1)

(a)The Rabbanan give the Shiur for wine and milk as the Shiur of drinking, rather than the Shiur that is needed for the eye-cure for which they are sometimes used - because they also tend to use a woman's milk and water for the eye-cure, leaving the majority of regular (more expensive) milk and wine for drinking.

(b)They gave the Shiur of honey as the amount that is used to cure sore back of an animal, rather than the amount that is usually eaten - because even though honey is used both for eating and for rubbing on the animals' sore backs, Chazal folowed their general trend to give the more stringent Shiur of the cure, rather than the more lenient Shiur of eating.

(c)This leaves us with a problem regarding the Shiur of 'Lashuf Bahem es ha'Kilur' mentioned by the Tana - because, by the same token, one would expect the majority of water to be used for drinking, and not as a cure. So why did they fix its Shiur according to its use as a cure?

(d)Abaye answers 'bi'Gelila Shanu' - meaning that the author of our Mishnah hailed from the Galil, where the people were poor, and would only use water for the eye-cure, not the more expensive wine and milk. Consequently, water was used for cures just as commonly as for drinking, in which case, Chazal determined the Shiur by the stricter of its two uses.

(e)Rava answers that water was more commonly used as an eye-cure, even by people who did not live in the Galil - because other liquids may well be effective as eye-cures, but they also stick to the eye, creating a film and causing a deterioration of one's eyesight. Water on the other hand, which is thinner, does not have this after-effect. Consequently, most people prefer to use water.

2)

(a)The Tana Kama includes blood in the list of liquids whose Shiur is a Revi'is. Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel each give the Shiur as enough to paint the eye ...

1. ... the former for a 'Barkis' - a growth in the eye.

2. ... the latter for a 'Ya'arod' - a streak (or white spots), in the eye.

(b)According to Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar, they would use the blood of a hen, according to Rabban ben Gamliel, that of a bat. The significance of the Si'man 'Gav le'Gav, u'Bera li'Bera' is - that blood of a bat, which is found inside inhabited territory, is good for the Ya'arod, which afflicts the inside of the eye; whilst the blood of the wild hen, which lives outside inhabited territory, is good for the Barkis, which protrudes outside the eye.

(c)According to the Tana Kama, all of the above Shiurim pertain to someone who carried one of the listed commodities into the street without prior designation; whereas according to Rebbi Shimon, they pertain to someone who first designated them and then stored them away (elevating their status). If the same commodities were ...

1. ... first designated and then stored away, then the Tana Kama would not require any Shiur at all.

2. ... carried them out after storing them away without first designating them, then according to Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar - they will require a Revi'is.

(d)When the Tana in the Beraisa says that the Chachamim agree with Rebbi Shimon with regard to carrying sewage-water into the street - he means that even they will agree that if they were not designated before being stored away, they will require the Shiur of a Revi'is.

3)

(a)The problem with the statement in the Beraisa 'Bameh Devarim Amurim, be'Motzi, Aval be'Matzni'a, Kol Dehu' is - that it implies that he is Chayav for putting away even the smallest amount. But surely the Matzni'a too, is not Chayav until he actually carries it out.

(b)We answer that the Beraisa is speaking about 'Talmid she'Amar Lo Rabo, Lech u'Paneh Li ha'Makom li'Se'udah ... '. The Talmid referred to by the Gemara is an apprentice, and what the Beraisa means is - that the specified Shiurim are confined to commodities that were not designated and put away and are therefore dependent upon their intrinsic value. But if someone carries commodities that were designated and put away, he is Chayav for whatever was put away (even if it was less than the Shiur); and what's more, whoever carries them is Chayav (such as an apprentice who clears a spot for his employer to eat there, and in the process, he carries out a small Shiur of something that his employer had put away there).

(c)The author of the Beraisa must then be Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar - because he is the one who holds that one person is Chayav for the designation and putting away of another (see Tosfos DH 'Atu').

4)

(a)Our Mishnah gives the Shiur for carrying out Shofchin as a Revi'is. 'Shofchin' is useful - in the manufacture of clay or cement.

(b)We reconcile this with the fact that the Beraisa gives the Shiur for clay or cement as the amount that one would use to punch a hole for the bellows to fan the fire in a furnace (which is a much smaller Shiur than a Revi'is) - by establishing the Beraisa when the cement has already been mixed. But nobody would take the trouble to mix such a small amount of cement. Therefore the Shi'ur of sewage-water is the amount that one would carry out to use for mixing cement.

