REVIEW QUESTIONS ON MISHNAYOS
Prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
of Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Yerushalayim
daf@dafyomi.co.il http://www.dafyomi.co.il
Mishnah 1
1)
(a) Ben Zoma discusses a wise man, a rich man, a strong man and an honored man. Why is he called neither by his name nor by a title?
(b) What was his name?
(c) Which other Chacham shared the same name and the same circumstances?
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2)
(a) How does he describe ...
1. ... a wise man?
2. ... a rich man?
3. ... a strong man?
4. ... an honored man?
(b) What does he mean with these descriptions? Are they absolute definitions?
(c) What can we learn about a person who learns from somebody whose inferior to his own?
(d) ben Zoma learns this from the Pasuk in Tehilim "mi'Kol Melamdai Hiuskalti"? How does he learn it from there? How does the Pasuk end?
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3)
(a) And he learns his second statement from the Pasuk in Mishlei "Tov Erech Apayim mi'Gibor ... ". How does he interpret ...
1. ... this phrase?
2. ... the continuation of the Pasuk "u'Moshel b'Rucho mi'Loched Ir"?
(b) And how does he interpret the Pasuk in Tehilim (the source of his third statement) ...
1. ... "Yegi'a Kapecha ki Sochel"?
2. ... "Ashrecha v'Tov Lach"?
(c) What does ben Zoma learn from the Pasuk in Shmuel "Ki Mechabdai Achabed"? What does this have to do with honoring others?
(d) What can we learn from the continuation of the Pasuk "u'Bozai Yekalu"?
(e) From which Pasuk in Lech Lecha can we learn that Hash-m is more stringent with those who insult Tzadikim than with those who insult Him (kiv'Yachol)?
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Mishnah 2
4)
(a) What does ben Azai say about the way in which one should perform a Mitzvah and avoid doing an Aveirah?
(b) What dual reason (part negative, part positive) does he give for that piece of advice?
(c) How else might one interpret his statement ...
1. ... 'she'Sechar Mitzvah Mitzvah'?
2. ... 'u'Sechar Aveirah Aveirah'?
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Mishnah 3
5)
(a) What does ben Azai mean when he says 'Al T'hi Baz l'Chol Adam'?
(b) What similar statement does he make with regard to objects?
(c) What reason does he give for these two statements?
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Mishnah 4
6)
(a) What does R. Levitas Ish Yavneh say about being humble?
(b) What reason did he give for that?
(c) In what way does the Midah of pride differ from all other Midos? What advice would R. Levitas give with regard to them?
(d) Why is pride different than all other Midos?
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7)
(a) And what does R. Yochanan ben Berokah say about someone who desecrates Hashem's Name in private?
(b) What other stringency with regard to Chilul Hash-m does he add to that?
(c) Does this mean that someone who desecrates Hashem's Name b'Shogeg receives the same punishment (Misah) as Mezid (see Tos. Yom Tov)?
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Mishnah 5
8)
(a) R. Yishmael the son of R. Yochanan ben Berokah discusses the Divine Assistance that someone who learns, receives, depending on his motives. What does he mean when he refers to someone who learns in order ...
1. ... to teach?
2. ... to do?
(b) How much Divine Assistance will each one receive? What do the two have in common?
(c) What reward did Rabah and Abaye respectively, receive.
(d) Others explain that 'in order to teach' means that he wants to be called 'Rebbi'. How will we then need to amend the Reisha of the Mishnah?
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9)
(a) R. Tzadok forbids using Torah as a crown to aggrandize oneself. What does he mean by that?
(b) How else should one not use Torah, according to him?
(c) What is someone who earns his livelihood directly from Torah akin to?
(d) What punishment will he receive for doing so?
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10)
(a) What is the source for the prohibition of teaching Torah to children for payment (instead of free of charge)? From which the Pasuk in Devarim do we learn it?
(b) What is then the Heter for ...
1. ... a Rebbi of children to accept payment?
2. ... Dayan to accept payment for judging?
(c) On what condition is he permitted to take payment from the litigants?
(d) What if he takes from them more than his loss of work?
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11)
(a) In light of the above, how will we explain the various benefits that the Torah allows a Talmid-Chacham to receive (as we will now explain)?
(b) What benefits do Chazal grant him in connection with ...
1. ... selling his goods in the market?
2. ... payment of taxes?
3. ... paying the head-tax from which nobody is exempt?
(c) Will these last two concessions apply to a Talmid-Chacham who is wealthy in his own right?
