[38a - 40 lines; 38b - 35 lines]
1)[line 1]אקרוב עומרAKRUV OMER (KORBAN HA'OMER)
(a)There is a Mitzvah to bring the Korban ha'Omer on the second day of Pesach. A large quantity of barley is reaped after nightfall after the first day of Pesach. At this time the grain is still moist, and the process of extracting one Omer (approximately 2.2, 2.5 or 4.3 liters, depending upon the differing Halachic opinions) of barley flour is extremely difficult. The flour is kneaded and offered as a Korban Minchah on the 16th of Nisan. It is also referred to as the Minchas Bikurim (Vayikra 2:14-16).
(b)In addition, a lamb is offered as an Olah (Vayikra 23:12).
(c)The Korban ha'Omer is the first offering of the new grain of the year (Chadash), and as such it removes the prohibition against eating from the new grain.
2)[line 4]"ארץ נושבת""ERETZ NOSHAVES"- "an inhabited land" (Shemos 16:35).
3)[line 4]המןHA'MAN- the manna, the heavenly bread that Bnei Yisrael ate in the desert
4)[line 10]והיו מסתפקיןV'HAYU MISTAPKIN- and they were able to make do
5)[line 13]ארבעים שנה חסר שלשים יום אכלו!ARBA'IM SHANAH CHASER SHELOSHIM YOM ACHLU!- They actually ate the Man for forty years less one month!
6)[line 14]עוגות שהוציאו ממצריםUGOS SHE'HOTZI'U MI'MITZRAYIM- the Matzos that they baked on the morning of the Exodus from Egypt
7)[line 21]"ויהי אחרי מות משה עבד ה' [ויאמר ה' אל יהושע בן נון משרת משה לאמר.] משה עבדי מת ועתה קום עבור [את הירדן הזה אתה וכל העם הזה אל הארץ אשר אנכי נתן להם לבני ישראל]... עברו בקרב המחנה וצוו את העם לאמר הכינו לכם צדה כי בעוד שלשת ימים אתם עברים את הירדן [הזה לבוא לרשת את הארץ אשר ה' א-לקיכם נתן לכם לרשתה]""VA'YEHI ACHAREI MOS MOSHE EVED HASH-M... 'MOSHE AVDI MES, V'ATAH KUM AVOR... IVRU B'KEREV HA'MACHANEH V'TZAVU ES HA'AM LEIMOR: HACHINU LACHEM TZEIDAH, KI BE'OD SHELOSHES YAMIM ATEM OVRIM ES HA'YARDEN....'" - "And it was after the death of Moshe, the servant of HaSh-m, [that HaSh-m said to Yehoshua ben Nun, the valet of Moshe, saying:] 'Moshe My servant has died, and now arise and cross [this Jordan River, you and all of this nation, to the land that I am giving to Bnei Yisrael]… Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people saying: Prepare for yourselves provisions, because in another three days time you will cross the Jordan [to come and possess the land that HaSh-m your G-d is giving to you to possess]'" (Yehoshua 1:1-2, 11) (YEHOSHUA SUCCEEDS MOSHE)
(a)The Metzudas David explains that it was only because Moshe Rabeinu died that the people were now able to cross the Jordan River, for HaSh-m had decreed that he would not be permitted to cross into Eretz Yisrael. Rashi comments that HaSh-m was lamenting Moshe's death, and that, had he been alive, HaSh-m would have preferred him to lead the Jewish people into the promised land. Quoting the Gemara in Temurah (16a), he ascribes this to the fact that upon Moshe's death, Yehoshua forgot 3,000 Halachos. To teach him those Halachos was impossible (as "the Torah was no longer in Heaven," as Chazal have taught). To pacify the people who were clamoring for his blood, HaSh-m ordered Yehoshua to keep them busy with the war against the Kena'anim.
(b)Chazal also teach us that before crossing the Jordan, Yehoshua gave the nations of Kena'an a choice of three options: either to make peace (on Yisrael's terms), to flee, or to fight. The Girgashi fled and settled in Africa. The Giv'onim, after choosing to fight, changed their minds and made a peace treaty with Yisrael. The remaining thirty nations opted to fight.
(c)The moment the thirty days of mourning of Moshe ended (on the seventh of Nisan), HaSh-m spoke to Yehoshua, assuring him that he would succeed in the conquest of Kena'an and that no nation would stand up to him. On the other hand, he warned him to be strong and courageous in keeping all of the Torah that Moshe had taught, and to study it day and night, as their success in the battlefield was contingent upon it.
