1)

(a)We learn from ...

1. ... "Kachah Ye'asah la'Shor ha'Echad - that there is no difference between the Nesech of a calf and that of a ox.

2. ... "O la'Ayil" - that there is no difference between the Nesech of a ram in its second year and one in its third year.

3. ... "O la'Seh ba'Kevasim" - that there is no difference between the Nesech of a female lamb and a ewe.

4. ... "O ba'Izim" - that there is no difference between the Nesech of a kid-goat and a fully-grown one.

(b)Otherwise, we would have taken our cue from the distinction that the Torah makes between the Nesech of a lamb and that of a ram, and made the same distinction by all the different species.

(c)We learnt in our Mishnah that, in order to avoid someone using a disc that he had not paid for, or that he had paid for when the animals were cheap, and then use it later in the week when the price went, the day of the week appeared on the disk. They would ensure that he did not use it ...

1. ... the same day of the following week - by also writing the name of the Mishmar on it.

2. ... the following month - by adding which number week of the month it was.

3. ... the following year - by also writing the name of the month (since such a combination is unlikely to occur for many years to come).

2)

(a)

1. ... the 'Lishkas Chasha'im' - was a room where G-d-fearing people would place Tzedakah, from which needy people of good stock would be fed. It was called by that name because (Chasha'i means discreetly and) the neither did the donors know who received it, nor did the recipients t know who gave it (the ideal way of giving Tzedakah).

2. ... the 'Lishkas ha'Kelim' - was a room into which people could throw the vessels that they had donated.

(b)Every thirty days, they would sort out its contents: Any vessel that they found useful, was adopted for usage in the Beis-Hamikdash, whereas vessels for which they had no use were sold, and their proceeds went to Bedek ha'Bayis.

(c)Rebbi Yakov bar Idi and Rebbi Yitzchak bar Nachman used to give a Dinar to Rebbi Chama bar Hoshay'a to give to a poor man - because they were Gaba'im (officers of Tzedakah), and the poor people were embarrassed to receive Tzedakah directly from the Gaba'im.

(d)People used to talk about Rebbi Zecharyah, the son-in-law of Rebbi Levi - because he used to take from Tzedakah-funds even though he did not need the money. After his death, they discovered that he used the money for charitable purposes, and not for himself.

3)

(a)The chief demon quoted the Pasuk in Shoftim "Lo Sasig Gevul Re'acha" - because Rav Chinena bar Papa used to go around at night-time (the time which the chief-demon considered to be the domain of the demons) distributing Tzedakah to the poor. He was accusing him of Masig Gevul (encroaching).

(b)In reply, Rebbi Chanina bar Papa quoted the Pasuk "Matan b'Seiser Yichpeh Af" - meaning that he was busy with the Mitzvah of Tzedakah, and that he was performing it in the best possible manner (since, at night-time, the poor would not see who was giving them the alms, and would be spared embarrassment).

(c)The demon chief became scared and ran away.

(d)The Pasuk in Tehilim writes "Ashrei Maskil el Dal" - to teach us that one does not just give Tzedakah, but that one put a lot of thought into how to give it in a way that will embarrass him the least.

4)

(a)Rebbi Yonah applied the above Pasuk - by approaching a man of refined character who had suffered financial misfortune, and offering to lend him money, on the pretext that he had information that he had just inherited a large sum of money, and that he was welcome to pay it back when he received it.

(b)Some poor elders accepted Tzedakah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur - because they received sufficient Tzedakah in the course of those ten days to sustain them for the whole year.

(c)When Nechemyah Ish Sichin cried out 'Come and eulogize the man whom Nechemyah killed - he was referring to that poor man who asked him for a chicken (which is what he generally ate). Rebbi Nechemyah however, gave him money instead, with which he bought ox-meat, which he ate and died. Nechemyah Ish Sichin blamed himself for his death for not giving him a chicken, as asked.

5)

(a)Nachum Ish Gamzu was taking a gift to his father-in-law. When a Mukeh Shechin (leper) stopped him and asked him for some food, he asked him to wait until his return, when he would bring him some.

(b)In the meantime, the poor man died.

(c)Nachum Ish Gamzu then decreed upon himself that the eyes which saw him (the poor man) and did not give him food should be blinded, the hands which did not stretch out to give him should be cut off, and the legs which did not run to give him should be broken.

(d)When Rebbi Akiva said to him ...

1. ... 'Woe to me that I see you like this!' - he replied 'Woe to me that I do not see you like this'! (Rebbi Akiva was a Ba'al Teshuvah, and Nachum Ish Gamzu was telling him that suffering was the only true atonement for all of his past sins. Otherwise, he would have to suffer in Olam ha'Ba - Presumably, the painful death that he suffered when he died achieved the required atonement).

2. ... 'Why are you cursing me?' - he replied 'Why do you reject the concept of suffering' - (Suffering is not a just a curse. Sometimes it is necessary, as we just explained. Then, it is a blessing.)

6)

(a)Rebbi Hoshaya Raba once excused himself for having omitted to invite his son's blind Rebbe, who was a daily guest at his table - because he had other guests (and he was afraid that he would not have treated him with due respect in their presence).

(b)When Rebbi Hoshaya went to placate him - he replied 'You appeased someone who is visible but who cannot see. May the One who can see but who is invisible accept your appeasement'. He learnt that beautiful saying from the blind man in the following story.

(c)Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov sat below the blind visitor who came to his town for the first time - so that people would consider him to be a very important person, and give him Tzedakah liberally.

