[72a - 49 lines; 72b - 51 lines]
1)[line 4]דנזופיםD'NEZUFIM- that he was ostracized from Heaven (a) because of the golden calf (RASHI); (b) because of the spies (RI, cited by Tosfos DH Nezufin)
2)[line 5]נבדורNIVDUR- be scattered
3a)[line 6]יומא דעיבאYOMA D'EIVA- on a cloudy day
b)[line 6]ויומא דשותאV'YOMA D'SHUSA- and on a day with a very strong southern wind
4)[line 7]מסוכרינןMESOCHRINAN- we let blood
5)[line 8]דדשו בה רביםD'DASHU BAH RABIM- that since many are in the habit of doing it (lit. many have treaded upon it); many people circumcise and let blood on these day
6)[line 8]פתאיםPESAYIM- fools
7)[line 12]מאי תלמודאMAI TALMUDA?- what do we learn from this?
8)[line 13]משוךMASHUCH- a man whose skin is drawn over the Atarah so that his circumcision cannot be seen
9)[line 17]קטעי בסיפאKATA'I B'SEIFA- he erred based on the end of the Tosefta, as the Gemara goes on to explain
10)[line 19]בן כוזיבאBEN KOZIVA (BAR KOCHVA)
(a)At the time of the Churban Beis ha'Mikdash (70 CE), Yerushalayim was destroyed and razed to the ground. The Roman Tenth Legion was garrisoned there following its destruction. Emperor Hadrian (who reigned from 117 - 138 CE) founded a new pagan city on the site of Yerushalayim, naming it Aelia Capitolina; Aelia in honor of his own name Publius Aelius Hadrianus, and Capitolina in honor of Jupiter, whose temple in Rome was on the Capitolene hill. At the site of the Beis ha'Mikdash, he erected a new temple to Jupiter. According to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, this was the cause of the revolt of Bar Kochva (132 - 135 CE). However, this could have not been the main cause of the revolt, since no reference to it is made in the Jewish sources. There are references to a number of commandments whose observance was prohibited by the Romans; e.g. Shabbos, circumcision, family purity, and Keri'as Shema. All of these decrees brought on the revolt of Bar Kochva (in about 3883/123 CE), which lasted for nine years.
(b)At first the revolt began by Jews who refused to yield to the decrees. They hid in caves and other secret places. (The Chazan Caves, one of these hideouts, can be visited today.) When discovered and raided by the Romans they would resist with great courage and often with great success. Before long, the attacked became attackers, striking out at the Roman troops. At this time, a leader appeared who was a military genius, Shimon bar Koziva. Rebbi Akiva felt that he was great enough to be Mashi'ach and called him Bar Kochva, "son of the star," an allusion to the verse, "Darach Kochav mi'Yakov" - "A star shall go forth from Yakov" (Bamidbar 24:17). The "star" of the verse is an allusion to the Mashi'ach.
(c)Bar Kochva succeeded in organizing nets of resistance into an army and gradually pushed the Roman troops out of one position after another. Approximately three years after the beginning of the revolt, Bar Kochva and his troops took over the city of Yerushalayim for approximately three years. There is some evidence that the Beis ha'Mikdash was functioning at this time. The Tenth Legion was evacuated and withdrew to Caesarea. At this point a period of independent Jewish sovereignty began in Eretz Yisrael, which the Gemara refers to as the Kingdom of Bar Koziva, which lasted for two and a half years (Sanhedrin 97b). Jews all over the world, and other nations, too, were giving evidence of great hostility to the Romans.
(d)Sixty years earlier, at the time of the Churban, the Romans required three legions for the conquest of Yerushalayim. At the time of Bar Kochva, the Romans brought in six legions, besides the legions that were already there, and further detachments of cavalry and infantry. [It seems that one of the reasons for this greater need of military strength was that the Jews were unified, in contrast to the times of the Churban when the Jews were fragmented into opposing groups and sects. -Editors' note.]
(e)Despite the enormous size of their army, the Romans were unwilling to face Bar Kochva's troops in full battle. They proceeded slowly, attacking isolated localities and interfering with food supplies. When the Twenty-second Legion advanced too deeply and too quickly into Jewish territory, it was totally destroyed. It was never reconstituted, and forever after was omitted from the list of units in the Roman army.
