2) THE THREE VICTORIOUS ARGUMENTS
QUESTIONS: The Gemara says that three individuals posed an argument of "Alilah," a cunning argument, to Hash-m for their demands: Kayin, Esav, and Menasheh. RASHI explains that they presented triumphant arguments that were irrefutable.

(a) What do these three individuals, or their arguments, have in common with each other? Moreover, why does Rashi refer to their arguments as arguments that cannot be refuted? What makes them stronger than any other arguments?

(b) Some of the arguments seem flawed. How could Kayin have argued that since Hash-m will forgive the sins of 600,000 Jewish people in the future when they sin with the Egel ha'Zahav, He certainly should forgive him for his sin? The sin of the Egel ha'Zahav occurred 2,400 years later. How could Kayin have known that they would sin, and how could he have known that Hash-m would forgive them?

Also, what was the argument of Esav, that Yitzchak certainly must have more than one Berachah to give? What would Yitzchak be lacking if he would have had only one Berachah to give?

ANSWERS:
(a) The MAHARSHA explains that Rashi does not mean that their arguments could not be refuted. It is obvious that their arguments were weak. However, since they believed that their arguments were strong and irrefutable, if Hash-m would not accede to their arguments a Chilul Hash-m would result. The MAHARAL adds that Hash-m knew that these Resha'im would constantly decry the perceived unfairness of the way Hash-m dealt with them.

According to this explanation, the Gemara means that the requests of Kayin, Esav, and Menasheh were answered even though they did not fully repent and did not deserve what they were given. Hash-m gave them their requests only in order to prevent a Chilul Hash-m.

Perhaps an indication that shows that the requests of these three individuals were answered grudgingly by Hash-m, as it were, in order to prevent Chilul Hash-m was that although Hash-m promised them what they demanded, His gift was limited and was not enduring.

In the case of Kayin, Hash-m granted him life for only an additional seven generations. In the case of Esav, he was granted the Berachah only as long as the descendants of Yakov would not be doing the will of Hash-m, but as soon as they repent, or when Mashi'ach comes, he loses his Berachah. In the case of Menasheh, Hash-m granted him 33 more years, but, as the verse concludes (see the Mishnah, 90a), he was returned only to Yerushalayim but not to Olam ha'Ba. (M. Kornfeld)

(b) How did Kayin know that the Jewish people would sin? RAV YAKOV EMDEN explains that Kayin knew it through prophecy. The TORAS CHAIM suggests that he found it in the Sefer of Adam ha'Rishon (as described in Bava Metzia 85b), in which every generation and its leaders are listed.

Kayin's argument can be explained in another way. Why did Kayin base his argument on the atonement granted to the Jewish nation many generations later, when he could have based it on the fact that Hash-m granted atonement to his own father, Adam ha'Rishon?

Perhaps Kayin's argument indeed was based on the fact that Hash-m forgave Adam ha'Rishon. The sin of the Egel ha'Zahav was a replication of the sin of Adam ha'Rishon, as the verse says in Hoshea (6:7). Hash-m forgave them because He forgave Adam ha'Rishon. The reason why the Gemara mentions the sin of the Egel ha'Zahav and not the sin of Adam ha'Rishon directly is that, as Rav Yakov Emden writes, the source for the Gemara's understanding of Kayin's argument is Kayin's own words, "Gadol Avoni mi'Neso" (Bereishis 4:13), which allude to the words that Moshe Rabeinu used after the Jewish people sinned with the Egel ha'Zahav, "Atah Yigdal Na Ko'ach Hash-m" (Bamidbar 14:17), saying that Hashem's attribute of mercy is able to forgive even the most severe sin.

Moreover, the reason why the Gemara mentions the sin of the Egel ha'Zahav is that the Chilul Hash-m inherent in a rejection of Kayin's argument is that Hash-m would appear prejudiced, as though He wants to do more favors for some than for others, as it were. Kayin argued that Hash-m had forgiven Adam ha'Rishon's sin out of prejudice because, he asserted, Hash-m wanted to bring forth a chosen nation from Adam ha'Rishon and that He would be willing to forgive everything so that this chosen nation should survive. The argument that Hash-m forgave 600,000 Jews was a paraphrase of Kayin's argument that Hash-m forgave Adam ha'Rishon in order that the Jewish people will come from him. Esav had a similar argument when he said that Yitzchak favors Yakov over him.

