Previous daf

1)

(a) One is not permitted to enter into the tombs of Tzadikim after their death - because Tzadikim are greater after death than during their lifetime.

(b) Rebbi Bena'ah had a special dispensation - because he was a great and important man.

(c) He needed to do that - in order to measure the actual grave area, whose exact site he would then mark on the outside (so that people who dealt with Taharos would know to avoid becoming Tamei be'Ohel ha'Meis - see Tosfos).

(d) Rebbi Bena'ah found Eliezer Eved Avraham outside the Me'aras ha'Machpelah. The reason that he was not lying in his grave was - because, as one of the seven people who did not die, he did not have one.

(a) Avraham Avinu allowed Rebbi Bena'ah to enter, in spite of what he would see when he did - because Rebbi Bena'ah knew that there was no Yetzer ha'Ra in that world, and it was therefore not necessary to hide from him.

(b) When he entered, Rebbi Bena'ah found Avraham Avinu lying in Sarah's arms?

(c) They did not let him in to the tomb of Adam ha'Rishon - because 'it sufficed that he beheld D'mus D'yukni (the Divine image of the mold in which Hashem made man), but he was not permitted to behold the mold itself'.

(d) 'D'mus D'yukni' referred to Ya'akov Avinu, whom Chazal describe as 'similar to Adam ha'Rishon'.

(a) When Rebbi Bena'ah asked how he would know where to mark on the outside of Adam's tomb - they answered him that the inner burial-cave (where Adam and Chavah were buried) had the same measurements as the outer one (where the Avos and Imahos were buried), so he would know one from the other.

(b) When we say, in the second Lashon, 'ke'Midas Elyonah Kach Midas Tachtonah', we mean - that according to those who say that Adam and Chavah were buried (not deeper inside the cave, but) below the Avos, the measurements were also equivalent (so that the Tum'ah did not protrude in any direction).

(c) Rebbi Bena'ah did however, see Adam's heels - which shone like two suns.

(d) In spite of the Pasuk "Ki Afar Atah ve'el Afar Tashuv", the bodies of Adam and the Avos were still whole - because, as we explain in Shabbos, it is a moment before Techi'as ha'Meisim that this will happen.

(a) It seems that Adam was the most beautiful of all Hashem's creations. Chavah was to Adam, Sarah to Chavah and everybody else to Sarah - like a monkey to a human-being.

(b) Ya'akov resembled Adam, Rebbi Avahu, Ya'akov - and Rav Kahana resembled Rebbi Avahu?

(c) Rebbi Yochanan, who was exceptionally good-looking, does not appear on this list - because he had no beard, and therefore lacked the dignified appearance of the others.

(a) That magician was digging up the dead and stripping them of their clothes, when he came upon the grave of Rav Tuvi bar Masni.

(b) Abaye came to plead with Rav Tuvi bar Masni, who had grabbed hold of that magician's beard, which he refused to let go.

(c) The following year, when the magician persisted in his evil ways - even Abaye's pleas would not soften him, and they were forced to shear off his beard.

(a) When that dying man bequeathed a barrel of earth to one son, a barrel of bones to the second son and a barrel contining pieces of cloth to the third one - Rebbi Bena'ah explained that what he had meant was land, animal and clothes respectively.

(b) He spoke in riddles - because he did not want people to know that he had been wealthy.

(c) A certain man discovered that only one out of his ten children was really his - when he overheard his wife telling this to his daughter, and asking her why she did not sin more discreetly (like she herself did).

(d) Not knowing which son his wife had referred to, he left in his will that all his property should go to one of his sons.

(a) To ascertain which son was the true heir - Rebbi Bena'ah (together with whom the deceased father seems to have formulated this plan) - instructed all ten sons to take sticks and strike their father's grave. When one of them refused, Rebbi Bena'ah declared him to be the real son.

(b) The brothers reacted to Rebbi Bena'ah's ruling - by having him jailed, by reporting him to the king, for issuing judicial rulings without witnesses.

(c) To have her husband released from jail - his wife posed a riddle which she knew, they would not be able to decipher, and would turn to the wise man of the Jews, Rebbi Bena'ah.

(d) Rebbi Bena'ah's wife related a Mashal concerning an Eved whose head they cut off, whose skin they flayed and whose flesh they ate. She was referring to - a ram which they stole from her, Shechted and flayed. They ate the flesh, and made from the skin a flask, which they filled with water and served to her friends, without paying her a cent (see also Agados Maharsha).

