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1)

(a) Two people who were equally sick or who were accused of committing exactly the same crime, prayed to Hashem. The reason that the prayers of one of them are answered and the prayers of the other are not, according to Rebbi Meir - is because the former Davened with Kavanah, whereas the latter did not.

(b) Rebbi Elazar answers that the former must have prayed *before* the decree was sealed, whilst the later prayed *afterwards*, when it was too late - Rebbi Yitzchak (who presumably will answer the Kashya like Rebbi Meir) says that Tefilah is always effective, even *after* the decree has been sealed.

(c) Rebbi Elazar (like whom Rebbi Yochanan holds) will establish the Pasuk in Yirmiyah, where the Navi writes that even with regard to a community, Teshuvah (and Tefilah) cannot alter the final decree - by a decree which is accompanied by an oath (which cannot be altered through Teshuvah or Tefilah.

(d) Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachmeini Amar Rebbi Yonasan learns from the Pasuk in Shmuel "Lachein Nishba'ati le'Veis Eli, Im Yiskaper Avon Beis Eli be'Zevach u've'Minchah" - that the decree issued to Beis Eli cannot be rescinded.

(a) Rabah infer from the words "be'Zevach u've'Minchah" - that although the decree of Beis Eli cannot be rescinded through Korbanos, it can be rescinded through Torah-study.

(b) Abaye says that it can be rescinded through Torah and through acts of Chesed.

(c) The respective opinions of Rabah and Abaye (who were both descendants of Eli ha'Kohen) reflect their own respective destinies - because Rabah, who studied a lot of Torah, lived until the age of forty; whereas Abaye, who in addition, performed many acts of Chesed, lived until sixty.

(d) Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakai advised the family who were all dying by the age of eighteen to - study a lot of Torah. They subsequently lived longer.

(a) The Pasuk "ka'Hashem Elokeinu be'Chol Kor'einu Eilav" - refers to prayers of a community; whereas the Pasuk "Dirshu Hashem be'Himatz'o" - refers to those of an individual.

(b) "be'Himatz'o" - means the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur.

(c) Naval (who was guilty, not only of gross ingratitude towards David, but also of insulting him) was given ten days grace before he succumbed to his illness, according to Rav - because of the ten meals he gave David's messengers (one per messenger).

(d) According to Rabah bar Avuhah - those ten days were the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur (the grace given to an individual in which to do Teshuvah).

(a) We learned in our Mishnah, that on Rosh Hashanah, all the creatures in the world pass before Hashem like 'B'nei Meron'. Some interpret this to mean like sheep - the sheep that were led single file through a narrow passage, to be Ma'asered.

(b) According to Resh Lakish, 'B'nei Meron' means like the narrow steps of Beis Meron (or Choron) - Rav Yehudah Amar Shmuel explains it to mean like the soldiers in David Hamelech's army.

(c) All these explanations have in common - the fact that the leading, the climbing and the counting, were all done one by one (which is how Hashem judges everyone in the world on Rosh Hashanah). Nevertheless, comments Rabah bar bar Chanah Amar Rebbi Yochanan, they are all judged with one glance. Note: These three illustrations seem to symbolize the three categories which we discussed earlier: The sheep going to be slaughtered symbolize the Resha'im, the dangerous ascent (which one needs to climb with particular care), the Beinonim, and the soldiers of Beis David, who fight the battles of Hashem, the Tzadikim.

(d) We prove Rebbi Yochanan's comment from the Pasuk quoted in our Mishnah "ha'Yotzer Yachad Libam ... " - because, the Pasuk cannot mean that, after creating the world, Hashem unified their hearts to serve Him, since that is simply not true; it must therefore refer to the previous Pasuk (which speaks about supervising the whole world), and means that the Creator examines all their hearts in one glance.

(a) The function of the Sheluchim, who did not travel on Shabbos - was to inform the people who lived in Galus, on which day the Beis-Din in Eretz Yisrael had fixed Rosh Chodesh.

(b) They did not go out at all in the months of Iyar, Sivan, Tamuz, Mar- Cheshvan, Teives and Sh'vat. They went out in Nisan - because of Pesach; in Av - because of Tish'ah-be'Av; in Elul - because of Rosh Hashanah; in Tishri - because of Yom Kipur, Sukos, and Shemini Atzeres; in Kislev - because of Chanukah, and in Adar - because of Purim.

(c) They did not need to go out in the month of Sivan - because Shavu'os was fixed at forty-nine days after the second day of Pesach.

(d) The B'nei Golah observed Rosh Hashanah - on the thirtieth day of Elul (because in the vast majority of cases, Elul was a short month).