(d) And what do they say with regard to a sick Talmid-Chacham or one who endures physical suffering?
(e) What if he declines to accept it?
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12)
(a) Finally, they permit a Talmid-Chacham who has been appointed as a community leader (who has to deal with communal affairs) to accept remuneration for his services. Why is that?
(b) What do they say about paying him more than he actually needs to live on?
(c) What precedence do we have for this?
(d) Why did various Chachamim then decline to accept money under these circumstances?
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13)
(a) R. Tzadok's last statement is supported by a statement by Hillel. What did Hillel say about somebody who uses the crown of Torah for his own benefit?
(b) What does the Tana finally say about someone who does derive personal benefit from his Torah-learning?
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Mishnah 6
14)
(a) What does R. Yosi say about somebody who ...
1. ... honors the Torah?
2. ... defiles it?
(b) What might he mean by 'honors the Torah' (besides the literal meaning of showing honor to a Sefer Torah and to those who study it and those who keep it)?
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Mishnah 7
15)
(a) R. Yishmael, R. Yosi's son, discusses someone who 'divests himself from Din', which might mean that he refrains from acting as a Dayan when there is somebody else who is superior to him available. What else might it mean?
(b) In so doing, he says, he divests himself from three things, two of them, enmity and theft. What is the third?
(c) What does 'Shevu'as Shav' really mean in this context?
(d) Why else might the Tana refer to Shevu'as Sheker in this way?
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16)
(a) The same Tana concludes with a statement about someone who is vain in judgment. What does this mean in practical terms?
(b) And he crowns him with three titles, one of them 'a fool'. What are the other two?
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Mishnah 8
17)
(a) He also advises against being a single Dayan. Sine when is one Dayan eligible to judge on his own?
(b) What reason does he give for declining to be one?
(c) On which condition may a single Dayan judge l'Chatchilah?
(d) What does R. Yishmael beno shel R. Yosi warn one Dayan from saying to his two colleagues?
(e) Why might we have even thought that he has the right to say such a thing?
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Mishnah 9
18)
(a) What does the Yonasan say about someone who ...
1. ... keeps the Torah when he is poor?
2. ... breaks the Torah when he is rich? Why, do we assume, he does that?
(b) What makes the former so praiseworthy?
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Mishnah 10
19)
(a) R. Meir advises that one minimize one's business and studies Torah? What if one already has fixed times to learn Torah?
(b) What does he mean when he says that one should be humble before every man? What does that have to do with the previous statement?
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20)
(a) What, according to R. Meir, should a person who is idle from Torah-study take into account?
(b) How do others interpret his statement 'Yesh Lecha Betelim Kenegdecha'? What does 'Betelim' then mean?
(c) And what is the good news regarding someone who studies Torah diligently?
(d) Others have the text 'Yesh Lo Betelim ... '. What does this imply?
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Mishnah 11
21)
(a) What does R. Eliezer ben Yakov say about someone who ...
1. ... performs one Mitzvah?
2. ... does one Aveirah?
(b) What are 'Kateigor' and 'Saneigor' the acronym of?
(c) What does he consider the best defense against punishment?
(d) What sort of distinction does R. Yochanan ha'Sandlar draw between two kinds of gatherings of people? When can one expect it to bear fruit and when not?
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Mishnah 12
22)
(a) What does R. Elazar (ben Shamu'a) say about how one should treat ...
1. ... the dignity of one's Talmid?
2. ... the dignity of one's Chaver?
3. ... the awe of one's Rebbi?
(b) The source of these three statements lies in statements by Moshe, Aharon and Yehoshua respectively. What did ...
1. ... Moshe say to Yehoshua (in connection with the first battle against Amalek)?
2. ... Aharon say to Moshe (when Miriam was stricken with Tzara'as)?
3. ... Yehoshua say to Moshe (in connection with Eldad and Meidad's prophesying in the camp)?
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Mishnah 13
23)
(a) What warning does R. Yehudah issue to someone who learns Talmud (Gemara)?
(b) What reason does he give for this?
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24)
(a) R. Shimon lists three crowns. What are they?
(b) What do we learn from the Pasuk in ...
1. ... Kedoshim "v'Hadarto Pnei Zaken"?
2. ... Emor "v'Kidashto"?
3. ... Shoftim "Som Tasim Alecha Melech"?
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25)
(a) Which fourth crown does R. Shimon add to the list? What exactly does he say about it?
(b) Why does he list it separately?
(c) Then what is its significance?
(d) What do we say about ...
1. ... a Talmid-Chacham about whom evil rumors are circulating?