The argument of Menasheh was the opposite: Hash-m already decided to destroy the Beis ha'Mikdash and exile the people, and thus Teshuvah will not be effective.

In the case of Esav, the Maharsha explains that the reason why a Chilul Hash-m would result from Esav not receiving a Berachah is that Yitzchak's power of Berachos was given to him by Hash-m (see Rashi to Bereishis 25:5). Therefore, if Yitzchak would not have another Berachah for Esav, it would seem as though Hash-m Himself had no other Berachos to offer, since Yitzchak was given power from Hash-m to distribute Berachos.

3) IDENTIFYING NEVAT, THE FATHER OF YAROV'AM, AS MICHAH AND AS SHEVA BEN BICHRI
QUESTIONS: A Beraisa states that Nevat, the father of Yarov'am, was the same person as Michah, who lived during the times of the Shoftim. He was also the same person as Sheva ben Bichri, who lived during the times of David ha'Melech.

1. The RADAK (in Melachim I 11:26) points out that according to the verse, Sheva ben Bichri was from Shevet Binyamin (Shmuel II 20:1). Nevat, though, was from Shevet Efraim. How, then, can the Beraisa say that they are the same person?

2. The YAD RAMAH asks that if Michah was such a Rasha, then how could Hash-m have allowed him to live such an exceptionally and miraculously long life, from the time of Yetzi'as Mitzrayim (as the Gemara says, see RASHI DH Nismachmech b'Vinyan) until the times of Shlomo ha'Melech -- over 400 years?

ANSWER: The MARGOLIYOS HA'YAM cites the EIN ELIYAHU (in his introduction to Ein Yakov) who writes that the Gemara does not mean that these three individuals were one and the same person. Rather, it means that the three of them had similar traits and characteristics.

In a similar vein, the CHIDA writes (in MAR'IS HA'AYIN) that the Gemara may be referring to the concept of Gilgul Neshamos, according to which a Neshamah can reappear in this world in the body of a different person in a different generation. (The BEN YEHOYADA questions this, because it seems that Sheva ben Bichri was still alive at the time that Nevat lived.) This is also the explanation of RAV YAKOV EMDEN later (105a).

According to both the Ein Eliyahu and the Chida, one may add that the Gemara means not only that they shared characteristics but that they were descended from each other (Michah's descendant was Sheva ben Bichri, whose descendant was Nevat), and each one acquired his evil characteristics from his grandfather. Support for this interpretation may be found in the words of RASHI to Tehilim (60:1), RADAK to Shoftim (3:8), and RABEINU BACHYE (Bereishis 31:52) who explain that Lavan, Be'or, and Kushan were related in terms of ancestry and character traits, based on the Gemara later (105a) that says that Lavan was the same person as Be'or and the same person as Kushan, who lived hundreds of years after Lavan.

(b) The BEN YEHOYADA points out that the Gemara in Bava Basra (121b) mentions another person who lived from the time of Yetzi'as Mitzrayim until the times of Yarov'am. The Gemara says that the life of Achiyah ha'Shiloni spanned that length of time.

This answer requires further elucidation, because the question of the Yad Ramah was based on the fact that Michah was a great Rasha. If he was so wicked, how did he merit to live so long? However, even a Rasha may be granted an exceptionally long life, such as in the case of Og Melech ha'Bashan, who lived for 400 years. Although he was a Rasha, he was rewarded for the single merit of informing Avraham Avinu about Lot's capture. The same might be true of Michah. Perhaps he lived such an exceptionally long life because he gave food to wayfarers, as the Gemara says (103b).

Regarding the conflicting ancestry of Sheva ben Bichri and Nevat, the Ben Yehoyada suggests that when the verse says that Sheva ben Bichri was "Ish Yemini," from Binyamin, it may mean that his mother was from Shevet Binyamin while his father was from Shevet Efraim, as the Gemara in Megilah (12b) writes with regard to Mordechai.