1)

(a)We query the above statement (that Shmuel rules like Rebbi Eliezer in four cases) from a Mishnah in Yevamos, which discusses a case of two brothers who are married to two orphaned sisters, one a Gedolah and the other, a Ketanah, where the husband of the Gedolah died. The problem there is - that the marriage to the Yesomah Ketanah (which is only mi'de'Rabbanan) prevents her husband from being able to perform Yibum (or Chalitzah) with her older sister.

(b)Nor will divorcing the Ketanah solve the problem - since the Gedolah is still forbidden to him because she is Achos Gerushaso (his divorcee's sister).

(c)Rebbi Eliezer therefore suggests that Beis-Din enable the husband of the Ketanah to perform Yibum - by teaching the Ketanah to perform Miy'un (declaring 'I Efshi bi'Peloni Ba'ali' and walking out), thereby negating her Kidushin retroactively.

2)

(a)In Yevamos too, Rav Yehudah Amar Shmuel rules like Rebbi Eliezer, and the reason that he did not add this case to the four above-mentioned ones is - because the latter are confined to Seder Taharos (which does not preclude the fact that there are many other such rulings in the other Sedarim).

(b)And we substantiate this by citing another example where Rav Yehudah Amar Shmuel rules like Rebbi Eliezer; namely in a case where someone bakes doughs of less than the Shi'ur Chalah and places them all in the same basket where he rules - that the walls of the basket combine them, rendering them all Chayav Chalah.

3)

(a)We find it necessary to substantiate the original proof (that there are cases in other Sedarim where Shmuel rules like Rebbi Eliezer) from Yevamos - because Shmuel's ruling there may well be due to the fact that another Tana holds like Rebbi Eliezer (as we shall now see).

(b)We reject the suggestion that the Tana who concurs with Rebbi Eliezer is Rebbi Elazar, who also says 'Melamdin es ha'Ketanah she'Tema'en' - because he does not say it connection with the above case, but with another case, which might be based on a different S'vara (as we explain in Yevamos).

(c)So we cite the Tana as Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava, who issues five testimonies. We ascribe the use of the plural ('she'Mema'anim es ha'Ketanos') in his first testimony - to the two above rulings (of Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Elazar).

(d)We try to refute this answer by suggesting that 'Ketanos' means 'Ketanos de'Alma' (young girls generally, rather than the two cases in question). We reject that however - on the basis of Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava next testimony 've'she'Masi'in es ha'Ishah (and not 'es ha'Nashim') al-Pi Eid Echad'.

4)

(a)As we just saw, Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava's second testimony concerns permitting a woman to remarry on the basis of one witness. His second testimony concerned a chicken that killed a person in Yerushalayim - which was sentenced to death (just like an ox that killed a person).

(b)And based on his last two testimonies, the ...

1. ... age that wine is eligible for Nesachim is - forty days (a day earlier would be called wine from the vat, which is not eligible to go on the Mizbe'ach).

2. ... latest time to bring the Tamid shel Shachar is - four hours after daybreak (as opposed to midday).

5)

(a)Rebbi Elazar ben P'das (the Amora) concurs with Shmuel - and rules like Rebbi Eliezer in the four above-mentioned cases.

(b)We query him however, from the same Mishnah in Yevamos as we did Shmuel, but we reject the suggestion that he is only referring to Seder Taharos (like we explained Shmuel) from Rebbi Zeira, whom we are now about to quote). The Mishnah in Shevi'is rules that a rose and various spices (including the Kataf tree) are subject to the Din of ...

1. ... Sh'mitah - both it and the money that one exchanges it for, and the same applies to ...

2. ... Biy'ur (destroying it after the Sh'mitah).

(c)The latter ruling is necessary - because there are certain cases where the Din of Sh'mitah applies, but not that of Biy'ur.

(d)The Kataf-tree is unusual in that - it does not produce fruit, only sap (which the Tana considers its fruit).

6)

(a)Rebbi P'das commented on the Mishnah in Shevi'is - that the Tana who considers the Kataf a P'ri is Rebbi Eliezer (as we will see later).

(b)When Rebbi Zeira (who maintains that the author of this Mishnah is not Rebbi Eliezer, and is therefore Halachah) commented to Rebbi P'das that between him and his father, they permitted Kataf in the Sh'mitah year, he meant - that seeing as he established the Mishnah that considers it a fruit, like Rebbi Eliezer, and his father did not include that Mishnah among the four cases where the Halachah is like Rebbi Eliezer, it emerges that Kataf is neither subject to Shevi'is nor to Biy'ur (like the wood of other trees).

(c)The problem with ...

1. ... the suggestion that Rebbi Elazar is only referring to Seder Taharos is - Rebbi Zeira's Kashya, which we could easily have answered by pointing out that Yevamos is not in Taharos (in which the Halachah may well be like that Mishnah, even if the author is Rebbi Eliezer).

