(109a:1)קליות ואגוזין בערב פסח כדי שלא ישנו וישאלו אמרו עליו על רבי עקיבא שהיה מחלק קליות ואגוזין לתינוקות בערב פסח כדי שלא ישנו וישאלו תניא רבי אליעזר אומר חוטפין מצות בלילי פסחים בשביל תינוקות שלא ישנו
(109a:1)roasted grains and nuts on Passover eve, so that they will not sleep and also so they will ask the four questions at night. They said about Rabbi Akiva that he would distribute roasted grains and nuts to children on Passover eve, so that they would not sleep and so they would ask. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: One grabs the matzot on the nights of Passover. One should eat them very quickly on account of the children, so that, due to the hasty consumption of the meal, they will not sleep and they will inquire into the meaning of this unusual practice.
(109a:2)תניא אמרו עליו על ר' עקיבא מימיו לא אמר הגיע עת לעמוד בבהמ"ד חוץ מערבי פסחים וערב יום הכפורים בע"פ בשביל תינוקות כדי שלא ישנו וערב יוה"כ כדי שיאכילו את בניהם
(109a:2)It was taught in a baraita: They said about Rabbi Akiva that in all his days he never said to his students that the time had come to arise from their learning in the study hall. Instead, he would continue to teach as long as they were willing to listen. This was true except for the eves of Passover and the eve of Yom Kippur, when he would stop teaching. The Gemara explains the reasons for these exceptions: On the eve of Passover, he would stop on account of the children, so that they would go to sleep during the day, so that they would not be tired and sleep at night. And on the eve of Yom Kippur, he would stop so that his students would remember to feed their children.
(109a:3)ת"ר חייב אדם לשמח בניו ובני ביתו ברגל שנא' (דברים טז, יד) ושמחת בחגך במה משמחם ביין
(109a:3)The Sages taught: A man is obligated to gladden his children and the members of his household on a Festival, as it is stated: “And you shall rejoice on your Festival, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are within your gates” (Deuteronomy 16:14). With what should one make them rejoice? With wine.
(109a:4)רבי יהודה אומר אנשים בראוי להם ונשים בראוי להן אנשים בראוי להם ביין ונשים במאי תני רב יוסף בבבל בבגדי צבעונין בארץ ישראל בבגדי פשתן מגוהצין
(109a:4)Rabbi Yehuda says: One should enable each member of his household to rejoice with an item that pleases them, men with what is fit for them and women with what is fit for them. Rabbi Yehuda elaborates: Men with what is fit for them, i.e., with wine. And as for the women, with what should one cause them to rejoice? Rav Yosef teaches: One should delight them with new clothes, in Babylonia with colored clothes and in Eretz Yisrael with the pressed linen clothes that are manufactured there.
(109a:5)תניא רבי יהודה בן בתירא אומר בזמן שבית המקדש קיים אין שמחה אלא בבשר שנאמר (דברים כז, ז) וזבחת שלמים ואכלת שם ושמחת לפני ה' אלהיך ועכשיו שאין בית המקדש קיים אין שמחה אלא ביין שנאמר (תהלים קד, טו) ויין ישמח לבב אנוש
(109a:5)It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says: When the Temple is standing, rejoicing is only through the eating of sacrificial meat, as it is stated: “And you shall sacrifice peace-offerings and you shall eat there and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:7). And now that the Temple is not standing and one cannot eat sacrificial meat, he can fulfill the mitzva of rejoicing on a Festival only by drinking wine, as it is stated: “And wine that gladdens the heart of man” (Psalms 104:15).
(109a:6)אמר רבי יצחק קסתא דמוריסא דהוה בציפורי היא הות כמין לוגא דמקדשא ובה משערין רביעית של פסח אמר רבי יוחנן תמנייתא קדמייתא דהוה בטבריא הות יתירה על דא ריבעא ובה משערין רביעית של פסח
(109a:6)Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The vessel used for measuring brine [moraysa] that was in Tzippori was the same volume as the log in the Temple, and with it the Sages would measure the quarter-log of Passover. They would fill this vessel and then divide the liquid it contained into four equal parts. The result was one quarter-log, which is the minimum measure of wine for the four cups on Passover and for certain other halakhot. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The old eighth measure that was in use in Tiberias was greater than this eighth measure by one quarter-log, and with it we measure the quarter-log of Passover. When the old measure is filled and poured into the newer version, the amount left in the original vessel is one quarter-log.
