1)

(a)After letting blood, the Beraisa teaches us, one should not eat 'Chagbash'. The 'Ches' represents Chalav (milk) and the 'Gimel', Gevinah (cheese) - the 'Beis', Betzalim (onions) and the 'Shin', Shechalim (a kind of cress).

(b)If one did, the Tana adds, one should drink a mixture consisting of a Revi'is of vinegar - and a Revi'is of wine.

(c)One should also take care not relieve oneself on the east side of the town - because the west wind is a powerful one, and it will carry the smell of the above-mentioned harmful foods, with the same affect as if he had eaten them.

2)

(a)Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi permits removing the 'Istumcha de'Liba' (a wall of flesh under the heart; or more likely the lobe the heart that is next to the wind-pipe) on Shabbos - because it presses against the wind-pipe, and is likely to make breathing difficult.

(b)The cure for this is a mixture of cumin, mint, horehound, sadree and hyssop, which also serves as a cure for lesions that are created by the wind. The only difference is with what one drinks it. One can remember what to drink with each one, from the Pasuk ...

1. ... in Tehilim "ve'Yayin Yesamach L'vav Enosh" - which indicates 'wine for the heart'.

2. ... in Bereishis "ve'Ru'ach Elokim Merachefes al-P'nei ha'Mayim" - which indicates 'water for the wind(pipe)'.

(c)And the same cure is used for 'Kuda' (the illness of a woman who feels cold during childbirth), which one drinks with beer, as hinted in the Pasuk in Chayei Sarah (in connection with Eliezer and Rivkah) 've'Kadah al Shichmah' ('Shikra', which is similar-sounding to 'Shichmah" [as ''Kadah" is similar-sounding to 'Kuda']).

(d)Rav Acha b'rei de'Rava would grind a total of one handful of all the ingredients together - whereas Rav Ashi would prepare as much as he could hold between the small finger and the thumb of each ingredient individually.

3)

(a)Rav Papa claimed to have tried both of the above methods, but neither worked. He learn the recipe that ultimately did work - from an Arab ...

(b)... who instructed him to fill a 'Kuza' - a small vessel ...

(c)... with water

(d)And he had to leave the spoonful of honey overnight - hanging in the courtyard under the stars before drinking it.

4)

(a)The Beraisa says that cabbage, spinach, a dry pennyroyal plant, and an animal's stomach, womb and lobe of the liver - are all good for a sick person:.

(b)Yesh Omrim (Rebbi Nasan) adds small fish - which are also conducive to conceiving babies (see Rabbeinu Chananel), besides being good for one's general health ...

(c)... whereas ox-meat, fatty meat, roasted meat, bird's meat, a roasted egg, cress, having a haircut or a bath, cheese and liver - are harmful to a person who is recovering from an illness, and restores him to his poor health.

(d)Some add nuts to the list. Others add - cucumbers.

(e)Tana de'bei Rebbi Yishmael explains that - cucumbers are called 'Kishu'in because they are 'harmful' to the body like swords.

5)

(a)The Beraisa rules that ...

1. ... a Yisrael who is receiving a haircut from a Nochri - must look in the mirror.

2. ... a Jewish barber who is cutting the hair of a Nochri - he must stop before he reaches the B'luris (the long hair at the back) ...

(b)The reason for ...

1. ... the former ruling is - to deter the barber from cutting his throat (as will be explained shortly).

2. ... the latter is because the B'luris is left in honor of Avodah-Zarah.

(c)The Reisha of the Beraisa cannot be speaking in a public place - because then the Yisrael would not need to look in the mirror.

(d)Although as we conclude, it is speaking in a R'shus ha'Yachid, it is nevertheless permitted if he uses a mirror - because, (seeing as, in those days, it was only important people who would use mirrors) doing so will give the barber the impression that his client is an important person, which in turn, will frighten him from causing him harm.

6)

(a)Rav Chana bar Bizna lamented that he had only himself to blame if the Nochri barber who was giving him a haircut in the pathways of Neherda'a, would cut his throat in the process - because he had contravened the words of Rebbi Meir, who forbade having a haircut from a Nochri.

