Dear Kollel,
I've been breaking my head on this Tosafos for almost a week now and it's mamash playing with me. I can't get out of the gate with this one.
I think I'm simply stuck on structure. First of all. What does it mean that the misgeres was placed "b'rosha"? Where was it the rest of the year? I see from the Gemora in Menachoa that we need to say that the shulchan was carried malei and reikan to make sure it was mekabel tuma but structurally...I see the picture and that doesn't look like "b'rosha" that looks like "l'mata", so what does that word in Tosafos mean? Then I don't understand the difference between mechuberes and munachas? What is R"T saying and where is he saying it??? And not like R"T...is that the Tosafos on 96b in Menachos? I'm so confused and can't get through the rest of this Tosafos because I'm not understanding the beginning! Thank you.
YMK
Yehiel Kalish, Chicago, IL
1) "B'Roshah" means literally "at her head." The Misgeres was at the head of the leg of the table, since "leg" is a feminine noun (it has nothing to do with Rosh Hashanah). So the Misgeres is at the head, the top, of the legs of the table but it is underneath the board ("Daf") of the table.
2) "Mechuberes" means that the Misgeres was actually fixed to the table. "Munachas" means that the Misgeres was "placed" on the head of the legs and the board of the table was "placed" on the Misgeres but nothing was actually fixed. It seems that according to Rashi, there are three different parts: (a) the legs, (b) the Misgeres, and (c) the board of the table itself. Presumably it was their weight that kept them joined but it seems that nothing was glued or nailed in.
3) The Minchas Chinuch (Mitzvah 97:4) writes that according to Rabeinu Tam, the Misgeres was stuck onto the bottom side of the board of the table but was not stuck onto the legs. So according to Rabeinu Tam, there were two different parts: (a) the board and the Misgeres, which were stuck together, and (b) the legs, on top of which was placed the Misgeres and the board. Again, it seems that the Misgeres and the board stayed on the legs due to their weight.
Wishing you a healthy summer,
Dovid Bloom