(109a:7)א"ר חסדא רביעית של תורה אצבעים על אצבעים ברום אצבעים וחצי אצבע וחומש אצבע כדתניא (ויקרא טו, טז) ורחץ במים את כל בשרו שלא יהא דבר חוצץ בין בשרו למים במים במי מקוה את כל בשרו מים שכל גופו עולה בהן וכמה הן
(109a:7)Rav Ḥisda said: The quarter-log measurement of the Torah is two fingerbreadths by two fingerbreadths in volume, by the height of two fingerbreadths and one half fingerbreadth and one-fifth of a fingerbreadth. This statement is as it was taught in a baraita concerning a ritual bath, about which the verse states: “And he shall bathe all his flesh in the water” (Leviticus 15:16), from which the Sages expounded: This phrase teaches that there should be nothing interposing between one’s flesh and the water. The expression “in the water” indicates that the verse is referring to a specific body of water, i.e., in the water of a ritual bath. The phrase “all his flesh” teaches that one must immerse in water that his whole body can enter at once. And how much is that?
(109b:1)אמה על אמה ברום שלש אמות ושיערו חכמים שיעור מי מקוה ארבעים סאה
(109b:1)A cubit, by a cubit, by a height of three cubits. And the Sages measured the measure of the water necessary for a ritual bath at forty se’a.
(109b:2)אמר רב אשי אמר לי רבין בר חיננא שולחן של מקדש של פרקים הוה דאי ס"ד הדוקי הוה מיהדק אמתא באמתא היכי מטבליה
(109b:2)The Gemara cites a discussion related to the topic of measurements. Rav Ashi said: Ravin bar Ḥinnana said to me: The table of the Temple, upon which the shewbread was placed, was comprised of assembled parts. For if it should enter your mind that the table was firmly connected and could not be taken apart, how could the priests immerse a cubit in a cubit? The dimensions of the table were two cubits by one cubit, with a height of one and a half cubits. If the table contracted ritual impurity, it had to be immersed in a ritual bath. If a ritual bath contains an area of one cubit by one cubit, the table can fit inside only if it is dismantled.
(109b:3)מאי קושיא דילמא בים שעשה שלמה הוה מטביל ליה דתני ר' חייא ים שעשה שלמה מחזיק מאה וחמשים מקוה טהרה:
(109b:3)The Gemara responds: What is the difficulty? Perhaps the priest would immerse it in the sea that King Solomon built, which was a very wide ritual bath, as it states: “And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass” (I Kings 7:23). As Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: The sea that Solomon built contained the volume of water of one hundred and fifty ritual purification baths. It was certainly possible to immerse even large vessels in this sea.
(109b:4)ולא יפחתו לו מארבעה: היכי מתקני רבנן מידי דאתי בה לידי סכנה והתניא לא יאכל אדם תרי ולא ישתה תרי ולא יקנח תרי ולא יעשה צרכיו תרי
(109b:4)We learned in the mishna that even with regard to the poorest of Jews, the charity distributors should not give him less than four cups of wine. The Gemara asks: How could the Sages establish a matter through which one will come to expose himself to danger? But wasn’t it taught in a baraita: A person should not eat pairs, i.e., an even number of food items; and he should not drink pairs of cups; and he should not wipe himself with pairs; and he should not attend to his sexual needs in pairs. The concern was that one who uses pairs exposes himself to sorcery or demons. Why would the Sages require one to drink an even number of cups and thereby place himself in a position of danger?
(109b:5)אמר רב נחמן אמר קרא (שמות יב, מב) ליל שמורים ליל המשומר ובא מן המזיקין
(109b:5)Rav Naḥman said that the verse said: “It was a night of watching to the Lord” (Exodus 12:42), which indicates that Passover night is a night that remains guarded from demons and harmful spirits of all kinds. Therefore, there is no cause for concern about this form of danger on this particular night.
(109b:6)רבא אמר כוס של ברכה מצטרף לטובה ואינו מצטרף לרעה רבינא אמר ארבעה כסי תקינו רבנן דרך חירות כל חד וחד
(109b:6)Rava said a different answer: The cup of blessing for Grace after Meals on Passover night is used in the performance of an additional mitzva and is not simply an expression of freedom. Therefore, it combines with the other cups for the good, i.e., to fulfill the mitzva to drink four cups, and it does not combine for the bad. With regard to the danger of drinking pairs of cups, it is as though one drinks only three cups. Ravina said: The Sages instituted four separate cups, each of which is consumed in a manner that demonstrates freedom. Therefore, each and every one
