[6a - 54 lines; 6b - 59 lines]
1)[line 3]דמידלייא כרקתא דנהראD'MIDALYA K'RAKSA D'NAHARA- [Tzipori is raised above the valley below it since it is located at the top of a mountain,] just like the bank of a river is raised above the level of the river
2)[line 4]גינוסרGINOSAR- a city known for its special climate and bounty of superb fruits. Ginosar is an acronym for Ganei Sarim (princes' gardens). It is identified with (a) a city located in a valley to the west of the Kineret; or (b) the city of Beis She'an (BEREISHIS RABAH 98:17)
3)[line 5]כקלא דכינריK'KALA D'KINAREI- like the sound of harps, lyres
4)[line 8]בששךSHESHACH- Bavel (as in Yirmeyahu 25:26). The word "Bavel" is "Sheshach" in "At Bash" (a method of linguistic extrapolation whereby each letter at one end of the alphabet is replaced with its corresponding letter at the other end of the alphabet, e.g. Alef with Tav, Beis with Shin, etc.)
5)[line 12]ארץ שנערERETZ SHIN'AR- the land of Bavel (the city of Bavel is located in the land of Shin'ar, as mentioned in Bereishis 10:10, 11:2; later the name Bavel came to refer to the entire area)
6)[line 12]ארץ צביERETZ TZVI- Eretz Yisrael ("Tzevi" means "desire")
7)[line 13]שעשועיהSHA'ASHU'EHA- her (Shin'ar's) joy
8)[line 15]חמי (גרר) [גדר]CHAMEI (GERAR) [GADER]- the hot springs of Gader (Chamat Gader, located on the southern border of the Golan Heights)
9)[line 16]ריקניןREIKANIN- those who are bare of knowledge; the ignorant
10)[line 18]שטובה ראייתהTOVAH RE'IYASAH- it is a sight to behold [because of the gardens and orchards that are found there (TOSFOS)]
11)[line 22]"זבולון עם חרף נפשו למות""ZEVULUN AM CHEREF NAFSHO LAMUS..."- "Zevulun was a people who risked their lives to the death, and Naftali likewise, on the heights of the field" (Shoftim 5:18) - The Gemara interprets this verse homiletically as "Zevulun was a people who despairingly wished that they would die, because Naftali was given a portion on the heights of the fields."
12)[line 25]חלזוןCHILAZON- the underwater snail (identified by many as the murex trunculus) from which the Techeles dye is made
13)[line 25]"עמים הר יקראו""AMIM HAR YIKRA'U"- "The tribes will assemble at (lit. call on) your mountain" (Devarim 33:19).
14)[line 25]"עמים הר יקראו שם יזבחו זבחי צדק; כי שפע ימים יינקו ושפני טמוני חול""AMIM HAR YIKRA'U, SHAM YIZBECHU ZIVCHEI TZEDEK; KI SHEFA YAMIM YINAKU U'SEFUNEI TEMUNEI CHOL" - "Nations (the twelve tribes) will assemble (lit. call on) the mountain, there they will slaughter a sacrifice of righteousness (with reference to killing the Chilazon to use its blood for a Mitzvah); because they will feed from the bounty of the sea, and from the things that are hidden in the sand" (Devarim 33:19) (ZEVULUN'S TREASURE)
(a)The verse refers to the Chilazon that was found in the region of Zevulun, which supplied the whole country with blue dye for Tzitzis, as the Gemara explains.
(b)The TORAH TEMIMAH cites the Gemara in Sanhedrin 91a, which relates that when the time arrived for the Chilazon to appear, after the rains the creature would ascend the mountains. Suddenly, the entire mountainside was full of Chilazon, which was now available to the public to take.
(c)Zevulun was worried that the other tribes would help themselves to the Chilazon without their consent, thereby depriving them of their Parnasah. HaSh-m replied that whoever did not pay for what they took would gain nothing, as HaSh-m would reveal the theft by causing the dye to spoil.
