Previous daf

1)

(a) One should clasp one's hands together when Davening - like a servant would do out of fear, in front of his master.

(b) Rava would take off his coat , in order not to look important when he Davened.

(c) Rav Kahana would do the same in time of trouble, but in normal times, he would make a point of wearing it.

(a) Rava accused Rav Hamnuna of forsaking Torah (which he referred to as 'life of the World to Come'), in order to busy himself with life in this world (health, peace and sustenance - things for which one normally prays).

(b) But Rav Hamnuna was of the opinion that there's a time to Daven and a time to learn.

(c) Rebbi Yirmiyah was sitting in front of Rebbi Zeira, and they were learning together. The time for Tefilah arrived and Rebbi Yirmiyah hurried to get up and Daven. That is when Rebbi Zeira exclaimed "Meisir Ozno mi'Shemo'a Torah, Gam Tefilaso To'eivah"!

(a) Both opinions agree that, the moment the Dayanim don their Taleisim is the beginning of Din. However, if they have already been judging another case, so that they are already wearing their Talisos when the next case begins, that is when the Gemara had to add that the Din begins as soon as the litigants present their arguments.

(b) The Dayanim wear Talisos because of Fear of the Shechinah, who is always present when the judges sit (as the Pasuk in Tehilim says "Elokim Nitzav ba'Adas Keil"). And also so that their faces should be covered in a way that they will not be tempted to glance from one side to the other - and lose their concentration.

(c) It is not feasible to explain the Pasuk literally - to mean that the people stood in front of Moshe from morning till evening, but rather that, a judge who judges with absolute integrity, is considered as if he had become a partner with Hashem in the Creation of the world, by which the Torah also writes "And it was evening, and it was morning".

(d) Rav Chisda and Raba bar Rav Huna had sat and judged all day and were feeling miserable because they had not learnt Torah all day. That is when Rav Chiya bar Rav mi'Difti told them that Derashah (as a consolation - presumably, he could have also have reminded them of the Gemara in Berachos 6a, which specifically incorporates judging in Torah-learning). Rashi however, prefers the explanation that Rav Chiya was not consoling them at all.
It appears that they were trying to emulate Moshe's example of judging all day - for which they now felt weak from hunger. So what Rav Chiya pointed out to them that it was not in fact necessary to spend all day judging - even Moshe did not really do that, according to the above Derashah, and that they receive tremendous reward for judging accurately even for just a part of the day.

(a) Beis-Din should sit up to the time of Talmid-Chacham's meal-time (the sixth hour).

(b) The Ludim are a cannibal tribe, who have a voracious appetite, and who tend to eat therefore, during the first hour of the day.

(c) The Gemara quotes Rav Papa, who says that the fourth hour is the general meal-time for everyone. Therefore, we are forced to change the order to: the fourth hour is the time that everybody (most people) eat, whereas the fifth hour is the meal-time for workers.

(d) The sixth hour is the time that Talmidei-Chachamim eat.

6)

(a) The outer-room of the bath-house was where people completed their dressing, and where they then would stay for a while to regain their strength after the rigors of bathing.

(b) In the inner-room it was forbidden to recite the Shema, to Daven, and even to greet someone in the formal manner (using the Name 'Shalom'). One was also obligated to remove one's Tefilin, and one was certainly not permitted to put them on there.

(c) The middle room was where one began to get dressed. People stood around in various stages of dress, before proceeding to the outer-room to finish dressing.
There, one was permitted to greet someone formally, but reciting the Shema and Davening was prohibited. It was not necessary to remove one's Tefilin, but one was not permitted to put them on there initially.

(a) In light of a ruling of Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Chanina, that the Dinim of a bath-house apply even when there is nobody there (and of a bathroom even when there is no Tzo'ah there), it is not possible to permit someone to Daven in a bath-house when there is nobody there.

(b) The Gemara differentiates between a bath-house that has been used (in which it is forbidden to Daven), and one which has been designated, where Davening is permitted.

(c) Ravina was uncertain whether one is permitted to Daven in a 'bathroom' which was designated, but as yet unused, because a 'bathroom' is particularly disgusting, and it is therefore possible that it is permitted to Daven in a designated bath-house, but not in a designated 'bathroom'.

8)

(a) It is forbidden to greet formally ('Shalom Alechem') in a bath-house, because Shalom is one of the names of Hashem (although it does not appear to have the same Kedushah as the other names, even such as Keil, Elokim, Shakai etc.

(b) Whereas Shalom is an intrinsic Name of Hashem, as the Pasuk writes (in Shoftim) "Va'yikra Lo Hashem Shalom", Ne'eman is no more than a description of Hashem (like we find in Devarim - "ha'Keil ha'Ne'man"). Consequently, it is permitted to say 'Ne'eman' in a bath-house.

(a) "la'Da'as Ki Ani Hashem Mekadishchem" refers to the great gift given to Yisrael called 'Shabbos'.

(b) We learn from this Pasuk that someone who gives a gift to his friend should inform him (to encourage him to accept it, if he knows who is giving it to him, and to promote friendship and love among fellow Jews, if he does not).

(c) They used to smear some oil on him and paint his eye, but that stopped, due to the fact that it resembled witchcraft, so they began smearing some of the food on the child's face, so that his mother would soon find out about the Chesed.

(d) The Torah records that Moshe was unaware that his face shone from the precious gift of the 'Karnei Hod'. From which we see that it is not necessary to inform the recipient of the gift?
But that is only by a gift which the recipient is bound to discover.

(a) Rav Chisda said that he would give a pair of Matanos to anyone who would tell him something in the name of Rav that he had never heard before.

(b) The Matanos are permitted to non-Kohanim, which is why there was nothing wrong with Rav Chisda giving them to non-Kohanim.

(c) Rava bar Machsayah told him the Din that we learnt above (in 9b). And then, when he heard just how much Rav's words to him, he quoted Rav, who said that a coat is valuable to the one who always wears it - hinting at Rav Chisda, to whom the words of Rav were so precious because he was his Talmid.

(a) According to Rava bar Machsayah, it was because Ya'akov Avinu favored Yosef and gave him a special shirt that caused the jealousy, which, in turn caused them to sell him to Egypt.

(b) We should learn from here not to favor one son more than the others.

(c) Lot asked to be allowed to run to Tzo'ar, because it had fewer sins, and could perhaps be spared from destruction. The word "Na" is the numerical value of 51, which hints to the one year that Tzo'ar was younger than the other four cities of Sedom.

(d) We can learn from here the advantage of (sometimes) living in a city which has only recently been built, because it will have fewer sins than its older contemporaries.