5)

(a)The smallest Shiur for carrying out on Shabbos ...

1. ... a cord is - the size that one would use to tie to a box, to use as a handle.

2. ... a reed is - the size that one would attach to a sieve, by which to hang it up.

3. ... unused paper is - a piece large enough to write on it the receipt that the toll-inspector would hand to whoever paid (Kesher Muchsin).

4. ... used paper is - the amount that one can subsequently use as a small bottle-stopper.

(b)One is indeed Chayav for carrying out a toll-chief's receipt.

(c)Two large letters were normally written on it.

(d)The smallest piece of hide for which one would be Chayav is - a piece that is large enough to write on it a Kamei'a.

6)

(a)Klaf is the top layer of spliced hide; the minimum Shiur regarding Shabbos is a piece on which one is able to write the smallest Parshah of the Tefilin (that of the Shema).

(b)One is not Chayav for carrying out a small piece of Klaf large enough to write 'Kesher Muchsin' (the Shiur of paper), because Klaf is too precious to use for that, so one tends to designate it for Tefilin.

(c)The minimum Shiur for ...

1. ... ink - is sufficient to write two letters (of the alphabet) with it.

2. ... eye-paint - is enough to paint one eye.

3. ... glue - is to cover the surface of a bird-trap.

4. ... pitch and sulfur - is small enough to make a cover for a vessel in which mercury is kept, and to punch a small hole in it.

5. ... wax - is to stop up that hole.

6. ... fine bran - is the amount that is needed to use in a furnace for smelting gold, when there is a shortage of coal.

(d)According to the Tana Kama, the Shiur for ground brick is to punch a hole in it for a goldsmith's furnace. Rebbi Yehudah gives the Shiur as sufficient to make the leg of a tripod of a furnace or an oven.

7)

(a)The Shiur of a cord is the amount that one can make from it a handle for a box, and not as a hook, to hang up a sieve - which is a smaller Shi'ur - because a cord is not suitable to use as a hook for a sieve, since the notches in the cord will spoil the wood of the sieve.

(b)The Shiur for ...

1. ... the long and thin foliage of the palm-branches - is enough to make a handle for a wickerwork basket.

2. ... the fiber that grows around the palm-tree - is the amount that one would place on a funnel to strain wine.

3. ... fat - is the amount that one places underneath a small sponge-cake that is baking in the oven.

(c)We reconcile the Beraisa which gives the Shiur of fat as the size of a Sela-coin, with the Beraisa which gives it as a ki'Gerogeres - by pointing out that the two Shi'urim are one and the same.

(d)The Shiur of a wad of cotton-wool (or of a similar soft substance) is - sufficient to make a small ball.

8)

(a)The Tana gave the Shiur of the toll-collector's receipt as two large letters - which does not require a margin, since one tends to hold it in the palm of one's hand.

(b)Rava, who explains that the Beraisa means two ordinary-size letters, will resolve the Beraisa with the Shiur of 'Kesher Muchsin', given by our Mishnah - by explaining the Beraisa, which gives the Shiur of plain paper as two letters, to mean two letters plus the margin - with which to hold it (the equivalent of two letters of a Kesher Muchsin).

(c)The Kashya on Rava from the Beraisa, which writes that 'ha'Motzi Neyar Machuk ... Im Yesh be'Loven Shelo, K'dei Lichtov Shetei Osi'os ... Chayav' is - that the paper in this Beraisa, on which one has already written, does not require a margin in addition to the unwritten space on it, so how can Rava understand 'two letters' to mean two ordinary letters?(This Kashya remains unanswered.)

(d)The Shiur of used paper which has no blank space on it, and which has no further use - is sufficient to roll up and use as a stopper for a small bottle.

9)

(a)According to the Tana Kama, if someone carries out a Kesher Muchsin which he has already shown to the toll-collector, he is Patur.

(b)Rebbi Yehudah maintains that he is still Chayav. According to ...

1. ... Abaye, this is on account of 'Rehitei Muchsin' - toll-inspectors, who search for people who cross the river without paying the toll-tax. So the Kesher Muchsin serves as a receipt, to prove that one has paid; (whereas according to the Tana Kama, most people will not retain their receipts on account of the inspectors, since they can always return to the toll-collector, to verify that they have paid.)