(f)After a siege of approximately twelve months, the Romans recaptured the city of Yerushalayim. Bar Kochva and his troops withdrew to Beitar, a large city to the southwest of Yerushalayim, where the fighting continued for some three and a half years. Eventually, Bar Kochva accepted a slanderous accusation against his uncle, the sage Rebbi Elazar ha'Moda'i, who had been praying all along for the salvation of Beitar, and killed him in a fit of rage. Afterwards, Beitar fell to the Romans, and Bar Kochva was slain. (YERUSHALMI Ta'anis 4:5)
(g)The blood of the men, women and children killed is said to have flowed into the Mediterranean Sea, which was a distance of one Mil away (Gitin 57a; according to Eichah Rabah 2:4 four Mil; alt. 40 Mil). The Gemara (ibid.) records that the Nochrim in the neighboring towns did not need to fertilize their vineyards for seven years due to the quantity of blood that flowed into the ground.
(h)At first, the Roman government did not let the Jews bury the bodies. One emperor is said to have fenced in his vineyard with the dead bodies (Eichah Rabah 2:4). After quite some time, the next emperor let the bodies be buried. It was seen as a sign of favor from HaSh-m that the Romans changed their minds, and that the bodies did not decompose before they were buried. The Chachamim established the Berachah of ha'Tov veha'Metiv to commemorate the miracles.
(i)After the revolt was crushed, no Jews were allowed to live in Yerushalayim for 500 years. The rulers killed any Jew who set foot in the city. The fall of the Beis ha'Mikdash sixty-three years earlier triggered the destruction of Yerushalayim; the fall of Beitar triggered the destruction of Eretz Yisrael. Nevertheless, Jews always remained in Eretz Yisrael. (-From "History of the Jewish People/From Yavneh to Pumbedisa," Artscroll Publishers, Brooklyn, New York, 1986, by Meir Holder)
11)[line 29]אנדרוגינוסANDROGINUS- hermaphrodite, a person with both male and female reproductive organs. There is a Machlokes as to whether an Androginus is a male, female or a new gender.
12)[line 41]מוליד מאכילMOLID MA'ACHIL- only a person who can reproduce can give others the right to eat Terumah
13)[line 48]וקטן שעבר זמנוKATAN SHE'AVAR ZEMANO- a newborn boy whose time [for circumcision, i.e. the eighth day] has passed
72b----------------------------------------72b
14)[line 8]נותרNOSAR
(a)If any meat of a Korban remains after the time that was allotted for it to be eaten, it must be burned, as the Torah states, "b'Yom Zivchachem Ye'achel umi'Macharas, veha'Nosar Ad Yom ha'Shelishi ba'Esh Yisaref" - "It shall be eaten the same day that you slaughter it and on the next day, and anything that remains until the third day shall be burned in fire" (Vayikra 19:6).
(b)One who eats Nosar intentionally is Chayav Kares. One who eats it unintentionally must bring a Korban Chatas (SEFER HA'CHINUCH Mitzvah 215).
15)[line 16]לבן פדתL'BEN PEDAS- to Rebbi Elazar ben Pedas, the Amora who is usually referred to as Rebbi Elazar in the Gemara. He was a disciple of Rebbi Yochanan. (He is not to be confused with Rebbi Elazar of the Mishnah and of the Beraisa, who is Rebbi Elazar Ben Shamu'a, one of the Ten Martyrs.)
16)[line 18]בתורת כהניםB'TORAS KOHANIM- in the Sifra, one of the earliest Midrashic commentaries on Vayikra, which was written by Rav (circa 220 C.E.) and which follows the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah
17)[line 19]נפקNAFAK- he went out of the Yeshiva (in order to study Toras Kohanim)
18)[line 19]וסברהV'SAVRAH- and he understood it in depth
19)[line 20]שהזהSHE'HIZAH (HAZA'AS MEI CHATAS)
If a person (or utensil) became Tamei through touching a Mes, he must wait seven days to become Tahor. On the third and seventh days he must have spring water mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah (Mei Chatas) sprinkled on him. A person who is Tahor dips three Ezov branches (hyssops) that have been bound together into the mixture, and sprinkles them on the person who is Tamei. On the seventh day, he immerses in a Mikvah after the mixture is sprinkled on him in order to complete his Taharah. (Bamidbar 19:17-19)
20)[line 21]אטבול יוםA'TEVUL YOM (TEVUL YOM)
A Tevul Yom is a person or utensil that has been immersed in a Mikvah to become Tahor for Chulin, but is still waiting for nightfall to be completely Tahor with regard to Terumah. The level of Tum'ah of a Tevul Yom is minimal; he or it is considered only a Sheni l'Tum'ah and if he or it touches Terumah or Kodesh, the Terumah or Kodesh becomes Pasul and must be burned. Chulin that he or it touches do not become Teme'im. After the following nightfall, he or it becomes completely Tahor with regard to Terumah.
