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REVIEW QUESTIONS ON GEMARA AND RASHI

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Sotah 48

SOTAH 47, 48 - have been anonymously dedicated by a very special Marbitz Torah and student of the Daf from Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel.

1)

(a) Yochanan Kohen Gadol negated the Mitzvah of 'Hodayas Ma'aser' because we give Ma'aser Rishon to the Kohanim instead of to the Levi'im.
So what if we do?

(b) Why do we give Ma'aser Rishon to the Kohanim anyway?

(c) Why could we not recite the Viduy on the other Matanos only?

2)
(a) In a Beraisa, the Tana writes about Yochanan Kohen Gadol 'Af Hu Biteil es ha'Viduy ve'Gazar al ha'D'mai; L'fi she'Shalach be'Chol G'vul Mitzrayim ... '.
Why did he not include Terumah in the Din of D'mai?

(b) Which two Matanos did he include? Why was that?

(c) On what grounds did he exempt Ma'aser Rishon and Ma'aser Ani from D'mai?

3)
(a) How do the words of Yochanan Kohen Gadol in our Mishnah appear to clash with his words in the Beraisa?

(b) How do we nevertheless reconcile the two?

(c) He also negated the Me'orerin and the Nokfin.
What were ...

  1. ... 'the Me'orerin'? What did the Levi'im mean when they said each day "Urah Lamah Sishan Hashem" (Tehilim)!
  2. ... 'the Nokfin', according to the first explanation? What did the Kohanim used to do before Shechting the calves of Korbanos?
  3. ... 'the Nokfin', according to the second explanation?
(d) Why did Yochanan Kohen Gadol negate ...
  1. ... the Me'orerin?
  2. ... the Nokfin? How did he replace their function?
4)
(a) When did ...
  1. ... Chazal institute the Takanah of "be'Shir Lo Yishtu Yatin" (Yeshayah)?
  2. ... the Urim ve'Tumim cease to function?
  3. ... the Shamir worm, and the delicious 'Nofes Tzufim' became extinct?
What else disappeared then?

(b) Since the Churban Beis-Hamikdash, there is not a day which does not contain a curse and on which the dew falls as a blessing.
What is the third item included in this group listed by Raban Shimon ben Gamliel in the name of Rebbi Yehoshua?

(c) Rebbi Yossi adds the fatness of the fruit to the list.
What was it, according to Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar, that deprived ...

  1. ... the fruit of its smell?
  2. ... the corn of its fatness?
  3. ... the world of all other blessings (according to our text, this is the opinion of the Chachamim)?
5)
(a) What do we learn from the Pasuk in Eichah "Zekeinim mi'Sha'ar Shavasu, Bachurim mi'Neginasam"?

(b) What does ...

  1. ... Rav say about the ear that listens to music?
  2. ... Rava say about a house in which songs are heard?
  3. ... Rebbi Yitzchak learn from the conclusion of the Pasuk in Tzefanyah (which acts as the source for the previous answer) "Ki Arzah Arah"? Since when is house that has a ceiling of planks called a city?
6)
(a) Rav Ashi learns from the phrase in the previous Pasuk "Cherev ba'Saf" that the destruction of a house begins at the threshold. Others derive it from the Pasuk in Yeshayah - "u'She'iyah Yukas Sha'ar". Mar bar Rav Ashi saw the result of this.
What did he see?

(b) Rav Huna makes a distinction between people on the river banks who pull ships with a rope and plowers (whom he permits to sing) and weavers (whom he does not).
What is the reason for this distinction?

(c) What decree did Rav Huna issue that resulted in a huge food surplus, to the point where one Zuz could buy a hundred geese or a hundred Sa'ah of wheat (and nobody even wanted them)?

(d) What happened when Rav Chisda contravened the decree?

7)
(a) If Rav Yosef describes men singing and women answering the refrain as P'ritzus (obscene), then how does he describe women singing and men answering the refrain?

(b) Why did Rav Yosef find in necessary to categorize them in this way?

(c) What does Rebbi Yochanan say about someone who accompanies his festivities with a seven and a ten-stringed harp, a drum and a flute?

(d) They cause exile, hunger and Torah to be forgotten.
Which other two punishments does Rebbi Yochanan add to the list?

Answers to questions

48b---------------------------------------48b

8)

(a) According to Rav Huna, when the Tana of our Mishnah dates the cessation of the Urim ve'Tamim as the death of the first Nevi'im, he is referring to Shmuel, David and Shlomoh.
What does Rav Nachman say about Tzadok and Evyasar?

(b) How do we refute the Kashya on these Amora'im from the Pasuk in Shmuel, which describes Zecharyah ha'Meivin as seeking Hashem? Why is there no proof from there that the Urim ve'Tumim was still in use during the time of the kings?