2. ... Rava, it is because of 'Moches Gadol u'Moches Katan' - with reference to the senior toll-collector, who sometimes appoints a junior to stand at his post. The person who is crossing, who may have shown his receipt to the Moches Gadol, still needs to retain his receipt, in case he is then stopped by the Moches Katan (whereas according to the Tana Kama, people will not retain their receipts on account of the Moches Katan either, because the Moches Gadol tends to inform the Moches Katan who has paid, and to give him a Si'man.)

3. ... Rav Ashi, 'Chad Moches Ika Beinaihu' - meaning that, even if we are only talking about one Moches, Rebbi Yehudah still maintains that people need their receipt, to show to a newly-appointed toll-collector that they pay their toll, and can be trusted.

10)

(a)Someone who carries an unpaid document in the street, says the Beraisa, is Chayav. If it is paid, the Tana Kama declares him Patur. Rav Yosef's explanation of the Tana Kama's opinion is based on the Pasuk in Iyov "Al Tashken be'Ohalecha Avlah", from which we learn - that one is not permitted to keep a false document (incorporating one which has already been paid) in the house (even to use as a bottle-stopper).

(b)This explains the Tana Kama's opinion in that, seeing as the creditor is not permitted to keep it, and the debtor will certainly not want to keep it (in case it somehow falls into the hands of the creditor) the only thing to do with such a document, is to destroy it.

(c)Rebbi Yehudah rules that one is Chayav. Presumably - he explains the Pasuk to mean that one may not keep the document intact, but one may roll it up to use as a bottle-stopper. Consequently, the creditor still has a use for it, and will be Chayav if he carries it in the street.

(d)The borrower will not be Chayav according to him, because he has no use for the document, as we explained earlier.

11)

(a)Abaye maintains that both forbid retaining a paid document, and their Machlokes is the same as the existing Machlokes whether, or not, 'Modeh bi'Shetar she'Kasvo Tzarich Lekaymo' - meaning that in a case where the debtor admits to having written the Sh'tar, he does (or doesn't) need to verify it by admitting that he has not yet paid, failing which the creditor will not be able to claim with it (since the debtor will be believed to say that he has already paid).

(b)The Tana Kama holds - 'Tzarich Lekaymo' (he does indeed need to verify it), whereas Rebbi Yehudah holds that he does not. And their dispute takes on the same form as it did according to Rav Yosef.

(c)According to this explanation, 'ad she'Lo Par'o' and 'mi'she'Par'o' - mean 'before the debtor has admitted that he has paid and afterwards respectively.

12)

(a)According to Rava, everyone holds ' ... 'Tzarich Lekaymo', and they are arguing there where the debtor actually paid. And the basis of their Machlokes is whether 'Kosvin Shover' (one writes a receipt) or not. The reason that one might not is - because that would force the debtor to guard his Sh'tar from the mice.

(b)Rebbi Yehudah now holds - that one does not write a receipt, in which case the creditor is Chayav, because he needs the Sh'tar in order to return it to the debtor for him to burn.

(c)Rebbi Meir on the other hand, holds -'Kosvin Shover', in which case the creditor has no use for the Sh'tar, and explains why he is Patur for carrying it.

(d)According to an alternative version of Rava's explanation, the Tana Kama rules Patur because he holds 'Ein Kosvin Shover', and the creditor is Patur because he either returns the Sh'tar to the debtor or burns it. Rebbi Yehudah, who holds 'Kosvin Shover', declares him Chayav - because the fact that the debtor has a receipt permits the creditor to retain the Sh'tar (as a bottle-stopper).

(e)We reject this version however - because (besides the fact that Rebbi Yehudah specifically holds 'Ein Kosvin Shover'), the prohibition on the creditor to retain the Sh'tar applies even to where the debtor has a receipt (since we are afraid that he may lose it).

13)

(a)According to Rav Ashi, the Machlokes concerns the borrower carrying the Sh'tar (not the creditor). The reason that ...

1. ... Rebbi Yehudah declares him Chayav is - because he needs to retain the receipt - as a self-recommendation, to show future potential creditors that he repays his debts.

2. ... the Tana Kama disagrees with Rebbi Yehudah (and the other Amora'im with Rav Ashi, even according to Rebbi Yehudah) is - because they maintain that the debtor is more concerned with destroying the document, to ensure that the creditor does not re-claim the certain debt, than he is about obtaining future doubtful ones.