BACKGROUND ON THE DAF - AVODAH ZARAH 8

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[8a - 51 lines; 8b - 56 lines]

1) [line 2] RAV GUVREI - his actions and wisdom are great
2) [line 3] LO CH'DIVREI ZEH V'LO CH'DIVREI ZEH - it is not like the opinion of this one (Rebbi Yehoshua, who says that a person should first pray to HaSh-m with words of praise and then ask Him for his needs) and it is not like the opinion of this one (Rebbi Eliezer, who says that a person should ask HaSh-m for his needs and then pray to Him with words of praise)
3) [line 13] SETARANURA - the holiday of "Saturnalium," a Roman holiday, fixed at the end of the year, that gives honor to Saturn, the Roman mythical god that presides over all endings and rests. When the Chachamim changed the name because of "Lo Yishama Al Picha," they made a Notrikon (cocophemistic etymology) of "Setar Nura," meaning "the sun (Nura, or flaming light) is at the side (furthest distance, which occurs at the end of the solar year in the northern hemisphere)." (TIFERES YISRAEL, cited by YOSEF DA'AS)
4) [line 14] YOM GINUSYA SHEL MALCHEIHEM - the day that their king was inaugurated

5) [line 15] KOL MISAH SHE'YESH BAH SEREIFAH - any [king's] death that leads to burning [that king's possessions] (SORFIN AL HA'MELACHIM)
The practice of ancient kings was to have their beds and personal belongings burned when they died so that no other person would benefit from them. The ritual included offering sacrifices to the idols on that day.

6) [line 16] YOM TIGLACHAS ZEKANO U'VELURISO - the day that individual idol worshippers would shave off their beards and the hair of the Beloris. The Beloris is the long hair grown at the back of the head by idol-worshipping youths of the upper classes in honor of their gods. That hair was offered to their gods once a year.
7) [line 21] SARACHTI - I sinned
8) [line 21] OLAM CHASHUCH BA'ADI - the world is darkened (i.e. will be destroyed) because of me
9) [line 23] TEKUFAS TEVES - the winter solstice (the day with the shortest daytime and longest nighttime), the first day of the winter season, which lasts for three solar months and ends on the day before the vernal equinox

10) [line 26] B'TISHREI NIVRA HA'OLAM / B'NISAN NIVRA HA'OLAM
Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua argue as to whether the world was created on Rosh Chodesh Tishrei or Rosh Chodesh Nisan (Rosh Hashanah 10b-11a).

11a) [line 26] YOMEI ZUTEI - days with short daytime
b) [line 26] YOMEI ARICHEI - days with long daytime
12) [line 31] KEIVAN SHE'ALAH AMUD HA'SHACHAR - when dawn broke
13) [line 32] SHOR SHE'KARNOSAV KODMIN L'FARSOSAV - a bull, the horns of which preceded its hoofs. HaSh-m created from the dirt the bull, along with the other land creatures, on the sixth day. Since it emerged head-first, standing and in its adult form (see RASHI to Bereishis 1:25), its horns were created before its hoofs.
14) [line 32] "V'SITAV LA'SH-M MI'SHOR PAR MAKRIN MAFRIS." - "And it shall be pleasing to HaSh-m more than a full-grown bull that has horns and hoofs." (Tehilim 69:32) - RASHI to Tehilim explains that the one-day-old ox that Adam offered as a sacrifice had the characteristics of a Par (usually a two- or three-year-old bull, which may be sacrificed). Ordinarily, an animal is not fit for sacrificing until it is at least eight days old.
15) [line 40] SATRANALYA - see above, entry #3
16) [line 50] ZIVCHEI MESIM - "sacrifices of the dead," a term used for sacrifices to Avodah Zarah (Tehilim 106:28)
17) [line 50] "... V'KARA LECHA V'ACHALTA MI'ZIVCHO." - "[Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they stray after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods,] and [one of them] calls you, and you eat of his sacrifice." (Shemos 34:15)
18) [line 50] AD D'ACHIL - until he actually eats [from the forbidden sacrifice]
19) [last line] MI'SHE'AS KERI'AH - (lit. from the time that he is called) from the time that he participates in the event, even if he eats his own food