7)

(a) Initially, we interpreted the Pasuk in Zecharyah "Tzom ha'Revi'i ... Yiheyeh ... le'Sason u'le'Simchah" to mean that when there is peace, the fast-days become days of celebration, and when there is not, they remain full fast-days. Rav Papa however, creates three levels from this Pasuk - by dividing the second category into two: when the nations of the world issue evil decrees against us, they are full fast-days, but when they do not, then fasting on them is voluntary, depending upon whether the people want to fast or not.

(b) That explain why the Sheluchim do not go out in Tamuz and Teives (for the respective fast-days that occur then) - because, seeing as fasting was not obligatory anyway, Beis-Din did not trouble the Sh'luchim to go out.

(c) They nevertheless did go out in the month of Av - because so many terrible things happened then (predominantly, the destruction of the Beis- Hamikdash, which even happened twice on the same day).

(a) Zecharyah refers to "Tzom ha'Revi'i, ve'Tzom ha'Chamishi, Tzom ha'Shevi'i and Tzom ha'Asiri".
According to the Beraisa, on ...

1. ... "Tzom ha'Revi'i" - the walls of Yerushalayim were breached (on the ninth - see Tosfos DH 'Zeh').
2. ... "Tzom ha'Chamishi" - the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed (on the ninth).
3. ... "Tzom ha'Shevi'i" - Gedalyah was murdered (on the third).

(b) Yishmael ben Nesanyah killed Gedalyah ben Achikam.

(c) From the fact that Chazal fixed a fast-day to commemorate his death - we learn that the day on which a Tzadik dies is compared to the burning of the Beis Hamikdash.

(a) According to Rebbi Akiva, "Tzom ha'Asiri" refers to *Asarah* be'Teives - According to Rebbi Shimon, it refers to the *fifth*, when news reached the ears of the exiles that Yerushalayim was destroyed.

(b) Rebbi Shimon prefers *his* own explanation to that of his Rebbe, Rebbi Akiva - because according to *his* explanation, Yirmiyah ha'Navi lists the fast-days in their chronological order; whereas according to Rebbi Akiva, the last to be mentioned (Asarah be'Teives), was the first to occur.

(c) According to Rebbi Akiva, it put "Tzom ha'Asiri" last - because it is the last of the *months* listed (even though it is not the last *event*).

(a) Megilas Ta'anis - is a book that listed all the dates on which miracles happened to the Jews in Eretz Yisrael, and on which it was forbidden to fast.

(b) Rav and Rebbi Chanina hold that Megilas Ta'anis became Batel. Their source for this - is the Pasuk in Zecharyah which we quoted earlier, and from which we derived that when the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed, the days of rejoicing become fast-days, incorporating these days too.

(c) Rebbi Yochanan and Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi (who hold that it did *not* become Batel) reject the proof from 'Ein Shalom, Tzom' - on the grounds that Zecharyah was only referring to the days that were connected with the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, but not to other days, which remain Yamim-Tovim even after the Churban.

(a) When the Rabbanan decreed a fast-day on Chanukah, Rebbi Eliezer took a bath and Rebbi Yehoshua had a haircut - then they both told the Rabbanan that they were obligated to fast for having fasted on a day when fasting was forbidden.

(b) Rav Yosef initially resolve this Beraisa according to Rav and Rebbi Chanina, who hold that Megilas Ta'anis is Batel (and it should therefore be permitted to fast on all the days listed in Megilas Ta'anis) - by stating that Chanukah was different, seeing as it was a Mitzvah to celebrate.

(c) What does that mean, it was a Mitzvah to celebrate, asks Abaye? If Megilas Ta'anis is Batel, then there is no Chanukah and there is no Mitzvah!

(d) What Rav Yosef really said was - that Chanukah is different, because the miracle was widely publicized (and did therefore become Batel even according to Rav and Rebbi Chanina).

(a) When the Malchus Chashmona'im overcame the Greeks - they decreed that the Name of Hashem (which the Greeks had forbidden to be mentioned) should even be included in documents.

(b) On the third of Tishri - the Chachamim (who objected vehemently to the Chashmona'im's decree) succeeded in persuading the Chashmona'im to nullify their decree. That was considered a miracle (see Agados Maharsha), and resulted in that day being included in Megilas Ta'anis.

(c) Assuming that this Beraisa speaks after the Churban - we ask that, if, as Rav and Rebbi Chanina maintain, Megilas Ta'anis became Batel i.e. the old Yamim-Tovim became obsolete, how could Chazal introduce new ones?

(d) We ask that, if, as we currently assume, the Beraisa speaks in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, then it would anyway have been forbidden to fast on the third of Tishri - because that is Tzom Gedalyah, and Tzom Gedalyah in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, was a Yom-Tov.