The reference numbers below that appear in parentheses (e.g., TY #43) represent vessels or parts of the structure of the Beis ha'Mikdash. The labeling follows that of the diagram of the Tiferes Yisrael. This diagram, which has been included in a separate mailing and can also be found on our site (at http://www.dafyomi.co.il/midos/mids-charts.htm), is printed both in the Tiferes Yisrael Mishnayos (Midos Chapter 2 or following Midos) and in Rav P. Kahati's Mishnayos (page 290, at the beginning of Midos).
[104a - 58 lines; 104b - 60 lines]
1)[line 3]בלשכת הגזיתB'LISHKAS HA'GAZIS- in the the Chamber of Hewn Stone (TY #27), the seat of the Jewish Supreme Court, known as the Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges. The Lishkas ha'Gazis was partially built in the Azarah of the Beis ha'Mikdash. The Great Sanhedrin was the highest Halachic authority before which the most difficult cases were brought (Devarim 17:8).
2)[line 6]"ובני קיני חותן משה וגו'""U'VENEI KEINI CHOSEN MOSHE ALU ME'IR HA'TEMARIM ES BENEI YEHUDAH, MIDBAR YEHUDAH ASHER B'NEGEV ARAD, VA'YELECH VA'YESHEV ES HA'AM" - "The sons of Keini, Moshe's father-in-law, went up from the City of Dates (Yericho) with the children of Yehudah, to the Desert of Yehudah which was in the south of Arad, and they went and settled with the people [who were there]" (Shoftim 1:16) (THE DESCENDANTS OF YISRO)
(a)Since Yisro's descendents did not receive their own portion of land in Eretz Yisrael, they were given Doshnah of Yericho, for 440 years, until the Beis ha'Mikdash was built. When the Beis ha'Mikdash was built, Doshnah of Yericho was given to anyone who had to relinquish his land so that the Beis ha'Mikdash could be built on it. All of Yisrael had a share in the Beis ha'Mikdash.
(b)When the Beis ha'Mikdash was built, the descendants of Yisro, who were Torah scholars, went to live with the leading judge of the generation and outstanding Talmid Chacham, Osni'el ben Kenaz (also called "Ya'avetz"), to learn Torah from him.
(c)Osni'el had prayed that HaSh-m send him worthy disciples. HaSh-m responded by sending him these pious people.
3)[line 10]נביאי הבעלNEVI'EI HA'BA'AL- the false prophets of the idol Ba'al
4)[line 10]מחבירו של עדו הנביאME'CHAVEIRO SHEL IDO HA'NAVI - [this is learned] from the friend of Ido ha'Navi (IDO HA'NAVI AND THE FALSE PROPHET)
(a)Hash-m sent Ido from Yehudah to Beis El, where he arrived just as King Yerav'am was about to sacrifice on the altar that he had built there. Addressing the Mizbe'ach, Ido promptly began to prophesy that many years later, a king by the name of Yoshiyahu would slaughter the priests of the altar as they sacrificed on it, and that he would burn on it the bones of a man (i.e., Yerav'am, whose name he did not publicize out of respect for the king). As a sign that what he was saying indeed was the word of HaSh-m, the altar would shortly split in two and all the ashes that were on it would spill.
(b)Meanwhile, the king directed his men to seize Ido, but when he pointed at Ido his arm suddenly became paralyzed, and he was unable to withdraw it. At that moment, the altar split and all the ashes that were on it spilled, just as the prophet had predicted.
(c)Yerav'am pleaded with the prophet to pray on his behalf for HaSh-m to restore the power of movement to his arm. Ido complied, but he declined the king's invitation to eat with him because, he explained, HaSh-m had forbidden him to eat or drink in that place, and He had commanded him to return to Yehudah via a different route than he had come.
(d)As he was leaving to return to Yehudah, an old, false prophet who lived in Beis El, and who had heard from his sons what Ido had done, sent them to discover the route he had taken. He then had them saddle his donkey and he chased after Ido to invite him to join him for a meal. After he caught up with the Navi, he sat to rest under an oak-tree, and he duly issued his invitation to Ido, which the latter declined for the same reason he had declined Yerav'am's offer. The old man insisted, however, that he also was a Navi, and that he had been instructed by an angel to bring Ido home with him and to give him food and drink (a lie). Ido accepted the word of the false prophet and returned with him to eat and drink (a blatant contravention of his own prophecy).