2. ... saying that he refers to all six Sedarim is - why we do not refute Rebbi Zeira's comment on the grounds that Shevi'is is not in Seder Taharos either.

(d)And we conclude - that Rebbi Elazar does indeed refer to all six Sedarim, and the reason that he does not add Rebbi Eliezer in Yevamos to the four cases is - because his ruling there is based on the fact that Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava concurs with him (as we explained earlier).

7)

(a)We now query Rebbi Elazar from a Mishnah in B'rachos, which discusses where to insert Havdalah in the Amidah on Motza'ei Shabbos. According to Rebbi Akiva, it is said as the fourth B'rachah, independently; whereas Rebbi Eliezer maintains - that it is recited in the B'rachah of Hoda'ah ...

(b)... on which Rebbi Elazar comments - 'Halachah ke'Rebbi Eliezer'.

(c)And we answer that Rebbi Elazar only ruled like Rebbi Eliezer there, because Rebbi Chanina ben Gamliel concurred with him. The problem with this statement is - the fact that Rebbi Chanina ben Gamliel (the son of Raban Gamliel [the son of Rebbi Shimon the martyr]) was much younger than Rebbi Eliezer (who was Raban Gamliel's brother-in-law, so how can one say that he concurs with him?

(d)We therefore amend 'concurs with him' to - 'agrees with his opinion'.

8)

(a)The Beraisa rules - that one recites seven B'rachos and Viduy at all five Tefilos on Yom Kipur.

(b)When the Tana states that for Ma'ariv on Motza'ei Yom Kipur one recites 'seven that are like eighteen', he is referring to - the B'rachah of 'Havineinu' (the middle B'rachah), which incorporates all the middle B'rachos of the weekday Amidah, concluding 'Shomei'a Tefilah'.

(c)Rebbi Chanina ben Gamliel in the name of his Rebbes rules - that one recites the full Amidah, in order to insert 'Havdalah' in the B'rachah of 'Chonen ha'Da'as'.

(d)We reconcile this with his previous statement (that Havdalah is recited in the B'rachah of Hoda'ah) - by establishing his latter ruling according to his Rebbes, even though he himself disagrees with it.

9)

(a)Rebbi Yirmiyah asked Rebbi Zeira why he did not agree with Rebbi P'das (who established the Mishnah in Shevi'is like Rebbi Eliezer), seeing as in the Mishnah in Orlah, Rebbi Eliezer rules that if someone curdles milk (to manufacture cheese) using the sap of Orlah - the cheese is Asur be'Hana'ah.

(b)In reply - Rebbi Zeira drew a distinction between the sap that drips from the wood (which is the subject of the latter Machlokes regarding Orlah) and the sap that drips from the fruits (which the Mishnah in Shevi'is is referring to, and which is considered a fruit, even according to the Rabbanan).

(c)And we support this with a Mishnah in Orlah, where Rebbi Yehoshua rules that if someone curdles milk, using the sap of ...

1. ... leaves or of roots of Orlah - the cheese is permitted.

2. ... unripe figs of Orlah - it is forbidden.

10)

(a)Alternatively, we establish both rulings (regarding Orlah and Shevi'is) with regard to the sap that drips from the wood. According to Rebbi Zeira, the Rabbanan will then concede that the sap is considered a fruit - with regard to a non fruit-producing tree (because then the sap is considered its fruit).

(b)And we base this on a Mishnah in Shevi'is, where Rebbi Shimon states that Kataf (the sap of the Kataf-tree) is not subject to Shevi'is; whereas the Chachamim say - that it is, because the sap is its fruit (as we learned earlier).

(c)Rebbi Zeira assumes that the Chachamim there are synonymous with the Rabbanan of Rebbi Eliezer. That old man however, quoting Rebbi Yochanan - stated that they are synonymous with Rebbi Eliezer.

(d)Nevertheless, he refers specifically to a non fruit-producing tree - with reference to the Rabbanan, in the hope that perhaps there, they will concede that the sap is a fruit ...

(e)... to which the Rabbanan replied 'Lo Sh'na' (it makes no difference; either way, sap is not called fruit).

11)

(a)The Beraisa rules that a Besulah who marries and sights blood becaus the marriage, or who gives birth and who sights blood because of the birth - is still called a Besulah (regarding the Din of Dayah Sha'atah).

(b)We query this however, from a Beraisa cited by Rav Kahana, which lists three kinds of Besulah. A Besulas ...

1. ... Adam is - a woman who has never been intimate with a man.

2. ... Karka is - ground which has never been tilled.

3. ... Shikmah is - a Shikmah (wild-fig) tree that has never been cut.

(c)The ramifications of Besulas ...

