1)

(a)There is no proof from the Seifa of the Mishnah in Tamid, which permits the Kohanim to place the Bigdei Kehunah under their heads (as cushions), that Kohanim may derive benefit from the Bigdei Kehunah - because the Tana really means, not underneath their heads, but at the side (and it comes to reach us that we are not concerned that he may roll over and lie on top of them - see Tosfos Yeshanim DH 'Shema Minah').

(b)We can learn from there that one may do the same with Tefilin (which may not be used as a cushion for the same reason).

(c)We try to prove that the Mishnah has to mean placing the Begadim at the side - because otherwise, it would be forbidden at all costs, due to the Isur of Kil'ayim - since the belt (the Avnet) was made of wool and linen.

(d)This proof will not hold water according to the opinion which maintains that the Avnet of the Kohen Hedyot was made in the same way as that of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur (which was pure linen and contained no Sha'atnez).

2)

(a)It is forbidden to wear Kil'ayim or to place it on top of oneself - min ha'Torah. And it is ...

1. ... forbidden to lie on top of it or ...

2. ... to place a sheet for example, in between oneself and the Kil'ayim - mid'Rabanan.

(b)Rav Ashi explains the Seifa of the Mishnah in Tamid literally - permitting the Kohanim even to lie directly on the Bigdei Kehunah (as long as they are not wearing them). He is not concerned with the Isur of Kil'ayim - because the Bigdei Kehunah were hard, and therefore did not give warmth, in which case they were not subject to the Isur of Kil'ayim (even mid'Rabanan).

(c)We finally prove that the Kohanim were permitted to derive benefit from the Bigdei Kehunah from a Beraisa - which explicitly permits the Kohanim to wear them even whilst not performing the Avodah.

(d)This concession did not extend to wearing them outside the Beis Hamikdash - presumably due to the fact that it was only permitted the Torah was given to human-beings and not to angels - a reason that only applied inside the Beis Hamikdash, where they were either performing the Avodah, or were between one Avodah and the next.

3)

(a)The twenty-fifth of Teves was known as 'Yom Har Gerizim' - because that was the day on which they prevailed over the Kutim and destroyed their temple on Har Gerizim, as we shall now see.

(b)The Kutim tried (successfully) to persuade Alexander the Great that the Jews were rebelling against him and that he should therefore destroy the Beis Hamikdash.

(c)When Shimon ha'Tzadik heard about their plans, he put on the Bigdei Kehunah Gedolah, and left Yerushalayim to intercept Alexander (who was accompanied by the delegation of Kutim) and his army before they reached Yerushalayim.

(d)The moment Alexander set eyes on Shimon ha'Tzadik - he dismounted and bowed down before him. The reason for this was because Shimon ha'Tzadik had appeared to him in his dreams (according to the Agados Maharsha, it was an angel who resembled Shimon ha'Tzadik).

4)

(a)When Alexander asked him why he had come - Shimon ha'Tzadik replied that the Beis Hamikdash was a place where they prayed for the his well-being and that of his kingdom, and that the Kutim had tricked him into destroying it.

(b)When Shimon ha'Tzadik informed Alexander that the people who were trying to convince him to destroy the Beis Hamikdash were the Kutim who were now accompanying him - he replied that they were his to do with as he pleased.

(c)Shimon ha'Tzadik took up Alexander's offer - by piercing a hole in their ankles, by which they were tied to the horse's tails. Then they were dragged over thorns and thistles until they reached Har Gerizim.

(d)When they arrived at Har Gerizim, they plowed up their temple and sowed the area with oats - just as the Kutim had planned to do to the Beis Hamikdash.

5)

(a)We just learned that Shimon ha'Tzadik wore the Bigdei Kehunah outside the Beis Hamikdash, whereas the Beraisa that we quoted earlier forbade this!?

(b)We answer this Kashya by pointing out that the garments that Shimon ha'Tzadik wore were not really Bigdei Kehunah, but only resembled them. Alternatively, this was an emergency, and David ha'Melech already wrote in Tehilim "Es La'asos la'Hashem Hefeiru Torasecha" (that one may sometimes nullify Torah when it is for the sake of Hash-m).

6)

(a)We have no proof from our Mishnah (which describes how they handed the Sefer Torah from one dignitary to another - in the presence of the Kohen Gadol) that one may honor a disciple (a senior dignitary) in the presence of the Rav (the Kohen Gadol) - because in our case, when the junior dignitary honored the senior one, it was in honor of the Kohen Gadol (to demonstrate how many levels of dignitaries were below him.

(b)There is no problem with our Mishnah, which implies that the Kohen Gadol had been sitting in the Azarah - because this all took place in the Ezras Nashim (where sitting was permitted) and not in the Ezras Yisrael (where only kings of Yehudah were permitted to sit).

(c)We learn that kings of Yehudah were permitted to sit in the Azarah - from David ha'Melech (from a Pasuk in Divrei ha'Yamim).

(d)We learn the prohibition for anyone else to do so - from the Pesukim in Shoftim "La'amod l'Shares" and "ha'Omdim Sham Lifnei Hash-m" combined with the fact that nowhere do we find any reference to someone sitting - with the notable exception of David ha'Melech that we just quoted.

