ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem
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Menachos 85
MENACHOS 85 (5 Teves) - has been dedicated to the memory of Max (Meir
Menachem ben Shlomo ha'Levi) Turkel, on his Yahrzeit, by his children Eddie
and Lawrence, and his wife Jean Turkel/Rafalowicz. Max was a warm and loving
husband and father, and he is sorely missed by his family.
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Questions
1)
(a) Our Mishnah declares the produce of Beis ha'Zevalim, Beis ha'Shalachim
and Beis ha'Ilan ineligible for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem (see also
Tosfos DH 'Ein Mevi'in') from . These terms mean - a field that needs to be
fertilized, one that needs to be watered manually and one where the crops
grow among the trees.
(b) The Tana disqualifies Beis ha'Zevalim either because we are afraid that
the owner will not manure it properly, resulting in an inferior quality
harvest, or because the manure spoils the taste of the crops, Beis
ha'Shalachim, because a field that needs a lot of water inevitably produces
poor-quality crops. And he disqualifies Beis ha'Ilan - because the trees
drain the land of its water, as a result of which the crops do not grow
properly.
(c) The Tana advises - plowing in the first year and sowing only in the
second.
(d) And to obtain the maximum quantity of flour from the harvest, one sows
the field in the second year - seventy days before Pesach.
2)
(a) The Tana rules that if the Gizbar, examining the flour for the Omer and
the Sh'tei ha'Lechem, pushes his hand into the flour and extracts
flour-dust - the flour is Pasul for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem.
(b) To remedy the fault - they are obligated to sift the flour one more
time.
(c) We ask whether, when our Mishnah rules 'Neirah Shanah Rishonah
u've'Shanah Sheniyah Zor'ah' - the field requires plowing a second time
before sowing (because even though the Tana makes no mention of plowing in
the second year, nevertheless, it is as if the Tana had said 'Nami Zor'ah'
(see Tzon Kodshim).
3)
(a) We try to resolve the She'eilah from a Beraisa, where Rebbi Yossi
states - that the wheat of Karzayim and K'far Achim would be eligible for
the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem if it was close to Yerushalayim.
(b) He says - that they would only use the crops of 'ha'Meduramos
ve'ha'Menunaros' (meaning the crops of the southernmost cities where the
fields had also been specifically plowed for the sake of the Omer).
(c) The advantage of crops that grow in the fields in those areas is - that
the sun shines on them from early morning until late evening.
4)
(a) In describing the procedure, the Beraisa says - that one plows the field
again twice in the second year between plowing it in the first year and
planting it in the second.
(b) If one follows the procedure described in the Mishnah and in the
Beraisa, one can expect stalks of wheat that comprise one third stalks and
two-thirds grain.
(c) Between the time that the wheat is harvested and the flour is brought to
the Gizbar to examine (as we learned in our Mishnah), it passes through six
stages. The two stages that ...
1. ... precede winnowing and selecting the grains are - making sheaves and
threshing.
2. ... follow them are - grinding and sifting.
(d) Rather than merely placing his hand inside the flour and subsequently
needing to re-sift it for the Omer or the Sh'tei ha'Lechem, Rebbi Nasan
prescribes that the Gizbar first rubs oil on his hands. Then when he pushes
his hands inside the flour, he will automatically draw out all the dust as
he withdraws his hand.
5)
(a) We refute the proof from the Beraisa that one plows again in the second
year, despite the fact that the Tana says 'u'Sheniyah Choresh' - because
even if we interpret 'u'vi'Sheniyah Zor'ah' as if it had written 'Nami
Zor'ah', there is nothing to indicate that one plows twice in the second
year (which the Beraisa says one does).
(b) We reconcile our Mishnah (which does not insert 've'Shoneh'), with the
Beraisa (which does) - by establishing the former when the field had already
been plowed in the previous year, and the Beraisa, when it hadn't.
(c) And the She'ilah is - what our Mishnah will hold in a case where it was
not plowed in the previous year, whether the Tana will require two plowings
in the second year (like the Beraisa) or (whether he argues with the
Beraisa, requiring) only one plowing, or even none at all.
6)
(a) Another Beraisa suggests that one alternates between the planting and
the plowing - by plowing half the field each year and planting the other
half.
(b) One does not plant the entire field - because a field does not possess
the strength to be completely planted every year.
(c) This Beraisa resolves our She'eilah - in that the Tana does not require
the (half) field to be plowed even once in the year that it is planted
(though it is unclear why we take for granted that our Mishnah concurs with
the latter Beraisa and not with the former one).
85b---------------------------------------85b
Questions
7)
(a) Aba Shaul in a Beraisa states that they used to bring the Omer from
Bik'as Beis Makleh - which the Tana goes on to describe as being situated in
a southernmost area, proving the point mentioned by the Beraisa on the
previous Amud).
(b) The size of the field was - three Sa'ah (precisely the amount required
for the Omer).
