1)

(a)Rebbi Yochanan forbids an Avodah-Zarah that broke by itself, because a Nochri did not negate it. Resh Lakish - permits it, because the people will say that a god who is incapable of saving itself, is not capable of saving them (which is an automatic negation).

(b)Assuming that the Tana is speaking where a nest was made from the tree itself, Resh Lakish tries to prove from our Mishnah 'she'be'Asheirah, Yatiz be'Kanah' that - an Avodah-Zarah which is broken, even not by its adherents, is permitted.

(c)We refute his proof however - by establishing the Mishnah where the bird made its nest from materials that it did not take from the Asheirah tree.

2)

(a)We try to substantiate this from the Reisha 'ha'Kan sh'be'Rosh ha'Ilan shel Hekdesh Lo Nehenin ... '. And if it had been made from the tree itself - it would have been forbidden.

(b)We refute this proof however, by establishing the Mishnah in the case of a nest made from twigs from the tree itself - but which grew after it was declared an Asheirah, and Rebbi Yochanan holds 'Ein Me'ilah be'Gidulin'.

(c)Rebbi Avahu Amar Rebbi Yochanan even establishes the Mishnah where the nest is made from twigs that were there when the tree was worshipped - and 'Yatiz be'Kanah' refers (not to the nest, but) to the birds.

3)

(a)In the second Lashon (which follows our initial text), we prove that the Tana must be talking about where the twigs grew from the tree after it was worshipped, because if they were brought from an external source - the Tana in the Reisha, ought to have said (not 'Lo Nehenin', but) that it is Mutar Lechatchilah to take them (see Tosfos).

(b)We refute this text however, because the proof in support of the contention is unacceptable - since there is no way that anyone will be permitted to take the nest directly, seeing as he is forbidden to climb the tree (as we explained in the Mishnah).

4)

(a)Rebbi Ya'akov told Rebbi Yirmiyah that the fledglings are permitted - both regarding a tree of Hekdesh and regarding a tree of an Asheirah; though both eggs are forbidden ...

(b)... because, whereas the fledglings are able to fly (and do not therefore need the tree), the eggs are not (in which they do need the tree).

(c)Rav Ashi qualifies Rebbi Ya'akov - confining his first ruling to where the birds are independent of their mother (but as long as they are dependent on her, they will have the same Din as eggs in this regard).

5)

(a)If the Gizbarin chopped wood for Hekdesh Bedek ha'Bayis, our Mishnah rules that only the wood itself is subject to Me'ilah, but not ...

1. ... the Shipuy - the saw-dust that falls whilst sawing the logs.

2. ... the Nevi'ah - the leaves.

6)

(a)When Shmuel says that Bedek ha'Bayis first builds be'Chol and only declares it Hekdesh afterwards, he means that - Hekdesh purchases all the building materials with Chulin money or on credit.

(b)And it is only when the work is completed that they take sufficient Hekdesh money to cover the materials plus the improvement, as well as the wages of the workers, and transfer the Kedushah on to the building.

(c)And the money, which is now Chulin - is then used to pay the suppliers for the materials and the workers for their work.

(d)It is necessary to do this - because whoever donates money to Bedek ha'Bayis, declares it Hekdesh. Consequently, it is not possible to purchase anything for Hekdesh with that money, because it would inevitably cause the seller to be Mo'el (for taking Hekdesh money out to Chulin).

7)

(a)We query Shmuel from a Beraisa which discusses the leftovers of the Ketores. They prepared three hundred and sixty-five Manah each year (in the month of Adar), of which one Manah was brought each day - from which eleven Manah would be leftover each year that was not a leap year, bearing in mind that a year based on the Lunar calendar consists of three hundred and fifty-four days.

(b)They were not permitted to use up the old stock when Nisan of the new year arrived - since all Korbanos of the new year must be purchased from the new donations.

(c)So they set it aside for the wages for the Bedek ha'Bayis workers, and then transferred its Kedushah on the money with which they paid the workers, and gave the Mosar ha'Ketores (which was now Chulin) back to Hekdesh to be recycled. Then they would purchase the Mosar Ketores from the workers with the new donations for that year.

(d)The problem with this answer is that - since according to Shmuel, whatever Bedek ha'Bayis built is Chulin, why did they not transfer the Kedushah of the Mosar ha'Ketores on to the building itself?

8)

(a)And we answer that Bedek ha'Bayis had not carried out any building work at that time. The problem with this is that - if that were so, there would be no workers either.

(b)We answer that even if it had, there was not sufficient building to cover the Mosar ha'Ketores - because this Tana holds that they would pay for the materials and redeem the building each day (thought it is unclear how this conforms to Shmuel), in which case at the end of the year it was only the entire improvement plus the last day's building that remained Kodesh (equivalent to the workers wages) and that still needed to be redeemed (see also Tosfos DH 'Mosar ha'Ketores').

(c)They did not also redeem the improvement of the building in order to pay the workers at the end of each day is - due to the principle that S'chirus (remuneration for work performed) only falls due once the work has been completed'.

9)

(a)We question the previous answer too, with a statement of Shmuel that if one redeemed a Manah's-worth of Hekdesh on a P'rutah - the Pidyon is effective.

(b)In that case, the question remains, why did they not redeem the Mosar ha'Ketores on the last day's building, which was certainly worth a P'rutah?

(c)And we answer - that Shmuel said only that such a Pidyon takes effect Bedi'eved, but not that one is permitted to do so Lechatchilah.

10)

(a)Rav Papa ascribes Shmuel's earlier ruling 'Bonin be'Chol' - to the principle Lo Nitnah Torah le'Mal'achei ha'Shareis (that it is impossible, for example, to avoid sitting down for a break on the materials of Hekdesh or resting in the shade of the building to protect oneself against the sun, both of which would constitute Me'ilah).

(b)The problem with Rav Papa from our Mishnah, which ascribes Me'ilah to the Gizbarin who purchase logs of wood for Bedek ha'Bayis is that - according to Rav Papa, the logs of wood ought to have remained Chulin, in order to avoid the possibility of Me'ilah, to concur with Shmuel).

(c)To answer this Kashya, Rav Papa himself establishes our Mishnah - where they specifically cut the logs in order to complete the building on that day ('Eitzim de'Yomeih'), dispensing with the problem altogether (whereas Shmuel is speaking about work that, they knew at the outset, would take longer to complete).