(e)As they were sitting at the table, HaSh-m appeared to the old man with orders to inform Ido that because he had transgressed the word of HaSh-m and disregarded His command, his corpse would not be buried in the family burial plot. Indeed, shortly after he departed from the old man, a lion attacked and killed him. The lion neither touched the donkey on which he rode, nor did it devour Ido. The corpse of Ido remained on the ground, flanked by his donkey, standing to one side, and by the lion on the other side, a spectacle which amazed passers-by, who discussed it in town. Eventually, their talk reached the ears of the old man, who explained what had happened and why. Once again, he asked his sons to saddle his donkey, and when he arrived at the remarkable scene, he lifted the deceased Navi onto the donkey and rode him back to the town, to eulogize him and to bury him.
(f)After he buried Ido, he instructed his sons that when he died, they were to bury him next to the Navi of HaSh-m (in the same grave), so that when the latter's prophecy would materialize, the Navi's bones would save his bones from being burned (a fate which the bones of all the other idolaters were destined to suffer). They followed his command, and, as he had predicted, his bones indeed were spared due to the merit of Ido, whose grave he shared.
(g)Unfortunately, this episode made no lasting impact on Yerav'am, who continued in his evil ways, causing his entire family eventually to be wiped out.
5)[line 14]הלווהוHILVEHU- escorted him
6)[line 16]נטרדNITRAD- confounded, troubled
7)[line 24]דכבשינהו לאפיה וחלףD'CHAVSHINHU L'APEI V'CHALAF- he (Achaz) hid his face and turned away (i.e., he was embarrassed before Yeshayah because of his transgressions)
8)[line 25]אוכלא דקצרי סחף ארישיה וחלףUCHLA D'KATZREI SACHAF ARESHEI V'CHALAF- he (Achaz) inverted a washer's vessel over his head and turned away. An "Uchla d'Katzrei" is a copper utensil shaped like a sieve that is used by clothes-washers to sprinkle water onto garments (RASHI); (b) according to the Girsa UVLA D'KATZREI, it is the large rock used by clothes-washers against which they beat clothes (that are immersed in water) to clean them (ARUCH, RABEINU CHANANEL)
9)[line 28]ברא מזכי אבאBERA MEZAKEI ABA- a [righteous] son can earn merit for his [wicked] father
10)[line 31]השתא דאתית להכיHASHTA D'ASIS L'HACHI- now that you have come to this [conclusion]
11)[line 36]אשכח ההוא גולגלתא דהוה קא שדיא בשערי ירושליםASHKACH HA'HU GULGALTA D'HAVAH KA SHADYA B'SHA'AREI YERUSHALAYIM- he found a certain skull that was thrown among the gates of Yerushalayim
12)[line 38]קברה ולא איקבראKIVRAH V'LO IKBERA- he buried it but it would not stay buried
13)[line 39]"קבורת חמור יקבר, סחוב והשלך [מהלאה לשערי ירושלים]""KEVURAS CHAMOR YIKAVER, SACHOV V'HASHLECH [ME'HAL'AH L'SHA'AREI YERUSHALAYIM]"- "He will be buried with the burial of a donkey; he will be pulled and cast forth [beyond the gates of Yerushalayim]" (Yirmeyahu 22:19).
14)[line 41]כרכה בשיראי ואותבה בסיפתאKARCHAH B'SHIRA'EI V'OSVAH B'SIFTA- he wrapped it (the skull) in silk garments and placed it in a chest
15)[line 43]דאיתתא קמייתאD'ITESA KAMAISA- [it was the skull] of his first wife
16)[line 44]לא קא מינשי להLO KA MENASHI LAH- he has not forgotten her
17)[line 44]שגרא תנורא וקלתהSHAGRA TANURA V'KALSAH- she put it in the oven and burned it
18)[line 45]"והטוב בעיניך עשיתי""[ANA HASH-M, ZECHAR NA ES ASHER HIS'HALACHTI LEFANECHA B'EMES UV'LEVAV SHALEM,] VEHA'TOV B'EINECHA ASISI..."- "[Please, HaSh-m, remember now how I walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart,] and how I did what is good in Your eyes...." (Melachim II 20:3) - Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar teaches that Chizkiyahu's mistake of attributing credit to himself (when he asked HaSh-m to heal him in his own merit) led to another mistake: he showed a lack of faith in what the Navi told him, as expressed in the following verse (see next entry).
19)[line 46]"מה אות""[VA'YOMER CHIZKIYAHU EL YESHAYAHU,] 'MAH OS [KI YIRPA HASH-M LI V'ALISI BA'YOM HA'SHELISHI BEIS HASH-M?']"- "[And Chizkiyahu said to Yeshayahu,] 'What is the sign [that HaSh-m will heal me and that on the third day I will go up to House of HaSh-m?]" (Melachim II 20:8) - As Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar explains, Chizkiyahu's second mistake was that he asked for a sign from the Navi, showing a lack of faith in what the Navi had told him. This mistake led to a third mistake - he showed excess hospitality to Nochrim, which ultimately caused his sons to be exiled.