(c) When Rav Chilkiyah bar Tuvi plowed half his small plot of land and
planted half - it produced twice as much as it would normally have done.
(d) He sold the wheat that it produced - for the manufacture of the finest
quality flour (S'mida' [which would have been used for the Omer in the time
of the Beis-Hamikdash]).
8)
(a) The Shi'ur of worm-infested flour and wheat designated for the Omer and
the Sh'tei ha'Lechem to become Pasul is - the majority (i.e. the entire
batch is Pasul, even after the part containing the worms has been removed).
(b) Rebbi Yirmiyah asked whether 'Rov Chitin' means 'Rov Chitin' or 'Rov
Sa'ah'. What he meant was - whether the majority of kernels will suffice to
render the wheat Pasul, or the majority of each kernel must be infested.
(c) The outcome of Rebbi Yirmiyah's She'eilah is - Teiku.
9)
(a) The Mishnah rules in Midos that - a piece of wood that contains a worm
is Pasul.
(b) Shmuel qualifies this, confining the Mishnah's ruling to a wet piece of
wood, which is Pasul (even though a dry piece of wood is Kasher) - due to
the difficulty in removing the wormy part completely.
(c) Someone who declares Hekdesh an animal that has a blemish - receives
five sets of Malkos.
(d) Rava now asks - whether this will also apply to someone who declares
Hekdesh either wormy flour for Menachos or wormy wood for the Mizbe'ach (see
Tosfos DH 'Ba'i' Rava').
(e) The outcome of Rava's She'eilos is - Teiku.
10)
(a) Our Mishnah now discusses the oil for the Menachos. Tako'a - is 'Alfa
la'Shemen', whereas Regev in Eiver ha'Yarden - is second to it (according to
Aba Shaul).
(b) This gives us the order of prioriries , but does not disqualify the oil
from other areas.
(c) One should not bring oil Lechatchilah - from Beis ha'Zevalim, Beis
ha'Shalachim and trees with vegetables growing among them (for the
identical reasons that we gave in the previous Mishnah).
(d) Neither should one bring 'Anpiknun' (which will be clearly defined in
the Sugya and) which is Pasul Lechatchilah - because it is not properly
ripe.
11)
(a) The Tana rules that olives that have either fallen into water and
remained there for a long time, or that have been pickled or cooked - are
Pasul even Bedieved.
(b) Alternatively, we might explain 'min ha'Gargerin she'Nashru ba'Mayim
ve'Lo min ha'Kevashim ve'Lo min ha'Shelukim' to mean - olives which will
only produce oil if they have been soaked in water, pickled or well cooked.
12)
(a) The Pasuk in Shmuel informs us that Yo'av sent to Teko'ah for a wise
woman. Rebbi Yochanan explains the significance of the town Teko'ah (which
was situated in the portion of Asher, oil producing olives territory) in
that - the large quantities of olive oil that they drank there imbued its
inhabitants with wisdom.
(b) The Beraisa comments that the Pasuk "Ve'tovel ba'Shemen Raglo" - refers
to the portion of land belonging to Asher, which 'drew olive oil like a
fountain'.
(c) When the Sheli'ach of Ludki (a Nochri town) was looking to purchase ten
million Manah-worth of olive oil - he went to Yerushalayim.
(d) In Yerushalayim, they redirected him to Tzur - from where they
redirected him to Gush Chalav. Once there, they directed him to a certain
laborer, to the field where he worked.
13)
(a) The man (who was digging under a tree when the Sheli'ach found him) ...
1. ... replied, when the latter first made his request - that he should
wait until he had finished his work.
2. ... created the impression that he was poor, causing the Sheli'ach to
think that the Jews were pulling his leg, when - after finishing work, he
slung his tools behind him to go home, and then, as he left the field, he
cleared away the stones from the field.
(b) When they arrived at the man's house, after bringing him a kettle of hot
water to wash his hands and feet, his Shifchah brought him a golden bowl of
olive oil (in which to dip his hands and feet), in fulfillment of the Pasuk
"Ve'tovel ba'Shemen Raglo".
(c) When, after measuring the required amount of oil, the man offered him
more, the Sheli'ach replied - that he had no more money with which to pay
for it.
(d) So they agreed - that he would provide him with more oil (another eight
million Manah-worth), and that he would accompany the Sheli'ach on his
journey home to receive payment for the excess oil there.
14)
(a) They transported all that oil - by means of horse, mule and camel
trains. In fact, it was said that there wasn't one of these animals in the
whole of Eretz Yisrael that they did not rent to transport it.
(b) When the people of his town came out to praise him for having succeeded
in his mission - the Sheli'ach referred them to the oil magnate, with
instructions to thank him, rather than himself.
(c) We see from this story - that one cannot judge a person's situation by
his outward appearance, because, as the Pasuk writes in Mishlei "Yesh
Mis'asher ve'Ein Kol, Misroshesh ve'Hon Rav" ('Just as there are
wealthy-looking people who are poor, so too, there are people who might look
poor, but who are really extremely wealthy').
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