Please note that unless otherwise indicated, we follow the explanation of Rashi. Consequently, our notes and comments do not necessarily have a bearing on the practical Halachah.

1)

(a) A woman is acquired (i.e. by means of Kidushin) as a 'wife' - by means of money (or value of money), a Sh'tar or Bi'ah.

(b) And she acquires herself - by means of a Get or through the death of her husband.

(c) The connotations of acquiring herself are - that she is free to marry whover she likes.

(d) Giving the woman the money, the Sh'tar or performing Bi'ah is not all that is needed to effect the transaction - he must also declare that he is betrothing her with that money, that Sh'tar (see Rashi in the Rif) or that Bi'ah.

(a) According to Beis Shamai, 'Kesef' means at least a Dinar.
Beis Hillel say - at least a P'rutah.

(b) The difference between a Dinar and a P'rutah is vast - there are one hundred and ninety two P'rutos in a Dinar!

(c) A P'rutah is different than most other coins - inasmuch as it is made of copper, whilst most other coins are made of silver.

(d) There are - eight P'rutos in an Italian Isar.

(a) A Yevamah is acquired with Bi'ah only. The ramifications of this statement are - that nothing else will remove the alternative of Chalitzah.

(b) Ma'amar is the Kidushin of a Yevamah instituted by the Chachamim. (c) The money of Ma'amar does not acquire a Yevamah. All it achieves is - that it forbids her on the other brothers.

(d) She acquires herself - with either Chalitzah or the death of the Yavam.

(a) The significance of "Kichah" "Kichah" from S'dei Efron is - to teach us that money acquires a woman just like it acquires a field.

(b) This helps us to explain why the Tana of our Mishnah uses the terminology 'ha'Ishah *Nikneis*, whereas in the second Perek, he says of 'ha'Ish *Mekadesh*' - because, now that that is our source for Kidushei Kesef, it is appropriate for our Tana to use the term 'Nikneis', since "Kichah" is implies a Kinyan.

(c) The Pasuk ...

1. ... "ha'Sadeh Asher Kanah Avraham" - teaches us that the "Kichah" mentioned earlier purchased the field from Efron, concluding our D'rashah that "Kichah" implies 'Kinyan'.
2. ... "Sados ba'Kesef Yiknu" - is an alternative D'rashah from which we can extrapolate the same thing.

5)

(a) The Tana does not say in the second Perek 'ha'Ish *Mekadesh*' (like it says here 'ha'Ishah *Nikneis*') - because, having taught us the Torah Lashon of Kinyan here, he wants to go on the Lashon de'Rabbanan of Kidushin there.

(b) He deliberately avoids saying 'ha'Ish Koneh' in the Reisha, and 'u'Makneh' in the Seifa, because of the case of the death of her husband, which is hardly due to any action on the part of her husband. The other reason for avoiding this Lashon (that even pertains to Get as well) is - because 'ha'Ish Koneh' implies that he acquires her even against her will (like he acquires any other object), whereas in fact, he only acquires her with her consent.

(c) The Rabbanan refer to Eirusin as 'Kidushin' - because the Mekadesh forbids her on the world like Hekdesh (In fact, the word really means 'designated') see Tosfos 'DH' de'Asar Lah ... '.

(d) We quote the Pasuk "ve'Hoda'ata Lahem es ha'Derech Yeilchu Bah" here - because we learn from it that the gender of the word 'Derech' is sometimes feminine, which, in turn, explains why the Tana of our Mishnah uses the Lashon of 'Shalosh Derachim' (which is feminine too).

(a) When the Tana in Zavin says 'be'Shiv'ah Derachim Bodkin es ha'Zav' he means - that a Zav needs to be examined to make sure that his discharge arrived naturally, and not through an O'nes (one of the seven ways that bring it on).

(b) Four of the seven ways of bringing it on are eating or drinking too much, illness or carrying a heavy load. The other three are - jumping, seeing something lewd and immoral thoughts.

(c) We quote the Pasuk "be'Derech Echad Yeitz'u Eilecha u've'Shiv'ah Derachim Yanusu Lefanecha" in conection with the Zav - because we learn from it that the gender of the word 'Derech' is sometimes masculine, which, in turn, explains why the Tana of the Mishnah in Zavin uses the Lashon 'Sheloshah Derachim' (which is masculine too).

(d) We are now faced with - a contradiction, both between the two Pesukim and between the two Mishnayos, since one of each portrays 'Derech' as masculine, and the other, as feminine.

(a) The reason that ...

1. ... the Pasuk in Yisro treats 'Derech' as a feminine noun, and the Pasuk in Ki Savo as a masculine one - is because the former refers to Torah, which is feminine (as we see from the Pasuk "Toras Hashem Temimah Meshivas Nafesh"), whereas the latter refers to going to war, which pertains exclusively to men.
2. ... our Mishnah treats 'Derech' as a feminine noun, and the Mishnah in Zavin as a masculine one - because the former refers excluively to women, the latter, exclusively to men.

(b) The Tana in Zavin deliberately confines the Mishnah to a Zav - because it applies exclusively to him. A woman becomes a Zavah even if her discharge was brought on by an O'nes.

(a) We concluded that our Tana uses the feminine 'Shalosh' because of 'Derachim', which has feminine connotations. He does not use the noun 'Devarim', which is exclusively masculine (in which case he could have described it as 'Sheloshah Devarim') - because one of the ways of acquiring the woman is through Bi'ah, which the Pasuk in Mishlei refers to as "Derech Gever be'Almah".

(b) We account for the fact that Kesef and Sh'tar ...

1. ... are also listed together with Bi'ah - by answering that the Tana uses the Lashon 'Derachim' by them too, on account of Bi'ah.
2. ... are the majority of cases, and it is not the way of the Tana to adjust the Lashon based on the minority of cases - by pointing out that when all's said and done, what is the purpose of Kidushei Kesef and Sh'tar, if not Bi'ah. And since Bi'ah is the main objective of the Kidushin, it is the most important of the three, and it is appropriate for the Tana to adjust the Lashon of the other two to suit that of Bi'ah.

(c) Alternatively, we establish our Mishnah like Rebbi Shimon - who attributes the Torah's use of the phrase "Ki Yikach Ish Ishah" rather than "Ki Silakach Ishah le'Ish" - to the fact that it was Adam who lost the rib from which Chavah was formed, and which he therefore needs to go and seek (when he wants to get married [and not the woman who looks for the man]).

(d) The Tana in Zavin uses the Lashon 'be'Shiv'ah Derachim' rather than 'be'Shiv'ah Devarim' - because there too, it is the way of these things to bring on Zivus.