8b----------------------------------------8b

20) [line 1] KOL TELASIN YOMIN - for all of the thirty days [after the wedding]
21) [line 1] HILULA - a wedding
22) [line 5] AD TREISAR YARCHEI SHATA - until twelve months of the year [have passed]
23) [line 7] MI'KI RAMU SA'AREI B'ASINTI - (a) from the time that the barley is thrown into a vat of water (to ferment into beer for the wedding) (RASHI, 1st explanation); (b) from the time that the barley is planted into a flowerpot that will be shown, once the grains start growing, to the wedding couple, as a good sign that they should be fruitful and multiply and grow like those barley grains (RASHI, 2nd explanation); (c) from the time that the barley is placed into a mortar to grind them into barley meal, one of the ingredients of a dish to be served at the wedding (ARUCH)
24) [line 9] IKLA - he visited
25) [line 10] SHAM'EI D'ODI U'FIRESH - he heard that they were thanking [their Avodah Zarah upon his arrival], and he separated [from them]
26a) [line 17] B'YMEI KELIPATRA MALKESA - in the times of Queen Cleopatra. Octavian, who became emperor and called himself Augustus, defeated his rival Mark Antony, who had married and joined forces with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, in 32 BCE.
    b) [line 18] B'YMEI YEVANIM - in the times of the Syrian Greeks. Antiochus III, heir to the throne of the Syrian Greeks, was defeated by the Romans in 190 BCE and was obliged to surrender his possessions in Europe and Asia Minor. Western Greece, however, continued to give trouble until it fell to the Romans in the Third (and final) Macedonian War in 168 BCE. Macedonia was made a Roman province in 146 BCE, and in that year a revolt in Greece resulted in the capture and destruction of the Greek city of Corinth (based on Encyclopedia Encarta). (The date cited by Chazal, ten years after this latter date, apparently marks the year in which the last Greek strongholds accepted Roman rule.)
27) [line 21] HACHI ASNU BAHADAIHU - this is what they (the Roman forces and the Jewish, Chashmona'im forces, stipulated with each other)
28) [line 21] IY MINAN MALCHEI, MINAICHU HIPARCHEI - if the kings will be appointed from us, the governors will be appointed from you
29a) [line 25] MARGALIS - pearl
    b) [line 25] EVEN TOVAH - a precious stone, diamond
30) [line 27] INACH / ANACH - (O.F. charboncle) carbuncle or ruby
31) [line 31] KAFU LEHU - they (the Romans) subjugated them (the Yevanim)
32) [line 31] 26 SHENIN KAMU LEHU B'HEIMNUSAIHU BAHADEI YISRAEL - for 26 years, they (the Romans) upheld their pledge with the Jewish people
33a) [line 34] "[VA'YOMER] 'NIS'AH V'NELECHAH V'ELCHAH L'NEGDECHA.'" - "And he said, 'Let us travel and we will go, and I will go together with you.'" (Bereishis 33:12) - Esav, who made this statement to Yakov, was the forebear of the Roman nation, and thus the Roman nation interpreted his words as a sign for how they were to conduct themselves.
    b) [line 35] "YA'AVOR NA ADONI LIFNEI AVDO" - "My master shall pass ahead of his servant" (Bereishis 33:14)
34) [line 41] PASHTAH MALCHUS HA'RESHA'AH AL YISRAEL - the wicked kingdom (of Rome) dominated the Jewish nation

35) [line 43] GAZRU TUM'AH AL ERETZ HA'AMIM V'AL KELEI ZECHUCHIS - the Rabanan decreed a status of Tum'ah for the land of the nations (land outside of Eretz Yisrael) and for vessels made of glass
(a) TUM'AS ERETZ HA'AMIM - The Rabanan decreed that the lands outside of Eretz Yisrael are to be considered Tamei because the Nochrim bury their dead fetuses in their houses. There is an argument as to whether they decreed that only the land should be Tamei or also the airspace above it. The Halachic ramification between these two opinions is whether or not a Nazir would be permitted to enter Chutz la'Aretz by being carried in a Shidah (a sedan chair or chest) that is lifted off the ground.
(b) TUM'AS KELEI ZECHUCHIS - Although the Torah states that only metal and earthenware vessels can become Tamei, the Rabanan decreed that vessels made of glass can also become Tamei, because they resemble earthenware vessels in that glass is manufactured from the earth. (For a discussion of the principles of Tum'ah and Taharah, see Background to Nazir 54:13.)