15)[line 26]טריתTARIS- (O.F. tonine) tuna
16)[line 26]זכוכית לבנהZECHUCHIS LEVANAH- (lit. white glass) crystal
17)[line 28]בפרקמטיאPERAKMATYA- merchandise, business
18)[line 33]כמבי כוביKEMI'BEI KUVI- like the distance from Bei Kuvi, a small village in Bavel, outside of Pumbedisa (RASHI Kidushin 70b)
19)[line 33]עד אקרא דתולבקניAD AKRA D'TULBAKNEI- until the port of Tulbaknei, on the southern bank of the Euphrates River (RASHI Kidushin 71b)
20)[line 34]ופותיאU'FUSYA- and its width
21)[line 36]קסרי בת אדוםKEISARI BAS EDOM- Caesarea, the daughter of Edom (seat of the Roman government in Eretz Yisrael)
22)[line 36]בין החולותBEIN HA'CHOLOS- (lit. between the sandy regions) on the sea
23a)[line 36]"[כי עזה עזובה תהיה ואשקלון לשממה; אשדוד בצהרים יגרשוה] ועקרון תעקר""[KI AZAH AZUVAH TIHEYEH V'ASHKELON LI'SHEMAMAH; ASHDOD BA'TZAHORAYIM YEGARESHU'HAH,] V'EKRON TE'AKER" - "[For Azah will be forsaken, and Ashkelon, desolate. They will drive away Ashdod in the middle of the day and Ekron will be uprooted (Tzefanyah 2:4) (THE DESTRUCTION OF PELISHTIM)
(a)Tzefanyah prophesied in the days of Yoshiyahu, Melech Yehudah. The decree of destruction and exile had already been sealed against us in the days of Menasheh. Nonetheless, The Navi exhorts the people to examine their deeds, to seek Hash-m, and pursue justice and humility, before the tragic day of the Churban would arrive. Perhaps, perhaps, they would escape death by the sword and survive the exile (Tzefanyah 2:2-3; RADAK; see Chagigah 4b).
(b)The four cities mentioned here are four of the major cities of the Pelishtim, a foreign thorn at our side throughout the period of Tanach. (The fifth city, Gas, is not mentioned here, because it was controlled by Yehudah at that time (RADAK)).
(c)In this verse, the Navi warns the surrounding nations not to rejoice at Yehudah's downfall, for they too would be devastated by Nevuchadnetzar (RADAK). Alternatively, the Navi reassures the Jews that if they in fact do Teshuvah, they would survive the exile and return to Eretz Yisrael, to find the cities of their former neighbors still desolate (METZUDOS).
(d)Our Gemara homiletically interprets Ekron as Caesarea, because it too was a coastal city that was a foreign thorn at our side, during and after the period of Bayis Sheni. See below, entry #33.
b)[line 37]יתד תקועה לישראלYASED TEKU'AH L'YISRAEL- a peg (an obnoxious foreign element) stuck into Yisrael
24)[line 38]אחידת מגדל שירACHIDAS MIGDAL SHIR/TZOR- [they entitled the act of conquering the city,] "The Capture of Migdal Tzor"
25)[line 36]"והסירותי דמיו מפיו ושקוציו מבין שניו, ונשאר גם הוא ל-אלקינו; והיה כאלוף ביהודה ועקרון כִּיבוּסִי""VA'HASIROSI DAMAV MI'PIV V'SHIKUTZAV MI'BEIN SHINAV, V'NISH'AR GAM HU LE'L-KEINU; V'HAYAH K'ALUF BI'YEHUDAH V'EKRON KI'YEVUSI" - "And I will remove its blood from its mouth (a reference to the sacrifices that Edom brought on their altars) and their abominations from between their teeth, and also they (the synagogues and study halls in Galus) will remain for our G-d. And they will be given to the princes of Yehudah (who will teach Torah publicly, in their theaters and circuses), and Ekron will belong to Yisrael like the Yevusi (i.e. Yerushalayim)" (Zecharyah 9:7) (THE DESTRUCTION OF PELISHTIM AND EDOM)
(a)In the verses immediately preceding verse 7, the Navi issues a warning to Ashkelon, Azah, and Ashdod, in addition to Ekron (all mentioned in the earlier prophecy in Tzefanyah), telling them of their imminent destruction. The chapter begins with the information that in the days of Mashi'ach, Yerushalayim will reach as far as Damascus, as well as Chamas, Tzor, and Tzidon.
(b)The Navi goes on to describe the arrival of Mashi'ach, "humble and riding on a donkey," and his reign of peace that will follow.
(c)Yevusi was the name of Yerushalayim before it was conquered by David ha'Melech.
26)[line 40]בית במיאBEIS BAMYA- House of the Altar. (The Girsa of the Bach is BEIS KARYA - House of Heaps (Ruins), in keeping with the verse, "v'Ibadtem Es Shemam" - "and you shall obliterate their names" (Devarim 12:3) - see Rashi ibid. and Gemara Avodah Zarah 46a)
27)[line 40]בית גליאBEIS GALYA- House of Revelation. This (and the previous entry) were places of Roman idol worship.