7)

(a)According to the Tana Kama, the King read Sefer Devarim at 'Hakhel' in the Ezras Nashim.

(b)Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov holds that he read it on Har ha'Bayis.

(c)"Vayevarech Ezra es Hash-m ha'Elokim ha'Gadol". Rav interprets the word "ha'Gadol" to mean that he pronounced the Name of Hash-m the way it is written.

(d)Rav Gidal explains it with the Pasuk in Divrei ha'Yamim "Baruch Hash-m Elokei Yisrael min ha'Olam v'ad ha'Olam" - because it was on this occasion that Ezra instituted the insertion of this Pasuk at the end of each Berachah instead of the three words 'Baruch Ata Hashem'.

8)

(a)Rav Gidal disagreed with Rav about pronouncing Hash-m's Name the way it is written - in the Ezras Nashim. According to him, this was only done in the Ezras Yisrael.

(b)He reconciled this with what he said elsewhere (to explain a Pasuk in Nechemyah: 'she'Gidlo b'Shem ha'Meforash' - even though that was outside the Azarah) by establishing it as a 'Hora'as Sha'ah' (a one-time-only ruling, confined to that occasion).

(c)The Pasuk in Nechemyah says "Vayiz'aku el Hash-m Elokim b'Kol Gadol". They were crying about the Yetzer ha'Ra for Avodah-Azarah, which was been the main cause of the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash and all the calamities that followed.

(d)They asked Hash-m to remove that Yetzer ha'Ra - because they were willing to forego the reward for overcoming it, as long as they were rid of it.

9)

(a)On the paper that fell from Heaven in response, was written the one word 'Emes', a clear sign that Hash-m agreed with them. We learn from there that the seal of Hash-m is 'Emes'.

(b)After ...

1. ... they had fasted (successfully) for three consecutive days and nights - the Yetzer ha'Ra was delivered to them in the form of a lion-whelp which emerged from the Kodesh ha'Kodashim.

2. ... after a hair of its head fell out and it proceeded to roar - they expressed fear that Hash-m may have pity on it; they followed the advice of the Navi and placed it in a metal pot which they covered with lead (which deadens the voice).

(c)They then took the opportunity and prayed for the Yetzer-ha'Ra for adultery to be delivered into their hands as well. They did not ...

1. ... find any eggs - so effective were their prayers.

2. ... kill it - because without it, people would not have children and the world would soon come to an end.

3. ... pray for half of it to be removed - because Hash-m does not answer prayers in halves.

(d)So they decided to paint its eyes - with the result that it would no longer plague us with regard to incest (though the Yetzer ha'Ra for adultery for a married woman did not diminish).

10)

(a)In Eretz Yisrael they quoted a Machlokes how to explain the Pasuk "Vayiz'aku b'Kol Gadol". Rav Gidal explained 'she'Gidlo b'Shem ha'Meforash'. Rav Masna explained it with reference to the re-instating of the words "ha'Kel ha'Gadol ha'Gibor v'ha'Nora" (the same words as Moshe Rabeinu used to describe Hash-m) into the Amidah.

(b)Rav Masna's explanation tallies with Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who ascribes the title given to the Anshei Keneses ha'Gedolah for this very reason (because they reinstated the words Tefilah "ha'Kel ha'Gadol ha'Gibor v'ha'Nora" into the Tefilah).

(c)Moshe said in Eikev "ha'Kel ha'Gadol ha'Gibor v'ha'Nora".

1. Yirmeyahu omitted "Nora" - because, he argued, what with gentiles dancing in Hash-m's Heichal, where is His might?!

2. Daniel omitted "ha'Gibor" - because, he said, now that the gentiles are subjugating His children (Klal Yisrael), where is His might?!

(d)The Anshei Keneses ha'Gedolah reinstate ...

1. ... "Gibor" - because they countered, to be able to give the gentiles leeway to do what they were doing and not stop them was in itself an act of might ('Eizehu Gibor, ha'Kovesh es Yitzro!').

2. ... "Nora" - because the fact that the gentiles are unable to finish the job, testifies that Hash-m's awesomeness still pervades the world.

11)

(a)Yirmeyahu and Daniel had the right to abolish what Moshe inserted - because saying something that was false was futile, when we know how much Hash-m detests falsehood and always concedes the truth.

12)

(a)The Mishnah in Megilah forbids the Ba'al Korei to jump from one place to the other in Torah only if one cannot reach the second place before the translator concludes his translation - and from Acharei-Mos to Emor is close enough to do so.

(b)The Tana of the Beraisa, who permits 'jumping' in the Navi only on this condition, implying that in Torah, even that is forbidden - speaks about jumping from one topic to another, which he permits in Navi (provided the Tzibur does not need to wait once the translator has finished). In Torah, 'jumping' is only permitted when it remains the same topic.

(c)Jumping in the Navi is permitted even from one topic to another - because the stakes are low (i.e. unlike Torah, there are no Mitzvos that one has to beware of the people not understanding).