36) [line 45] GALSAH SANHEDRIN V'YASHVAH LAH B'CHANUS - the Sanhedrin (the Beis Din ha'Gadol of seventy-one judges, the Jewish "Supreme Court") was exiled (from their seat in the Lishkas ha'Gazis in the Azarah of the Beis ha'Mikdash) to Chanus (or Chanuyos), a place on Har ha'Bayis

37) [line 46] DINEI KENASOS
The laws of Kenasos (fines) are one category of Dinei Mamonos, laws of monetary matters. Kenasos, which were only imposed by judges of Eretz Yisrael who were Semuchin (ordained), are either a fixed sum of money or an amount more than or less than the damage caused. It is not normal compensation, which is termed "Mamon."

38) [line 47] BERAM - in truth

39) [line 48] KOL HA'SOMECH YEHAREG - whoever grants Semichah (the rights of Rabbinical authority) will be killed
The Romans, in the years following the destruction of the second Beis ha'Mikdash, realized that as long as the Jews continued to study and practice the Torah, they would remain indestructible. They therefore began a systematic campaign to eliminate the observance of the Torah. They prohibited circumcision, the observance of Shabbos, the laws of family purity, and the reciting of Keri'as Shema. They also forbade the wearing of Tefilin, reading the Megilah, eating Matzah, holding the Lulav, the public reading of the Torah in the synagogues, building a Sukah, wearing Tzitzis, and the freeing of slaves in accordance with Halachah (Avodah Zarah 17b). Above all, the teaching of Torah was forbidden and punishable with death. The most severe crime was the granting of Semichah, for which all the residents of the city where the Semichah was given would be killed. (See "History of the Jewish People / From Yavneh to Pumbedisa," Artscroll Publishers, Brooklyn, New York, 1986, by Meir Holder, pp. 67-71.)

40) [line 49] TECHUM - the border of the city, a radius of 2000 Amos, approximately 960 meters (3147 feet) or 1,152 meters (3774 feet), depending upon the differing Halachic opinions, from the city walls
41) [line 49] YE'AKER - it will be uprooted

42) [line 50] TECHUMEI SHABBOS
A person is only allowed to walk a distance of 2000 Amos, approximately 960 meters (3147 feet) or 1,152 meters (3774 feet), depending upon the differing Halachic opinions, from his city or dwelling place (if he is not in a city) on Shabbos or Yom Tov. (If he wants to walk another 2000 Amos, he must make an Eruv Techumin; see Background to Eruvin 17:18.)

43a) [line 50] USHA - Usha, a city in the western part of the lower Galilee. It was one of the ten places to which the Sanhedrin was exiled at the time of the destruction of the second Beis ha'Mikdash.
b) [line 50] SHEFAR'AM - Shefar'am, a city in the western part of the lower Galilee. It was one of the ten places (after Usha) to which the Sanhedrin was exiled at the time of the destruction of the second Beis ha'Mikdash.
44) [line 52] HAREINI MUTAL LIFNEIHEM K'EVEN SHE'EIN LAH HOFCHIN - I hereby am placed before you like a stone that has no one to turn it over. (See MAHARSHA, who explains that just as a stone cannot flee, Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava did not try to flee, and just as a stone does not feel pain, so, too, Rebbi Yehudah ben Bava felt no pain. The TASHBATZ KATAN (#415) explains that one who is killed Al Kidush HaSh-m experiences no pain.)
45) [line 53] NA'ATZU - they pierced
46) [line 53] LULANI'OS SHEL BARZEL - spears of iron
47) [line 54] KEVARAH - a sieve for sifting grain
48) [line 54] DINEI NEFASHOS - capital cases (see Background to Sanhedrin 2:1a:b)
49) [last line] MELAMED SHEHA'MAKOM GOREM - to teach that the place [of the Sanhedri Gedolah in the Lishkas ha'Gazis] causes [the accused to be convicted in a capital offense; if the Sanhedrin is not located in that place, then the accused cannot be tried]