INTRODUCTION TO MASECHES KINIM

[I] MISHNAH AND BARTENURA

(a) MISHNAYOS KINIM (or Kanim) are considered to be among the most difficult Mishnayos in all of Shas. This is due to the difficulty of some of the Halachic aspects of the laws of Kinim, as well as to the difficult mathematical calculations necessary to fully grasp their ramifications. Nonetheless, it is only the last three Mishnayos of the third (and last) chapter that pose the main difficulty of the Maseches. Each of the many Rishonim who has written on this Maseches suggests his own approach to these difficult Mishnayos.

Even though the printers of the Shas arranged Kinim immediately after Me'ilah, its proper place is actually at the end of Seder Kodshim, following Midos. That is indeed where it is printed in the volumes of Mishnayos, and the Rambam also places it there in his introduction to Perush ha'Mishnayos. (That this is the proper order is also apparent from the atypical Agaddic ending of the last Mishnah in Kinim. Further evidence is the fact that Kinim has only three Perakim, making it the smallest Maseches in Kodshim. In every other Seder of Mishnayos, the smallest Maseches is printed *last*; see our Introduction to Maseches Tamid.)

Even though there is no Gemara written on Kinim, we will be writing *Insights*, *Background*, *Outlines*, and *Hebrew Charts*. In addition, we will write *Review Questions and Answers*. The questions will be prepared based on Mishnayos Kinim with the commentary of the Rav (Bartenura), and minor additions from the commentary of the Tiferes Yisrael.

(b) RAV - Rav Ovadyah of Bartenura, printed in the Mishnayos. As was his style, most of the commentary is based on the words of the Rambam and the Rosh.

(a) MEFARESH - the identity of this Rishon is not clear. It seems that he is the author of the Perush on Tamid as well (see our Introduction to Tamid concerning the identity of the Mefaresh).

(b) TOSFOS - a few short comments of Tosfos on Kinim are printed in our volumes of the Shas.

(c) ROSH - printed in our volumes of the Shas, the Rosh's commentary on Kinim is concise and sufficient. It is recommended that those who are learning Kinim from the Mishnayos printed in the Shas should learn it with the commentary of the Rosh or the Mefaresh.

(d) PERUSH HA'RAZAH - the Ba'al ha'Me'or, Rabeinu Zerachyah ha'Levi.

(e) PERUSH HA'RA'AVAD - this commentary was apparently written by the same Ra'avad who wrote the Hasagos on the Rambam. In the Perush of the Ra'avad to Toras Kohanim (Parshas Tazria, Perek 4, end of Beraisa 3), the Ra'avad mentions that he discussed a certain point in a pamphlet that he wrote explaining the Mishnayos of Maseches Kinim. (However, the point in question does not appear in the commentary that we have before us.) For further information about the Perush ha'Ra'avad, see our Introduction to Maseches Tamid.

The two commentaries of the Ra'avad and Razah are so lengthy that the printers of the Shas were able to print alongside the Mishnayos only the first Perek of their commentaries. The rest can be found at the end of the Maseches. Both of these commentaries are printed in the Vilna Mishnayos as well.

(f) PERUSH HA'MISHNAH LEHA'RAMBAM - the Rambam's commentary that is printed in our volumes of Shas is a translation (from Arabic to Hebrew) of the first edition (Mahadura Kama) of the Rambam's commentary on Mishnayos, which he wrote at a young age. After the Rambam completed writing the Mishneh Torah, he re-edited the original draft of his Perush (that he had written in Arabic). One of his aims in doing so was to ensure that everything in the commentary was consistent with his rulings in the Mishneh Torah. This edited version is known as the Mahadura Basra ("final edition"). This final version was discovered and published in recent years by Rav Yosef Kapach (the "Kapach edition").

(1) COMMENTARIES OF ACHARONIM

(a) YA'IR KINO - at the end of the Vilna edition of the Mishnayos (in most offsets of this edition) there appears a commentary called "Ya'ir Kino." This is a remarkable commentary consisting of two parts. The first is based on the commentary of the Rosh on Kinim. The author explains and resolves all of the words of the Rosh in a clear and concise manner. The second is the commentary of the author himself on the Maseches, in which he examines all the words of the Rishonim and often proposes his own explanation that emerges from his rigorous analysis of the Sugyos in Shas that deal with the Mishnah.

The author of Ya'ir Kino was Rav Menachem Eliezer from Vashilishak (near Vilna), son of the author of Ateres Rosh on Maseches Berachos, and a contemporary of the Vilna Ga'on. It is fitting to mention here what was written about this commentary in Sefer Aliyos Eliyahu (a biography of the Vilna Ga'on):

"When ha'Gaon Moreinu Menachem Eliezer, the son of the Ba'al Ateres Rosh, completed his Sefer on Maseches Kinim entitled Ya'ir Kino, he was still a very young man. He came with his Sefer before [the Vilna Ga'on] to show to him the Sefer. [The Vilna Ga'on] told him to leave the Sefer with him overnight. In the humility and greatness of the Ga'on, and in his [pursuit of] truth, when he saw [that the author of the Sefer on Kinim] had approached with such clarity a difficult Masechta whose understanding had evaded many of the commentators, the Ga'on learned the Sefer all night long. Early the next morning, the great [Rav Chaim of Volozhen] came to the place of learning of the Ga'on. The Ga'on said to him that a Sefer had been brought to him by a young man, the son of the Ateres Rosh, and that it was a most marvelous work on Kinim in which the author merited from Heaven to have revealed in many places the true understanding of the Maseches, which had not been revealed to any of the earlier commentators. [Rav Chaim] hurried to relate this to the author, and with much joy and confidence the author went to see the Ga'on, expecting to be crowned by the Ga'on with splendor and glory. But when he came before the Ga'on, the Ga'on handed his Sefer back to him and said not a single word about it." (Aliyos Eliyahu, p. 69)

(b) MA'AYANEI YEHOSHUA - a commentary printed in the Vilna edition of the Mishnayos, by Rav Yehoshua Heller, author of the Musar works, "Divrei Yehoshua" and "Chosen Yehoshua."

(c) KAN MEFURESHES - by Rav Tzvi, the son of Rav Eliyahu Guttmacher of Greiditz (recently reprinted in Mar'eh Kinim; see below).

(a) MAR'EH KINIM - charts and explanations prepared by Rav Refael Shlomo Tuvyah Wolf (Yerushalayim, 2003), including a printing of the Sefer "Kan Mefureshes."

(b) KOLLEL IYUN HADAF's invaluable "Insights to the Daf" touch on many of the questions one is likely to ask on Gemara and Rashi, as well as Halachic clarifications and in-depth discussions on issues and Agados of the Masechta. Our helpful "Charts" and "Background to the Daf" make the Maseches much more approachable, with translations, Girsa notes, and introductions to concepts discussed on the Daf. Summarize what you have learned with our "Review Questions and Answers," enhance your learning with our "Outlines of the Daf." Ask the Kollel your questions on the Daf and receive clear, authoritative answers. Write to DAF@DAFYOMI.CO.IL for more information.