2. ... the sons of Aharon who do behave like sons of Aharon (as opposed to converts who do)?
3. ... a king 'who does not perform the deeds of his people'?
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Mishnah 14
26)
(a) What does R. Nehorai advise a person to do if his town is devoid of Talmidei-Chachamim?
(b) What should one not wait for?
(c) Why should one rather go into exile to learn Torah than to wait for the Talmidim who return from the Yeshivah and to hear it from them?
(d) How might we alternatively interpret 'she'Chaverecha Yekaymuhah b'Yadecha'?
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Mishnah 15
27)
(a) R. Yanai says 'Ein b'Yadeinu Lo mi'Shalvas ha'Resha'im v'Lo mi'Yisurei ha'Tzadikim'. What does he mean by that?
(b) He might also be referring to us during the time of Galus. What does he then mean?
(c) R. Masya ben Charash suggests that one greets everybody. Whom does 'everybody' incorporate?
(d) What does he say about status? What should a person strive to be?
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Mishnah 16
28)
(a) R. Yakov compares this world to a hallway. Where does it lead to?
(b) What should a person do in the hallway?
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Mishnah 17
29)
(a) R. Yakov also discusses the corollary between this world and the World to Come. What is better than ...
1. ... all of life in the World to Come? Why is that?
2. ... all the combined pleasures of this world?
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Mishnah 18
30)
(a) R. Yakov teaches us the concept of doing the right thing at the wrong time. When should one not ...
1. ... attempt to appease a person who is angry?
2. ... comfort a mourner?
3. ... search for a way to annul someone's vow?
4. ... attempt to visit him when he has sinned?
(b) The first two concepts we learn from Hash-m. How do we learn ...
1. ... the first concept from the Pasuk in Ki Sisa (following the sin of the Golden Calf) "Panai Yelechu va'Hanichosi Lach"?
2. ... the second concept from Hashem's response to the angels following the Churban of the first Beis Hamikdash?
(c) Why should one avoid searching for a way to annul the vow that someone has just made?
(d) How do we learn ...
1. ... this from the Neder that Hash-m made forbidding Moshe to enter Eretz Yisrael?
2. ... the concept of not visiting a person who has just sinned from Hash-m following the sin of Adam v'Chavah?
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Mishnah 19
31)
(a) Shmuel ha'Katan would rebuke people with a Pasuk in Mishlei. What does the Pasuk say about reacting to ...
1. ... a fallen enemy?
2. ... an enemy who sinned?
(b) Why is neither of the above advisable?
(c) On what grounds will they arouse Hashem's ire?
(d) What do we learn from the word "v'Heshiv" in the concluding phrase there " v'Heshiv me'Alav Apo"?
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Mishnah 20
32)
(a) To what does Elisha ben Avuyah compare teaching Torah to ...
1. ... a child? Why is that?
2. ... an old man?
(b) And what does R. Yosi b'R. Yehudah from the village of ha'Bavli say about somebody who learns from ...
1. ... children?
2. ... elders?
(c) What is the significance in this regard, of ...
1. ... unripe grapes?
2. ... wine from the vat?
(d) Rebbi disagrees. What does he say about new jars and old ones?
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Mishnah 21
33)
Which three things does R. Elazar ha'Kapar list that take a person out of the world?
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Mishnah 22
34)
(a) He also used to say that those who are born are destined to die. What did he say about those who have died?
(b) And the living are going to know 'Leida, Lehodi'a u'Lehivada' that Hash-m is 'G-d ... '. What do these three terms mean?
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35)
(a) 'Kel is the first of seven titles of Hash-m that they will ultimately know, three of the remaining six are 'Yotzer, Borei and Meivin'. What are the other three?
(b) What does the Tana mean by ...
1. ... 'Meivin'?
2. ... 'Ba'al-Din'?
(c) 'And they know that He is going to judge'. When will that take place?
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36)
(a) Blessed be He, the Mishnah continues, before whom there is no injustice and no forgetting, no favoritism and no acceptance of bribes. What does 'no favoritism and no acceptance of bribes' refer to?
(b) Why does He not need bribes?
(c) What does the Tana say is not an escape from Divine justice?
(d) And what does he mean when he says that it all goes according to the reckoning?
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37)
(a) Everyone is formed and born ... against his will. We can understand why a person does not want to die. But why would he not want to ...
1. ... be formed?
2. ... be born?
(b) And what is the Tana referring to when he says that he has to lives against his will?
(c) What is the final experience that he will be forced to face, whether he wants to or not?
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