(c) Is there a proof from the Pasuk in Ezra, where Hatarshasa told the people that they would not eat Kodesh ha'Kodashim 'until such time as a Kohen would arise who would wear the Urim ve'Tumim'? Is he not referring to the second Beis Hamikdash?

(d) What *do* we prove from the Beraisa which cites this Pasuk? What else stopped when the first Beis Hamikdash was destroyed?

9)
(a) How does Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak finally interpret 'Nevi'im ha'Rishonim'?

(b) The Tana of the Beraisa states that Ru'ach ha'Kodesh (prophecy) came to an end with the death of Chagai, Zecharyah and Mal'achi.
Does this mean that all recourse to Divine communication ceased from then on?

(c) What did Hillel and Shmuel ha'Katan have in common ...

  1. ... in their lifetime?
  2. ... after their death?
(d) About whom else did they want to say "Hey Anav, Hey Chasid"?
Why did they then not do so?
10)
(a) On his death-bed, Shmuel ha'Katan proceeded to prophesy of what was about to happen in the near future.
To whom was he referring when he listed ...
  1. ... Shimon and Yishmael?
  2. ... the rest of the Chaveirim?
(b) What did he predict would happen to ...
  1. ... Shimon and Yishmael?
  2. ... the rest of the Chaveirim?
(c) And what was destined to happen to the remainder of the people?
11)
(a) Rebbi Yehudah interprets the Pasuk in Melachim "ve'ha'Bayis be'Hibanoso Even Sh'leimah Masa Nivneh" literally.
How does Rebbi Nechemyah, based on the Pasuk there "Kol Eileh Avanim Yekaros ... Meguraros bi'Megeirah (hewn with a saw)", interpret it?

(b) How ...

  1. ... did they then hew the stones to the required size, according to Rebbi Yehudah?
  2. ... does Rebbi interpret the Pasuk "Kol Eileh Avanim Yekaros..."?
(c) According to Rebbi Nechemyah, the Shamir was used for the stones of the Eifod (and presumably, Rebbi Yehudah agrees with this too). What do we learn from the Pasuk in Tetzaveh ...
  1. ... Pituchei Chosam"?
  2. ... be'Milu'osam"?
(d) How did they employ the Shamir? To what does the Tana compare its work ...
  1. ... in the summer?
  2. ... in the winter?
12)
(a) What were the specifications of the Shamir? What was its size, when was it created and what were its capabilities?

(b) It was preserved inside a wad of wool.
Where was the wad of wool kept?

(c) The Shamir became extinct with the Churban Bayis Rishon, and so did a number of other things, such as a specific type of silk, white glass and iron chariots.
What do others add to Rebbi Ami's list?

13)
(a) According to Rav, 'Nofes Tzufim' is flour that sticks to the sieve due to its fatness/juiciness ('Nofes, from the word 'Nafah' - a sieve).
What is its sweet taste reminiscent of?

(b) According to Levi, it is the name that is given to two loaves baked on opposite walls of the oven.
Why are they called by the name 'Tzufim'?

(c) According to Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi, 'Nofes Tzufim' is honey that comes from the mountains.
Why are mountains referred to as 'Tzufim'?

(d) He supports this with Rav Yosef's Targum of the Pasuk in Devarim "Ka'asher Ta'asenah ha'Devorim".
How does Rav Yosef's Targum explain this Pasuk?

14)
(a) What does the Mishnah in Machshirin say about most liquids that are poured from a Tahor vessel into a Tamei one?

(b) The only two exceptions are honeycombs and 'D'vash Zifim' (which are so dense that they join the contents of the two vessels). Resh Lakish translates 'D'vash Zifim' as honey from Zif, as he does in the Pasuk in Tehilim "be'Vo ha'Zifim va'Yomru el Shaul ... ".
How does Rebbi Yochanan translate ...

  1. ... 'D'vash Zifim'?
  2. ... 'be'Vo ha'Zifim'?
15)
(a) We learned in our Mishnah that 'Anshei Amanah' became extinct at the same time as the 'Nofes Tzufim'. Rebbi Yitzchak interprets Anshei Amanah as people who believe in Hashem, according to Rebbi Eliezer's interpretation.
How does Rebbi Eliezer describe men who possess little faith?

(b) Rebbi Elazar explains with this the Pasuk in Zecharyah "Ki Mi Vaz le'Yom Ketanos" (the little faith that those Tzadikim had resulted their table in Olam ha'Ba to be despised).
How does Rava interpret the word "Ketanos"? About whom is the Pasuk speaking?

(c) How does he now explain the entire Pasuk?

Answers to questions

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