1)

(a)Our Mishnah declares ineligible for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem (see also Tosfos DH 'Ein Mevi'in') the produce of ...

1. ... Beis ha'Zevalim - (a field that needs to be fertilized) ...

2. ... Beis ha'Shalachim - (one that needs to be watered manually) and ...

3. ... Beis ha'Ilan from - (one whose crops grow among the trees).

(b)One possible that The Tana forbids Beis ha'Zevalim is because we are afraid that the owner will not manure it properly, resulting in an inferior quality harvest; the other - because the manure spoils the taste of the crops.

(c)He forbids Beis ha'Shalachim because a field that needs a lot of water inevitably produces poor-quality crops, and Beis ha'Ilan - because the trees drain the land of its water, as a result of which the crops do not grow properly.

(d)The Tana rules that for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'LEchem - one should plow the field in the first year and seed only in the second ('Neirah Shanah Rishonah u've'Shanah Sheniyah Zor'ah').

(e)And to obtain the maximum quantity of flour from the harvest, he advises - that one seeds the field in the second year - seventy days before Pesach.

2)

(a)The Tana rules that if the Gizbar, examining the flour for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem, pushes his hand into the flour and extracts flour-dust - the flour is Pasul for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem.

(b)To remedy the fault - they are obligated to sift the flour one more time.

(c)We ask whether, when our Mishnah rules 'Neirah Shanah Rishonah u've'Shanah Sheniyah Zor'ah' - the field requires plowing a second time before seeding ...

(d)... because even though the Tana does not specifically mention it, pwehaps what he meant was 'that one should also seed it ('Nami Zor'ah') in the second year (see Tzon Kodshim).

3)

(a)We try to resolve the She'eilah from a Beraisa, where Rebbi Yossi states - that the wheat of Karzayim and K'far Achim would be eligible for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem if it was close to Yerushalayim.

(b)He says - that they would only use the crops of 'ha'Meduramos ha'Menunaros' (the crops of the southernmost cities where the fields been specifically plowed number of for the sake of the Omer).

(c)The advantage of crops that grow in the fields in southernmost areas is - that the sun shines on them from early morning until late evening.

4)

(a)In describing the procedure, the Beraisa says - that one plows the field again twice in the second year between plowing it in the first year and planting it in the second.

(b)If one follows the procedure described in the Mishnah and in the Beraisa, one can expect stalks of wheat that comprise one third stalks and two-thirds grain.

(c)Between the time that the wheat is harvested and the flour is brought to the Gizbar to examine (as we learned in our Mishnah), it passes through six stages. The two stages that ...

1. ... precede winnowing and selecting the grains are - making sheaves and threshing.

2. ... follow them are - grinding and sifting.

(d)Rather than merely placing his hand inside the flour and subsequently needing to re-sift it for the Omer or the Sh'tei ha'Lechem, Rebbi Nasan prescribes - that the Gizbar first rubs oil on his hands. Then when he pushes his hands inside the flour, he will automatically draw out all the dust as he withdraws his hand.

5)

(a)From the Beraisa, which states "u'Sheniyah, Choresh ve'Zor'ah ve'Zor'ah ... " we prove that one plows the field again in the second year, not just once, but twice.

(b)This refutes the suggestion (in spite of the insertion of 'Nami' as we explained) that our Mishnah concurs with the Beraisa - because then the Mishnah ought then tto have also inserted 've'Shoneh ve'Zor'ah' (like the Beraisa does).

(c)To reconcile our Mishnah with the Beraisa - we establish the former where the field was already been plowed in the previous year (where it is only necessary to plow it one more time), and the Beraisa, hich needs to plowed another two times because it was not.

(d)And the She'ilah now is - what our Mishnah will hold in a case where it was not plowed in the previous year, whether the Tana will require two plowings in the second year (like the Beraisa) or (whether he argues with the Beraisa, requiring) only one plowing, or even none at all.

6)

(a)Another Beraisa suggests that one alternates between the planting and the plowing - by plowing only half the field each year and planting the other half.

(b)One does not plant the entire field - because a field does not possess the strength to yield a full quality-harvest every year.

(c)This Beraisa resolves our She'eilah - in that the Tana does not require the (half) field to be plowed even once in the year that it is planted (though it is unclear why we take for granted that our Mishnah concurs with the latter Beraisa and not with the former one).

7)

(a)Aba Shaul in a Beraisa states that they used to bring the Omer from Bik'as Beis Makleh - which the Tana goes on to describe as being situated in a southernmost area (proving the point mentioned by the Beraisa on the previous Amud).

(b)The size of the field was - three Sa'ah (precisely the amount required for the Omer).

(c)When Rav Chilkiyah bar Tuvi plowed half his small plot of land and planted half - it produced twice as much as it would normally have done.

