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1) [line 3] MEKADRIN BE'HARIM - lit., we bore a hole through the mountain when we measure it; i.e. we measure the span of the mountain ignoring part of its altitude. This is done by using a rope which is only four Amos long. One person holds the rope at the level of his heart while the person higher up the slope holds the rope at the level of his feet. In this way, the height of the mountain is reduced by half of the height of a person for every four Amos of the span of the mountain.

2) [line 13] AFSEKIMA - [a rope made of] twisted palm leaves
3) [line 13] NARGILA - coconut-palm, whose flexible fibrous bark is used for making ropes

4) [line 14] DIKLA D'CHAD NEVARA - [the fibrous substance that appear like the tendrils (O.F. vedille) of vines that are located just under the surface of] a palm which has only one covering of flexible fibrous bark

5) [line 21] L'TAR'EI - for [the measuring of] gates
6) [line 22] MEGEG - a species of reed; (O.F. jonc) rush - a water-side plant with a slender, tapering, pith-filled stem, used for weaving baskets, etc.

7) [line 24] NETZER - (a) peeled willow; (b) the fibrous substance under the bark of a palm tree

8) [line 23] L'PARAH (PARAH ADUMAH)
(a) The Parah Adumah, an exclusively red-haired female cow is burned on Har ha'Zeisim and its ashes are used for making a person Tahor if he is Tamei Mes. A place is prepared for its slaughter on Har ha'Zeisom, opposite the gate to the Azarah (the courtyard of the Beis ha'Mikdash). After it is slaughtered, its blood is sprinkled in the direction of the Beis ha'Mikdash seven times. A cedar branch, some hyssops (Ezov) and a piece of crimson wool are burned along with the cow. (Bamidbar 19:1-22)
(b) If a person (or utensil) became Tamei through touching a *Mes*, he must wait seven days to become Tahor. On the third and seventh days he must have spring water mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah (Mei Chatas) sprinkled on him. A person who is Tahor dips three hyssops which have been bound together into the mixture and sprinkles them on the person who is Tamei. On the seventh day, he immerses in a Mikvah after the mixture is sprinkled on him to complete his Taharah.

9) [line 24] MA'ARACHASAH - the pyre of wood on which it was burned

10) [line 24] SOTAH
(a) A Sotah is a woman who is suspected of committing adultery because she was warned by her husband not to seclude herself with a certain man and she violated the warning. The husband must bring his wife to the Beis ha'Mikdash, along with a sacrifice consisting of 1/10 of an Eifah (approx. 2 quarts) of barley meal as a Minchah offering.
(b) The Kohen reads Parshas Sotah, the portion of the Torah describing the curses with which a Sotah is cursed, out loud (in any language that the Sotah understands) and makes the Sotah swear that she has been faithful to her husband. Many actions are done to humiliate her, including ripping her clothes and tying them together with a rope made of Netzarim.
(c) An earthenware jug is then filled with half a Lug of water from the Kiyor, and dirt from the floor of the Azarah is placed on top of the water. Parshas Sotah (which contains numerous appearances of HaSh-m's name), is written on parchment and then immersed in the water, causing the ink to dissolve and the holy name to be erased. The woman then drinks from the water. If she had been unfaithful to her husband, the water enters her body and causes her belly to swell out and her thigh to rupture. If she was faithful to her husband, she remains unharmed and is blessed with children (Bamidbar 5:11-31)

*11*) [line 26] SHEL PISHTAN L'MEDIDAH - Rav Yosef is arguing with Rav Asi, who said earlier that we use a rope of Afsekima for measuring Techumim (Rashi)

12) [line 29] V'TZOFEH KENEGED MIDASO - if the wadi is wider than 50 Amos at the point along the line where the Techum is being measured, but is 50 Amos wide at a point to the right or left of the line, the people who are measuring the Techum walk to the narrow part, are Mavli'a (pass) the wadi, and continue measuring the Techum along that line. They measure until they are parallel with the point where the wadi ends (when coming from the direction that the Techum was originally measured). They then walk back to that point and continue measuring until they finish the 2000-Amah measurement.

13) [line 34] GAI ME'UKAM - (a) a wadi with sloping walls which are easy to climb; (b) a wadi that extends around a city on two sides

14) [line 35] YIKOV HA'KOSEL - that is, Mavli'a
15) [last line] EIN CHUT HA'MISHKOLES YORED KENEGDO - a plumb line does not go straight down (but extends a horizontal distance of four Amos from the top of the line)

17) [line 1] MODEDO MEDIDAH YAFAH - he measures it a proper measuring. (That is, he must go down into the wadi and measure its width and then ascend the other side of the wadi and continue to measure from the edge of the wadi. The slope of the wadi is not measured at all.)

18) [line 11] ARBA - four Amos
19) [line 13] ASARAH MI'TOCH ARBA - ten Tefachim within a distance of four Amos
20) [line 14] MODEDO MEDIDAH YAFAH - he measures it with an *exact* measurement
21) [line 23] NEKITINAN - we have a tradition

22) [line 26] EGLAH ARUFAH
(a) If a Jew is found murdered in a field (in Israel) and it is not known who the murderer is, the Torah (Devarim 21:1) requires that an Eglah Arufah be brought in order to atone for the blood that was spilled.
(b) Five elders of the Beis Din of the Lishkas ha'Gazis (the Jewish "supreme court") measure the distance between the dead body and the cities around it to determine which city is closest to it. When measuring these distances, they measure the entire length of the slope of the mountains or valleys, since these measurements are mid'Oraisa.
(c) The elders of the city that is closest to the corpse must bring a female calf that has never been worked to a Nachal Eisan (a swiftly flowing stream - RAMBAM Hilchos Rotze'ach 9:2; a valley with tough soil - RASHI) and strike it on the back of its neck (Arifah) with a cleaver, severing its spinal column, gullet and windpipe.
(d) The elders of the closest city then wash their hands there and say, "Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see [the murder]." (Devarim 21:7) This includes a proclamation that the dead man was not sent away from the city without the proper food for his journey or the proper accompaniment. The Kohanim that are present say, "Atone for Your people Yisrael whom You have redeemed, HaSh-m, and do not place [the guilt for] innocent blood in the midst of Your people Yisrael." (ibid. 21:8) After this procedure HaSh-m will grant atonement for the innocent blood that was spilled (RAMBAM Hilchos Rotze'ach 9:3).

23) [line 27] AREI MIKLAT (Cities of Refuge)
(a) A person who murders intentionally after having been previously warned is liable to the death penalty. A person who murders unintentionally is exempt from the death penalty, but is punished with Galus (banishment).
(b) When it is proven that a person killed unintentionally, he is banished to one of the six Arei Miklat (Cities of Refuge) or one of the forty-two cities of the Leviyim. He must stay there and not leave the city or its Techum for any reason whatsoever until the death of the Kohen Gadol who served at the time that he was sentenced to banishment.
(c) When the Techum of one of these cities is measured, the entire length of the slope of the mountains or valleys is measured, since this measurement is mid'Oraisa.
(d) If the unintentional murderer leaves his City of Refuge, the Go'el ha'Dam (the closest relative of the murdered person) is permitted to avenge the death of his relative and kill the murderer.

24) [line 28] ELA MUMCHEH - (a) only an expert in measuring (RASHI); (b) according to the Girsa of RABEINU CHANANEL (which is the Girsa of our Mishnah) ELA *MIN HA'MUMCHEH* - (1) only on level, straight ground (RABEINU CHANANEL, RIF); (2) in a line that is straight out from the city (RABEINU TAM)

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