(d)Rebbi Eliezer's ruse worked, and people treated the blind man with profound respect. When he expressed surprise, and they told him what Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov had done, he said to his benefactor: 'You performed kindness with someone who is visible but who cannot see. May the One who can see but who is invisible perform kindness with you'.

7)

(a)Rebbi Hoshaya was not impressed when Rebbi Chama b'Rebbi Chanina told him how much money his fathers had invested in a certain Shul-building. It would have been a far greater Mitzvah, he informed him, to have spent the money on the poor men of good stock who had to give up their Torah-studies on account of their poverty.

(b)Taking ...

1. ... an unblemished animal from Kodshei Bedek ha'Bayis to use for the Mizbe'ach, if necessary - is permitted.

2. ... a blemished animal from Kodshei Mizbe'ach, to use for Kodshei Bedek ha'Bayis - is prohibited. It will have to be sold, and the proceeds may then go to Bedek ha'Bayis.

(c)The Mishnah 'Kli she'Matz'u Bo Tzorech, l'Bedek ha'Bayis Menichin Oso' - implies that vessels cannot be taken from Bedek ha'Bayis for the Mizbe'ach (as fire-wood) - which clashes with what we just said.

(d)'Kli she'Matz'u Bo Tzorech, l'Bedek ha'Bayis Menichin Oso' - does not mean that the vessel are used exclusively for Bedek ha'Bayis, replies the Gemara, but that it is placed in the Lishkas Bedek ha'Bayis, from where it is taken to be used for whatever it is needed, either for Bedek ha'Bayis or for the Mizbe'ach.

8)

(a)There were thirteen collecting-boxes and thirteen tables in the Beis Hamikdash, and they used to prostrate themselves in thirteen locations. (Note: The number thirteen often represents the unity of Hash-m - as the numerical value of Echad = thirteen. Consequently, it can be no coincidence that thirteen figures so prominently in the Beis Hamikdash, the house which represents the oneness of Hash-m, and the unity of Klal Yisrael.)

(b)The families of Raban Gamliel and of Rebbi Chanina Sgan ha'Kohanim used to prostrate themselves in one extra location - next to the Lishkas Dir ha'Etzim (the room where the wood was stored).

(c)They prostrated themselves at that spot - because of the tradition that the Aron ha'Kodesh was buried there. It happened once that a Kohen noticed that one of the stone-slabs was raised (Tiklin Chadtin). When he began pointing this out to his friend, he died.

(d)The Kohen was inspecting the wood for the Ma'arachah for worms at the time, because he was a Ba'al Mum, who was disqualified from performing any other task.

9)

(a)Rebbi Eliezer learns from the Pasuk in Melachim "Lo Yivaser Davar, Amar Hash-m" - that nothing will remain in Eretz Yisrael (i.e. it will all go into Galus), even the Luchos which contained the 'Dibros'. And he proves it from the Pasuk in Divrei ha'Yamim "v'li'Teshuvas ha'Shanah, Shalach Nevuchadnetzar Vayevi'eha Bavelah Im Klei Chemdas Beis Hash-m" - because Klei Chemdas (the precious objects) refers to the Aron ha'Kodesh, which is the most precious object that we possess (perhaps the plural form comes to include the lid with the Keruvim, the Keruvim which Shlomo made or the Aron's accessories - e.g. the Torah and the Luchos.

(b)Rebbi Yehudah ben Lakish explains that, whereas, on the one hand, the actual staves could not be seen from outside the Kodesh Kodshim, they nevertheless protruded through the Paroches (like a woman's breasts - a symbol of the love that Hash-m bore Klal Yisrael).

(c)He derives from the same Pasuk that it remained hidden in its place after the Churban - because that Pasuk ends "Vayihyu Sham Ad ha'Yom ha'Zeh.

10)

(a)According to the Beraisa quoted by Rebbi Hoshai'a - the Kohen in the Dir ha'Etzim actually began banging on the floor with a hammer (to straighten it), and fire came out and burned him.

11)

(a)According to Rebbi Yehudah ben Lakish, Yisrael had two Aronos in the desert - one which contained the second Luchos, the other, into which they placed the first (broken) Luchos, and which went out to war with them.

(b)We know that the Aron with the second Luchos did not go out to war with Yisrael - from the Pasuk in Sh'lach-Lecha "v'Aron B'ris Hash-m u'Moshe Lo Mashu mi'Kerev ha'Machaneh".

(c)According to the Rabanan, there was only one Aron - which should not have been taken out to war. Once it was, in the days of Eli ha'Kohen, and it was captured.

12)

(a)The P'lishtim's comment "Oy Lanu, Mi Yatzilenu Miyad ha'Elokim ha'Adirim ha'Eileh?" implies that they had never seen the Aron before - is a proof for the Rabanan (that this was the only time that the Aron was taken to war).

(b)According to the Rabanan, the Aron Elokim which King Shaul asked Achya to bring near, was not the Aron ha'Kodesh, but another Aron which contained the garments of the Kohen Gadol (the Gemara mentions the Tzitz, because it is the most important of them all).

(c)According to the Rabanan, the Pasuk in Shmuel does not mean that Yisrael, Yehudah and the Aron were in the place called Sukos, but that they were all housed in temporary quarters (since Sukos can also mean huts).

(d)Uri'ah refused to go home to Bas-Sheva his wife - because of a combination of two reasons 1. because Yisrael were at war and 2. the Aron was housed in temporary quarters.