[4a - 53 lines; 4b - 47 lines]
1)[line 1]דמפרסמא מלתאD'MEFARSEMA MILSA- that the matter is well-known
2)[line 8]אשם תלויASHAM TALUY
(a)If a person is in doubt about whether or not he committed a transgression for which he must bring a Korban Chatas, he temporarily brings a Korban Asham Taluy, which is a ram worth two Sela'im (Vayikra 5:17-19). If he later discovers that he did indeed sin, he must offer a Korban Chatas; the Asham Taluy only provides temporary atonement during the period of doubt.
(b)For further details of the Asham Taluy, see Background to Bava Kama 110:28.
3)[line 12]לא אשכח אינש דמשייליהLO ESHKACH INISH D'MESHAYELEI- he did not find a person that he could ask
4)[line 23]שומרת יום כנגד יוםSHOMERES YOM K'NEGED YOM- See Background to Horayos 3:34.
5)[line 25]מרשות היחיד לרשות הרביםME'RESHUS HA'YACHID LI'RESHUS HA'RABIM (HOTZA'AH)- See Background to Horayos 3:35.
6)[line 29]ובעקירת כל גוףAKIRAS KOL HA'GUF- the uprooting of the entirety of the Mitzvah
7)[line 36]מזקן ממראZAKEN MAMREI- See Background to Horayos 2:5.
8)[line 41]הצדוקיןTZEDUKIN- The Tzedukim (and Baitusim) were students of Tzadok (and Baitus) who rejected the Oral Torah (Avos d'Rebbi Nasan 5:2).
9)[line 43]זיל קרי בי רב הוא"ZIL KARI BEI RAV" HU- it is a case of "Go and read it in the Yeshiva;" since it was possible for him to learn it, he is not called a Shogeg but rather he is close to a Mezid.
10)[line 45]העראהHA'ARA'AH
(a)Ha'ara'ah is a partial Be'ilah - according to one opinion, it involves no more than contact; according to others, it is the beginning of a Be'ilah (Yevamos 55b).
(b)This Halachah is learned from the verse, "וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אֶת אִשָּׁה דָּוָה, וְגִלָּה אֶת עֶרְוָתָהּ, אֶת מְקֹרָהּ הֶעֱרָה..." "v'Ish Asher Yishkav Es Ishah Davah v'Gilah Es Ervasah, Es Mekorah He'erah..." - "And if a man shall lie with a Nidah, and shall uncover her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain..." (Vayikra 20:18). The Torah uses the word "He'erah" (to make naked) to show that there is a Chiyuv for Ha'ara'ah alone.
11)[line 48]זבהZAVAH- See Background to Horayos 3:34.
12)[line 50]הכנסהHACHNASAH- the transferal of objects from a Reshus ha'Rabim to a Reshus ha'Yachid
13)[line 50]מושיטMOSHIT- transferring an object from one Reshus ha'Yachid to another through a Reshus ha'Rabim (see Mishnah, Shabbos 96a)
14)[last line]פשוט ידים ורגליםPISHUT YADAYIM V'RAGLAYIM- prostrating oneself while extending the arms and the legs
4b----------------------------------------4b
15)[line 14]בשביעיתSHEVI'IS
(a)One must desist from working the land every seventh year (Vayikra 25:1-7); this year is termed Shemitah or Shevi'is. Produce which grows during the seventh (Shevi'is) year is holy, which in this context means:
1.It is considered ownerless; anyone may enter a field and pick that which he wishes to eat.
2.It may not be bought and sold in a normal fashion (see Insights to Sukah 40:1).
3.It may be consumed only in the manner considered normal for that type of food, or burned to provide illumination in the case of oil. It may not be wasted, used for medicinal purposes, fed to animals, etc.
(b)The Shemitah year is meant to teach the Jewish people to rely on HaSh-m for their sustenance, a fact that is not always clear to them during the six years in which they work their own fields.
