1)

(a)When Nikanor was returning from Alexandria with the new gates for the Beis Hamikdash, a storm arose at sea, and he was forced to throw one of the doors overboard. Rather than throw the second one overboard too, he strapped it to his body and told the sailors that they could throw him overboard together with it (it is not however, clear, as to why he did not do this with the first gate). Immediately, the storm abated. The second miracle was discovered when they arrived in Acco (it is not clear either, why he took such a long route to get to Yerushalayim), when the first gate floated up from underneath the ship, to which it had attached miraculously attached itself.

(b)Others say that it was a sea-monster that swallowed the gate, and spat it out on to dry land.

(c)The Pasuk "Koros Bateinu Arazim, Rahiteinu Berosim" - refers to the second miracle, since the acronym of Berosim is 'Bris Yam' (or, according to the second version, 'Beri'os Yam'), as if to say that Hash-m made a copper covenant with the sea that it would preserve the copper gates that were re-placing the cedar ones (Berosim is a type of cedar. And according to the second version, that the sea creature would transport one of the gates).

(d)These miracles were perpetuated - inasmuch as, when all the wooden doors were re-placed by golden ones, the gates of Nikanor were left unchanged. Others say that it was not even necessary to re-place them, since the copper was of such a quality as to give the impression that they were made of gold.

2)

(a)Chazal applied the Pasuk "Zecher Tzadik li'Verachah" to the former list.

(b)

1. The family of Beis Garmu - were guilty of refusing to pass on the secret of baking the Lechem ha'Panim (that it should remain fresh) to others.

2. The family of Beis Avtinas - refused to pass on the secret of the Ma'aleh Ashan (that was used in the preparation of the Ketores) to others.

(c)Hugras ben Levi knew of a special way of producing a hauntingly beautiful sound from his throat, and he too, refused to teach others the secret. ben Kamtzar the Sofer refused to pass on the secret of how to tie four pens to the four fingers of one's right hand and write the four letters of Hash-m's four-letter Name simultaneously.

(d)Chazal applied the conclusion of the previous Pasuk ("Zecher Tzadik li'Verachah") "v'Shem Resha'im Yirkav" to the people on this list.

3)

(a)The Beis Garmu, experts in removing the bread from the oven without breaking them, would bake the (intricately-shaped) Lechem ha'Panim inside the oven - with the result that they were well-baked and did not go moldy during the week; whereas the bakers from Alexandria, who were not experts in that art, would bake the loaves outside the oven, with the result that they were not so well-baked, and did not last the week without going moldy.

(b)Chazal quoted the Pasuk in Yeshayah "Kol ha'Nikra bi'Shemi v'li'Chevodi Berasiv ... " to teach us that everything in this world Hash-m created for His honor, for we see that even something as simple as baking bread, the one person had the know-how, and the other did not - because Hash-m wanted that person to serve Him in this way, and not the other.

(c)Beis Garmu changed their minds and returned to their posts, after initially refusing to do so - when Beis-Din offered them double wages.

(d)According to ...

1. ... the Tana Kama of the Beraisa - they previously received twelve Manah which was now doubled to twenty-four (presumably, this was for the entire family of bakers, and not per person).

2. ... Rebbi Yehudah - they initially received twenty-four Manah, which was now doubled to forty-eight.

4)

(a)Beis Garmu's motive for retaining their secret - was based on their knowledge that the Beis Hamikdash would ultimately be destroyed. Consequently, they were afraid that the secret would fall into the wrong hands, and would then be used for idolatrous purposes.

(b)No 'clean' white bread was ever found in the family of Beis Garmu - so that no-one should ever accuse them of deriving benefit from the Lechem ha'Panim.

(c)The Beis Avtinas were conversant with the Ma'aleh Ashan, which was included in the preparation of the Ketores, causing its smoke to go up straight, even when there was a wind.

(d)They too, like the Beis Garmu, ensured that nobody could suspect them of deriving benefit from the Ketores - by never allowing any of the women in their family to use perfume (nor could any woman marry into their family before they had agreed to abide by that condition).

5)

(a)The prestige of the family of Beis Avtinas fell and that of Hash-m rose with the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash - because that is what happens to someone who tries to boost his own honor at the expense of that of Hash-m.

(b)That child from the family of Beis Avtinas cried when he remembered the lost glory of his family; and he laughed when he remembered that Hash-m would one day return it to them.

(c)When Shimon ben Luga asked him to point out the Ma'aleh Ashan to him - he replied that all members of the family were under oath not to reveal its identity to anyone outside the family.

(d)Rebbi Akiva wept and announced that there was no longer any need to mention the family of Beis Avtinas derogatively - when that old man handed him the document which contained the secret information concerning the identification of the Ma'aleh Ashan (though it is not clear who gave him the authority to over-ride the above-mentioned oath).

6)

(a)When ben Azai said 'be'Shimcha Yikra'ucha, u'vi'Mekomcha Yoshivucha, u'mi'she'Lecha Yitnu Lach' - he was referring to the episode of the Beis Garmu and the Beis Avtinas, who were re-called to their posts, because it was theirs by Divine design.

(b)He was saying that one cannot encroach on what belongs to somebody else - because Hash-m will see to it that it goes back to the rightful owner.

(c)When he said 've'Ein Malchus Noga'as ba'Chaverta Afilu ki'Melo Nima'- he meant that the moment the time arrives for the next king to rule, his predecessor will die - like we find with Belshatzar, King of Bavel, who had to die, the night after he had abused the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash, to enable Daryavesh (King of Persia), whose time had arrived, to take over from him (the Babylonian Empire).