28)[line 42]תראטריותTAR'ATRIYOS- theaters
29)[line 42]וקרקסיותKIRKESAYOS- circuses, places of amusement
30)[line 43]פמייסPAMIYAS- the name of an ancient city in the north-east of Eretz Yisrael, also known as Caesarea Phillipi (today, Banyas), where a cave is located, from which flows one of the sources of the Yarden River
31)[line 44]מטרופולין של מלכיםMETROPOLIN SHEL MELACHIM- city of kings (RASHI notes that the word Metropolin is composed of two words, Mater (mother) and Polin (authority, royalty))
32a)[line 44]דמרבי בה מלכיMERABEI BAH MALCHEI- they raise princes there until they become kings
b)[line 45]דמוקמי מינה מלכיMUKMEI MINAH MALCHEI- they crown kings from its populace
33)[line 47]"... אמלאה החרבה...""IMAL'AH HA'CHARAVAH" - "[Son of man, because Tzor has said against Yerushalayim, Aha, she who was the gateway of the nations is broken; it (the gateway, i.e. the focal point of commerce) has turned to me;] I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste" (Yechezkel 26:2) - This verse teaches that Caesarea and Yerushalayim possess opposing fates with regard to their ruin and restoration. The following historical events illustrate this phenomenon (CAESAREA AND YERUSHALAYIM)
(a)CAESAREA - Caesarea is the name of the port city founded by King Herod (who reigned from 37 - 4 BCE) on the site of Strato's Tower, located between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The tower was built as a trading station by King Strato of Tzidon in approximately 375 BCE, and a small city developed around it. Herod revitalized the city between the years 22 - 10 BCE and established a complete Greco-Roman city with all the necessary components: theatre, amphitheater, aqueduct, agora (marketplace), and a large temple overlooking the harbor built upon a raised platform. The temple was dedicated to the emperor Augustus Caesar and the city goddess of Rome. For 1000 years it was a major port of the Mediterranean Sea.
(b)In the year 6 CE Judea was ruled as a Roman province, with Caesarea as the provincial capital. The first Jewish Revolt (66 CE) was triggered by a massacre of Jews by pagans at Caesarea. In 70 CE the Romans crushed the Jewish Revolt and destroyed the Beis ha'Mikdash using Caesarea as its headquarters. Caesarea was then re-founded as a Roman colony.
(c)In 1187 the Muslim commander Salah ad-Din conquered the city from the Crusaders, and leveled its fortifications. The city was desolate for forty years. In 1228 the German Crusaders arrived at Caesarea with the Fifth Crusade and rebuilt its walls. In 1291 the city was razed to the ground by the (Egyptian) Mamelukes to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, after which the city was virtually deserted. It was during the period of the Mamelukes that the Jewish population of Yerushalayim started to grow. During their reign (1250-1517) the Jewish population of Yerushalayim grew from 300 to 2000 whereas the total population grew from approximately 3000 to 6000.
(d)YERUSHALAYIM - At the time of the Churban Beis ha'Mikdash (70 CE), Yerushalayim was destroyed and razed to the ground. The Roman Tenth Legion was garrisoned there following its destruction. Emperor Hadrian (who reigned from 117 - 138 CE) founded a new pagan city on the site of Yerushalayim, naming it Aelia Capitolina; Aelia in honor of his own name Publius Aelius Hadrianus, and Capitolina in honor of Jupiter, whose temple in Rome was on the Capitolene hill. At the site of the Beis ha'Mikdash, he erected a new temple to Jupiter. According to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, this was the cause of the revolt of bar Kochva (132 - 135 CE). Bar Kochva with his troops took over the city for approximately three years. The Tenth Legion was evacuated and withdrew to Caesarea. After the revolt was crushed, no Jews were allowed to live in Yerushalayim for 500 years. The rulers killed any Jew who set foot in the city.
(e)Only after the Muslims conquered the city under Omar (approx. 640 CE) were Jews allowed to live in the city again. However, the Crusaders later killed off the entire community (1099-1264). The Jews later returned to the city after the commander Salah ad-Din conquered the city from the Crusaders. In 1229 the German Crusaders re-conquered Yerushalayim. In 1244 the Tartars killed some of the Jews living in the city. In 1260 the Mongols invaded Yerushalayim and devastated it.
(f)When the Ramban arrived in Yerushalayim in the year 1267, the total population of the city was nearly 2000, but there was only one Minyan, arranged by two Jewish brothers, dyers by trade, who gathered a Minyan in their house on Shabbos (probably from the surrounding area). The Ramban encouraged them to rebuild the Jewish community of the city and together they found an abandoned building and turned it into a synagogue (the Ramban's Shul). A message was sent to Shechem to return the Sifrei Torah that were sent there from Yerushalayim when the Tartars came. Historians generally credit the community established by the Ramban as the beginning of the Yishuv from which the present settlement is descended.