20)[line 48]"(ובניך) [ומבניך] אשר יצאו ממך וגו'""(U'VANECHA) [UMI'BANECHA] ASHER YETZ'U MIMECHA ASHER TOLID, YIKACHU, V'HAYU SARISIM B'HEICHAL MELECH BAVEL"- "And from your children who will descend from you, whom you will bear, they will take, and they will be servants in the palace of the king of Bavel" (Melachim II 20:18) - See next entry.
21)[line 49]"(וישמח) [וישמע] עליהם חזקיה ויראם וגו'""(VA'YISMACH) [VA'YISHMA] ALEIHEM CHIZKIYAHU, VA'YAR'EM ES KOL BEIS NECHOSOH, ES HA'KESEF V'ES HA'ZAHAV, V'ES KOL HA'BESAMIM, V'EIS SHEMEN HA'TOV, [V'ES KOL BEIS KELAV V'ES KOL ASHER NIMTZA B'OTZROSAV, LO HAYAH DAVAR ASHER LO HER'AM CHIZKIYAHU B'VEISO UV'CHOL MEMSHALTO]" - "And Chizkiyahu listened to them, and he showed then his entire treasury, the silver and the gold, all the spices and the valuable oil, [his full vessel-warehouse and all that he had in his treasuries; there was nothing that Chizkiyahu did not show them in his palace and in all his realm]" (Melachim II 20:13) (CHIZKIYAHU'S TRAGIC FLAW)
(a)Following Chizkiyahu's fervent prayer, HaSh-m instructed Yeshayah ha'Navi to inform the king that HaSh m had accepted his prayers and, above all, his tears, and that he would live another fifteen years, and that he would save Yerushalayim from falling into the hands of Sancheriv. As a sign that this prophecy was about to materialize, the sun would go backwards ten degrees (to make up for the ten degrees that it moved forward on the day that Chizkiyahu's father, the wicked King Achaz, died, in order to hasten his burial so as to minimize the eulogies). Each degree was equivalent to one hour.
(b)Berodach Baladan ben Baladan, impressed by the miracle of the sun moving back ten degrees as a sign of that recovery, sent emissaries with letters of peace and gifts to Chizkiyahu. The latter, flattered by the visit, gave his guests a guided tour of all his treasuries, both in Yerushalayim and throughout the country.
(c)When, in response to Yeshayah ha'Navi's query as to who his guests were, he replied haughtily that they had come all the way from Bavel and that there was nothing that he had not shown them, the Navi responded that the time would come when they would capture everything that was in his house and that his ancestors had stored away, and take it all away to Bavel. They would leave nothing behind. Moreover, the Navi informed him, the king of Bavel was destined to take some of his descendents as servants in his palace.
22)[line 51]בית גנזיוBEIS GENAZAV- his treasure room, or spice treasury (RASHI)
23)[line 51]זין אוכל זיןZAYIN OCHEL ZAYIN- weapons that destroy other weapons (i.e., weapons made of the strongest metals, such as iron, that can shatter other metals) (RASHI)
24)[line 52]כריתותKERISUS- crimes punishable with Kares. They transgressed all 36 sins mentioned in the Torah that are punishable with Kares (see Kerisus 2a).
25)[line 59]שנשבוSHE'NISHBU- that were taken captive
26)[line 2]סומאSUMA- a blind person
27)[line 2]נודותNODOS- leather bottles
28)[line 5]שבאיSHABA'I- the captor
29)[line 5]עם קשה עורףAM KESHEI OREF- a stiff-necked people
30)[line 9]מטפטףMETAFTEF- drips
31)[line 10]וצףV'TZAF- and it floats
32)[line 11]נפנהNIFNEH- defecates
33)[line 17]ופטרןU'FETARAN- and he released them
34)[line 29]ומזלותU'MAZALOS- and the constellations
35)[line 33]שנשרו ריסי עיניוSHE'NASHRU RISEI EINAV- that his eyelashes fell out
36)[line 38]המיצרHA'METZER- who afflicts, persecutes
37)[line 41]המציקHA'METZIK- who oppresses
38)[line 42]לקובלנאL'KUBLANA- (a) when one tells his friend of his afflictions, he must say that it should not come upon the listener; (b) when one suffers from a problem, he should tell it to others ("Kublana" means "cry out"); (c) when a person tells his friend of his afflictions, he should say, "Not towards you do I say these things" ("Kublana" means "facing" or "corresponding to") (RASHI).
39)[line 45]משוא פניםMASO PANIM- favoritism
40)[line 53]דמות דיוקנו של אביוDEMUS DEYUKNO SHEL AVIV- the image of his father
41)[line 54]ולחכה אשV'LACHECHAH ESH- and the flames licked
42)[line 58]דורשי רשומותDORSHEI RESHUMOS- those who expound verses