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1)

(a) What did Bilam say when he saw the Keini? Who were 'the Keini'?

(b) What did he mean when he said "Eisan Moshavecha"?

(c) What did Rebbi Chiya bar Aba Amar Rebbi Sima'i say about the three who sat together on that occasion? Who was the third?

(a) Resh Lakish interprets the Pasuk "Oy Mi Yichyeh mi'Sumo Keil" to mean 'Woe to those who make themselves into gods.
To whom was he referring?

(b) How does Rebbi Yochanan interpret the Pasuk? How does he compare it to a lion and a lioness?

(c) "ve'Tzim be'Yad Kitim", Amar Rav 'Libun Aspir'.
What does ''Tzim be'Yad Kitim mean? What is 'Libun Aspir'?

(d) "ve'Inu Ashur ve'Inu Eiver".
What will the invaders do ...

1. ... until they reach Ashur?
2. ... once they pass Ashur?

(a) Before taking leave of Balak, Bilam told Balak what his people were about to do to Yisrael.
What was he referring to? Whose idea was it?

(b) Then why did he say "Asher Ya'aseh ha'Am ha'Zeh le'Amcha", and not the other way round?

(c) Two things gave Bilam the idea. One of them was the fact that the G-d of Yisrael hates immorality.
What was the second?

(d) After the Mo'avim had set up stalls selling linen clothes from Har Sheleg till Beis Hayeshimos, how did the plan unfold?

(a) Why was the Amoni wine not forbidden to drink?

(b) After the wine had its effect, how did the women convince the Jewish men to serve their idol?

(c) What would they say to them once they had worshipped their idol, and the men were pleading with them to acquiesce to their advances?

(d) According to Rebbi Eliezer, the place was really called 'Shitim'.
What does Rebbi Yehoshua say?

(a) According to Rebbi Eliezer, "Vatikrena la'Am le'Zivchei le'Eloheihen" implies that the women were naked (see Agados Maharsha).
What does it imply, according to Rebbi Yehoshua?

(b) The last stop before Har Sinai was Refidim. According to Rebbi Eliezer, that was its name.
How does Rebbi Yehoshua interpret it?

(c) Rebbi Yochanan explains that whenever the Torah writes "Vayeishev", it always implies trouble (like we find by the current episode, where the Torah writes "Vayeishev ha'Am be'Shitim, Vayechal ha'Am Lizenos el B'nos Mo'av".
What trouble follows the Pasuk in ...

1. ... Vayeishev "Vayeishev Ya'akov be'Eretz Megurei Aviv ... "?
2. ... Vayigash "Vayeishev Yisrael be'Eretz Goshen"?
3. ... Melachim "Vayeishev Yehudah ve'Yisrael la'Vetach Ish Tachas Gafno"?

(a) When Yisrael eventually avenged their honor and defeated the Midyanim, killing the five princes of Midian, they killed Bilam too.
What was Bilam doing in Midian?

(b) What adage does Mar Zuta bar Tuvya Amar Rav cite in this connection?

What happened to the camel who came to claim horns?

(c) If Bilam was a Navi, why does the Pasuk in Pinchas refer to him as a sorcerer?

(d) What adage does Rav Papa quotes in this connection?

7)

(a) What does Rav extrapolate from the Pasuk in Yehoshua (in connection with the death of Bilam) "Hargu B'nei Yisrael ba'Cherev el Chaleleihem"?

(b) What did Rebbi Chanina reply, when a heretic asked him how old Bilam was when he died?

(c) What did the heretic have to say about that?

(d) Why did the tablet that the heretic saw refer to Pinchas as 'Pinchas Lista'ah'?

(e) How does what we just learned tie up with Rebbi Sima'i, who maintained above that Bilam was one of Paroh's advisers by the decree of "Havah Nischakmah Lo'' (more than two hundred years earlier)?

(a) What did Mar B'rei de'Ravina say to his son about the kings and Hedyotos listed in our Mishnah and Bilam?