1. ... Adam (besides regarding marrying a Kohen Gadol) are - that she receives a Kesubah of two hundred Zuz.

2. ... Karka (besides with regard to a monetary transaction) are - that it is eligible to be used for the Nachal Eisan (regarding an Eglah Arufah).

3. ... Shikmah (besides with regard to a monetary transaction) are - that cutting it it is an Avodah that is forbidden in Sh'mitah.

(d)Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak explains that the Tana does not include the Besulah of our Mishnah in his list - because he only lists cases of Besulah S'tam, whereas the Besulah of our Mishnah has a secondary title ('Besulas Damim').

12)

(a)In answer to the same question, when ...

1. ... Rav Sheishes b'rei de'Rav Idi says that the Tana only includes 'Midi de'Tali be'Ma'aseh' - he means that, in all three cases in his list, the title 'Besulah' only departs by means of an act (Bi'ah, digging and cutting, respectively), whereas Besulas Damim disappears automatically when the woman sights blood.

2. ... Rebbi Chanina b'rei de'Rav Ika says that the Tana only includes 'Midi de'Lo Hadar li'Beri'aso' - he means that whereas in all three cases, once the cause of the Besulim goes away, it will never return, whereas in the case of a Besulas Damim, it will return with old age (when she will once again not sight blood).

(b)We object to a fourth answer by Ravina, that the Beraisa refers only to cases where a purchaser goes for the title 'Besulah', but doesn't care about Besulas Damim - because now that Rebbi Chiya has said that a lot of blood is good for a woman like yeast is for a dough (see N'siv Meir), a purchaser is equally interested in the case of a Besulas Damim,

(c)Rebbi Meir in a Beraisa also says that a woman who sees a lot of blood - will have a lot of children.

(d)What Ravina really meant to say therefore was - that the Tana refers only to cases where the purchaser prefers the object (the woman, the land and the tree) when it is a total virgin, but not a Besulas Damim, because the more blood she sees, the better.

13)

(a)The Beraisa defines the soil of Besulas Karka - as soil that is not soft.

(b)It also brings up Rishushin - which are either small stones or hard clods of earth.

(c)Ground that contains ...

1. ... clay - indicates that it has been tilled.

2. ... rocks - indicates that it is virgin soil.

14)

(a)We learned earlier that a pregnant woman whose baby is discernible is subject to Dayah Sha'atah. Sumchus Amar Rebbi Meir gives the time period for this as - three full months (see Agados Maharsha).

(b)This is hinted - in Vayeishev in the Pasuk (in connection with Tamar) "Vay'hi ke'mi'Shelosh Chodashim" (an indication that at three months the pregnancy becomes discernible).

(c)Sumchus uses the term 'hint' - because (if the three month period is based on the fact that a third of the time has passed, then) we only have an absolute proof for a ninth month baby, but not for a seventh month one, whereas Sumchus is speaking about all pregnancies, even those of seven months (see Agados Maharsha & Ya'avatz)

15)

(a)The Beraisa rules that if a pregnant woman gives birth to a 'Ru'ach' or to something else that is not a baby - the Din of Dayah Sha'atah that pertains to a pregnant woman remains intact.

(b)Otherwise we might have said - that the non-birth (so to speak) negates the pregnancy retroactively, and the Din of Me'es Le'es will come into effect.

(c)The Pasuk in Yeshayah "Harinu Chalnu K'mo Yaladnu Ru'ach" is only a hint that giving birth to a Ru'ach is called a birth, and not a clear proof - since it is actually referring to males.

(d)We query Sumchus however from a Beraisa where the Tana rules that if a pregnant woman who, during the eleven days of Zivus, has pains for two days and sights blood on the third, prior to giving birth to a Ru'ach or to something else that is not a baby - she is considered a Yoledes be'Zov.

16)

(a)Now if the birth of a Ru'ach was considered a birth (as Sumchus maintains) - then why does the above Beraisa refer to the Yoledes as a Yoledes be'Zov, when we already learned that, unless she has relief from the pain before giving birth, a woman is not a Yoledes be'Zov under such circumstances.

(b)This Beraisa therefore proves - that the birth of a Ru'ach ... is not considered a birth

(c)Rav Papi therefore explains that in Sumchus' case, we consider the birth to be a birth only with regard to the Din of Me'es Le'es - because the whole Din of Me'es Le'es is only mi'de'Rabbanan.

(d)Whereas according to Rav Papa, we will apply Dayah Sha'atah here, even if Me'es Le'es was d'Oraysa - because it is irrelevant whether it is considered a birth Halachically; the criterion is how her body feels, and the fact is that after the birth (even) of a Ru'ach, her head and body feel heavy, and that is what causes the blood of Nidus to stop flowing (making her a 'Mesulekes Damim' [see Gilyon ha'Shas]).