(d)See Background to Yevamos 71:51.
8)[line 26]למפרעL'MAFRE'A- backwards
9)[line 35]והוא הדין שינהגוV'HU HA'DIN SHE'YINHAGU- and it is a Kal va'Chomer that they (Kil'ayim and Orlah) should apply [in Eretz Yisrael as well as in Chutz la'Aretz]
10a)[line 36]שאין איסורו איסור עולםSHE'EIN ISURO ISUR OLAM- that it is not prohibited forever (but rather, the new grain is forbidden to be eaten until the end of the 16th of Nisan, after which it becomes automatically permitted)
b)[line 37]ויש היתר לאיסורוV'YESH HETER L'ISURO- and it can become permitted even before it automatically becomes permitted, by bringing the Korban ha'Omer (see Insights)
11)[last line]והוא הדין לערלה בשתיםV'HU HA'DIN L'ORLAH BI'SHETAYIM- and similarly with regard to Orlah, however the comparison only exists on two counts, i.e. Orlah is Asur b'Hana'ah and there is no Heter for its Isur during the time of the Isur (the first three years after the tree is planted). However, its Isur is not an Isur Olam, because whatever grows after the first three years is permitted.
38b----------------------------------------38b
12)[line 4]השמטת כספיםHASHMATAS KESAFIM
(a)The Torah requires that all loans shall be canceled every seventh year: "Shamot Kol Ba'al Masheh Yado" - "Every creditor who lends anything to his neighbor shall release it" (Devarim 15:2). To demand payment of a loan after the Shemitah year is a violation of the prohibition of "Lo Yigos Es Re'ehu v'Es Achiv" - "he shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother" (ibid.). Most Rishonim rule that the Shemitah year cancels loans at the end of the year, on the last day of the month of Elul (RAMBAM Hilchos Shemitah v'Yovel 9:1-4).
(b)Hashmatas Kesafim applies mid'Oraisa only when the Yovel year is in practice. Mid'Rabanan it applies today, whether inside or outside of Eretz Yisrael.
13)[line 4]ושילוח עבדיםV'SHILU'ACH AVADIM (EVED IVRI)
(a)There are two ways that a Jewish man can be bought as a slave by another Jew. Either he may sell himself because he is destitute, or he may be sold by Beis Din to pay back a theft. During his term as a slave, his master must support his family (Kidushin 22b). The master may not make his Eved Ivri do disgraceful work for him, nor may he treat him as one normally treats a slave. For example, if the master only has one pillow, he must give it to his Eved Ivri rather than keep it for himself (Kidushin 20a).
(b)If the slave was married before he was sold, the master has the right to give him a Nochri maidservant to bear him children who will become the slaves of the master (Shemos 21:4). (One who is not an Eved Ivri is forbidden to have relations with a maidservant.)
(c)An Eved Ivri is obligated to work for his master for only six years (Shemos 21:2) or until the Yovel year, whichever comes first (Kidushin 14b, 16a). At any time during his term, he may go free if he or someone else pays his master the money remaining frem the sum that the master paid for him, prorated to the amount of time that he worked. If at the termination of six years he expresses his desire to continue life as a slave, the master takes the slave to Beis Din, and stands the slave near a doorpost and pierces his right ear and the door with an awl. This is known as Retzi'ah, and an Eved Ivri upon whom this is performed is called a "Nirtza." A Nirtza slave must continue to serve his master until the Yovel year (ibid. 21:6) or until his master dies. Whenever an Eved Ivri goes free, under most circumstances his master must give him monetary gifts valued at 15, 30, or 50 Sela'im, according to the various opinions (Kidushin 17a). This is known as Ha'anakah (Devarim 15:14).
(d)The Gemara (Kidushin 14b) cites a Tana that distinguishes between the Halachos of an Eved Ivri who sold himself and an Eved Ivri who was sold by Beis Din. According to this Tana, some of the above-mentioned Halachos do not apply to an Eved Ivri who sold himself. (For example, he cannot become a Nirtza, he does not receive Ha'anakah, etc.)
