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ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Berachos 9

Questions

1)

(a) Rabban Gamliel's sons asked their father whether the Rabbanan (who give the time for the night Shema until midnight) argue with their father and hold on principle, with Rebbi Eliezer, who learns that 'Zeman Shechivah' means the time that people go to lie down (only they extend that time by two hours); or do they really agree with Rabban Gamliel on principle (that 'Zeman Shechivah' means all the time that people remain in bed), only *they* maintain that the Rabbanan (Chazal) decreed that one should actually recite it before midnight.

(b) Rabban Gamliel answered that, in principle, the Rabbanan agreed with him, that min ha'Torah, one could recite the Shema until dawn-break, and that it is only mi'de'Rabbanan that one should recite it before midnight.

2)
(a) The Beraisa which permits the eating of the Pesach until morning goes according to Rebbi Akiva, whereas our Mishnah omits it, because the author is Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya, in whose opinion the Korban Pesach must be eaten - mi'd'Oraysa - until midnight.

(b) The Korban Pesach must be eaten, according to Rebbi Akiva, until the time of 'Chipazon' - the haste in which Yisrael left Egypt; i.e. until the morning. "ba'Layla" teaches us that the Pesach cannot be eaten until nightfall i.e. on the day that it is Shechted (the fourteenth) before nightfall - like other Korbanos, such as the Todah.

(c) "ha'Zeh" comes to add that it can be eaten only for the *one* night, and not for two (like the Korban Shelamim) - according to Rashi two nights means without the day in between (the Rashbam however, understands that, by two nights, the Gemara includes the day in between - see Hagahos ha'Bach).

3)
(a) Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya's Gezeirah Shavah pertaining to midnight, is derived from "ha'Layla ha'Zeh" of Makas Bechoros.

(b) He confines the eating of the Pesach to one night from "Lo Sosiru Mimenu Ad Boker", which, according to him, implies the first morning.

(c) Rebbi Akiva understands "Ad Boker" (which is written twice in the Pasuk) to imply the second morning (from which we learn that if the Pesach is left over, it can only be burnt the next morning (Chol ha'Mo'ed).

4)
(a) "Sham Tizbach es ha'Pesach ba'Erev" refers to the period in which the Korban Pesach must be Shechted; "ke'Vo ha'Shemesh" refers to the period during which one must eat it; and "Mo'ed Tzeischa mi'Mitzrayim" to the period in which one is obligated to burn it.

(b) According to Rebbi Yehoshua, "ke'Vo ha'Shemesh" refers to the earliest time that one may eat the Pesach, and "Mo'ed Tzeischa mi'Mitzrayim" to the final time.

(c) From "Hotzi'acha Hashem ... Layla" we see that the redemption began already at night (with the killing of the Egyptian first-born), and from the "mi'Mochoras ha'Pesach Yatz'u" etc., that they actually went out in the day.

(d) The dispute is over the meaning of "Chipazon". According to Rebbi Akiva, "Chipazon" means the Chipazon of Yisrael, as we explained earlier; whereas according to Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya it means the Chipazon of the Egyptians (which is at the time of Makas Bechoros).

9b---------------------------------------9b

Questions

5)

(a) "Na" in this context means 'please', because Hashem was imploring Yisrael to 'borrow the Egyptians' money, so that Avraham Avinu should not point a finger and say that Hashem kept the first half of His promise (that the 'Egyptians' will enslave and torture Yisrael), but not the second (that they will leave Egypt with a great possession).
It is compared to a prisoner who was promised his freedom on the following day, when he would receive a lot of money. 'I beg of you', came his reply, 'take me out *now* and forget the money!'

(b) "va'Yash'ilum" means 'and they made them lend them'. In any event, it implies forcibly, but it can refer either to against the will of the Egyptians, or against the will of Yisrael (as we explained above).

(c) Although we already explained above that Yisrael might not want to delay the Exodus in order to obtain wealth. For some reason, the Gemara now adds another reason: because of the transportation problems that this would involve.

(d) "va'Yenatzlu es Mitzrayim" can either mean that they made it as empty as a bird-trap with no corn in it (so that it is ineffective in trapping birds). Or that they made it as empty as the depths of the Sea (where there are no fish). According to the first explanation, the word stems from a 'Metzudah' (a trap), since a 'Lamed' and a 'Daled' are interchangeable. Whereas according to the second explanation, it is from the word "(Yardu) bi'Metzolos" (meaning 'the depths of the Sea').

6)
(a) "Ehekeh Asher Ehekeh" means "I will be with them in subsequent Galuyos, just as I have been with them in this Galus". However, Moshe objected to saying this to Yisrael, since what is the point of telling Yisrael about subsequent Galuyos, when they were barely free of the current one. Hashem agreed with him, informing him that *that* phrase was only meant for *his* ears, and not for the ears of the rest of Yisrael.

