1)

(a)To resolve Rebbi Meir in our Mishnah, who obligates even a Shomer Sachar to swear, if the barrel that he transported broke, with Rebbi Meir in Bava Kama, Rebbi Elazar established a Machlokes Tana'im. Rebbi Chiya bar Aba Amar Rebbi Yochanan however, disagrees. According to him - the Shevu'ah in our Mishnah is a Takanas Chachamim, because if one were Chayav to pay in all these cases, nobody would ever agree to transport barrels for anybody else.

(b)Bearing in mind that, according to Rebbi Yochanan, Rebbi Meir holds 'Niskal Poshei'a' - he swears (not, that he was not negligent, but) that he did not break the barrel on purpose.

(c)We learned earlier that Rebbi Yehudah obligates the porter to pay if he was a Shomer Sachar, and Rebbi Elazar queries the Shevu'ah even by some cases of Shomer Chinam. The Shevu'ah cannot be due to the Takanas Chachamim, according to them - because that is precisely their bone of contention with Rebbi Meir. He holds of the Takanas Chachamim, whereas they don't.

2)

(a)In a case where a porter broke the barrel he was transporting, against a ledge that was protruding from the wall in the main street of Mechuza, Rava ruled - that he should bring witnesses that this is what happened (otherwise, he would be Chayav).

(b)And when Reuven claimed that the four hundred barrels of wine that he had purchased on behalf of Shimon had turned sour - he required him to bring witnesses that it only turned sour later (which is something that everyone would know about) ...

(c)... because he suspected that Reuven may have supplied his own wine or bought sour wine at a cheap price (and kept the difference for himself).

(d)When, in both of the above cases, his son Rav Yosef asked him whether this was not the opinion of Isi, he replied - that indeed it was, and that the Halachah was like him.

3)

(a)Rebbi Chiya bar Yosef instituted in Sichra that the porters who carried 'be'Agra' were liable to pay for half the damage (should the barrel break) and those who carried 'be'Digla', full damages. The definition of ...

1. ... 'be'Agra' is - a bent stick that one places across one's shoulders, a heavy jug suspended from each end.

2. ... 'be'Digla' is - a forked stick to which one attached a heavy load, and which one carried by placing one's neck between the fork. The other end was so long that, when the porter wanted to rest, he would simply lower it to the ground and lean back on it.

(b)The reason that the porter pays ...

1. ... half damages in the case of Agra is - because it would hold one and a half times the burden of a regular person. Consequently, on the one hand, the porter is negligent for carrying in excess of what one person would normally carry; whilst on the other, seeing as the load is less than what is normally carried by two people, a porter does sometimes exert himself to carry it.

2. ... full damages in the case of Digla is - because it holds a load that two people would normally carry. Consequently, the porter is certainly negligent for having undertaken to carry it.

(c)When porters broke the barrel that they were transporting for him - Rabah bar bar Chanah took their coats (to pay for the damage).

(d)When they came before Rav and he cited him the Pasuk ...

1. ... "Lema'an Teilech be'Derech Tovim" - he was proving that Rabah bar bar Chanah was obligated to go beyond the letter of the law, and to return their coats.

2. ... "ve'Orchos Tzadikim Tishmor" - that, by the same token, he was even obligated to pay them for their work (after they complained that they were poor workers who had worked all day and were hungry).

4)

(a)Our Mishnah rules - that an employer cannot ask his workers to begin work early or to finish late, should this run contrary to local custom.

(b)In view of the fact that this appears obvious, we establish the Mishnah - where he is paying them a higher wage than other workers, in which case we may have thought that it is understood that they will work longer hours.

(c)The workers account for the fact that they are receiving higher wages than other workers - because they are expected to perform superior work.

(d)The Tana also rules that in a place where it is customary ...

1. ... to feed one's employees - 'ha'Kol ke'Minhag ha'Medinah'.

2. ... to provide them with dessert ... - 'ha'Kol ke'Minhag ha'Medinah'.

5)

(a)Rebbi Yochanan ben Masya's son fix with the workers that his father asked him to hire - that they would receive food.

(b)His father instructed him to quickly go, before they began work - and inform them that they would only receive bread and legumes ...

(c)... because otherwise, even if he were to give them 'ki'Seudas Shlomoh be'Sha'ato', he would not have fulfilled his duty, since they were sons of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov.

(d)The significance of ...

1. ... the word 'be'Sha'ato' is - the Se'udah that he served when he was king, because there was a period when he was deposed (when his meals were obviously considerably more modest).

2. ... the fact that they were descendants of Avraham ... ' is - the fact that Avraham's feasts were larger than Shlomoh's (as we will see later).

(e)Raban Shimon ben Gamliel comments on this - that, despite Rebbi Yochanan ben Masya's reaction, he was going beyond the letter of the law, because strictly speaking, there was no obligation to feed workers more than bread and legumes.

6)

(a)The regular working hours of a day-worker as prescribed by the Torah are - from Hanetz ha'Chamah (sunrise) to Tzeis ha'Kochavim (nightfall).