14)[line 8]"וזה דבר השמטה שמוט [כל בעל משה ידו אשר ישה ברעהו לא יגש את רעהו ואת אחיו כי קרא שמטה לה']""V'ZEH DEVAR HA'SHEMITAH SHAMOT [KOL BA'AL MASHEH YADO ASHER YASHEH B'RE'EHU; LO YIGOS ES RE'EHU V'ES ACHIV, KI KARA SHEMITAH LA'SH-M]"- "And this is the manner of the "release" of the Shemitah year: [Every creditor who lends anything to his neighbor shall] release [it; he shall neither exact it of his neighbor nor of his brother; because it is called HaSh-m's Release]" (Devarim 15:2).
15)[line 10]שמיטת קרקעSHEMITAS KARKA (SHEVI'IS)
(a)The Torah requires that farmers desist from working the land every seventh year (Vayikra 25:1-7). The fruits that grow during the seventh (Shevi'is) year are holy to the extent that:
1.they must be considered ownerless; anyone may come into any field and pick the fruit that he intends to eat.
2.The fruits may not be bought and sold in a normal fashion (see Insights to Sukah 39:2).
3.The Torah requires that the fruits of Shevi'is be used only for eating or drinking (in the normal manner of eating for that type of fruit) or for burning to provide light (in the case of oil). They may not be wasted or used for medicinal purposes or animal fodder, etc.
(b)Avkah Shel Shevi'is refers to the less severe prohibitions associated with Shevi'is, such as buying or selling produce of Shevi'is. The Torah writes that the produce of Shevi'is is ours to be eaten (Vayikra 25:6). Chazal infer from this, "To be eaten, but not to be traded" (see a:1 above). This prohibition is referred to as "Avkah Shel Shevi'is," even though it is forbidden mid'Oraisa, since the main prohibitions of Shevi'is involve actually working the ground (Tosfos to Erchin 30b DH Kamah).
(c)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]"וקראתם דרור בארץ""U'KRASEM DROR BA'ARETZ"- "and proclaim liberty throughout the land" (Vayikra 25:10)
17)[line 21]שדרורSHE'DROR (YOVEL)
(a)The year after 7 Shemitah cycles of 7 years each is called the Yovel year. There is an argument among the Tana'im as to whether the 50th year is not counted as one of the years of Shemitah, or whether it is part of the count and is itself both the Yovel and the 1st year of the next Shemitah cycle.
(b)The Halachos of the Shemitah year apply in the Yovel year with regard to not working the land and maintaining the sanctity of the fruits that grow (see Background to Kidushin 58:12). In addition, at the start of the Yovel year, all Jewish slaves (Eved Ivri, see above, entry #13) are set free and all properties that were sold since the previous Yovel year are returned to their original owners. On Yom ha'Kipurim of the Yovel Year, Beis Din blows a Shofar to denote that the time has come to set free all of the slaves (Vayikra 25:9).
(c)There is an argument among the Tana'im as to what is considered the beginning of the Yovel year. According to the Chachamim, Yovel starts with the Shofar blast of Yom ha'Kipurim. According to Rebbi Yochanan ben Berokah, it begins at Rosh Hashanah, and the Shofar blast only denotes the completion of the process of freeing the slaves (Rosh Hashanah 8b).
18)[line 24]והכלאים מדברי סופריםHA'KIL'AYIM MI'DIVREI SOFRIM- Kil'ayim in Chutz la'Aretz is only forbidden mid'Rabanan
19)[line 26]הלכתא מדינהHILCHESA MEDINAH- the inhabitants of Chutz la'Aretz accepted it upon themselves as the custom (RASHI)
20)[line 31]יורד ולוקח ובלבד שלא יראנו לוקטYORED V'LOKE'ACH, U'VILVAD SHE'LO YIR'ENU LOKET- The Halachah of Safek Orlah in Chutz la'Aretz is more lenient than in Syria. The Torah-observant Jew is allowed to buy produce from a Nochri farmer or a farmer who is suspected of selling Orlah fruits, as long as he does not actually see him picking from the trees that are less than three years old. In Syria, Safek Orlah fruits are only permitted if they are already picked (RASHI).
21)[last line]יורד ולוקט ובלבד שלא ילקוט בידYORED V'LOKET, U'VILVAD SHE'LO YILKOT B'YAD- The Halachah of Safek Kil'ayim in Chutz la'Aretz is more lenient than the Halachah of Safek Orlah. The Torah-observant Jew is allowed to buy produce from a Nochri farmer or a farmer who is suspected of selling Kil'ayim fruits who has picked the Safek Kil'ayim, as long as the Torah-observant Jew does not actually pick the fruits himself (RASHI).