21)[line 22]בפרהB'PARAH (PARAH ADUMAH)
The Parah Adumah, an exclusively red-haired female cow, is burned on Har ha'Zeisim and its ashes are used for making a person Tahor if he is Tamei Mes. Only a cow that has not had a yoke placed upon it and has had no other work done with it is fit to be used as a Parah Adumah. A place is prepared for its slaughter on Har ha'Zeisim, opposite the gate to the Azarah (the courtyard of the Beis ha'Mikdash). After it is slaughtered, its blood is sprinkled in the direction of the Beis ha'Mikdash seven times. A cedar branch, some Ezov branches, and a piece of crimson wool are thrown into the carcass of the cow while it is burning. (Bamidbar 19:1-22)
22)[line 23]במעשרB'MA'ASER (MA'ASER SHENI)
(a)After a crop is harvested and brought to the owner's house or yard, he must separate Terumah from the crop and give it to a Kohen. Although the Torah does not specify the amount to be given, the Rabanan set the requirement at one fiftieth of the total crop.
(b)After Terumah is removed from the produce, the first tithe to be given every year is called Ma'aser Rishon; one tenth of the produce must be given to a Levi.
(c)A second tithe is given every year after Ma'aser Rishon has been separated. The tithe that is separated in the third and sixth years of the 7-year Shemitah cycle is called Ma'aser Ani and is given to the poor.
(d)The tithe that is separated during the first, second, fourth and fifth years is called Ma'aser Sheni. The Torah requires that Ma'aser Sheni be brought and eaten b' Taharah by its owner in Yerushalayim. A person who is an Onen (a mourner on the day of death of one of his closest relatives - see Background to Yoma 13:5) may not eat Ma'aser Sheni (Devarim 26:14).
(e)Alternatively, Ma'aser Sheni produce may be redeemed, in which case the money used to redeem it is brought to Yerushalayim. If the owner himself redeems the produce, he must add an additional fifth (of the ensuing total, or a quarter of the original value). The food that is bought with this money in Yerushalayim becomes Kodesh like Ma'aser Sheni and must be eaten b'Taharah. Ma'aser Sheni that was redeemed by anyone besides the owner is exempt from the additional fifth.
23a)[line 29]טומטוםTUMTUM- a person whose genitals are hidden so that we do not know if he is a male or a female
b)[line 30]ואנדרוגינוסV'ANDROGINUS- and a hermaphrodite, a person with both male and female reproductive organs. There is a Machlokes as to whether an Androginus is a male, female, or a new gender.
24)[line 38]לא לישתמיט תנא וליתני הערל והטמאLO LISHTAMIT TANA V'LISNI HE'AREL VEHA'TAMEI?- Why did a Tana not refrain (lit. escape) from teaching that the Halachos of Arel and Tamei are the same (besides the Halachah regarding Mei Chatas)?
25)[line 41]הראייהHA'RE'IYAH (RE'IYAH)
Every Jewish male is required to appear before HaSh-m in the Azarah of the Beis ha'Mikdash and to bring a Korban Re'iyah on the three festivals (Devarim 16:16). The Korban Re'iyah is a Korban Olah. If the Korban was not brought on the first day of the festival, it may be brought on any of the other six days of Pesach. On Sukos it may be brought on the first day or the next seven days and on Shavuos it may be brought on Shavuos or on the six days following the festival.
26)[line 42]לקדשL'KADESH (KIDUSH MEI CHATAS)
(a)If a person (or utensil) became Tamei through touching a Mes, he must wait seven days to become Tahor. On the third and seventh days he must have spring water mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah (Mei Chatas) sprinkled on him. A person who is Tahor dips three Ezov branches (hyssops) that have been bound together into the mixture, and sprinkles them on the person who is Tamei. On the seventh day, he immerses in a Mikvah after the mixture is sprinkled on him in order to complete his Taharah. (Bamidbar 19:17-19)
(b)Our Gemara quotes the Mishnah that brings the argument between the Tana'im as to which people may mix the ashes with the spring water.
27)[line 46]באסיפהB'ASIFAH- collecting the ashes of the Parah Adumah
28)[line 49]הוה אמינא שקיל חד ויהיב חדHAVAH AMINA SHAKIL CHAD V'YAHIV CHAD- that is, I would think that the verse requires the same person that the same person to place the ashes on the water, must mix the water thoroughly with the ashes (TOSFOS).
29)[last line]דאפי' שקלי תרי ויהיב חדD'AFILU SHAKLEI TREI V'YAHIV CHAD- that is, even if two place the ashes on the water, a single person may mix the water with the ashes. (This shows that the placing of the ashes and the mixing may be done by different people, since otherwise the Torah would require the second person who placed the ashes to also mix it with the water.)