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REVIEW QUESTIONS ON GEMARA AND RASHI

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Berachos 11

1)

(a) Why do Beis Shamai not accept Beis Hillel's interpretation of "u've'Shochbecha" and "u've'Kumecha"?

(b) What do Beis Shamai do with the Pesukim "be'Shivtecha be'Veisecha" and "u've'Lechtecha va'Derech"? Why do they need two Pesukim?

(c) How do they infer specifically traveling and sitting which are only Reshus (voluntary) from "be'Shivtecha be'Veisecha" and from "u've'Lechtecha va'Derech"?

(d) Why are the following not Patur from performing a Mitzvah ...

1. ... someone who marries a widow?
2. ... someone who hears that his ship is sinking?
2)
(a) Why is an Aveil (who is worried about his deceased relative) not exempt from all the Mitzvos?

(b) Then why is he Patur from Tefilin?

(c) Assuming that Beis Hillel agrees with the Derashah of Beis Shamai, how can they learn from the same Pasuk that one may read the Shema even whilst walking?

3)
(a) What did Rebbi Yishmael do, when the time of Keri'as Shema shel Arvis arrived, that aggravated Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya?

(b) How did Rebbi Yishmael justify his actions?

(c) Why did Rebbi Yishmael see fit to add 've'Lo Od, Ela Shema Yir'u ha'Talmidim ve'Yikbe'u Halachah le'Doros'?

4) Rav Yechezkel quotes a Beraisa, that whether one does like Beis Shamai or like Beis Hillel, one is Yotze.
(a) What does Rav Yosef say to that, and what is his proof from a Mishnah in Succah?
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak goes even further.
(b) What does *he* say, and what source does he bring from our Mishnah?
5)
(a) To which two Berachos is the Mishnah referring, when it writes 'one long Berachah and one short one'?

(b) What is the meaning of a short Berachah?

(c) When the Mishnah writes 'she'Lo Lachtom, Eino Rashai Lachtom', what is it referring to?

Answers to questions

11b---------------------------------------11b

6) 'Oseh Shalom u'Vorei es ha'Kol' has been changed from the original wording in Yeshayah, which reads "u'Vorei Ra".

(a) Why did Chazal change it?

(b) Then why did they not change from "Yotzer Or u'Vorei Choshech" to 'u'Vorei Nogah' (which has more pleasant connotations than 'Choshech')?

(c) What is meant by 'Midas Yom ba'Laylah'?

7) Various Amora'im and the Tana Kama say that, the second Berachah of Birchos Keri'as Shema is 'Ahavah Raba'.
(a) What do the Rabbanan in the Beraisa learn from the Pasuk in Yirmiyah "Ahavas Olam Ahavtich"?

(b) What is the Halachah (for Misnagdim - see Tosfos)?

(c) Why is it no longer necessary to say Birchos ha'Torah, once one has recited the Shema?

8) Rav Huna rules that one recites Birchas ha'Torah only when one studies Tenach, according to Rebbi Elazar, also for Medrash; whilst Rebbi Yochanan includes even Mishnah. They all agree however, that learning Gemara does not require Birchos ha'Torah.
The ruling however, is like Rava.
(a) What does Rava say?

(b) What is the proof for this from what Rav often used to do?

(c) What are the three opinions regarding the text of Birchas ha'Torah, and what compromise does the Gemara make?

(d) Why is the Berachah of 'Asher Bachar Banu' the best of the Berachos?

9) After the Kohanim had arranged the limbs on the ramp and salted them, they would gather in the Lishkas ha'Gazis to read the Shema. The Memuneh would then tell them to recite one Berachah, after which they would read the three Parshiyos of the Shema.
(a) Who was the Memuneh, and what is the meaning of 'one Berachah'?

(b) Which three Berachos did they then recite?

(c) What basically, did they add every Shabbos?

10) Nobody seemed to know which of the Birchos Shema the Kohanim would recite. Eventually, Shmuel said 'Ahavah Rabah'.
(a) What did Rebbi Zerika, quoting Resh Lakish, say?
Apparently, Resh Lakish did not actually say this expressly, but we deduce it from another statement that he made.
(b) What was that statement, and how do we deduce from it what Resh Lakish holds?

(c) How does the Gemara refute this interpretation of Resh Lakish's statement?

Answers to questions

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