ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem
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Avodah Zarah 65
Questions
1)
(a) Rav Yehudah sent Avidrana (the Nochri) a gift on the day of his
festival - because he knew that he did not worship idols (and would not
therefore go and thank his god for the gift).
(b) Rav Yosef queried Rav Yehudah from the Beraisa that we just learned,
which requires the Ger Toshav to accept 'Geirus' in front of three
Talmidei-Chachamim. He replied - that this is only necessary with regard to
the Din of sustaining him.
(c) Rabah bar bar Chanah Amar Rebbi Yochanan described a Ger Toshav who
failed to perform the B'ris Milah within twelve months as - a Nochri Miyn (a
heretic).
(d) To reconcile this with Rav Yehudah (assuming Avidrana to have been a Ger
Toshav of long standing,), we establish Rebbi Yochanan - in a case when he
declared that it was his intention to do so, and then allowed a year to pass
without doing anything about it.
2)
(a) Rava did the same as Rav Yehudah with a Nochri by the name of bar
Sheishach. When he went to visit him, he discovered him - sitting in a
rose-bath up to his neck - surrounded by naked prostitutes.
(b) When bar Sheishach asked him whether Yisrael were destined to enjoy such
bliss in Olam ha'Ba, he replied - that their bliss was not tied up with the
fear of the kingdom, in the way that it is with people in this world.
(c) When ...
1. ... bar Sheishach retorted that he no reason to fear the Emperor - a
messenger arrived from Rome, calling on bar Sheishach to appear before the
Emperor.
2. ... Rava said 'Amein' after bar Sheishach's B'rachah (that any eye that
wishes to see evil occur to Yisrael [an Ayin ha'Ra], whose G-d fulfills
their every wish, should fall out - his eye fell out.
(d) Both of the following Pesukim would have been appropriate for Rava to
have quoted bar Sheishach ...
1. ... "B'nos Melachim bi'Y'krosecha Nitzvah Sheigel li'Yeminecha" - because
as Rav Papi explains, it refers to a prostitute sitting on the right of
K'lal Yisrael ("Sheigal li'Yeminecha") in their honor ("bi'Y'krosecha" means
'in your honor') in Olam ha'Ba.
2. ... "Ayin Lo Ra'asah Elokim Zulasecha, Ya'aseh li'Mechakeh Lo", quoted by
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak - because it speaks of a superior existence in Olam
ha'Ba, the likes of which no eye has ever yet beheld.
3)
(a) We learned in our Mishnah that if the Nochri hired the Yisrael to do
other work, then he accept his wages, even though the Nochri also asks him
to transport a barrel of Yayin Nesech. When we say that he does not need to
have said 'le'Itosei Erev', we mean - that he does not necessarily need to
ask for its transportation only after the rest of the work is finished.
(b) The Beraisa however - does indeed require the Nochri to ask him to
transport the barrel of Yayin Nesech in the evening, for the rest of his
wages to be permitted.
(c) Abaye therefore establishes our Mishnah when the Nochri added 'le'Itosei
Erev'. Rava however, reconciles the two without changing our Mishnah - by
establishing it when he stipulated 'Ha'aver Li Chavis Chavis bi'Perutah' (in
which case the transportation of each barrel is paid for independently) and
'Ha'aver Li Me'ah Chavi'os be'Me'ah P'rutos', where the payment of the
hundred P'rutos, depends on the transportation of each barrel (including the
barrel of Yayin Nesech).
(d) We prove Rava right - from a Beraisa which draws the same distinction.
4)
(a) The problem with the continuation of the Mishnah 'ha'Socher es ha'Chamor
Le'havi Alehah Yayin Nesech, S'charo Asur' is - that it appears to duplicate
the Reisha ('ha'Socher es ha'Po'el La'asos Imo be'Yayin Nesech ... ').
(b) And we answer that the Tana needed to add this Halachah because of the
Seifa, which permits the owner to receive his rental even though the Nochri
places his flask containing Yayin Nesech on the donkey's back - which
teaches us that a hirer has no right to place his flask of wine on the
donkey's back (or so we initially think), because if he had, how could the
Tana permit such a transaction?
(c) The Beraisa permits - the owner of the donkey to place (only) his coat,
his jar of wine and enough food for the entire journey on the donkey's back,
and the hirer, barley and straw (for the donkey) and food for (only) one
day?