8)

(a) When Rebbi Bena'ah was subsequently appointed judge, he found an inscription written on the city gates (where the Court sat) which read 'Any judge who is taken to court is not called a judge'. He objected to this statement on the grounds - that it is hardly the fault of the judge, if he is taken to court under false pretences.

(b) He therefore amended the statement to read - 'Any judge who is taken to court and who loses his case (and is ordered to pay), is not called a judge.

(c) Another inscription there read 'I, blood, am the prime source of deaths; and I, wine, am the prime source of life'. The first phrase means - that 'excess blood (that needs to be let) is the prime cause of death'.

(a) Someone who falls off a roof, does not die as a result of too much blood however. So he amends this statement to read - 'I, blood, am the prime illness'.

(b) Neither will someone who is being led out to be executed live, because they hand him wine to drink. So he amends the second phrase to read - 'I, wine, am the prime healer'.

(c) They reacted to Rebbi Bena'ah's amendments - by adding them, after the words 'However, the Elder of the Jews says ... '.

(d) In a place where there is no wine - one needs more medication.

(a) The inscription 'Anpak', 'Anbag' and 'Antal' was written on the gates of Keputki. All of these - are synonymous with a Revi'is (a quarter of a Lug [one and a half egg-volumes]).

(b) The ramifications of this statement - are that if someone undertakes to sell his friend any of these three, he is obligated to supply him with a Revi'is.

(c) We refer to it as 'Revi'is shel Torah' - because the four cups of wine on Pesach (which require a Revi'is) are based on Pesukim in the Torah.

(d) A Nazir too, is only Chayav if he drinks a Revi'is of wine 'Halachah le'Moshe mi'Sinai'. The Sugya in Nazir - lists ten things that have a Shiur Revi'is.

(a) Our Mishnah teaches that a Marzev is not subject to a Chazakah but a Mazchilah is.

1. ... A Mazchilah is - a full-length drain-pipe.
2. ... A Marzev is - a short length of drain-pipe, which one attaches to either end of the Mazchilah, to prevent the water from flowing down the side of the building and spoiling the wall.

(b) Its name is based on the fact that the word is the acronym of 'Mar Zav', which means 'drops (a trickle) flow(s)'.

(c) It is not subject to Chazakah - because it does not have a fixture; sometimes one fixes it on one side of the main pipe, sometimes on the other.

(d) An Egyptian ladder does not have a Chazakah, whereas a Tzuri ladder does, and the Tana makes the same distinction between an Egyptian window and a Tzuri one. The difference between ...

1. ... the two ladders is - that the former is small and moved from one place to another, whereas the latter is large and permanently fixed.
2. ... the two windows is - that the former is small (too small even to fit one's head [and is built for guarding one's orchards and gardens]), whereas the latter is large.

(a) The significance of the fact that a ladder or a window is small and not fixed is - that then, the owner is not generally fussy and does not therefore bother to make a Mecha'ah.

(b) Even a small window will be subject to Chazakah - if it is to let in light.

(c) According to Rebbi Yehudah in our Mishnah, even an Egyptian window is subject to Chazakah - if it has a frame.

(a) With regard to the Din of a Marzev, our Mishnah adds 'Ein Lo Chazakah, Aval Yesh li'Mekomo Chazakah', which Rav Yehudah Amar Shmuel explains to mean 'Ein Lo Chazakah me'Ru'ach Echad, Aval Yesh Lo Chazakah mi'Shenei Ruchos' - meaning that, although the Machzik does not have a Chazakah on either side (so that the owner can force him to move it from one side to the other, should he need the space on either side of the main pipe), he does have a Chazakah on one of the two sides (and the owner cannot force him to dismantle it).

(b) Rebbi Chanina and Rebbi Yirmiyah bar Aba both disagree with Rav Yehudah. According to Rebbi Chanina, 'ha'Marzev Ein Lo Chazakah means 'she'Im Hayah Aruch, Mekatzro' - meaning that the Machzik does not have a Chazakah of the use of the drain-pipe irrespective of its length. Because if it is longer than necessary, the owner of the Chatzer may force him to cut it shorter. He does however, have a Chazakah over the location, and the owner cannot force him to move it to the other side.

(c) Rebbi Yirmiyah bar Aba explains ...

1. ... 'ha'Marzev Ein Lo Chazakah' - like Rebbi Chanina.
2. ... 'Aval Yesh li'Mekomo Chazakah' to mean - that the owner is entitled to build underneath the Marzev up to the actual Marzev (and the owner cannot claim a Chazakah on the space below the pipe).