7)

(a)Hugras ben Levi's area of expertise lay in his ability to produce a beautiful sound by placing his finger under his mustache whilst singing.

(b)ben Kamtzar differed from all the others mentioned in our Mishnah - insofar as he offered no reason for withholding his expertise from others.

(c)"v'Shem Resha'im Yirkav"- means that their names should go bad i.e. that nobody would ever be called after them.

8)

(a)When Yirmeyahu lamented "Im Tochalnah Nashim Piryam Olelei Tipuchim" - he was referring to Do'eg ben Yosef, whose mother used to donate gold coins equivalent to his increase in weight each day; and when the enemy entered Yerushalayim, she killed and ate him (due to her state of starvation).

(b)Hash-m responded 'What do you expect if you murder a Kohen and a Navi (Zecharyah ben Yehoyada) in the Beis Hamikdash?'

(c)The baby was called Do'eg (the name of a Rasha) - and 'see what happened to him'!

(d)The Torah writes "Zecher Tzadik li'Verachah" (in the singular) - because a Tzadik is remembered for the good due to his own merit, but "v'Shem Resha'im Yirkav" (in the plural) - because a Rasha is remembered to his shame even on account of the bad deeds of other Resha'im.

9)

(a)The source in the Torah of ...

1. ... "Zecher Tzadik li'Verachah" - is Avraham, when, before destroying Sedom, Hash-m, upon mentioning his name, immediately began to praise him.

2. ... "v'Shem Resha'im Yirkav" - is Sedom, when, the moment Hash-m had occasion to mention them in connection with Lot, He referred to their evil ways.

(b)The ...

1. ... Tzadik who lived between two Resha'im, but did not learn from their deeds - was Ovadyah (the Edumite convert who became a prophet), who lived between Achav and Izevel (Jezebel), but retained his righteousness.

2. ... Rasha who lived between two Tzadikim, but failed to learn from their good deeds - was Eisav, who did not learn from his parents, Yitzchak and Rivka.

(c)R. Elazar (the author of the previous statements) learns that ...

1. ... the curses of Resha'im follow the Berachos of Tzadikim from - Avraham Avinu, where, following his praise (in Parshas Vayeira), the Torah starts to denigrate the people of Sedom.

2. ... the Berachos of Tzadikim follow the curses of Resha'im - from Sedom, where (in Parshas Lech-Lecha), after denigrating the people of Sedom, the Pasuk praises Avraham.

10)

(a)Rebbi Elazar explains the Pasuk "Vayar Elokim es ha'Or Ki Tov" - to mean that, for the sake of just one Tzadik who is good, Hash-m decided to preserve the spiritual light (which He hid at the time of the Creation).

(b)Rebbi Elazar says that someone who (deliberately) forgets something of his learning - will cause his descendants to go into exile.

(c)We learn from the Pasuk in Koheles "v'Zarach ha'Shemesh u'Va ha'Shemesh" - that before one Tzadik passes away from the world, another Tzadik is born (to re-place him). An example of this is Eli ha'Kohen, who died only after Shmuel was born.

(d)When Hash-m saw that the Tzadikim would be few - He scattered them among all the generations (so that every generation would have some).

11)

(a)Rebbi Chiya bar Aba quoting Rebbi Yochanan, learns from the Pasuk "v'Tzadik Yesod Olam" - that the world will continue to exist even for the sake of just one Tzadik.

(b)Rebbi Chiya bar Aba himself learns it from the Pasuk in Shmuel "Raglei Chasidav Yishmor" - which he interprets to mean "He keeps (the world - even) for the sake of one pious person (seeing as "Chasidav" is written without a 'Yud' - and can therefore be read "Chasido").

(c)Rebbi Chiya bar Aba quoting Rebbi Yochanan explains this Pasuk to mean that, when a person passes half his allotted years without sinning, then Hash-m guards him from sin for the remainder of his life ("Raglei" means 'the tail end' according to this explanation).

(d)d'Bei Rebbi Shilo learns from this same Pasuk that - since a person refrains twice from sinning, Hash-m sees to it that he will not sin when the Yetzer-ha'Ra attacks him the third time ("Raglei" hints to the [two] times that he refrained from sinning - like "Zeh Shalosh Regalim" (i.e. times) to which Bil'am's ass referred).

12)

(a)Resh Lakish learns from the Pasuk in Mishlei "Im l'Letzim Hu Yalitz, v'la'Anavim Yiten Chen" - his famous saying 'Ba Litamei, Poschin Lo, Ba Litaher, Mesay'in Oso' ('Hashem opens the door for someone who wants to sin, but assists someone who wants to do good').

(b)Tana d'Bei Rebbi Yishmael compare this to two salesmen, one of paraffin and the other, of spices - the former, to avoid coming into contact with the paraffin, will ask the purchaser to measure the paraffin, whereas the latter will measure the spices himself, in order to glean some of their fragrance.

(c)Tana d'Bei Rebbi Yishmael learns from the Pasuk "v'Lo Sitam'u Bahem, v'Nitmesem Bam" that sin gives a person Timtum ha'Lev (a [spiritually] stopped-up heart). The Tana in another Beraisa explains the same Pasuk - to mean that if a person renders himself just a little impure, then they will impurify him even more from above; and if he renders himself impure in this world, then they will make him impure in the World to Come.

(d)And he explains the Pasuk "v'Hiskadishtem vi'Heyisem Kedoshim" - in exactly the same vein: that if somebody purifies himself just a little, they will purify him a lot from above, and if he renders himself pure in this world, then they will make him pure in the World to Come.