(Permission is granted to print and redistribute this material
as long as this header and the footer at the end are included.)


ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

Previous daf

Shabbos 89

Questions

1)

(a) Hashem initially told the Satan that He had given the Torah to the earth.

(b) The earth told the Satan that Hashem knew where it was; the sea and the depths replied that they did not have it.

(c) Moshe did not want to take credit for such a precious, hidden object, in which Hashem took delight each day. That is why he said to the Satan 've'Chi Mah Ani she'Nasan Li Hakadosh Baruch Hu Torah'?

(d) Hashem replied that since Moshe had humbled himself (before the Torah), the Torah would from now on be called *his* Torah. Hence the Pasuk "Zichru Toras Moshe Avdi".

2)
(a) When Moshe arrived in Heaven, he found Hashem tying crowns on to the letters (the crowns will be explained later in Perek ha'Boneh - as well as the seven letters 'Sha'atnez Gatz').

(b) Moshe did not greet Hashem, because a slave does not greet his master.

(c) When Hashem pointed out that he ought to at least wish him success in His work, he responded by saying "ve'Atah Yigdal Na Ko'ach Hashem" (even though this Pasuk is only recorded later, in Ki Sisa - after the Golden Calf).

3)
(a) "Ki Boshesh" ... is the acronym of 'Ba'u Shesh' - meaning that the sixth hour when he had said he would return, had already passed, but Moshe had returned.

(b) The Satan (who first comes in the form of the Yetzer ha'Ra, then goes up to accuse, as the Satan, and finally comes down to punish, in the form of the Angel of Death) first confused them into believing that Moshe was late; then he tried to convince them that Moshe had died. When they still refused to believe them, he showed them a picture of Moshe's stretcher (used for burying the dead). That was how he tricked them into believing that Moshe really *was* dead.

(c) Yisrael's mistake lay in their failure to realize that when Moshe informed them that he would return after forty days, he meant forty *full* days (each consisting of twenty-four hours). Consequently, they should not have counted the day that he ascended Har Sinai in the forty day period. But they did, with the result that they expected Moshe one day too early.

4)
(a) Har Sinai means the mountain which caused the nations of the world to hate Yisrael (from the word Sin'ah).

(b) It is also referred to as ...

  1. ... Midbar Tzin - because Yisrael were commanded on it (they became 'Metzuvim ve'Osim');
  2. ... Midbar Kadesh - because they were sanctified on it;
  3. ... Midbar Paran - because they all gave birth to a son at Har Sinai, as we learn from the Pasuk "Shuvu Lachem le'Oholeichem" (from the Lashon 'Peru u'Revu').
(c) Har Sinai's real name was Har Chorev.

(d) According to others, it was called 'Har Chorev' because it brought destruction to the nations of the world, who declined to accept the Torah there.

89b---------------------------------------89b

Questions

5) The Navi uses the plural ("ka'Shanim Yalbinu"), because Hashem was telling Yisrael that, even if their sins are stacked like the years from the time of the creation, they will be (-come white like snow i.e.) forgiven.

6)

(a) Yisrael held it against the Avos:
against Avraham, who heard from Hashem all about the bitter Galus in Egypt, but did not pray on their behalf.
against Yitzchak, who blessed Eisav in Toldos: "ve'Haya Ka'asher Tarid, u'Farakto Ulo me'Al Tzavarecha" - and look how much we have suffered on account of that blessing!
And against Ya'akov, who heard from Hashem that the Galus was about to come into effect, yet, like Avraham, he failed to pray on behalf of his children.

(b) Hashem replied that, since Yisrael relied on *Him*, He would not let them down. If their sins were like red threads, they would become white like snow.

(c) Both Avraham and Ya'akov, already in the Olam ha'Emes, will respond to Hashem's statement "Banecha Chat'u" with the words "Ribono shel Olam, Yimachu al Kedushas Shemecha"!

(d) Hashem 'thought' (Kevayochol) that Ya'akov will be certain to speak in Yisrael's defense, since he suffered the ordeal of the twelve tribes.

7)
(a) Yitzchak will say to Hashem: 'Why do you call them *my* (Yitzchak's) children? Did You not refer to them as '*My* (hashem's) firstborn son', because You knew that they would declare 'Na'aseh ve'Nishma'? So why, because they have sinned, do You now call them *my* children, and not *Your's*.

(b) He will go on to argue like this: 'And anyway, how much can they have sinned? How long does a person live, seventy years! Deduct the first twenty, for which You don't punish anyway. So we're left with fifty. Take off twenty-five of night-time, during which time a person anyway sleeps and does not sin! And from those years You can deduct another twelve and a half, during which time he Davens, eats and relieves himself.
That leaves us with a mere twelve and a half. So why don't You carry half, and I'll carry half. If You don't agree, then I'll take them all. After all, I gave up my life for You!'

(c) When Yisrael will reply 'You are our father!', Yitzchak, pointing upwards, will tell them that they would rather praise Hashem.

(d) And Yisrael will take their cue from him and proclaim 'Ata Hashem Avinu Go'aleinu me'Olam Shemecha'!

8) Ya'akov Avinu did not go down to Egypt in chains, because his merits prevented this from happening.

9)

(a) The Shiur for carrying out ...
  1. ... wood - is sufficient to cook one Kigerogeres of a chicken's egg;
  2. ... spices - is sufficient to spice a Kigerogeres of a chicken's egg.
(b) Different spices do combine to make up the required Shiur.

(c) The Shiur for carrying out dyeing materials is enough to dye a small piece of material to cover a woman's head-net.

(d) According to Rebbi Yehudah, the Shiur of Neser, Boris, Kemuni'ah and Ashlag - is enough to remove the bloodstain of a Nidah from a garment.

10)
(a) A broken cane is not really fit for any other use other than for cooking, therefore it is obvious that *that* is its Shiur; wood, on the other hand, has other uses, which explains why the Tana needed to inform us that nevertheless, its Shiur is the same as that of a broken cane - because *that* is its chief function.

(b) Chizkiyah explained that different spices only combine when they are all fit to sweeten the pot, inferring that, ordinarily, spices do not automatically combine. So what does Chizkiyah do with our Mishnah, which seems to say that *all* spices automatically combine?

(c) The Gemara answers that our Mishnah too, speaks specifically about spices that sweeten the pot, and not about all kinds of spices, like we originally thought.

Next daf

Index


For further information on
subscriptions, archives and sponsorships,
contact Kollel Iyun Hadaf,
daf@shemayisrael.co.il