16)[line 18]שני שבועSHENEI SHAVU'A- the other years (not including Shemitah) of the Shemitah cycle
17)[line 28]מופלא של בית דיןMUFLA SHEL BEIS DIN- the most renowned Torah Sage of the Sanhedrin
18)[line 29]ממזרMAMZER
(a)There are prohibited marital relations that invalidate the ensuing offspring and render them Mamzerim. The Tana'im argue as to the nature of these prohibited relations. According to Rebbi Yehoshua, they must be relations that are punishable by Misas Beis Din (see Background to Kidushin 32:16). Rebbi Shimon ha'Timni rules that all relations that are punishable by Kares, even if they are not punishable by Misas Beis Din, produce a Mamzer (fem. Mamzeres). According to Rebbi Akiva, even relations that are prohibited by a Lav produce a Mamzer (Yevamos 49a). Other Tana'im argue regarding the opinion of Rebbi Akiva. There are those who assert that he rules that only relations prohibited by a Lav produce a Mamzer. Others hold that even those prohibited by an Aseh produce a Mamzer (except for a Kohen Gadol who has relations with a non-virgin - Kesuvos 30a). The Halachah follows the opinion of Rebbi Shimon ha'Timni, that only relations punishable by Kares produce a Mamzer (Yevamos ibid.)
(b)A Mamzer is prohibited to marry into the community of HaSh-m, that is, Jewish people of unsullied lineage. He may, however, marry a Mamzeres or a Giyores (MISHNAH Kidushin 69a). The Tana'im and Amora'im argue as to whether a Safek Mamzer is prohibited mid'Oraisa to marry both a Mamzeres and a Jewess of unsullied lineage, because of the doubt, or whether he is permitted mid'Oraisa to marry either of them, since he is not included in the category of Mamzer that the Torah prohibited (Yevamos 37a, Kidushin 73a, 74a).
(c)Our Mishnah teaches that because a Mamzer must not be appointed to the Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 36b), if there was in fact a Mamzer among their number, it would be exempt from offering a Par He'elem Davar Shel Tzibur.
19)[line 29]נתיןNESIN
(a)In the times of Yehoshua, the Giv'onim (a people of the Chivi, one of the seven nations whom the Jewish People were commanded to destroy upon entering Eretz Yisrael) came and presented themselves before Yehoshua as if they came from a far-off land. Since they claimed not to be residents of Eretz Yisrael, they requested to be converted and to make peace with the Jewish People. After Yehoshua agreed to accept them, it was discovered that they were one of the seven prohibited nations. Having already accepted them, Yehoshua did not want to break his oath and covenant with them (even though they tricked him and the oath was uttered in error) so as not to cause a Chilul HaSh-m (a desecration of HaSh-m's Name). Yehoshua accepted them and appointed them to be woodchoppers and water drawers to supply the needs for the sacrificial service on the Mizbe'ach (Yehoshua 9:3-27). Earlier, in the times of Moshe Rabeinu, Giv'onim also came to be converted as they did in the times of Yehoshua, and Moshe also made them woodchoppers and water drawers. (This incident is not written explicitly. It is stated in the Gemara Yevamos 79a, and is based on the verse in Devarim 29:10.) These people became known as "Nesinim," (from the root "Nasan," to give) since they were "given over" by Moshe and Yehoshua ("va'Yitenem..." - "And he appointed them..." (Yehoshua 9:27)) to perform the tasks of chopping wood and drawing water.
(b)A Nesin is prohibited to marry into the community of HaSh-m, that is, Jewish people of unsullied lineage. RASHI and TOSFOS (Kesuvos 29a and elsewhere) argue as to whether they are prohibited mid'Oraisa or mid'Rabanan. We find that the Gemara (Yevamos 79a) states that Moshe Rabeinu "decreed" regarding the Nesinim of his generation, and Yehoshua extended the "decree" to last as long as the Mishkan or Beis ha'Mikdash would stand. David ha'Melech later extended the "decree" to include all time, even if the Beis ha'Mikdash would be destroyed (because of the trait of cruelty that the Nesinim exhibited, which showed that they were not worthy of uniting with the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yakov). According to Rashi, these decrees were prohibitions against marriage, and as such the prohibition against marrying Nesinim is an Isur mid'Rabanan. According to Tosfos, these decrees were appointments of servitude. The prohibition against marrying them, though, is mid'Oraisa, since the Torah commands against marrying the seven prohibited nations even if they convert to Judaism (Yevamos 76a).
20)[line 44]שחלבCHELEV- See Background to Horayos 2:8a.