34)[line 49]"יוחן רשע...""YUCHAN RASHA..."- "Shall favor be shown to the wicked one who will not learn righteousness? He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, and does not see the majesty of HaSh-m" (Yeshayah 26:10) - The Gemara interprets this verse as a dialog between HaSh-m and Yitzchak, translating it as follows:
1."Shall favor be shown [to Esav]?" asked Yitzchak.
2."He is a wicked one," answered HaSh-m.
3."Can no one attest to his righteousness?" asked Yitzchak.
4."He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness," answered HaSh-m.
5."In that case, let him not see the majesty of HaSh-m," concluded Yitzchak.
35)[line 52]"אל תתן ה' מאויי רשע...""AL TITEN, HASH-M, MA'AVAYEI RASHA..."- "Do not grant, HaSh-m, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot, lest they be exalted, Selah" (Tehilim 140:9) - The word "Zemamo" also connotes a nose-ring that is used to control disobedient animals. It is the restraint that HaSh-m uses against Germamya Shel Edom so that they do not destroy the world.
6b----------------------------------------6b
36)[line 1]גרממיאGERAMAMYA SHEL EDOM- (a) "Germamya" (alternatively "Germanya" - VILNA GA'ON Yoma 10a; see also YA'AVETZ there) is identified with Cimeria. The Cimerians, who originally lived to the north of the Black Sea, extended their territorial rule to the south of the Black Sea (ousting the native Phrygians). The Cimerians are considered to have originally been a Nordic people, coming from the Germanic peoples of northern Europe. (Some sources identify them as the Cimbri of Jutland - a peninsula comprising the mainland of Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.) The peninsula extending into the northern part of the Black Sea known today as "Crimea" was the original land of the Cimerians; (b) "Germanya" was the name used for the area occupied by today's Germany (MUSAF HE'ARUCH; RAV YAKOV EMDEN).
37)[line 3]קטירי תגאKETIREI TAGA- (lit. wearers of crowns) princes
38)[line 4]מרזבניMARZAVNEI- dukes
39)[line 6]ומיטרדי לאוקמי מלכאU'MITREDEI L'UKMEI MALKA- and they (the people of Germamya) are prevented from crowning a king
40)[line 11]לחדודיL'CHADUDEI- to become sharp, keen in one's understanding
41)[line 12]לאוקמי גירסאL'UKMEI GIRSA- to remember the correct wording
42a)[line 13]שהשעה משחקת לוSHEHA'SHA'AH MESACHEKES LO- the occurrences of the time are in his favor
b)[line 14]אל תתגרה בוAL TISGAREH VO- do not start up with him
43)[line 14]"... אל תתחר במרעים, אל תקנא בעשי עולה""... AL TISCHAR BA'MERE'IM, AL TEKANEI B'OSEI AVLAH"- "... Do not compete with evildoers, be not envious of those who do iniquity" (Tehilim 37:1).
44)[line 15]"יחילו דרכיו בכל עת מרום משפטיך מנגדו כל צורריו יפיח בהם""YACHILU DERACHAV B'CHOL ES, MAROM MISHPATECHA MI'NEGDO, KOL TZORERAV, YAFI'ACH BAHEM"- "His ways are always successful, Your judgments are far removed from him, all of his adversaries - he puffs at them (he is able to repel his adversaries with little effort)" (Tehilim 10:5).
45)[line 23]ואם לחשך אדם לומרV'IM LACHSHECHA ADAM LOMAR- if a person whispers to you, saying
46)[line 25]מי שלבו נוקפוMI SHE'LIBO NOKFO- a person who feels insecure; someone whose conscience bothers him (because of his sins)
47)[line 35]איטליא של יוןITALYA SHEL YAVAN- the strongest part of Rome
48a)[line 41]חולסיתCHOLSIS- (a) rocky ground (RASHI); (b) ground from which sand for glass-making is taken (ARUCH; TOSFOS Erchin 32a DH Cholsis)
b)[line 41]ומצולהU'METZULAH- (a) glens, from which sand is taken (RASHI Erchin 32a); (b) the sea depths (TOSFOS ibid.)
49)[line 43]סדר פרשיותSEDER PARSHIYOS- the order of the four Parshiyos:
1.Shekalim (Shemos 30:11-16),
2.Zachor (Devarim 27:17-19),
3.Parah (Bamidbar 19:1-22),
4.Ha'Chodesh (Shemos 12:1-20).
50)[line 58]דאין מעבירין על המצותEIN MA'AVIRIN AL HA'MITZVOS
When an object with which a Mitzvah is to be performed lies in front of a person, it is not proper to pass by this object without performing the Mitzvah (and to perform the Mitzvah, instead, with another object).