5)
(a) This Beraisa seems to clash with what we just said - inasmuch as the
Tana permits the hirer to place his flask on the donkey's back (whereas we
just concluded that this is forbidden).
(b) We answer this Kashya - by amending the reason in our Mishnah (not to
the fact that he is not permitted to place the flask ... , but) because he
would not detract from the rental by not making use of that right.
(c) Assuming that no food was available along the way - the hirer would not
be restricted to one day's food.
(d) In spite of the fact that the Tana is speaking when food is available
along the way, Rav Papa explains the fact that the owner is permitted to
take food for the entire journey, whilst the hirer may only take sufficient
for one day - because, based on common practice, the onus is on the hirer to
arrange his needs each evening when he arrives at the inn for the night, and
not on the owner.
65b---------------------------------------65b
Questions
6)
(a) The father of Rav Acha b'rei de'Rav Ika was a wine-merchant. After
pouring the wine into the flasks of his Nochri clients - he would transport
it for them across the river on the ferry.
(b) The reason that ...
1. ... the clients returned the barrels, which were customarily included in
the sale was - as payment for the wine.
2. ... his fellow Jews complained to Abaye about Rav Ika's practice was -
because they claimed that he was pouring out Yayin Nesech on behalf of his
clients.
(c) Abaye answered ...
1. ... that the wine only became Nesech once it touched the floor of the
barrels.
2. ... when they asked him further that he wanted the wine to remain in the
flasks (i.e. that they should not split, so that it would not become
necessary to pour the wine into the barrels) - that in fact, Rav Ika had
previously stipulated that, even if the barrels split, they would not empty
the flasks into the barrels, and he therefore had no reason to want the wine
to remain in the flasks.
(d) Crossing them on the ferry was not forbidden, for one of two reasons;
either, because Rav Ika, who was 'the head of the river', arranged in
advance with the ferryman, to cross his clients whenever they arrived, or -
because he provided them with a permanent pass.
7)
(a) If Yayin Nesech falls on grapes, washing will suffice - provided the
grapes are not split.
(b) If the wine falls on G'rogros (dried figs) or dates, the criterion that
renders them Asur will be - 'Nosen Ta'am' (which is generally more than one
in sixty).
(c) When a barrel of wine once spilt on to G'rogros that Bitus ben Zonin was
transporting on a boat - the Chachamim permitted it.
(d) The Tana ends with the principle 'Kol she'be'Hana'so be'Nosen Ta'am Asur
... ', giving as an example of 'Eino be'Nosen Ta'am' as - vinegar that falls
into a bean-stew. which is 'Eino be'Nosen Ta'am, because it is 'Nosen Ta'am
li'Fegam' (if anything, it spoils its previous taste).
8)
(a) We amend our Mishnah, which talks about the Isur of Nosen Ta'am and
illustrates it with the story of Bitus ben Zonin, which the Chachamim
permitted - by adding to the Reisha 'Im Nosen Ta'am li'Fegam, Hu Mutar'.
(b) Regarding a garment in which there is Kil'ayim that 'got lost', the
Beraisa - forbids using it as a saddle-cloth for his donkey (for fear that
at a later stage, he might take it off and use it as a patch for his
clothes).
(c) One may however - use it for shrouds to bury a deceased person.
(d) The Beraisa forbids selling it to a Nochri - for fear that the Nochri
might then re-sell it to a Yisrael, who is not aware of the Isur.
9)
(a) When a barrel of wine spilt on a pile of wheat- Rava initially permitted
selling it to Nochrim.
(b) Rabah bar Liva'i queried Rava, based on the Beraisa's previous ruling -
which forbids selling to a Nochri, something which a Yisrael is permitted to
buy from him.
(c) Rava therefore retracted from his previous ruling - permitting the sale
of the wheat only after the seller had first ground and baked it into bread,
dispensing with the fear that a Yisrael might then re-purchase it from the
Nochri (as this would then be forbidden).
(d) He added the clause 'she'Lo bi'Fenei Yisrael' - because if a Yisrael saw
him selling it to a Nochri, he would be permitted to re-purchase from the
latter.
10)
(a) In a case where wine fell on to grapes that were not split - our Mishnah
permitted washing the grapes and eating them.
(b) Rav Papa attributes Rava's stringent ruling with regard to the wheat -
to the fact that all grains of wheat contain a natural split (giving them a
Din of being split even when they are whole).
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