would declare "Matza O Motze" - they meant to ask 'Which of the two will it be "Matza Ishah, Matza Tov" or "u"Motze Ani es ha'Ishah Mar mi'Maves" '?

(b)According to Rava, the antidote to ...

1. ... a bad wife is - a Get (which he considers a Mitzvah).

2. ... a bad wife who has a large Kesubah is - to marry another wife in addition to her (which is a more efficient antidote than a thorn).

(c)Rava compares living with a bad wife - to a stormy day.

(d)Rava extrapolates the ...

1. ... virtuousness of a good wife, even if "Matza Ishah Matza Tov refers to Torah - by the mere fact that the Pasuk equates Torah with her.

2. ... curse of a bad wife, even if "u'Motze Ani Mar mi'Maves es ha'Ishah" refers to Gehinom - by the fact that the Pasuk equates Gehinom with her.

8)

(a)The evil from which one cannot extricate oneself, to which the Pesukim in Yirmeyahu and in Eichah refer is - a bad wife whose Kesubah is excessive.

(b)When the Bnei Eretz Yisrael explained the Pasuk in Eichah to refer to someone whose sustenance depends on his money - they meant someone who needs to buy his bread from the market, and who does not produce his own (because he is perpetually worried about prices rising or a general shortage [refer also above to 3a.]).

(c)Rav Chanan bar Rava Amar Rav interprets the Pasuk ...

1. ... in Ki Savo "Banecha u'Venosecha Nesunim el Am Acher" - with reference to a step-mother.

2. ... in Ha'azinu "b'Goy Naval Ach'isem" - with reference to a bad wife whose Kesubah is excessive.

(d)) According to Rebbi Elazar, this latter Pasuk refers to Tzedokim (who foul their mouths with blasphemy - Agados Maharsha). The Tana ascribes it to the Barbarians and the people of Martanya - who used to walk naked in the streets (which Hash-m Himself considers the most disgusting thing in the world).

9)

(a)Rebbi Yochanan was most distraught when he heard that the Chavr - a cruel sect of Persians who did not acknowledge the Kavod of Yisrael (even though generally, Yisrael enjoyed a considerable degree of respectability during that period).

(b)His mind was set at ease however - when he heard that they accepted bribes.

(c)They issued three decrees on the Bnei Bavel. To warrant the decree ...

1. ... forbidding them to eat Shechted meat - the Bnei Bavel failed to give Matnos Kehunah (the right-foreleg, the cheeks and the Keivah [one of the stomachs] that the Kohen receives from all Chulin animals).

2. ... forbidding them to use the bathhouses - they did not observe the Dinim of Tevilas Nidah carefully.

3. ... of having their dead dragged from their graves - they used to celebrate together with the Nochrim on their festivals.

(d)Seeing as the dead were not brought to burial, as Yirmeyahu ha'Navi describes, when he continues "v'Nivchar Maves me'Chayim" - he must mean that it would have been better for the Resha'im to have died in this world, rather than to sin and fall into Gehinom.

10)

(a)Ben Sira extols the virtues of a good wife and advises a man with a bad wife to divorce her. He writes that ...

1. ... a man with a beautiful wife - is fortunate, and that he lives a double life (because of the intense pleasure that he derives from living with her).

2. ... one should keep one's eyes off another man's charming wife.

3. ... one should avoid visiting the charming wife's husband for a drink.

(b)He says that ...

1. ... beautiful women in general - have caused the death of many a man.

2. ... peddlers (of women's perfumes) - often tend to get beaten up, when they are caught in the act by husbands returning home.

3. ... worrying about tomorrow - just isn't worth it, because one may not be alive tomorrow, in which case one's worries are in vain.

(c)Ben Sira also has some good advice to give about human relationships. He says that ...

1. ... having a home that is open to everyone - is asking for trouble (because inevitably, one's many guests will include thieves).

2. ... one should have many friends who are concerned about one's well-being.

3. ... one should relate one's secrets to one in a thousand (and not more).

11)

(a)Rebbi Asi learns from the Pasuk "Ki Ru'ach mi'Lefanai Ya'atof u'Neshamos Ani Asisi" - that Mashi'ach (ben David) will not come until all the Neshamos have left the 'Guf' (a partition that divides between the Shechinah and the angels, which contains all the Neshamos that Hash-m intends to pair with the bodies that He has yet to create).

(b)

1. Rebbi Eliezer learns from the juxtaposition of the Pasuk "Shofech Dam ha'Adam ba'Adam Damo Yishafech" to "v'Atem Pru u'Rvu" - that someone who does not practice the Mitzvah of "Pru u'Rvu" is considered as if he had murdered (the person that he was meant to bring into the world but failed to).

2. Rebbi Yakov (or Rebbi Akiva) learns from the juxtaposition of the Pasuk "Ki b'Tzelem Elokim Asah es ha'Adam" to "v'Atem Pru u'Rvu" - that it is considered as if he had diminished the image of Hash-m (see Agados Maharsha).

(c)According to ben Azai - it is considered as if he had both murdered and diminished the image of Hash-m.

(d)When they queried ben Azai as to why he did not practice what he preached (i.e. why he did not get married and have children), he replied - that he could not help himself (he was an A'nus), because he loved Torah so much that he was unable to stop studying it.

12)

(a)The Tana Kama of the Beraisa learns from the Pasuk "uv'Nuchoh Yomar, Shuvah Hash-m Rivevos Alfei Yisrael" - that the Shechinah does not rest with Yisrael if they number less than 22,000. Consequently, he explains, should Yisrael number 21,999 - then someone who fails to fulfill the Mitzvah of "Pru u'Rvu" causes the Shechinah to depart from Yisrael.

(b)Aba Chanan in the name of Rebbi Eliezer extrapolates from the Pasuk (written in connection with Nadav and Avihu's death) "u'Vanim Lo Hayu Lahem" - that, had Nadav and Avihu married and had children, they would not have died.

(c)Acherim extrapolates from the Pasuk in Toldos "Liheyos Lecha l'Elokim ul'Zar'acha Acharecha" - that it is only when one has children to continue the chain, that the Shechinah rests with Yisrael. Otherwise, on what should it rest, on wood and stones?