[55a - 42 lines; 55b - 39 lines]

1)[line 6]אמידעם אחרינאMIDA'AM ACHARINA- [with regard to] something else (i.e. she'Lo Kedarkah)

2)[line 13]המערהHA'ME'AREH - one who performs a minimal act of relations (HA'ARA'AH)

Ha'ara'ah is a partial Be'ilah - according to one opinion, it involves no more than contact; according to others, it is the beginning of a Be'ilah (Yevamos 55b). This Halachah is learned from the verse, "וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אֶת אִשָּׁה דָּוָה, וְגִלָּה אֶת עֶרְוָתָהּ, אֶת מְקֹרָהּ הֶעֱרָה" "v'Ish Asher Yishkav Es Ishah Davah, v'Gilah Es Ervasah, Es Mekorah He'erah..." - "And if a man shall lie with a Nidah, and shall uncover her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain..." (Vayikra 20:18) - The Torah uses the word He'erah (to make naked) to show that there is a Chiyuv for Ha'ara'ah alone.

3)[line 22]הואיל וכוליה קרא לדרשא הוא דאתי, כתיבא נמי מילתא דדרשאHO'IL V'CHULEI KERA LI'DERASHA HU D'ASI, KESIVA NAMI MILSA DI'DERASHA- since the entire verse (Vayikra 20:19) comes (i.e. was written in the Torah) for a Derashah, the Torah additionally includes in it a matter involving another Derashah. Superficially, this verse specifies the punishment of Kares for relations with the sister of one's father or of one's mother. This fact is unnecessary, since the Kares punishment has already been specified for all Arayos (Vayikra 18:29). The Gemara (Yevamos 54b, lower half of the Amud) brings a Derashah taught by the apparent repetition of this verse.

4)[line 26]קבסתן!KEVASTAN!- (a) You have caused me anguish (RASHI here and to Kidushin 26b) since you have asked about a situation that is impossible (RASHI here); (b) you have committed Geneivas Da'as (lit. robbing of the mind) by tricking me with beguiling words (RABEINU CHANANEL); (c) you have caused my intestines to churn, causing me to feel that I must vomit (ARUCH Erech Kevastan and RIF, as cited by the marginal note in Vilna Shas), exactly as if you had shown me a disgusting and repulsive object. The word "Kivsa" refers to a person who has eaten an Achilah Gasah (an inordinate amount of food) and suffers distress until he is assailed by both diarrhea and vomiting (ARUCH ibid.)

5)[line 27]במשמש מתMESHAMESH MES- having relations [with a] dead [Ever]

6)[line 33]אילנותILANOS - trees (ASHEIRAH)

Asheirah is a form of Avodah Zarah. (Asheirah was a popular fertility goddess in the Near East. She is identified with Astarte (Ashtaros) and Aphrodite.) An Asheirah must be cut down and destroyed. No benefit can be derived from it.

7)[line 34]המתעה את חבירו מדרכי חיים לדרכי מיתהHA'MAS'EH ES CHAVEIRO MI'DARCHEI CHAYIM L'DARCHEI MISAH- one who misleads his fellow man from the ways of life to the ways of death

8)[line 36]המשתחוה לבהמתוHA'MISHTACHAVEH LI'VEHEMTO- [a Nochri] who bows down and worships his animal. (Normally, when one makes an object into an idol, that idol becomes Asur b'Hana'ah - forbidden to derive benefit from it - as one may not derive benefit from an idol, Devarim 7:26. A live animal, however, cannot become Asur b'Hana'ah as a result of being worshipped (Temurah 29a).)

55b----------------------------------------55b

9)[line 9]בת שלש שנים ויום אחד מתקדשת בביאהBAS SHALOSH SHANIM MISKADESHES B'VI'AH (KIDUSHEI KETANAH AL YEDEI AVIHAH)

(a)The Torah gives a father the right to marry off his daughter at any age before she is twelve years old.

(b)If she was then divorced or widowed, or her father died without marrying her off, the Chachamim gave the girl's mother and/or oldest brother the right to marry her off. In these cases the marriage is only mid'Rabanan and she must be at least ten years old, or at least six years old if she has an understanding of the concept of marriage.

(c)According to the RAMBAM and the RA'AVAD, in the above circumstances, the Chachamim also gave her the right to get married by herself. This marriage is also mid'Rabanan. According to the Rambam, she must be at least ten years old, or at least six years old if she has an understanding of the concept of marriage. According to the Ra'avad, however, her Kidushin is valid even if she has enough sense to guard the object given to her for her Kidushin (and she realizes that it was given to her for Kidushin).

