:ט”ז Three boxes

ר"ח (בן גמליאל) אמר שלש תיבות עשאו שתים של זהב ואחת של עץ נתן של זהב בשל עץ ושל עץ בשל זהב

See this old shtikle of mine on פרשת תרומה regarding רש”י’s version of this גמרא.

.ב Plural of מקוה

Well, what is it? The 6^th מסכתא in טהרות is commonly known as מקואות. I would have to say that that is certainly the most common pronunciation. However, the text in our opening משנה seems to imply that perhaps it is מקוות. Is it possible that it depends on סמיכות? That is, the regular plural is מקואות but next to מים, it becomes מקוות מים.

.י"ט Past and Present

מתקיף לה רב כהנא השתא דאמרת הפושעים דפשעי ואזלי אלא מעתה דכתיב המוציא והמעלה דמסיק ודמפיק הוא אלא דאסיק ואפיק הכי נמי דפשעי הוא

See this shtikle relating to the understanding of the word המעלה (which appears in this week's פרשה.)

:י"ד Pair of Lechis

לחיין שאמרו כו' לימא תנן סתמא כר"א דאמר לחיין בעינן לא מאי לחיין לחיין דעלמא אי הכי קורה נמי ניתני קורות ומאי קורות קורות דעלמא הכי קאמר אותן לחיין שנחלקו בהן ר' אליעזר וחכמים גובהן עשרה טפחים ורוחבן ועוביין כל שהוא

There is a grammatical significance to this discussion. In the end, the גמרא concludes that we are in fact referring to ר' אליעזר's position and the subsequent dispute regarding it. The first word of the משנה is therefore written/pronounced לְחָיַיִן, the exact translation of which would be a pair of lechis, following a similar structure to עינים or אזנים. If the משנה were to have been interpreted as the גמרא first suggested - referring generally to multiple lechis as they pertain to multiple alleyways, the word would be a simple plural and would probably be punctuated differently, although I'm not quite sure exactly how.

[תש"ף] How fitting that this סוגיא comes immediately after פרשת שופטים. Not only is the grammatical structure of a pair evident in שופטים, as per this Dikdukian piece but the actual word לחיים is also mentioned.

:ח A Pythagorean Question

אמר רב כהנא הואיל ושמעתתא דכהני היא אימא בה מילתא הא דאמרת מניח הקורה באלכסון לא אמרן אלא שאין באלכסונו יותר מעשר אבל יש באלכסונו יותר מעשר דברי הכל אינו מניח אלא כנגד הקצר

רש"י ד"ה שאין באלכסונו יותר מעשר. שהמבוי קצר לרחבו הרבה ואין ברוחבו ובארבע אמות הנמשכין להצטרף יותר מעשר

This line in the גמרא seemed fairly simple to me. However, I found the way רש"י explained it to be somewhat troublesome. If I'm understanding correctly, he is suggesting that the מבוי would need to be extremely narrow in order for the אלכסון to be less than 10 אמות. But the simple Pythagorean calculation suggests otherwise. By the Pythagorean Theorem, as illustrated below, a 10 אמה diagonal is achieved only with an approximately 9.2 אמה width, given the extra 4 אמות of wall. A מבוי anyways has to be less than 10 אמות wide. So what exactly does Rashi mean?

.ב No other משכן?

בשלמא מקדש דאיקרי משכן דכתיב ונתתי משכני בתוככם

וכשנאמר מקרא זה כבר הוקם המשכן שהרי בתורת כהנים נכתב וכל אותו הספר באהל מועד נאמר כדכתיב (ויקרא א) וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד ועל איזה משכן היה מבטיחן עוד אם לא על המקדש

I found this assertion in רש"י somewhat troubling. Indeed, the משכן had already been built. But this was not the only משכן. On a number of occasions, the משכן was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt. Could it not be that the פסוק is saying that if we do 'ה's will, he will rebuild the משכן after it has been destroyed?

:קמז Diumsis

רבי אלעזר בן ערך איקלע להתם אימשיך בתרייהו איעקר תלמודיה כי הדר אתא קם למיקרי בספרא בעא למיקרא החדש הזה לכם אמר החרש היה לבם בעו רבנן רחמי עליה והדר תלמודיה

I heard the following from my Zadie, R’ Chayim Yaakov Bulka, ז"ל:

In parshas Bo, (12:2) B'nei Yisrael are given their first mitzvah as a nation, the mitzvah of Kiddush HaChodesh. This mitzvah deals, in general, with the setting of our calendar. It vests in the Sanhedrin and those empowered by the Sanhedrin, the authority to intercalate months or years (i.e. determine the length of the month or the occurrence of a leap year). The complex calculations and procedures pertaining to intercalation are called "Sod haIbur." As the word "sod," secret, implies, this is part of the deeper realms of Torah.

The above gemara relates a story about the dangerously mystical powers of the wines of Prugaisa and waters of Diumsis. The great Rabbi Elazar ben Arach visited these wonders and was overcome and forgot his learning. When he returned, he got up to read the aforementioned pasuk. Instead of reading "HaChodesh hazeh lachem," this month shall be for you, he switched the dalet for a reish, the zayin for a yud, the chuf for a beis and misread, "hacheireish hayah libam," and their hearts were deafened and muted. The Rabbis prayed for him and he returned to his normal self. Nevertheless, it is quite shocking for such a notable sage to be overcome to such an extent. Is it possible that R' Elazar was so deeply influenced that he forgot how to read an elementary pasuk?

This mysterious performance of R' Elazar may, perhaps, be explained by referring to a beautiful explanation by the Gaon of Vilna. The pasuk (Yeshayah 6:10) says "Make the heart of the people fat, make their ears heavy and smear over their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return..." The pasuk, referring to the sealing off of the path of repentance, starts off with the heart, then the ears and then the eyes but continues backwards from the eyes, then the ears then the heart.

The GR"A explains that eyes, ears and heart correspond respectively to Torah ShebiChsav, the Written Tradition, Torah SheBa'al Peh, the Oral Tradition, and Sodos HaTorah, the deep secrets of the Torah . The study of Torah ShebiChsav and Torah SheBa'al Peh, will ultimately lead to understanding of Sodos HaTorah. The neglect of Torah study will first deprive an understanding of Sodos HaTorah, to be followed by forgeting of Torah SheBa’al Peh and finally, even Torah ShebiChsav will no longer be comprehensible. However, if diligent and continuous study is resumed again, first the eyes will begin the study of the Written Tradition, followed by careful and concentrated attention with the ears to the Oral Tradition and, eventually, by persistent study, the heart will regain the ability to penetrate and comprehend the deep secrets of Torah.

We can assume that R’ Elazar ben Arach, the "ma'ayan hamisgabeir," (Avos 2:8) did not forget the Written and Oral traditions. However, by reading "Their hearts were deafened," he made a personal statement, a cry for help. This pasuk, "HaChodesh hazeh lachem," which commands us to put into practice the Sodos HaTorah, was now beyond his reach. By allowing himself to be drawn to the wines of Prugaisa and waters of Diumsis, his heart became deafened and no longer had the capacity to comprehend Sodos HaTorah, including Sod HaIbur. The rabbis answered his outcry and prayed for him and his mastery of Sodos HaTorah was returned to him.