ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem
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Pesachim 109
Questions
1)
(a) 'Chotfin Matzah Bishevil Tinokos she'Lo Yishnu' - means either that one
eats quickly at the Seder so that the children should not fall asleep before
the Afikoman and Hallel - or that one removes the Matzos from the children's
hands on Erev Pesach - so that they should not fall asleep before they have
asked the four Kashyos.
(b) If one were to omit the words 'she'Lo Yishnu' - it could also mean that
one lifts up or removes the Seder-plate - so that the children will be
encouraged to ask why?
(c) Rebbi Akiva would tell the Talmidim to leave the Beis Hamedrash only on
Erev Pesach (in order to put the children to sleep in the day, so that they
do not fall asleep at the Seder, or to start the Seder on time, to make it
easier for the children to stay awake during the Seder), and on Erev Yom
Kipur (in order to feed their children - so that they should be able to fast
for a few hours on Yom Kipur).
2)
(a) We learn from the Pasuk in Re'ei "ve'Samachta be'Chagecha", that a
person is obligated to make his wife and children happy (as well as
himself), according to ...
1. ... the Tana Kama of the Beraisa - by providing them with wine.
2. ... Rebbi Yehudah - by providing the men with wine, the women, with nice
clothes and the children, with roasted kernels.
(b) A man living in Eretz Yisrael fulfills this Mitzvah vis-a-vis his wife
by buying her colored clothes; whereas a man living in Bavel fulfills it by
buying his wife nicely-laundered linen clothes.
(c) Rebbi Yehudah ben Beseira explains that the Pasuk in Ki Savo
"ve'Zavachta Shelamim, ve'Achalta Sham, ve'Samachta ... " - refers to the
era of the Beis Hamikdash, when the only real Simchah comes about through
the meat of Shelamim, whereas the Pasuk in Tehilim "ve'Yayin Yesamach Levav
Enosh" - refers to nowadays, when there is no Shelamim, in which case one
can only attain Simchah through wine.
3)
(a) The Kasta de'Murisa in Tzipori resembled the Lug in the Beis Hamikdash.
It was used to measure the four cups on Pesach, each consisting of a Revi'is
ha'Lug.
(b) The original Tomen-measuring cup of Teverya was twenty-five per-cent
larger than the Kasta de'Murisa. They measured the Revi'is of Pesach - by
pouring it into the Kasta de'Murisa; what remained in the cup, was a Revi'is
ha'Lug.
(c) A Revi'is shel Torah consists of two Etzba'os by two Etzba'os (square)
by two and seven tenths (height) finger-breadths.
(d) examples of a Revi'is shel Torah - are a Revi'is of wine for a Nazir, a
Revi'is of blood that comes from two corpses and a Revi'is of oil for the
wafers of a Nazir.
4)
(a) We learn from ...
1. ... "ba'Mayim es Kol Besaro" - that nothing should divide between the
water and the flesh of the person who is Toveling (as this constitutes a
Chatzitzah).
2. ... "*ba*'Mayim" - in the water of a Mikvah (to preclude drawn water -
others say to preclude water in a vessel).
3. ... "es *Kol* Besaro" - to preclude a Mikvah in which a regular-size
person's body will not fit.
(b) Based on this latter Pasuk, the minimum size Mikvah must contain at
least forty Sa'ah.
(c) There are ...
- ... 6 Kabin in a Sa'ah;
- ... 4 Lugin in a Kav;
- ... 6 Beitzim in a Lug.
(d) And there are ...
- ... 6 Tefachim in an Amah;
- ... 4 Etzba'os in a Tefach.
109b---------------------------------------109b
Questions
5)
(a) The golden-Shulchan of Moshe was two Amos long by one Amah wide by one
and a half Amos high.
(b) One could Tovel the holy vessels in the Azarah - either in the Mikvah of
one Amah square, or in the stream called 'Amah', which flowed through the
Azarah and, as its name suggests, was one Amah wide and one Amah deep.
(c) The Gemara presumes that the table must have had joints - because
otherwise, how could one Tovel an Amah table, in a Mikvah of an Amah by an
Amah (nor would it help to Tovel it diagonally, since the Tefach thickness
of the table-top would still prevent it from fitting into the Mikvah.
(d) The Beraisa of Rebbi Chiya, which gives the size of the Yam shel Shlomoh
as large enough to contain a hundred and fifty regular Mikva'os, dispenses
with that assumption - because once we contend with a Mikvah of that size,
there is no problem with fitting the Shulchan into it - with ease.
6)
(a) How could Chazal have instituted *four* cups at the Seder, asks the
Gemara, since four constitutes pairs, which, for some reason, arouses the
ire of the demons, thereby endangering himself .
(b) According to the Beraisa, one should not eat or drink in pairs, neither
should one clean oneself after defecating nor be intimate, in pairs (see
8b).
(c) The problem exists even according to those who say that 'Zugos' (pairs)
is confined to the number *two*, but not to *four* - wherever there is a
possibility of witchcraft, since witchcraft (to which Zugos is also subject)
*is* applicable even by four.
7)
(a) Rav Nachman answers with the Pasuk in Bo "Leil Shimurim" - and one of
the things against which the Seder-night is guarded, is the Demons.
(b) According to Rava, the Kos shel Berachah (the third Kos) only combines
for the good (i.e. to turn the two that he has already drunk into three - to
*remove* the threat of Zugos) but not for the bad (i.e. to turn the three
with the fourth cup that he will later drink - to *create* the threat).
(c) Ravina says 'Arba'ah Kosos Tiknu Rabbanan Derech Cheirus' and he adds
'Kol Chad ve'Chad Mitzvah be'Apei Nafshah Hu' - in other words, one is not
drinking a set of *four* cups of wine, but *one*, and then another, and
another and another - four separate cups.
8)
(a) We cannot interpret 'Lo Ya'aseh Tzerachav T'rei' literally - because
after one Tashmish, one's desire dissipates; so someone who later decides to
do Tashmish again, has changed his mind, and someone who changes his mind is
not subject to Zugos.
(b) We therefore interpret it to mean that after eating or drinking Zugos,
one should not do Tashmish - even once.
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