1)

(a)Our Mishnah rules that someone who declares that he will bring a Minchah al ha'Machavas - is not permitted to then bring a Minchas Marcheshes (in fulfillment of his Neder), or vice-versa.

(b)According to Rebbi Chanina ben Gamliel, the former is baked in a flat pan, the latter, in a deep one ... , as we have already learned. Consequently ...

1. ... a Minchas Marcheshes is so-called - because, due to its soft texture, it looks as if it is creeping (which is similar to the Targum's translation of insects ['Rachshin']).

2. ... a Minchah al ha'Machavas turns out crisp - because (unlike a Minchas Marcheshes, where the oil accumulates at the bottom of the pot, where it saturates the Minchah) it spreads to the four corners of the pan and is absorbed by the Minchah only in small quantities.

(c)According to Rebbi ha'Gelili - a Minchas Marcheshes is covered during baking, whereas a Minchah al ha'Machavas is not.

2)

(a)To explain Rebbi Yossi ha'Gelili, we suggest that the root of ...

1. ... Marcheshes is Rechusha de'Libi, which means - the (sinful) thoughts of the heart (like in the Pasuk in Tehilim "Rachash Libi Davar Tov").

2. ... Machavas is Machbui ha'Peh, which means - what the mouth reveals (from the Lashon Niv, which refers to the upper lip).

(b)We refute this suggestion however, on the basis of a Pasuk on the one hand, and a common expression on the other. The ...

1. ... Pasuk (in Vayishlach) "Lamah Nachbeisa Li'vro'ach" (said by Lavan to Ya'akov) means - Why did you run away secretly? ...

2. ... expression Havi Merachshan Sif'vaseih means - His lips were (visibly) moving.

(c)In fact, Rebbi Yossi ha'Gelili learns his distinction between Marcheshes and Machavas - from tradition (as passed down to him by his Rebbes).

(d)Whereas Rebbi Chanina ben Gamliel learns from ...

1. ... the 'Beis' in "ba'Marcheshes" (in the Pasuk in Tzav "ve'Chol Na'aseh ba'Marcheshes") that - Marcheshes is a deep vessel.

2. ... the word "ve'al" (in the following phrase there "ve'al Machavas") - that "Machavas" is a shallow vessel that has no walls.

3)

(a)If someone declares Harei alai Marcheshes, Beis Shamai in a Beraisa rule that the Neder is placed on hold until Eliyahu comes - because they are not sure whether "Marcheshes" is the name of the K'li or the name of the Minchah (based on the texture of the finished Minchah).

(b)The ramifications of this She'eilah are - whether the Noder is - Chayav to bring a Minchas Marcheshes, or whether he is Chayav to donate a Marcheshes to Bedek ha'Bayis.

(c)Had he meant to obligate himself to bring a Minchas Marcheshes, he ought to have said - Harei alai Minchah al ha'Marcheshes or ' ... Minchas Marcheshes'.

4)

(a)According to Beis Hillel - the Noder is obligated to donate a Marcheshes to Bedek ha'Bayis.

(b)The Marcheshes is - deep, but with a partition half way down. That partition contains small, round cavities (presumably ten, to form the ten loaves required for every Minchah), causing the dough to form into balls shaped like acorns and chestnuts (known as B'rasi apples and Greek Blavta respectively).

(c)They learn from the 'Beis' in "ba'Marcheshes" and the word "al" in "al ha'Machavas" that - the two Menachos are called after the vessels in which they are baked and not after the way they are prepared.

5)

(a)Our Mishnah teaches that someone who undertakes to bring a Minchas Ma'afeh Tanur must bring a Minchah that is baked in a Tanur - an oven shaped like a rhombus, with space for one pot on top, and not in a Kupach, with space for one pot, too, but shaped like a cube.

(b)Neither may he bring a Minchas ...

1. ... Ra'afim - baked on tiles.

2. ... Yoros Arabiyim - baked in Arabian pre-heated pots.

(c)The Tana Kama forbids bringing a Minchas Ma'afeh Tanur as half Chalos and half wafers. We might have thought that this is permitted - because the Torah mentions them both (only the Tana Kama interprets this to mean that he must choose either one or the other).

(d)Rebbi Shimon - permits a Minchas Ma'afeh Tanur which is half Chalos and half wafers, because it is one and the same Korban.

6)

(a)Rebbi Yehudah in a Beraisa disagrees with the Tana Kama - in that he permits baking a Ma'afeh Tanur in a Kupach (which, technically speaking, is a kind of Tanur).

(b)He learns from the fact that the Torah repeats the word "Tanur" (once in Vayikra and once in Tzav) that - a Minchas Ma'afeh Tanur incorporates one that is baked in a Kupach.

7)

(a)According to Rebbi Shimon in a Mishnah in 'Sh'tei ha'Lechem', the extra "Tanur" comes to teach us that - not only must the Ma'afeh Tanur be baked in an oven, but that it must also be sanctified (Kedushas ha'Guf) in an oven.

(b)He also states there that - if the Sh'tei ha'Lechem and the Lechem ha'Panim are baked in the Beis Pagi (an area outside the walls of the Azarah) and not in the Azarah - they are Kasher.

(c)The problem this creates with his previous ruling is that - if the Tanur sanctifies a Minchah (Kedushas ha'Guf), then how can the Sh'tei ha'Lechem and the Lechem ha'Panim be baked in the Beis Pagi"? Seeing as the oven is outside the Azarah, this immediately renders them Pasul be'Yotzei?

(d)To reconcile Rebbi Shimon's first statement with his second, Rava amends it to read - she'Yehei Hekdeishan L'shem Tanur (meaning that when one designates them as Kedushas Damim, one does so with the intention of baking them in an oven).