(b)He made that statement - following the barber's comment that hi throat was just right for slitting.

(c)He specifically cited Rebbi Meir and not the Rabbanan - because he considered the pathways of Neherda'a to have the Din of a R'shus ha'Rabim (in this regard), since many people traversed them.

7)

(a)We learned in the Beraisa that a Jewish barber is obligated to desist before he reaches the Nochris' B'luris. Rav Malkiyah Amar Rav Ada bar Ahavah defines 'before' as - three finger-breadths on all sides.

(b)According to Rav Chanina b'rei de'Rav Ika, the author of 'Sh'fod', 'Shefachos' and 'Gumos' is Rav Malkiyo; of 'B'luris' (our case), 'Eifer Makleh' and 'Gevinah', Rav Malkiya. According to Rav Papa, whichever case deals with a Mishnah or Beraisa, is Rav Malkiya, whereas whatever is a Machlokes Amora'im, is Rav Malkiyo.

(c)The Si'man to remember this by) 'Masnita Malk'sa' (which literally means that the Mishnah or the Beraisa is a queen), reminds us that the word 'Masnita' ends with the feminine 'a', just like 'Malkiya') ...

(d)... and they are arguing over 'Shefachos', which is a Mishnah. Consequently, according to Rav Papa, it must be Rav Malkiya who said it (and not Rav Malkiyo, in whose name Rav Chanina b'rei de'Rav Ika cited it).

(e)Despite the fact that Rav Papa also switches 'Eifer Makleh' to Rav Milkiyo's list, the Gemara does not say 'Ika Beinayhu Shefachos ve'Eifer Makleh', because he is only concerned with the Si'man of 'Masnita Malk'sa'.

8)

(a)Our Mishnah - forbids drinking wine of Nochrim and deriving any benefit from it.

(b)The same applies to vinegar - that is made from wine ...

(c)

1. ... Hadrianic earthenware that - exudes wine when it is soaked in water and ...

2. ... Oros Levuvin - skins that have a hole in the location of the heart, because it is a form of idol-worship to cut a hole in the skin (whilst the animal is still alive) and remove the heart via the hole.

(d)Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel qualifies the prohibition of Oros Levuvin - permitting them if the hole is elongated (rather than round).

9)

(a)Rebbi Akiva ...

1. ... permits a piece of flesh before it has been placed before Avodas-Kochavim, but ...

2. ... forbids it after it has taken out (because it has presumably been used for sacrificial purposes).

(b)The Tana Kama on the other hand ...

1. ... forbids doing business with a Nochri before he travels to visit a distant Avodah-Zarah (because a. he will go and thank his god for the deal, and b. he will purchase something to sacrifice to him), but ...

2. ... permits it after his return.

(c)According to Rebbi Meir, leather flasks and earthenware jars of Nochrim which contain wine belonging to a Yisrael are Asur be'Hana'ah, so are their grape-skins and pits and so are fish-fat and cheeses from the village of Beis Unaiki. The Chachamim however, maintain that ...

1. ... leather flasks and earthenware jars that contain wine belonging to a Yisrael - are Mutar be'Hana'ah.

2. ... their grape-skins and pits - are forbidden as long as they are wet, but are permitted once they have dried.

3. ... fish-fat and cheeses from the village of Beis Unaiki - are only forbidden to eat, but are not Asur be'Hana'ah.

10)

(a)When Rebbi Yishmael asked Rebbi Yehoshua why the Chachamim forbade Nochri cheese, he initially attributed it to the fact that they had matured in the stomach of a Neveilah. Rebbi Yishmael had a problem with this however, based on a Beraisa - which permits a Kohen who is not finnicky to suck the stomach of an Olah, because he considers the contents of the stomach of an Olah to be no more than waste (which does not have any Kedushah) ...