(b) One Pasuk speaks about "Do'eg", and another, about "Doyeg".
How does Rebbi Yochanan explain this apparent discrepancy?

(c) How does Rebbi Yitzchak explain the Pasuk in Tehilim ...

1. ... "Mah Tis'halel be'Ra'ah ha'Gibor, Chesed Keil Kol Ha'Yom"?
2. ... "ve'la'Rasha Amar Elokim Mah Lecha Lesaper Chukai"? What problem ought Do'eg to have had with the Torah he had learned?

(d) And how does Rebbi Ami explain this, based on the Pasuk there "Vatisa B'risi Alei Picha"?

(a) And how does Rebbi Yitzchak explain the Pasuk in Tehilim, which first speaks about the fear of the Tzadikim and then describes how they will laugh?

(b) Based on Rebbi Yitzchak's interpretation of a Pasuk in Iyov, what did Hashem reply, when David prayed that Do'eg should die?

(c) What did David respond to that?

(d) And, still based on Rebbi Yitzchak's interpretation of a Pasuk in Iyov, what did David respond when Hashem asked him whether ...

1. ... Do'eg should go to Olam ha'Ba?
2. ... the Beis-Din shel Ma'alah should quote Divrei Torah in his name?
3. ... he should have children who are Talmidei-Chachamim?

(a) What does Rebbi Yitzchak mean when he explains "Ayeh Sofer" as 'Ayeh Sofer Kol Osiyos she'ba'Torah'?

(b) "Ayeh Shokel" refers to all the 'Kal va'Chomers' in the Torah.
How does he interpret "Ayeh Sofer es ha'Migdalim"?

(c) This might refer to the top of the 'Lamed', which is bent downwards.
What will it refer to, if 'Migdal' is taken to mean a sort of moving wagon?

(d) It might also be referring to Halachos concerning stopping a cupboard in mid-air by magic. But it probably pertains to a Mishnah in Ohalos.
What does the Mishnah in Ohalos say?

(a) What did Rebbi (or Rebbi Ami) say about the *four* hundred She'eilos that Do'eg and Achitofel asked with regard to a 'Migdal ha'Pore'ach be'Avir'?

(b) What did Rava comment on this?

(c) And he based it on the distinction between his generation and that of Rav Yehudah.
What marked ...

1. ... the standard of learning in his generation as opposed to that of Rev Yehudah?
2. ... the contrast in levels of Chasidus of the two generations?

(d) What do we learn from the Pasuk in Shmuel "va'Hashem Yir'eh la'Leivav"?

(e) What problem did Rav Yehudah have with the Mishnah in Uktzin 'Zeisim she'Kavshan be'Tarfeihon'.
What does the Tana say about them?

(a) What objection does Mar Zutra raise to Rav Mesharshaya's statement, that Do'eg and Achitofel were not conversant in Halachah?

(b) So how did he amend the statement?

(c) What does that have to do with the Pasuk in Tehilim "Sod Hashem li'Yere'av"?

(d) What does Rebbi Ami say about Do'eg at the time of his death, based on the Pasuk in Mishlei "Hu Yamus be'Ein Musar u've'Rov Avlaso Yishgeh"?

(a) According to Rav, Do'eg was stricken with Tzara'as before he died.
How does he extrapolate that from the Pasuk in Tehilim (with regard to Do'eg) "*Hitzmatah* Kol Zoneh Mimeka"? What is the connection between this word and the word "li'Tzemisus" (in Parshas Behar, to do with the sale of land)?

(b) Rebbi Yochanan describes how three destructive angels were employed to handle Do'eg at the time of his death.
If one made him forget all his learning, and another burned his Soul, what did the third one do?

(c) Did Do'eg and Achitofel ever see each other?

(d) And what does the Beraisa (which we bring in support of Rebbi Yochanan), say about their ages? On which Pasuk does the Tana base this information?

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