8)

(a)The Beraisa interprets the words "ve'Chi Sakriv" (in the Pasuk "ve'Chi Sakriv Korban Minchah Ma'afeh Tanur ... ") - as an indication that bringing a Minchah is R'shus, not a Chiyuv.

(b)Rebbi Yehudah there learns from the word "*Korban* Minchah" - that he is not permitted to bring half the Minchah Chalos, and the other half, wafers (because the Torah prescribes one option for bringing the Minchah, and not two (though his reason will become more clear in the Beraisa quoted in the Sugya]).

(c)Rebbi Shimon objects to that on the grounds that - the Torah uses the word "Korban" only once, adding "Chalos Matzos" and "Rekikei Matzos", implying that he can bring either one of them, or both.

(d)For him to agree with Rebbi Yehudah - the Torah would have had to write "Korban" twice, since that would have implied that the Chalos and the Rekikin are two independent Korbanos, which may not be mixed.

9)

(a)If, according to Rebbi Shimon, one did bring half Chalos and half wafers, before performing the Kemitzah - the Kohen would have to mix them together ...

(b)... in order to take the Kemitzah from both kinds together.

(c)If, in spite of that, he takes the Kemitzah from only one of them - he will nevertheless be Yotzei.

(d)Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah learns from the three times "ve'Chol" (in the Pasuk in Tzav "ve'Chol Minchah asher Te'afeh ba'Tanur, ve'Chol Na'aseh ba'Marcheshes ve'al Machavas ... , ve'Chol Minchah Belulah va'Shemen va'Chareivah") that - just as the two latter "ve'Chol" refer to two Menachos that may not be combined, so too, the former one (incorporating Chalos and Rekikin) ...

(e)... a support for his father Rebbi Yehudah).

10)

(a)Rebbi Yehudah learns from the repetition of "ba'Shemen" (in the Pasuk "So'les Chalos Belulos ba'Shemen, u'Rekikei Matzos Meshuchim ba'Shamen") that - the Torah is speaking about two different Korbanos (as if it had written Korban twice), one pertaining to Chalos, the other, to Rekikin.

(b)According to Rebbi Shimon, however, the Torah repeats "ba'Shemen", to teach us that - the owner has the option of bringing either Chalos or Rekikin (because otherwise, he would learn from the one "Korban" that one is obligated to bring half of each).

(c)Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi appears to echo his father's opinion. He argues with him however, in that - he will invalidate the Korban Bedieved, if one brought half of each, in the same way as mixing a "Belulah" (a Minchas Nedavah) and a "Chareivah" (a Minchas Chotei, would be Pasul Bedieved); whereas according to Rebbi Yehudah, it will be Kasher (based on the principle that whatever is not repeated in the realm of Kodshim, is Kasher Bedieved).

11)

(a)According to Rebbi Yishmael, when the sixteenth of Nisan falls on Shabbos, the Omer comprises three Sa'ah of barley - but five Sa'ah, when it falls on a weekday.

(b)From the three or five Sa'ah of barley that they initially cut, they obtain - one Isaron of flour, after sifting it many times.

(c)According to the Chachamim ...

1. ... however, they cut three Sa'ah of barley, both on Shabbos and on a weekday.

2. ... they use three scythes and three boxes on Shabbos as they do on a weekday, when cutting the Omer.

(d)Rebbi Chanina S'gan ha'Kohanim maintains that - they use only one scythe and one box when the Omer falls on Shabbos, but three of each when it falls on a weekday.

(e)They also argue over how many men Beis-Din send to cut the barley on Shabbos, though on a weekday they both agree that it is three - and according to the Chachamim, that is how many they sent on Shabbos. But according to Rebbi Yishmael, on Shabbos they send only one.

12)

(a)The Chachamim hold that three Sa'ah of barley is required to obtain one Isaron of the finest quality. The problem with Rebbi Yishmael is that - Mah Nafshach, if five Sa'ah produces the best-quality Isaron, then why do they not cut five Sa'ah on Shabbos, too? Whereas if three is sufficient, then why do they cut five when the Omer falls on a weekday?

(b)Rava answers that - one obtains the best-quality flour from five Sa'ah, by producing less from each Sa'ah, without having to sift it so many times; whereas obtaining a near-comparable quality flour from three Sa'ah, requires sifting it more times.

(c)Rebbi Yishmael prefers the latter method on Shabbos - because, even though it entails more sifting, it minimizes the other Melachos needed to obtain the extra two Sa'ah (reaping, winnowing, selecting, grinding and the initial sifting, for the extra two Sa'ah), even though the result is not quite as perfect.

13)

(a)Rabah tries to equate Rebbi Yishmael with Rebbi Yishmael B'no shel Rebbi Yochanan ben Berokah - who permits skinning the Korban Pesach on the fourteenth of Nisan that falls on Shabbos only up to the chest (because he considers any more than that an unnecessary Tircha).

(b)The Rabbanan - permit the skinning to be completed.

(c)We reject Rabah's suggestion however, on two scores. Rebbi Yishmael ...

1. ... in our Sugya might well agree with the Rabbanan that one is permitted to complete the skinning of the Korban Pesach - because of Bizayon Kodshim (it is a denigrating of Kodshim to leave them lying half skinned until nightfall).

2. ... B'no shel Rebbi Yochanan ben Berokah there, on the other hand, might well agree with the Rabbanan in our Sugya - because whereas there, skinning the animal up to the heart enables them to remove the innards (which is the purpose of the skinning at that stage) to completion, here the Omer reaches a higher stage of perfection if they prepare five Sa'ah (as we explained).