(d)In the instances of marriage mid'Rabanan, before she reaches Halachic puberty and becomes a Na'arah (through the growth of two pubic hairs), she has the option of annulling the marriage through a procedure known as Mi'un (refusal). She says before two witnesses, "I do not want him," and the marriage is annulled retroactively. There is no need for her to receive a Get (a bill of divorce). A girl who is married off by her father cannot annul the marriage through Mi'un. (RAMBAM Hilchos Ishus 4:7-8)

10)[line 12]ומטמאה את בועלה לטמא משכב תחתון כעליוןU'METAM'AH ES BO'ALAH L'TAMEI MISHKAV TACHTON K'ELYON - [if she is a Nidah,] she transmits Tum'ah to a man who has relations with her, [who in turn makes even] his lowermost bedding impure like an item above (BO'EL NIDAH)

(a)A man who has relations with a Nidah becomes Tamei for seven days, like a Nidah herself. His laws of Tum'ah, however, are less stringent. The objects he touches, as well as Tachtono, the objects underneath him, have the same status as the objects above a Nidah, namely, Rishon l'Tum'ah, as it states in Vayikra 15:24 (see Nidah 33a, and Charts to Nidah 33:8b).

(b)After seven days, he immerses in a Mikvah during the day to complete his purification process.

11)[line 13]אוכלת בתרומהOCHELES BI'TERUMAH

A non-Kohen may not eat Terumah. A Kohen's wife, who is not herself a Kohenes (the daughter of a Kohen), eats Terumah as long as her husband or any of their offspring are alive, as is learned from the verses (Vayikra 22:11, Bamidbar 18:11) and the Gemara (Nidah 44a). The Kohen's wife must be at least three years old for this Halachah to apply.

12)[line 14]אחד מן הפסוליםECHAD MIN HA'PESULIM- one of those men who [through marital relations] invalidate a woman (who is the daughter of a Kohen) from eating Terumah (Vayikra 22:12), or who invalidate a woman (who is not the daughter of a Kohen) from marrying a Kohen. These men include a Nochri, Chalal, Nasin, and Mamzer). The woman will only become Pesulah l'Kehunah if she is over the age of three. (See Background to Bava Basra 141:27.)

13)[line 16]מומתין על ידהMUMASIN AL YADAH- they are killed because of her

14)[line 19]כיון דמזידה היא, תקלה נמי איכאKEIVAN D'MEZIDAH HI, TAKALAH NAMI IKA- since she acted willfully, there is also a stumbling block (i.e. the animal is considered to have caused her to sin)

15)[line 24]ואינו מאכילEINO MA'ACHIL - he (i.e. the marriage to him) does not permit her to eat Terumah (ACHILAS TERUMAH: THE WIFE OF A KOHEN)

(a)A non-Kohen may not eat Terumah. However, a Kohen's wife who is not herself a Kohenes may eat Terumah, if she is over three years old.

(b)If the Kohen is a boy above the age of nine but under the age of 13, since he is not old enough to effect a Kidushin, the woman with whom he has relations may not eat Terumah.

(c)The wife of a Kohen may continue to eat Terumah as long as her husband or any of their offspring are alive (Vayikra 22:11, Bamidbar 18:11; Nidah 44a).

16a)[line 25]ופוסל את הבהמה מעל גבי המזבחPOSEL ES HA'BEHEMAH ME'AL GABEI HA'MIZBE'ACH- he invalidates the animal (with whom he had relations) from being offered as Korban upon the Mizbe'ach (when there is only one witness)

b)[line 25]ונסקלת על ידוV'NISKELES AL YADO- and the animal is stoned because of him (when there are two witnesses)

17)[line 36]והיכי דמי? עובד כוכבים הבא על הבהמהV'HEICHI DAMI? OVED KOCHAVIM HA'BA AL HA'BEHEMAH...- and what is the case [in which there is a stumbling block (Takalah) but there is no shame (Kalon)]? [The case is one in which] a Nochri has relations with an animal (the case about which the students asked Rav Sheshes (Daf 55a)).

18)[line 38]המגדףHA'MEGADEF

(a)In our Mishnah, in the context of the death penalty of Sekilah, the word "Megadef" refers to who curses HaSh-m (discussed in Vayikra 24:10-23).

(b)The Torah states that a Megadef is punishable with Kares (Bamidbar 15:30). There are two opinions regarding the definition of the Megadef in that verse: (a) a person who curses HaSh-m; (b) a person who plays music and sings to Avodah Zarah.

OTHER D.A.F. RESOURCES
ON THIS DAF