(d)He sold the wheat that it produced - for the manufacture of the finest quality flour (S'mida' [which would have been used for the Omer in the time of the Beis-Hamikdash]).

8)

(a)The Shi'ur of worm-infested flour and wheat designated for the Omer and the Sh'tei ha'Lechem to become Pasul is - the majority (i.e. the entire batch is Pasul, even after the part containing the worms has been removed).

(b)Rebbi Yirmiyah asked whether 'Rov Chitin' means 'Rov Chitin' or 'Rov Sa'ah'. What he meant was - whether the majority of kernels will suffice to render the wheat Pasul, or whether the majority of each kernel must be infested.

(c)The outcome of Rebbi Yirmiyah's She'eilah is - Teiku.

9)

(a)The Mishnah rules in Maseches Midos that - a piece of wood that contains a worm is Pasul.

(b)Shmuel qualifies this, confining the Mishnah's ruling to a wet piece of wood, which is Pasul (though a dry piece of wood is Kasher) - due to the difficulty in removing the wormy part completely.

(c)Someone who declares Hekdesh an animal that has a blemish - receives five sets of Malkos.

(d)Rava now asks - whether this will also apply to someone who declares Hekdesh either wormy flour for Menachos or wormy wood for the Mizbe'ach (see Tosfos DH 'Ba'i' Rava').

(e)The outcome of Rava's She'eilos is - Teiku.

10)

(a)Our Mishnah now discusses the oil for the Menachos. Tako'a - is 'Alfa la'Shemen', whereas Regev in Eiver ha'Yarden - is second to it (according to Aba Shaul).

(b)This gives us the order of priorities. It does not mean that the oil from other areas is disqualified.

(c)One should not bring oil Lechatchilah - from Beis ha'Zevalim, Beis ha'Shalachim and trees with vegetables growing among them (for the identical reasons that we gave in the previous Mishnah).

(d)Neither should one bring 'Anpiknun' (which will be clearly defined in the Sugya and) which is Pasul Lechatchilah - because it is not properly ripe.

11)

(a)The Tana rules that olives that have either fallen into water and remained there for a long time, or that have been pickled or cooked - are Pasul for the Nesachim even Bedieved.

(b)Alternatively, we might explain 'min ha'Gargerin she'Nashru ba'Mayim ve'Lo min ha'Kevashim ve'Lo min ha'Shelukim' to mean - olives that will only produce oil if they have been soaked in water, pickled or well cooked.

12)

(a)The Pasuk in Shmuel informs us that Yo'av sent to Teko'ah for a wise woman. Rebbi Yochanan explains the significance of the town Teko'ah (which was situated in the portion of Asher, oil producing olives territory) in that - the large quantities of olive oil that they drank there imbued its inhabitants with wisdom.

(b)The Beraisa comments that the Pasuk "Ve'tovel ba'Shemen Raglo" - refers to the portion of land belonging to Asher, which 'drew olive oil like a fountain'.

(c)When the Shali'ach of Ludki (a Nochri town) was looking to purchase ten million Manah-worth of olive oil - he went to Yerushalayim.

(d)In Yerushalayim, they redirected him to Tzur - from where they redirected him to Gush Chalav. Once there, they directed him to a certain laborer, to the field where he worked.

13)

(a)The man (who was digging under a tree when the Shali'ach found him) ...

1. ... replied, when the latter first made his request - that he should wait until he had finished his work.

2. ... created the impression that he was poor, causing the Shali'ach to think that the Jews were pulling his leg, when - after finishing work, he slung his tools behind him to go home, and then, as he left the field, he cleared away the stones from the field.

(b)When they arrived at the man's house, after bringing him a kettle of hot water to wash his hands and feet, his maidservant brought him a golden bowl of olive oil (in which to dip his hands and feet), in fulfillment of the Pasuk in ve'Zos ha'Berachah "Ve'tovel ba'Shemen Raglo".

(c)When, after measuring the required amount of oil, the man offered him more, the Shali'ach replied - that he had no more money with which to pay for it.

(d)So they agreed - that he would provide him with more oil (another eight million Manah-worth), and that he would accompany the Shali'ach on his journey home to receive payment for the excess oil there.

14)

(a)They transported all that oil - by means of horse, mule and camel trains. In fact, it was said that there wasn't one of these animals in the whole of Eretz Yisrael that they did not rent to transport it.

(b)When the people of his town came out to praise him for having succeeded in his mission - the Shali'ach referred them to the oil magnate, with instructions to thank him, rather than himself.

(c)We see from this story - that one cannot judge a person's situation by his outward appearance, because, as the Pasuk writes in Mishlei "Yesh Mis'asher ve'Ein Kol, Misroshesh ve'Hon Rav" ('Just as there are wealthy-looking people who are poor, so too, are there people who might look poor, but who are really extremely wealthy').