1)

(a)Rebbi Akiva gives the date of the first Goren as Pras ha'Pesach, Ben Azai as the twenty-ninth of Adar. Rebbi Akiva declines to give a fixed date - because the Adar closest to Nisan fluctuates, sometimes it consists of thirty days, and sometimes of twenty nine. Whereas Ben Azai holds that Adar is always twenty nine days, in which case the twenty ninth of Adar is always fifteen days before Pesach.

(b)Ben Azai give the date for the second Goren as Rosh Chodesh Sivan, rather than two weeks before Shavu'os - because, since only a short time has elapsed since the first Goren, it is more logical to delay the second Goren by a week or so. Otherwise, the few animals that will enter the pen will already have been eaten by the time Yom Tov arrives, and the purpose of the Goren will have been lost.

(c)Ben Azai give his third Goren as the twenty-ninth of Av, and not the twenty-ninth of Ellul - because he holds that Rosh Hashanah for Ma'aser Behemah might be Rosh Chodesh Ellul (as we shall see shortly), in which case, he can hardly fix the date of the third Goren on Rosh Hashanah.

(d)Nor can he fix it on the thirtieth of Av - because sometimes, Av is only twenty-nine days, and Chazal wanted to make a clear-cut distinction between the animals born in Av and those born in Ellul (as we shall se shortly).

2)

(a)Even though Rebbi Elazar and Rebbi Shimon do not hold of P'ras, they nevertheless give their first Goren as Rosh Chodesh Nisan, precisely because they hold like Raban Shimon ben Gamliel, who requires fifteen days preparations for Yom Tov (in the form of asking questions and teaching the Halachos of the Yom Tov), which, according to them is why the Chachamim chose this date (like Rebbi Akiva, but not for the same reason as him).

(b)And they disagree with Ben Azai, to fix the third Goren on the twenty-ninth of Ellul, because they hold that Rosh Hashanah for Ma'aser Behemah is on the first of Tishri.

(c)The reason that they give for the twenty-ninth of Ellul and not the first of Tishri is because the latter is a Yom-Tov, on which one not allowed to MA'aser - because it entails dabbing paint on every tenth animal's back.

(d)The other reason they might have given is - in order to draw a clear distinction between the animals of the two years.

(e)They didn't - only because they were coming an addition reason ('Chada ve'Od Ka'amar').

3)

(a)ben Azai uncertain as to whether Rosh ha'Shanah for Ma'aser Beheimah is on the first of Elul or on the first of Tishri - since this was a Machlokes between Rebbi Meir on the one hand and Rebbi Elazar and Rebbi Shimon, on the other, and he was in no position to decide who was right.

(b)We query his uncertainty however - based on his own declaration that 'All of Chachmei Yisrael were before him like the peel of a leak (in sharpness)', so why could he not come a decision.

(c)Rebbi Yochanan answers - that the Tana'im received their respective opinions in the name of Chagi, Zecharyah and Mal'achi; and that was something that Ben Azai was not competent to decide.

4)

(a)Based on ben Azai's statement (that the Elluli'im must be Ma'asered independently), if, in someone's flock, five lambs are born in ...

1. ... Av and five in Ellul, or five in Ellul and five in Tishri - they do not combine.

2. ... Tishri and five in Av they do.

(b)We might have otherwise thought that they do not - in that just as the years divide, so too, do the G'ranos.

5)

(a)If, according to ben Azai, five animals are born in Av, five in Ellul and five in Tishri Rava rules - that he places all ten into a pen and makes sure that one of the Ellul animals turns out to be the Ma'aser ...

(b)... which he achieves (despite the Pasuk "Lo Yevaker bein Tov le'Ra") - by counting them whilst they are standing or crouching (as we will learn later).

(c)The owner is Yotzei by doing that - Mah Nafshach, whichever group the Elluli'im belong to will combine with them to validate the Ma'aser.

(d)The remaining ten animals - are Patur from Ma'aser.

6)

(a)The owner is not subsequently obligated to combine and Ma'aser them together - because each group is a Safek, and Safek Ma'aser is Patur ...

(b)... based on the the 'Hey' in the word "ha'Asiri" (in the Pasuk in Bechukosai "ha'Asiri Yih'yeh Kodesh") "ha'Asiri" Vaday, 've'Lo Asiri Safek'.

(c)Rava needs to teach us this Halachah, because we might otherwise have thought - that it is forbidden to Ma'aser them, in case one picks one of the animals from Av or from Tishri.

7)

(a)The Mishnah describes how the owner counts the lambs one by one as they leave the pen on their way to the enclosure. In order ...

1. ... to ensure that two animals do not leave the pen simultaneously - he makes the exit only sufficiently for one lamb to pass through at a time.

2. ... to remember which animals have been designated as Ma'aser Beheimah - he marks them with a stick that ha been dipped ito a can of red paint.

(b)As he marks each tenth animal, he declares - 'This is Ma'aser!'

(c)If he failed to mark the animal with red paint, or even use a stick - the Ma'aser is nevertheless effective, as it is ...

(d)... if he took Ma'aser from the animals whilst they were standing or lying down.

(e)According to the Tana Kama, if the owner takes the animals ten at a time and simply picks one as Ma'aser, the Ma'aser is not effective. According to Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah - it is.

8)

(a)The Mishnah rules that, in a case where one of the counted lambs jumps back into the pen and we do not recognize which one it is - all the lambs in the pen are Patur from Ma'aser.

(b)If it is a designated one that jumped back - they must be sent to graze (Yir'u) until they obtain a blemish, whereupon the owner may eat them.

9)

(a)The Beraisa adds a few details to the Mishnah's brief description. The Tana suggests encouraging the animals to exit the pen - by placing their mothers at the outside, who will attract them when they begin to bleat.

(b)We learn the prohibition of taking them by hand - from the word "Ya'avor" (in the Pasuk in Bechukosai ("Kol asher Ya'avor Tachas ha'Shavet").

(c)The owner cannot simply proceed to feed them (thereby encouraging them to come to him) - because we are afraid that perhaps a purchased animal or a Yasom will come to be fed too, and the owner will confuse it with the animals that are Chayav Ma'aser.

10)

(a)Based on the word "Ya'avor" (in the Pasuk "Kol asher Ya'avor Tachas ha'Shavet"), another Beraisa exempts from Ma'aser Beheimah - a T'reifah, some of which are unable to walk (e.g. if its upper hind-legs are broken).

(b)The Tana learn from the word "ha'Shavet" - that it is a Mitzvah to strike the animals with a painted stick ...

(c)... whereas from the words "Yih'yeh Kodesh" (in the next phrase there "ha'Asiri Yih'yeh Kodesh") he learns - that Bedi'eved, that is not crucial.

(d)And besides failing to declare the tenth animal Kodesh, the Beraisa also learns from there - that if he Ma'asered them sitting or lying down, the Ma'aser is effective too.

(e)Whereas from the word "Asiri" he learns - that if he divides them into groups of ten, and picks one from each group, it is not.