(b)These hours be changed - as per agreement by both parties concerned.

7)

(a)Reish Lakish learns from the Pasuk "(Tizrach ha'Shemesh Ye'asefun ve'el Me'onasam Yirbatzun) ...

1. ... "Yeitzei Adam le'Fa'alo" - that the worker only needs to leave his house at sunrise.

2. ... "ve'la'Avodaso Adei Arev" - that he must work right up to nightfall, and only then is he permitted to leave for home.

(b)Reish Lakish's observation is not really relevant in most places - because we normally follow local custom (which overrides the Torah's prescription of work hours, as we explained).

(c)It is relevant however, in two cases: one, where a worker asked to be employed on the Torah's terms; the other, in a new town. In the latter case, they do not follow the original custom of the people's former residence - because we are speaking about a cosmopolitan town, where the people came from all different locations.

8)

(a)According to the Beraisa cited by Rav Yosef, the Pasuk ...

1. ... "Tashes Choshech vi'Yehi Laylah" refers to - this world, which is described as night (compared to the World to Come).

2. ... "Bo Sirmos Kol Chayso Ya'ar" refers to - the Resha'im.

3. ... "Tizrach ha'Shemesh ... Ye'asefun" means - that when the sun shines for the Tzadikim, the Resha'im will be taken away.

4. ... "ve'el Me'onosam Yirbatzun" means - that every Tzadik will have his own personal residence.

5. ... "Yeitzei Adam le'Fa'alo" - that the Tzadikim will go to receive their reward ...

6. ... "ve'la'Avodaso adei Arev" - for completing their workload before their deaths.

(b)When Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon found the King's officer arresting robbers, and asked him how he knew whom to arrest, what he meant to ask was - that (in the Pasuk that we just quoted) David compares the Resha'im to wild beasts because they tend to go into hiding during the day. In that case, how could he possibly investigate their deeds?

(c)Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon's main concern was - that he might punish innocent people for deeds that they had not performed, whilst leaving the guilty ones unpunished.

(d)The officer responded to his queries - by asking what he could do, since he had to carry out royal orders.

9)

(a)So Rebbi Elazar instructed him - to search in the cafes, after four hours in the day (around mid-morning, when most people would be eating their morning meal), and to search for people who, glass in hand, looked tired.

(b)Then he was to make enquiries about the suspect's profession, and he was to draw the conclusion that, if he was a ...

1. ... Talmid-Chacham, he had been up many hours learning Torah.

2. ... a day worker - he had begun work early, and was tired due to his early start.

3. ... a night worker - he would certainly be tired. And he must have been busy cutting copper and iron into thin strips (which entails working quietly) for the manufacture of pins and needles, for his activities not to have been heard by his neighbors.

(c)The officer would finally make his arrest - when he was satisfied, that the tired breakfaster did not fit into any of the above categories.

(d)When the king heard about Rebbi Elazar's sound advice - he promptly appointed him in place of the officer.

10)

(a)When Rebbi Yehoshua ben Korchah heard about Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon's new appointment, he reacted - by referring to him as a 'Moser' (a sneak who hands over Jews to Nochrim to be killed).

(b)When he referred to him as 'Chometz ben Yayin', he meant - that he was a Rasha the son of a Tzadik (Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai).

(c)And when Rebbi Elazar defended himself by arguing that he was merely 'removing the thorns from the vineyard' - he retorted that he should let the Master of the vineyard remove the thorns Himself!

11)

(a)Rebbi Elazar took that laundry-man into custody - after the latter echoed Rebbi Yehoshua ben Korcha, by calling him 'Chometz ben Yayin' (on the grounds that such Chutzpah is the mark of a Rasha).

(b)When, after his anger had abated, he failed in his attempt to redeem him - he quoted the Pasuk "Shomer Piv u'Leshono, Shomer mi'Tzaros Nafsho".

(c)After the culprit had been hanged, the people appeased him - by informing him that the laundry-man was indeed a big Rasha, since both he and his son had had relations with a betrothed girl on Yom Kipur.

(d)Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Shimon was a very fat man. After placing his hands on his stomach, he exclaimed - 'Rejoice, my stomach, rejoice! If this is the outcome of the doubtful cases (where there was no direct evidence of the laundry-man having stolen), how much more so the definite ones (where there was). I am certain that my stomach will not become infested with worms after my death'.

12)

(a)To reassure himself that he really was innocent of having an innocent man put to death - he arranged for people to give him a sleeping potion (an anesthetic), to make an incision in his stomach ...

(b)... and when piles of fat emerged from his stomach - they were to place it in the sun in midsummer. This is what they did - and it did not become wormy.

(c)Even though fat never goes wormy, this test nevertheless proved his innocence, because unlike regular fat - his fat contained red specks (of flesh), which should normally have gone wormy.

(d)In triumph, he finally quoted the Pasuk - "Af Besari Yishkon la'Vetach".