(b)... how much more so ought this to be true of the stomach of a Neveilah, seeing as the Isur of Neveilah is less stringent than that of an Olah (inasmuch as it is neither Asur be'Hana'ah nor subject to Me'ilah).

(c)The Chachamim there however, hold 'Ein Nehenin ve'Lo Mo'alin' - since the Isur is only mi'de'Rabbanan, and not mi'd'Oraysa.

(d)When Rebbi Yehoshua then attributed the Isur to the fact the cheeses mature in the stomach of calves of Avodah-Zarah, Rebbi Yishmael objected - on the grounds that if that were so, they ought to be Asur be'Hana'ah as well.

11)

(a)Rebbi Yehoshua did not want to divulge the real reason for the Isur, as we shall learn later. 'Hishi'o le'Davar Acher' therefore means - that he changed the subject.

(b)So he asked Rebbi Yishmael how he read the Pasuk in Shir Hashirim "Ki Tovim Dodecha mi'Yayin" or "Ki Tovim Dodayich mi'Yayin". The basic difference between the two versions is - whether Yisrael were saying it to Hash-m, or vice-versa.

(c)If the word read "Ki Tovim Dodayich mi'Yayin", which is how Rebbi Yishmael read it - then it would have been Hash-m telling Yisrael how much their 'friendship' means to Him (which explains why Yisrael said just before that ''Yishakeini mi'Neshikos Piyhu").

(d)Rebbi Yehoshua refuted this explanation however - on the basis of the following Pasuk "le'Re'ach Shemanecha Tovim" which can only have been said by K'lal Yisrael (due to the end of the Pasuk "al Kein Alamos Ahevucha").

12)

(a)Rabah bar Avuhah learns the Isur of Yayin Nesech from the Pasuk "Asher Cheilev Zevacheimo Yocheilu, Yishtu Yein Nesicham" - from the Hekesh of the former to the latter, which teaches us that Yayin Nesech is Asur be'Hana'ah, just like a sacrifice to Avodah-Zarah.

(b)And from the Pasuk ...

1. ... in Tehilim "Vayitzamdu le'Ba'al Pe'or Vayochlu Zivchei Meisim" that - a sacrifice to Avodah-Zarah is Asur be'Hana'ah like a Meis (a corpse).

2. ... in Chukas "Va'tamas Sham Miriam" and "Ve'arfu Sham es ha'Eglah ba'Nachal" (in Shoftim) that - a Meis is Asur be'Hana'ah just like the Eglah Arufah.

(c)And we know that the Eglah Arufah is Asur be'Hana'ah - because the Torah uses the term 'Kaparah ("Kaper le'Amcha Yisrael") regarding it, indicating that it is forbidden like Kodshim.

13)

(a)The difference between a Pikadon of Jewish wine and other Isurim in the hands of a Nochri is that - the former requires two seals (since we are otherwise afraid that, in his eagerness to serve his god, the Nochri will break open the seal to pour out some wine, and later replace it with a forged one).

(b)We learned in our Mishnah that Nochri wine-vinegar is Asur. The problem with this is that - seeing as it was forbidden in its original state, why do we need a Mishnah to tell us this? Why would we have otherwise thought that it becomes permitted?

(c)We answer that the Mishnah is coming to teach us by inference that - wine-vinegar that a Yisrael gives to a Nochri for safe-keeping is permitted with one seal.

(d)The reason for this is because a Nochri will not pour out vinegar to Avodah-Zarah. Consequently, vinegar that is a Pikadon in the hands of a Nochri would then require only one seal. Rav Ashi explains that we are not afraid that he will break open the seal, exchange the contents for an inferior quality vinegar, and re-seal it, because he will not go to such lengths for such a small benefit.

14)

(a)Rebbi Ila'a rules that wine that has been boiled in the hands of a Nochri, that was originally not boiled - is forbidden.

(b)We ask the same Kashya as we asked on the case of wine-vinegar ...

(c)... which Rav Ashi answers - exactly as he answered in there, (to permit boiled wine that a Yisrael gave to a Nochri for safe-keeping with one seal).