(b) Eliyahu was beseeching Hashem to answer him on two scores: one, to send fire from Heaven; and two, that Yisrael should accept the miracle for the miracle that it was, rather than to attribute it to the forces of witchcraft.

(c) When Eliyahu said "ve'Ata Hasibosa es Libam Acharonis", he was asking Hashem to turn their hearts away from their twisted way of thinking.

7)
(a) According to Rebbi Eliezer, the time to recite the Shema is from the moment one can distinguish between dark blue and dark green (the color of leek).

(b) According to the Tana Kama, the final time to say the Shema is sunrise.

(c) Rebbi Yehoshua maintains that it is after three hours into the day (i.e. a quarter of the day from dawn-break until nightfall). He learns it from the Pasuk "u've'Kumecha", and the last segment of the community to get up in the morning is the royalty, who tend to get up in the course of the third hour.

8)
(a) The difference between white and blue is discernible even during the night; so we cannot possibly take 'between dark-blue and white' literally.

(b) According to Rashi, what it means is between the white and the dark-blue of a piece of white cloth which was dyed dark-blue, but where the dye did not spread evenly.

(c) Acheirim (who incidentally, cannot be Rebbi Meir in this case - although he usually *is* - since Rebbi Meir gives another opinion in the same Beraisa) holds that the earliest time for Keri'as Shema is when one can recognize one's (casual - see Tosfos d.h. 'Acheirim') friend at a distance of four Amos.
Acheirim by the way, concurs with the Tana Kama in our Mishnah, who gives the time as from when one can distinguish between dark-blue and white.

9)
(a) The Vasikin were pious people, who were humble and who loved the Mitzvos. They used to begin the Shema with a view of terminating it as the sun came up.

(b) They derived this from the Pasuk "Yira'ucha Im Shemesh ('they will say the Shema - the symbol of Yir'as Shamayim - as the sun rises"), ve'Lifnei Yarei'ach etc. (they will Daven Minchah just before the moon shines). See the Hagahos ha'Bach, who cites a Rashi later, who explains that "Yira'ucha" refers, not to the Shema, but to the Amidah, and this appears to conform better with our Sugya, which quotes the Pasuk in support of the importance of placing Ge'ulah next to Tefilah (and not in connection with Keri'as Shema).

(c) Someone who is Somech Ge'ulah next to Tefilah will not come to harm that whole day; if he does this regularly, he is called 'a Ben Olam ha'Ba'.

(d) Rebbi Zeira had to deliver a myrtle-twig to the royal palace (a traumatic event - possibly fraught with danger - for a Jew). This happened to him because he did not pay money (which one should do, if necessary) in order to see the King.

(e) One should run to see a non-Jewish King in order to distinguish between a non-Jewish king (who symbolizes his personal honor) and a Jewish king (who symbolizes the Glory of Hashem).

10)
(a) The Pasuk "Hashem Safasai Tiftach", which Chazal added on to the Amidah (and because it is a fixed text), is considered to be an extension of the Amidah.

(b) We have a proof from Ma'ariv, where Semichas Ge'ulah to Tefilah is also mandatory, and yet we interrupt with 'Hashkiveinu', unless we consider 'Hashkiveinu' (since it is a fixed text) to be a 'Ge'ulah Arichta'; In the same way, do we consider 'Hashem Sefasai' etc. to be a 'Tefilah Arichta'.

(c) We cannot answer that "Hashem Sefasai" is only said at Ma'ariv, because Rebbi Yochanan ruled that Ma'ariv too, requires Semichas Ge'ulah to Tefilah.

11)
(a) Chazal added "Hashem Sefasai Tiftach" onto the beginning of the Amidah, because it is at the end of the eighteenth chapter of Tehilim that David ha'Melech said it.

(b) Although it appears at the end of the nineteenth chapter of our version of Tehilim, our version is not numbered correctly, since the first two chapters are considered one.

(c) Rebbi Yehudah Berei de'Rav Shimon ben Pazi said that "Halelukah" is first mentioned in Tehilim after a hundred and three chapters, when David saw the downfall of the Resha'im ("Yitamu Resha'im min ha'Aretz, u'Resha'im Od Einam, Halelukah"). But this is not seemingly correct. That Pasuk appears at the end of chapter hundred and *four*? Unless we consider the first two chapters as one.

(d) Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachmeini quoting Rebbi Yochanan said that David ha'Melech would end those chapters which were dear to him with the same word as he began it (see Tosfos), such as the opening chapter, which he began and ended with "Ashrei". Now, it is not the first chapter which ends with "Ashrei", but the second ("Ashrei Kol Chosei Vo")? - Which goes to prove that the first two chapters are considered one.

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